Weapons & Equip Obsidian Horseshoe Rework - At least make it useful early-game.

[FroststormFrenzy]

Everyone who plays this game has either never heard of the Obsidian Horseshoe, or knows it sucks. It's a combination of the Lucky Horseshoe and Obsidian Skull, but the main problem is that there are THREE alternate upgrade paths between these items that outright outclass the Obsidian Horseshoe in every way:

• Obsidian Shield adds onto the Obsidian Skull's defense, bringing the +1 up to +2, along with adding knockback immunity, and it's a material for the Ankh Shield.
• Obsidian Water Walking Boots, Magma Skull, Obsidian Skull Rose, and Molten Charm are all items that can be crafted into the Lava Waders, which can be further upgraded into Terraspark Boots.
• The Horseshoe Balloons all grant increased jump height and [except Amber] double jumps, with the Bundle of Horseshoe Balloons having quadruple jump.

Not only do these items all have their own benefits, pairing the corresponding items with already-related effects, all three paths are part of the crafting tree for a top-tier accessory.

What does the Obsidian Horseshoe have?
…No tinkers.
…No additional effects.
Just immunity to fall damage and fire blocks, and +5% luck. It doesn't even keep the +1 defense of the Obsidian Skull. You get more benefits from wearing both items separately than combining them into one, even before reforges. It's obtainable at the exact same point in progression as Horseshoe Balloons and Terraspark Boots, meaning there's not a single point in the game where you'd ever want it. It had somewhat of a niche back in 1.1, as Horseshoe Balloons and Lava Waders didn't exist yet, but as of now, it's basically just a worthless relic from 2011.

Without completely reworking it, or arbitrarily adding new items/effects, there aren't even any good ways to save it. You're basically limited to one of two options:

• Adding Obsidian Horseshoe Balloons, so it's at least not a complete waste of a horseshoe to craft it.
• Adding back the Obsidian Skull's defense boost, so it's at least equal to its components.

Making the defense boost +2 instead would help it out a bit more, since that ties it with the Obsidian Shield and Shield of Cthulhu, yet gives it the niche of being the only +2 Defense accessory available pre-boss. If Obsidian Horseshoe Balloons were added, it might be fair to drop those back down to +1, considering they're already good on their own [except Amber].

---

But, that was without completely reworking it. Of course, there's the fact that, even with a rework, there's so little to work with that it can't really stand out from the other upgrades...

…So, why not embrace that a bit? Why not let it act as an easier-to-obtain, weaker alternative to the other crafting trees? This wouldn't have any further tinkers, as it'd serve primarily as an early-game option you'll replace later.

• 1 Defense
• Allows 1 second of Lava Walking.
• Reduces Knockback taken by 25%.
• Immunity to fall damage and fire blocks.

The 1 second of lava walking isn't long enough to be better than Lava Waders, but it's enough to save yourself if you're about to fall into a pool of lava. This would make the cavern layer and Underworld slightly easier to navigate, making it slightly easier to obtain the Lava Charm and Obsidian Rose. To clarify, this doesn't give any lava immunity time, nor does it apply to water, honey, or shimmer.

Knockback Reduction is actually an entirely unique effect - There are currently no items in the game that weaken knockback, only complete immunity accessories. That lets it stand out a little more, in addition to acting as a mini-Obsidian Shield.

Then of course, the 1 defense coming from the Obsidian Skull, because it honestly should've had this from the start.

This shouldn't make Obsidian Horseshoe top-tier, you'd still be better off with Terraspark Boots, Horseshoe Balloons [except Amber], and the Obsidian Shield, but it at least has a use case, unlike before.

 

[Orchamut]

My idea is, embrace how abysmally bad this item is, and change its luck effect to instead give you tons of negative luck. Since 1.4.5 seems to be adding bad luck effects, such an accessory would allow you to see them easily.

 

[FroststormFrenzy]

My idea is, embrace how abysmally bad this item is, and change its luck effect to instead give you tons of negative luck. Since 1.4.5 seems to be adding bad luck effects, such an accessory would allow you to see them easily.

I mean-

That's one way to give it a use, I guess lol.

 

[J Bame]

My idea is, embrace how abysmally bad this item is, and change its luck effect to instead give you tons of negative luck. Since 1.4.5 seems to be adding bad luck effects, such an accessory would allow you to see them easily.

I like this a lot. Much easier than trying to force it into an accessory line or coming up with a combat effect for it.

Obsidian Horseshoe is a relic from the 1.0 era, the game was still new and had a fraction of the content it has now, at that time the idea of a "safe stepping" accessory made enough sense. Now the Obsidian Skull is basically a useless item, a glorified material for things more useful than it. Lucky Horseshoe isnt even that useful on its own.