Shattered Kingdoms

OK, I found today some item that was added recently I suppose and it made me wonder... Do builders actually think of the game balance or do they just add phat lewt hoping to win some "Most 1337 Imm of the Year" award?

Seriously now, when I see items like this:

added to mid level NPCs that are VERY easy to get, I wonder if the builder actually wanted to create such an elite item at such low level and so easy to get. I won't even comment how a no-dachi can be one handed either(although they seem to flood the mud lately).

It seems to me this item was asked to be created from twinks to be used on swashies with a kama for example, getting full attacks, sick damage/accuracy, it's mithril and it has this -great MR.

Items like these make the supposed to be elite equipment from hard to get areas(like the Iron Citadel for example) look like crap. Unless the next thing we'll see will be 5 fort 5 will -5 MR rings in Taslamaran wilderness held by expert level NPCs.

Apart from the mind boggling enchantments on items, some builders tend to give sick scripts to their items without considering what other similar scripted items exist in SK and how overpowered what they create is.

Take for example those newbie necklaces from Exile. They offer an elite refresh script at level 1. These items are so elite that even grandmaster characters run around with two of them, because a GM merc for example can easily replenish 16% PE at ticks, even if he is fighting. Compared to the 2 rings that I know or the steel belt, this script is way better, on items of much lower level and much more easy to get(since the other items are kinda limited, when these necklaces are like 234141241243 in SK). That seems a little overpowered to me.

PS: If these are the new building guidelines, can I have a bracelet that gives me lvl 40 MI/RE/SS/Ironguard and has +5 fort +5 will -5 MR as starting enchantments?

I don't know about the no-dachis, but the necklaces are
great for low level chars, since they're relatively cheap
and refresh. I know I'm not the only one who thinks
walking anywhere while low level is pure hell
A way to make them less attractive to high level chars
might be to make them unable to hold ANY enchantments.

If they are meant to help newbies, they can work up to a certain level or in newbie areas only.

As they are now they are completely imbalanced, they make all other PE regen scripts look like a joke and let's not forget the fact that people can just buy 234242 of them and enchant the hell out of them, finally making 2 necklaces with 10 enchants each w/out MR for GMs to use.

If they were limited(but that's not helping newbies) or they were working under certain conditions, they'd be fine. Now they are totally imba.

I wonder when Taslamar will get similar treasures for mana regen to make unique hard to get necklaces like the one from frostfang look like a joke.

Wouldn't it work to just make them to stop working after a certain
level?
But for these items in general, why not have more?
I'd personally like to see more hard to get items with
scripts. The only problem I have with this, is that it's
too easy to get.

Please allow me to present both sides of the argument here. I am not taking either side, because both sides are valid.

I am curious if Dulrik is aware of its existence; as far as I understand, one of the objectives of making melee combat cost PE was to encourage players to make better choices with their skills, and to evaluate and employ different moods in combat. These necklaces pretty much remedied that concern mostly.

However, I do recall that a while ago on the forums, the staff asked what can be done to help the players to find more interest in leveling, and while perhaps this particular solution may be slightly over the top, it does create a desirable effect for lowbies to get a pair of them to level. They do make a huge difference.

In this particular case, in my humble opinion, I think a 'middle ground' could be considered. A quest or two might be implemented to be associated with this necklace, because it is after all powerful; that and some limits ought to be put in for this, such as a possibility that it is only to work on characters up to a certain status only, and that each person may only wear one.

That way they will remain useful tools for eager players to level up their new characters, which we are grateful for their creation, at the same time not to be used by the whole populous because they are simply so convenient otherwise. As a side note, if possible, please implement the same quest/item into every starting area.

(edit: Going on the same concept, I wonder if a similar item may be created to energise, too. At the end of the quest, player may choose to take the refresh amulet or the energise amulet, of course, these would have to only work up to a certain status. Oh, huh? What did you say, Dark-Avenger? No? That would be too OP????)

If you really want to speed up low-end levelling, then just decrease the XP needed. Don't make it dependent on an item from some particular place, that benefits some classes more than others. Even apart from the item being grossly overpowered, the whole approach is unfair.

I used that necklace while leveling and it was awesome, it really made the whole "don't go into the wilderness, you might get hungry or thirsty at 0 PE and have to restart" thing redundant. Kudos to whoever made it.

In general, I don't find out about an item until the bitching starts here. I still don't know exactly which items are being referred to, because I don't think I've seen a description of either item on this thread.

It always pains me when builders, new or otherwise, manage to break the limitations that I've coded into the system. In this respect, they are often just like players (actually no coincidence, because they all WERE players).

Most of the time, it seems to be done out of ignorance. But at any rate, I do like to know about these things and have the opportunity to deal with it. It was only a few years ago that I spent many weeks going through pretty much every script in the game and rebalancing them. I'd not be at all surprised to find that there are almost as many new over-the-top items now as there were back then.

For the newbie necklace, the rumor seems to be that it was supposed to destroy itself after a short time or at higher levels. Not sure whether it ever did this or its just broken. It definitely sounds wrong to me.

As for the no-dachi, sounds like maybe it needs to be specified as a two-handed weapon only. Also decreasing magic resistance should probably not qualify as a penalty that can allow other enchants to be jacked up.

Those necklaces make it so easy to constantly be at speed run/dart all the time.

Yea it's probably overpowered.. or incorrectly scripted.. but if everyone can use them its not like anyone is getting screwed by it, might as well utilize until scrutinized.

DA is just like a woman, always loves to [REDACTED] about something.