Ankh vs. Amulet of Healing

[sloucho]

Hi all,

I've been browsing the board for a few days now, but I've only made it through the last ten pages of posts. So if this question has already been asked and answered waaaaay back, please forgive me . . .

I'm puzzled by the relative cost of the ankh of healing and the amulet of healing. They both offer 1 HP regeneration/round. But if I've kept them straight since leaving the game, the amulet is the one that gives you +3 AC and 5 Heal All spells and 50% divinity resistance. The ankh, on the other hand, boosts your AC by only 1, provides Heal Wounds (as opposed to heal all) and offers no magic resistance whatsoever.

In other words, there doesn't seem to be anything that the ankh does that the amulet doesn't do BETTER. So why do shopkeepers offer me TWICE as much for the ankh as for the amulet? Sure, it weighs a pound less, but is that weight difference really a justification for the price differential?

Am I missing out on some feature of the ankh?

[BlackHand]

I don't think so. Not every piece of equipment is perfectly balanced. Just get the Amulets and sell the Ankhs.

[fable]

Have you tried "using" the Ankhs? They vanish upon use (as oppose to being worn), but raise an associated stat by one, permanently, for the character who was wearing it. That explains the cost.

[Mr-Creed]

quote:

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Originally posted by fable:
Have you tried "using" the Ankhs? They vanish upon use (as oppose to being worn), but raise an associated stat by one, permanently, for the character who was wearing it. That explains the cost.

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Really? just like a BG tome?

[sloucho]

Thanks much for the explanation, fable.

I have not actually gotten around to using any of my artifacts. I keep thinking I'll save them for emergencies, but the appropriate emergencies never seem to come up. Now I'm glad I didn't sell the ankhs (I stored them in Anna's chest). I'll go get 'em and use 'em to boost the associated stat (piety or vitality, I'm guessing).

Thanks again for the tip.

[sloucho]

So I tried using my ankh 'up' in an effort to have it disappear (for the sake of that permanent stat increase). But after I used all 6 healing charges, it didn't disappear. It just sat in my misc item 1 spot with a zero in the spot where the 6 used to be. I tried to use it again, thinking that pushing it beyond its limits would destroy it, but the game won't allow me to use an item with 0 charges. More explicit directions on how to use up an ankh would be appreciated.

[Nightowl2]

In previous Wizardries, you could "use" an ankh one time and increase a particular stat by a point. However, they seem to have taken that out in this one.

Nightowl2

[jsteng]

I realized that in my previous runs of the game, I had very poor resistances and in one instance, got 5 members killed in the 1st round!

In my current run, I am taking particular attention to magic resistances. Relying on Magic Screen and/or Sould Shield from spell casters is not a guarantee. Picture this, spell casters are usually the last to make the move and thus, how can you cast soul shield when the enemy is throwing 2 Psionic Blasts, 2 Make Wounds and 2 Fireballs. You dont have time to cast these.

I suggest using resistance items. Rings and anks and amulets or whatever items are prefered in boosting resistances.

I just finished the SE Wilderness and killed off 6 geomancers, 1 Queen Sorc, 2 Death Lords thanks to high resistances to my party.

Do not sell those rings/ankhs. You may need them from time to time and thus it is best to have them in your inventory. Only that Ring of Protection seems useless compared to the other items. Why need AC+1 ring when at mid game level onward, you'd have about 15+AC rating and the most threat are coming from spells.

[sloucho]

Thanks for the info, nightowl, but that still leaves me wondering why the ankh will bring in so much more $ (though I guess the 1st answer I received--i.e. that all items are not perfectly balanced--may be the final word on the subject).

Thanks also for the tip jsteng, but the ankh isn't doing me any good. My question was prompted by the fact that it doesn't offer any magic resistance at all, whereas the amulet (which is only half as valuable) offers 50% divinity resistance. I've already equipped everyone in the party with 2 amulets of healing (+6 AC, 100% divinity resitance, regen 2 HP/round), so using the ankh would be a step down, so far as I can tell.

[Jem]

Sloucho - I would be willing to bet that the reason the Ankhs are more expensive is a left-over from Wiz 7 where that ability to raise stats was highly valued. Even though Ankhs of Healing never raised stats, they were considered to be just about as valuable as the other Ankhs and the Amulet of Healing then just gave you +4 AC/+2 HP regen with no magic resistance at all. They changed quite a few things from 7 to 8 but I'd be willing to make a bet this was one thing they didn't/forgot to change.