Can't decide on rings!! (Item spoilers)

[White Lancer]

Soloing a half-elven conjurer, and I'm having trouble deciding between my three rings. I have 1 ring of wizardry, 2(1 now) rings of acuity (yes, dundee the bug still works, and yes you can use two of them at once (I used shadowkeeper to get rid of one of them afterwards, no cheating for me!)) and a ring of gaxx. I can't decide between the extra spells of the ring of acuity or the bonuses on the ring of gaxx. The ring of wizardry is staying, full stop!

Stats for ring of Gaxx:
Armor Class: +2 Bonus
Saving Throws: +2 Bonus
Magic Resistance: +10% Bonus
Special Abilities: Immunity to Disease and Poison
Equipped Abilities: Wearer regenerates 1 hit point every 3 seconds
Special Use: Invisibility, once per day
Improved Haste, three time per day

Stats for ring of acuity:
Spells: Gives two extra second level spells, one extra third level spell and one extra fourth level spell.

I'm leaning towards the ring of gaxx... i dont really use level 2 spells except for knock and melf's, which is only for trolls or when i have nothing else [img]smile.gif[/img] Forth, i don't really use except spirit armor, stoneskin (of course!) and greater malison along with a few spider summonings. third i use alot though, skull trap and fire arrow are my main attack spells!

Can't decide, help me!

[ 09-19-2002, 10:22 AM: Message edited by: White Lancer ]

[Bill26]

Ring of Gaxx!!

If you want the extra low level spells, put the ones you use most frequently at the end of the list and once you use them take off the ring of acuity and put on the ring of gaxx.

[Radek]

Keep the Ring of Gaxx. You cannot find a better ring in the game. Sell the Ring of Acuity and the Ring of Wizardy - their bonuses are rather unessential because, as a soloist, a few low level spells cannot improve you. Later on (or already?) you will find another good rings: Ring of Protection +2, Ring of Free Action and so on. Keep them and use them according current circumstances.

[White Lancer]

Originally posted by Radek: Keep the Ring of Gaxx. You cannot find a better ring in the game. Sell the Ring of Acuity and the Ring of Wizardy - their bonuses are rather unessential because, as a soloist, a few low level spells cannot improve you. Later on (or already?) you will find another good rings: Ring of Protection +2, Ring of Free Action and so on. Keep them and use them according current circumstances.

ring of wizardry is un-important!? +1 lvl 5-7 spells! i think it is rather nice

[Dundee Slaytern]

Eh? As a spellcaster, your spells are your strength. I sold the Ring of Gaxx( useless to me as a solo Sorcerer) and used the combination of Ring of Acuity and Ring of Wizardry. At level 20, Melf's Acid Arrow deals 14-56 damage, so two more means an additional 28-112 damage, but wait... it does not end there, because we have not factor in Project Image yet.

Are you beginning to see where I am going?

Leave the Ring of Gaxx to characters that actually benefit from them( melee characters).

+2 AC bonus( are you planning on getting hit a lot in the first place?)
+2 saving bonus( play your protection spells properly and you will not need to save in the first place)
+10% magic resistance( nice but redundant. If you are getting hit, something is wrong)
Poison and Immunity( ditto)
Regeneration( the only time I loss more than half my life was because I got bored and tried to melee an Adamantium Golem on Insane Difficulty. [img]tongue.gif[/img] )
Invisibility( wow, I wonder what my Staff of Magi is for)
Improved Haste( you got to be kidding me)

[Dundee Slaytern]

It must be noted though, that there is one other ring that I keep as a backup. The Ring of Free Action.

[DJG]

I keep several things just in case.

Quarterstaff:- Magic Golems! Arrrghhh!
Ring of Free Action:- A must have for some battles.
Assorted Potions:- Cleric Station! Healing, Antidotes, Intelligence.

And so on. PS I use Ring of Gaxx, purely for Regeneration Purposes!

[Radek]

It depends. IMO, the lightning fast regeneration ability is invaluable. It can heal you in a moment after any battle so that you can save the potions of extra healing for more pressing situations. The bonus to saving throws is invaluable, too. We all know how important is any "+1" to saving throws. The Ring of Gaxx offers "+2" and it can be weared along with an item of Protection. For example, Ring of Gaxx + Ring of Protection +2 + Robe of Vecna.
As far as the additional spells are concerned, it depends on the play style. The "mages" among us will value them high. The "fighters" - and I am a "fighter" - will say that a high level mage has many spell slots for all spell levels and that plus one slot for some spell levels isn't so important so that we should sacrifice, for example, the +2 saving throws bonus.

[Spacemoose]

This will sound dumb, by soloing do you mean you only use one character and no NPC's? You let them join and dismiss immediately?

[TaSSaDaR]

To Spacemoose: You even do no tlet them join. The only exception is for Imoen at the very beginning, and for Valygar (if you're a good mage).

I considered Ring Of Gaax to be better than Ring of Aculity because of: 1) i do not need much low-level spells, because they can not beat the power of Abu Dizzim's Horrid Wilting 2)what if someone casts a fireball at your location? SoM doesn't protect you from that (CoM does but what about confusion??) You'll need high saving throws to survive, and a regeneration rate to quickly regain lost HPs... My solist's mage's choice is Ring Of Gaxx along with the Ring Of Wizardry.