A Newbie says hello! (Questions inside) - Page 5

Alice · January 24, 2013, 04:26

Well, I died. The Patriarch made short work of me, lol. I should not be so complacent, especially having so many safety items! He did not really do much for the first few rounds, and then points at me and curses. D: Tricky Patriarch...

Final ladder dump has been posted for your viewing pleasure. I suppose it's YASD but this was a record for me--clvl 29!

Oramin · January 24, 2013, 04:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alice

I had already sold it before you said that. I might come across another one, but my inventory is so crowded with other fail-safes that I may not have room for it, lol.

I found Chain Mail of Arvedui, so I put it on (naturally). I'm a little sad to see the cold-ball activation of my DSM go, but the benefits if the new armor outweigh that AFAIK. Redundant rBase frees my amulet slot now, in any case. Amulet of Weaponmastery (+2, +2) aww, yes. :>

@Oramin: Mim was not that bad when I fought him. He did have a nasty acid ball attack, but I guess rAcid made it easier on me (however, not so much for my poor items).

It depends on how good your Ranged attacks are; I still have nightmares about killing him with my Gnome Mage since he has resistance to all the elements and Magic Missile was taking forever.

Derakon · January 24, 2013, 05:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by Oramin

It depends on how good your Ranged attacks are; I still have nightmares about killing him with my Gnome Mage since he has resistance to all the elements and Magic Missile was taking forever.

The takeaway lesson here is to not bother killing him. Fights in Angband can always be put off until later when you're better equipped; if you're having trouble and not enjoying yourself you might as well just skip it for now.

Oramin · January 24, 2013, 06:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Derakon

The takeaway lesson here is to not bother killing him. Fights in Angband can always be put off until later when you're better equipped; if you're having trouble and not enjoying yourself you might as well just skip it for now.

1. Who said I wasn't having fun? If it ain't insanely difficult, it ain't worth doing (check out "The Henchidiot Challenge" thread at The Amazon Basin). My apologies to the grammar police.

2. In truth, Mim was more annoying than difficult even with my Mage. The main problem is that I don't want him trashing my gear so I have to play keepaway. He's just relatively more difficult than the other Uniques at the same depth. If I happened to be in serious danger, trust me, I would have ended the fight.

Timo Pietilä · January 24, 2013, 07:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by Derakon

I recommend keeping =FreeAction for now, in case you find a better weapon before you find an alternate source of Free Action.

And yeah, Rods of Curing are junk, mostly because Cure Serious Wounds does everything they do and more, with no failure rate.

I use those in early game. They are useless in combat, but afterwards I can use single turn to fix poison or cuts without using healing potions. Saves me some potions that way.

Of course if you have lack of inventory space then those are (almost) first to go.

Alice · January 24, 2013, 16:16

Some questions...

Does AC truncate damage as well as make it harder for enemies to hit you?
Also, I've noticed that as I dove, the monsters scaled in difficulty (more or less) to my armor. When I finally cap my AC (while monsters continue to get more difficult), would I expect AC to play less of a part in my survivability and eventually become irrelevant over time?

Oramin · January 24, 2013, 16:57

It is my understanding that AC reduces damage taken. I could be wrong on this.

AC never becomes irrelevant unless you never get into melee range. After a point, AC becomes less important than other things. For example, I once got instakilled by an Ancient Multi-Hued Dragon since I was running around without a source of Poison Resistance, had no Telepathy to locate it before I got into LoS, and had a lower Speed so it attacked before I could react.

Derakon · January 24, 2013, 17:09

Armor class does make a fairly significant difference in how hard you are to hit, but its effects will be more subtle in the lategame -- certainly you can't expect to have monsters missing you 50% of the time like you might reasonably achieve early on. AC damage mitigation also only affects "physical" attacks (ones that have no attached effects, like burning, blinding, or paralyzing, as well as not using verbs like touch, gaze, etc.). Such attacks are common early on, but later there's a lot more attacks which it doesn't help you with. Timo mentioned one of the standouts: Greater Titans have 4 12d12 melee attacks, all of which hit to confuse; thus, AC doesn't reduce the incoming damage any (though it still makes you harder to hit).

robbiodobbio · February 7, 2013, 15:03

Hello, Should I start a new thread for another newb or am I ok posting here?

First things first:
Vanilla angband is the classic version right? Where you only have 1 town and just Tolkien based monsters, classes and characters, right?

I'm not really a newb as I used to play about 15 years ago. I played a bit of the original angband then migrated to Zangband for some reason. The thing is I used to play without access to forums and nobody else I knew played so now I'm reading about these different tactics like aggressive diving (my old lesson was painfully slow meticulous clearing of each and every level).

Anywho, to cut a long story short I'd like some tips. But.... I don't know how to make a character dump.

Here are some screenshots:
https://skydrive.live.com/redir?resi...GSwGV4T60V3UYU

https://skydrive.live.com/redir?resi...NSptjKqTxaDh5U

I'm currently diving to level 15, I'm a level 19 ranger. Am I diving too deep? Had a few hairy moments but I've been following the advice about steering clear of uniques until I'm ready.

As a ranger should I be relying a lot on my bow? I dont really have enough mana yet to cast spells for any length of time.

My main problem is my speed, as soon as I get weighed down with goodies I get really slow and turn into a punch bag. How can I increase my speed? Do I need to dive deeper to find speed rings or something.

I found the short sword of slay dragon recently which is nice and obviously really good against dragons but doesn't really pack much punch against other foes.

Also could you tell me a list of essential items / consumables I should be carrying at this level. I'm having trouble balancing leaving enough space to collect stuff and carrying emergency scrolls / potions / staffs etc.

Sorry, bit of a long post but any help you could give me would be most appreciated

robbiodobbio · February 7, 2013, 15:10

I also have a bastard sword (3d4) (+4+6) at home, should I be carrying that with me too?

February 7, 2013, 15:03	#49
robbiodobbio Adept Join Date: Feb 2013 Posts: 152	New newbie needs help Hello, Should I start a new thread for another newb or am I ok posting here? First things first: Vanilla angband is the classic version right? Where you only have 1 town and just Tolkien based monsters, classes and characters, right? I'm not really a newb as I used to play about 15 years ago. I played a bit of the original angband then migrated to Zangband for some reason. The thing is I used to play without access to forums and nobody else I knew played so now I'm reading about these different tactics like aggressive diving (my old lesson was painfully slow meticulous clearing of each and every level). Anywho, to cut a long story short I'd like some tips. But.... I don't know how to make a character dump. Here are some screenshots: https://skydrive.live.com/redir?resi...GSwGV4T60V3UYU https://skydrive.live.com/redir?resi...NSptjKqTxaDh5U I'm currently diving to level 15, I'm a level 19 ranger. Am I diving too deep? Had a few hairy moments but I've been following the advice about steering clear of uniques until I'm ready. As a ranger should I be relying a lot on my bow? I dont really have enough mana yet to cast spells for any length of time. My main problem is my speed, as soon as I get weighed down with goodies I get really slow and turn into a punch bag. How can I increase my speed? Do I need to dive deeper to find speed rings or something. I found the short sword of slay dragon recently which is nice and obviously really good against dragons but doesn't really pack much punch against other foes. Also could you tell me a list of essential items / consumables I should be carrying at this level. I'm having trouble balancing leaving enough space to collect stuff and carrying emergency scrolls / potions / staffs etc. Sorry, bit of a long post but any help you could give me would be most appreciated

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January 24, 2013, 04:26	#41
Alice Rookie Join Date: Jan 2013 Posts: 18	Well, I died. The Patriarch made short work of me, lol. I should not be so complacent, especially having so many safety items! He did not really do much for the first few rounds, and then points at me and curses. D: Tricky Patriarch... Final ladder dump has been posted for your viewing pleasure. I suppose it's YASD but this was a record for me--clvl 29!

January 24, 2013, 16:16	#46
Alice Rookie Join Date: Jan 2013 Posts: 18	Some questions... Does AC truncate damage as well as make it harder for enemies to hit you? Also, I've noticed that as I dove, the monsters scaled in difficulty (more or less) to my armor. When I finally cap my AC (while monsters continue to get more difficult), would I expect AC to play less of a part in my survivability and eventually become irrelevant over time?

January 24, 2013, 16:57	#47
Oramin Swordsman Join Date: Jun 2012 Posts: 371	It is my understanding that AC reduces damage taken. I could be wrong on this. AC never becomes irrelevant unless you never get into melee range. After a point, AC becomes less important than other things. For example, I once got instakilled by an Ancient Multi-Hued Dragon since I was running around without a source of Poison Resistance, had no Telepathy to locate it before I got into LoS, and had a lower Speed so it attacked before I could react.

January 24, 2013, 17:09	#48
Derakon Prophet Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 9,024	Armor class does make a fairly significant difference in how hard you are to hit, but its effects will be more subtle in the lategame -- certainly you can't expect to have monsters missing you 50% of the time like you might reasonably achieve early on. AC damage mitigation also only affects "physical" attacks (ones that have no attached effects, like burning, blinding, or paralyzing, as well as not using verbs like touch, gaze, etc.). Such attacks are common early on, but later there's a lot more attacks which it doesn't help you with. Timo mentioned one of the standouts: Greater Titans have 4 12d12 melee attacks, all of which hit to confuse; thus, AC doesn't reduce the incoming damage any (though it still makes you harder to hit).

February 7, 2013, 15:10	#50
robbiodobbio Adept Join Date: Feb 2013 Posts: 152	I also have a bastard sword (3d4) (+4+6) at home, should I be carrying that with me too?

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