Thoughts on *band balance

[PaulBlay]

The emphasis seems to be very firmly on the equipment. I suppose that's obvious from the number of posts asking which items they should be using, but I've been using wizard mode in ToME to debug stuff and that's really brought it home to me.

I just wanted to do some world map travel without being bothered so I edited all stats to 50, level to 100 and stuffed combat / swords skill full of points. However I got my ass handed to me (about once per round :-P) by a bunch of water trolls.

Level 100 cheat + starting equipment = Crap (<= level 25 + decent equipment?)

It's a bit disappointing for me really, I'd prefer it if equipment made up about half the whomph a character has. I suppose the emphasis on equipment/inventory increases the efficiency of diving tactics.

Out of Depth equipment + low level character = Strong ?

So what does everybody think about where the balance should lie between equipment enhanced vs base character strength?

[CJNyfalt]

So what does everybody think about where the balance should lie between equipment enhanced vs base character strength?

Well, I have always preferred a move from equipment powers towards innate character powers. I think something like 10-25% equipment and 75-90% character would put more focus on player skill.

[Estie]

Well, I have always preferred a move from equipment powers towards innate character powers. I think something like 10-25% equipment and 75-90% character would put more focus on player skill.

I am not sure how exactly you are going to shift focus towards character, but if you do something like, for example, give the charcter intrinsic resistances as he levels up, I dont see how that would put more focus on player skill.

To the contrary: as it is, people go out of their way to win through difficult situations (either to kill tough uniques for drops or to survive at great depths to pick up floor spawned items) to get good equipment. This requires player skill to pull off.

If all you need to become better is experience from monster kills, the best strategy would be to avoid such risks and just hack your way through jackals, orcs, trolls and so on till you get powerfull enough for the next step.
This would be something that at best requires patience, not skill on the players part.

[CJNyfalt]

If all you need to become better is experience from monster kills, the best strategy would be to avoid such risks and just hack your way through jackals, orcs, trolls and so on till you get powerfull enough for the next step.
This would be something that at best requires patience, not skill on the players part.

And how exactly is that different from farming drops from trolls and orcs until you have good enough gear to take on the tough monsters?

Second, you assume that getting exp is all there is to develop your character.