Maybe evaluation on the adjusted censer is premature but I still feel the trinket is not worthwhile. Even if I knew exactly when it's about to fire off, it still seems too inconsistent to pick over others.
While the censer probably won't fire directly on top of a scroll or potion, they can get caught up in the path of a firestorm/icestorm. Even if the censer doesn't shoot when you're in the shop, it could fire right by the door and end with the shopkeeper leaving.
My priority with the trinkets is to improve my win rate. The risk/reward ratio is not good. The reward feels meager and the risk, while I guess manageable, doesn't compare with other lower risk yet higher reward trinkets.
I think for it to be worth picking, you would need to have warning before it sets off and have a clue as to which gas. It's a censer that takes a while to shoot out; I think it would make sense that you'd smell it before it's dealt.
But that's just me. Anyone really liking the censer? Are there strategies for it? Only thing I've got is throwing items at the grass squares adjacent to the point of impact since they can keep spawning grass for a couple of turns, depending on where the gas landed.
Falls into the same category as Unstable enchantment for me, something that feels like a curse instead of a benefit. I would never use either, the risk far, FAR outweighs the reward.
Blazing enchantment is almost on the same level, but with careful positioning you can mostly mitigate the risk. Unstable combines that with having to also plan for an unlucky Elastic proc which tips the scale into "too much of a pain to use".
The censer is on a whole other level. There's a reason Stench is a curse. Carrying a stench curse on steroids everywhere? Hard pass.
This is a funny reply because blazing is hands down one of the best enchants in the game and usually the best choice out of any you're provided with a SoEnchantment, and unstable is also amazing. Both top tier enchants on bow and fast weapons.
Anyway I feel like everyone keeps missing the point of trinkets. They're not just meant to boost winrate. Theyre meant to tweak your game mechanics in a balanced way or give you alternate ways to play the game. Even trinkets which only seem like they have upsides (like exotic crystals etc.) still are just opening up a different gameplay path for the price of energy investment.
Sure you can use them to boost winrate if thats all you want to do. But they open up so many weird builds and gameplay changes.
Blazing is super powerful, but I tend to avoid it (unless I also get brimstone) because (1) my hero always ends up burning at least 2-3 times per game, always at the worst times, and (2) fire reduces dew drop opportunities and burns scrolls that you haven't picked up. This is also why I tend to about the wand of fireblast. Maybe I'm doing it wrong, though!
Wand of Fireblast is soooo good. It's hands down the best unupgraded wand because burn damage scales with the dungeon, it has a large AOE, and the burn ticks for a significant time. Just avoid using it in grassy rooms you haven't trampled yet.
Tips on using it:
Never zap it if you are standing on something burnable (grass or doorway). You will immediately catch fire.
If you kite enemies over grass or through doorways, it restarts their burn timer. You can kill enemies with a single zap of a +0 wand this way.
It's fun to zap Evil Eye's as soon as they charge up, before you duck into cover. They'll already be burning once you're ready to start fighting them again.
Flying enemies like bats and flies can't put out the fire in water. Hit swarms of flies with ranged weapons to split them a couple times before zapping them and the one zap can kill the entire group.
The wand can burn those piles of debris to save you from needing to use Liquid Flame. Same thing with those bookshelves in that one secret room that hide a Stone of Enchantment.
Except that several trinkets are purely beneficial with no downsides. For the ones like the chaotic censer that have a very high risk with very low reward, the contrast only deepens the distaste.
As the censer stands now, even if it were only a choice between the censer and nothing at all, nothing is clearly the winner. When you have actual beneficial or at least neutral trinkets on the table, the censer is just an additional challenge mode without a reward.
All identified potions that weren't used for a puzzle, except healing and XP of course. All IDed scrolls except ID, remove curse, and transmutation. Stone of clairvoyance and flock I rarely use and is typically energy fodder. I'll buy shop stuff to boil down if I'm rolling in dough. Trinkets like the shard of oblivion and mossy clump will pay back in dividends so unless you're strapped for healing or something, the early investment is worth it.
Samee, but just with the parchment scrap. The mossy clump just doesn't seem as good as parchment (and I often run fireblast) and the shard... Well I've only got it once
My play style uses a lot on alchemy so I prefer the mossy clump. Having grass on the Goo level can really help as well. If you can get past Goo, I find the game is mostly won and the rest is pretty manageable. The clump is probably my favorite at the moment.
I was recently offered Exotic Crystals and some other junk and went with the random trinket because I've used the crystals several times and they have annoying downsides.
Inventory pressure. You simply can't carry so many different potions and scrolls early in the game.
Some basic scrolls are often better than their exotic versions. Specifically Identify, Remove Curse, and Transmutation.
On the other hand, you get a ton of alchemical energy from exotic items, so if you don't need them, alchemize them.