Bead Enthusiast

[Darvin]

The amount of effort to get Enlightenment online relative to its benefits is just not worth it. Paladins, being resist-stackers (who already benefit the most) and being immune to GG's end-game smackdown for potion use, can still use it effectively, but for the most part I've been seriously underwhelmed by this boon even when I can actually afford it.

Fact is that GG now has actual piety costs for his boons like other deities, so very few characters will ever seriously be able to afford a 100 piety boon after investing in his other boons.

[The Avatar]

What if it gave you 1% physical resist on top of the other effects.

[Darvin]

Then that makes it even more of a Paladin-centric option.

[The Avatar]

Or monk. Hmm... I suppose you would never get enough beads to get a good amount. How about clearing the beads, and granting the effects, but you lose the magic res. Also, buff the effects so it's worth the piety. Then it's not worth so much to monks and Paladin's, and better for others.

[Blovski]

Think that'd wreck the thematic point of new enlightenment, I think. I really like the idea of making all these silly item-space things decent - just think it needs to be more pronounced because it's so late game and represents a reaaally big investment of effort, opportunity and piety compared to Dracul, Taurog or even JJ's late-game abilities and most of the effects are duplicatable by items.

+% physical would be more useful for Monkadins but useful for pretty much everyone at the kind of level you get enlightenment (since you're kind of past res-down being a huge problem). From Dracul you can get +15% to both resistances for 40 piety... enlightenment represents a much bigger investment (and I think GG's more effort to get piety for), so I don't think +phys. is terrible, I mean, a monk is going to be stacking phys. res. anyway and there are much easier ways to do it.

As far as uniquey bonuses go, maybe enlightenment could alternatively (to another straight stat bonus) give you +1-2 distant tiles re-covered per prayer bead. I mean, to use it to the full you need to have explored pretty much everything anyway (for glyph convs, undead kills, in the course of levelling, etc.) and if you're fighting a poisony/Burny boss you can then actually make use of whatever GG's poison/MB cure thing is in the place of potioning up.

[The Avatar]

How about it hurting the boss 5 or so per prayer bead? Or lowering the bosses resists by 5% per prayer bead (Okay, that's a little excessive, but I just got killed by the ToG)? Or upping your fireball damage by 1 per prayer bead? Or lowering the cost of the boon (as this seems to be the biggest complaint) by 2 per prayer bead. Or lowering the cost of all boons by prayer beads/2. I'm just throwing out random crazy ideas, which are probably all broken. I'm just warning you these aren't thought out.

[Blovski]

If you're GGing goo can't you use the new protectiony thing that makes your attack magical? (I hate goo)

Not seen any abilities that specifically target bosses yet really (other than weird challenge things), would be a bit out of whack. Fireball - maybe, would add a spellcastery thing to the power at least. Lowered boon costs could be interesting, not sure how it'd balance with absolution.

[The Avatar]

I considered that. Remember, you are sacrificing popcorn to get that. You both need to have and want to get rid of non-undead popcorn. That's not always a good choice late game.

[Blovski]

Um, it's the repeatable 10 piety boon (cleansing) that grants magic damage +burn/poison/weaken/whatever removed.

[Sidestepper]

I don't think that we're going to be able to properly evaluate Enlightenment until its cost comes down. It's just too much piety to get Enlightenment and a decent pile of prayer beads at the same time.