I just double-checked. Plunder really, really doesn't proc often. I cleared the entire DL1 and it only went off about 6 times. But I kept an eye on my ZM, and they did not in fact budge a whit when Plunder did proc. David, what OS are you on? Are you using Steam, Desura, or HiB? Because it's sure not working for me. Also, when you netted that 10 gold, was it on the floor in a pile, or did it appear straight in your ZM stash?
Well, I don't remember getting the gold pile, but as Dynab said, it's supposed to just drop a pile of gold on the ground. So, you don't really notice when it goes off. I don't know, exactly. I'm willing to say that I believe it works, it just procs so rarely, that you don't notice it when it happens. I think the devs would know more than me though. I thought it worked though. I'll still continue to do more tests later, dual axe wielding is doing me wonders so far. Iron Thorn ring in the shop was nice too. Hopefully I'll notice what happens the farther I get down.
Broadside could be buffed, but it does have some side uses- it's a free bomb basically, which is great if you don't have mobility or trap affinity.
Define bomb though. Does it explode like the concussion bombs, and knock enemies back? Or does it destroy walls? That would make it really useful. I've never bothered to put any skill points into the Piracy tree once I saw they gave no skill bonuses like all the other trees in the game.
Update: Plunder does in fact still not work. I got around to test it myself today, and while it does proc sometimes, I did get enemies with no gold drops when it did proc.
I'm pretty sure it's because the 'itemname="Zorkmids"' line in Plunder doesn't actually refer to anything in itemDB.xml.
Even if it did give gold correctly.. I still wouldn't find Plunder all that useful. Perhaps Plundering certain enemies (like named enemies/ enemies that are from a higher level floor) could drop a semi- random item equal/ slightly better than items commonly found on that level (or where the enemy commonly spawns)? I just don't find extra gold all that useful, because you still have to get lucky with a shop, and vending machines typically seem to have low costs.
It does knockback like a concussion bomb. There's cheaper ways to get the skill, but it's not useless. This is why I love psionics so much- shove+healing crystals+nerve staple all very useful. (nerve staple not as good as vanilla though)
I believe Broadside has a line in its code that says to trigger Grenade Center (aka the same effect as a Hand Grenade), but it's commented out.
The Black Spot is worse. 70 turn cooldown single target debuff. Doesn't even reduce crit chance. Terrible ability.
