by Lujo on Wed Dec 02, 2015 9:28 pm
There's a facet of preparation that's rarely ever mentioned and that is that it lets you explore things. It's rarely ever mentioned because not everyone plays with infinite locker space, but this is my first post in a long while and I'm not looking to get myself banned again right away.
But a lot of stuff is fun to prep not because it's strong but because it shores up certain combinations or makes them fun. Stuff Astral is really good at is, doing runs for the art - preps let you do that sort of thing. I like stuff which brings out the inherent power in races folks rarely ever get to (in large part due to cemented lockers). Martyr Wraps on monks and stuff like that. Most progress-killers like the old trisword were removed but there are things which are just plainly there to be above the curve by default and when you pick something like that up just to get through a pqi or a flaming run it rarely ever feels good. Those things can also work against your development as a player. But you can still use them to get past something, you don't have to lean on them too hard. If you're farming money and your flaming dungeon is stuck somewhere you don't feel like playing, you can use them to just run through it.
Important thing - having fun if that's what you're after, getting badges, gold, completion with no fun if that's what you're after, proving a point if that's what you're after, or just exploring interactions if that's what you're after ^^
*Some preps or prep combinations ARE cheating, there's no way to call them anything else, mind you. The only question is whether you want to challenge yourself or just get something over with, or even just spam that crystal ball and yell "look ma, no brains!" for any satisfaction that might bring.
Oh, and I haven't done any purist vt... for the challenge. I've contemplated it, decided against it.
I almost got pwned by Shifty Brickwork!