is purple drops really that rare?

Kaylynn Of Ascalon

Kaylynn Of Ascalon

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: May 2005

California

ok so Im constantly seeing people claiming to WTS these purple RARE items. I ask around and these same people claim purple drops to be rare, and more valuable then most other items dropped.

I then look in my inventory and see 6 purple weapons and one purple buckler. I received 2 of these the first day of the patch and all the other ones yesterday. I played about 13 hours the first day (im layed off from work) the second day I played about 4 hours. Now if these things are so rare why do I find them quite often?

Just wondering. it just seems these items are not as rare as some think, OR im one lucky N/E.

$hade.

$hade.

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Apr 2005

Canada

[FiRM[]

R/

I'm not sure but purple is less rare than yellow letters (I think). I once got 2! Yellow rare items in the same mission and then i got a purple one too!.

Kaylynn Of Ascalon

Kaylynn Of Ascalon

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: May 2005

California

hmmm i haven't even seen a "yellow" drop yet. now THAT seems rare!

Devil's Dictionary

Devil's Dictionary

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Feb 2005

Presumed missing...

Me/N

I had two in two consecutive Drake runs. Thinking Yellow>Purple>Blue is wrong: sometimes you get amazing Blue items and average yellow items (such as in my case).

Pandora's box

Pandora's box

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Apr 2005

Netherlands

Mo/W

I'm finding purple items now and than but its never something special. Items without magic. I think it would be better anyway to limit yellow/purple/blue to items that have at least magic. Saves a lot of time in picking up useless crap. I never say yellow so probably thats rare. But if yellow is rare, than what's purple?

Kershent

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Apr 2005

I see much greater frequency of Blue than Purple than Yellow. As for the weapons actually being better, not so much.

Grim_Grom

Grim_Grom

Academy Page

Join Date: Apr 2005

Source Forge

N/Me

Purple are pretty rare, I've only found one and I'm level 12, so maybe they all come much later, but their much rarer than blue.

Devil's Dictionary

Devil's Dictionary

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Feb 2005

Presumed missing...

Me/N

Level 12 is way too early and actually doesn't mean much: the item drops do not depend of your level but of the location. After, say, Gates of Kryta, purples are VERY common.

mee

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Apr 2005

blue items are just in some way different or better; purple items are usually just slightly better than blue (you can get a purple item that is only purple b/c it has a slightly higher dps); yellow/gold often have the same stats as a blue/purple, but often have several bonuses, which means multiple unlocks.

Phaedrus

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Apr 2005

Purple isn't rare. I'll back this by saying when you pick up a gold item, it will mention you've picked up the rare whateveritwas.

Blue items are simply uncommon--of note, only blue items can be precious or highly salvageable.

Purple items are more akin to high-quality uncommon items. I'd like to say there's no chance of getting a "dud" (e.g. instead of that staff wrapping you want, you get a highly-salvageable staff) but I've seen purple items with no bonuses whatsoever. Purple items can have better bonuses than blue items.

Gold items have the potential for the best bonuses (and thus the best salvage).

E.g. for a staff wrapping of enchanting you'll see rates from 10-19%
Blue items will yield anywhere from 10-12%
Purple items will yield from 10-15%
Gold items will yield from 10-19%

While you may get *more* bonuses on a purple item, they are almost guaranteed to be *less-powerful* than the bonuses you see on gold items. There are exceptions (you can find blue 20+, -regen focuses with bonuses) but gold tends to give you an opportunity at better upgrades...just not always *more* since you could unlock a whole hell of a lot that way.

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