who else refuses to use a weapon's limited charges ?

[Nexus]

I want to see more things like the Lighning Rod and for them to be skill free. A lightning rod sounds like something you would buy at an enchantry because you might need lightning but don't have a wizard.

I want to see elemental weapons be more like the Lightning Bow. Normal strikes do normal damage, but if you dabble into the magical element you can use the weapon's elemental powers (be it a strike+element, elemental blast or elemental bolt I dunno).

And with wizard tools they should be like the Acolyte Staff or the Shaman Staff, letting you cast a spell that is inconvinient to cast or just slightly out of your skill range (like shaman staff should have a 1 earth requirement for poison bolt, and dont get me started on the earth tree).

Edit: clarity about my opinion on the shaman staff

[minmay]

shaman staff doesn't require any earth magic skill to use the special

[Nexus]

shaman staff doesn't require any earth magic skill to use the special

What I meant was that it should have a requirement of 1 earth to use it. (like "this soup needs onion") I should have worded it better.

[Asteroth]

Yeah, I never use limited use Items in any game I play. They terrify me. *shiver*

[Coroner]

Limited charges should be skill free, and weapons that req 2-3 skill points (concentration/magic) should be unlimited.

[Azel]

I am on the opposite end of the spectrum on this issue. I love that items have a limited charge for the following reasons:

1) My Caster can contribute to a tough battle longer while preserving Mana/Energy. After 5 Fireballs I'm out of Energy? Save the potions for that final battle and instead bust out the LIghtning Rod and zap 'em. Only 1 or 2 charges get used up per battle since the other characters are hitting hard as well; thus allowing me to use this tactic a few times in a row, and only when necessary.

2) The above tactic allows me to save resources (ie, potions) for tough battles, conserve Energy for those tougher battles, and still take advantage of a game feature (the items special ability).

3) The fact that the charges are limited means that my Caster's main role, and Skill List, doesn't become obsolete. For example, my Caster can use up all the charges from the Lighting Rod after a few turns, and then the Caster is right back to being a Fireball damage dealer. I don't want my Caster to become a "Lighting Rod spammer" the rest of the game.

4) In the few situations where I want to perform "ranged only" attacks my melee characters can use up the item charges (which are typically ranged). But again, due to the limited charges my melee characters don't become overly dependent on this item; temporary versatility does not replace primary specialization.


So overall, limited charges give me tactical options (short term alternate strategies) while I progress through the game and build my strategic options (long term primary strategies). Unlimited charges would ruin this balance, and essentially create a "Cow Level" (Diablo fans?) in the game; robbing it of it's current beauty.

[MostlyHarmless]

i normally don't use them because of the required skill point investment, except in case of mage staffs and wands because my mages normally have some points in concentration anyway. early game i sometimes use a shock wand or rod (and then toss it when it's out), but late game magic is so weak anyway that i normally just have my mage toss bombs. i was curious to try the special on wizard's verge (disintegrate), but i only got it so late in them game that there were no enemies left. scepter of ruling also seemed like it could be useful, but i just never used it much (probably should have used it more and recharged since I didn't used the rechanrge gems for anything else).

[Isaac]

I played using the Meteor Hammer, and put the fire point ~on my Minotaur, as soon as possible. It meant that my party could cast the top Fire spell at need; affording many fire hits at range. My mage was an air specialist. IMO they should have allowed the Alchemist to craft the recharge shards using several crystal flowers and an etherweed.

[Azel]

I played using the Meteor Hammer, and put the fire point ~on my Minotaur, as soon as possible. It meant that my party could cast the top Fire spell at need; affording many fire hits at range. My mage was an air specialist. IMO they should have allowed the Alchemist to craft the recharge shards using several crystal flowers and an etherweed.

Good idea, but I think before the Alchemist gets any more boosts or features, the other character classes need some serious luvin. The Knight is sorely lacking, the Wizard is all but useless, the Fighter barely makes the cut (thanks to faster charge times), and the Battle Mage is only good for starting forum wars

Right now it seems like the best "power group" is just 4 Alchemists. That beats any other combo in the game so far. Adding the ability to keep item charges at a constant stream? whooo!

[Geonjaha]

I completely agree. It's one of my biggest complaints with the game (which is a good sign seeing how small a point it is), but I just don't want to use up something limited like that. It's also strange how half the weapons have charges, and then the other half don't. It doesn't really go into the balancing either; its like all weapons were balanced against each other and then half were randomly chosen to have limited charges for their specials.

Make the special attack recharge by one bar every time you use a crystal maybe, or simply over time, but give us SOMETHING to recharge it or I'm simply not going to use it. Just something to fix for Grimrock 3.