Just like crafting any troop/weapon in the Soul Forge, it will not consume troops used as a crafting component.
I would absolutely NOT ascend The Devil until after you have crafted the mythic weapon out of caution. That said, the official post says multiple Battlecrashers show up each day, diminishing in frequency as battles are fought until the next day’s reset. Assuming the player is diligent and gets two copies a day, that ends up being 14 copies for the week, more than enough to craft the weapon and ascend The Devil. Similarly, it’s stated in the post that The Devil will appear in The Vault drop tables a few weeks after the Battlecrasher event is over, so more copies can be gotten later as well.
EDIT: But I’d still prioritize crafting the weapon first before ascending just as a good practice.
Thanks @ctenn2ls : could you or any other beta tester clarify whether the Devil drops 100% of the time from Flesh Horror, or some other percentage? Any estimates?
EDIT to say I’ve encountered 3 Keepers of Souls since — who knows what the relative occurrence rates are for these guys
EDIT 2 to say it was 5 Keepers before getting my second one, this time in PVP.
Half hour for the first two makes me pretty happy, and the weapon’s crafting recipe seems well within reach for most, so very pleased overall so far!
(Necessary caveat of course that I still think the Event Chest debacle with Arachnean Weaver was handled very poorly, and that it’s still not too late to make things right for those affected)
I miss the days when Sirrian would explain new things clearly. Now it’s just vague instructions and it’s up to us to figure out exactly how things work.
My comment was based off a previous beta comment.
But now I look forward to someone posting 3 copies of the devil at anytime within the next 22 hours or so.