Must forge items Options

[Mongerman]

Thought I'd start a thread discussing must forge items introduced by IA, so new players can decide where to spend their precious gold on.

Must forge items

1. Boots of impr haste - With belm in off hand, and gauntlets of extraordinary spec, its like having permanent GWW activated! Whats not to like? With these boots, you are free to take multiple critical strikes.

2. Memory of the Apprenti - 3 extra spells per level. With specialist class, thats 4 extra spells per level. You could stand forever in the midst of the most powerfull melee monsters and emerge without a stratch.

3. Holy avenger - When multiple RoR still dont work, never fret, holy avenger is here! Combine with time trap and a WW for extra effectiveness.

4. Improved Cat Figurine - Greater restoration on steriods, without exhausting the user. Enough said.

I havent gotten around to forging more weapons yet,so no opinions there for now.

[Sikret]

News about items in IA v4.3:

(I) Usabilities:

1- Boots of Improved Haste will be usable only by rangers (rangers are scouts); however, if you upgrade the boots one step further to "Boots of Agility" (see the items file) then it will become usable by all (except monks) again.

2- Flail of Defending and Wounding will be usable only by single class rangers (unlike the boots of Improved Haste, the flail won't be usable by Ranger/Clerics --I have my own justification for this difference).

3- Holy Avenger will not be usable even by thieves who have "Use Any Item" ability.

4- "Judgement Day" and "The Truth" swords will not be usable by Fighter/mages (and other multiclass fighters) any more. Only single class (good) warriors can use them. thetruth had asked this from me even before the release of v4.2 but I had forgot to implement it. Now it is done for v4.3

(II) New item upgrades:

1- Keldorn's armor can be improved.

2- A new item upgrade is added which is specific to Vagrants. (A new armor is added to the game which is only usable by vagrant and stalker. It can be upgraded but only a vagrant protagonist can upgrade it.

[rbeverjr]

News about items in IA v4.3:

(I) Usabilities:

1- Boots of Improved Haste will be usable only by rangers (rangers are scouts); however, if you upgrade the boots one step further to "Boots of Agility" (see the items file) then it will become usable by all (except monks) again.

2- Flail of Defending and Wounding will be usable only by single class rangers (unlike the boots of Improved Haste, the flail won't be usable by Ranger/Clerics --I have my own justification for this difference).

3- Holy Avenger will not be usable even by thieves who have "Use Any Item" ability.

4- "Judgement Day" and "The Truth" swords will not be usable by Fighter/mages (and other multiclass fighters) any more. Only single class (good) warriors can use them. thetruth had asked this from me even before the release of v4.2 but I had forgot to implement it. Now it is done for v4.3

(II) New item upgrades:

1- Keldorn's armor can be improved.

2- A new item upgrade is added which is specific to Vagrants. (A new armor is added to the game which is only usable by vagrant and stalker. It can be upgraded but only a vagrant protagonist can upgrade it.

Personally, I have always thought that the UAI HLA was a bit much any way. Then I met, IA and decided differently. I am disappointed by the first 2 changes because I feel like any class could benefit from the boots of IH (75,000 cheaper than the other boots) and that any class that could use a flail could benefit from the FoDW. I don't particularly like rangers. This rule change will force me to dump the use of FoDW before I really wanted to, or stick to v. 4.2 for a while.

[Sikret]

or stick to v. 4.2 for a while.

This is a very bad idea. Many more bugs of the original game are fixed in v4.3 (such as the bug with spell shield). Always play IA with its latest version; otherwise, you may face bugs which wouldn't exist in your game if you had upgraded the mod to its latest version. (To be able to use a flail and a pair of boots by a non-ranger character is not so much of a bonus for which you want to stick to v4.2 and miss all of the other new and important changes.)

[rbeverjr]

or stick to v. 4.2 for a while.

This is a very bad idea. Many more bugs of the original game are fixed in v4.3 (such as the bug with spell shield). Always play IA with its latest version; otherwise, you may face bugs which wouldn't exist in your game if you had upgraded the mod to its latest version. (To be able to use a flail and a pair of boots by a non-ranger character is not so much of a bonus for which you want to stick to v4.2 and miss all of the other new and important changes.)

I wonder if it was a bad idea to talk about the virtues of these two items (boots and flails) in the first place. The boots are nice early on to keep improved haste from being dispelled, particularly for those playing a fighter hero. By ToB, it's only a convenience. The flail, on the other hand, is very nice. (So nice that I was hoping to be a good enough tactical player to give it up someday.) I hate to be forced to play a ranger when I don't won't to do so, but I think I'm too poor a player to survive without the uber equipment that Sikret provides. I find my skill to be lacking in some battles - like Yaga-shura (other than the Demon Prince, this battle is the first real frustration since the underdark). Apparently, I need this uber equipment to survive - at least until I learn better tactics. I also wanted to avoid using the judgment day sword, because I thought it was too powerful - and extremely hard to win too as I found out, but Yaga-Shura has me rethinking that issue... I'll have to think about perhaps sticking to the "bad idea" of v 4.2.

Concerning balance and using items to bolster the power of specific classes, I think that's fine. (My gripe is that if anyone should be able to use a weapon, it is the fighter [straight, dual, or multi]. Ranger-only weapons seem weird to me.) Unless fighting demons, I'm not sure that thetruth longsword is a big advantage. On the other hand, the judgment day longsword is huge on balancing the power of the fighter with the fighter-mage. I think the fighter-mage should still have the edge though because he can buff and keep those buffs up with immunity abjuration and spell shield (as well as the tactical advantages of a large array of spells). For this balance to occur; however, the player must be good enough to beat the demon prince. I think I may have to go back to my save game and try some more on that demon prince...