Why a personal spreadsheet outperforms a content creator's guide

A guide describes someone else's luck. A spreadsheet describes yours, and that difference matters because drop rates are only useful when compared with what you actually received.

Quick answer

• Log every drop with name.
• Add a column for whether you actually used the item.
• Sort by duplicates; the items you keep receiving are the ones to build around.

Why this keeps happening

Guides compress data into recommendations, which removes the variance that decides whether the advice applies to you. A build that works on average can be wrong for your specific account.

The second advantage is memory. Players misremember what they have, and a list corrects that without argument.

What to do, in order

1. Log every drop with name, date and source for two weeks before changing anything.
2. Add a column for whether you actually used the item.
3. Sort by duplicates; the items you keep receiving are the ones to build around.
4. Compare your drop rate with the published rate, and note the gap.
5. Delete the columns you never read after a month.
6. Review monthly, not daily.

How to measure it

Items used divided by items received is the measure. A low ratio means you are collecting rather than building, which is a different game.

Mistakes that undo the work

• Logging everything and reading nothing.
• Building around a guide's best item that you do not own.
• Updating the sheet daily instead of monthly.

Frequently asked

Read next

• Boss Checklist: Turning a Loss Into a To-Do List
• Screenshots as Evidence: Documenting Bugs and Routes

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