The Magician's Tower

So I was wondering if someone could clarify some tribute info for me. Do tribute focus effects stack with out regular focii? For example if I turn on the flowing though tribute, does that count toward my 15 (assuming no AAs) flowing thought cap? Do mana preservations tribute effects stack with worn mana pres? And lastly, of course, what tribute effects do my fellow mages find most useful?

It seems to me that most tribute effects seem dated, especially if stacking doesn't work. I have a fair amount of tribute saved up from using cultural armor as a skill up path for tailoring, so I'm wondering if there's anything I can use it for besides boosting my resists or adding 250 HME (oooh, a whole 250).

IIRC, tribute doesn't stack with worn, except maybe the bard overhaste. Tribute FT doesn't make you go over the FT cap. I think I have mine set to raw mana and Heroic INT, but not sure since I haven't turned my tribute on in eons.

For DD casting etc, I think at this point it's pretty useless. IF you are a necro, at least a while back, the tribute spell haste for detrimental DOT spells was the best in the game and so was the detrimental spell mana conservation for DOTS. Since we don't get DOTS, it's pretty useless. The only thing that most folks still use it for could be for the added 250/250 mana hp or whatever the max is now and possibly the AC increase one.

Also as others stated, the tribute wont stack with any worn focus -- it's whichever is the best.

Visions of Command will grant you 25% mana preservation on summoning spells, which I believe includes Servant. Considering that its our biggest drain on mana, it was worth it when i was playing before.

Pretty sure it does not work for servant pets.

Slightly off topic but mostly related. I wish we could use tribute and have it work on our pets. When I play my sk I have 5 tribute effects going at once; most of them valuable. Now if we could run tribute effects and have the effects hit our pet like they affect melee I think more casters (especially mages) would use tribute.

Eanelder wrote:Visions of Command will grant you 25% mana preservation on summoning spells, which I believe includes Servant. Considering that its our biggest drain on mana, it was worth it when i was playing before.

Benefit: Summoning Efficiency 08
LORE ITEM NO TRADE
Focus: Summoning Efficiency VIII
WT: 0.0 Size: TINY
Class: NONE
Race: NONE

Summoning Efficiency VIII
1: Decrease Spell Mana Cost by 25%
2: Limit: Max Level(85) (lose 5% per level over cap)
3: Limit: Effect (Summon Pet allowed)
4: Limit: Combat Skills Not Allowed

Benefit: Summoning Haste 08
LORE ITEM NO TRADE
Focus: Summoning Haste VIII
WT: 0.0 Size: TINY
Class: NONE
Race: NONE

Summoning Haste VIII
1: Increase Spell Haste by 30%
2: Limit: Max Level(85) (lose 5% per level over cap)
3: Limit: Effect (Summon Pet allowed)
4: Limit: Combat Skills Not Allowed

The slot 3 limit means it will only work on spells with the attribute "Summon Pet" (Attribute # 33) which summons a pet without a fixed duration, like our normal elemental pet spells: Aspect of Air, etc. This is different from the attribute used to summon swarm pets with a limited duration, like RS pets, which use "Summon Pet" (Attribute # 152) instead. They have the same name, but accomplish different things and thus are treated differently by focus effects.

Whether it *should* be that way is open to debate. That's just how it works right now. I can verify that neither tribute benefit affects RS on Live right now.

If you look at the change history on Lucy:
Now, Lucy doesn't break down exactly what the change was. However, it could have been that originally it worked on swarm pets (#152) and was changed to non-swarm pets (#33) with the release of Underfoot. If that's the case, I think we might be able to lobby for it to be reverted.

so if I understand this correctly, just the raw mana pool tribute and the rest is a waste?

Hint is good. Hsta is good. So, basically, as someone said in mage chat one night, an extra 250 HME (i'm not sure of the actual value). I think with tribute and trophies I get around 800 in mana and an extra point or two of regen. Realize, too, that the FT cap was fixed; though that's probably a bigger cost than the return.

I personally use H int and mana trib with H int and mana trophy. It is cheap and most bang that I see a full use for. If we ever have to go back to "chain string" I will quit, but then the summoning one will work. If you plan on tanking then AC and hp would be good with H sta. I rarely end up using trib though as I don't trib much cept old gear I have worn, would rather see it get a good home if I can't use the loot, and I hate EQ tradeskills.