Please be aware that the purpose of this guide is not to simply tell you which bonuses to take - there's no guide which will be able to do so accurately, due to the number of possible combinations. The goals of this guide are to explain the workings of the Netherlight Crucible and learn how to use the available community tools to create comparisons for yourself. Although it's themed toward Warriors, the concepts can be applied to any class.
What is the Netherlight Crucible, and how does it work?
The newest form of artifact customization, unlocked by questing through Krokuun and Mac'Aree in Argus.
Anshlun has written a very good guide explaining the Crucible's basic mechanics, which I recommend reading for better understanding.
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Analyzing choices
Because of exclusive pathing, there's no simple rule for evaluating Crucible choices. A strong Void trait may lead to weak Bronze choices, while a weak Light trait may lead to stronger Bronze, therefore, both tier 2 and tier 3 options must be evaluated together.
A simple analysis may tell you that prioritizing the higher ranked bonuses is better. A Crushing Blows relic with Master of Shadows and Precise Strikes will be stronger than an Exploit the Weakness relic with Shocklight and Storm of Swords. That said, once you start analyzing relics of a different ilevel, with different base traits, 4 bonus combinations per relic, multiplied by 3 relics for each weapon, the situation quickly becomes complicated.
T21 Arms
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T21 Fury
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Notes
For simplicity's sake, defensive/utility bonuses are not considered. That may come in a later update, but for now, it will be left for the user to consider based on their own criteria.
Non-thoroughput Bronze traits can appear in the Crucible, but will be left out of the below tables.
Bronze traits still have a maximum cap of 7 points (4 base + 3 relics); while the Crucible traits are random, it will not roll a Bronze trait already present on the relic itself. This means if you have three Precise Strikes relics, you will not see Precise Strikes offered in the Crucible.
Using Raidbots (the recommended method)
Simulating the Netherlight Crucible is fairly tricky at the moment, due to some awkward syntax and the large amount of possible outcomes. Luckily, our friends over at raidbots have a set up initial support for comparing Netherlight Crucible bonuses. Please be sure to read the Caveats section, as it contains important warnings.
Using the Relic Comparison Tool is simple. Import your characters data, and select the traits present in your crucible (due to the traits rolling randomly, the Tool cannot automatically do this for you). Check the box for Netherlight Fortification as appropriate, and duplicate as needed to compare different choices.
Comparison Tool example
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Using SimulationCraft (for advanced users)
Manually simulating is still possible and often better for doing mass comparisons, though the syntax is somewhat awkward. The simplest way is to use overrides to force in the relevant bonuses, using the copy function to compare choices. Keep in mind that SimulationCraft is a constantly evolving project, so some of these functions and syntax may change or break over time.
Netherlight Fortification/adjusting ilevel
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Adding Shadow and Light powers
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Overriding Artifact traits
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Creating a comparison
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TLDR: There are too many variables and combinations within the Netherlight Crucible to create an easy list of X > Y. Reference the lists provided, but understand the strength of each bonus, and using the community tools available will give you better answers.