So, not too long ago we got an update which decreased the drop rate for illusion refine boxes in their respectful dungeons. On top of that, the drop rate of illusion stones was also reduced. In exchange, we got this illusion dungeon store NPC, which sells the regular box for 600 illusion stones per piece.

Now, I remember when I started out as a new player. I spent my fair share of time in illusion dungeons, farming the refine boxes and stones for all my newbie gear needs in order to progress in the game. It was grindy, but it allowed me to save zeny by a metric f***ton. Later on, the zeny I saved because of this was useful when it was finally time for me to start refining and grading lvl 2 armor and lvl 5 weapons.

I've noticed that due to this update, the prices for refine boxes and tickets have gone up, and I've noticed people seem to be somewhat confused about the update. Some are even under the impression that you can turn any upgraded weapon/armor (even from the antiquities) into refine tickets, even though that couldn't be further away from the truth. The list of items you can use to turn into tickets is already narrow as it is, not to mention that most - if not all - don't even come with a refine box to begin with.

While I'm already an established player and can easily just get the raw zeny to buy the tickets I need, I acknowledge that this isn't the case for new players. Farming enough illusion stones to buy just one measly box from the NPC means doing 40 illusion turn ins. I honestly doubt a new player's willingness to go ahead and do all that for that one refine box, which can a) do nothing (refine rate stays the same) or b) lowers the refine rate. Now, if the illusion stones were dropping at a higher rate than .25% in the lower level illusion dungeons (which is what the new players are capable of doing with Eden/Grace gears), this would be a whole different ball game.

The options I propose are as follows:

Reverse the drop rate changes made to illusion refine boxes and/or illusion stones. If this is done, I wouldn't mind higher pricing in the NPC shop.
Significantly lower the refine box prices on the NPC into something sensible - just for the normal boxes.
Add illusion refine boxes into turn in rewards - just 1 box is enough to make this work imo.
????
Profit.

Let's cut some slack for anyone new who wants to start their amazing journey on this server. 💙