Managing equipment? Also saves

[Carvool]

I'm still relatively new to this game and I've been wondering about how exactly I should manage my equipment. Obviously the particulars are different for each class but I'm asking in a more general sense the following question (keep in mind I haven't really made it past the early game yet):

Are there certain "catagories" of gear I should try look for, or maybe keep copies of? For example fire resist or physical save gear? In lots of role-playing elemental resistances are not really worthwhile unless you have a specific area or boss in mind. I definitely know that it's best to hold on to stat-increasing gear when you can.

On a vaguely related note, I've seen them in other games before, but I'm not really 100% on what a save is. I know it helps to determines how certain enemies' attacks affect you, but how so? And what sort of numbers should I aim for?

[jotwebe]

It's a good idea to keep some things around, yes. A good place to do so are vaults - little non-random rooms/buildings where things you drop are guaranteed to not disappear. Often they have a door where a pop-up asks you if you really want to open it, but the ruins you find in Trollmire or Old Forest are vaults as well. Of the tier 1 dungeons, Trollmire, Kor'Pul and the Rhaloren camp can have vaults, of the tier 2, the Old Forest and the Daikara (less often).

Around level 20 you can get access to better storage.

As to what to keep, I usually hang on to +stat items to meet leveling or equipment requirements, lightning and cold resist for Daikara/Tempest Peak, blight resist for Dark Crypt, fire resist for later. I don't usually prioritize resists all that much. +lite and +infravision gear and lamps for dark levels, water breathing or unlife. On melee I like to keep a pair of accuracy gloves and maybe a balanced weapon, on spellcasters staves of illumination and warding.

[cttw]

Always keep a set of gloves of dispersion unless you are antimagic.

Always keep at least an item with the Track ability unless you have it yourself.

The weight of extra items adds up. Your strength determines how much you can carry. Beware that if you are near your limit, abilities that reduce your stregth may leave you immobilised.

There are many low level rings with 20% resist of one element or another. I always keep those, as they weight very little.

[StarKeep]

On a vaguely related note, I've seen them in other games before, but I'm not really 100% on what a save is. I know it helps to determines how certain enemies' attacks affect you, but how so? And what sort of numbers should I aim for?

0.

Saves are never worth giving up more important offensive stats, or immunities, for.

[Dracos]

It depends on the scale of saves to be fair.

If the average enemy (by hovering over) has a highest Power stat of 40, and your saves are in the mid 60s, no additional points are all that worthwhile. If your saves are in the 30s, probably the same. If your saves are in the 50s? Can move from 'resist sometimes' to 'almost always immune'.

Notably, few class/builds get saves in the 80s and above, but a save of 100 (had a solipist with it) basically means that all save effected talents are auto-blocked. That character casually would wander around with pretty much no immunities, but never get hit with any status ailment because he had 20 or more difference then the available power of any of the enemies to hit him with stuff.

Basically you want either High Immunities, High Saves, or a build that doesn't give much opportunity for the enemy to hit you with nasty things.

[Carvool]

Thanks for the feedback guys! I never really had actually considered the usefulness of higher light radius gear, but I guess that's because I don't play ranged combat characters all that often -- I was reading around and it appears to be a must if characters that do ranged damage want to survive in the dark.

That information about saves was actually especially helpful. As mentioned, I knew what the saves were for, but the numbers seemed somewhat arbitrary to me, because I didn't really know what they were being compared to.

[jotwebe]

That information about saves was actually especially helpful. As mentioned, I knew what the saves were for, but the numbers seemed somewhat arbitrary to me, because I didn't really know what they were being compared to.

To elaborate: *powers and saves work like accuracy and defense: even odds when they are equal, 2.5% change for every point difference, so with a save 20 points above, you're immune. Like the powers, saves scale in tiers of twenty: each new tier, you need one more "raw" point to get a point more in a save or power (http://te4.org/wiki/Character_sheet#Power_and_Saves).

Powers get used depending on what type of talent it is, saves depending on what type of effect it is trying to inflict. So a Shadowblade's Illuminate will use spellpower (because it's a spell) against the victims' physical save (blind is a physical status).