Hey all, I have a couple of equipment questions! Woo!

1. Is it important to kit your party with a variety of weapons? Due to the way my starting skills ended up, two of my guys are using Impact and two are using Edged. Will I be at a significant disadvantage later on for not using Polearms or Flails?
2. How important are Speed, Penetration, and Damage? Is there one I should try to get the most of even at the detriment of the other two, or is it best to strike a balance? On my two primary fighters I've been using a Maul and a Two-handed Sword, which seems to work out pretty well, but I figured I'd ask. (My other two are using a Long Sword and a Mace.)
3. How important is encumbrance? At the moment everyone has fairly high quality stuff, and all of my guys are at Normal Load. Does that slow them down too much to be worth the defense?
4. Is there magical or special equipment? I'm asking because, according to the cluebook, I've already got pretty much top-of-the-line mundane equipment, so it seems like it'd be weird if the equipment progression halted so early.

Thanks. :)

Whew, that's strange - I didn't recall there was a Normal load.
I don't know which one it corresponds to, but I guess it's not serious. You could try removing your chars' equipment and see how their Agility is affected and then decide if you can live with this level or not.

I think the UI refers to "normal" while the manuals refer to "none". I'm assuming they're the same anyway.

Page 39 of the cluebook has a good discussion on this; I figure that it's best to aim for no encumbrance whenever possible (which is why it's always good to have a character with decent STR+END - otherwise they can only wear very light armour).

Personally I think penetration is very important; otherwise, on armoured foes, your hits are simply going to be bouncing off them (non-penetrating damage is 1/8th normal). All but one of my party have military hammers, which have 5 penetration (the top for melee weapons is 6, and the only item with 7 is the brass handgun), while also having decent speed and damage. (The other character has a 2H flail - also 5 penetration, with more damage but slower).

With penetration of 5, there's usually little reason to have to perform vulnerable spot attacks (which are more penetrating but slower - adds 1 to 4 points to the penetration value but slows attack speed by +120).

Hope this helps!

P.

Huh, I actually didn't know you could make called shots, that's good to know. Are there enemies that are fast enough to warrant quick weapons? I mean, it doesn't seem like the AI really has the strategy to hit-and-run or anything.

Now, more questions! :D

1. What exactly does raising a weapon skill do? Increase damage? Hit chance? Both? Just curious as I've been using Blessings to raise weapon skills for tough fights, and I'm curious what the effect actually is.
2. WHERE THE HECK DO I FIND AQUA REGIA. This thing seems to be a pretty vital Alchemy component, but I have found it absolutely nowhere. Haven't been to a University in a while, does it have a higher chance of showing up there?
3. Is there any way of getting Alchemy Formulas besides buying and trading? Just asking, because even with fairly good Int, Cha, SpeakL, and R&W, dealing with Alchemists is a pain.
4. What's the best way to raise my Virtue? My Priest has something like 43, but some Saints require even more than that. Do I have to just camp outside of a church and give all my money to people?
5. Are Vitals and Limbs equally important? For example, would it be better to wear equal armor on both parts or to wear heavier armor on one in exchange for lighter on the other?

1. I can't really recall 100%, but I think it increases your chance to hit.
2. Unfortunately, finding ingredients is trial-and-error... And indeed, some are much rarer than others.
3. To the best of my knowledge, those are the only ways to get formulas... For example, you can't loot them from defeated wandering alchemists (or at least I never managed to do so), which is understandable, considering the setting.
4-5. I can't remember how these work off the top of my head (it's been quite some time I've played with Darklands).

For alchemy formulas, try universities. But be warned, the learned men are aloof and snooty indeed, and have no time for the inane drivel of illiterate pessants.

Witch encounters can also give you some formulas. Beat the witch and offer to spare her if she teaches you alchemy. Convincing her to better her life is probably a better option though because that can award you with virtue points.

1. On the contrary, you will put yourself at a significant disadvantage if you ever use Polearms or Flails at any point in the game.

2. Penetration is king. If your penetration is higher than their armor thickness, you do full damage. If it's equal, you do one third damage. If it's lower, you do ONE EIGTH damage.

Generally speaking, there are only 4 weapons you should use in this game: Longsword (Penetration 3), Mace (Penetration 4), Military Hammer (Penetration 5) and Giant Hammer (Penetration 6). I've listed them in order of descending DPS and ascending penetration. So if your opponents have non-metal armor, you should use a Longsword, if they have scale, you should use a Mace, if they have Chain/Brigandine use the Military Hammer and if they have plate use the Giant Hammer.

There is a fifth weapon that can theoretically be used. If penetration 3 is enough, and you are willing to either go unencumbered (less than half of your max, i.e. wearing non-metal armor) or use the berserk attack, then the dagger provides max DPS.

One thing that you might not have touched on is that weapon quality is effectively "magic" in the terms of other games. A 45q longsword is going to have a higher damage against an opponent whose armor quality is less than 45q, and if your armor is better quality than the weapon, it will reduce damage.

This is one reason to journey around the country - to find the better weapons and armor.

Vitals vs Limbs - when a weapon hits, it has a 50/50 chance to hit one or the other armor spot. So you cannot skimp on one or the other. Limb armor is heavier, so if you are at the encumberance limit to go heavy, you might go with a tougher vital, and a less thick limb.

I don't have confirmation, but I believe that faster weapons skill up faster (more attacks, more chances to give a skill increase). So for skilling up, short swords and maces and short bows and darts are more effective.