Post by Delfestra Ruinvorn on Apr 24, 2006 19:46:21 GMT
HI, Funky...I didn't know where else to put this promised thread, so here it is.
First disclaimer: This is based on my observations, not knowing exactly what the monster HD/stats are, but geared towards my experience of specific spells on various test subjects and how "I would use them" as discussion towards applicability at high levels.
As always, I'm trying to tell you what I observe so that you can see if it is "working as intended", whether or not any of us agree with whats intended is not relevant
Second disclaimer: I'm a bit sick at the moment, so coherency and spelling accuracy are privileges, not rights
Moving brisky along.
Ok...the first thing I/we wawnted to talk about was generally lower level spells being "more powerful" than higher level spells - specifically with the application of "Sunburst" (level 8 wiz).
Upon testing on both guardians and vampires in Gaobin, my conclusion is that the spell is not working as intended. Here's why:
In theory, the spell is supposed to trade doing less/little damage vs non undead, for doing MORE damage and/or killing outright undead monsters. Kinda a spell for a specific critter type that stinks when you "misuse" it.
However, in actuality...Sunburst does LESS damage vs undead.
In actual testing, in Gaobin, Sunburst did average 75-80ish, with a high of 100 and a low of 69. This is vs vampires, who we know are undead. Also, the same general results were vs guardians.
Maximized Firebrand, a level 5 spell taking a level 8 slot, did minimum of 102 every single time, with a 204 max on failed save. Keep in mind that this spell also has its reflex saves DC at level 5 levels, and it is STILL more effective in combat than the level 8 reflex save DC for Sunburst.
Empowered Chain Lightning did damage comparable to Sunburst to the vampires, even considering their higher lightning resistance. In the maze, empowered chain lightning did far better damage than Sunburst could hope to. And it is a level 6 spell taking a level 8 slot, even considering level 6 saves.
Conclusion: There is no reason to use Sunburst. It is a level 8 spell that does less damage to monsters it is specifically intended to ruin than using a level 5 or 6 spell in the same slot, even considering their lower DCs. On top of that, both spells will work normally against non-undead if encountered, while Sunburst does much less.
In addition, it has no application against "vampires" in HG, because while the ordinary spell description claims vampires instantly die when they fail a reflex save...HG vampires in Gaobin do not do so.
Though it is magic damage, there is little/no reason to use it for magic damage against non-undead even with the lesser damage expectation - because the same level is horrid wilting, which is a fort save and thus not evadeable, and does more damage, and works on non undead just fine.
Which brings us to Horrid Wilting.
Its magic damage, which is great. Its a fort save, which is nice in a world of evasion. However...30d8 plus I think its 3/4 caster level in LL (I could be wrong) just doesn't compare very well with 60d6 for levels 7 and 6. I can silent/empower chain lightning and thunderstrike and do more damage on average than with wilting. Plus, I can use it on undead or things that like to cast shadow shield. Even with the saves made from lower level save DC, its more useful to cast those for damage. You may want to look at the damage dice there and turn it into 60d8 at 60. Yes it is magic, which is less resistable, but 30d8 and change seems from my experience to do less than 60d6 even after damage mitigation. Question is, is it working how you intend?
Next up - WEIRD. Weird is well, weird But fun. But I did notice something testing it out in the Drowned City. For me, with my epic illusion, the first save is 53, and the second save is 48. This leads me to think that it may not be working as intended. Since the gap is 5, and the book says it was raised by 5, its possible that the second save isn't being processed correctly.
This makes the spell still a worse choice every time than wail though, because while the first save is higher than my wail DC, the second is lower. And since they only have to make one save to live, having one DC higher probably won't make it more useful.
For Magic Missle, there's a discrepency that I can't quite figure out. The BOOK says that it bypasses magical resistance. Do you mean SR, or Magica Damage 10/- or % immunity?
Because if its intended to bypass 10/-, it just doesn't do that under testing.
It *seems* to bypass SR, since I rolled a 1 zapping Changeling with it. If thats the case, then is is neat but not necessarily applicable in a useful way - because the damage isn't enough to punch through the things with the 5/- or 10/- resistance in any meaningful way, and its still a level 1 spell, so things with level 1,2,3,4 or below, or any similar level immunity will never be effected. I scratch my head and wonder what it would be actually useful against. Certainly doesn't work on Dachy
Circle of Death will need more testing on my part. I tried it on Ssithraks, and it didn't work. I can't confirm one kill with it. This could also be because we had 11 people in the drowned city and it was a mess.
Even using it empowered, as a level 8 spell which should've given me 150% hit dice, I couldn't say I killed a ssithrak with it. And while we shouldn't be walking around with oceans of instakill - if it is to be scaled for LLs or for level 40 play...the question becomes what is it useful for?
Phantasmal killer is the same way. I couldn't confirm it being useful for level 40 play because I didn't see a ssithrak die with it cause it was a mob scene. I will need to test it more though. One thing to remember, is that it is still a level 4 spell, and the DCs reflect that.
And that DC question is one that is blanket for wizard spells now - if we're uncapping damage to make spells below level 7/8/9 more useful, we must remember that their DCs will be lower because of their level...meaning for level 40+ play, where monsters routinely have save bonuses exceeding caster DC, that spells of 5,4,3,2,1 levels will essentially always be saved against, baring 1s. And high level monsters with evasion will be immune.
This goes from everything from ice knife to fireball to acid breath to combust to cone of cold and firebrand, etc.
If thats as intended, so be it. If it's unconsidered, it is submitted for consideration.
Which brings me to discuss combust. One of my FAVORITE spells at level 2, just because I like to watch things burn. Upping preliminary damage is great, and upping secondary damage over time is great - with one problem. Under testing, it is still a level 2 spell, and so with monster reflex saves being what they are...they don't burn long. 1, 2 rounds tops, counting intial damage. DC on that may want to be reevaluated, because persistant spells that aren't persistant may not be what you intend.
Two absolute success stories - Balagorn's Iron Horn and Power Word Kill.
PWK - has gone from last place to top shelf. Used as an AOE, it is ok, you get what you get, you won't get everything but you're likely to get something. Used as a direct-target attack, it is HIGHLY useful. Allows me to rush into a room, and sort out the monsters I need to die, and kill them. No save, no muss, no fuss (unless they're death immune, of course)
Example - Ssithrak Priest/Wizard. Normally, their +save is too high to touch them baring a 1 (+60ish). In practice, wails just are not effective because of this. However, with PWK...I can zap them one at a time after I tear down their spell absorbtion.
This means I can choose wails for massive groups that I have a chance to take down, enhanced by bards the better...like a mass of ssithrak fighters. And I can choose PWK for single targets that just have to die.
Versatile, different, and allows for strategic choosing of spells more. Yay!
Balagorn's Iron Horn has also gone from "never used" to top shelf also. It is a nice, long KD...works in level 40+ on some things but not others. Also, even non-KD immune things can fail or make their str saves. It's a good emergency spell because it radiates from the caster - aka when I get rushed I can sort them out and buy time to live. This has different uses than gust or thunderstrike - where KD is at range and more offensively oriented (as monsters near me is not preferred) or where KD is secondary to damage, stunning, and blindness.
Power Word STUN I will be looking at more carefully after the usefulness of power word kill, but it is blocked by mind immunity. It may be useful to me to see if things that I normally have a hard time grabby-handing can be PWSed instead to keep them immobile for a time. Also, will have to see if I can empower it to increase the HP effected. I don't know that yet.
Uncapped damage on the normal spells - chain lightning, firebrand/ball lightning, meteor swarm, FoD, thunderstrike, neg energy burst, fireball, scint sphere. I always use these spells. Bigger damage makes them more useful on nastier monsters. It will be nice to do more damage than a fighter with a nice weapon in one swing. After all, they run out of swinging when they're dead and fugued...it was sad to see me cast and do much less than a x2 rapier crit.
Ice Knife - Fun now! Only downside is the evasion vulnerability as its a level 1 spell. I need more time trying it vs monsters, but vs stone walls it is nice damage. BUT NOT against maze machines or the abode-orb...short range requires running, and running is bad.
Neg Ray, Ray of Enfeeblement - more testing needed to say anything. I bet a PM could tell you more about their usefulness.
Enervation/Energy Drain. Fun to play with...no combat usefulness yet determined. Saves may prohibit usefulness, and monsters immune to stat/level decreases ignore it, and you need 6 of them to kill a monster level 60 (or Flik, for that matter). Plus, seems to be touch range, which is a lot closer than I want to get to something I need to debuff in order to even effect. Plus, enervation is level 4, which increases save difficulty.
Bestow Curse - looks great on paper, but again, its level 4, and the save DC and immune leve/stat/ability drain render it ineffective. I couldn't actually get it to work on Flik, or Stingers, or captive ssithraks.
Of course, it may be intended not to work on things of a certain level difficulty...but if things are to be uncapped for use at high levels, there should be a use for them. And of course, just because I may not know what it is yet doesn't mean there isn't one...point is, lower spell-level based DC may make it prohibitive to realizing the intended function at 40+. I mean, I could probably go slaughter drow all day, but unless I'm assisting a lloth run...whats the point? (Question is Rhetorical)
Str/con/dex/int/wis/cha buff spells - I will keep them on level 4 empowered, but I am pleased I am now guaranteed that +12 every time when empowered. It will make me live longer.
Same with Mage Armor - on the always active buff roster for a while now, gives me an extra point. Yesterday, hit 90 AC for the first time. Yay me! Plus, since most people don't hit the +20 dodge cap yet, I can buff others a little bit if I like them.
Cone of Cold and Mestil's Acid Breath. Now that the damage is better, I may be willing to risk getting close to use the cone effect on clumps. Lower reflex DC will make pretty much always saved against, but we'll see how it works. Haven't tested it yet as I was mostly underwater at the time.
Elemental shield/Mestil's Sheath. HAPPY that the damage is larger for level 60-ness. Of course, they only work of the target is vulnerable to acid or fire. Will be interesting to see how they're useful in the future.
Death Armor. Kindof miffed that the damage wasn't upped, but it is magic damage. What I don't like is that it was turned from rounds to turns - only because I'm anal though, and I keep all three shields cast extended, and now they will be unsyncronized. I suspect that this change was more geared to palemasters, for whom the spell works differently.
Still, I'd've liked to see even a smaller level-oriented damage bump. It is level 2, but its a favorite.
Tenser's. May not quite be working as intended. Almost Doubled my HPs to about 998, and I was getting 4 attacks at 45 and 1 at 40, or something similar - BUT, I seem to be immune to GMW - just doesn't go up from there...and other enhancements. So, question is, how useful is a 45 attackbonus at higher levels? I'm not a fighter, so I can't really answer that. Is that how you envisioned it to work?
I will need to test it further myself - it should likely help me with vamp touch's touch attack, but it may be a bit weak for only two touch-attack spells in my entire arsenal, at level 3 and 2.
Vamp Touch. I had 1200hps! Wee! Of course, then I started seeing what a caster-19ab does. It sucks. Oh well. Perhaps combining it with tensars may help, but then even empowered...the damage is only about 175ish max. Which isn't bad for a level 5, but I can miss, and I have to be in touch range...and being hit by monsters is something fighters are for. Now...draining things with kickback could be fun...damage with no damage returned essentially. Or draining things that are helpless by KD, Stun, or Bigby's...I can see usability in limited circumstances.
Shield spell - now part of the "always active" buff roster. Not so much for the IGM immune, as I get that anyway from ethereal visage and globe of invulnerability by virtue of their spell-level immunity, but because it also gives me extra AC. Means I can concentrate on +spell gear instead of +ac gear with spells.
(Which brings up loot. As it is now, most wiz gear I am aware of has 7.8.9 spells and other stuff. I've got like 4 things that are sneak immune, but no death immune. +armor in two places. + deflection in two, now three with the spell. Now that spells below level 7 are given a new lease on life, perhaps new gear choices can come out or old ones be altered granting spells level 6,5,4 etc? I'd take that over 3 items with the same type of +AC stacking uselessly...because without spells, I'm dead. Best example - the UR wiz belt is WORSE than the Rare wiz belt - because +16 deflection and 4 8,9ths and no int is *not* better than 4 7th, 8th, 9th and +10 int, from the rare belt, and +15 deflection from my dachy cloak that ALSO gives other spells. 1 ac for 4 7ths is a trade that leaves me useless, 'cause when I'm out of spells I have no purpose. And now I can make that +1 ac up from a level 1 spell that I'll have extended on me all the time. As level 1-6 becomes more useable, I foresee applicability of gear with things other than 7,8,9. Though of course I understand and accept that gear can't be too perfect, or people woud run around fearlessly in super-immune-god-suits and with weapons of instant death dealing, and that is boring and lame)
Ok. I feel woozy now, and so I will stop typing. More feedback will come as experience dictates, and I hope my experiences can be useful in figuring out if things work as intended, both by themselves and when combined with other things. =)
First disclaimer: This is based on my observations, not knowing exactly what the monster HD/stats are, but geared towards my experience of specific spells on various test subjects and how "I would use them" as discussion towards applicability at high levels.
As always, I'm trying to tell you what I observe so that you can see if it is "working as intended", whether or not any of us agree with whats intended is not relevant
Second disclaimer: I'm a bit sick at the moment, so coherency and spelling accuracy are privileges, not rights
Moving brisky along.
Ok...the first thing I/we wawnted to talk about was generally lower level spells being "more powerful" than higher level spells - specifically with the application of "Sunburst" (level 8 wiz).
Upon testing on both guardians and vampires in Gaobin, my conclusion is that the spell is not working as intended. Here's why:
In theory, the spell is supposed to trade doing less/little damage vs non undead, for doing MORE damage and/or killing outright undead monsters. Kinda a spell for a specific critter type that stinks when you "misuse" it.
However, in actuality...Sunburst does LESS damage vs undead.
In actual testing, in Gaobin, Sunburst did average 75-80ish, with a high of 100 and a low of 69. This is vs vampires, who we know are undead. Also, the same general results were vs guardians.
Maximized Firebrand, a level 5 spell taking a level 8 slot, did minimum of 102 every single time, with a 204 max on failed save. Keep in mind that this spell also has its reflex saves DC at level 5 levels, and it is STILL more effective in combat than the level 8 reflex save DC for Sunburst.
Empowered Chain Lightning did damage comparable to Sunburst to the vampires, even considering their higher lightning resistance. In the maze, empowered chain lightning did far better damage than Sunburst could hope to. And it is a level 6 spell taking a level 8 slot, even considering level 6 saves.
Conclusion: There is no reason to use Sunburst. It is a level 8 spell that does less damage to monsters it is specifically intended to ruin than using a level 5 or 6 spell in the same slot, even considering their lower DCs. On top of that, both spells will work normally against non-undead if encountered, while Sunburst does much less.
In addition, it has no application against "vampires" in HG, because while the ordinary spell description claims vampires instantly die when they fail a reflex save...HG vampires in Gaobin do not do so.
Though it is magic damage, there is little/no reason to use it for magic damage against non-undead even with the lesser damage expectation - because the same level is horrid wilting, which is a fort save and thus not evadeable, and does more damage, and works on non undead just fine.
Which brings us to Horrid Wilting.
Its magic damage, which is great. Its a fort save, which is nice in a world of evasion. However...30d8 plus I think its 3/4 caster level in LL (I could be wrong) just doesn't compare very well with 60d6 for levels 7 and 6. I can silent/empower chain lightning and thunderstrike and do more damage on average than with wilting. Plus, I can use it on undead or things that like to cast shadow shield. Even with the saves made from lower level save DC, its more useful to cast those for damage. You may want to look at the damage dice there and turn it into 60d8 at 60. Yes it is magic, which is less resistable, but 30d8 and change seems from my experience to do less than 60d6 even after damage mitigation. Question is, is it working how you intend?
Next up - WEIRD. Weird is well, weird
But fun. But I did notice something testing it out in the Drowned City. For me, with my epic illusion, the first save is 53, and the second save is 48. This leads me to think that it may not be working as intended. Since the gap is 5, and the book says it was raised by 5, its possible that the second save isn't being processed correctly. This makes the spell still a worse choice every time than wail though, because while the first save is higher than my wail DC, the second is lower. And since they only have to make one save to live, having one DC higher probably won't make it more useful.
For Magic Missle, there's a discrepency that I can't quite figure out. The BOOK says that it bypasses magical resistance. Do you mean SR, or Magica Damage 10/- or % immunity?
Because if its intended to bypass 10/-, it just doesn't do that under testing.
It *seems* to bypass SR, since I rolled a 1 zapping Changeling with it. If thats the case, then is is neat but not necessarily applicable in a useful way - because the damage isn't enough to punch through the things with the 5/- or 10/- resistance in any meaningful way, and its still a level 1 spell, so things with level 1,2,3,4 or below, or any similar level immunity will never be effected. I scratch my head and wonder what it would be actually useful against. Certainly doesn't work on Dachy
Circle of Death will need more testing on my part. I tried it on Ssithraks, and it didn't work. I can't confirm one kill with it. This could also be because we had 11 people in the drowned city and it was a mess.
Even using it empowered, as a level 8 spell which should've given me 150% hit dice, I couldn't say I killed a ssithrak with it. And while we shouldn't be walking around with oceans of instakill - if it is to be scaled for LLs or for level 40 play...the question becomes what is it useful for?
Phantasmal killer is the same way. I couldn't confirm it being useful for level 40 play because I didn't see a ssithrak die with it cause it was a mob scene. I will need to test it more though. One thing to remember, is that it is still a level 4 spell, and the DCs reflect that.
And that DC question is one that is blanket for wizard spells now - if we're uncapping damage to make spells below level 7/8/9 more useful, we must remember that their DCs will be lower because of their level...meaning for level 40+ play, where monsters routinely have save bonuses exceeding caster DC, that spells of 5,4,3,2,1 levels will essentially always be saved against, baring 1s. And high level monsters with evasion will be immune.
This goes from everything from ice knife to fireball to acid breath to combust to cone of cold and firebrand, etc.
If thats as intended, so be it. If it's unconsidered, it is submitted for consideration.
Which brings me to discuss combust. One of my FAVORITE spells at level 2, just because I like to watch things burn. Upping preliminary damage is great, and upping secondary damage over time is great - with one problem. Under testing, it is still a level 2 spell, and so with monster reflex saves being what they are...they don't burn long. 1, 2 rounds tops, counting intial damage. DC on that may want to be reevaluated, because persistant spells that aren't persistant may not be what you intend.
Two absolute success stories - Balagorn's Iron Horn and Power Word Kill.
PWK - has gone from last place to top shelf. Used as an AOE, it is ok, you get what you get, you won't get everything but you're likely to get something. Used as a direct-target attack, it is HIGHLY useful. Allows me to rush into a room, and sort out the monsters I need to die, and kill them. No save, no muss, no fuss (unless they're death immune, of course)
Example - Ssithrak Priest/Wizard. Normally, their +save is too high to touch them baring a 1 (+60ish). In practice, wails just are not effective because of this. However, with PWK...I can zap them one at a time after I tear down their spell absorbtion.
This means I can choose wails for massive groups that I have a chance to take down, enhanced by bards the better...like a mass of ssithrak fighters. And I can choose PWK for single targets that just have to die.
Versatile, different, and allows for strategic choosing of spells more. Yay!
Balagorn's Iron Horn has also gone from "never used" to top shelf also. It is a nice, long KD...works in level 40+ on some things but not others. Also, even non-KD immune things can fail or make their str saves. It's a good emergency spell because it radiates from the caster - aka when I get rushed I can sort them out and buy time to live. This has different uses than gust or thunderstrike - where KD is at range and more offensively oriented (as monsters near me is not preferred) or where KD is secondary to damage, stunning, and blindness.
Power Word STUN I will be looking at more carefully after the usefulness of power word kill, but it is blocked by mind immunity. It may be useful to me to see if things that I normally have a hard time grabby-handing can be PWSed instead to keep them immobile for a time. Also, will have to see if I can empower it to increase the HP effected. I don't know that yet.
Uncapped damage on the normal spells - chain lightning, firebrand/ball lightning, meteor swarm, FoD, thunderstrike, neg energy burst, fireball, scint sphere. I always use these spells. Bigger damage makes them more useful on nastier monsters. It will be nice to do more damage than a fighter with a nice weapon in one swing. After all, they run out of swinging when they're dead and fugued...it was sad to see me cast and do much less than a x2 rapier crit.
Ice Knife - Fun now! Only downside is the evasion vulnerability as its a level 1 spell. I need more time trying it vs monsters, but vs stone walls it is nice damage. BUT NOT against maze machines or the abode-orb...short range requires running, and running is bad.
Neg Ray, Ray of Enfeeblement - more testing needed to say anything. I bet a PM could tell you more about their usefulness.
Enervation/Energy Drain. Fun to play with...no combat usefulness yet determined. Saves may prohibit usefulness, and monsters immune to stat/level decreases ignore it, and you need 6 of them to kill a monster level 60 (or Flik, for that matter). Plus, seems to be touch range, which is a lot closer than I want to get to something I need to debuff in order to even effect. Plus, enervation is level 4, which increases save difficulty.
Bestow Curse - looks great on paper, but again, its level 4, and the save DC and immune leve/stat/ability drain render it ineffective. I couldn't actually get it to work on Flik, or Stingers, or captive ssithraks.
Of course, it may be intended not to work on things of a certain level difficulty...but if things are to be uncapped for use at high levels, there should be a use for them. And of course, just because I may not know what it is yet doesn't mean there isn't one...point is, lower spell-level based DC may make it prohibitive to realizing the intended function at 40+. I mean, I could probably go slaughter drow all day, but unless I'm assisting a lloth run...whats the point? (Question is Rhetorical)
Str/con/dex/int/wis/cha buff spells - I will keep them on level 4 empowered, but I am pleased I am now guaranteed that +12 every time when empowered. It will make me live longer.
Same with Mage Armor - on the always active buff roster for a while now, gives me an extra point. Yesterday, hit 90 AC for the first time. Yay me! Plus, since most people don't hit the +20 dodge cap yet, I can buff others a little bit if I like them.
Cone of Cold and Mestil's Acid Breath. Now that the damage is better, I may be willing to risk getting close to use the cone effect on clumps. Lower reflex DC will make pretty much always saved against, but we'll see how it works. Haven't tested it yet as I was mostly underwater at the time.
Elemental shield/Mestil's Sheath. HAPPY that the damage is larger for level 60-ness. Of course, they only work of the target is vulnerable to acid or fire. Will be interesting to see how they're useful in the future.
Death Armor. Kindof miffed that the damage wasn't upped, but it is magic damage. What I don't like is that it was turned from rounds to turns - only because I'm anal though, and I keep all three shields cast extended, and now they will be unsyncronized. I suspect that this change was more geared to palemasters, for whom the spell works differently.
Still, I'd've liked to see even a smaller level-oriented damage bump. It is level 2, but its a favorite.
Tenser's. May not quite be working as intended. Almost Doubled my HPs to about 998, and I was getting 4 attacks at 45 and 1 at 40, or something similar - BUT, I seem to be immune to GMW - just doesn't go up from there...and other enhancements. So, question is, how useful is a 45 attackbonus at higher levels? I'm not a fighter, so I can't really answer that. Is that how you envisioned it to work?
I will need to test it further myself - it should likely help me with vamp touch's touch attack, but it may be a bit weak for only two touch-attack spells in my entire arsenal, at level 3 and 2.
Vamp Touch. I had 1200hps! Wee! Of course, then I started seeing what a caster-19ab does. It sucks. Oh well. Perhaps combining it with tensars may help, but then even empowered...the damage is only about 175ish max. Which isn't bad for a level 5, but I can miss, and I have to be in touch range...and being hit by monsters is something fighters are for. Now...draining things with kickback could be fun...damage with no damage returned essentially. Or draining things that are helpless by KD, Stun, or Bigby's...I can see usability in limited circumstances.
Shield spell - now part of the "always active" buff roster. Not so much for the IGM immune, as I get that anyway from ethereal visage and globe of invulnerability by virtue of their spell-level immunity, but because it also gives me extra AC. Means I can concentrate on +spell gear instead of +ac gear with spells.
(Which brings up loot. As it is now, most wiz gear I am aware of has 7.8.9 spells and other stuff. I've got like 4 things that are sneak immune, but no death immune. +armor in two places. + deflection in two, now three with the spell. Now that spells below level 7 are given a new lease on life, perhaps new gear choices can come out or old ones be altered granting spells level 6,5,4 etc? I'd take that over 3 items with the same type of +AC stacking uselessly...because without spells, I'm dead. Best example - the UR wiz belt is WORSE than the Rare wiz belt - because +16 deflection and 4 8,9ths and no int is *not* better than 4 7th, 8th, 9th and +10 int, from the rare belt, and +15 deflection from my dachy cloak that ALSO gives other spells. 1 ac for 4 7ths is a trade that leaves me useless, 'cause when I'm out of spells I have no purpose. And now I can make that +1 ac up from a level 1 spell that I'll have extended on me all the time. As level 1-6 becomes more useable, I foresee applicability of gear with things other than 7,8,9. Though of course I understand and accept that gear can't be too perfect, or people woud run around fearlessly in super-immune-god-suits and with weapons of instant death dealing, and that is boring and lame)
Ok. I feel woozy now, and so I will stop typing. More feedback will come as experience dictates, and I hope my experiences can be useful in figuring out if things work as intended, both by themselves and when combined with other things. =)
? 
