Jboots (MQ) or SoW Potions, which is more cost effective?

[tristantio]

Just a rough estimate, I see SoW potions going for 10pp a piece (half hour duration?) and Jboots MQ going for 5k.

Buying 500 SoW potions would give 250 hours of SoW (just over 10 days /played).

From people who have tried out both, what are the pros/cons? I understand Jboots offer a clicky insta cast buff (useful when dispels occur, or when dying).

Are SoW potions faster than Jboots on p99?

Also does anyone have a classic EQ alchemy guide handy? How much do SoW potions cost the shaman in reagents (and what skill level to create).

My Google-fu is weak in this aspect and I am only able to find the revamped alchemy recipes.

[Azzbad]

Sow Pots

much cheaper initial investment +
SoW lasts nearly double the time as jboots +
Faster than Jboots +
Not Instant Cast -
Not used for raid junk buffs -
Take up more inventory room -

[hateshadow]

Jboots = infinite clicky; no need to clog your bank with dozens of sow potions or worse, lose time in EC trying to buy those potions.

If you buy jboots, you buy tranquility in the fact that you will never have to bother with sow potions ever again

[tristantio]

Another question - can you still use all but one charge on the 10 dose and then vendor / buy back for full charges?

I think this trick works with charged rings but requires 3 rings to do it (are the potions the same?)

[guineapig]

Sow potions are a fair amount faster than j-boots. It's not the same buff.

EDIT: I think azzbadd summed it up nicely.

I would only add that there is currently no raid encounter in the game that makes having an instaclick buff vital to winning the fight, regardless of what others might try to say.

[Extunarian]

If you make them yourself or otherwise get them at cost, it's closer to 6pp/charge (closer to 56pp for 10). If you only use them for travel like I do (no point in leaving it on to meditate) they last a long time. My level 40 chanter is down to about 7 charges from the original 40 I gave him when I started.

Also, if your twinking out a level 1, keep in mind that duration scales with level. It's quite a waste to pop sow potions on characters under level 9 (like 5-15 minute duration).

[Rasah]

Another question - can you still use all but one charge on the 10 dose and then vendor / buy back for full charges?

I think this trick works with charged rings but requires 3 rings to do it (are the potions the same?)10 Dose SoW potions cost 104pp at vendors. It is actually cheaper to buy them from a shaman.

Otherwise, I don't know if that works.

[DevGrousis]

SoW pots cost 100p each, i think you just mis-used your words there. each pop of SOW of the potion can be devided down to 10p per hit = 50SoW pots for the same price as the jboots (5k) and that in turn would give you 15,000 minutes = 250 hours = 10days

I wasnt aware that the jboots were slower than SoW, i thought it actually casted SoW on you.

[Dantes]

I made a thread about this some time back, some people agreed and others were like "WTF n00b, you need jboots zOMG!" I like my sow potions. There's arguments that jboots insta-click is good for raid environments, but I'm a tank... I don't spend much time running away. SOW potions for me, I have other things to spend 6K on.

Why not just buy SOW potions?

The other day I was debating on whether or not jboots are actually worth it. All of this time spent camping or waiting for the camp to open, or 6k for MQ. They're slower than SOW, yes? A 10 dose SOW potion costs 100pp. So you're paying 10pp per dose. So, buying an MQ costs 6k... which would also buy you 600 SOW potion doses. So if SOW lasts 30 minutes, that's 300 hours of SOW for 6000pp.

And you only need SOW when you are moving, not when you are sitting on your butt at a camp. I might only travel about 20% of my /played time. So, 6k worth of SOW potions should actually last me 1500 hours played. This is more than 62 days played. For the average person's scheduled weekly play that's 2 years of this game, assuming 20 hours a week. If you are talking about 10 hours a week, double that to 4 years. It takes 4 years for those jboots to be worth the cost if you play just 10 hours a week.

Do you really need jboots? Support your local Shaman.

Your mileage may vary. If you are a very active player with lots of time and lots of plat - get the jboots. Why not?

[Extunarian]

SoW pots cost 100p each, i think you just mis-used your words there. each pop of SOW of the potion can be devided down to 10p per hit = 50SoW pots for the same price as the jboots (5k) and that in turn would give you 15,000 minutes = 250 hours = 10days

I wasnt aware that the jboots were slower than SoW, i thought it actually casted SoW on you.

The OP didn't mispeak at all. You are incorrect in assuming 10 charge potions are the only SoW potions.

10-shot sow potions are generally the only ones sold but you make each charge individually and combine them into 5 or 10 shot potions if desired. Most sell them for 10pp/charge. But like I said upthread the actual cost is close to 56pp for 10 without failures, so factoring in the 5% failure rate on trivial combines it's more like 60pp.

For OP's other questions: At level 9 popping a sow potion will give you a 34% movement increase for 27 minutes. It scales up to 50% for 37 minutes at level 50. Effect: Journeyman's Boots is a flat 35% movement increase.

The ingredients are Birthwort (~2.2p), Fenugreek (~2.2p), and Wolf Blood (~1.1p). The combine is trivial once your alchemy skill hits 37.

Overall, for most folks leveling on a budget I would say that sow potions are a great substitute for jboots.

[Shiftin]

Sow potions are a fair amount faster than j-boots. It's not the same buff.

EDIT: I think azzbadd summed it up nicely.

I would only add that there is currently no raid encounter in the game that makes having an instaclick buff vital to winning the fight, regardless of what others might try to say.

yeah, you could just as easily crap buff an entire raid while racing 2 other guilds for the CT or inny inst... oh sorry he's already dead.

[Messianic]

When quad kiting, your run speed actually affects how quickly you can finish the quad. I really prefer having that extra speed. I'm going to get jboots eventually, but i'm waiting on it. I might just make enough money to buy an MQ, but for now i'm fine with Sow Pots.

[guineapig]

yeah, you could just as easily crap buff an entire raid while racing 2 other guilds for the CT or inny inst... oh sorry he's already dead.

I understand what you are saying, but when was the last time Inny or CT popped in a completely empty raid zone where having j-boots would get you to the boss any faster? And even if that were ever the case, the person with sow would get there 20% quicker than the person with a j-boot buff. CT repops the entire zone so j-boots is invalid. Inny is a simple fight and guilds tend to camp right upstairs with full raid buffs.

Like I said, I'm not bashing j-boots, they are indeed a great utility when you have the discretionary income for them and absolutely nothing else you would rather spend the time/money on. But this whole raid necessity thing is just silly. This is classic EQ. Tank, spank, win. Let's not kid ourselves.

[karsten]

buy jboots as soon as you can

buy sow pots until you can buy jboots

this thread is over

[Shiftin]

I understand what you are saying

i feel like you don't know that inny and CT have been dispelling every time they cast for the last couple months.

[karsten]

shiftin your first mistake was taking anything that chicanery says on any amount of authority

[Yilza Moosik]

Jboots are a cool factor. I have em because it makes my epeen grow a centimeter! Yes a centimeter.

[guineapig]

i feel like you don't know that inny and CT have been dispelling every time they cast for the last couple months.

So you mean to tell me that every time they cast a spell your entire raid does a synchronized j-boot click?

Actually, I've been to an Inny raid recently... we killed him. I did not require a single heal during the encounter. Pretty sure I could have done it completely buffless if we didn't actually have to fight our way from the zone line up to him.

It doesn't matter if they dispell. A good chunk of the raid shouldn't be in range of the dispell and even if they are I'm pretty sure they should not be getting hit by much else and are well geared enough to survive a minute without a few buffs.

I really don't want to argue about this but I have heard the dispell thing a hundred times and I have never once died to either of these mobs due to not being able to insta-junk buff myself.

J-boots are great and useful and sparkly and magical... but you don't need them to kill any bosses.

[karsten]

you are lol

[yaaaflow]

But... surely even despite your awesome anecdotal evidence you can see how being able to insta-junk buff yourself would be useful?

[Odeseus]

How about I add something else to the mix. How many kunark raids are outdoor? I know neither SoW nor Jboots work in Seb, or Chardok. Can't remember if Karnor's is outdoor. No idea if VP is indoor or outdoor.

Just saying this because junk buffs being important for planar mobs is quickly becoming rather unimportant. What would be more interesting is to see if jboots would be a good for that in Kunark for Kunark targets.

[yaaaflow]

kunark adds 100% more raid encounters where jboots are useful

[guineapig]

But... surely even despite your awesome anecdotal evidence you can see how being able to insta-junk buff yourself would be useful?

I never said that jboots can't be useful useful. I stated that they are slower than SoW and SoW potions, I have stated that they are not vital to killing anything, but I have NEVER stated that they can't be useful.

[yaaaflow]

I never said that jboots can't be useful useful. I stated that they are slower than SoW and SoW potions, I have stated that they are not vital to killing anything, but I have NEVER stated that they can't be useful.

apology accepted

[guineapig]

I would just like to point out that all I did was state a few facts about j-boots and certain people got really defensive about it for what ever reason and attempted to discredit me. You have not invalidated anything that I said. And unless you have a monopoly on the j-boots trade on this server I fail to see how I have done anything to hurt anyone here.

[Psionide]

dude you need to apologize for making people feel bad about spending 5k on jboots. seriously that was fucked up and uncalled for........

[parlay1]

Jboots hands down, for ease and convenience it isn't close (for me).

[Rejuvenation]

Keep in mind that if you actually camp the ring, jboots are much much cheaper in the long haul than SoW pots.

[tristantio]

Keep in mind that if you actually camp the ring, jboots are much much cheaper in the long haul than SoW pots.

If Jboots MQ can easily sell for 5k however, aren't you still essentially giving up 5k in exchange for the boots?

[Azzbad]

I think you'll find that most people will end up* using a mixture of both ~

[Noselacri]

One thing to note is that you aren't always guaranteed a full duration SoW with potions. You might die, you might need to re-apply it before entering a dungeon with some time still left on the buff, and it might get dispelled.

The fact that the potions aren't insta-cast is such a small factor that it can barely be considered a disadvantage. You have to be so inattentive not to notice when such a long buff is about to fade. The insta-cast of jboots is worth practically nothing unless you're kiting mobs that cast dispel, and why would anyone really do that?

At the end of the day, it comes down to convenience. Do you prefer an insta-cast hotkey rather than fidgeting with potions? Do you care about the inventory space? Do you like the distinctive particles of jboots? If you play enough that the cost-effectiveness over a span of time exceeding 250 hours is relevant, you probably won't have to worry very much about the cost. The slightly faster speed of SoW can be considered worth it. Also, if you end up rerolling at some point, those jboots are dead weight.

Personally, I prefer the boots. They feel nice and it add an extra level of accomplishment and investment to my character. They're not better, but they're more convenient and I camped them so they only cost the 325p turn-in. When I make my iksar monk, I'll probably go with potions instead, especially because Kunark zones are so big and monks can't gate.

[Kazowi]

jboots dawg. priceless for pvp and getting dispelled

[Daldolma]

This is a silly conversation. It's JBoots, and there's no question.

The fact that JBoots are insta-cast literally changes the game. No matter what -- whether you're debuffed, your buff wears off, etc -- you are going to be able to out-run any mob. This means *everything* for kiting, pulling, or even just running away. SoW potions are useless if you have a brain lapse and forget to refresh, or if you get caught with a big pull and end up fighting for 15 minutes and having SoW fade. You don't have time to re-cast, especially if you're a class without root.

SoW pots are nice if you want to get from one side of the Karanas to the other quickly. JBoots change the way you play. It's just not comparable.

[Itching]

SoW Pots :P I need more customers!