1) Yes, indeed, armor choices are very satisfyingly complex: Armor value vs. integral bonuses vs. charm slots. Keeps me constantly looking at merchants' stock to see if I can improve upon what I am wearing.
BTW I found charms to be a most useful tool, and therefore chose to mazimize charm slots whenever possible.
2) Some of the above posts seem to indicate that Defense is not of primary importance. I disagree. The concept of
avoiding being hit strikes me as being THE most important (just my humble opinion <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/think.gif" alt="" />) Therefore I tried to increase Agility and Defense whenever I could.
3) Kiya: Yes, I realize that I was so strongly armored and buffed up that the game became a cakewalk (assuming that walking on cake is easy) <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" />
A little soul-searching provides two reasons:
a) I wanted to have all the best items (YUPPIE?) and be the best I could be. I actually did this in Morrowind, and quit in the middle of the game because it became too boringly easy. Happily, there are limitations built in to DD that help keep players from becomming too strong too quickly.
b) I dislike losing, and therefore keep the challenge level from becomming too high.
I DO admire the skill and tenacity you must have had to finish the game at those levels.
