What powers did the One Ring have?

[Marv]

uummmm..... didnt sauron aid in the making of the rings and it was his plan all along to make a greater ring that controlled the others? why would he want them back. the rings biggest power was to corrupt the good. do you need anymore?? if elves and men can accept you as their master or friend then 2/3rds of the battle is won no?? he brought the downfall of the numenoreans without lifting a finger, and that was without the one ring.

i dont think it increases his battlefield virility and he doesn't shoot fireballs, he , like gandalf(in a slightly more obvious way) is just a tough cookie to beat up.

[High Lord Tolkien]

uummmm..... didnt sauron aid in the making of the rings and it was his plan all along to make a greater ring that controlled the others? why would he want them back. the rings biggest power was to corrupt the good. do you need anymore??

The Elves knew of his intent as soon as the One was created.
That's why they took the 3 Rings off right away.
This pissed Sauron off.
He wanted them for some reason.
Either for himself or to give them out to others who wouldn't know any better.
He went to war in the 2nd Age and captured the 7 and the 9 from the Elves but not the 3.

he brought the downfall of the numenoreans without lifting a finger, and that was without the one ring.

That what I thought too but not according to Tolkien.
He wrote 2 letters on the very subject.
The quote below is referencing a book called "The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, edited by Humphrey Carpenter"

From the FAQ that I linked above:

Where was the One Ring while Sauron was in Númenor?


On his finger. "He naturally had the One Ring, and so very soon dominated the minds and wills of most of the Númenóreans." [L #211 (279)]

Tolkien's very clear statement agrees with the logic of Sauron's character. Sauron had two choices: take the ring with him to Númenor, or leave it in Middle-earth. But nowhere there would be safe, from his point of view: while he spent decades in Númenor, anyone might have found the Ring and claimed it. Sauron would never risk that.

Some people are misled by Tolkien's statement that Sauron "took up again" the Ring after making himself a new body [Silm: Rings (292)]. All that means is that he first completed the new body, then turned again to his plans for world domination.

[Marv]

those tolkien links are great. the FAQ is very helpfull. thanks mate.

i understand that after his second or third incantation(i forget which) he could no longer shape shift and had to present himself as the dark lord guy we see at the start of the movies. do you think the rings power to corrupt would have superceded this disadvantage? how big an obstacle was this? could he have infiltrated the numenoreans without this ability?