This isn't about Durability, but it is about Identification, so I'm reposting this from elsewhere.
If they really want to keep it, they should at least turn it into indentify scrolls and not a 'glass', also those scrolls should work, without the need of having Loremaster. So you would have the choice: spend social points for loremaster or use identify scrolls. But if you learned loremaster, identifying should work automatically like suggested.
Hmmm... well. if Larian wants to keep resource consumption for Identifying items, this idea isn't that bad. I'd change it up a bit though:
- Added consumable Identify scrolls. These are sold and can appear in loot.
- Identify scrolls can be used without points into Loremaster.
- Loremaster requires Identify glasses to use
- Identify glasses are no longer consumed on use, you can use them as much as you like
- Identify glasses come in 5 different qualities, which allows you to identify items up to and including X level of the item. ...Actually, perhaps scrolls also come in the same five types?
- Identify glasses are no longer found in random loot, can only be bought from merchants or found pre-placed.
- Identify glasses price is increased significantly, and each higher level of glasses has a higher price which also increases significantly from the previous level.
If Larian wants a gold sink for identification, this offers three: Merchant identification, one-shot-scroll identification, and reusable, but expensive identification.
Merchant identification is probably the most useless since it's pay-per-item and you need to travel there to use. But they can identify anything (if scrolls come in 5 types as well). Scrolls are not that expensive individually, but the costs add up, however, Loremaster is not required. The glasses can be used forever, but require points into Loremaster, and are expensive to buy and are not found in loot, and can only be bought or found in pre-placed locations.
I can see people hating the idea of 5 different levels of identification glasses (and possibly scrolls), though.
My proposal: add durability to Tactician or higher difficult levels; introduce ‘consumable’ repair kits specific for the weapon / armor; make an item lose max durability every time is repaired on the field (e.g., an item with 50 max is lowered to 40 max using repair kits); require a blacksmith to repair items without losing max durability; make it impossible to repair special items (magical, high level items) save from special repair kits and/or experts; balance the speed of degradability (make sure players carry several weapons to balance their needs); increase degradation for improper use like bashing chests (items must lose durability even during proper use).
Never mind needing to carry around a whole lot of different repair kits specific to each specific piece of gear, there are larger issues I have with that.
Nobody liked the idea of repairing costing max durability in the DOS 1 alpha, and I imagine that won't change here. You might as well just not have repair kits because everyone will only repair at blacksmiths.
And making magical items unrepairable? Hello? Your entire gear will be magical after act 1.
Increasing the speed of degradation to force you to carry multiple weapons?! Have you played this game? Do you not realize that 80% of the loot in the game is random? Finding a single good piece can be hard enough, never mind needing to carry several good weapons for each character!!
On a similar topic, make food useful again: players must eat (and sleep) or lose a % of accuracy each unit of time.
With all due respect, FUCK THAT.
Survival mechanics are either too lenient and thus are so meaningless that they might as well not exist, or they are obnoxious and only serve to irritate most players.
Make finding recipes for food exciting again (right now food is useless).
No, recipes are not exciting and forcing constant food consumption to avoid penalties will absolutely not make them exciting.
And once again, this game has RANDOM LOOT, so good luck finding all the components you need for the recipes!
All your ideas are completely awful and murder fun in favor of incredibly tedious and fun-sapping micromanagement.