(Underrepresented) Item Ideas
TvrtkoSvrdlar
Member Posts: 353
Let's have a brainstorming/item idea thread!
I see a lot of people complaining about weapons like spears being given the shaft by the devs.
Personally, I don't really use spears, but I can see how some weapon groups really did get the short end. And not only weapons, but general concepts like damage-returning shields, and the like. So, if you could get 1 item of your choice into the game, what would it be?
It can be a unique weapon, a cool armor, some kind of misc. trinket, etc.
To get the thread started, here are some ideas from my WIP mod...
"Blademail"
----------
- 10 AC (crappy on purpose!)
- +25% overall physical resistance
- deals 2d4 piercing damage to attackers
- casting and sneaking are both disabled
"Rod of the Crimson Flaggelant"
---------------------------
- +6 clerical flail (for bypassing resistances)
- melee (but with a total range setting of 90!)
- deals *0* dmg to the target/foe being attacked!
- on hit: +2 HP to every party member within range
- on hit: -4 HP to the flagellating cleric him/herself
- 'Fervor' 3x/day (+3 att/rnd to the cleric for 15s)
"Cursed Sword of Bureaucracy"
--------------------------
- +4 cursed, yellow longsword
- deals pure damage (speed = 11)
- has a chance to confuse attackers
- on hit: removes 2d10 gold from player
{this idea isn't my own; it's from a thread}
"Gauntlets of Spectacular Resilience"
-------------------------------
- generic gauntlets (usable by anyone)
- gives +10% to all physical resistances
- disables pickpocketing while worn
- +20% miscast chance while worn
"Brambled Band"
--------------
- generic ring
- lowers CON by 1 while worn
- lowers CHA by 1 while worn
- deals 3d3 poison damage to attackers
{homage to PS:T's Ravel, and her garden}
"Cervantaux's Tomb"
------------------
- mage ring (only wiz & sorc)
- doubles the wearer's 9th level arcane spell slots
- slows casting speed by 3, and movement speed by 10%
{lore: the trapped soul inside is fighting the ring's wearer!}
"Stygian Plate"
------------
- generic plate armor
- sets fire resistance to 0
- AC set to 1; +100% cold immunity
- increases all physical resistances by +15%
- 10% chance for an attacker to be frozen for 3 sec. (no save!)
- can release a Frost Nova 3x/day (slows nearby foes by 75% for 5sec.)
{huge creatures like dragons and giants are immune to the armor's effects}
"Tojjara's Ring"
-------------
- kensai ring (pure-class only)
- gives +1 THAC0 and +1 AC while worn
- expands the wearer's critical threat range by 1
- 25% chance when hit to auto-parry the next attack
{effect is achieved by erecting 1 invisible stoneskin}
"Quello'melann"
--------------
- mage shortsword (wiz & sorc only)
- usable only by good or neutral chars
- increases user's magical resistance by 25%
- gives +1 bonus spell slot for spell levels 1-5
- gives +2 bonus to AC, and +3 bonus to saves
- sets the wielder's number of attacks per round to 0
- renders the wielder immune to the magic missile spell
- restores one sub-level5 arcane spell per in-game turn!
"Narathama"
-----------
- +4 katana usable only by fighter-mages
- all the damage dealt by the blade is magical
- requires a minimum of 14 STR and 16 INT to wield
- sets katana proficiency & number of attacks/round to 4
- increases cast speed by 2, and saves vs. magic/spells by 4
- on hit: strips 5% magic resistance from target (12 seconds)
- on hit: has a 20% chance to restore a used sub-level4 spell
- can restore 8 already-used sub-level2 arcane spells 1x/day
"The Flenser"
-----------
- generic +3 scimitar
- usable only by evil characters
- makes the holder immune to bleed effects while used
- permanently lowers the wielder's HP by 1 when equipped
- deals 2d6 slashing damage (33% for another +2d6 damage)
- chance on hit to flense (steal!): 3% (1HP), 2% (2HP), 1% (3 HP)
{the enemy HP is permanently added to the wielder's max HP!}
Infernal Contraption
-----------------
- +3 fiendish crossbow not usable by good characters
- sets attacks to 3/round, but requires 16 STR to operate!
- weighs 66lbs., and fires buzzsaws that do incredible damage
- roots the user in place for 3sec. after each shot (0 movespeed!)
- the saws do 3d3 damage, with the following on-hit properties:
50% chance for a torso hit (extra +3d3 slash dmg)
25% chance for a limbs hit (extra +4d4 slash dmg)
10% chance for a head hit (extra +5d5 slash dmg)
5% chance for a neck hit (insta-death, no save)
1% chance to hit self (misfire, perma -1 CON!)
Dustmen Contract
---------------
- miscellaneous generic item
- usable only one time, after which it disappears
- the contract can be signed by any party member, *except* the PC!
- using it gives a *permanent* +1 to all stats, +3 to all saves, and +500,000 XP!
- however, by 'signing' it, the signatory becomes immune to all resurrection magics
{basically, they gain permanent buffs, but can't be brought back from death anymore}
Darksoul Manual
--------------
- miscellaneous generic item (usable only 1x/day!)
- user permanently trades a random amount of HP for XP
- HP interval: 1-10; XP inteval: 1k-100k {rolls are random}
Gargoyle Talon
-------------
- miscellaneous generic item
- instantly envelops the user in 5 stoneskins
- the skins last only 10 seconds, but can't be breached
- usable 3x/day {thinking of maybe upping it to 5x/day}
Glowing Bottle
------------
- miscellaneous generic item
- heals 100% HP over 5 seconds (2x/day)
- has a 1% chance to break on use (vanish)
Hand of Midas
------------
- miscellaneous generic item {costs 25,000gp!}
- can be used to Transmute targets into gold coins
- on use, insta-turns a <10 HD foe into 1-10 platinum coins!
- amount of coins is dependant on target's HD {transmuting yields +1 coin/lvl.}
- these platinum coins can be sold for ~100gp each {still fiddling with this variable}
- 5% chance on use that the user himself is petrified {stone to flesh can reverse this}
{the way the item works is that it shatters the target, and drops coins at their feet!}
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9h2c8c5X2xE
I see a lot of people complaining about weapons like spears being given the shaft by the devs.
Personally, I don't really use spears, but I can see how some weapon groups really did get the short end. And not only weapons, but general concepts like damage-returning shields, and the like. So, if you could get 1 item of your choice into the game, what would it be?
It can be a unique weapon, a cool armor, some kind of misc. trinket, etc.
To get the thread started, here are some ideas from my WIP mod...
"Blademail"
----------
- 10 AC (crappy on purpose!)
- +25% overall physical resistance
- deals 2d4 piercing damage to attackers
- casting and sneaking are both disabled
"Rod of the Crimson Flaggelant"
---------------------------
- +6 clerical flail (for bypassing resistances)
- melee (but with a total range setting of 90!)
- deals *0* dmg to the target/foe being attacked!
- on hit: +2 HP to every party member within range
- on hit: -4 HP to the flagellating cleric him/herself
- 'Fervor' 3x/day (+3 att/rnd to the cleric for 15s)
"Cursed Sword of Bureaucracy"
--------------------------
- +4 cursed, yellow longsword
- deals pure damage (speed = 11)
- has a chance to confuse attackers
- on hit: removes 2d10 gold from player
{this idea isn't my own; it's from a thread}
"Gauntlets of Spectacular Resilience"
-------------------------------
- generic gauntlets (usable by anyone)
- gives +10% to all physical resistances
- disables pickpocketing while worn
- +20% miscast chance while worn
"Brambled Band"
--------------
- generic ring
- lowers CON by 1 while worn
- lowers CHA by 1 while worn
- deals 3d3 poison damage to attackers
{homage to PS:T's Ravel, and her garden}
"Cervantaux's Tomb"
------------------
- mage ring (only wiz & sorc)
- doubles the wearer's 9th level arcane spell slots
- slows casting speed by 3, and movement speed by 10%
{lore: the trapped soul inside is fighting the ring's wearer!}
"Stygian Plate"
------------
- generic plate armor
- sets fire resistance to 0
- AC set to 1; +100% cold immunity
- increases all physical resistances by +15%
- 10% chance for an attacker to be frozen for 3 sec. (no save!)
- can release a Frost Nova 3x/day (slows nearby foes by 75% for 5sec.)
{huge creatures like dragons and giants are immune to the armor's effects}
"Tojjara's Ring"
-------------
- kensai ring (pure-class only)
- gives +1 THAC0 and +1 AC while worn
- expands the wearer's critical threat range by 1
- 25% chance when hit to auto-parry the next attack
{effect is achieved by erecting 1 invisible stoneskin}
"Quello'melann"
--------------
- mage shortsword (wiz & sorc only)
- usable only by good or neutral chars
- increases user's magical resistance by 25%
- gives +1 bonus spell slot for spell levels 1-5
- gives +2 bonus to AC, and +3 bonus to saves
- sets the wielder's number of attacks per round to 0
- renders the wielder immune to the magic missile spell
- restores one sub-level5 arcane spell per in-game turn!
"Narathama"
-----------
- +4 katana usable only by fighter-mages
- all the damage dealt by the blade is magical
- requires a minimum of 14 STR and 16 INT to wield
- sets katana proficiency & number of attacks/round to 4
- increases cast speed by 2, and saves vs. magic/spells by 4
- on hit: strips 5% magic resistance from target (12 seconds)
- on hit: has a 20% chance to restore a used sub-level4 spell
- can restore 8 already-used sub-level2 arcane spells 1x/day
"The Flenser"
-----------
- generic +3 scimitar
- usable only by evil characters
- makes the holder immune to bleed effects while used
- permanently lowers the wielder's HP by 1 when equipped
- deals 2d6 slashing damage (33% for another +2d6 damage)
- chance on hit to flense (steal!): 3% (1HP), 2% (2HP), 1% (3 HP)
{the enemy HP is permanently added to the wielder's max HP!}
Infernal Contraption
-----------------
- +3 fiendish crossbow not usable by good characters
- sets attacks to 3/round, but requires 16 STR to operate!
- weighs 66lbs., and fires buzzsaws that do incredible damage
- roots the user in place for 3sec. after each shot (0 movespeed!)
- the saws do 3d3 damage, with the following on-hit properties:
50% chance for a torso hit (extra +3d3 slash dmg)
25% chance for a limbs hit (extra +4d4 slash dmg)
10% chance for a head hit (extra +5d5 slash dmg)
5% chance for a neck hit (insta-death, no save)
1% chance to hit self (misfire, perma -1 CON!)
Dustmen Contract
---------------
- miscellaneous generic item
- usable only one time, after which it disappears
- the contract can be signed by any party member, *except* the PC!
- using it gives a *permanent* +1 to all stats, +3 to all saves, and +500,000 XP!
- however, by 'signing' it, the signatory becomes immune to all resurrection magics
{basically, they gain permanent buffs, but can't be brought back from death anymore}
Darksoul Manual
--------------
- miscellaneous generic item (usable only 1x/day!)
- user permanently trades a random amount of HP for XP
- HP interval: 1-10; XP inteval: 1k-100k {rolls are random}
Gargoyle Talon
-------------
- miscellaneous generic item
- instantly envelops the user in 5 stoneskins
- the skins last only 10 seconds, but can't be breached
- usable 3x/day {thinking of maybe upping it to 5x/day}
Glowing Bottle
------------
- miscellaneous generic item
- heals 100% HP over 5 seconds (2x/day)
- has a 1% chance to break on use (vanish)
Hand of Midas
------------
- miscellaneous generic item {costs 25,000gp!}
- can be used to Transmute targets into gold coins
- on use, insta-turns a <10 HD foe into 1-10 platinum coins!
- amount of coins is dependant on target's HD {transmuting yields +1 coin/lvl.}
- these platinum coins can be sold for ~100gp each {still fiddling with this variable}
- 5% chance on use that the user himself is petrified {stone to flesh can reverse this}
{the way the item works is that it shatters the target, and drops coins at their feet!}
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9h2c8c5X2xE 6
Comments
*Daggers, short swords and ninja-tos that do extra damage on backstabs (in addition to the extra damage that is already dealt).
*Magical spears that have extremely long range (like Nine Paces from Icewind Dale 2).
*An axe that summons an extremely weak allied creature that doesn't count towards the summoning limit whenever it hits an enemy.
*A quarterstaff that increases all crushing damage the wielder deals as long as it is equipped (sort of like how Kossuth's Blood from Icewind Dale increases your fire damage).
*A weapon that hits the wielder with a fireball every X seconds, dealing a certain amount of fire damage to the wielder and all creatures within 30 feet of the wielder (or whatever the radius of a fireball is).
*Weapons that can increase the wielder's critical threat range.
*A mace that stuns the target for half a second whenever it hits, with no saving throw (this might be overpowered in ToB where you have Greater Whirlwind Attack, so I guess one way of balancing it would be to make it a +1 weapon so it can't hit everyone in ToB).
*A weapon that increases the wielder's movement speed whenever it hits, or a weapon that slows the target's movement speed whenever it hits.
*A halberd that sends anyone it hits flying like Wing Buffet but doesn't stun them or knock them unconscious.
*Weapons that lower the target's resistance to a certain damage type whenever they hit.
I don't know about the rest, but these are doable:
*Magical spears that have extremely long range (like Nine Paces from Icewind Dale 2).
*A weapon that hits the wielder with a fireball every X seconds, dealing a certain amount of fire damage to the wielder and all creatures within 30 feet of the wielder (or whatever the radius of a fireball is).
*Weapons that can increase the wielder's critical threat range.
*A mace that stuns the target for half a second whenever it hits, with no saving throw (this might be overpowered in ToB where you have Greater Whirlwind Attack, so I guess one way of balancing it would be to make it a +1 weapon so it can't hit everyone in ToB). {my note: I don't think you can go under 1.0 seconds in editors, but you probably could with scripting... though to keep things simple, it's possible to make it a 1-second stun, but give it only 50% chance of proccing, which is essentially the same thing as your suggestion}
*A weapon that increases the wielder's movement speed whenever it hits, or a weapon that slows the target's movement speed whenever it hits.
*A halberd that sends anyone it hits flying like Wing Buffet but doesn't stun them or knock them unconscious.
*Weapons that lower the target's resistance to a certain damage type whenever they hit.
something similar already exists in BGII, IIRC. ^
Isn't that the Stupifier+1 you find in BG:EE?
I take it you're referring to the Flenser?
And yes, it's -1 HP permanently every time you equip it (though I should probably make it cursed to that it can't be unequipped accidentally).
Thing is, the scimitar has a 6% overall chance to steal HP from enemies (the 'Flense' effect, hence its name) each time you attack with it, and this is permanently added to the wielder's HP pool. If anything, the on-equip HP penalty is far too lenient, and should be increased to something like -5. I left it at -1 simply because there aren't too many scimitar-wielding characters out there who also happen to have an evil alignment.
Very neat items, btw, and all are complex and intriguing.
Well, you can hack the game via Shadowkeeper if you want uber stats/abilities, so I don't really see the point of attacking summoned creatures. I hate policing the player, because BG2 is a single-player game, and obsessing over perfect balance is kind of pointless. But yeah, I might add some percentage-based modifier to the scimitar, if only to tone down its power a bit.
As far as the rest of the items are concerned, the clerical flail is my favorite one. It allows the cleric to sit back and auto-attack via any simple script, and instead of putting him/herself in harm's way, the attacks heals the party (I think it's well-balanced because the item deals 0 damage to enemies). It's like having an AoE heal aura that slowly regenerates everyone's HP while sapping the cleric's, basically reinforcing the entire healing theme of the class. Using it in-game is really fun, especially when you activate the Fervor effect, giving your cleric that extra oomph! when s/he needs to clutch-heal everyone in a hurry.
@Schneidend
Well, the first problem with your suggestion is that damage done to characters tends to interrupt their attacks, which directly translates into less damage output from them. Second, I don't know any way of checking for killing blows, as there isn't an option for such in DLTCEP. And third, if I'm not mistaken, temporary HP is lost after resting.
And as I mentioned above, if someone is going to abuse the weapon's mechanic by spending long minutes summoning disposable minions and attacking them in order to milk the extra HP, then they might as well fire up Shadowkeeper and just manually enter the amount of max HP they want their char to have. Honestly, at that point it's no different than CluaConsoling yourself a ton of XP or items. You can break the game in countless ways even if you don't use external editors. Doubly so if you do.
SUGAR RUSH
Hand Axes
Footman's Hammers (our "War Hammers" are paltry Horseman's Hammers!)
Footman's Maces (two-handed variety~)
Footman's Flails (<3!)
No-Dachi (come on those are the Katana's cool, taller cousin)
Naginata (why not)
Spiked Chains (mm~)
Tridents
cool poisons
Katars/punching daggers
Falchions
Khopesh(es)!
Military <I>forks and other cool pole arms
Banded armour
Scale armour
Ring armour (you know that stuff that's just boiled leather with rings strapped to it)
Cestus (for Monks!)
(Spiked! )Gauntlets
I am customer. Customer is always right, even when they are clearly wrong and can just pretend in their head that they are using these neat things.
Thanks for mentioning Dorn's weapon, I'll have a look at it. I never really took him along for a full playthrough, so I had no idea his weapon could do that.
As far as the self-damage after a hit, the problem isn't the hit that already landed, but the 'stutter' animation that gets played afterwards. This animation sometimes interrupts and delays subsequent attacks, especially if the attacking character has many attacks per round, like in instances where they're under the effects of Haste or Whirlwind. I've had situations where a Whirlwinding fighter's entire attack round went unused because 3 enemies kept pounding on him and the stutter effect of their attacks happened to overlap. This happens very rarely, but it is possible, and it's very frustrating.
Finally, I disagree on the last part. The weapon's entire premise is making you sacrifice some HP permanently when you equip it in order to access its ability to flense others of theirs and add it to yours. The fact that it's an evil-only scimitars is already working against it to a large degree. As I already mentioned, if anyone wants to abuse the mechanic (at which point they should just use Shadowkeeper IMHO), then more power to them; I'm not gonna police people.
@SCARY_WIZARD
Sorry man, I can only work with what's already in the game itself.
But if you have a cool idea on what kind of effects you'd like to see on an item, feel free to post it.
No worries, I've got plans of my own for those sorts of things~ Except spiked chains, I just added those because I was bored.
Basically it is a weapon meant to reach around an opponent's shield.
Stuff that's unique and hasn't been done, but is still doable within the limitations of the engine.
Define 'better'.
I take it you'd like it to give +APR? (since both of the weapons you mentioned do)
What other properties would you want it to have? Unique properties, not some mundane stuff.
Like, it's too easy to make a +3 APR off-hander that gives +5 AC and +2 to all saves.
But that's too pedestrian. Weapons ought to have unique, interesting effects.
Maybe a chance to disarm? Or a bleeding effect that also lowers an opponent's APR on hit?
Lol, I know +3 APR is insane, I was using hyperbole to illustrate the cheese.
But, to answer your question, do you want defense or offense?
I could see the offhand going either way:
Version #1 (offensive):
+2 THAC0, +15% movespeed, 45% chance per hit to gain +1 stackable APR (lasts 6 seconds)
Version #2 (defensive):
+1 APR, +2 AC, 33% to disarm the attacker when being hit (sets their APR to 0 for 2 seconds)
There's also the general problem that weapon types are not exactly differentiated well; a dagger, for example, is basically always worse than other weapons, even within the same damage type (piercing). Speed factor just plays such an irrelevant role in BG...
Anyway, if you're looking for some more item variety and better balance, I strongly recommend the Item Revisions mod (http://www.gibberlings3.net/item_rev/). It not only changes a lot of existing items to offer more balanced choices and more variety across weapon types, it also adds options to modify the game rules in ways that differentiate items more (e.g. certain penalties to heavy armor, different off-hand weapon behavior depending on type, etc.). It's very well done and has excellent and very detailed documentation for its various components. Try it out!
My only slight issue with it is that it really hurts Keldorn, as the Gauntlets of Dex now only add +2, which gets washed out by the penalties from his armour... Although, I do enjoy the challenge that presents. (Gives a reason to save those potions of agility!)
I used to play with that mod. It's pretty good.
But I've gone through BG2 countless times, and now I'm just messing around with item ideas, and going over the top from sheer boredom. I mean, there's only so many times you can beat the game before its gear becomes stale and uninteresting. And there's a glut of weak, almost useless items that could've been handled much better. Also, many item types (and overall mechanics) are painfully underrepresented.
But I'm mostly looking to solve problems that keep plaguing me every time I run through the game. Stuff like: clerics lacking AoE heal spells/weapons and stoneskin-esque defenses (let's face it, no one takes pure-class clerics, and that's a crime, since the class should be able to offer much more); arcane casters having no access to ranged staves; a plethora of pitifully underpowered and underutilized daggers (lol @ qstaff-wielding thieves); mountains of swords overshadowing a real lack of unique scimitars/clubs/katanas; crappy druid items; crappy monk items; crappy paladin items (sans Carsomyr, ofc); a masochistic shift from AC to damage resistance during ToB (which usually results in unintentionally hilarious games of tag); lack of powerful end-game bows; severely constrained shield selection; limited amount of damage-return mechanics; absolutely no items with an on-equip AoE buff/debuff mechanic (Shield of Fyrus Khal being the only one I know of); too few halberds; too few spears (doubly so for throwing ones); not enough bard gear; far too few thief hoods; a tiny, depressingly small selection of Nx/day items (a generic, magical hourglass being able to cast Time Stop 1x/day with a 1% chance of backfiring and trapping the user in an 18-second time anomaly {basically a stun} is the kind of item I'm talking about); an unacceptable lack of 'evil' items (not just ones labeled thus by usability flags, but real, genuine, evil items that sport malevolent item properties, effects, and mechanics); and so on, and on, and on, and on...
Basically, there's a lot of stuff that can (and should) be added.
I made a suggestion a while back that Overhaul/Beamdog should regularly release new item packs as downloadable DLC. Themed item packs (Druid Item Pack, Cleric Item Pack, Evil Item Pack, etc.) could feature 15-ish professionally-made and balanced items with brand new icons/effects, and be put up for sale for something like $0.99. I'm sure a whole bunch of people would buy them (I know I would). Kits could also be a thing. Spells too. New companions as well (though these, unlike items, kits, and spells, would invariably take longer to produce, and be priced higher). There's absolutely no reason to stop expanding the game now that it's out, and with powerful editors like DLTCEP, one can create tons of stuff relatively quickly and easily.
Since the idea hasn't taken root, I guess I'll just have to do the modding myself.
*A spear that gives the wielder Whirlwind Attack as long as it is equipped (the weaker kind of Whirlwind Attack). It still might be too good, but it's just an idea.
*A version of the Backbiter spear which gets +40 to hit and damage but deals 40 damage to its wielder each time it hits.
*A bastard sword which emits an extremely weak cone of cold each time it hits.
*A weapon which gains incredible hit/damage bonuses if it has slain a good-aligned character lately.
*A weapon which gains a small temporary cumulative damage bonus whenever it hits someone.
*A consumable item which permanently gives the character who uses it the effects of a Violet Potion (25 strength, 3 dexterity, 3 constitution)
*A bow which fires an unlimited weaker version of Arrows of Detonation. Or it could be a lategame ToB bow which fires unlimited full-power exploding arrows.
*Bullets which explode into coldballs when they hit (just the kind of weapon a necromancer would use on enemies his/her own undead horde is fighting).
*A Kamikaze Kobold Figurine.
*A wand which can be used to make a target creature go berserk. They gain all the bonuses a berserker gets, but they also attack the nearest creature until the effect wears off.
*A morningstar which allows the wielder to shapeshift into an ogre a certain number of times per day for a certain amount of time. While an ogre, he/she wields this weapon and gets 18/00 strength, 19 constitution and 3 intelligence.
The trouble stems, I think, from the core issue of BG being D&D based. They tried to translate some of the PnP concepts into more video-game-friendly versions, but they are also stuck with some others. I noticed that the IR (and SR) mod are doing the same in many places - going back to the PnP roots, and approaching things from a PnP/RP perspective. Of course, there's also the issue of BG's age - video game design in general has come a long way in the last decade, and many concepts used in BG would perhaps not be present in a modern game. But that's fine. Bringing BG up to "modern standards" would alter the game far too much, and cost it valuable parts of its identity.
Still, I feel that with the items at least more could be done. I 100% agree that stuff like the AC system are not very fun - a binary hit/no hit defense causes all sorts of problems, and its scaling going out of whack in ToB is just one symptom. There's also the whole issue of alignment, which shows a strong bias towards evil enemies/good protagonists (where's my Protection from Good spell, huh?). I'm pretty sure 90% or more of the enemies you encounter (and I mean hostile-by-default NPCs, not going into a temple of Lathander and starting a massacre) are evil. Even many monsters are evil! I guess you could make all sorts of RP arguments for that, naturally, but that's simply another instance where you clash with game mechanics.
I could go on and on, but most issues with items, spells, and other game mechanics all come down to the very core systems BG was built upon, and some of the design choices inherent in them. I don't think that a comprehensive ground-up rebuild is a good idea - but I also believe that more can be done than the IR/SR mods are already doing. All credit to the people who are working on projects like that, though, they are driving things forward. Slow but steady swings the mace!
Each to their own, and if adding in more powerful items adds to your enjoyment great, do it, but I always find I've got more powerful items than I can use by mid-SoA and not finding the ones I'm used to is the way I prefer to go.
If new items are added, they should always be integrated into the existing item pool, and if necessary those old items should be adjusted to match so the overall situation stays as balanced as possible.