Watchstone

Watchstones are items that enhance the Atlas of Worlds. They are used to upgrade a region's map tiers and reveal new map bases.

All Watchstones belong to the item class Atlas Region Upgrade Item. The game developer once declared the questline Watchstones (the Watchstones that have green borders) are classified as quest items and are therefore not tradeable. However, in the item filter they are now classified as "Atlas Region Upgrade Item".

Sextants can be applied to any Watchstone to grant a bonus enchantment that gets used up as Maps in that region are activated by the Map Device.

Mechanics

The Atlas is divided into 8 regions. Each region of the Atlas has its own set of four Watchstones, each different colour corresponding to one Conqueror of the Atlas. By inserting the Watchstones into the altar of the citadel of a region, the Map Tier of that region will be increased for new Map drops (existing Maps remain at their Tier level). For example, Beach Map has tiers 1, 4, 8, 10 and 14, depending on how many Watchstones are inserted in that region (0, 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively). Unique Watchstones provide additional modifiers to the Atlas.

Sextants can be applied to Watchstones, which carry over when moving Watchstones to a different region or trading them.

The Awakening Level of the Atlas is determined by the amount of Watchstones applied to the Atlas. It is equal to the number of socketed Watchstones divided by 4, rounded down. Since there are 8 sets of Watchstones, the highest possible Awakening Level is 8 (plus an additional 1, independent of Watchstones, if the Atlas Awakened notable is allocated in The Uncharted Realms skill tree).

Craftable and unique Watchstones cannot be corrupted. Quest items in general, including the quest Watchstones, are not modifiable at all (except with Sextants in the Watchstones' case).

Note: The side panel on the left side of the Atlas screen provides a space to store Watchstones, the Watchstones stored there have no effect on the Atlas. In order for a Watchstone to affect the Atlas, it must be socketed in matching slot in a region's Watchstone altar.

Craftable Watchstones

Besides quest Watchstones, which drop from the Conquerors of the Atlas, and Unique Watchstones, which drop from Sirus, Awakener of Worlds, the Echoes of the Atlas expansion saw the introduction of craftable Watchstones, which drop from completing The Maven's Invitations.

Craftable Watchstones only come in two Rarities: Normal and Magic. They may be crafted with Currency just like any other Normal or Magic item (Orb of Transmutation, Orb of Alteration, Orb of Augmentation, Orb of Scouring, Orb of Annulment). Like flasks, they cannot drop as or be made Rare, and they cannot be Corrupted. A Normal-rarity Watchstone functions the same as a quest Watchstone, except it fits all Watchstone altar colour sockets (see the section on restrictions below), and because they are not Quest Items, craftable Watchstones may be traded freely.

Magic-rarity watchstones have between one and two Modifiers: Up to one prefix and up to one suffix. These affixes bestow bonuses only to the region the Watchstone is socketed in. It should be noted that all craftable Watchstones share the same suffix pool, regardless of their base type or region. Their prefix pool is also independent of their region, and depends solely on the 'material' in their base type name:

• Titanium Watchstones roll prefixes that correspond to Masters and their Atlas Missions.
• Platinum Watchstones give bonuses to non-Master map content (e.g. Blight, Abyss, Harvest, Essence).
• Chromatic Watchstones have prefixes that alter the Currency drops in that region, making them, for example, drop as full stacks rather than as single items.

A player would be wise to select and craft Watchstone types that maximize a region's particularities, as determined by the Atlas passive skills available and allocated in that region. For instance, if a player has chosen all three Harvest notables in the Haewark Hamlet region, they might profit the most from three or four Platinum Watchstones whose prefixes yield bonuses to Harvest. Furthermore, at least one Monsters and Chests in Areas have x% chance to drop Items with +1 to Item Level suffix modifier per region is generally recommended for a chance to get the desired item level 86 bases.

Restrictions

Unlike quest Watchstones, which must be socketed into their matching color's socket in the Watchstone altar, all craftable Watchstones are considered 'white' (similar to White sockets on equipment) and will therefore fit in any of the four slots. This allows the player to mix and match craftable Watchstones in any configuration to their heart's desire.

While they are colour-agnostic, a craftable Watchstone is instead bound to its region: A quest Watchstone can be socketed into any Watchstone altar regardless of where it was obtained, but a craftable Watchstone can only fit in one of the four slots that match its base type region.

Unlike Unique Watchstones, craftable Watchstones do not have uses that decrease upon use. Because they still provide the benefits of quest Watchstones (Awakening Level and upgrading the tiers and pool of Maps in their region), they can be seen as a direct upgrade to them. Once a craftable Watchstone for a region has been obtained, the quest Watchstone it replaces in a region's Watchstone altar may be stored in the left-side panel of the Atlas screen.

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