Treasure Hunter Testing by Enedin

(12th of May 2008)

HAI GUYZ!

Those who know me from our linkshell, know that I’ve been very busy with testing Treasure Hunter for some time. And I’m very pleased to say that the first results are in!

And not just a few hundred mobs killed. A total of 1400 Gigantobugards in Misareaux Coast have been slaughtered for this test, which was not too easy since there's a lot of people farming them on Garuda, and it was hard to find a decent camp most of the time.

Before I show the results, I should elaborate the goal of this test first. But before I can do that, here are a few assumptions/rules/info and whatnot, for the sake of this test:


 * There was no farming during full or new moon.
 * There might be an upper drop rate cap, but that's unknown. Assumed that, if it existed, that it would be higher than the drop rates found during the test.
 * The monster killed was Gigantobugard in Misareaux Coast. Out of the 3 possible drops (not counting crystals/seals since they check too weak for me), Bugard Skin, HQ Bugard Skin and Bugard Tusk, only the first two have been counted.
 * Bugard Tusk was not included because the drop rate was too low, and that would have required more than 1400 monsters killed for accurate testing.
 * Assumed is that each drop gains a percentual increase in drop rate when farming happens with a higher Treasure Hunter trait. A small example:

Monster: Yagudo Accountant (which does not exist!) Possible items dropped: (Yagudo Necklace, Yagudo Feather) Drop rates withouth TH: (20%, 30%) Drop rates with THI: (30%, 45%) Drop rates with THI+THII: (40%, 60%)

As you can see, these are my thoughts on how Treasure Hunter works.

Ok, but what exactly have I been testing?


 * This test tries to attach a number to both Treasure Hunter job traits, a.k.a. the STRENGTH of Treasure Hunter. A number which indicates the increase in drop rates.

Now, HOW did I do this test?


 * I have killed 400 monsters without any Treasure Hunter trait (RDM75/NIN37, RDM75/WAR37, PLD75/NIN37, PLD75/WAR37 are all examples I used), 500 with the Treasure Hunter I trait (PLD75/THF37 and RDM75/THF37), and 500 with the Treasure Hunter II trait (THF75/NIN37 and THF75/WAR37).
 * I have never used any TH+ items, no Thief's Knife or Assassin's Armlets (or the +1).
 * For the superstitious people under us, I did not have any special items (eg. 4-leaf mandragora bud) in my inventory, mog house or anywhere.

As you can see, the only things that would have affected my drop rates would have been:


 * The Treasure Hunter job traits.
 * The moon phase between Full and New moon. Although it is unknown if that has an influence on drop rates, assumed is that Full moon does increase drop rates. For the sake of this test, I did not kill any Gigantobugard during Full or New moon.

All right! Let's check out the results!

!!NOTE!! Results are truncated after 2 digits, but calculations use the full number.

RESULTS

Group 0 - No Treasure Hunter, no THF main or sub.
 * Monster killed: Gigantobugard in Misareaux Coast
 * Amount killed: 400
 * Bugard Skins: 127/400 = 31.75%
 * HQ Bug.Skins: 43/400 = 10.75%

Group 1 - Treasure Hunter I, THF sub 15 or higher.
 * Monster killed: Gigantobugard in Misareaux Coast
 * Amount killed: 500
 * Bugard Skins: 246/500 = 49.20%
 * HQ Bug.Skins: 78/500 = 15.60%

Group 2 - Treasure Hunter I + Treasure Hunter II, THF main 45 or higher.
 * Monster killed: Gigantobugard in Misareaux Coast
 * Amount killed: 500
 * Bugard Skins: 312/500 = 62.40%
 * HQ Bug.Skins: 112/500 = 22.40%

Note that group 2 is THI+THII. In fact, you can NOT have THII w/o having THI. This is important for the next calculations:

First, let's calculate THI's strength.

The increase in drop rates THI adds for Bugard Skins:
 * (49.20/31.75)-1 = 54.96%.

The increase in drop rates THI adds for HQ Bug.Skins:
 * (15.60/10.75)-1 = 45.12%.

Second, let's see what THI and THII do together.

The increase in drop rates THI+THII add for Bugard Skins:
 * (62.40/31.75)-1 = 96.54%.

The increase in drop rates THI+THII add for HQ Bug.Skins:
 * (22.40/10.75)-1 = 108.37%.

Finally let's see what THII does on its own. !!NOTE!! This is THII WITHOUTH THI! In fact, you can NEVER obtain the THII trait w/o the THI trait, but for the sake of the test we will calculate the strength of THII seperately as well. This is calculated simply by subtracting THI strength from THI+THII strength.

The increase in drop rates THII adds for Bugard Skins:
 * 96.54-54.96 = 41.75%.

The increase in drop rates THII adds for HQ Bug.Skins:
 * 108.37-45.12 = 63.26%.

Let's put 2 and 2 together now:


 * THI increases drop rates by ~45-55%
 * THII increases drop rates by ~41-63%
 * THI+THII increase drop rates by ~96-108%

Even though the results will never be absolute (unless you do an infinite amount of testing, or ask SE LOL), it's pretty clear that having a THF45+ (THI+THII) will DOUBLE your drops and that having someone sub THF15+ will increase drops by roughly 50 percent.

So my conclusions (for now!):


 * Treasure Hunter I increases drop rates by 50%.
 * Treasure Hunter II increases drop rates by 50%.

Pretty neat, huh? :D

CRITICISM

I know that there will be criticism on this. If you have any, please post it in a constructive and polite manner, explain your question, point of view or comment and we will discuss it :D

Regarding self-criticism, it IS possible that TH differs from mob to mob. But I find it very hard to believe that SE would do that, since that means they would have to make different drop rate increments for every monster.

Off course, it's possible that instead of a single mob, a certain monster family or class will benefit more from one form of TH or another, but seeing the results, I doubt it. However, I will continue my testing for the sake of research and accuracy of results.

FINAL WORD

All of this was done solo, no party or alliance whatsoever. The effects of TH in party/alliance have been tested by others, and I salute them for that :D If we each do our part, we'll be able to understand TH fully one day! Well, almost lol.

I would like to express my thanks to Boktai, a dear friend of mine, who has helped me with Group 1 results by slaughtering about 100 monsters. I would also like to express my thanks to Shamaya, who inspired me to keep on testing this.

~Enedin!~