Unusable Enemy Equipment: Difference between revisions

In other media, contrast [[In Working Order]].

 

 

** Averted in the Granddaddy of them all, ''[[Wolfenstein 3D (Video Game)|Wolfenstein 3D]]''. Every human enemy, save for the bosses, dropped their weapon when killed, giving you that weapon if you didn't have it before or adding to your ammo count if you did. The game even starts with the scenario that you take the pistol from a guard you shanked.

*** And the bosses are all [[Super Soldiers]] wielding weapons you legitimately ''couldn't'' use (i.e. several-hundred-pound [[Gatling Good|Gatling guns]]).

** In a rather useful aversion, ''[[Oni]]'' not only allows you to strip and disarm enemy weapons, but the lack of [[One Bullet Clips]] means that it's advantageous to do so just after an enemy reloads. Likewise, if you see an enemy using a forcefield (the kind that stops bullets, but not punches), you can pick it up after you drop them, with same level of power remaining. Hence, making a punch to the face more effective, as it makes their equipment much more usable.

** While the first ''[[Halo]]'' game ignored this trope for the most part, some items (FRG, Sword, Shield, Wraith) still cannot be used. The second and third games clean this up for the most part.

**** It was possible at one point to snipe an elite before he got into his wraith. You still couldn't drive it though. {{spoiler|Unless you hacked, also revealing it to have the same crosshair as the rocket launcher.}}

** In story the Elites will rather fight bare handed rather than used a loaded human weapon right next to them.

** ''[[The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess (Video Game)|Twilight Princess]]'' averts this only when it comes to arrows. Much like the ''Oblivion'' example, you can pick up enemy arrows that get stuck in the ground before they fade or burn away, and recover your own fired arrows from an enemy if you can see them sticking out of it.

*** And you get the Gale Boomerang and Ball and Chain from beating the two minibosses that use them.

* ''[[World of Warcraft]]'' has a notable quest where you need to collect weapons from specific monsters (which you could actually use, if you so wish), but as with all quest drops, the chance to get one is far lower than you'd expect. In fact, the chance of another weapon is higher.

** Related are the [[Twenty Bear Asses|boars that don't have livers]].

* There was oh so much stuff lying in the background of the ''[[Resident Evil]]'' series. Most notably, you find a squad of dead soldiers in the sewers of ''RE2'' with MP5s you cannot claim. Also, doesn't it seem odd that none of the hundreds of zombified police officers are carrying their sidearms or ammunition?

** How about one of the farm tools that the Ganados were using as weapons. They just seem so much more ''effective'' than the knife...

** In ''Separate Ways'', Ada ''does'' eventually get the option of buying one of the crossbows that the enemies are always using on you.

*** With some [[Made of Explodium|slight alterations.]]

*** However, the actual trope is played straight, as a number of enemy characters wield weapons none of your characters can, including knives, walking sticks, and guns.

* ''[[Ancient Domains of Mystery]]'' has moloch armor, occasionally dropped by one of the nastier enemies in the game. Technically wearable, but heavy enough to crush many characters to death, and it slows you to a crawl. Though the PV bonus it gives is admittedly nice.

** The ''[[Disgaea]]'' games in particular have Geo Panels that can clone your characters - the clones are hostile and replicate the original ''exactly'', down to the equipment. It is impossible to steal their equipment even with the specialty items listed above, and only a weapon in the third iteration has the potential to knock only one of those items off the enemy when they do die to it; if you could freely steal equipment from the enemy, it would (much sooner than usual) [[Game Breaker|snap the game in half]].

* ''[[Wizardry (Video Game)|Wizardry]]'' games shows names of opponents' weapons, but those are just strings, not really equipped items and as such may or may not be reflected in [[Randomly Drops|loot]]. In ''Wizardry 7'', T'Rangs poke Shock Rod, Stun Rod and Psi Rod into PC. Shock Rod has Drain (stamina) 20% in their hands and Drain 50% in [[PC]]'s. Cool, but as a weapon it's mediocre. Stun Rod is Paralyze 65% Drain 35% for them, but only Paralyze 20% Drain 75% for [[PC]] (same damage as for weakest foe armed). Attacks with "Psi Rod" are even more dangerous, but... oops, no such equippable item in game. The same in ''Wizardry 8'', with some numbers changed.

* In ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]'', many magic items are usable only by characters of a particular alignment (Good, Evil etc.), and generally players are opposed in alignment to their enemies. This prevents the use of some [[NPC]] item by [[Player Character|player characters]].

** In 2nd Edition D&D the magic weapons of the Drow (underground evil elves) turn to dust after being exposed to sunlight. Drow equipment based on radiation magic works just like magically enhanced items, but neither needs to be actually enspelled nor can be disenchanted as common variety. This disintegration doesn't bother Drow themselves, as they raid surface rarely and only at night anyway.

** On the other hand magical equipment in D&D generally tends to grow or shrink to fit the wearer "from halfling to ogre size", effectively eliminating the most realistic reason for a player being unable to use enemy equipment.

** And now, in 4th Edition, holy symbols -- which used to be trinkets that did nothing but allow you to cast many of your divine spells -- are now as scalably powerful as any magic sword, suit of armor, etc. However, this mechanic highlights the edition's [[Gameplay and Story Segregation]]: it's not really a moral qualm for any good fighter or even paladin to wield a sword or wear armor with [[Spikes of Villainy]], but now clerics are left the option of either upgrading to a defeated enemy's evil-deity-specific symbol to get a power boost (even though it wouldn't actually change their religion), keeping their old junk, or going through an hour-long ritual to convert the evil symbol into a sort of "raw magic" that will only go 1/5 of the way towards creating the good version of the same item.