Good to know~ I'll amend that lmao

I don't really have much to add, but am supporting all the grievances and suggestions-I've only beaten him 2x and have 2 rikki, 2 staffs, and 1 companion to show for it. I've gotten incredibly lucky it seems. But I can definitely see why it's discouraging to have it all based on rng with low rates.
I'm sure my luck will run out now tho lol- I do love Scath's idea of having other LG themes as a drop and the pity system Rai mentioned
I'm with Fox rn tho, I personally love grindy games as well but the drops are really low for the things nearly everyone wants to collect. I get the not wanting to flood the market or whatever, but it shouldn't have to be a near nonexistence drop rate to prevent that.

edit to add, just cleared for 3rd time and got this
so yeah my luck definitely ran out Dx

Going to agree with pretty much every comment before mine. I've only cleared up to most of the third temple, and really not encouraged to rush through trying to clear more. I'm already struggling to keep my tokens and materials from maxing out - I cannot imagine how irritating it is to get ones when you've already maxed out all your buildings.

I've watched Fox beat Vexxar on stream twice now, and it does not look like a very fun battle to do endlessly. It's 300+ turns, and requires a TON of grinding to be able to beat it. That grinding also comes with a pretty solid gold price - on gear upgrades and ore smelting, on building upgrades, and potentially on things like ent flasks. I already put off upgrading gear/buildings as long as I can because I dislike dumping my gold into it, so finding out that even if I *do* the endgame content isn't rewarding, that's pretty discouraging. (I do understand that the LG is a gold sink, and I do know that the game needs these gold sinks; my dislike is not a lack of understanding).

I think a pity system would be a great idea, but I also feel the base chance should be higher in the first place. Maybe have it decrease after someone wins x number of rikkis, or decrease it once more of the site can beat Vexxar or something, but as it stands having it so low just feels insulting to those who put in the effort to reach endgame content.

I know a lot of people who really, really dislike the grove, or the temple in particular. And the reason they dislike it is because it requires so much grinding for so little reward. Grind for materials, grind for ranks, grind for gold for upgrades, grind for gear, grind for PoTA, grind, grind, grind. I'm fine with grinding - I personally, have 0 life /j. But it gets incredibly tedious when it's grinding *for the sake of grinding*. Oh, you managed to spend all the gold and materials and ground until you could beat Vexxar? Here's some building materials you can't use, and if you sell them for record tokens, you'll max those out because you have nothing left to spend them on. Not particularly encouraging.

To emphasize what Fox said - I love this game. I love my rikkis, I love a lot of the different mechanics, I love the fests, etc. But I'll also freely admit that it has a lot of problems - and I don't mean just stuff that needs revamping or updating. The sheer amount of grinding you have to do, for incredibly small rewards - or NO rewards due to RNG - is absolutely a major one of those problems.

i agree with the sentiment here.

grinding out festivals/events and the lost grove is incredibly time consuming and, while sometimes it feels fun, it doesn't give much beyond a sense of accomplishment that diminishes over time.

this is something that was brought up not too long ago with Nurture Boards during festivals; there is no real incentive to go for it when compared to Battle Boards. you get no resources beyond maybe a few hundred tokens (and if you're lucky, an essence or two) after 6+ hours of activity and it is practically impossible to get one of the top ranks without dedicating 8+ hours (many immediately after rollover) each day until the contests end. you are guaranteed to get more by doing something else.

drop rates for most things are definitely quite low (coming from someone who doesn't normally want things, and therefore doesn't pay much attention), even with lots of people either entirely skipping events and selling off unneeded supplies, its difficult to get everything you need during a festival even if you have the money. with catalysts, this was (i assume) compensated for with the system the Winter Festival uses which allows you to buy catalysts with melted dust--if it isn't already, systems like that should be planned for every other Festival.

i'm largely repeating what other people have said, but:
there are systems around the site that already work with a "Pity System": there are the festival shops where you can buy catalysts and resources to grow them if you don't get them in drops. there are Peerless Avatar Tokens for items you can't get in any other way. the Lost Grove itself has this system where you can exchange materials to allow for people to make it through easier (even if it becomes useless later on). i'd imagine it wouldn't be too different to have this same kind of system for any number of other things; including rare drops from Vexx (or any other bosses) or Themed Eggs from the different drop tables (mentioned in a previous response). for festivals, with every avatar item you can achieve through grinding--i could understand leaving things that come exclusively from one part not being included, but ideally everything would be available with a cost to give people a chance.

it could be locked behind a progression wall like Ent Flasks and upgrades for the Barracks--Maybe you have to beat Vexx first to get access to that Tier of rewards and each time you beat him, you get a credit that you can save to buy a reward you can't seem to get. that kind of system would still require the massive amounts of grinding and there could still be low drop rates, but there would be a reward at the end.

i doubt any changes can/will be made to Festivals/Events and the Lost Grove (it is only temporary after all) in the near future, but please consider making a system that works on more than just luck.
and if any of these things are planned, please tell us so those of us who aren't sure if we want to keep up know there is a reason to keep going. even tentative plans are better than not knowing what we can look forward to.

As a new player I've also found the drop rates disappointing. I'm finishing zone three and i don't think I've found a *single* item that isn't battling related, just gear, potions, XP orbs.

I'd have expected by now to have gained some items related to the breeding mechanics: a creation essence, a philter, even a pet trap. Not even a freakin' one time use GENETIC SCANNER OR KIT? Or a single avatar item that isn't a plot reward??

Right now I'm starting to wonder what I'm even playing the battling game for, and just assuming I'm preparing for when there's actual drops during the festivals.

I'd like to chime in on this discussion. I agree with the rest of the Vexxar vanquishers here.
I first beat Vexxar originally towards the end of November last year, so going on 4 months now. I currently have 9 of the Ferrikkis - 1 of which was guaranteed first clear, plus 1 bonus for being first. Other than those two, that leaves 7. RNG has been kind in terms of which themed as I have gotten one of each.

Krin has said the lowest drop rate is the rikki with a 1/4 chance. I will say however there have been 3+ weeks in a row where I have done Vexxar and only gotten a quintessence, and that can make anyone feel a bit gutted.

It is a long battle even with everything maxed and having the correct supplies, and that is if everything goes smoothly from the beginning of the battle. If it doesn't it takes more supplies to look back and attempt again.

I'm all for some sort of pity system being implemented if we can in regards to drops. Not sure how you would do it but I'd definitely be willing to support it.