Cowruns with no HR drops - worth it?

Hi everyone,

my cow runs have been notriously crappy. My previous 300 runs have not yielded a HR yet, but there is always a lot of low value drops. So I decided to see what value I could accumulate if I collect all the things that might yield any value when trading: collect all flawless gems, all items that can be sold and sellable low runes (the only ones I counted are Ral runes, as these are the only ones you can *reliably* sell.)

These all P1 on Bnet, with a javazon, 140%mf.

The conversions I used are:

• every 7th gem is an Amethyst, with 2x other gem value
• 90 pgems -> Ist
• 3 Tal --> 1 Ral
• 50 rals --> Ist

(they might not be 100% but should be at least in the ballpark)

Here is my booty from 100 runs:

runs: 101
------
Total flawGems: 277
Weighted pGems: 105
------
ral -> 14
mal -> 1
pul -> 2
lem -> 1
-----
Sold items: 130 def shako, 2/2/2 tal orb, eth thresher
-----

IST value: 3.66 | pgems: 1.17, runes: 1.25, items: 1.23
runs / ist: 27.62

So even though I saw no HRs, I managed to get ~3.5 Ist value. Roughly 28 runs to get an Ist rune.


Was that worth it? Meh, that's something everybody has to decide for themselves. But it helps me to put the runs more into perspective. Without the accumulation, these runs would really have felt even more empty.

That's crazy. I feel like in less than 300 runs, I always find some sort of decent rune.

What about charms? There's gotta be a couple Ist worth of charms in 100 runs.

Are you using a formula where 20 P Amethyst = 1 Ist?

I'm assuming these runs are P1 ?

Yes, P1 with 140mf on Bnet. I have found two skillers: 1 defensive auras and 1 martial arts. So not too much value there.
I didn't pick up some items if I felt that trading them is just not worth it, e.g. White monarchs.

I take your plan to the next level...

I sell 25 Sol for a Pul

I save the "Spirit" packs and sell those as well.

You couldn't find any 7mfsc or 6mfsc + mod or all res SC or FHR + something???

I only pickup superior Monarch and it better be 12ed or higher.

I've actually been on the lookout for superior anything... I didn't realize how valuable a 15ed item could be until recently.

Found a 4os 15 ed Great Bow, never realized there was a market for that.

dilbert383 wrote: 4 years ago

I take your plan to the next level...

I sell 25 Sol for a Pul

I save the "Spirit" packs and sell those as well.

You couldn't find any 7mfsc or 6mfsc + mod or all res SC or FHR + something???

Thanks for your input.
My main focus was selling items I found.

I found a plain 6mf sc, but that doesn't really hold much value for trading, it has some value for myself.

Spriti packs can be worth it, but find selling Spirit packs to be quite difficult, the last time it took me weeks to get a decent price for them.

Sol runes can be sold quite well, but they are not as easy to collect as Ral, since cubing the lower runes now requires gems. I simply didn't find enough to even trade them for a Lem.

I always got more value from bases than HR drops with cows.
My last valuable find was a 4o +3bow/10ed Grand Matron Bow. Best rune I ever dropped from cows was a Pul.

You'd be surprised how many Sol drop organically in 300 runs. I don't bothering cubing up to those.

Save the 6mfsc and do a package deal with some 7mfsc and try for an Ist.

Im currently working on the best P1 javazon build. I'm trying to experiment with damage vs FRW vs Tele.

I'm finding it cumbersome to tele alot. FRW is so much smoother. I replaced some of my skill charms with 3x 3frw.

It's hard to gauge the dmg output since most cows die in 1 hit. Thinking about switching my Griffons for a 30frw Helm. I know, it sounds ridiculous but it might help.

I also have a merc w/ Harmony bow... helps my running drastically.

I felt this in my soul. In the same boat here recently as well. Honestly had to switch to some Chaos runs because of the lack of drops. Hopefully the drops will improve soon for you brother!

dilbert383 wrote: 4 years ago

You'd be surprised how many Sol drop organically in 300 runs. I don't bothering cubing up to those.

Save the 6mfsc and do a package deal with some 7mfsc and try for an Ist.

Im currently working on the best P1 javazon build. I'm trying to experiment with damage vs FRW vs Tele.

I'm finding it cumbersome to tele alot. FRW is so much smoother. I replaced some of my skill charms with 3x 3frw.

It's hard to gauge the dmg output since most cows die in 1 hit. Thinking about switching my Griffons for a 30frw Helm. I know, it sounds ridiculous but it might help.

I also have a merc w/ Harmony bow... helps my running drastically.

If I add my 9 sols to the count, with 25 Sol = Pul , I get another 0.06 Ist ofc, over 300 runs you get more, but it still wasn't great in my case.

All cows... all HR's... all within 3 days of eachother...

28 cow runs for an Ist run doesn't feel good, but you have to keep it in perspective, it's 28 runs for an Ist when you don't find any of the actually good stuff.

If Ist per 28 runs was all you got on average, it'd be terrible, but when it's the bare minimum, it's more acceptable I'd say (given it can highroll way high, with Jah/ Ber, with bases that go for about as much, etc..)

mishabg wrote: 4 years ago

28 cow runs for an Ist run doesn't feel good, but you have to keep it in perspective, it's 28 runs for an Ist when you don't find any of the actually good stuff.

If Ist per 28 runs was all you got on average, it'd be terrible, but when it's the bare minimum, it's more acceptable I'd say (given it can highroll way high, with Jah/ Ber, with bases that go for about as much, etc..)

So far that has been my average for ~300 runs

SuperIllu wrote: 4 years ago

So far that has been my average for ~300 runs

Yes, but my point is that you've been unlucky during these 300 runs; If you found 1 Ist per 28, this is roughly 10 or 11 Ist for 300 runs, right?

But let's say you found a Ber rune somewhere in there. I think they go for like 33 Ist or wtv at the moment, so this would bring your total to 44 ists for 300 runs, or approximately 6 runs for an Ist. This would be more acceptable, wouldn't it?

My point was, you can't really judge an instance's performance/efficiency on a lowroll (and finding nothing over 300 cow runs is a super low roll).
In the same way that you can't judge them on a highroll, say you run Travincal 11 times and find a Ber rune, you can't say Trav gives you 3 Ist per run on average.

Trav runs with no HR drops - worth it?

I strongly feel cows to be more rewarding in terms of charms, bases and even the occasional valuable Unique/Set item. But this may be subjective.

I run act4 from start to diablo with Faith CoH Laying of Hands amazon and get loads of HRs

I think commenting on here placed a curse on my cow runs... Past 2 nights, nothing...

Then I got kicked out of some runs for just being a javazon

Sadly it’s all RNG. I went the first few months of d2r without getting anything higher than a Pul from cows. About a month ago I got a Sur with my Bone necro. Last week I got an Ohm with my lite sorc and a Lo 3 days ago. Last night an Um with my bowazon. The moral of the story is don’t get discouraged.

Dizzle1202 wrote: 4 years ago

All cows... all HR's... all within 3 days of eachother...
Vex-Cow.png
Um-Cows.png
Jah-Cow.png
Ohm-Cows.png

Nice finds! That's not a good comparison to his scenario though as he's running cows solo.