Balancing new enchantments

[arvisrend]

I have the impression that we are slightly disregarding the introduction of new enchanted items in TR, at least in our last release. Too many quests give gold rewards (which are boring: it is completely trivial to grind up 1000 gold in Morrowind) whereas item rewards would make them much more motivating. These need not be very useful items; the nice thing about enchanted items in Morrowind is that they make you feel "oh cool, I've got a new gadget to use, that's progress" when you find them, even if you end up never using them later.

So here is a list of item concepts that I'd like to hear some feedback about. Are they suitable as loot in low-level caves? High-level caves? Quest rewards? Unique or not? Hidden in obscure places or put in crates in plain sight? (There are several places I know where it would make sense to hide something.)

Color-coding for those who want to use this as quest rewards or loot:
no balancing concerns whatsoever
can be obtained in the early game, but shouldn't be too easy to get
midgame stuff
rewards for nontrivial midgame tasks
hard to get

Amulet of Cure Common Disease on self (Amulet of Daydene's Panacea) [TR_amulet_cure_common_d]. Self-explanatory. I personally would make this an early-game quest reward and a loot item; its main function is to make the game less annoying without (imho) unbalancing it.

Steel Crossbow of Constant Effect Sanctuary +3 and Night-Eye +15 (Steel Crossbow of Ghostlight) [TR_w_crossbow_ghostlight].
Sanctuary +3 adds 3% to the chance of dodging a physical attack; I don't think this is much. This is mainly a useful item because of the Night-Eye, but most players would probably switch to a Dwarven Crossbow as soon as they find one, so it's more of a collector's item.

Note that we have only one enchanted crossbow so far. I don't think anything speaks against enchanted crossbows; Dwemer stuff is very often enchanted.

Dwemer Crossbow of Constant Effect Chameleon +10 (Evanescence) [TR_w_crossbow_evanescence].
Not sure how good this really is. (UESP: "Some enemies will flee if you attack them while under the effect of a strong Chameleon spell. If they can't see you, they will be afraid and run away.")

Dwemer Crossbow of Constant Effect Fortify Marksman +6 (Dwemer Crossbow of Accuracy) [TR_w_crossbow_accuracy].
Kinda boring, maybe add some Night-Eye or Fortify Agility to it.

Dwemer Helm of Constant Effect Resist Common Disease +200 (Masque of Purity) [TR_a_masque_of_purity].
The 200 is to make sure that even Altmer (who have weakness to magicka, and diseases are magicka) get complete immunity. Though +100 might also be enough.
This probably should be a quest reward for a not-too-easy quest.

Dwarven Spear of Restore Health 30 [edit: or 15 if you like it, Haplo, but keep in mind that this means that it will last longer] to Self on Strike (Dwarven Spear of Retribution) [TR_w_spear_retribution].
Charge 500 (this is relevant here).
This is quite an obvious enchantment to try out once you have a grand soul gem; and it's indeed pretty useful. (You can get up to Restore Health 23, with charge 400, if you use a Mages Guild enchanter ingame. And it doesn't cost very much, just a few thousand gold.)
I'm trying to counteract the lack of good spears, of course. The length of a spear plus this enchantment make this quite a good item for tanks, before you find a better spear... It's also one of the few enchanted weapons that don't turn double-edged when you meet enemies with reflection ability.

Silver Spear of Restore Health 3 for 2 secs to Self on Strike (Silver Spear of Retribution) [TR_w_s_spear_retribution].
Charge 200?
Little brother of the above; shouldn't be a rather good but not unbalancing early-game item.

Falling Second Barrier Ring: Ring of Shield +7 for 40 secs and Shield +8 for 20 secs, Cast on Use (Falling Second Barrier Ring) [TR_ring_falling_second_barrier].
This is a slightly better Second Barrier Ring (note that spell effects are additive) that "wanes" after 20 seconds.

Falling First Barrier Ring: Ring of Shield +4 for 40 secs and Shield +3 for 20 secs, Cast on Use (Falling First Barrier Ring) [TR_ring_falling_first_barrier].
A slightly better First Barrier Ring. I've already made the scroll version of it (TR_sc_fallingbarrier, for use in MG equipment chests).

Amulet of Constant Effect Fortify Attack +8 [edit: or +6 if you like it] (Amulet of Precision) [TR_amulet_precision].
Quoting UESP:
"Fortify Attack M points for D seconds
This effect increases your chances of making a successful hit with your weapon or fists. Your chance is increased by M% for the duration of the effect."
So, as far as I understand, this is pretty much irrelevant in the endgame, where each of your hits is successful anyway. But in the midgame, or when you're using a weapon you are not proficient with, this can be useful, although not unbalancing.

Steel Battle Axe of Fortify Attack +5 for 40 secs on Self on Use (Steel Battle Axe of Precision) [TR_w_steel_axe_precision].
"On Use" means that you don't have to actually fight with this thing to make use of its enchantment, so it's like an amulet... but an amulet of weight 30. For this reason (and also the fact that +5 isn't much as far as Fortify Attack is concerned -- see above) I don't think this is an uber item.

Ring of Divine Intervention on Self (Ring of Divine Intervention) [TR_ring_divine_intervention].
You can get this as an amulet for a moderately easy MG quest in vanilla, so this shouldn't be very hard to obtain either. As a ring, it eats less space in your inventory, but otherwise it's the same.

Ring of Almsivi Intervention on Self (Ring of Almsivi Intervention) [TR_ring_almsivi_intervention].
Same idea.

What do you think? Any other ideas?

[Theo]

Nice ideas. Do you take in account that lot of players actually use magic and enchantment balancing mods, which would make those even less of an issue than in Vanilla?

[arvisrend]

I personally don't think highly of these mods, except MCP (they tend to throw the baby out with the bathwater), but obviously what wasn't uber with vanilla will be even less so with these mods. I can't promise that these items won't become vendor trash with these mods, though.

[gro-Dhal]

Something with a permanent Resist Paralysis effect would be a nice counter to the dreaded glass jinkblade. Very useful, but only under quite specific circumstances.

[Nerano]

Those are some great ideas, arvisrend! I was going to post a similar topic today, about the lack of decent crossbows in the game, so I'm glad you have proposed a few improved versions.

I still think that two types crossbows are not enough for such a huge world, and it would be nice to add something more powerful, let's say 40-40, as an alternative to the daedric bow. I'm not sure if a reskinned dwarven crossbow would look unique enough though .

[arvisrend]

Something with a permanent Resist Paralysis effect would be a nice counter to the dreaded glass jinkblade. Very useful, but only under quite specific circumstances.

I definitely like this (although... glass jinkblades? never had any problems with them... on the other hand, paralysis arrows are a bitch). Not sure if this wouldn't be considered too strong by some, though. Maybe nerf it with some bad effects (speed -20, agility -15?) or just put it on some not-very-good piece of armor so that there is a tactical tradeoff between armor protection and paralysis resistance?

Also, how did I forget this:

Rings of Restore Skills on self, on use (Ring of Restore Constitution/Finesse/Fortitude/Sorcery) [TR_ring_restore_*].
There are many skills, so we need several rings. As far as I know, the game has only one situation in which these are of any use: when skeleton warwizards attack you with their damage-skill curses. Thus, balance issues don't arise at all.

@Nerano: Thank you! As for crossbows, they are a Dwemer invention, so the 40-40 crossbow will probably be either a Dwemer experiment or an achievement of a wizard/engineer studying the Dwemer, not just a random levlist item. We might even make a quest for the Imperial Legion to retrieve such a crossbow for reverse engineering.

[gro-Dhal]

Something with a permanent Resist Paralysis effect would be a nice counter to the dreaded glass jinkblade. Very useful, but only under quite specific circumstances.

I definitely like this (although... glass jinkblades? never had any problems with them... on the other hand, paralysis arrows are a bitch). Not sure if this wouldn't be considered too strong by some, though. Maybe nerf it with some bad effects (speed -20, agility -15?) or just put it on some not-very-good piece of armor so that there is a tactical tradeoff between armor protection and paralysis resistance?

Maybe, but bear in mind that balance is less of an issue in a single player game than in something like WoW. As long it's not a 'win every fight' enchanted device, and it's difficulty to acquire is proportionate to it's power, then I think almost anything goes really.

[arvisrend]

A look in the CS has shown that Beth really did underestimate the power of jinkblades. So gro-Dhal is right, there should be a way to counter that. I'm currently in favor of two solutions:

1. A set of enchanted clothing (robe, ring, belt, amulet, shoes) that sums up to Resist Paralysis >= 100% (constant effect). Might be obtainable as rewards for a quest series, buyable in shops, findable in caves etc.

2. Some weak armor that gives 100% paralysis immunity at the cost of bad armor rating. I'd prefer it to be Medium Armor to balance out the shortcomings of this armor category (it's quite OK in the early game due to bonemold and dreugh, and Tribunal and Bloodmoon make it somewhat more viable in the endgame by introducing adamantium and stalhrim, but in the midgame I find it seriously lacking). An enchanted bonemold cuirass maybe? A custom model would probably be very appropriate if we can afford that; rating-wise it should be around 20 (i. e., somewhat better than bonemold, but far worse than dreugh). This could be a reward for a different quest (I'm thinking of some Mages Guild quest which doesn't require much fighting but a lot of running around and thinking; I've planned some Andothren MG quests that might suit for this).

Independently of this, we should not use leveled lists for weapons on baddies; this way we avoid enemies that are supposed to be easy having jinkblades.

[Haplo]

A look in the CS has shown that Beth really did underestimate the power of jinkblades. So gro-Dhal is right, there should be a way to counter that. I'm currently in favor of two solutions:

You don't need to look in the CS to find that out Jinkblades were a regular weapon in my arsenal for a long time because they were so effective.

[arvisrend]

You don't need to look in the CS to find that out :-) Jinkblades were a regular weapon in my arsenal for a long time because they were so effective.

They're a double-edged sword (oops): when you're fighting enemies with Reflect ability (like... pretty much every tough enemy in Bloodmoon?) you need to have a good paralysis resistance yourself or you risk getting your paralysis back at your ass. This is an important issue because it means that the resist-paralysis items that we're introducing indirectly make these jinkblades significantly stronger when used by the player (by removing the reflection drawback). I am not quite sure what to make out of it.

[Haplo]

On the Dwemer Crossbow of CE +6 Marksman, don't add other attributes, unless we add them as a second type of crossbow. Basic buffs to regular weapons are a staple of RPGs, and are one of the more fun parts (for RPG fans) of kitting out your character. Do I want this crossbow +6 accuracy? Or this crossbow +4 power? If the former is actually a crossbow +6 accuracy & +3 agility & +4 stealth, it's not really much of a choice, and the one you have is a little uber. Think about it from the viewpoint of in-game. If I'm enchanting a crossbow, will it even be possible to make those enchantments if we are in a serious role-play mindset? Would it make sense to have that combination or that number of enchantments on a heavy ranged weapon?

And you mention crossbows are a Dwemer invention... is this just an extrapolation based on the nature of the Dwemer, or is this in lore somewhere? There are non-Dwemer crossbows in the vanilla game, is my point.

Also keep in mind where these items might be found. Dwemer items are contraband, still. Something that irks me about the vanilla game is that Dwemer weapons and armor aren't noticed by Imperial Guards when you are wielding them, and there're even a few NPCs in full Dwemer armor.

On the Dwemer Spear of Restore 30 Health on strike, isn't that a little much per strike? If you hit three times, that's already twice as much health restored as mages start with in the beginning of a game. Maybe 15 or 20 health? Though I never spears, so I don't know how underused or underpowered they are as a weapon choice.

About the Amulet of CE Fortify Attack +8, maybe +6? While most TR modders are purists, many others will be using other mods to enhance their ability to become a demigod (something already easily achievable in vanilla MW), like Theo brought up, so we may not need as much as +8 fortification for attack.

I would like the Divine and Almsivi Intervention rings (love the idea) to be marginally more difficult to get than the amulet, since they are less of a burden. Maybe one quest reward higher than the amulet counterpart? Or as a suggestion by the questgiver as a side reward? "I heard some enterprising mage complaining some time ago about losing his handcrafted ring of X intervention in a cave along the way to your next assignment. If you have some extra time, why not see if you can locate it? No need to tell the mage you found it, of course..." This could lead to you getting them in a nice adventure-ish way, and if you opt to return it maybe the mage will even say "I already made some new ones, so you can keep them. But here's a potion of restore strength/endurance/etc. for the nice gesture."


On a somewhat related note, what were those barrier scrolls and spells I was going to incorporate into TR_Data? 7th and 8th barrier?

[arvisrend]

On the Dwemer Crossbow of CE +6 Marksman, don't add other attributes, unless we add them as a second type of crossbow. Basic buffs to regular weapons are a staple of RPGs, and are one of the more fun parts (for RPG fans) of kitting out your character. Do I want this crossbow +6 accuracy? Or this crossbow +4 power? If the former is actually a crossbow +6 accuracy & +3 agility & +4 stealth, it's not really much of a choice, and the one you have is a little uber. Think about it from the viewpoint of in-game. If I'm enchanting a crossbow, will it even be possible to make those enchantments if we are in a serious role-play mindset? Would it make sense to have that combination or that number of enchantments on a heavy ranged weapon?

You're right about this, yes.

And you mention crossbows are a Dwemer invention... is this just an extrapolation based on the nature of the Dwemer, or is this in lore somewhere? There are non-Dwemer crossbows in the vanilla game, is my point.

Quoting UESP:
"The Dwemer crossbow is an ingenious device that permits someone with only modest training and skill to fire a missile bolt massive enough to penetrate heavy armor. The Imperial Legion's mass-produced version is somewhat less effective, and most Imperial missile troops and hunters use the more popular short and long bows. - Garothmuk gro-Muzgub"

I know that UESP aren't exactly a lore authority, but I trust them at least quoting ingame dialogue right.

(Also, I like my quest idea about reverse engineering an artefact. Imagine that after the quest, your favorite weapon merchants suddenly have a new crossbow model in their inventory. I don't recall something like this being in vanilla, but it adds to the feeling of a living world.)

Also keep in mind where these items might be found. Dwemer items are contraband, still. Something that irks me about the vanilla game is that Dwemer weapons and armor aren't noticed by Imperial Guards when you are wielding them, and there're even a few NPCs in full Dwemer armor.

Yes, vanilla wasn't very consequent about this. But Dwemer crossbows are too good to be easily accessible anyway; I thought of them being quest rewards or hidden deep in Dwemer ruins.

On the Dwemer Spear of Restore 30 Health on strike, isn't that a little much per strike? If you hit three times, that's already twice as much health restored as mages start with in the beginning of a game. Maybe 15 or 20 health? Though I never spears, so I don't know how underused or underpowered they are as a weapon choice.

The problem is, this is an enchantment you can do yourself ingame for just a few thousand gold (though it costs some money), and quest rewards that are worse than what you can do yourself are maybe not very useful. I agree, though, that it's a bit too good. Morrowind's enchantment system isn't very well-balanced. You can't make an item of resist paralysis 100% on self, but you can make yourself an amulet of sanctuary 100 for 24 secs...

Then again, as cave loot this is probably OK with just 20 or 10 health restored per hit.

About the Amulet of CE Fortify Attack +8, maybe +6? While most TR modders are purists, many others will be using other mods to enhance their ability to become a demigod (something already easily achievable in vanilla MW), like Theo brought up, so we may not need as much as +8 fortification for attack.

I don't understand this (the mods Theo meant make the game harder, I believe, and if someone wants the game to be easy let him have an easy game; we shouldn't think too much about balance mods).

I would like the Divine and Almsivi Intervention rings (love the idea) to be marginally more difficult to get than the amulet, since they are less of a burden. Maybe one quest reward higher than the amulet counterpart? Or as a suggestion by the questgiver as a side reward? "I heard some enterprising mage complaining some time ago about losing his handcrafted ring of X intervention in a cave along the way to your next assignment. If you have some extra time, why not see if you can locate it? No need to tell the mage you found it, of course..." This could lead to you getting them in a nice adventure-ish way, and if you opt to return it maybe the mage will even say "I already made some new ones, so you can keep them. But here's a potion of restore strength/endurance/etc. for the nice gesture."

Yes, good idea, though losing a ring doesn't seem very probable in terms of gameplay. Stealing might be better. Some MG quests in Old Ebonheart could actually be about bringing back stuff stolen from the Guild, and some of it the player can keep.

On a somewhat related note, what were those barrier scrolls and spells I was going to incorporate into TR_Data? 7th and 8th barrier?

I think so. It should be kept in mind that the 9th Barrier is not just a shield, but is a mix of several enchantments. I think the 7th and 8th, if you add them into the game, should also have some additional goodies.

[Haplo]

Yes, good idea, though losing a ring doesn't seem very probable in terms of gameplay. Stealing might be better. Some MG quests in Old Ebonheart could actually be about bringing back stuff stolen from the Guild, and some of it the player can keep.

I was thinking the quest giver would mention that another NPC had lost the ring in the cave, and you can go find it... I think it fits just fine with MG quests, especially since I thought of it just as an aside to the actual quest. A bit of a side-trip to prepare the player for a new region, perhaps (the side-trip could have barely weaker than normal enemies for the region, to give the player the thought of "hey, this is easy, so the whole region won't be too bad" or "hey, this cave is tough as shit, maybe I should wait a bit and come back to it"

I think so. It should be kept in mind that the 9th Barrier is not just a shield, but is a mix of several enchantments. I think the 7th and 8th, if you add them into the game, should also have some additional goodies.

Right, the 9th barrier exists, so I'll be examining it plus the lower barriers when making the new scrolls.

[arvisrend]

Concretizing my above post about gro-Dhal's suggestions, and adding a few more:

All below items are constant effect on self. Feel free to choose whatever models you like.

Robe/Shoes/Belt/Ring/Amulet/Shirt of Perennial Freedom [TR_resist_paralysis_*]: exquisite robe/shoes/belt/ring/amulet/short (each of the 6), Resist Paralysis 20%. (Yes, these are more than one needs, but people would want to have some of their slots free for other armor/clothing.)

[Some parts of this set should be easier to get than othes. E. g., I've put the shoes on some midgame enemies and merchants.]

Hist Cuirass of Freedom [TR_a_hist_freedom]: Hist cuirass (TR_a_hist_cuirass), with health set to 1700, AR to 21, weight to 20, value to (say) 5500 (feel free to put whatever you want here, but this should be a midgame quest reward from, e. g., the Mages Guild). Resist Paralysis 100%.

Irfeid's Left Shoulder: Daedric hide left pauldron (TR_a_dae_hide_pauldron_left), enchantment: Fire Shield 2%, Frost Shield 2%.

Irfeid's Right Shoulder: Daedric hide right pauldron (TR_a_dae_hide_pauldron_right), enchantment: Shield 2%, Shock Shield 2%.

Left Shoulder of Ghostlight: Daedric hide left pauldron (TR_a_dae_hide_pauldron_left), enchantment: Night eye 8, Sanctuary 4.

Right Shoulder of Ghostlight: Daedric hide right pauldron (TR_a_dae_hide_pauldron_right), enchantment: Night eye 8, Chameleon 4.

[Haplo]

Hist Cuirass of Freedom: Hist cuirass (TR_a_hist_cuirass), with health set to 1700, AR to 21, weight to 20, value to (say) 5500 (feel free to put whatever you want here, but this should be a midgame quest reward from, e. g., the Mages Guild). Resist Paralysis 100%.

Why such a high value and health? I've added this cuirass and all the stuff in the first post so far. Taking a bit of a break since I've been updating TR_Data for 11 hours straight now and since the rest of these new items require TR_Data.esm only.

[Theo]

Some ideas for more high-level rewards, which I placed in the molag-bal cultist hq.

Cloak of shadow form:
Sun damage. Resist normal weapons 25%. Weakness to magicka 75% Chameleon 25%

Cloudwalker boots:
Levitate 10 pts on self. Damage fatigue 1 on self.

Hist cuirass of the visitor:
Weakness to common disease 100% Weakness to blight disease 100% Weakness to poison 100%. Restore 1 health on self.

Face of Molag Bal (daedric face of humiliation):
Fortify speechcraft 75. Damage willpower 1 on self (has to be restored once player takes it of).

Ruddy-man's skin (dreugh armor):
Swift swim 250. Drain speed 25.

Ruddy-man's fins (dreugh helmet):
Waterbreathing. Blind 25%

[arvisrend]

Hist Cuirass of Freedom: Hist cuirass (TR_a_hist_cuirass), with health set to 1700, AR to 21, weight to 20, value to (say) 5500 (feel free to put whatever you want here, but this should be a midgame quest reward from, e. g., the Mages Guild). Resist Paralysis 100%.

Why such a high value and health? I've added this cuirass and all the stuff in the first post so far. Taking a bit of a break since I've been updating TR_Data for 11 hours straight now and since the rest of these new items require TR_Data.esm only.

Because it would be fatal if it was to fall off the player in the middle of battle. (Compare with iron and similar armor; they've got much more health.) I imagine that cuirass being built specifically as a means against some paralysing snakes/reptiles in the Argonian jungle; an armor for Argonian scouts or something like that. Being an import from Argonia, it is kind of a rarity in Morrowind (though not unique), thus the moderately high value.

[I have in mind a questline for the Old Ebonheart MG (at the moment, it's very rough and unfinished), which starts with an assault on the MG by thieves. When the player arrives, the vaults have been looted and a lot of valuable artefacts, armor, scrolls are missing. The first quests require you to do some information gathering, persuading etc.; at some point, you'll be pointed to a hideout of some bandits who have some of the stolen stuff, which includes paralysis weapons, and you'll be given this cuirass to help you in the fight. So, while it will technically be avaliable to a very low-level character, it will require doing a handful of quests beforehand and building some trust with the MG; hence I don't think it is too good a reward.]

Cloak of shadow form:
Sun damage. Resist normal weapons 25%. Weakness to magicka 75% Chameleon 25%

Cloudwalker boots:
Levitate 10 pts on self. Damage fatigue 1 on self.

Hist cuirass of the visitor:
Weakness to common disease 100% Weakness to blight disease 100% Weakness to poison 100%. Restore 1 health on self.

Face of Molag Bal (daedric face of humiliation):
Fortify speechcraft 75. Damage willpower 1 on self (has to be restored once player takes it of).

Ruddy-man's skin (dreugh armor):
Swift swim 250. Drain speed 25.

Ruddy-man's fins (dreugh helmet):
Waterbreathing. Blind 25%

Hah, you seem to love Molag Bal. Should I tell Eifid? ;)

I like these enchantments (although I wish you would have given the base armor; it's clear with the hist cuirass, but what is the cloak based on?). As a matter of fact, I've been thinking about resist normal weapons too, and I'd propose this as a less high-end item:

Amulet of Dematerialization (exquisite amulet):
Resist normal weapons 35%.

[Theo]

Some of these items I had in mind for the high-end quest rewards in Molag Bal cult questline, but it is less than certain that this will get implemented.

Here are some ideas for some more malices compensating bonuses.
- A weapon, which has a dmg weapon on self constant effect and rusts away automatically when equipped.
- A helm with sound or silence enchantement.

Also, this is perhaps to diablo-like, but you could script some pieces of armor to create a set with additional bonuses for set completion.

Also you could go more fancy with some general scripts, like:

- The item cannot be removed by player and has to be removed by some special NPC/class.
- The item works only in the day/night storm weather, when player has low health, full magicka etc.
- Addiction: Some effects appear only after player is wearing/not-wearing the item for a certain amount of time.

[arvisrend]

Some of these items I had in mind for the high-end quest rewards in Molag Bal cult questline, but it is less than certain that this will get implemented.

Even if it won't be implemented as a joinable faction, we could add these things to some cultists and the player will get them as loot.

Here are some ideas for some more malices compensating bonuses.
- A weapon, which has a dmg weapon on self constant effect and rusts away automatically when equipped.
- A helm with sound or silence enchantement.

Good ideas!

Also, this is perhaps to diablo-like, but you could script some pieces of armor to create a set with additional bonuses for set completion.

We had armor sets in Nehrim, and I have mixed feelings about them. For me, these sets take away some immersion because they provoke me to metagame/munchkineer. Of course, this is not an issue in Diablo, but in Morrowind it should be.

Also you could go more fancy with some general scripts, like:

- The item cannot be removed by player and has to be removed by some special NPC/class.

We have an unremovable item already (the rancid cuirass). Nice idea about the special class item.

Adanorcil had another idea in IRC yesterday: two pauldrons, found in totally different places, which have opposite effects. For example, one raises strength and drains endurance, the other exactly the other way round. But when you have both of them in your inventory, they lose their negative effects. The enchanter who made them protected them against theft this way (but apparently it didn't help).

- The item works only in the day/night storm weather, when player has low health, full magicka etc.

Nice idea. Full magicka will be hard, though, due to the many modifiers acting on magicka.

- Addiction: Some effects appear only after player is wearing/not-wearing the item for a certain amount of time.

That will be hard to do. Like, really hard.

[arvisrend]

Blacksmith's Left Hand:
Imperial Steel Left Gauntlet ("imperial left gauntlet"), on use enchantment: Fortify Armorer 8 for 60 sec.

Blacksmith's Right Hand:
Imperial Steel Right Gauntlet ("imperial right gauntlet"), on use enchantment: Fortify Armorer 3 for 60 sec; Fortify Strength 3 for 60 sec.

[Haplo]

Why the difference in enchantments, and why strength on the right hand?

[Andres Indoril]

All the blacksmiths in Tamriel are clearly right handed, so the strength is in the right hand and the left is used for positioning.

[Adanorcil]

Some ideas for more high-level rewards, which I placed in the molag-bal cultist hq.

Cloak of shadow form:
Sun damage. Resist normal weapons 25%. Weakness to magicka 75% Chameleon 25%

Cloudwalker boots:
Levitate 10 pts on self. Damage fatigue 1 on self.

Hist cuirass of the visitor:
Weakness to common disease 100% Weakness to blight disease 100% Weakness to poison 100%. Restore 1 health on self.

Face of Molag Bal (daedric face of humiliation):
Fortify speechcraft 75. Damage willpower 1 on self (has to be restored once player takes it of).

Ruddy-man's skin (dreugh armor):
Swift swim 250. Drain speed 25.

Ruddy-man's fins (dreugh helmet):
Waterbreathing. Blind 25%

Nothing to say on the rest, but I would advise against the Ruddy Man things. I know it's a reference to the sermons, but it's really too big a thing to just make it a dreugh hide with an enchantment.

[arvisrend]

All the blacksmiths in Tamriel are clearly right handed, so the strength is in the right hand and the left is used for positioning. :P

Best retcon explanation of the month. Thank you. :thumbsup:

(I just didn't want to have 2 items with the same enchantment.)

[Haplo]

I am vehemently against solidifying the handedness bigotry of video games.

[Haplo]

Hey Theo, could you specify a bit on these? For example, we don't have cloaks, and what type of boots were you thinking?

Some ideas for more high-level rewards, which I placed in the molag-bal cultist hq.

Cloak of shadow form:
Sun damage. Resist normal weapons 25%. Weakness to magicka 75% Chameleon 25%

Cloudwalker boots:
Levitate 10 pts on self. Damage fatigue 1 on self.

[Theo]

I think any robe and shoes will be appropriate.
Such powerful enchantements need not be on any armor. I think that clothes should be main objects to enchanting, as they are most commonly wore by mages and also because mage characters suffer from few options to upgrade by equipping better apparel.
Armor in general should have mostly moderately strong enchantements boosting fighting or protection, but the truly interesting enchantements should be on items mage is likely to use like robes, belts, jewelry, staffs, or shoes.

[Nomadic1]

What about dubious / self-defeating things?

Like a sun damage on self / night eye on self item?
A disintegrate weapon & armour on target / disintegrate weapon and armour on self item? Pure rust.
Constant effect slowfall / constant effect weakness to shock?
etc.

Make things more fun / interesting.

[Theo]

Or maybe just some good daedric armor/weapon with constant disintegrate armor/weapon on self. Would be good but require a continous maintenance and disintegrate completely after being equipped for few ingame hours - gold eater for characters with low armorer skill.

[arvisrend]

What, I think, limits the use of such enchantments is the following question: why the hell should anyone enchant a good piece of armor/weapon with an idiotically contraproductive spell? Whenever such a question can be answered, the enchantment is good. Here are a couple of examples:

Somebody on the IRC suggested two gauntlets, one of which gives strength +8 and speed -8, and the other gives speed +8 and strength -8. But if you ever get both of them, their negative effects magically cancel (by script). This was some kind of magical theft protection.

The sun-damage + nighteye thing might be either a quest reward or an item to buy for Akamora MG, where Stevia is trying to figure out how vampirism works. Some resist-normal-weapons might also fit very well on that thing (although not too much).

A problem with disintegrate armor is that it would basically be an unlimited armorer trainer.

[Theo]

Not every enchanted items must be crafted by an enchanter. You will probably not get such kind of reward for a mage guild quests, nor will you buy them at enchanter store. Some of these artifacts may be products of telvanni lords and their experiments, some may draw their power from daedra princes or may have had served some ceremonial purpose. Some have been enchanted by different ways, allowing for more powerful enchantments, which have some drawbacks. The fact that something is not justifiable by TES game mechanics, does not mean that something is not justifiable by TES lore.

Remember Sloads first principle of lore: If it is fun, it is good. Sometimes weird, inconsistent and extraordinary creates fun.

[Why]

Actually the MG producing weird, (semi)useless enchantments through research and experiments is more plausible than the Telvanni doing so. I'd like to portray the MG as predominantly a scholarly institution, so they'd be all over theoretical research with little practical application, as opposed to the Telvanni who are very pragmatic. Both the MG and the Telvanni do research/experiments, but to the MG knowledge itself is the goal, while to the Telvanni knowledge is but a means to an end. So the chances of the MG producing something weird and impractical are larger than the Telvanni doing so.

[arvisrend]

Yeah, good idea. The OE MG questline offers a lot of space for enchanted MG artefacts, including botched-up ones. (OE MG in a nutshell: A gang of thieves have broken into the vaults of the Guild, wreaked a ton of havoc and poached lots of artefacts. You are to (in this order) fix things in the vaults, make inquiries, get a hold of the items, and finally confront the thieves. Ultimately they turn out to be hired by the Indoril cabal which wants the MG thrown out of Morrowind and is also framing the MG for necromancy in Almalexia.) I guess it would be a nice twist to return to the guild with another artefact just to hear something along the lines of "oh, they really were able to sell this useless fuckup? the guy who made this got thrown out of the guild for it". But as I said, every "stupid" artefact should have a backstory. Normally smiths and enchanters ingame don't think about balancing ;)

By the way, I am going to look at the enchantments added in the m3a6 claim. IIRC most of them are crap, but some might be useful (just better to add them in TR_data).

[rot]

Scripted, cursed and non-scripted enchanted items with On-self effects.
Not suggesting them for generic lists, but could be some quest or quest reward ideas in there.





scripted



Amulet of Relentless Freedom
CE 10% Resist Paralysis
+ Constant %chance of breaking paralysis (eg 10% per second)


Staunch Shield
(On use: Shield 20 pt + Paralysis)
Grants a Second Barrier shield when paralysed

Steadfast Amulet
Grands a Fourth Barrier shield when paralysed


Amulet of Gills
On use: Water Breathing - 60 seconds
BUT can't breathe out of water for the duration (continuous health damage)


Magicka Sphincter
Protection against Drain/Damage Magicka effects,
when a spell fails, recovers 30% of spent magicka.


Amulet of Learning
CE 5 Intelligence
hidden: 5% chance of learning any spell effect that hits the player

Greater Amulet of Learning
CE 10 Intelligence
5% chance of learning any Damage spell that hits the player


Amulet of Timely Recall / Almsivi / Divine Intervention
Saves from death by Recall / ...
Recharges after 7 days or at a shrine


Chameleon Ring
The longer the player stands still, the more Chameleon accumulated effect for the next 5 seconds.
(maximum 30%...)


Herbalist's Glove
On Use: Fortify Alchemy 5 and
Increased chance on random-yield plants like the black roses in Firewatch (any others like these?)


Amulet of Vocal Discord
CE Drain Personality 5
30% resist Silence

Amulet of Cacophony
CE Drain Speechcraft 20
50% resist Silence

Daedric Face of Endless Chanting
CE Sound 5
100% protection against Silence or other Sound effects


Kinetic Accumulator
If the player freefalls from a certain height - or runs at a decidedly unnatural speed for a few seconds - while holding this, something interesting happens (random positive effect, speed boost, gets teleported to a pocket plane, turns into another item... )







cursed:



Levitation Amulet
On Use: "Levitate - 60 seconds"
Levitation ends after 10 seconds.
story: enchanter scam or murder plot


Collar of Peace
CE Fortify Wisdom 20
Prevents from drawing any weapon,
Paralyses/damages fatigue every so often if fists are raised
story: rehabilitating violent prisoners or hippie magic


Amulet of Recall
Actually teleports somewhere dangerous


Haemophiliac Exhilaration Amulet
CE Fortify Strength 15 - Restore fatigue 2
Prevents from healing in any way when equipped and for a long duration afterwards.
story: experiment on trying to mimic vampiric abilities without the bloodthirst drawbacks.


Voracious Ring
On use/CE Fortify Strength 10 pt
On use/when equipped: bites the player's ring finger!
slightly hurts every now and then, prevents another ring from being equipped for a while if/after it's pried off. (or just severely damages agility)
story: rawr


"Finely Tuned Silver Weight"
Cancels any effects of Levitate, Slowfall or Fortify Acrobatics if it's the inventory
story: problem solver amongst Telvanni or prank turned bad, on some dead apprentice alchemist


Wizard's Folly
CE Fortify Magicka 100
Any magicka use takes a tenfold toll on health
story: don't bite on more power than you can chew










not scripted:



Ring of Unanimous Blindness
Invisibility + Blind 100% - 20 seconds


Rooted Boots
Drain Speed 80 pt - 20 seconds
Restore Fatigue 10 pt - 20 seconds


Forfify + damage Attribute/Skill/
useful as strategic boosts early-game,
but not powerful to the point of being unbalancing later when the aftereffects can be resisted or dispelled.
for instance:

Ring of Decaying Smiles
Fortify Personality 15 pt - 5 seconds
Damage Personality 1 pt - 5 seconds

Ring of Tongue-Tearing Jest
Fortify Speechcraft 15 pt - 5 Seconds
Damage Speechcraft 1 pt - 5 seconds

Ring of Gambler's Foresight
Fortify Luck 25 pt - 10 Seconds
Damage Luck 1 pt - 10 seconds

Ring of Conflicted Flesh
Restore Health 6 pt - 20 seconds
Damage Health 4 pt - 40 seconds

[Theo]

So now that there is Ragox's thread about new artifacts has any of these ideas been implemented?