In chapter 2 of IWD I picked up some Red and Green Boots (Boots of the Fox?). I used an Identify spell and they claimed to increase movement and improve AC. However when I equipped a character which had the Black Wolf Talisman and the Mantle of the coming storm my AC didn't improve and when I unequipped my AC worsened!! I had to drop everything and start again. Do these boots lower other peoples AC or is it just me?

By worst do you mean it went in the negative? if that's the case then it good.
If your Ac was 8 and putting them on lowers it to 5 then it normal per Ad&d 2ed rules.

If by Lower you mean your ac was 5 and when you tried them on it climbed to 8 then maybe the boot are cursed or you had to remove something that gave a greater bonus.

Well these boots of the fox are the best boots in the game, and they do work (at least in my computer). But be aware of what Strahd said, the AC works this way: the lower the number, the better the armor. Its better AC -10 than AC -1, and AC -1 is better than AC 7.

------------------
http://www.angelfire.com/anime2/memnoch/ertai.gif "Let my spells do the dirty work" Ertai, High Sorceror of the Holy Flame

Boots of the fox seem to go faster than the boots of speed...
BTW, where can you find those boots? i found them my first time through the game, but never any of the subsequent times..

Well, boots of the fox are slightly SLOWER than boots of speed i think.

Anyway, you can find them in the Yuan Ti mountain, in first floor. There is a Statue near the Yuan Ti leader, they are there. Maybe you havent found them the second time causein IWD items are RANDOM, that is, there are normally 3 or 4 choices and any of them may appear in the same place. For example, in this statue, you can find the boots of the fox OR a potion of constitution (that raises your constitution 1 point permanently) or another thing that i cant remember.

------------------
http://www.angelfire.com/anime2/memnoch/ertai.gif "Let my spells do the dirty work" Ertai, High Sorceror of the Holy Flame

Maybe Black Isle are sticking to the AD&D 1st Edition "Maximum AC-10" rule (actually the best that you could make it then was -14( Paladin, Dex 18, Plate+5, Shield+5 and an effective -2 for his innate protection from evil and either a prayer or a chant, I can't remember but all three of them stacked)). In wich case Night might have pushed the AC past the maximum game limit and then, when he removed the footwear the game realised the removal of a beneficial object and removed the benefits from existing AC bonuses. However I doubt this.

------------------
Balgin, the Dwarf

However I tend to avoid items of speed as this tends to lead to single party members running ahead and getting stranded in the middle of packs of monsters without any friends to help them.

------------------
Balgin, the Dwarf

Thanks to all for replying.

To give an example the character had AC -3(Minus) , then after putting on the boots it stayed at AC-3, when he took them off again it went to AC-2.

I have not yet managed to download any patches (keep getting timed out). Also I have A UK version. From whtt you guys say, It sounds like it's a specific problem to this UK version.

One suggestion - are you sure that you didn't have armor spells or other potions that affect armor class on your character which just happened to wear off when you removed the boots of the fox? Might want to try it again to make sure it wasn't just coincidence.

------------------
http://exit3.i-55.com/~casual/images/asphyxib.gif

For my thief, boots of speed is GREAT!

In my original adventures of IWD, my thief Picco had acquired the boots of speed and he'd run around the map to scout and detect traps. However the most advantages came from when I wanted to take out lone, but very difficult mobs. I would have Picco backstab, run away to shadow and hide in shadow, go back and backstab, rinse and repeat.

I know the backstabbing is kind of cheezy but it was great for scouting and it saved me alot of time exploring the map.

In HOW, it appears that the boots of speed is disabled. I get "Uneffected by boots" message when I wear the boots. I discarded that boot and got another one in the Severed Hand, but it doesn't work either. I get the same message.

What a shame, I have very little patience and liked IWD because characters in general walked faster than BG. In HOW, they seem to walk slower and no working boots of speed =(

Koss