Vicious Love: Drat! Is it that obvious, then?
Endoperez: Fair question!
Actually, there's seldom only one reason for anything. So let's look at a few. First, though:
Reference List of Cursed Items
Slave Collar (Trinket. Con 0. Paths: B1. Cost: 5 Blood.)
Eye of Aiming (Lesser Magic Item. Con 2. Paths: A1. Cost: 5 Air.)
Knife of the Damned (Lesser Magic Item. Con 2. Paths: N1S1. Cost: 5 Nature, 5 Astral.)
Soul Contract (Lesser Magic Item, Con 2. Paths: B5. Cost: 80 Blood.)
Armor of Twisting Thorns (Greater Magic Item. Con 4. Paths: B3N3. Cost: 20 Blood, 20 Nature.)
Lifelong Protection (Greater Magic Item. Con 4. Paths: B3. Cost: 20 Blood.)
Lychantropos’ Amulet (Greater Magic Item. Con 4. Paths: N2. Cost: 10 Nature.)
The Heart of Life (Greater Magic Item. Con 4. Paths: B3. Cost: 20 Blood.)
Crystal Heart (Very Powerful Item. Con 6. Paths: E2S2. Cost: 10 Earth, 10 Astral.)
Flesh Ward (Very Powerful Item. Con 6. Paths: B2. Cost: 10 Blood.)
Amon Hotep (Unique. Con 8. Paths: F43S4. Cost: 40 Fire, 40 Astral.)
Aseftik’s Armor (Unique. Con 8. Paths: E3. Cost: 20 Earth.)
Harvest Blade (Unique. Con 8. Paths: B3N1. Cost: 20 Blood, 5 Nature.)
Sceptre of Corruption (Unique. Con 8. Paths: B4. Cost: 40 Blood.)
The Forbidden Light (Unique. Con 8. Paths: S3F3. Cost: 20 Astral, 20 Fire.)
The Gift of Kurgi (Unique. Con 8. Paths: B5. Cost: 80 Blood.)
The Green Eye (Unique. Con 8. Paths: N2. Cost: 10 Nature.)
The Ruby Eye (Unique. Con 8. Paths: F3. Cost: 20 Fire.)
The Sword of Aurgelmer (Unique. Con 8. Paths: S5. Cost: 80 Astral.)
Crown of Kataphagos (Special Unique. Con -. Paths: -. Cost: wish.)
Back to Reasons
1) There doesn't seem to be a lot of Water magic on the list.
2) You may be thinking like a player. A magic item is a tool, and maybe, if I'm designing a scenario, I may need a new tool to produce the effect I want.
3) No law says a player must be given an optimal solution in every case. I believe superior game design includes non-optimal solutions, to allow better players to distinguish themselves. (The fact that you are asking your question IMO puts you in the latter group.)
4) Nor need every game element have a defined use. Part of the fun in a game like Dom2 is being surprised by the applications the players work out, and part of the fun in play is turning an apparent sow's ear into a silk purse.
5) You may be thinking in terms of Dom2. Point 4 is especially true if the game is going into a new edition--an apparently useless idea might spark a new design feature from an unexpected source.
6) I might really, really
like the Horn of Bubbles.
Recommended Reading: "What Good is a Glass Dagger?" by Larry Niven.