Priest question

[ZenDragon]

If this has been asked before i apologize.

At what point is it worth using an uncomfortable weapon with a priest?

It seems like I keep finding artifact weapons that are uncomfotable for priests to use.

[Derakon]

When the benefits outweigh the penalties, of course.

The main thing is the spell failure rate, so as long as your important spells are still at 0% there's no big problem with going with a pointy weapon.

[SSK]

Originally Posted by Derakon

When the benefits outweigh the penalties, of course.

The main thing is the spell failure rate, so as long as your important spells are still at 0% there's no big problem with going with a pointy weapon.

Looks like the tip-top artifact weapons are all either blunt or blessed; except Eowyn and Doomcaller--I'd probably go ahead and use those regardless (maybe not Doomcaller--I don't love aggravating unless I have more than 1 top-drawer aggravator--like I don't think I could turn down Umbar, Haradrim, and say Deathwreaker).

[Derakon]

Myshkin put forth in passing that the pointy penalty would presently be kaput.

(The next nightly will let priests use any old weapon)

[Timo Pietilä]

Originally Posted by SSK

Looks like the tip-top artifact weapons are all either blunt or blessed; except Eowyn and Doomcaller--I'd probably go ahead and use those regardless (maybe not Doomcaller--I don't love aggravating unless I have more than 1 top-drawer aggravator--like I don't think I could turn down Umbar, Haradrim, and say Deathwreaker).

Ringil didn't used to be blessed until pretty recently. That is JLE addition to that weapon. I think there are more than just that, but that is the best one that got it.

[Timo Pietilä]

Originally Posted by Derakon

Myshkin put forth in passing that the pointy penalty would presently be kaput.

(The next nightly will let priests use any old weapon)

Then I guess mages get rid of gauntlet penalty as well? Pointy penalty is quite bad penalty, much worse than mage gauntlet penalty. It becomes irrelevant only at very high clvls unlike mage gauntlet penalty which becomes irrelevant as soon as you have enough mana to cast necessary spells few times (which is some point before stat-gain).

I would rather make that pointy penalty worse, not weaker. Make weapons that have just blessed flag and nothing else that are sold in temple and blunt or not that is the only weapon type priest could use without penalty. Then *slay evil*, Blessed and HA are only egos without penalty.

[EpicMan]

Do priests really need that penalty removed? It's not like they weren't already one of the most powerful classes in the game. The pointy-weapon penalty was a bit of flavor I enjoyed and helped separate them from the paladin.

[Derakon]

I'd rather see priests and paladins get the glove penalty too, personally. The pointy penalty was always an oddball, and it also makes randart balance screwy since the value of the blessed flag depends solely on what class you're playing (making it more or less impossible to give the flag a power rating).

Also, the concept of the pointy penalty is an obvious D&D holdover that never made thematic sense. If you beat someone up with a mace, they'll be bloody. No better than using a sword.

[Starhawk]

Yes, but the glove penalty is also an obvious holdover from D&D, where priests and paladins can cast in heavy armor, and mages cannot. It models that without limiting a mage's full-body armor choices.

[bulian]

I personally don't have a strong opinion on the topic, but removing the so-called "pointy penalty" goes against a recent earlier philosophy of making classes more diverse by removing abilities.

Just to add another proposal to flesh everything out - why not remove the glove penalty on mages etc. as well? Almost all standart gloves have FA. I seem to recall reading somewhere on here that randart gloves have a high probably of having FA. So really the penalty only limits mages from wearing a few ego items in the early to mid game - gloves of power for a few points in strength, for example.