My roommate found an axe with only positive stats. Over time, negative stats got added randomly. Anvil of Krong or The Translation Is All Wrong was never used on it. This is the second item (first was a sword), with which this has happened on his save (melee-sword-build). He says it started happening after the 1.0.6 Patch.
http://www.dredmorwiki.com/wiki/Corrupt_Equipment It's a shame how this disproportionately affects Melee players.
Thanks for the response, I wasn't aware of this Spell. At least now he knows what caused it.. still pretty harsh I agree.
Basically, avoid melee with any monster whose description says they can corrupt magical equipment. Or if you do melee them, lock them down (e.g. via knockback skills or Nerve Staple) so they don't get to attack you. Or swap to gear that isn't magical or that you don't mind damaging.
Since the patch, stacking magic resist (I believe) will let you resist corruption, but it's still based on luck obviously.
Very poorly, but yes, it can counter it. The thing is, now the Translation is all wrong steals powers from the item you reroll. So, you'd have to be careful. The other solution is of course, shoot the corrupters from a distance, or wear none named items. So, beat up enemies with iron/steel swords.
Yeah. Just buy a decent sword, or craft a katana. Should be able to kill any corruption mob fairly easily. Just make sure you don't get surrounded . . .
There a lot of enemies that can Corrupt your Weapons - Magicky Golems, Magic Dragons, and Blobs of Corruption come to mind, there's probably others I'm forgetting. Your only recourse is to swap to Weapons You Don't Care About™ when fighting them, or to kill them at range with Spells/Thrown/Bolts.
Keep in mind non-artifact weapons will NOT get corrupted. So when you face such enemies you can switch to those and get past them.
