Reflection_lite_mult is bad - it multiples the reflections with the amount of light hitting the object. I have talked about this several times recently, in every posting on reflections. Turn it and the other stupid one Reflect_Kd_Mult off. Always.

Think about this: Imagine a deep whole in a wall, long like you could stick your arm all the way in and it still doesn't reach the back. Now visualize a mirror in the back of this hole. You stand with your face just outside the hole and your face is well lit, but everything inside the hole is almost completely dark.

Should the reflection of your face in the mirror be normal or dark?

The answer is normal. The amount of light hitting the mirror is completely irrelevent when calculating how bright your reflection should be. And yet, that is what Reflect_Lite_Mult does. It Multitplies your Reflection with the amount of lite reaching the mirror. That's stupid.

And you said "if it's a spotlite or infinite lite (and no IBL), then the object will reflect everything whether or not reflection_lite_mult is checked." What you actually experienced was that with a strong light shining on the mirror, multiplied with the reflection, it looked ok. If you had reduced the brightness of your infinite or spot light, you would have found that the reflection actually is being affected. It's just that when the light strength (k) is close to 1, you don't notice k * reflection is the same as reflection. But with k closer to 0, you certainly would notice that k * reflection is nearly zero.

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Renderosity forum reply notifications are wonky. If I read a follow-up in a thread, but I don't myself reply, then notifications no longer happen AT ALL on that thread. So if I seem to be ignoring a question, that's why. (Updated September 23, 2019)