by OneMoreNameless on Sat Dec 21, 2013 9:33 am
Using Yendor straight away doesn't give you as huge of an advantage in the long run as it might seem - in most dungeons you'll still end up "wasting" a fair chunk of blackspace to find higher level enemies to target (or glyphs etc.), and the 50 exp boost is less impressive once you subtract what you'll miss from the usual L1-5 spiking. There are certainly a few cases of impressive synergy (assassins, Tikki Tooki), but for the most part you'll not be as effective against the bosses as if you'd prepped a persistent item and leveled up well.
On the flip side, if you do save the amulet for an extra ding during the toughest boss fight, then you're clogging your inventory for no benefit during the leveling stage. So even if it is powerful, at least it's still a trade-off either way. Probably the reason that it feels so powerful is not because it is strictly any stronger than other preps in the right situation, but because its effect is so generic and easily applicable that it can used on top of almost any strategy or run. Compare eg. the Viper Ward which can also make things incredibly easier but only in a limited number of scenarios (Hexx Ruins!) and thus you're probably less experienced at (/bored with) exploiting.
This argument is also pretty much why the Dwarven Gauntlets rarely leave my locker - very few adventurers don't benefit from them and they require no additional trickery to make good use of.