Shield of Raw Steel

[gut]

Is it the best artifact in the game?

[Jack the Ripper]

It would be if it didn't contain the essence of chaos and corruption, MAYBE. Depends on char, though... Things like Executor, RotMC, TotRR, Bow, Preserver, maybe even Nature's Companion, the would surpass it even if the shield didn't contain the essence , IMHO.

[Grey]

It's a good short-term artifact. In an average game of 100k turns or more I'd rather have BoW or Preserver though. Decent shields aren't hard to find in the game, so it's only really the +8 To that's fairly wow. With some levels and morgia even that is irrelevant.

[sterjs]

Is it the best artifact in the game?

I don't think so(I'll take the BoW plz), but I don't understand why it's so rarely used. The corruption is manageable and it's an obvious way to defang the ToEF.
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Volcano Digital Review

[gut]

Please remember to evaluate everything.

What is the chance that an artifact will make the difference between
a PC's life and death?

What is the chance of acquiring the artifact? Remember, it doesn't
do your PC any good if they can't get it.

How soon is the artifact available?

How much effort and risk does it take to acquire the artifact?

[Grey]

Why do those things have anything to do with how well-rated an artifact is? If those are the qualifiers then I'd probably go with Water Orb or Rune-Covered Trident. Raw steel comes at the immense price of locking out the biggest source of corruption removal in the game - it is *only* worth it in the especial circumstances of a character going through the game quickly or utterly swimming in SoCRs (requires luck and sidequests). The very act of getting into DarkForge is a big risk for low level characters, especially non-casters. The act of killing the druid is not trivial either, without the right resources. Really gut, you need to look at things from a more regular perspective :P

[gut]

> Why do those things have anything to do with how well-rated an artifact is?

Because of the Platinum Girdle, that's why. You really think
it makes sense to rate it as one of the best arts in the game?
Not to mention the other arts that can't be generated at all.
If I can't get my hands on it without extreme cooperation from
the RNG, it can't be the best.

> I'd probably go with Water Orb or Rune-Covered Trident

The Orb of Life Saving is definitely a contender, I can't
give it the nod though, because of how rediculously overpowered
prayer is. The RCT isn't a contender though, just not a big
difference maker in my eyes, and only easily available to
raven-borns.

> it is *only* worth it in the especial circumstances

You're thinking of using it all the time, not just for
the most life threatening points in the game. The corruption
gained from periodic use of the SoRS isn't unmanagable.

[gut]

SoRS - (+2) [+12, +18] {To +8}
=pois =fire =ice +cor +easy to get
Best artifact in the game.

Advantages:

Availability:
It's guaranteed, and in my book, that means it can
really only be compared to other guaranteed artifacts.
Sure, the Shining Silver Bracers, Vanquisher, and
Executor are all nice, but very rare. That should be
taken into consideration when evaluating them, because
the best artifact in the world won't do you much good
if you don't have it. We won't mention the Platinum
Girdle as guaranteed, though technically it is.

The requirements for getting it can all be met in the
early game. A means of on demand TP, TP control, a way
of killing Guth, and the ability to withstand (only a
chance of) standing next to a steel golem for a single
game turn. I say any PC can have these criteria met by
~5000 game turns. The ability to acquire such a powerful
artifact in the early game also has to be taken into
the evaluation. Again, I refuse to make mention of a
certain Girdle, that only arrives on D:50. Woot.

Usefulness:
A combined total of 30 (!) DV and PV make this the best
armor arifact in the game in terms of raw stats. The
next best arts in this area are the +24 of the Iron
Crown of Havlor and the mighty Protector. Aylas Holy
Scarf weighs in with +20, and the Gauntlets of Eternal
Peace deserve an honorable mention at +18, but they are
only really useful for wizards that never plan to use
missiles or melee. Of course the Girdle of Mentionlessness
is almost as good as the SoRS, but we're not mentioning
it, are we?

The granted intrinsic of fire immunity allows earlier
entrance to, and increased safety within, the ToEF's.
This must be taken into consideration as well, because
most arts, while nice, will not open up parts of the
game, simply because of their existance. I can't remember
anyone ever posting something like "Hey, I just found the
Bracers of War! Wooot! Now I can kill the Cat Lord!" or
"Woohooo! I just got pre-crowned with Protector! Now I
can go and kill the momma dragon for exp. points!" It
just doesn't happen, other arts just don't make that much
difference in the PC's capabilities, and even if they did
those things, they would all still fall short of the SoRS.
The tower is the turning point in the game, and it is the
most difficult part in the game, considering the powerful
monsters, the inventory restrictions, and the powerful
monsters that must be defeated. Anything that gives an
edge in this place HAS to count more than anything else,
anywhere else. The SoRS owns the ToEF's.

Disadvantages:
Maybe that's a typo, as there is only one disadvantage,
and we all know what that is. The essance of rendering-a-
great-artifact-as-useless. I say "So what?!" What does it
really matter if a PC picks up a few extra corruptions?
I think ~40% of corruptions are USEFUL! Another ~30% are
negligible if one has access to some moss of marielion,
and I count only 4 that I find intolerable, 'stiff muscles',
'unholy aura', 'poison hands' (if no gauntlets), and 'mana
battery'. Frankly, the odds of getting a really bad
corruption are pretty low, and with a single source of
corruption removal it is no worry at all. Corruption
removal sources aren't rare in ADOM 1.1.1. Add to that the
fact that careful and efficient use of the SoRS should be
plenty to see a PC through the rough spots in the early-mid
game, as there aren't many, and they don't take many game
turns to accomplish.

For the sake of showing just HOW good the SoRS is,
I want to compare it to other equipment the PC is
likely to have at that point in the game. Actually,
I will be generous to other equipment in this
comparison, in realization of the fact that most
players would have better than I would at this point.

Head          : - mithril helmet +2
Neck          : - amulet of protection +2
// In my opinion, the SoRS comes before the Ankh.
                  
Body          : - mithril armor -2 +7 
Girdle        : - mithril girdle +2
Cloak         : - hooded +2
Right Hand    : - some weapon
Left Hand     : - large mithril shield +7, +2
Right Ring    : - protection +1
Left Ring     : - defense +1
Bracers       : - defense +2
Gauntlets     : - guantlets +2
Boots         : - mithril +2
Missile weapon: - 
Missiles      : -
Tool          : -

So if my simple math is correct (and my SIMPLE math
usually is), that means that ALL of the PC's gear
combined comes to a grand total of [+8, +22]. Now
realize that the SoRS gives [+12, +18] by it's self!
It also gives +8 to the toughness stat, poison
resistance, ice immunity, AND fire immunity! It's
hands down the best art in the game.

[JellySlayer]

Not that I'm exactly disagreeing with you about the strength of the SoRS, gut, but in my opinion, the Pyramid can be completed long before the PC has access to the SoRS unless you are specifically playing to get it early. For a non-wizard, the only guaranteed teleportation requires you to find and identify one of three items that aren't terribly common (wands/scrolls of item detection, scrolls of magic mapping), plus finding a blink dog corpse. At the extreme case, an illiterate character with an uncommon random monster quest could easily hit level 13 before being able to get the wand of teleportation. The very idea of entering Darkforge before completing the Pyramid is foreign to me--I usually don't go in until I'm strong enough to kill all of the golems.

I would like to point out one thing that you've overlooked: getting the SoRS requires the PC to kill a potentially extremely value NPC. Killing the druid denies the PC access to at least 5 PoCC, probably more, plus denies access to the ever-popular unicorn quest. As early as you suggestion doing this, it probably also denies the PC access to the herbalism skill, the black torc, and a sixth PoCC. PoCC are otherwise extremely rare, and can be used as a powerful offensive weapon or for curing corruptions. For a regular ending, all this extra corruption removal might be not that much of a problem, but if going for an ultra, which, depending on the PC's luck, can easily push you over day 90, particularly for those of us who tend to play >100K turn games, losing this huge stock of corruption removal + offensive potions is pretty costly. Particularly combined with the fact that using the SoRS increases the effective corruption rate...

For the sake of argument though, I will argue that the ancient mummy wrapping is better than the SoRS. Here's why:

-Guaranteed, extremely easy to acquire. Doesn't even require any luck to get, save for the ability to survive to level 13. The pyramid is far less risky to complete than Darkforge.
-Only guaranteed way in the game to get -SeeI, -Death, grants a number of other (reasonably) useful intrinsics. I have seen ultra characters winning the battle against Andy while wearing this.
-Decent PV/DV for the point in the game it is acquired, particularly considering how heavy comparable pieces of armor are.
-No inherent disadvantages other than a loss of 8 appearance. Does not deny the PC access to any other powerful quests or items, for example.
-Does make some areas much easier: many players are reluctant to complete either the Arena or the Griffyard without this item. Since no other means of -SeeI and -Death are always available, also makes dangerous late-game battles such as Master Cat, Mana Temple, and Andor Drakon much easier.
-Many players do not consider the rewards of getting the SoRS enough to justify the cost; but contrast, virtually all players get the AMW.

[sterjs]

SoRS - (+2) [+12, +18] {To +8}
=pois =fire =ice +cor +easy to get
Best artifact in the game.

It's actually [+18, +12], which is even better.
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Portable vaporizer