Give buffed life-stealing effect to Golden Scythe

[Baconfry]

With Dark Sword having been nerfed into complete uselessness, I think it would be nice to grant an innate life-stealing effect to the Golden Scythe to make up for it. Right now there isn't any meaningful reason to get it apart from style points. Giving it a vampiric effect with a heavily buffed activation rate would make it situationally useful in places like Skull Cavern, where it could be used to leech health from enemies that don't threaten you too much. Naturally, it would be balanced by the fact that it doesn't really kill things, meaning that the most efficient use of time would still be to eat or use a staircase. But it could add a layer of strategic depth to the hungry challenge if it provided reliable heals.

This is also thematically fitting because it's obtained from a reaper statue. I guess it would also be thematically fitting if it killed ghosts instantly, but I think lifesteal is a more interesting mechanic for it, personally.

 

[Ereo]

Interesting.

I never considered the golden scythe as a weapon.

It is more effective than the basic scythe, both by radius and by yield of hay, so there is a farming reason to get it.

But it could be a cool mechanic for the hungry challenge (right now, the only way for me to complete this would be by getting 100 staircases).

 

[laotrayamada]

Honestly, it's not like lifesteal in this game could not benefit from a buff in general. I think I was getting 2 points of health from killing (not strike, killing) an enemy? That ring benefit is just plain not worth it. Specially when you only get it after killing 200 bats! Same with soul sapper effect, which I think was 4 of energy, again per killing. And that one you get in the very last dungeon of the game. This effects are pitiful in early game, by the time you actually get them they're just plain worthless. By that time enemies are hitting you for 30 health minimum!

 

[imnvs]

I have to back up @Ereo by reaffirming there is a very good reason for getting the golden scythe, and more than one. Faster harvesting of things needing scything because you get more with each swing, crops and grass. More hay per grass cut down too. These are enough.

To add, also, the scythe makes a terrible weapon. Why have it give life-steal? If you want life-steal, you're better off enchanting a much better weapon with vampiric.

 

[Baconfry]

To add, also, the scythe makes a terrible weapon. Why have it give life-steal? If you want life-steal, you're better off enchanting a much better weapon with vampiric.

Vampiric enchant is an unreliable way to gain health because of its incredibly low activation rate (this is what ruined the Dark Sword). If you used it, you would know.

 

[imnvs]

Well, that's the best we have... and making the golden scythe a life-stealer while it does nowhere near enough damage still isn't the solution, imho.