Re: Guide to Marverni
 

It's because of the way it's coded - to insure that the blessed get boosted on both Body and Head protection (or only one or the other, if applicable).

This leads me to believe that anything that has a Prot or Def rating (that's not a weapon or shield) would get it - Krupp's Bracer, Cat Charm, and even Stone Bird, Flying Trident, and Gift of Kurgi.

I haven't tested all of those, but since the Cat Charm is purported to give the bonus, and only lists Defense.....

Re: Guide to Marverni
 

It's not a bug, it is WAD. You just don't expect misc items to add an armor like shields, helmets and body slot armors do. These are, exactly, Bracers of Protection (221), Cat Charm (224), Krupp's Bracers (278) and The Gift of Kurgi (296). The Dancing Trident (230), Astral Serpent (250) and Stone Bird (262) all give an additional weapon and thus are unaffected by an earth bless, but they might be affected by other blesses like Fire, Water, Death.

Re: Guide to Marverni
 

There are bug reports about stone birds and fire blesses... so yes, I'd say fire blesses affect ...

Re: Guide to Marverni
 

Just a detail, but I think the Great Boar can make a great thug.
Equip him a Ring of Regeneration and bring along a Stargazer to cast Body Ethereal and Luck, and you will have a regenerating size 5 trampler that will only hit by 1/8 of hits from mundane weapons. That's not even counting a bless. If you add in a Nature bless you get about 20% regen + berserk (for example).

I think that counts as a pretty decent thug.

Re: Guide to Marverni
 

I almost don't know that I like trampling thugs. They can do a lot of damage quickly but it's much easier to bring them down because they're good at getting surrounded. Granted, being lucky and ethereal helps quite a bit with that.

Re: Guide to Marverni
 

Fatigue is also a big problem with trampling thugs or SCs.

Re: Guide to Marverni
 

You can always give him a Amulet of Resilience or Girdle of Might (both of which are easy for Marverni to make) if fatigue becomes a problem. Thankfully the Great Boar's encumbrance is low (2).

I find that a strong regen balances out the few hits you do get (through the ethereal & luck). The nature bless is nice for this, and for the berserk. Of course if you are fighting troops with magic weapons they become drastically less effective.

The positive side to trampling thugs is that they can kill or damage quite a few opponents in a single turn.

The only annoying thing about using Great Boars this way is that you need a support mage to cast Body Ethereal (and possibly Blessing).

Re: Guide to Marverni
 

Wouldn't he just be soul slay, paralyse etc bait?

What's the mr on the boar?

Re: Guide to Marverni
 

MR is 14 IIRC. However, this can be boosted (maybe instead of reinvig, which I haven't had too much trouble with) with an Amulet of Antimagic.

Of course if someone is serious about killing these things they will be able to do it.

Re: Guide to Marverni
 

The boar could be really great under at least several of the following conditions:

a) it had at least a head slot. Now you cannot give it MR, prot, regen at the same time.
b) you have a nature bless
c) you could summon it before evocations are easily available (i.e. conj. 3)
d) summons more boars to really get a critical mass

At the moment you don't have it available at the stage of the game where you would want it and it dies way too easy without proper support.

I started a SP game with a E9N9 bless some time ago, I think with bracers of protection and lycanthrope's amulet it could be nice. But unfortunately it cannot bless/buff itself.

I really like it though, I guess I have to mod some of the above. Especially the slot and the research level.