Change to Alchemist's "Create Alchemist Gems" power

[Hunter]

I would like to suggest two modifications to "Create Alchemist Gems". 1) remove the mana cost, making it free like Extract Gems; 2) allow the player to specify how many gems to be used, now that mana is no longer an issue. It's fairly tiresome, especially after accumulating a significant number of gems, to convert them You have to click the power (or, more intelligently, press the hotkey), scroll down through the list, and create the alchemist gems one gem at a time. It can get tedious, to say the least, and I see no major reason why it should have a mana cost or be limited to one gem per usage. Removing the cost wouldn't really be unbalancing. I'm sure some players occasionally have no choice but to create gems in the midst of a heated battle, but for the most part, it's a leisure time activity, done when you have some free time on your hands to create and rest, create and rest. Removing the cost and the restriction on quantity would be enormously convenient for those of us who don't obsessively create them after every dungeon level or gem extraction.

[SageAcrin]

Mana cost is basically pointless and should be token at best, yeah. Being able to convert more than one at a time seems harmless, too.

[AlexanderR]

Converting several at once is fine (amount of ammo, generated from single gem, is already high enough to finish any battle / gem portal away), but mana cost should still be taken for all of them. Now you are proposing to remove cost, then you will ask to create missing gems from non-randarts on fly during fight, what's next? Extracting gems from enemies automatically upon death ?

[Hunter]

As I said, I honestly don't see the issue of creating them on the fly as a substantial one. Maybe I have a different playing style than everyone else, but with approximately 4 alchemist winners over the years and quite a few non-winners, I can count on the fingers of one hand, without using all of them, the number of times I've been faced with a situation that required me to make alchemist gems on the fly...especially after the very beginning, when you've accumulated enough gems to make the issue of tedium when converting a substantial one. Frankly, if I have 80 bloodstones, I just want to convert them all at once and be done with it. If people are regularly running short of alchemist gems, then I'm honestly befuddled at what they're doing differently from me, since the reason mine accumulate is that a half-dozen gem conversions lasts me quite a while and I usually convert several different types just for variety and choice. My feeling is that taking a turn to convert and taking a turn to wield should be sufficient to discourage people from doing it in the midst of a life-or-death struggle. Mana is easier to replace than time.

[PureQuestion]

Converting several at once is fine (amount of ammo, generated from single gem, is already high enough to finish any battle / gem portal away), but mana cost should still be taken for all of them. Now you are proposing to remove cost, then you will ask to create missing gems from non-randarts on fly during fight, what's next? Extracting gems from enemies automatically upon death ?

You're right, it would be awful if the game were more convenient.

[Mewtarthio]

Frankly, if I have 80 bloodstones, I just want to convert them all at once and be done with it.

If I have 80 bloodstones, I convert one of them to alchemist gems, then convert the rest to gold and make a trip to the Wondrous Emporium. Really, converting an entire stack of gems strikes me as horribly wasteful.