by q 3 on Sat Aug 20, 2011 10:05 pm
Despite having advocated for something like it, I'm having a hard time coming up with ways for melee casters to make use of Mystera now that her Magic boon increases phys resist. (Or really, anyone who isn't going for pure fireball damage. Phys resist even affects PISORF now, right?) She's great as an early game piety battery before you switch to your "real" god, and Glyph Magnet can be quite useful; Mana Leak ranges from decent to powerful depending on the dungeon, although having first strike or fireballs is essential. Magic might be useful again near the end of a dungeon, right before killing a boss who has multiple forms (since I don't think the additional forms will have increased resistance, although I suspect that may be unintentional) or against the Indomitable once you get his HP down. Other than that, I'm not really sure. I'm tempted to take a Gnome or Elf Warlord with the Really Big Sword and see if that works, but I think the drawback to the RBS will outweigh the benefit in any dungeon where you'd actually need such a strategy; even if you don't care about losing HP against low level enemies, the permanent debuffs add up quickly in most of the hard and vicious dungeons. (And in its current, weakened form the RBS would only let you take +8 MP for "free." The RBS was of limited utility at 100% pierce; now it's just pathetic. I can definitely see how 100% was too much, but 25% seems way too low considering the penalty it imposes. Something in the 50-75% range would probably be appropriate.)
The Halfling quest has made me question whether Halflings are underpowered, or if they just make poor magic users, or if I just don't use optimal strategies with them since I hardly ever use them. They definitely have a hard time fitting in with any of the current deities other than Taurog - GG and Dracul hate health potions, Tikki Tooki hates you for taking damage, and Mystera isn't that great for melee combat for the reasons noted above. They're only really obviously suited to be Thieves or Priests, although Gnomes are probably slightly better Thieves (since mana potions don't offend Dracul); possibly also Berserkers or Monks, although Orcs are so overpowered at the moment that they'd necessarily be suboptimal.
Also, Bleaty is just absurd when he spawns in Grimm's Grotto. He can take nearly as much punishment as Super Meat Man but hits around five times harder!