Gratification in Acquiring Epic/Legendary Items

[max8472]

I would prefer a world without too much magical items/legenday artifacts. That said, really powerful items should be acquired only through quests, defeating powerful beings (like an ancient vampire, a demilich or a dragon).

[Lohi]

Of course, everyone knows that you find epic items by checking the walkthroughs online...

 

Or if you replay the game they're in the same place; it'd be interesting if the items were not always found exactly the same way on replay, or that the item/location changes depending on some early actions or player background/skill/class.

[Stiler]

To me, finding a rare/legendary item , be it a weapon or piece of armor, is far better "Rewarding" when it's more of a secret and not a "random" loot drop.

 

For example, lets say within the game there are various "books" and things you can read. Now you are reading a book and within the book it talks about a once great fallen hero and his magnificent suit of unique armor that gave him power. Throughout reading the book you are given clues, it talks about where the hero was believed to have fallen in battle, it gives you a more detailed clue, something along the lines of "Utop the highest ridge the hero was thrust with a spear and fell to his death below into a gorge.".

 

You then go to that area it mentions and look for that area, you find this large ridgeline at it's highest point and travel directly below it. you then have a little hunting around it and find a small opening at the base where you can move a rock and enter a long hidden cavern.

 

Upon entering it you travel the tunnels and discover that the fall did not kill him because of his armor's powers, however he was trapped within the caverns. You see various paintings nad things along the walls that he made trying to leave behind his story for anyone that found the place and at the end you find his body sitting in ia makeshift stone chair still wearing his armor.

 

To me, finding something that way is far more "fulfilling" of a way to find some truly great item then it is to just roll the dice and have it randomly drop.

[Silver6986]

All of the options are fine, as long as the chests are also from bosses'. But no randomized loot, grinding should be avoided to become neccesary for anything(other than grinding). And no crafting(especially by the player). If a smith can suddenly create an Infinity Plus One Sword or similar, the materials better be unique and really hard to find/aquire.

 

I remember in NWN: Hordes of the Underdark, there was a smith that could create almost anything über for you, it felt rather lame in comparison to say Cespenar in BG: Throne of Bhaal where you had to find items or artefacts to combine them to make uber items, much better system imo.

[Archmage Silver]

I'd like to see something similar to the process of putting Crom Fayer together in Baldur's Gate II: SoA. It was hard enough to get to justify the power of the item, not to mention that you couldn't just get it in the beginning of the game due to the location of some of the required materials.

[Falkon Swiftblade]

I think there should be multiple ways to find them, it might make sense for a character to best the owner of said weapon in order to win it. Yet, if it's really a legendary weapon, it probably should be legendary and there should be a series of quests to find clues, or parts to rebuild it. I think there should not only be legendary weapons and armor, but rings and amulets as well. I'm also fond of items in pairs, such as a pair of bracers that one does something, while the other does something else. Or I like having the opportunity to craft my own legendary item and choose how to build it. Do I want to take a broken blade and turn it into a new long sword, or two daggers, or use the raw materiels and melt it down and craft it into a special helm. I'd prefer it to also have the option to have legendary items for pacifist characters too. Not everyone should have to die in a cloud of blood and chunks, or burn into an ash heap.

[Umberlin]

I mentioned before that I have no interest in seeing Epic styled weapons at all.

 

-

 

I prefer minor magical weapons being the high point, and being rare with no 'guarantee' you'll get them.

 

I don't want it to be given that if you defeat a big boss that you'll get a magical weapon or armor peice. I don't want the combat to be the focus like that. This is an RPG, make it that. Make the twists, turns, challenges, riddles, discoveries and all the trials put in front of you be made up of far more than just, "Defeat the boss and get a chance for one of several purple drop." That's . . . not engaging. That's not an RPG. That's a slot machine that you have to kill.

 

I don't want the, "Magical Sword of +50 Tacky Visual Design" being the end all result of overcoming the various trials in front of the character. Magical weapons should be minor, and rare in my mind. I'd rather have a magical item, of any sort, be the result of a storied experience, and a challenging experience. The story shouldn't 'just' be plastered on the item, it should be something you uncover, and earn . . . a thing you get to know more about slowly as you go. As you overcome varying trials that do not have to be about combat at all, they can, but don't make it about that. Not a random magical weapon. Not an 'epic' and idiotic looking weapon. A storied weapon that you've gotten to know much like you'd get to know an interesting character.

 

Interesting is the key there, an interesting story that intriguing and engages the player, that draws them through various trials as the story unfolds/is revealed. And then there's a mystery. Solving a mystery and uncovering something lost is a wonderful staple of a lost artifact. For me that's what a magical item should be . . . interesting. Made out to be as deep and interesting as a well developed companion character.

Edited October 7, 2012 by Umberlin

[harhar!]

I like strong weapons being found on alternative, strong bosses, which you can find through the lore of the game. There could also be seemingly weak weapons, that you can power up through the course of the game. "Legendary" items should be very rare however and don't even think about labelling them like in WoW.

Edited October 7, 2012 by harhar!

[Adauli]

In my opinion would be by killing bosses contradict the efford of OE to also give non combat paths to reach the same goals.

Edited October 7, 2012 by Adauli

[Utukka]

Why not have a mixture of all the above? A "legendary" item doesn't mean it has to be the end all be all of items(although it could be), it could just be something like a thief known for being able to crack any lock and it just so happens that it's due to a piece of equipment he had, which he could still be alive and you have to find or maybe he was killed and the item was taken or maybe it's even buried with the thief. I imagine in a real world that some of these items would be discovered and relocated or potentially even be in use already by someone else. Items in real life have been lost and relocated several times in history through wars and looting(just ask Iraq or Egypt for example). Items could also be like said, locked away in some vault that has yet to be discovered that also has a dragon or some other mythical "guardian" ready to kill you. I'm not a fan of items always being 100% random but I'm also not a fan of knowing exactly where to go as soon as I've played the game once. Hence, a bit of all the above would be most satisfying in my opinion.

[Lv99Wizard]

I put down "by deducing their location from lore" but it's a very hypocritical choice because I always use guides and walkthroughs when I've actually played IE games. I feel so ashamed

[Shadowless]

I put other because most of the ideas sound pretty good but I dislike the idea of just finding them in random containers (unless it looks like worthless junk and nobody knew it's value) and I also dislike the idea of them being given as a reward (Here you go mighty adventurer that just murdered what I couldn't with this Vorpal Blade +98 that I just happened to have lying around) unless it was actually gifted beforehand (silly villager thanks bye!) and would be very useful against the undead horde in the quest. All of the others seem fairly fine to me since I would expect the leader of the necromancers to have some artifact that allowed him to keep that position, I do have to mention that looking for them based off the lore of the game does pique my interest the most though.

[Teahive]

I like the idea of items with associated lore, but those items should be rare and manually placed. Some might be held by powerful NPCs and can be obtained by defeating them or helping them, while others are well hidden, And they don't necessarily have to be more powerful than everything else, though they are likely of high quality and they might have a very specific unique bonus/ability that is consistent with the lore.

 

I also like the idea of items gaining special status by using them while performing a heroic feat.

[Zu Long]

My opinion is this- if you're going to make a legendary item, there need to be legends about it. One of my pet peeves is that often you learn about the "lore" behind an item immediately after you get it, like there was a carfax report taped to bottom of it or something. A legendary item should have a history attached to the area it's found in, and you should be able to run across mentions of it fairly easily when you're in that area. Then when you find the quest to get it or fight the boss who has it or encounter the riddle it's hidden behind, you'll know what you're looking to get.

 

My way of implementing this into the game would be a "rumors and stories" option at the various inns and taverns you encounter along the way. Mixed in with more mundane things like main story info and side quests would be tidbits about items you could find in the general area and where you might go to find out more.

 

By the way, people hoping these things will be rare may be disappointed. From kickstarter rewards alone, there are going to be at least 57 player-created items, nevermind the developers themselves.

[Domigorgon]

It would be great if we found legendary items and NPCs responded to that. I mean, if the sword Carsomyr is such a friggin important peace of lore, why doesn't anyone "notice" that Keldorn is wielding it?

 

Finding legendary items should count just as completing quests. The world should react to that.

 

It would also be neat if enemies (in random encounters, for example) checked out our equipment first. Imagine a group of bandits ambushing our party, only to discover that we are a lot better equipped than they are. So, instead of being confident that they can defeat us, they should be the ones to give up their money if they want to live.

[Rabain]

DAO tried to do bandits seeing you as stronger than them though it was usually a dialog stat check of some kind.

 

Personally I think DAO could have had a great item system if they had stopped at tier4 and didn't add super powered items for free via DLC. Some of the DLC actually just got dumped in your bag at level 1 even though you needed level 10 just to get your stats increased enough to wear it, after that you didn't need any armor from anything for the rest of the game. That was totally broken system of gear.

 

But if they had of kept at Tier4 and lower most gear had positives and negatives, bonus to armor, penalty to fatigue, bonus to fire resistance, penalty to cold resistance etc as well as various combat bonuses that made choosing a harder decision.

 

Perhaps talking of legendary items is bad because it puts us all in mind of games like diablo or warcraft. Just have more powerful weapons in hard places to reach or in parts, like BG2. Bottom of the Endless Paths for example.

[Rocketbean]

Legendary weapons should be far and few in between, with much difficulty in obtaining them. Simple as that.

[jivex5k]

And they should all talk.

[Domigorgon]

Also, I'm thinking if there are legendary weapons - don't make only longswords. I don't know the exact count, but I always felt that in Baldur's Gate I was being punished for taking halberds as my weapon of choice. By the time I got to a nice halberd, I'd sold about two of every other weapon (legendary, too).

 

Also, if NPCs come with their custom 'only x can wear it' weapons and armor, make it possible to upgrade said custom items. Otherwise their "grandfather's sword" will last only a few levels, by which time I'll have found something better. Poor grandpa, had he only known.

[begginfokillz]

Also, if NPCs come with their custom 'only x can wear it' weapons and armor, make it possible to upgrade said custom items. Otherwise their "grandfather's sword" will last only a few levels, by which time I'll have found something better. Poor grandpa, had he only known.

 

if grandpa had been around, this would happen:

 

Scene: Cottage in woods. 

 

*sound of thunder and rain can be heard outside the cottage. Grandpa is sitting in his +7 chair of divine comfort. Timmy enters the room* 

 

"grandpa, i want to go play at the inn, but its too far and its wet..."

 

*Timmy starts to cry. Timmy gets on his iScroll and tweets #justRPGproblems"

 

*Grandpa wakes up from his nap. he is pissed* 

 

"Listen here, Timmy. Back in my day we had to walk 15 miles up hill in the pouring rain to get to the inn, just so we could sell our meager loot to the patrons for scraps of meat!. ah, they were the good old days. Why, i even got a sword. look here, lad"

 

*Gramps gets off his chair, and opens a little frail box placed conveniently in front of the chair. dust spews out, and he pulls out a disgusting dented and cracked sword*

 

"this here thing is my old sword. lasted me all these decades. got it when i saved 3 maidens from the curse of virginity in one session at the bard's collage. I have grown old and wise and...eh, what was i talking about, eh? i think i need my prune juice of +1 memory.

 

*grandpa drinks the juice*

 

"Ah yes, the sword. i call it... Granny Blade. it has served me well for many many decades, now i want you to have it. Let it serve you well, lad. i love you Timmy. go forth and slay stuff with it!"

 

*Timmy stares at the sword, uncomfortable*

 

"Gee thanks grandpa, but i'm fine.  I appreciate your offer to entrust me with the blade that has saved you many times, but I don't need your sword. I just found this dagger on the ground that talks and make me immortal. Thanks for the offer"

 

*awkward silence*

 

"Ach...My...My heart! Timmy...II have the answer to the meaning of life...it's...It's..."

 

*grandpa dies. Timmy cheers. Audience is shocked. Sad violin song is played. Credits roll. Close curtains*

 

The Sword. Directed by Micheal Bay

[Bryy]

All of the above, really.

[joefitts63]

Crafting.

[Karkarov]

You necro posters!  Raising foul things from the dead with your dreaded animancy... I should call the town watch!

That said I missed this thread way back so...  Pretty much all of the above save random chance.  I should never just open a random box and out pops the Hand of Vecna.  Also "a long and time consuming but obvious task" sounds like a side quest, crafting, or researching it's location all rolled into one.... so not sure why it is even on the poll.  Anyway as long as all "legendary" stuff is hand placed it will be fine with me.

[Randomthom]

First, I'm hoping not to see weapons put into categories such as seen in MMO & ARPGs, it adds another level between the player and immersion.

 

There should, in my opinion, only be two "levels" of weaponry, non-magical and magical.

 

Obviously magical items will vary in their effectiveness but I won't want to be looting bodies saying to myself "pleasebeapurplepleasebeapurple..."

 

Semantics aside, I believe that the most powerful items should be placed where realistically they might end up.

e.g.

King's armour

Dragon's hoard

In a statue's arms at the bottom of a long dungeon filled with monsters and traps

 

You get the idea, basically not the 1/1000000 found in a barrel situation.

 

Personally I found it bad enough for beggars in BG2 to be asking for a copper (1/100th of a gp iirc) whereas opening the nearest barrel would usually turn up 3-4gp that nobody seemed to miss.

[nikolokolus]

More important to me than how powerful items are collected, I do want to say one that I'm in the Gary Gygax, 1st ed. D&D, Dungeonmaster's Guide, camp regarding artifacts. There should be a cost associated with wielding world breaking power - an ersatz fantasy nuclear bomb. Whether that cost comes in the form of corruption, life-force being drained away, you must sacrifice a companion, etc. These things should freak me out a little bit when I find them and make me scared of their side-effects.

 

So however or whereever they are acquired, the most powerful items should hopefully fill me with equal parts trepidation and excitement.