Make all rings randarts

[TeshiAlair]

Ring discussions pop on here incredibly often. The general consensus is that there are many useless rings, a few situational rings, and a few good rings, so optimal strategy is to always wear that ring of wizardry/protection and swap it out for a rCold/rFire as need be.

Many suggestions are either to merge rings together or to add new ones, and the counter argument to both of those is "either they'll be worse than the good rings, or they'll be op and replace the good rings"

Making every ring have several properties causes ring choice to actually be that- a choice. It becomes up to player preference whether rPois is worth the -2 Dex, or if they care about the -Dam on that ring of wizardry.

I'd suggest most rings having 1 or 2 bonuses and 1 malus, with some having more of either.

[Klown]

Love this idea.

[Magipi]

I don't really follow the logic here. The problem is that most rings are crap, and the proposed solution is: let's make them even crappier.

[Knight9910]

I don't really follow the logic here. The problem is that most rings are crap, and the proposed solution is: let's make them even crappier.

I think the logic is "rings are boring, so let's do anything to make them more interesting, even if it means making them all suck."

[cerebovssquire]

This sounds like it will encourage even more jewellery swapping (because now you don't only need to judge whether you have the right bonuses for this fight, but also have to minimise drawbacks).

[XuaXua]

Not all randart rings have drawbacks. The idea might be to allow for more minor randart rings to be found (a randart ring of... rF+ for example).

I would suggest adding Spell School Enhancers / De-enhancers to artefacts (how Ice and Fire work right now); specialized Wizardry.

[cerebovssquire]

Not all randart rings have drawbacks.

Of course they don't, but OP suggested that most of them should.

[TeshiAlair]

My proposal suggests that rings can be more efficient (with two or possibly more bonuses, you need to swap less), but also have associated risks. Is that wizardry +str ring worth -rC? Possibly, but you still have the option of switching out if an Ice Beast comes along.

Also, common drawbacks should be simple enough that you aren't motivated to constantly swap. For instance, a -1 str ring will almost always be better for a mage than a -1 int ring...unless they find a nice ring mail, in which case, it might be worth the int hit.

I don't want drawbacks to be drastic enough that they make you want to switch constantly, but the consequences should be somewhat meaningful.

I'm not saying this is a perfect solution. I'm saying that it is better than the current system, where the ratio of rings that matter to rings that you'll never touch is HUGE.

[cerebovssquire]

the ratio of rings that matter to rings that you'll never touch is HUGE.

How is that a problem? The same applies to armours, staffs, weapons, wands (considering how many bad wands you find during late game), so rings aren't an exception. Similarily, there are weapons/armours/wands that are clearly better than others, so I don't get how some rings becoming useless once you find better ones is a huge problem.

Switching rings means that I have to select an item from a large menu and, unlike with weapons/armour, make another keypress and annoying/generally trivial decision when I have to remove one of the rings I was wearing before. Thus, it is more annoying from an interface point of view than switching other items.

Maybe your system would make me think a little more about whether putting on a ring is worth it in some cases. But it also adds a lot of trivial decisions that waste my time (e.g. wearing your example of a wizardry +str rc- ring, and swapping it out against monsters with cold damage, whereas before with a simple wizardry ring I would not have to bother). In addition, "what kind of equipment is best for me" is a decision I don't want to spend a lot of time on when I could be thinking about "how do I best position myself in this fight", "which spells should I cast now" and the like.
(By the way, stat -1 is practically never going to affect my ring choice, but that could be adjusted)

[TeshiAlair]

Because, in my probably ill-thought out ideal world, rings should be the one area of your kit that ISN'T a no-brainer, given that everything else is.

I agree that the malus idea is probably not the most well thought out though, particularly with very swingy things like negative resistances.

[duvessa]

i do not understand how this idea would make them any less of a no-brainer

[cerebovssquire]

Because, in my probably ill-thought out ideal world, rings should be the one area of your kit that ISN'T a no-brainer, given that everything else is.

Considering how many questions are asked on this forum about what weapon/armour to use, I don't think calling that choice a no-brainer is fair. People probably find rings much easier to decide between.

[Zicher]

There is one aspect not mentioned yet, and that is that you would have to identify _every single ring_ you find. I don't know what are current opinions and plans for the ID game, but the ID scroll cost just for rings throughout the game would be increased _heavily_, some four, five times IMHO.

[TeshiAlair]

Considering how many questions are asked on this forum about what weapon/armour to use, I don't think calling that choice a no-brainer is fair. People probably find rings much easier to decide between.

Considering how many times I ask those questions, you are absolutely right :/

There is one aspect not mentioned yet, and that is that you would have to identify _every single ring_ you find. I don't know what are current opinions and plans for the ID game, but the ID scroll cost just for rings throughout the game would be increased _heavily_, some four, five times IMHO.

Jewelry auto-ids on wear in trunk.

[Zicher]

There is one aspect not mentioned yet, and that is that you would have to identify _every single ring_ you find. I don't know what are current opinions and plans for the ID game, but the ID scroll cost just for rings throughout the game would be increased _heavily_, some four, five times IMHO.

Jewelry auto-ids on wear in trunk.

Never knew of this - thanks for pointing it out.

[Hopeless]

Considering how many questions are asked on this forum about what weapon/armour to use, I don't think calling that choice a no-brainer is fair. People probably find rings much easier to decide between.

Considering how many times I ask those questions, you are absolutely right :/

There is one aspect not mentioned yet, and that is that you would have to identify _every single ring_ you find. I don't know what are current opinions and plans for the ID game, but the ID scroll cost just for rings throughout the game would be increased _heavily_, some four, five times IMHO.

Jewelry auto-ids on wear in trunk.

But you take a risk that the Jewelry is cursed which then puts more of your Remove Curse scrolls at risk...

[Hirsch I]

oh no, my precious remove curse, I only have 58 of them.

[Hopeless]

oh no, my precious remove curse, I only have 58 of them.

I don't think I've ever had more than 10 through a game. But then again I consider it lucky if I find a scroll of acquirement in a whole game.

[scorpionwarrior]

Contam would have to be removed, or else you'd have to identify every ring if you don't want to get screwed

[XuaXua]

Contam would have to be removed, or else you'd have to identify every ring if you don't want to get screwed

Contam is harmless if you just do it once when you don't have any other contam lurking, and you have some MR available.

At least, that's what I tell myself.