Gold drop could be decreased in favor of potion drop

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At this moment (r262), the character collects good money which are useless. It 
might be good to decrease the money drop for now in favor of potion drop, 
especially health potions for melee fighters.

A defense mage has the healing spell and a reasonably good mana regeneration 
rate.

An archer has a reasonably good firepower, so can take down tough enemies from 
distance without taking damage. Usually even the cave becomes a piece of cake 
as soon as an archer finds his first sling, so a level 2 archer can take down 
even those fire-spitting bugs in the cage.

A melee fighter (the one that invests into Physical) has a huge disadvantage. 
Can't wear a good shield and armor. The health regeneration is not enough. He 
takes 1-2 hits and dies. Providing him with lots of health potions will make it 
possible to retreat, drink a potion and continue fighting.

Another improvement for fighters could be the life-stealing special ability of 
swords, but this is probably more complex and can be delayed for the future.

Original issue reported on code.google.com by zpc...@gmail.com on 13 Mar 2011 at 7:28

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I'm actively working on vendors that sell potions (literally: my IDE is open 
right now).  It'll help temporarily.

I won't worry much about long-term balance until more pieces are in place.  All 
of the numbers currently in the game are subject to change.  Some ideas:

- Life drain melee weapons will be in the game.  And if everybody ends up using 
life drain weapons because it's the only way to survive, I would make it easy 
to attain (e.g. enchant a weapon to add life drain, or wear a common artifact 
to add life drain)
- I could make Physical give significantly more health at each skill-up.
- If Physical characters must buy a lot of health potions, maybe that could be 
balanced by having Magical characters spend on mana.  And Offense characters 
spend on ammo.  I'm iffy about this idea because a game isn't very fun when 
running out of ammo or mana.  Depends on if we want a high-action game or a 
gritty survival game.
- I could rearrange the Powers.  If I put Cleave at Physical Defense 5, then a 
level 4 hero who went straight for Longsword (or Shortsword + Leather) would 
have an easier time dealing with foes -- especially if his weapon was stunning 
or lifestealing on each individual hit.
- And, yes, I could make potions drop more.  I could assign all consumables a 
special loot classification that would make them appear more often in loot 
tables.

Original comment by pfunk...@gmail.com on 13 Mar 2011 at 7:58

• Added labels: Type-Enhancement

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Oh, I'm also likely to give melee characters a way to reflect missiles back at 
creatures.  Maybe shields with a bonus chance to Reflect, or a buff that 
reflects missiles when blocking.

Original comment by pfunk...@gmail.com on 13 Mar 2011 at 8:14

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Now that potions are purchasable I'm closing this.

Original comment by clintbel...@gmail.com on 18 Mar 2011 at 7:58

• Changed state: WontFix