Alchemy System
Combine two items for a chance at an upgrade. 33% success rate. Failure didn’t just waste your materials - it reset your progression to level 1.
The Gamble
Most rune upgrades had a 33% base success rate. Two out of three attempts failed. But failure wasn’t “try again” - it was devastation.
| Outcome | Result |
|---|---|
| Success (33%) | Get next level item |
| Failure (67%) | Reset to Level 1 |
Imagine grinding for weeks to reach a Level 15 rune. Attempt Level 16. Fail. Receive a Level 1 rune. Your entire progression deleted in one bad roll.
619 Recipes of Risk
The system had 619 unique combinations with varying odds:
| Success Rate | Type |
|---|---|
| 73-100% | Safe (rare) |
| 40-60% | Medium risk |
| 5-33% | High risk (most runes) |
Class runes went up to level 20. Each upgrade required winning the coin flip. To go from Level 1 to Level 20, you needed to avoid devastating failure 19 times in a row.
The Ertheia Restriction
Only Ertheia race characters could use Alchemy. Other races were locked out entirely.
The result? Players created Ertheia alts to craft, then traded items back to their mains. The restriction didn’t create meaningful choice - just tedious alt-switching.
Server Announcement Psychology
Rare successes triggered server-wide announcements. “Player X successfully crafted Y!”
This wasn’t celebration. It was advertising. Making rare wins visible created the illusion that success was common when the math said otherwise.
On L2Cruma, your effort leads to progress. Not dice rolls. Not destruction. Just advancement.
See Random Craft for another gambling system disguised as crafting.