And there was also the problem in older ruby patterns that sometimes it was shorter to pass over an empty spot than to go around it through some unwanted spots
123
456
789
Imagine arriving from above at 2. You really want 8 next, but you don't want anything from 1/4/7 nor from 3/6/9. 5 is empty. What you do is go 2-5-8 even though 5 doesn't have anything in it, because that costs one ruby between 2 and 8, not three.
Complicating matters slightly is the existence of the occasional ruby that you want to actually avoid having, like the old (might still be there for all I know) summoner one that prevented all your acid-based spells from working. If you have an acid-build summie, you avoid that ruby like the plague.
Now f2p 60 Xadaganian summy with 60/60/60 tailor/weaponsmith/alchemist, bleah gear, 555/555 runes
Now p2p 28 Xadaganian avenger with 20 weaponsmith
I'm on an extended break from Allods at the moment, but I'm lurking here to keep up with what's happening. From the looks of things in 5.0.02, I'm better off where I am.