05-13-2014, 07:39 PM
Thank you both!
By the way, Black Deaths may not be as bad as they sound. They move slow, attack slow and are relatively one of the least accurate monsters in the game.
A Level 5 Sorcerer with base Dexterity (15), and some decent Basic Items you can buy from Griswold for at most 400 Gold for +15 Armor Class (AC 12 Leather, AC 3 Skull Cap) will only have a 50% chance to be hit by a Black Death, if one even gets close enough to take a swing. Other characters could have higher AC from Dexterity or gear, such as a shield.
And speaking of shields, a Level 5 Warrior with base Dexterity (20) would have a 49% chance to block Black Death attacks if it got past his armor. Between both shield and armor he now has about 25% or less chance to land a hit on you.
If one does finally hit you, there's only a 75% chance it will steal Vitality (reduced by Magic Resist - you can find 10-15% resist magic on some items early on), as opposed to the 100% it used to be. This can easily be made up with a Vitality shrine or two later, or a couple Vitality elixirs.
They also only appear on floors 3 to 5; some new characters won't even encounter them their first time through the dungeon. On higher difficulties, most characters should have 50% magic resist or more, vastly reducing or even eliminating the chance of losing Vitality if hit.
And for anyone who really doesn't like it (totally understandable - I'll be the first to admit Black Deaths were given a rather harsh special ability), it is very easy to disable: Just open cowqueston.dat with a text editor, search for the words 'Black Death' and erase or comment the section out.
By the way, Black Deaths may not be as bad as they sound. They move slow, attack slow and are relatively one of the least accurate monsters in the game.
A Level 5 Sorcerer with base Dexterity (15), and some decent Basic Items you can buy from Griswold for at most 400 Gold for +15 Armor Class (AC 12 Leather, AC 3 Skull Cap) will only have a 50% chance to be hit by a Black Death, if one even gets close enough to take a swing. Other characters could have higher AC from Dexterity or gear, such as a shield.
And speaking of shields, a Level 5 Warrior with base Dexterity (20) would have a 49% chance to block Black Death attacks if it got past his armor. Between both shield and armor he now has about 25% or less chance to land a hit on you.
If one does finally hit you, there's only a 75% chance it will steal Vitality (reduced by Magic Resist - you can find 10-15% resist magic on some items early on), as opposed to the 100% it used to be. This can easily be made up with a Vitality shrine or two later, or a couple Vitality elixirs.
They also only appear on floors 3 to 5; some new characters won't even encounter them their first time through the dungeon. On higher difficulties, most characters should have 50% magic resist or more, vastly reducing or even eliminating the chance of losing Vitality if hit.
And for anyone who really doesn't like it (totally understandable - I'll be the first to admit Black Deaths were given a rather harsh special ability), it is very easy to disable: Just open cowqueston.dat with a text editor, search for the words 'Black Death' and erase or comment the section out.