The realm of Stonekeep provides a wide variety of weapons
and armor for Drake and his companions to use in their
quest. They are found scattered throughout the game,
generally with the more powerful items found in the later
stages.
The following tables provide details on the weapons usage
(one or two hands, missle, slashing, crushing, stabbing),
and on the amount of damage they inflict. The damage index
used is based on the initial strength of Drake (3 dots).
As Drake's strength increases (to a maximum of 10 dots),
the amount of damage the weapon inflicts increases from
the standard table values in the following way:
Strength increased to: 4 (+3 to damage), 5(+6), 6(+10),
7(+14), 8(+18), 9(+22), 10(+27).
So when Drake's strength has reached 10 dots, he will
inflict up to 107 points each hit with the Shadow weapon.
Now that's quite a body blow!
Agility affects the speed at which a weapon may be used
(at maximum agility, I could swing the Shadow hammer twice
a second!). Weapons skill affects the accuracy of your blows
(to a maximum of 100% accuracy).
Different weapons are better at inflicting different types
of damage. Monsters may be more susceptible to a particular
type of force. For instance, slimes are hurt more by slashing
than crushing, whereas skeletons take much more damage from
crushing weapons than slashing ones. Don't concentrate on
only one type of weapon, be flexible (get some skill in hammer
and sword work!). Over all, I've found crushing weapons to
be most useful, so make sure you specialize in the hammer!
Similarly, Armor is better at deflecting some forces over
others. A general rule to follow is that armor is most
effective against slashes, and least effective against stabs.
The best armor combination I was able to achieve gave me a
defense of Cut(32), Crush(27), Stab(26). Anyone done any
better?
Shields are a bit of a problem area. I haven't been able
to quantify the their defense bonus, so I think they don't
work quite the same as regular armor. Instead, I believe
successful use of a shield actually deflects a blow
completely. The better you are with a shield, the less likely
you are to be hit. Shields range from wooden types, to leather
throggish ones, circular metal (dwarven?) types, to the
wedge-shaped magickal one given to you by the dwarven chief.
I think I've listed them here in order of effectiveness.
The take home message for weapon utilization in Stonekeep is:
CONSIDER YOUR OPPONENT WHEN CHOOSING YOUR WEAPON, AND DON'T
JUST STICK TO ONE TYPE!
