daggaz wrote:Dont feel too bad, those rings are crap and situational at best, respectively. Stat bonus? Sure some dex is nice on an evasion character in the first couple of levels, but after that it is pure garbage compared to so many other rings. I cant possibly imagine *cursing* the damn thing and keeping it in Vault, for example. Sustain abilities? Meh, usually easy to counteract stat drain by the time you meet a monster capable of dishing this out, with pots and (soon to be more rare) royal jelly. If you really need to, you could slip this on to save your skin/resources, but its nothing you want to have all day long.
Well yeah, later game I'd rather swap it out for a better ring, but to find +4 Dex on D:1 right off the bat is fantastic. The reason I love Sustain Abilities is because I Use-ID all my potions and I usually end up getting Degeneration on the first few floors, which kills one of my stats by like 4 points.
That, along with Sickness from eating bad chunks (since I cast Mephitic a LOT and that causes very fast Hungering and I can't always afford to wait for clean chunks), and occasionally bouts against Quasits or Shadows mess my stats up too, and if my Strength ever drops by one point I find myself suddenly Burdened or Overloaded. So... early-on it's nice to be free from that if I find it. I don't see what the problem is.
EDIT: Oh right, even with the ring on your stats are still not safe. D: I drank a Degeneration potion with the ring and it still clipped my Intelligence by 1.
daggaz wrote:Better rings? Poison resistance (especially in the early levels) is a godsend. MR is _always_ useful. Rings of resist fire/ice are great, especially for special vaults or enemies loaded with enchanted ammunition. Ring of Magic for a caster. Ring of guardian spirit for melee (and slayer which is like winning the lottery if its not cursed). Sustenance for slowing down the food clock and/or spamming otawaru piety on nearly every kill. I could go on..
If I find any of these, then yes, I pick them over Sustain Abilities. Especially Wizardry and the max-MP-boost one.
You know my favorite combo of all time, though? Cursed ring of teleport + Ring of Control Teleport. That there is pretty much the ultimate spellcaster defense. >:3 It's not often I find both, though. Least not 'till later when I end up prefering other Rings anyway (Randarts).
daggaz wrote:But yeah, coming down the stairs right next to Sigmund can really blow, especially if he one shots you. Its rare, tho. I nearly always get the drop on him, instead.
I got my revenge already. Killed the f#cker in melee while he was INVISIBLE, with my caster. I don't even know how it happened so easily, maybe he whacked himself or the nearby Gnolls whonked him for me or I dunno...
Currently that same character ventured all the way into the Elven Halls and he's still going! I'll play later though. For now I'm gonna have some chili. Since, you know, there's nothing else. ^^;;