Priest Pointy Penalty - removing?

[Taha]

Is the pointy penalty going away?

I have seen a few discussions that it should, given the other combat changes that have biased priests towards prowess anyway. But it is still present in the nightlies. If this is the plan, would someone mind adding it to the nightlies soon?

Been playtesting v4 for the first time in the last day or two, and given the pretty dramatic drop in items (of all sorts) in v4, and the combat changes that make 1/3+ of them useless to any given character, it is extra frustrating when an otherwise good weapon is crippled. The damage penalty is less of an issue, but the spell failure penalty is pretty heavy. Found a Gondolin weapon with decent bonuses, SI, FA (otherwise have neither at dlvl 22), but on a sharp weapon.

[Therem Harth]

I don't know about you, but I happen to like the pointy penalty for flavor reasons. It makes priests seem more... priest like.

[Taha]

I never minded it much when there were adequate weapons and they weren't specialized on top of everything else. Now that prowess / finesse stuff makes so many less useful, that flavor becomes more annoying.

[Derakon]

And of course the flavor justification for blunt weapons (that they don't spill blood) is completely nonsensical.

[Magnate]

The pointy penalty was removed in V dev versions a couple of years ago. After an outcry led by some well-known veterans, it was put back (despite those same vets subsequently complaining that we never revert anything unpopular).

My guess is that it will inevitably go at some point, in v4 first. But some other, more flavourful and less arbitrary, priest combat restriction will replace it.

[Gorbad]

Originally Posted by Therem Harth

I don't know about you, but I happen to like the pointy penalty for flavor reasons. It makes priests seem more... priest like.

An older article, maybe already been posted here in relation to the pointy penalty:

"Busting the myth about clerics and bludgeoning weapons":
http://l-clausewitz.livejournal.com/394539.html

Now on to think about a nice way to balance the priests awesome arsenal of divine magic and wielding weapons.

[Therem Harth]

My point is more that having the priestly classes require certain arbitrary strictures makes them seem more priest-like. Those strictures don't have to be realistic for flavor purposes.

OTOH, the blunt weapons stricture does interfere with certain character builds, so maybe it should go.

[Malak Darkhunter]

Originally Posted by Derakon

And of course the flavor justification for blunt weapons (that they don't spill blood) is completely nonsensical.

That's why their shouldn't be a pointy penalty, remeber the threads on mages acting like warriors-it's depends on playstyle. priests get a reduced combat skill already, and blessed weapons make pointy penaltys contradict itslef anyway.