The way percentages are used in this game is not always intuitive.
Twenty percent of one hundred is not always twenty.
If you have your own business and need to raise prices ten percent, you should not multiply by 1.1, you should divide by 0.9!
That is a ten percent markup, and two different ways to do it. Think politicians or journalists, technically correct but misleading.
An excellent example of this obfuscation of calculations is with finding better equipment. A ten percent boost to find better equipment does not mean that you will get a good piece every ten times you try. All it means is that there is a slightly better chance you will not get the worst piece each time.
OK, let me expand on that: I hit a robber baron tower level twenty or so. I am making these numbers up, but they are close to the actuals, just have not done the calculations yet, but anyway… In addition to some wood and stone and coins, I will get either a gem, piece of equipment or time skip. If I get equipment, the get better equipment bonus comes into play. But it is not what you think.
With no bonus, the equipment I get will be something like:| Legendary | 0.2% |
| Epic | 1.2% |
| Rare | 98.6% |
| Legendary | 0.4% |
| Epic | 2.4% |
| Rare | 97.2% |
And the real pisser is that the benefits of the equipment you get is completely random.
The god piece (melee bonus, range bonus) is just as likely as something completely useless (find better equipment, cause more fires, destroy buildings) It is all random, no matter what.