Remove weapons of protection

[Sprucery]

I suggest that weapons of protection be removed.

Rationale: it is optimal for many characters to wield a weapon of protection by default (they are quite common and the weapon class does not matter) and only switch to a better weapon when they are about to engage in melee. This is boring. A weapon's main function should be doing damage, not reducing it.

I don't mind if protection stays as an artifact property (like I don't mind that artifacts can be used as resistance sticks).

[KoboldLord]

It might also be better if protection scaled with weapon skill. Say, half weapon skill is added to AC, or thereabouts, with maybe a couple points added in to make unskilled use better than unbranded. You don't get the extra AC for free without xp investment, but on the other hand +8AC might be more competitive later on compared to +damage if you were planning to use the weapon mostly for cleaning up trash anyway.

[jejorda2]

Or what if the damage from the weapon is added to your AC for a few turns when you strike something? So you only get the AC when you are actually hitting things with the weapon, and the same skills that increase damage increase the defensive bonus. It can be a pretty high bonus if it is short-lived and doesn't start until after you hit something.

I guess that could lead to letting a rat follow you so you can hit the rat when a Lich comes into view.

[duvessa]

https://crawl.develz.org/wiki/doku.php?id=dcss:brainstorm:effect:new_brands#skill-based_protection_brand

[greedo]

I don't think late game characters need even more defense options, so I wouldn't favor skill based protection. I'm for removing it, it feels silly wielding these things 24/7 as a pure blaster too when I should be wielding either a staff or something to kill with.

[Pollen_Golem]

I support minmay's idea. It is very simple and can be used to make “of protection” (with the decisions indicated) interesting right now. If we get something more elaborate later on, we can revise (or even remove) the ego, but that'll be a long time. Until then, we have a better game with the modified protection brand. Patch welcome! — dpeg 2011-04-12 22:38

[chequers]

https://github.com/crawl/crawl/pull/123

[Hurkyl]

I would find these suggestions disappointing, and would prefer instead a nerf just to excessive swapping.

[Lasty]

These are great ideas, folks. I think I'm actually leaning towards jejorda2's idea, since it means that 1) using the item as a resistance stick isn't an option, 2) the effect scales with the overall quality of the weapon, including skill, damage, and enchantment, and 3) it doesn't turn a weapon skill into a replacement for the armour skill for certain characters.

[byrel]

While I agree... that sounds like a substantially more complex addition. Maybe implement Duvessa's idea as implemented already in the mean time? It seems entirely better than the current state where I walk around with a dagger of protection till I'm in melee range of the centaur or whatever, and then swap to my +12 triple sword of awesomeness.

[neil]

I don't think duvessa's suggestion solves the problem so much as reduces its frequency (and solves a different potential problem). You'd still, in the same situations, want to walk around holding a protection weapon instead of your high-damage weapon. Just, with the change, you'd need a protection weapon of the same skill or a cross-trained skill. So byrel might still want to carry that dagger of protection (which cross-trains with long blades), or if that's not good enough then a +0 falchion of protection.

Duvessa's change seems more to address a different concern: that early (or other) characters who haven't trained melee skills at all, want to carry around protection brand.

[duvessa]

yeah it's a dumb idea. I only posted it to point out that it had already been suggested 4 years ago.