Boots of Thrór vs +5 speed boots

[Dragget]

I killed Draebor the imp and he dropped the boots of Thrór: +3 STR +3 CON +3 speed, fear resist and -1 stealth... very next trip down, cleared out a vault and found Lotharang (which will replace the Mace (Westernesse) and Scimitar (Holy Avenger) that I had been using (double the damage of either one of those!), and also... a pair of +5 speed boots. My instinct is that the other pluses and fear resist on Thrór outweigh the extra +2 speed on the other boots, but I figured it might be smart to get a second opinion here, given that others have a lot more experience than I do. (This mage is my first character to make it deeper than 1500'.) The fear resist is not duplicated elsewhere in my gear, FWIW.
If it's better to keep Thrór euipped, is it worth hanging onto the other speed boots in case I get something else to cover that resist later?

Edit: dump link in case anyone want to take a look and see if there is anything else that badly needs fixing. TIA!
http://angband.oook.cz/ladder-show.php?id=20016

[Mondkalb]

Fear resist isn't important for a mage because you better don't hit your foes.

The CON bonus might be useful, but only if you get significantly more HPs.

STR can be useful if you otherwise were slowed down because of the weight of your equipment and armor.

2 extra speed is always nice and can even compensate for speed malus because of overweight.

[Dragget]

With Thrór (+3) and now Lotharang (also +3), my STR is at 18/128... I've found several STR potions (more than any other stat potion thus far...) so suddenly, I can haul much more loot back up to town without being vulnerable due to an overweight penalty.

[Grotug]

Your ring of Dexterity <+4> at home is a few hundred times better than the ring of Accuracy you are wearing. As I understand, To-Hit bonuses have marginal effect. If you are meleeing stuff, <+4> DEX would significantly increase your to-dam of your Lotharang. OTOH, if you are rarely ever doing any melee, then the ring of accuracy might be the better choice for the marginal gains it gives your xbow. But the DEX ring is still useful for other stuff, like sustaining your DEX. If it was me, I would be 100% be using the DEX ring.

I would be wearing Arvedui over your current armor, unless you find the acid breath attack has been very useful. rNexus is quite important. The <+2> STR on the Arvedu would also increase your melee damage.

I'm pretty sure Mormegil is trash and should be discarded immediately.

The boots of speed might be better now since <+2> speed means a lot when you only have <+3> speed.

I guess some key questions to answer are:

1. How often are you relying on melee?
2. How often are you using your armor's breath attack?
3. What are your max HP when wearing Thror and what are they when not wearing them?

[PowerWyrm]

Originally Posted by Dragget

With Thrór (+3) and now Lotharang (also +3), my STR is at 18/128... I've found several STR potions (more than any other stat potion thus far...) so suddenly, I can haul much more loot back up to town without being vulnerable due to an overweight penalty.

Carrying capacity stops extending at 18/50. Boosting your STR over that value is pointless if you're not gaining much benefit in melee combat. Basically you can use your boots of speed +5 unless the +3 CON boost from Thror gives you a substantial amount of HPs, which I strongly doubt. Keep Thror in the Home, there will be a time where that +3 CON will be a lifesaver, especially with mage.

[Dragget]

Originally Posted by Grotug

Your ring of Dexterity <+4> at home is a few hundred times better than the ring of Accuracy you are wearing. As I understand, To-Hit bonuses have marginal effect. If you are meleeing stuff, <+4> DEX would significantly increase your to-dam of your Lotharang.

Good to know. I try to stay out of melee as much as I can, but sometimes the bastards get up in my grill anyway, so it's nice to be able to make 'em hurt a bit when they do Of course, with more speed now, maybe that'll happen less frequently. That staff of speed has come in handy for longer fights when my initial cast of speed wears off before the unique dies... until I can get the failure rate on that spell down under 10%, it lets me mostly stay ahead of them and whittle them down with spells and crossbow bolts.

Originally Posted by Grotug

I would be wearing Arvedui over your current armor, unless you find the acid breath attack has been very useful. rNexus is quite important. The <+2> STR on the Arvedu would also increase your melee damage.

I didn't equip it because it will put me over the 30 lb. armor limit by quite a bit and screw over my spell failure rates if I equip it. It is so heavy that in order to stay under that limit with that armor equipped, I'd have to leave several other slots without anything worn. The dragonscale mail is about 1/2 the weight and I do find the acid AoE handy, since fewer monsters resist it (so far, anyhow).

Originally Posted by Grotug

I'm pretty sure Mormegil is trash and should be discarded immediately.

Souvenir: It was so appallingly bad that I hung onto it for the LOLs I'll ditch it later if I run out of space. Storekeepers wouldn't even take it.

[Derakon]

The armor weight limit only affects your max SP, not your spell failure rates. It's not a big deal unless you try to go for heavy armor very early on. Spell failure rates get affected by wearing gloves that don't give DEX or FA (for arcane casters) or by using a sharp weapon (for priests).

[Mondkalb]

Wearing a source of regeneration pretty much compensates the loss of SPs.

[Dragget]

Guess I was worried about nothing... only lost about 8 SP, so a good trade-off.

[Pete Mack]

Accuracy is not a bad choice for a mage. Buffing your archery skill can make a huge difference.