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I tried out 3.4RC as part of comp 124. I haven't really digested the changes enough to decide if I think they are good or bad; this is just sort of a brain-dump of observations:
1) The characters start out with fewer stat points. I haven't yet decided if I like this change or not. It definitely makes me need to go slower at the begining, and stay in stat-gain longer. But I'm not sure if "longer" equates to "harder," or to "more boring." It seemed like the stat potions themselves were also less common. It did make using the +1/-1 potion trick worthwhile: I save up a bunch of them for a stat I consider important, and then drink them all en-mass when I have enough that I can drink one with that stat at 18. This gives a net gain in stat points. Again, it's not yet clear to me if encouraging this trick is a good thing or not.
2) The lower starting stats means that it is harder to reach 200+ on the character's stats. My comp 124 character didn't get enough Dex to get the full 5 blows until after he found Vilya, nearly at the end. I find that I like this aspect of the lower starting stats. It makes finding items with +stat bonuses more important, and forces one to make a few more difficult trade-offs when deciding the gear to use. One thing it meant for my comp 124 char was that he wielded fairly light weapons for most of the game, since they got more blows and so did more damage than the big heavy weapons. Personally, I like that this sort of trade-off exists and continues to be important for a long time in the game.
3) One particular aspect of the lower starting stats that I definitely did not like: it seems themantically inconsistent for a Paladin to be given a -1 Dex penalty. These guys are supposed to be Warrior-Priests; it seems odd that they should be clumsier than average. I think it would make more sense to make the Dex adjustment be 0, and reduce the Con adjust to be +1 rather than +2.
4) Immunity is too powerful, especially Fire Immunity. This is not new to 3.4, but I was really struck by it while playing. I was able to wipe out Gothmog without even breathing hard (admittedly, I used an ASC, but still). When I wielded both Thorin and Azaghul, I was able to kill legions of Balrogs and other demons, shooting through clvls 43-50. The problem I think is that monster hand-to-hand melee attacks are given a "damage aspect" (e.g. "FIRE"). If you happen to be immune to that aspect, then you do not take *any* damage from the melee attack at all. This is unlike the player's weapon brands, where the hit always does normal damage, and then might possibly do extra damage from the brand. But having the brand does not negate the *normal* damage, even if the monster is immune to the brand. I can accept the idea that if you have immunity to fire, then when a Great Hell Wyrm breathes at you, the fire does no damage and so you are untouched. I have a lot harder time with the notion that when it physically claws you, that you still take no damage, just because the claw happens to be aflame in addition to being a claw. I really think this should be changed so that monster melee attacks work like brands, and always do the "normal" damage, and might possibly do *extra* damage based on the aspect, but never less.
5) Immunity is too powerful; part 2. A much-too-radical suggestion: get rid of total immunity. Instead, change it to an additional form of permanent resist. Call it a "ward" or something. A ward would still protect your *inventory* (just like immunity does now). And a ward would reduce damage by two-thirds, just like the current permanent and temporary resists. So if you had all three, damage would be reduced by a factor of 27, which is near enough to immunity as makes no difference. But if you only had two of them, say, permanent resist-fire plus a fire-ward, a Hell Wyrm (or Gothmog, or Carcharoth) might still give you pause.
edit:
Forgot to mention the first time:
6) The 40 max-stack limit is a winner. I had no problems with it at all, except it definitely constrained how much stuff I could lug around in the quiver; which was pretty much exactly the point.
1) The characters start out with fewer stat points. I haven't yet decided if I like this change or not. It definitely makes me need to go slower at the begining, and stay in stat-gain longer. But I'm not sure if "longer" equates to "harder," or to "more boring." It seemed like the stat potions themselves were also less common. It did make using the +1/-1 potion trick worthwhile: I save up a bunch of them for a stat I consider important, and then drink them all en-mass when I have enough that I can drink one with that stat at 18. This gives a net gain in stat points. Again, it's not yet clear to me if encouraging this trick is a good thing or not.
2) The lower starting stats means that it is harder to reach 200+ on the character's stats. My comp 124 character didn't get enough Dex to get the full 5 blows until after he found Vilya, nearly at the end. I find that I like this aspect of the lower starting stats. It makes finding items with +stat bonuses more important, and forces one to make a few more difficult trade-offs when deciding the gear to use. One thing it meant for my comp 124 char was that he wielded fairly light weapons for most of the game, since they got more blows and so did more damage than the big heavy weapons. Personally, I like that this sort of trade-off exists and continues to be important for a long time in the game.
3) One particular aspect of the lower starting stats that I definitely did not like: it seems themantically inconsistent for a Paladin to be given a -1 Dex penalty. These guys are supposed to be Warrior-Priests; it seems odd that they should be clumsier than average. I think it would make more sense to make the Dex adjustment be 0, and reduce the Con adjust to be +1 rather than +2.
4) Immunity is too powerful, especially Fire Immunity. This is not new to 3.4, but I was really struck by it while playing. I was able to wipe out Gothmog without even breathing hard (admittedly, I used an ASC, but still). When I wielded both Thorin and Azaghul, I was able to kill legions of Balrogs and other demons, shooting through clvls 43-50. The problem I think is that monster hand-to-hand melee attacks are given a "damage aspect" (e.g. "FIRE"). If you happen to be immune to that aspect, then you do not take *any* damage from the melee attack at all. This is unlike the player's weapon brands, where the hit always does normal damage, and then might possibly do extra damage from the brand. But having the brand does not negate the *normal* damage, even if the monster is immune to the brand. I can accept the idea that if you have immunity to fire, then when a Great Hell Wyrm breathes at you, the fire does no damage and so you are untouched. I have a lot harder time with the notion that when it physically claws you, that you still take no damage, just because the claw happens to be aflame in addition to being a claw. I really think this should be changed so that monster melee attacks work like brands, and always do the "normal" damage, and might possibly do *extra* damage based on the aspect, but never less.
5) Immunity is too powerful; part 2. A much-too-radical suggestion: get rid of total immunity. Instead, change it to an additional form of permanent resist. Call it a "ward" or something. A ward would still protect your *inventory* (just like immunity does now). And a ward would reduce damage by two-thirds, just like the current permanent and temporary resists. So if you had all three, damage would be reduced by a factor of 27, which is near enough to immunity as makes no difference. But if you only had two of them, say, permanent resist-fire plus a fire-ward, a Hell Wyrm (or Gothmog, or Carcharoth) might still give you pause.
edit:
Forgot to mention the first time:
6) The 40 max-stack limit is a winner. I had no problems with it at all, except it definitely constrained how much stuff I could lug around in the quiver; which was pretty much exactly the point.
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