Talk:Strongbox/@comment-49.145.67.179-20150602051228/@comment-183.178.157.212-20150602131048

Bryan here.

That's really helpful info, as a matter of fact. I was always curious about the drop rates, especially of Black Boxes, so many thanks for taking this risk and undergoing this experiment.

What I personally guess from my experience is that different boxes give you a gear from a certain range of levels. I know this sounds confusing, but it's what i gathered. For instance (none of these numbers are accurate):

Steels give loot around -20 - +5 of your current level. If you are level 60, you have a chance to get weps of drop lvl 40, but also of drop level 65. This explains how, around lvl 40s, you can actually get good normal versions of weapons like Sub-lights or Hornets and such, because these weapons have a drop level of 35-42 or so. It also explains how steels can bear passable loot occasionally, but most of the time give you loot which you sell immediately

I gathered that Nantoniums give around a straight-on +40 levels. I know this sounds mad but i got my RED Mixmaster at level 56, and my 10*** RED gigavolt around level 63. I don't think Nantoniums give weapons that have a drop level actually lower than your current level--I've never been unforunate enough to endure that--but that explains the Nan-trolls: The Nantonium box is giving you loot that the promethium boxes may have already over-matched, like the promes giving a +20 loot but Nanos giving a +10 loot.

That also explains how the drop level of some BLACK titan armor is greater than 100, because nanos, giving a range of +40 lvls, will be able to drop loot from level 121 even though there is no actual level like that. This can explain the rarity of these items, as you need to be fairly lucky to get a +20 loot from a nano.

As for Black boxes, i think the drop level range is larger, something like +50. I've seen a level 56 bearing a BLACK Mixmaster.

However for all the boxes, the drop-frequency to level curve is not perfectly linear. That is to say, for a Nano, items of +10 drop more frequently than +40, and so for BLACKS as well. This explains how many people get nan-trolled and good weapons, even in Nanos, are quite rare.

Just an assumption, guys, sorry for the long post.