Exploit History Vol. 8: Using the old Refining System

In the last part of our Exploit History series we already talked about attribute enhancements using “genaddwindow”. Today we are going to recap a second severe bug that used the command.

When fusing becomes refining

With Module 2: Shadowmantle the devs fundamentally changed the way Enchantment upgrades work with the refining system we have today. Formerly you needed four Enchantments or Runestones of the same type and fuse them together. Both systems have their pros and cons, but one major disadvantage of refining was that you now had hardcoded costs in the process with Marks of Potency. Especially the lower levels got more expensive. You still needed four Rank 4s, one as main one and three to cover the refining points, to create a Rank 5, but also Lesser Mark of Potency. In similar fashion you still needed four Rank 5s to create a Rank 6, but also a Mark of Potency.

Backdoor fusing

It turned out that while refining was replacing fusing in the UI, the old system was never deactivated. Using “/genaddwindow gemfusion_window” would bring up the old system, fully functional. Especially botters were able to create Rank 7s at far lower costs than intended and sold them for profit in bunches. Module 2 launched in December 2013 and genaddwindow was fixed in July 2014. So this exploit was live for a solid seven months and majorly deformed the economy.

Exploit History: Locking Auctions – Caturday – Masterwork Nodes – Permadodge – Arcane Reservoir – Full GF Runs – Attribute Enhancement