Should I keep good items I cannot/will not use in Crawl?

Question

I keep running across enchanted items I have no use for. Such as:

• Armor that does not fit my race
• Weapons I have no intention of ever using
• Scrolls with negative effects
• Duplicates or items that I have better versions of

What should I do with these? Keep them in my stash? Leave them? Can they ever become useful later on?

Answer

The items you list can serve a specific purpose; despite the fact that Crawl doesn't allow you to see items, these items can come in handy in certain situations.

Items you do not intend to use can serve as "protection" against effects (usually creature-based) that randomly affect one or more of your items. For example, keeping scrolls of random uselessness means that if an attacker lights one of your scrolls on fire, it's less likely to be a scroll you care about. Similar things happen when an item is cursed or stolen.

Duplicates or weaker items can be useful in two ways: as "protection" against the effects of certain attacks and as replacements for damaged items. If you have a +3/+3 long sword that gets damaged three times by acid, that +2/+2 long sword might look a little more useful to you. (Alternatively, you can carry the weaker weapons and use them in situations where they might get damaged.)

However, you don't need to carry them if you only want them as replacements. It'll work just as well to leave them and come back for them if you need them.

There are also occasions when items that are useless to you suddenly acquire a purpose. For example, if you decide to follow Elyvilon, the weapons you had that you didn't care to use can boost your piety (if you go back and pray over them). Again, though, it's not necessary to carry them; you can simply return to them and pray.

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Crawl: Should I keep good items I cannot/will not use?

Question

I keep running across enchanted items I have no use for. Such as:

• Armor that does not fit my race
• Weapons I have no intention of ever using
• Scrolls with negative effects
• Duplicates or items that I have better versions of

What should I do with these? Keep them in my stash? Leave them? Can they ever become useful later on?

Answer

The items you list can serve a specific purpose; despite the fact that Crawl doesn't allow you to see items, these items can come in handy in certain situations.

Items you do not intend to use can serve as "protection" against effects (usually creature-based) that randomly affect one or more of your items. For example, keeping scrolls of random uselessness means that if an attacker lights one of your scrolls on fire, it's less likely to be a scroll you care about. Similar things happen when an item is cursed or stolen.

Duplicates or weaker items can be useful in two ways: as "protection" against the effects of certain attacks and as replacements for damaged items. If you have a +3/+3 long sword that gets damaged three times by acid, that +2/+2 long sword might look a little more useful to you. (Alternatively, you can carry the weaker weapons and use them in situations where they might get damaged.)

However, you don't need to carry them if you only want them as replacements. It'll work just as well to leave them and come back for them if you need them.

There are also occasions when items that are useless to you suddenly acquire a purpose. For example, if you decide to follow Elyvilon, the weapons you had that you didn't care to use can boost your piety (if you go back and pray over them). Again, though, it's not necessary to carry them; you can simply return to them and pray.

Check more discussion of this question.

Dungeon Defenders - not picking items and mana?

Question

In Dungeon Defenders, what happens to items and mana that are not picked between waves and at the end of the level? Are they sold off and divided into player's mana bank, or are they just lost? Is it explained somewhere explicitly?

Answer

Items that are left on the ground are sold for their mana cost and split between the number of players. The same goes for mana that is not picked up.

Source: http://dungeondefenders.wikia.com/wiki/Mana

Items left on the ground at the start of a wave get turned into mana and split between the players.

If you lose the level you don't get the mana that is on the ground, it's lost because you lost the round.

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Can I get hats in random drops?

Question

I think I read somewhere that with a premium account you could get hats in drops as well as weapons.
I have now 50 hours of premium gameplay, and I never received one.

Was I mistaken? Or are the odds really low?

Answer

Free accounts can't get hat drops. As I recall, you upgraded to a Premium account (and gave @badp the Professor Speks... jealous), though.

There are 3 drop timers:

1. Items. Standard is 6-8 a week, assuming you play at least 6 hours a week. Note: To my knowledge, paints and tags are part of this timer, but they have a lower chance of dropping. Immediately following an update, Valve tends to raise the drop rate for those items. Right now, you're guaranteed to get 1 Uber-update weapon a week minimum.
2. Crates. Standard is around one a week (sometimes two), assuming you play at least 6 hours a week.
3. Hats/Misc. Standard is one every 1-6 months, assuming you play at least 6 hours a week.

The length of time that counts towards your next drop is limited to (iirc) 6 hours per week, but if you don't play for a week, the next week will be limited to 12 hours.

Hat drop rates vary wildly. I've had an 8 month stretch with no hat drops before, but more recently, I've been getting a hat every 1-2 months.

Side Note: The hat drop rate is bugged during the rare Double Drop rate week. While the first hat drops at the normal rate, the second uses a much, much shorter timer (the crate timer?). So, it's not unusual to get two hat drops during a double drop rate week.

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