ToME: the Tales of Maj'Eyal

I am not sure where and how to spend money-I seem to be finding pretty good gear. I have found some incrementally better inscriptions etc in the 5 (?) towns but not sure if I should hoard it for another reason.

Also-do shops restock etc when you level or what?

Thanks

Yeah the shops restock after a few events in game.
Also, there is an end game randart gambling opportunity.

After coming back from east, merchant you saved from assassin lord will sell best quality random artifact for 4000 gold. There goes all my investment.

I very rarely buy equipment from stores in game, because as you've noticed you'll find better through other methods. The occasional inscription/rune is good, but eventually they stop being upgrades.

There are exceptions. At the very start of the game, items with +health can be worth picking up, to ensure you survive long enough to earn the better drops. An item that allows for water breathing makes life easier a bit later, as does an item that restores mana (for some classes).

But as someone mentioned above, you'll save most of your gold for the ability to buy random artifact items that may (or may not) be of value.

I do keep note of stores in the earlygame when I'm not shooting for a mastery talent or Tinkers. Just in case I need something for water breathing in the fortress, a really good regen/mental and physical Wild/Movement, or Last Hope/Zigur stocks a purple or orange item that's perfect for my setup. These can be useful for survival until the inevidable point when I find something better. The ring shop can also be good if good rings outside of the Bloodcaller cannot really be found. -Of Misery in particular can help some classes with Luminnous Horrors going to the fortress if RNG has been unkind.

Later on the stores will restock but it's at the time when you almost always have better. I do however remember them restocking early once when I was an Ogre for some reason (after I talked with the elder about the big spoiler, something about you spent some time). The big deal that you really want to save every penny for are the merchant randarts though, which will be better than anything you can buy in any store.

Also keep in mind that as a Dwarf, hoarding money is very good for you.

Early on it's helpful looking for good runes and infusions, especially in Zigur/Last Hope but you can find good ones in any town.

Usually, after clearing the T1 dungeons it's worth going shopping to fill any gaps in the gear. If you don't have a tier3 weapon by then you can get one from Zigur/Last Hope, you can also pick up some goodies like Gloves of Dispersion if you're lucky. Since the next useful thing you can buy costs 4000g it's not really a big deal to spend ~300g at this stage of the game, it's not going to substantially change the amount of time it takes to save up.

Usually, after clearing the T1 dungeons it's worth going shopping to fill any gaps in the gear. If you don't have a tier3 weapon by then you can get one from Zigur/Last Hope, you can also pick up some goodies like Gloves of Dispersion if you're lucky. Since the next useful thing you can buy costs 5000g it's not really a big deal to spend ~250g at this stage of the game, it's not going to substantially change the amount of time it takes to save up.
Mechanic