Quote (MrDictatoHead @ Feb 21 2013 05:11pm)
I dunno about shoulders better than vile wards... the reason being vile wards can have exactly every stat you would want for shoulders... i think of it this way:
VW: 3 guaranteed useful stats at high rolls: main stat, AR, armor (life regen too, but...) and 2 random rolls
Recipe: 1 guaranteed useful stat, 5 random rolls!
ok, let me correct myself... obviously the recipe can roll better (higher base stat roll), but the chances are so low! Remember that even if a recipe rolls AR and armor, it may not be high numbers like the wards. Back when crafting was popular, I made shoulders for profit... i've made a couple hundred and nothing has come close to a set of crappy vile wards... just my 2 cents, i honestly feel that the gold/resources vs. is better spent rolling gloves or ammies
Yea your right in that VW's have 3 guaranteed useful stats however you still need the same luck as you would with the recipe on the last 2 random rolls, I've rolled plenty of VW's that weren't worth much simply because it didnt have vitality or secondary resist on it. Also considering that I only spent around 4 mil crafting shoulders and got around 5 which were better than my VW's it seems the stats are rolling pretty good. To get VW's with similar stats to the ones I crafted your looking at well over 150mil pre patch. Also add in the fact that you have created them yourself rather than farming for weeks on end hoping you get a half decent drop to sell and perhaps get half the gold needed for the equivalent shoulders.
Comparing the current crafts to any previously just does not make sense as the stat values are already higher to begin with. In terms of value for crafts I think bracers and shoulders have the highest ROI as the stats you need for gloves and amulets to be good are much harder to get. I would recommend crafting shoulders for anyone who doesnt have 260+dex, 120+vit VW's already, and even if you did you could still beat them.