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Message: <blockquote data-quote="King_Mushi" data-source="post: 5582282" data-attributes="member: 6677475">[MENTION=71571]DracoSuave[/MENTION] - Very valid.  Again I think the math is right but in practice it would be fine. Let's look at your level 6 example.  Assume combat per encounter is five  rounds.  The cost per lvl 6 item is 75g.  That's 375g per person that  plans to bomb the whole encounter.  Comparing that to level 6 parcels,  that comes to a significant portion of the earnings.So let's look at the damage.  Level 6 Alch Fire is 2d6.  Alch Frost is  1d10.  A longbow is 1d10.  A waraxe is 1d12.  The latter two can be  added to attack powers, which usually add in ability modifiers for  damage, plus additional effects.  There's also a ton of feats which can  modify the latter.  Again to me they look pretty comparable, especially  when you start factoring in price per turn and the additional bonuses  you can apply to raw weapons.I'll also look at your Orcus example.  For my example, I'll assume a  party of five decides to all come with lvl 26 Alch Fire (+29 to hit, 4d6  fire damage) to use on him.  That's +42 to hit and Orcus only has 46  Ref.  I'll also assume every throw is a crit here.Damage per person 4d6 = 24 fire dmgPlayers in Party = 5Damage per Turn to Orcus = 120 dmgCost per person per round = 45,000gCost per party per round = 225,000gOrcus has 1525 hit points.The fastest time to drop him would be 13 rounds using Alch Fire.  That's  assuming he's alone and the party has sufficient ammo.  In reality with  heals this would take longer, but let's assume a well defended party:Number or Rounds = 13Total Alch Fire required = 13 per person, 65 totalCost per Round = 225,000gTotal Cost = 2,925,000gAlso, he gets resistance 10 to 3 different abilities.  Let's say he choose fire.Damage per person 4d6 = 24 fire dmg / 2 = 14 fire damage Players in Party = 5 Damage per Turn to Orcus = 70 dmg The fastest time now increases to 22 rounds using Alch Fire, assuming the same criteria.Number or Rounds = 22 Total Alch Fire required = 22 per person, 110 total Cost per Round = 225,000g Total Cost = 4,950,000g Of course Orcus could probably leave, wasting all those precious resources.I'm not going to do the math to see how long a party would take if they  used non-alch items, since the variables are too great.  However if I  applied the 'crit on every hit' as I did above, the damage done for a  level 30 party using weapons could easily surpass the Alch party, since  most lvl 29 magic items have 6d6+6 bonus damage before you factor in the  attack power, feats, and other properties.Now I'll pick a character that's not Orcus but still high level.  Say Doresain the Ghoul King:Elite Skirmisher - lvl 27Ref: 41HP: 508So again you're gonna hit pretty much every time for the cost of  45,000g.  It would take the party about 5 rounds to drop him, assuming  they crit on every item and he's alone.Number or Rounds = 5  Total Alch Fire required = 5 per person, 25 total  Cost per Round = 225,000g  Total Cost = 1,125,000gNow since this is not a solo, he's not alone.  There'll be about 3 other equally leveled creatures to deal with, maybe more.  So I'll concur - you're right.  The +hit is dramatically higher when you  use high level alch items and add in your level bonus.  There's a pretty big cost to use and reduction in damage that you take for that +hit however.</blockquote>

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