Upcoming change to Orb of Might

Beginning in 2013, the Orb of Might will no longer be "equipable" in the Ranged Offhand slot. So in 2013 and onward, it will only be equipable in the Melee offhand slot. In other words, you'll be able to do the Orb of Might trick this year, but that's it.

Next year we'll offer an alternative means to get to 5th level.

I know some people make purchases based on a token working a certain way, but this seems like the best compromise to a trick that really shouldn't have been allowed in the first place.

Thanks for understanding.

thanks for the heads up


*takes the orb off the shopping list*

Jeff Martin wrote:


Hi Jeff!

That's not a big surprise and is very understandable - it seemed like a bit of a cheat.

However - are you going to stop the orb-sleaze going the other direction also? It's very easy right now for anyone that has a "ranged" build and never uses melee weapons to get to 5th level by outfitting the orb in the off-hand in the melee build. I'm not sure how you would fix that though.

When you say you'll have an alternate way to get to 5th level - I hope you are referring to the 3 ways that you've already identified:
1) the Ultra-Rare Amulet that will get you to 5th level but you can't use Rings, transmutable to a relic amulet that gets you to 5th level and you can use Rings.
2) The Legendary Ring that gets you to 5th Level, that you can get by trading in all monster tokens for 3 consecutive years starting in 2013, or
3) The Legendary Charm that you can go to 5th level with, that you can get by trading in any 3 Might Items.

I hope that you aren't coming up with additional ways to get to 5th level, since you definitively stated recently that these would be the ways. Between these 3 ways and the existing Might set, that should be enough flexibility for anyone to be able to be 5th Level.

This seems a bit like addressing a symptom without acknowledging the disease. By making this ruling are you also going to mandate that certain set bonuses are only achievable in the "melee setting" or the "ranged setting"? For example, if a player equips the Dragonscale Shield (or any other set-bonus shield) in their ranged off-hand and a sling in their main hand, will they still receive the set bonus. If no, then it creates an inconsistency with the Orb of Might ruling. If yes, then this effects more tokens than just the Orb and the rules will need to be clearly updated to reflect this change.

Even though the Orb can legitimately boost thrown weapons and Mighty Slings?

What if instead the ruling was the an Orb in the Ranged, Off Hand slot does not count towards the set bonus?

And Mike, there can (and presumably will) be combat rooms where Range is not allowed. Range PCs (and wizards) already struggle to keep up with melee PCs; so I'm not sure I see the issue.

And for the record, I have used both of these methods, so I am not entirely impartial.

Hi Xavon,

As many have pointed out, you can now do a ranged build that equals or exceeds the melee build. And I do think that the orb in the melee off-hand used to give the ranged build 5th level is a bigger issue than the orb in the ranged off-hand to give the melee build 5th level, because it seems that in nearly every Dungeon (and I suspect again this year against the Dracolich) there is a key room where only ranged is allowed, so everyone with a melee build has to fight using their inferior ranged combat (often needing to slide 20's to hit due to having a very low ranged "to hit" bonus). If those players are using the orb in their off-hand for ranged, then they have to fight in those rooms using only a sling or thrown weapon. However, our Rogue has a ranged build (and will be using the orb in the melee off-hand to get to 5th Level, which is allowed past 2013), and he has NEVER had to fight a room using melee combat, so he has been able to use his optimized ranged build in every single combat of every single dungeon, and has had no disadvantage whatsoever to using the orb-sleaze in his melee build.

Mike Steele wrote:


That seems more abusive than ranged-off hand. The nerf should work both ways.

I like this ruling, but I think it could be worded better to get across what is actually happening.
As I see it;
1. This is not about +1 level. There will be other items coming out that make +1 level easy to achieve.
2. This is not about about set bonus sleaze. I know there will be disagreement on this one, but hear me out. If the issue is getting set bonuses after switching melee vs ranged, the correct fix is to revisit the set bonus rules. This ruling applies to the orb only, which says to me that there is a problem with the orb, not set bonuses. Also, we got to our current set bonus rules to avoid a lot of complications on what happens when you do change melee vs ranged.
3. So what is it about? The intended purpose of an item. Lets say, as a ranger, I try to do this same thing with the scepter instead of the orb. How quickly would I get shot down? The only reason the orb was ever allowed to be equipped in ranged off-hand was due to ambiguity. This ruling is clearing up that ambiguity: "orb of might is a melee weapon/item." Treat it like a sword, dagger, or other items only applicable in melee, you cannot equip it in a ranged slot.

Now, if you want to talk about stopping the orb sleaze from working for ranged combat, that is another issue which gets into set bonuses. IF it is something that needs to be solved, I expect it to be a very messy fix.

kurtreznor wrote:


I do see this up as a +1 Level issue actually. Even though there will eventually be other options to get +1 Level, they have their own issues because they essentially create an empty slot. Whether it is an amulet, ring, charm, etc., the only thing it does is raise +1 level. The existing Might items give bonuses as well as raising a level, so I think a lot of people will prefer getting the +1 level via the Might Set, especially if, for Ranged, they can get part of it (the Orb) at no penalty.

I do agree with you that it would be messy to try to fix the melee off-hand orb sleaze. At that point you're almost to outlawing the Orb entirely, if it can't be used in the melee or ranged off-hand. Or you could require that you have 3 Might items outfitted in your Ranged build, so if you used the Orb you'd be using it in Melee to get the 4 Item Might Set bonus.

kurtreznor wrote:

Um, the Orb of Might *is* a melee weapon. It has a damage wheel and when used by the Ranger it only deals damage at close range.

Of course this then gets into the question of whether the Ranger can use the Spiked Buckler (provides AC but is also a melee weapon) for his ranged build (i.e. using a one-handed missile weapon). Most times you're better off with the Archer's Buckler but it is still a relevant hypothetical question.

As a Monk. I use the Orb to get 2(4 if i hit twice) extra melee damage. I assume most other folks use it to free up a more important slot.

sellout23 wrote:


You are using it in your off-hand in melee, right? I don't think you get a melee damage bonus for the 4 item Might set if you are using it in your ranged off-hand.