Claw of Kazgaroth

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Do the benefits of the Claw outweigh the drawbacks?

The Claw of Kazgaroth gives +1 to AC, as well as +4 to your Missile AC an +3 to your saves vs. Wands, Breath, Spells and Polymorph. However, it's cursed, and decreases CON by 2 and your save vs. Death by 4.

[ July 17, 2006, 22:36: Message edited by: Mediocre Man ]

 

I seem to recall it having a -2 Constitution penalty but i cant really remember. All i remember is I have never used it so i guess at the time i must have thought it wasnt worth the penalties it incurs.

 

It's worthwhile if you're not playing a Warrior-type, and have an 18 CON.

It's even worthwhile without it, IMHO, but only in certain situations (make sure to carry a lot of "remove curse" scrolls!).

 

Probably not for your PC; you'll likely have CON at the perfect spot for max HP. What it's really good for is an NPC with middling CON, who doesn't have a bonus and won't take a penalty with 2 lower CON. There are most decidedly better things to put in the ring slot of a single character, but when you're spreading your loot over six it can come in handy. However, I don't think it's worth the price tag.

 

Exactly what Fel said. Basically, any character who has a constitution between 9 and 14 is a suitable character for the Claw. The bonuses you get to your saves outweigh the penalty to your save vs. death (and you don't have to make that save often anyway). If you are using it with a character with a constitution between 9 and 14, the penalty of 2 to is meaningless, as in that range you are low enough to not be getting a bonus anyway, but high enough that you won't go into the penalty by dropping it by 2.

There are a few characters that spring to mind as good canidates for the claw. If you are playing an evil party, giving it to Shar-Teel is a pretty solid plan. Garrick is a great canidate for it as well, especially considering you can still wear a ring/cloak of protection in conjunction with the claw. Kivan also isn't a bad choice for the claw either. Unfortunately, the most useful place for an item like this would be on a mage (especially for the defense against missile weapons). Unfortunately, most of the mages in the game do not fall into the category of having constitutions between 9 and 14. Edwin, for example, has a constitution of 16, and would lose 2 hps per level by using the claw. Xan has a constitution of just 7, and so if he uses the claw he'll have a penalty applied to his hitpoints.

 

I, personally, used it while playing a mage. Worked pretty good, seeing that he was supposed to stay away from combat anyways.

 

It works great on a mage who does not have con bonuses -- in conjunction with other items to confer an incredible AC versus missile weapons.

 

To touch upon what I said above, if you're playing a single-classed Mage and intend on using the Claw with as few penalties as possible, just start with a 18 (or 17, and read a book!) CON yourself.

It's pretty darn good on Thief/Mages or Cleric/Mages too.

 

it's bad for front line chars because of the hp penalty... and if you put it on a mage or a thief who's constantly in the back, then it's not gona be saving them from anything, since ur tanks are going to soak up most of the damage... so it's only worth buying it when you dont know what else to spend the gold on....
keep in mind that if you only have one mage then he/she is gona end up using the 2 row...(dynahair with 20 mm's... ouch!)

 

I've recently found out that the Blur effect, which gives you the AC bonuses, can actually be dispelled, meaning you'd have to re-equip it each time you did a dispel. For a party in which my PC is an Inquisitor, that's not really helpful.