Myths and Misinformation

Perfect World isn't so perfect. Much like the real world, there are myths and misinformation that are spread unwittingly from one person to another like a virus that causes stupidity. This page is the cure.

See the "In short" bit in each section if you just want to skip to the conclusion.

Crit arrow

GM Quote on using crit arrows: "This 'trick' doesn't actually work, so no, you won't get banned for it." - Surtur

There are some arrows that have a 1% crit bonus. Some people have assumed that this is a character buff because it affects what your stats show, rather than a property of the arrow when fired, and thus have equipped "crit arrows" in order to increase their critical hit rate. However, this does not work.

The "crit arrow" has been tested numerous times, and when a large objective sample has been used, the difference between having one equipped or not has never been statistically significant.

If this trick did work, you would be utilizing an unauthorized exploit to get an advantage in the game, which is bannable under the Terms of Service agreement you made when signing up to play the game.

In short: Yes, equipping a "crit arrow" will appear to increase your stats, but it will only actually increase your crit rate when firing the arrows.

For more, see these PWI forum threads:
+1% Crit Arrow Myth
1% Crit Arrow Against Rules?

Drop Rate Myths

On how to get more mold drops: "my best way is to....kill the boss....hundreds of times..." - MagicHamsta (of Lost City)

Some people believe that equipping the "Bless Boxes" you get in most instanced dungeons will harm your drop rate. Some believe the same thing about picking up mob drops. Stranger still, some believe that using Pumpkin Head pills and the like will improve your drop rate. None of this is true.

The only thing that is known to affect drop rates is your level or the level of people in your party. If you are no more than two levels higher than the mob that you are fighting, then you will get the normal drop rate.

This is the source of another myth: having a low level in your party will boost your drop rate. This is also usually false. The drop rate will never improve over the baseline, so if your party is fighting mobs that are their level or higher, then adding a low level will not increase the drop rate. However, if your party is fighting mobs that are 3 or more levels below them, this might work, assuming that the party level for drops is determined by the average level, and not the highest level member (AFAIK this is untested.)

For more information on drop rates, see here:
Perfect World Database - How drop rate is calculated

The Perfect World Database site also lists the drop rates for most items from most mobs, and is reasonably (but not completely) accurate. Be sure that "/pwi/" is in the URL path when using that site to get the PWI information (click the American flag if it is missing from the URL path).

In short: If you aren't equipping your Bless Box you're just gimping your character, and if you aren't picking up drops then you're needlessly throwing money away. The best way to improve your drop rate is for you or your party to be no more than two levels higher than the mobs that you're fighting.

Random Drop Distribution

"If everyone got an equal share of the loot every time, that would actually be evidence that it wasn't random." - Solandri (of Heaven's Tear)

Some people believe that the "Random" drop distribution in squads isn't random. There are various and conflicting myths regarding who supposedly tends to get a better drop rate in squads, but inevitably the person claiming this believes their character is the one getting shafted.

The truth is, there is no statistical evidence that the distribution rate is anything other than random. Keep in mind that if you are in a full squad of six people, that you should only get around 16.666...% of drops on average if the distribution rate is random. When 5 out of 6 times other people are getting the drops instead of you, it's easy to feel slighted, however that is what a random distribution will look like in a six person squad.

It should also be noted that you will tend to remember times where you got few or no drops, and forget times when you got a completely average number of drops. This bias in recall may also make you believe that you are getting a worse drop ratio than you really are.

Also, random distribution really does mean a random distribution, not an even distribution. Someone could randomly get all drops, the same way you could randomly flip heads ten times in a row. It's unlikely, but certainly not impossible. Still, in the long run, it should all average out.

However, a word of warning, if you are in a party with a "Free" drop distribution, then whomever picks up the drops is the one who gets them. Be sure to pay attention when accepting a squad invite whether the squad is in "Free" or "Random" distribution mode. Once you have accepted the invite there is no way to tell what mode you are in.

In short: Random drop distribution really is random, even when it doesn't feel that way.

Elemental Sharding for Magic Weapons

Using elemental shards on magic weapons is pointless, because they only affect your physical attacks, not your magical attacks.

The elemental shards are the Alabaster, Aquamarine, Amethyst, Ruby, and Topaz shards, which add metal, wood, water, fire, and earth melee damage respectively to weapons or resistance to those elements on any other gear. A Shabby Alabaster Shard provides +6 Metal Attack, for example, while a Shabby Sapphire Shard only provides +3 Magic Attack, so some assume that "+6 is better than +3." However, since that bonus only affects melee attacks, you are actually doing less damage with the Alabaster Shards, since you probably aren't doing melee attacks with a magic weapon.

This also goes for the wizard buff Frostblade, which adds water damage to your physical attacks. (Yeah, kind of a silly buff for a wizard, since they can't take advantage of it themselves.)

In short: If you're sharding a magic weapon, only use sapphires for magic attack bonuses or the other rarer gems for channeling bonuses and the like, otherwise you're just wasting your money.

Refining Odds Myths

On refining misinformation: "There are people who swear by certain techniques, certainly, but if you look at any human endeavor that involves gambling the actual facts of probability are going to end up buried beneath piles of superstitions. It's just human nature." - WarrenWolfy (of Sanctuary)

Some believe that refining gear at certain locations, times of day, or after performing certain rituals will improve the odds of successfully refining gear. This appears to be false in all cases.

This myth is worsened by the fact that the NPC Duke Blacke spreads rumors about certain places giving you better refining odds for certain levels. However, some testing of these rumors have shown no improvement over the normal odds.

The only things that are known to affect your odds of refining are:

1. The level of the refine.
2. The items consumed when refining: Dragon Orbs, Tienkang Stones, and Tisha Stones.

Dragon Orbs will give you a 100% success rate, provided that the refine level is not above the level of the orb that you are using. The other refining rates have been obtained by a large number of tests by players. For specific numbers see the Refining Without Dragon Orbs section of the refining page.

In short: Your odds of successfully refining gear is only affected by the items you use to refine your gear and the level of refinement.

For more information see the definitive thread on refining:
Refining for cheap