Malice question

[FinalFantasyFreak]

I have a list of 1.11 runewords, and the Malice runeword says "Drain life -5".

What does this mean? Does it mean it drains 5 life every few seconds or could it perhaps be a spelling mistake made by the author?

[stephan]

It means you will get a negative life regeneration. IIRC for Malice it is about 0.5 life per second. You can counter the effect with replenish life.

[FinalFantasyFreak]

I see, thanks for the fast reply there, and for the advice ^^

[Ax2Grind]

It's a misworded ability. "Drain Life" should be the opposite of "Replenish Life," and since two negatives equal a positive, Drain Life -5 should mean Replenish Life +5, but the effect of the runeword is the equivalent of Replenish Life -5.

I've used Malice in perfect three-socketed polearms/spears on mercenaries, since they have enough natural replenishment to counter the effect, combat warriors having very high due to Prayer. I've used it in conjunction with Snakecord, which counters the life loss perfectly, when playing a missionary: converting or causing the monster to flee while poisoned and bleeding from open wounds. By the time such a monster is dealt with again they have very little life left, much like converted monsters after they turn, though that's probably an inconsistent bug.

[LozHinge the Unhinged]

Malice makes for a good Iron Golem, and doesn't seem to affect the golem's regeneration unduly.

[Frosty_The_Snowman]

Malice is the only active item with this mod. There once was another item with this mod, called the Constricting Ring (http://www.diabloii.net/items/uniques/armor-rings.shtml). But this ring was definitely overpowered, despite the fact it had 30 life drain... :rolleyes: I once had one back in the 1.09 days (IIRC :scratch: ), and as far as I remember, the draining effect wasn't that annoying.

[Ax2Grind]

Constricting Ring... I don't think Insight on a Prayer mercenary would make it completely overpowered, do you?