General idea: Rarity, Heat, Forge, & UV Changes = earned UVs and encouraged Clockworks exploration.

First off, please take a look at this image I put together from various screenshots. I link to it three times in this post. I just want to show some flare before all this daunting text. Do you like this image? Keep reading.

These ideas should significantly improve the very painfully obvious issues of Heat Amps and green/blue minerals, "grinding hotspots," and the harmful effects the forge has on the game. The Forge is a rate-limiting step in a game that doesn't function well with limits, considering all the equipment we can look at but shy away from because of the grind. The Forge's implementation was hasty, felt forced, and was obviously economic jerry-rigging, leaving many things in the dust. I think OOO can design it better, and here's how I think they can do it.

The overall goal is to reduce the fundamental grind significantly for all players, while having grindier options to get "the best of the best stuff," with opportunities to potentially bypass the "best of the best grind" via crowns+luck, thus maintaining crown sinks. I am shifting the major player-limiting steps into an optional endeavor that I feel would still be incredibly enticing, thus the game and OOO prosper. There will still be requirements, but they won't feel grindy.

This post consists of three major ideas that work together. I believe that many parts of each idea (divided into subsections, i.e., 1.2, 3.1, etc.) would work well if implemented alone. I have thought deeply for a significant amount of time about these things, and have written out a large post here - I am a sucker for details and to me, this isn't a particularly long piece of writing, but for the forums and the internet in general, it is enormous. I merely wish to show the depth and passion I have put in to these thoughts. My general hope is, of course, that you all like them, and for staff to consider implementation.

If you do not like reading giant blocks of text, here is a brief summary of the ideas in this node. If one seems odd, or you really like something, read the details I have laid out before coming to a conclusion, please:

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1) Rarity Changes (Jump to: Relevant Giant Blocks of Text)

1.1) One crystal, one orb type, just use more to manage higher star gear, similar to how we used more or less energy in the past.

1.2) Change name from "Fire Crystal" to "Clockworks Crystal" and change art to be rainbow, less isolated to fire - more life force, energy themed.

1.3) Treasure Boxes no longer drop rarities. All types of rarities are able to be mined from minerals.

1.4) A new opalescent mineral Geoknights have dubbed "Soulstone" would provide orbs, and rarely, evo catalysts.

1.5) Recipes for crafting crystals/minerals from shards (a miniature crown sink).

1.6) The Forge Knight would sell crystals for crowns, and they would not be available on the depot. Orbs would remain on the depot, as would sparks of life and evo cats.

1.7) Conclusion/Goal: Obtaining crystals/orbs/sol from minerals instead of treasure boxes should encourage general Clockworks exploration and lore immersion, instead of mindlessly grinding a few key areas. The game needs crown sinks, not energy sinks.

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2) Heat Changes (Jump to: Relevant Giant Blocks of Text)

2.1) Heat now works similar to Pokemon and Effort Values. This part of the idea was partially inspired by Holy Nightmare's posts.

2.2) Every monster drops heat when defeated and has a heat drop table separate from other drops.

2.3) Every defeated monster drops specific hue(s) of heat, and this influences the UVs your item will get.

2.4) List of heat hues and a few sources

2.5) Instead of heat bars, we see quantified heat points.

2.6) Connecting hue heat, items, UV-Forge together.

2.7) Sieve mechanics - choose the hue of heat you allow to settle into your items.

Conclusion/Goal: Players will be ecouraged to explore different clockworks strata in order to heat their gear with the color(s) they want to be reflected in their UVs. Players will earn their UVs intelligently, instead of trodding through RNG. Which they can still do if they desire shortcuts, with luck.

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3) Forge and Punch/Vise Changes (Jump to: Relevant Giant Blocks of Text)

3.1) A new usable, "Mobile Forge," allows forging away from arsenal stations.

3.2) Heat amps are no longer on a timer.

3.3) The Forge no longer has chances to fail. More crystals simply means better chances at bonuses.

3.4) Your equipment can obtain UVs via the forge based on collected heat hues. Extensive explanation of interface regarding The Forge Reforged.

3.5) Punch has a new UV removal option, for various reasons.

3.6) Punch's UV rolls are on a system of elimination = no repeats, but more pricey with continued rolling. UV tickets become amazing as a result.

3.7) To balance user control of UVs, UVs are removed when gear is unbound. Vise has lower unbinding costs, and an improved interface for trading.

Conclusion/Goal: Players will view the Forge as a privelage, and happily monitor their gear's progress with it. UVs would have a lot more value, both economically and personally per player, and likely be viewed as the ultimate endeavor.
Link to Relevant Giant Blocks of Text

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1) Rarity Changes (The Giant Blocks of Text)
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1.1) I would love to see the game tie into itself more - the forge was just stuck in and felt like forced economic jerry-rigging. It didn't feel like it was part of the game's soul. I am in favor of one type of crystal/orb, just use more for higher star gear. Or you could have an item take any forge crystal, just more of a lesser type... A greater type is the mathematical equivalent of X lesser types for interface convenience. This is how fusion cores work in Warframe. Really, one crystal/orb is just the best option IMO.

1.2) Instead of using FIRE crystals, let's put a little more magic and love into it. The game totally has magic, ppl, the kats have a ton of it in their paws. Yes, fire in the forge makes sense, but let's turn it into... something more...energy themed. What's more energetic than fire? Life force. Anyway, "Fire Crystals" could be changed to "Clockworks Crystals." Their icon coloration could be a red/yellow/green/blue/purple rainbow, instead of just orange/yellows. Why?

1.3) Rarities no longer drop from treasure boxes, instead, they drop from mined minerals. Minerals come in 5 different colors. But how? I imagine the core of a mineral spire to be Cradle's Life Force (energy) + beautiful red/yellow/green/blue/purple lattice = rainbow thing of maximum potential, like a seed or stem cell, that grows or differentiates into a certain color roughly based on the stratum it "roots" in. Rarities are remnants/pieces of this wonderous core. Knights can use these traces of Cradle's life force to improve their gear, much of which is made from the stuff found in the Clockworks, so this all ties together fundamentally. To make sense with growth, a mineral will tend to drop a crystal only if it RNG pings as a small mineral, because a bigger chunk would mean the crystal has grown more internally, reducing if not replacing the core from which it grew. A quick reference:

Small chunk = 3 Crystals

Medium Chunk = 2 Crystals

Large Chunk = 1 Crystal

Shiny Chunk = 0 Crystals

Obviously, mineral color doesn't factor into these results.

Difficult to be disappointed with that! Yes, crystals won't drop in clusters of 3 all the time, because my forge proposal does not follow the same convenient "100% math = factor of 3" as our current forge does. Rarities from minerals results in a very steady collection rate of crystals due to their predictable appearances, and encourages players to mine them, even if they don't have a sprite. But what about the other rarities?

1.4) Minerals influenced stratum, stratum influenced and continues to influence minerals...most of the time...Occasionally, you will encounter a clear, whitish, faintly opalescent mineral spire instead of Crimsonite/Luminite/Valestone/Moonstone/Dark Matter. These minerals grew to their own identity, ignoring the influence of the stratum they're in. These spires shed a pale energy-blue mist (wink) upwards. Geoknights have dubbed it Soulstone.

Mining Soulstone takes 6 hits, with each hit flaking off 1-3 shards of a color, in rainbow order per hit (first hit is red, second yellow, yep). The final sixth hit has 3 different drop sets (never dropping a chunk for your back). A spark of life is always obtained from Soulstone on the sixth hit, along with:

1) An orb

2) More rarely, they will drop three orbs, they rooted together for some reason.

3) Extremely rarely, they will drop an Evo Catalyst - tier dependent, even if we do the "one type of crystal/orb, just use more for higher star gear" thing.

Because the orb/catalyst form of rarity is near perfection, they do not grow as other mineral cores do, resulting in Soulstone. If you find a Soulstone spire, be sure to invite your friends before mining it (thus encouraging team play, hurray)! These spires will only ever show up in the arcade, never in rank missions. One will always show up in The Sanctuary. I figure this is fine, with that Shadow Key cost.

All standard spires, in their mysterious mineral magesty, have a tiny chance of dropping a Spark of Life when mined. They will always drop 3 shard materials that match their color (one is flaked off per mining hit), and of course the X-size chunk we carry on our backs.

Mineral drops would be uniform for the party (as they are with chunks), so if a mineral drops a forge crystal, everyone will get one, as long as they go pick it up of course.

1.5) Players could have the option to "crunch" mineral shards to make a forge crystal or a solid mineral. I'd say 20 of each shard color (100 total shards) combines to make one crystal, if we get rid of the star-level-rarity species, if not, well then, more shards for higher star crystals. Our current crystal recipes would just turn into (a) crunching recipe(s). Mineral recipes would take only one shard color, of course. We'd continue to use the standard alchemy machine to crunch.

1.6) Let the Forge Knight sell crystals in exchange for crowns. He can take those Dim and Cracked fire crystals out of Vatel's hands too. If OOO ever does the "one crystal one orb, just more of them" idea, this vendor system would continue to work. Also, put the Forge Knight in the Rank 9-4 HoH mission celebration. Orbs would remain on the depot, as would sparks of life and evo cats.

The game needs more crown sinks, fewer energy sinks. We all saw how badly cyber monday Depot flash sales went for the market. The economy is strangling itself. New and old players alike see the energy market today and weep, and are forced to face merciless RNG to farm for orbs in levels they don't want to play because the star level vs. stratum is so poorly done - hence my enthusiasm for "one type of crystal/orb, just use more for higher star gear." OOO likely wanted money in some way to compensate for free elevators (best decision EVER, no sarcasm), so we have crystals for energy in the depot and high forging conditions. Honestly, this is hurting the game more than helping it. Bottlenecking effects of the forge might as well be an elevator fee, limiting players in a world that is meant to be enjoyed without limit (no elevator fees! WOO), but worse. Especially with that annoying "you can forge something" HUD star.

Since you can buy energy and exchange it for crowns, players will likely still put real money into the game to buy crystals via this method (not to mention the biweekly promotion purchases). We can currently do this to get crystals from auction house, but anyone with a brain will look at those prices and realize they can just buy what they need from the depot and sell the extra for profit on the AH to people who don't realize they can just buy what they need from the depot and sell the extra for profit on the AH. Ah, the beauty of single box drops mixing with must-be-packs-o-three on the depot!

1.7) Conclusion:
Won't restricting rarities in this way be awful? Won't mining minerals be worse than popping boxes? Well, yes and no. I want to change the forge and heating as well, but if those remain as they are, this would be fine! Minerals are slower to pop than boxes, but they are a staple in almost all levels, predictable. The player can steadily earn what they need anywhere in the Clockworks, while feeding their ravenous sprites and collecting a variety of materials and crowns, instead of feeling forced to play 1-2 missions per tier over and over and missing out on other things they need to progress in other ways.

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2) Heat Changes (The Giant Blocks of Text)
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2.1) This part of the idea is extremely similar to Pokemon and Effort Values. Your equipment would essentially "learn" from experiences, and is best at what it practices - via heat absorption, resulting in "unique" variation/specialization in usage. Hue Heat of course manifests differently if the item that collected it is a shield/armor/helmet/weapon.

2.2) Monsters will always drop heat when defeated, even respawning monsters such as minis. Heat is not a currency and "cheating" at a spawn point with a macro wouldn't be the most devastating thing, especially since you can only get so much heat before you must forge. Dropped heat is in a completely separate table from crowns and materials.

2.3) Each monster type drops a "hue", or color, of heat relevant to its status and and/or monster family type. To me, heat is essentially a form of life force, and as such, retains some fundamental information about that creature/construct/area, and this information is absorbed into your equipment = experience. For example, fiends such as Trojans would drop blue heat embers. Your item(s) will collect any color of dropped heat to level. Any one color is not more valuable than others in terms of collecting enough to level up.

Status-influenced monsters will drop 50% status-hued heat, 25% monster family heat, and 25% "normal" heat. Players can fairly accurately predict the kind of heat they'll get by studying gate icons. You will still have to pay attention, unless you don't care or apply a sieve :)

2.4) I'm aware some monsters have mixed damage types (such as Seerus with shadow), this follows master patterns:

Status Hues:

Weapons: no UV influence (if we had %infliction chance&intensity UVs, this would apply)

Armor/Helm/Shield: Increased STATUS resistance

List of Heat Ember Colors for Status Hues:

Embers will shed tiny special effects to make them stand out from monster family hues.

Normal - red, matches the "normal" item statistics icon of red sword/shield, standard "heat"

Curse - Reddish-Pink, sheds faint dark mist (similar to Baleful aura) - UFSC carnavons are a good source

Fire - Blazing red, sheds small embers

Freeze - White/pale blue, faint snowflakes

Poison - Green, faintly bubbly

Shock - Blue, faintly sparky

Stun - yellow, sheds faint stars. Dropped by all non-status monsters as their "status" heat.

Sleep - yeah, them sleeping slooms. Would shed faint Zzzs if we could find and slay them.

Monster Family Hues:

Weapons: Increased DMG vs. FAMILY

Armor/Helm/Shield: Increased MAJORITY FAMILY DMG TYPE resistance (example: undead = shadow)

List of Heat Ember Colors for Monster Family Hues:

Monster heat ember colors do not shed special effects, helping to differentiate them from status.

Beast - Bright Yellow (same as stun but without the star effects)

Construct - Brown

Fiend - Dark Blue

Gremlin - Orange

Slime - Bright Pink (totally different from curse)

Undead - Grey

Clockworks Hues:

Charge Time Reduction = pale golden (matches the sunny glowing colors of a charged weapon).

Attack Speed Increase = white (to match the hourglass you see with weapon stats)

Both pale golden & white heat embers are interpreted as normal defense if absorbed by armor, helmet, or shield.

This type of heat only drops from green and red treasure boxes. As you can imagine, the heating process would be very slow compared to all other hues, except perhaps curse, which would likely be very slow. These are uniform, highly desired UVs after all. Completing danger missions would be incredibly rewarding in this respect.

Heat on the ground is very special, and often pertains to something rare. For example, the couple heat embers on the ground in graveyards would be for Curse (even in Tier 1).

2.5) The item's heat bar will be replaced by a simple #points out of X (X being the next level, or internal cap), while the forge interface will show the collection splits with numbers that add up in a sensible manner.

Points are quantified heat embers, larger/small embers are worth more/fewer points. You otherwise cannot quantify ember values visually, their general appearance is just that - aesthetic. From level x to x, for ???? heat points, of any hue... nevermind, this math is relatively meaningless at this point, so I won't post it - just know it of course takes more heat points to reach each level cap, per level, for higher star gear. It's hard to teach an old dog new tricks.

2.6) Importantly, an item will still gain heat after level 10 (up to a cap, until it's forged, which of course resets the points to 0) - but only if nothing else is taking heat. The bonuses (such as forge box) can trigger when forging here too. Your equipment is "intelligent," and always trying to protect you, perform best for you. To do so, it must learn from the environment. So it takes in heat, and can still be forged once it collects enough heat, even after level 10. This is for the forge + UV mechanic.

2.7) Sieve:

To aid in the heat collection process, there must be a new usable item called a Sieve. A sieve will only allow heat to be absorbed (when getting on an elevator) if that color can make it through the Sieve. A sieve will expire after 10 "heat sessions," = getting onto an elevator that allows heat to settle into your item(s). In exchange for a relatively slower heating process, you get the exact heat you want without worrying about the results in the Forge.
Sieves can be found from treasure boxes, traded for 3 Forge/3 Grim/3 Primal sparks at Brinks (9 total), or bought from the Forge Knight for several crowns.

EDIT: (A suggestion from Vanaduke-Destroyer): more expensive versions of sieves that have more uses (such as 20/30/40/50) could easily be available, costing less than buying 2 or 3 or 4 or 5 of a sieve version with lesser uses (say, buying a 20 would be 20,000 crowns, while buying two 10s would be 24,000 crowns because each costs 12,000 crowns, for example), rewarding the player for planning ahead as well as providing convenience for players who love hue heat, but don't want to pay attention to what's absorbed from dynamic battlefields they may seek.

Sieves can only be activated via the Forge interface (remember, Mobile Forge usable!) Select the type of heat you want to collect in the interface, and press the "Apply Sieve" button. This button is greyed out until you obtain a sieve, so players know it exists. Wallah, you only collect that type of heat for that item. Sieves cannot be used directly out of the arsenal for this reason, because each applies to one item = needs the forge interface. A mousehover over a Sieve in your arsenal will say "use in Forge interface." The Forge Interface will tell you how many sessions remain for that sieve, and which hue you applied the sieve to.

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3) Forge and Punch/Vise Changes (The Giant Blocks of Text)
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I would much prefer to have "slottable" aspects similar to the mods in Warframe or socketables in Torchlight regarding UVs, but here's something that fits into the forge, and maintains the idea that "the same type of thing can be made differently, and be worse/better than average as a result = unique." Right, everyone's CTR UV on Blitz is a "unique" variant. Mhm. Yeah. Right. Just pretend the process of getting the same result was somehow unique when you pressed that button. Some cakes are undercooked, some burn. Same recipe/instructions.

3.1) A new usable: Mobile Forge. One time use each. Available from the Forge Knight for crowns. Using the Mobile Forge pops out an anvil granting access to the Forge interface. Each player in the squad has access to it, and can forge as many items as they are able. Cannot be used in Haven, anywhere the player already has access to their arsenal, or if a forge has already been used that level, because duh ( I don't think you'd want to be silly and use one again even if it's blocked by a party button gate later). Pop out a Mobile Forge in the middle of FSC and have a cup of tea, or in any level where you rushed forward and forgot to forge. FYI for those wondering, yes, you can use usables anywhere. I've opened boxes in front of Vanaduke, and thrown confetti in the middle of a tunnel. For fun.

3.2) Heat amps are now based on heat session uses instead of a timer. If no items are taking heat, then the amp does not register getting on an elevator as a use. A "use" registers when the player gets on an elevator, AND if any item hits its heat point cap. Thus you can be sure to get solid use out of an amp, on your own time, no pressure, and no forced "heat hotspot" bias.

3.3) The forge must still be used to level up items, but the crystal fees are vastly cheeper than they currently are for the fundamental equipment leveling progress. There is no chance for level-up failure. The number needed for each level still increases and is also linked with star level. Players will have the option to just "get it done" for the least number of crystals, and this will be a reasonable amount. More crystals up the chances of bonuses such as the Forge Prize Box. Tons of crystals will almost surely get you the best bonuses. You can only forge when the item is at maximum heat capacity for that level (as it currently works now).

3.4) Hued Heat, UVs, and the Forge:

The Forge would also be used to try and get UVs on a piece of equipment without Punch, isolated from the crafting process as well as star level. You are forging an item in order to make it better, right? For the tier you want.

So, your item is brimming with hued heat. How does this translate into a UV? How do we know the level (low, med, high, very high, max?) Open the Forge Interface and...

Step 1: select UV button (the level is revealed in "possible bonuses")

Step 2: select conditions (# of crystals - see how this influences X% and thus your decision)

Step 3: double check your hue heat, apply sieve if needed/desired

Step 4: press Forge!

Yes, it would help to have a visual, wouldn't it? Take a gander at this image I put together. Please ignore the pixel shading, I stink at it. In this scenario, the player has applied a Sieve for Constructs, going for a UV on their Warhammer, and has collected enough heat points (heat points = ???? in this image, idk what's fair) to forge, but not enough crystals to forge under MAX! and "Best" conditions. Not the most intelligent investment in my opinion, but whatever!

The round grey swirly buttons around the ring, from top, counterclockwise: max, no uv, low, med, high, very high.

The three familiar "crystal" buttons in a row at the bottom: increase the number of crystals you use for better bonuses. There is 0 chance for level-up failure. Players can pay a minimal amount to just "get it done," which of course offers no bonuses other than timely progression. They can select "No UV" but "Best" conditions for other bonuses such as the Box and a Double Level Up. Double Level up can only occur if "No UV" is chosen, replacing the "chance for unique variant" bonus. This is because the player's desire is VERY clear if they aren't manipulating UVs - they just want to get it done!

The type of UV the item gets is determined by the highest quantity of hue heat the item has absorbed, and the UV level is determined by those roundswirly buttons. Higher UV levels = more crystals. There is plenty of room for future new UV possibilities with the vertical scrolling "Hued Heat" window. THIS UV SYSTEM IS ISOLATED FROM STAR LEVEL REGARDING CRYSTAL COST - this cost is added on top of the cost of the forge condition you choose for that item's level-up and follows a different mathematical pattern. This is due to crafting-up and "making PvP tiers affordable" reasons.

Heat bonus has been replaced by a miniature heat amp, to be activated or sold as desired. Lasts 5 hours/X uses (see section 3.2).

I've simplified the UV level restrictions, so all items can have VH or Max, instead of the weapons vs. defenses situation we currently have - I imagine in the future we'd have CTR penalties, so higher-than-VH-weapon-UVs+levelup CTR would help cancel. Smarter players will know not to just go straight for MAX all the time, especially if they read wiki (wink).

The "enhancement" section after level 10 will only have something show up if you have enough crystals to guarantee results. It will say "Gain a NAME OF UV."

Thus we have lots of bonuses wrapped up with more crystals, all while progressing - just use more crystals, or fewer, as you desire. No more harsh bottlenecking, unless you want to strangle yourself for bonuses :D

For levels 1-10, the odds of getting a UV of the button-level you select increases (because the item gets better and better at "learning"), depending on the 1st-2nd-3rd crystal button selected. Of course, this doesn't apply if you've selected "no UV," and you can always go for those other bonuses (box!) Here is where you can gamble for less, or work more for solid results. Obviously, if you're heating a piece with 3UVs, the forge won't let you select anything except "no uv" for the UV swirlybuttons. AGAIN, This math is the same no matter the item's star level (UVs are retained with upgrading, after all):

1-2: 1-5-10%

2-3: 5-10-20%

3-4: 10-20-30%

4-5: 20-30-40%

5-6: 30-40-50%

6-7: 40-50-60%

7-8: 50-60-70%

8-9: 60-70-80%

9-10: 70-80-90%

10+: 80-90-100%

For level 10+: If the item already has 1 UV, the number of crystals needed to forge under any conditions doubles. 3 UVs from 2? It triples. This applies for each UV-level button, so a 100% triple max is of course the most expensive. I really want to emphasize this - forging after level 10 for UVs would take a very, very large amount of crystals. It will not be easy or something you can do in a few hours. Think more around...a few weeks. A month or more for the second, and even longer for the third. Remember, you wouldn't be forging after level 10 if you don't care about UVs.

Thus players can generally ignore the UV system, and heat their gear for the innate properties, while still having okay chances for the item to develop a low UV based on what it's learning, unless of course the player chooses no UV. Which they might want to do if they're ignoring the specificity of the heat they collect, simply gaining heat points for the sake of levelling.

Remember, your equipment is "intelligent," so it will completely ignore the "minority heat," even if the highest hue only "wins" by a single point, and it is always learning from the hues it takes in. It just figures that's what you want! Because it is! If you somehow tie up points, then all you have to do is apply a sieve, and the equipment will choose that UV. Or you can let it be random between the tie(s) if you want. The no uv button is there as the cheapest crystal option, and tells your equipment to ignore the hue heat it's absorbed. It will do so, begrudgingly. After all, some players just want to get it done for simple/niche loadouts.

3.5) If you want to remove a UV you don't want (perhaps a craft or from a trade - who wants construct low on a flourish?!), and don't want to deal with more crystal prices for more UVs, but don't want to craft that item up for PvP reasons/unbind it, Punch will have a new tab in his interface for UV reduction. This process is free, similar to how Bechamel takes accessories off to free up a slot, also considers that Punch probably "knows" what default equipment is like without the UVs. You can choose to remove 1, 2, or 3 UVs, and pick which ones to remove of course.

3.6) Punch will not roll a UV that an item has already received, allowing you to trod through RNG but eventually get what you want via system of ellimination, for likely many, many crowns - Punch's prices would increase by 10% of the previous price for every other roll on the same item (items that you've not punched yet are not affected by streaks until you start Punching them). Streaks reset after a week, when the item has had time to recover from whatever Punch does to it. Thus players can operate within a "luck budget" as time goes on. Locking variants would also increase the price significantly. With this new pricing in mind, I estimate that, for a single UV roll, if you don't get the UV you want until the very last possible UV because Punch despises your very soul, then that would cost an unfathomably horrible amount, with 2 and 3 simultaneous being in the realm of the impossible costs. Thus we encourage the forge system and UV tickets become essentially priceless (because you can use a 1/2/3 ticket to completely bypass the Punch roll cost, even in the middle/near the end of a streak), no longer angering players when they get UV tix from prize boxes. I'm giggling about the shard bomb ticket incident, and what that would mean with these mechanics...

3.7) I want to emphasize that my forge process guarantees the UVs you want, if and only if you have enough crystals and plan ahead. The only way to get this precision is with patience and active gameplay. You cannot buy results from other players... because to balance this process, and make it more "unique," UVs will be removed if an item is unbound. You can't get forge-style UVs without heating, and heat level is reset when an item is unbound. The only tradable UVs, therefore, are those that are luckily obtained from crafting three-star and below items, Punch, and in a roudabout way, UV tickets. To make this change more "fair," OOO would have to make a VERY clear announcement about "selling any UVed items that are bound right now if you want to, before this change." The logic behind this: your experience in the Clockworks, how you react, what you learn, are cumulative, unique learning processes that are reflected in your gear. If you strip your equipment from your knight, it suffers the loss of your soul, becoming nothing but a standard garment that anyone could craft from junk. To compensate for this seemingly horrendous penalty is: a lower unbinding fee at Vise, (let's improve Vise's interface too, a HUGE AND OBVIOUS warning about resetting the UVs and heat level with the unbind screen, and user control of variants.

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Master Conclusion:

Thus we have a reason to explore the clockworks. Rainbows everywhere, in the heat hues, in the rarities. Patience and hard work is rewarded, while not required. Punch still has a major function as a source of tradable UVs and a UV remover. Players can ignore this system alltogether, expanding their arsenal with niche items, instead of being blocked by the forge at every moment. Heat Amps and Green/Blue minerals feel less useless. We have a significant crown sink that will help the economy, thus allowing more players to purchase more orbs at reasonable prices thus crafting more gear for more exploration. Let's make Spiral Knights an upward spiral, OOO!