Cespenar and economics

FredN

.....OK, Cespenar is clearly having an orgasm every time he upgrades an item. Heck, the handle on my +6 vesrion of Ravager is still sticky from when he worked on it! That being the case; he should really upgrade items for free and not charge cash for the service. But noooo! I have just defeated Abigazil and scored the electric head for the Flail of Ages, but will this little git upgrade it free of charge? No he won't! Orgasm or not, he wants the cash up front, and I actually don't have that much cash at the moment. I'd love to turn into the Slayer and beat the crap out of the little scumwad, but it seems that this is not an option.
.....Here is where my packrat mind set comes into play. I have items, like Daystar for example, which I almost certainly never use. I mean, Hexxat is one of my core group; what are the odds that a siruation will arise where I actually use Daystar's abilities with her in range? I really should sell it, but the packrat in me says "well, you never know when it may come in useful!". Doh! I have a couple other items that fall into the "well, they MIGHT be useful in the future under some weird set of circumstances" category. So, I can't sell any of them either. Oh and I also keep some rare gems ... King's tears and the like ... in my gembag, just in case I need them for something in the future. Like the boy scouts, I always want to "be prepared".

jmerry

What, you don't pick up all the expensive but useless stuff like nameless magic weapons and armor to sell? You shouldn't need to sell the unique stuff. I typically have hundreds of thousands of gold by ToB, escalating to millions when I do my final selling binge before the end. Not having enough gold is not a concern.
(Well, OK, I also do a lot of shoplifting - that helps keep you rich)

And Daystar is a great weapon even if you don't activate its abilities. Best in the game for beating down a demilich.

Trouveur

I'm pretty sure Cespenar uses the gold as a receipt to magically forge items.

FredN

"And Daystar is a great weapon even if you don't activate its abilities. Best in the game for beating down a demilich."
Unfortunately, none of my core group can really wield the thing very effectively. I have Ravager +6, Dorn has ir'rev'rykal (We both specialized in two handed weapons), while Viconia, Edwin and Sarevok can't wield it at all. Hexxat has a pip in swords, but refuses to even touch it. I guess if the situation were desperate I could use it, but the number of attacks I get would be fewer, with a lower THACO.

FredN

Ack! I have to amend my last statement. Dorn has 2 pips in longswords as well as greater whirlwind. I may well let him use Daystar against any liches or the like that we encounter. Although Ir'rev'rykal does have that dispel magic property. Does that affect a lich's defenses? Have to experiment with that.

jmerry

Ir'revrykal's dispel ... it's an "always dispel" effect, but it requires you to actually hit first. One hit (with success on that 50% chance) wipes out any stoneskins or mirror images or assorted other protection spells, but it won't get through a PFMW because that prevents you from really hitting.

Only dispellable defenses are affected, of course. Protections like a lich's natural immunity to non-magic weapons, cold, and electricity will stay intact. Spell defenses such as Globe of Invulnerability or Spell Turning are also exempt; they're not flagged as dispellable, and only spells like Pierce Magic (or the wand equivalent) can clear them.