Lutefisking?

So I've put about 100 hours into the game so far and let's say at least 50 of those hours have involved me actually knowing specifically HOW fisking lute works - basically, get 500 fisk and then lute them (for best results).

I have yet to ever get a decent item from doing this. Has the RNG just been screwing me? Is it worth the long-winded effort of cubing every reagent, unnecessary trap/mushroom/potion/booze, and grinding up all my crap meat and cheese? I think the earliest I managed to get 500 fisk was level 3 or 4 - and the item I got out of it was still pretty much crap compared to my equipment.

Unless I'm playing a crafting build (which I almost never am anymore due to the general uselessness of those skillsets) I can generally manage at LEAST 3 fully enchanted fiskings per run (on NTTG - more on normal, and even yet more with perception) and I've still NEVER found something worth actually equipping - even if only temporarily; I've always found better stuff previous to fisking since the things I've gotten from the god of lutefisk have always been half-assed at best.

Should I keep trying? Or should I save myself the effort of inventory management and not bother?

 

In terms of buffing them I did have one thought - perhaps if the further down the statue you used was located the higher the enchantment level on the item was. I'm PRETTY sure that right now you can use the level 1 statue or the level 14 statue and get the same crap. I've certainly never noticed a difference, anyway.
Alternately - each time you break a statue the base enchantment level could be buffed - that would prevent lutefisk stockpiling (which my first idea would almost certainly cause (and kind of already happens anyway - I never tithe less than 500))

Or, thirdly - it could take character level into account. Though again - stockpiling.

Probably some combination of the three would be best, but I like number 2.

 

I think it does already scale with floor, but the range is still pretty big. I've gotten 6star items on floor 10 before :/

 

Personally, I treat the cube as a garbage disposal. Eventually that garbage can be traded for an artifact that may or may not be useful - just like any other artifact may or may not be useful.

All that said, I also believe there should be a better chance of an extraordinary artifact since you get an average of about 5 artifacts per level from uber/evil chests, Inconsequentia, zoos, and random placement, whereas the lutefisk cube gives you one artifact every several levels unless you're obsessively farming lutefisk (like taking Rogue scientist and walking around level 1 to kill blobbies for the ooze to turn into plastic to then turn into bolts to lutefisk). Back in the old days of infinite lock picks and mushroom spores the cube was far easier to abuse.

As for the form of the buff, I don't think the enchantment needs adjusting, but the rng should be weighted to provide a high star item. It is a letdown when you wait 4 levels for an artifact and it turns out to be an enchanted traffic cone.

 

Hmm... I'll have to do some testing to see how different they are at different levels. Right now I'm thinking I may have to learn how to mod the game just to fix this issue. Inconsequentia is generally slightly better than LT god, Monster Zoos are about on par with Inconsequentia, and Evil Chests blow them all out of the water for some reason. Any time I get an item from an EC it tends to be at least 10 damage more powerful than anything I have.

 

Monster Zoos, in my opinion, don't typically give a good reward. Inconsequentia's rewards often, well, are inconsequential. Evil Chests are, however, among the best sources for 'good' loot, however. The problem is it seems to depend heavily on your build, and whilst you might get a good sword from Inconsequentia, it's utterly useless to you if you have a mace build, which means - in turn - you might not look at it and then form a good idea of how it relates to your character. Wait, I think I just undermined my own points there.

I'm with sam12sam on the use of the Lutefisk Cube, however. It is the best way to turn useful/low-resale-value items into something useful. Considering I don't play mana-intensive characters, the amount of lutefisk I make from 'fisking drinks is unbelievable. Same way I turn cheeses (bar 'Cheese', I believe) into grated cheese for use in crafting. It's a case of making the most out of what the game gives you.

 

My fisking habits are as follows:
Not playing a mage? - fisk all but one drink, stack that drink.
Not crafting? - fisk all reagents (this is where I get the most from (especially if I have perception)) Sell tools.
Gotten to level 5 or so? Start grinding all cheese below 13 hp (keep 'cheese' and enough grated stuff to press into good heals) and all meat aside from steak.
Mudwens - fisk. (If you're playing with fungal arts, fisk any excess shrooms of other sorts. You get WAY more than you need)
Gotten to the point where inventory management is a hassle and you have more money then you'll ever need? Fisk all equipment that isn't a high-value artifact.

I think that accounts for most things. Oh, I also fisk all throwing weapons and the worst bolts I have.
I get 3 minimum 500-tithings per NNTG playthrough. You can probably (at least) double or triple that number for regular runs and perception runs.
They're all worthless. I've gotten to the point where I'm just starting to sell everything I come across. It takes a lot of management to do that.

Monster zoos are mostly for experience as far as I can tell.

And in terms of evil chest loot - if they're better than your current weapons (i.e. most of the time) use them. Don't upgrade your weapon skills until you find evil chest weapons appropriate to it. This is also making me not want to bother with weapon skills anymore since they're always (except unarmed) pretty much the last thing I put points in.

I think maybe the problem is just that evil chest things are way over-powered and everything else looks terrible in comparison.

 

I don't have the patience for fisking anymore. I used to use it like a trash can on the off chance of a decent item once it got full ( I.E. 500) but these days I just leave the junk items on the floor. I don't know that I've ever gotten a useful item out of fisking.

 

I've gotten plenty of decent items out of fisking -- maybe not something that will last me for more than a couple of levels, but even that can be worthwhile. I don't find it a burden because it's equal effort to fisk something as to drop it (when you have auto-pickup turned on).

 

I almost never get anything out of fisking. Also the experience of turning lots and lots of stuff into fisk is highly frustrating and time consuming. If the rewards were super quality, then it might be worth it, but the effort is highly stressful and makes each level take much longer.