Unique Artifacts with the negatives worth it?

Joonie73 · #1 November 21st, 2003, 11:51 PM

For instance, the chalice has the questing knights dropping by once in a while to claim it. Do Unique Artifacts with the big downsides like this worth it? How strong are the knights? There is also something like the Astral Light with horrors that visit the owner. Does all this mean you will eventually lose the items & the commander who owns them?

PvK · #2 November 22nd, 2003, 12:40 AM

It makes them more interesting and yes it gives more of a chance you'll lose them for someone else to take back. It's not certain they will, though. Give them to someone tough so they can hold onto them. The Chalice is wonderful for curing afflictions - it'd be worthwhile even if the knights came regularly - I've had one for a half-dozen turns or so and haven't had any knights arrive. It's held by the best hero in the world, so I'm expecting he'll have a good chance against challenging knights. Some of the unique items don't mention their drawbacks in their descriptions. In general though, my feeling is that they are powerful enough items that it's good they have a drawback, and since they need to be lost for anyone else to use them, it's also good they have a drawback and a mechanism for losing them built-in. Makes them more interesting and fun, IMO, too. There are some though that I would only use with the appropriate type of hero and/or against the appropriate type of foe, though, but again, I'd say that's a very good thing both for balance and for interestingness.

PvK

Taqwus · #3 November 22nd, 2003, 05:22 AM

I have had the Chalice in games for many, many, many turns (scores, really; I play /really/ slowly single-player to have time to experiment with powerful summons, goofy configurations and fun magic) and not once seen the knights attack.

Some artifacts are far more dangerous. The Gift of Kurgi comes to mind; both times I tried it, the commander Lasted less than ten turns before the horrors came and ate him. The Horror Harmonica is dangerous; when it Calls Horrors, the arrive next to the caller and are not particularly friendly. Personally, I like the Chalice; it's useful even when you have GoHealth because you're not necessarily fighting in your own dominion.

The Ark is dangerous if you bring it into battle with anybody but priests and sacred troops; I'd keep it on a stealthy commander, and switch it to the lab if it were ever in danger.

Some downsides are nasty but not mentioned. Asfetik's Armor, for instance, cannot be removed; nor can Amon Hotep (awesome helmet; Prot 30, plus a MR bonus, plus a mummy-generating activation). The Crown of Overmight might also be this way. Magebane horror marks you (but not severely; attacks seem rather rare... and besides, you're wielding *Magebane*, the sword that automatically does 100 Fatigue unresistable per hit), as does the non-artifact Robe of the Archmage (minimal prot, but reinvigoration plus +1 to all magic!). The Banefire sceptre is fairly strongly horror-marked I think.

Note that even if you play with immortal commanders, horror marks and curses will stay with them when brought back. I'd rather use a cheap indy commander if I'm going to risk the ire of the forces of darkness...

Phoenix-D · #4 November 22nd, 2003, 05:59 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Taqwus:
Note that even if you play with immortal commanders, horror marks and curses will stay with them when brought back. I'd rather use a cheap indy commander if I'm going to risk the ire of the forces of darkness...

Err, crap. That's going to throw a wrench in my usual "throw the pretender out in front" idea. (I use, you guessed it, the phoenix. may not fight well, but they can't really kill the thing anyway)