Slings and their effectiveness

[Timo Pietilä]

Just finished watching Lindybeige videos about slings. Turns out those things are actually quite effective. While buckland slings are a bit too powerful, I do think slings should be a bit more "endgame" weapons than they are now. Not necessarily artifact-quality (couple of strings doesn't really an artifact make), but better than they are now.

Maybe give slings x3 but with -10 accuracy penalty: they are not as accurate as bows or xbows.

[Derakon]

Originally Posted by Timo Pietilä

Maybe give slings x3 but with -10 accuracy penalty: they are not as accurate as bows or xbows.

I like this idea, except for the fact that our to-hit mechanism is so hopelessly opaque, so it's hard to know how much impact -10 has really. In fact I suspect that a -10 penalty would probably render slings totally useless in the early game, while being basically irrelevant from the midgame onwards.

[Carnivean]

I proposed this kind of thing a few months ago, yet got told that realism was unwanted.

Slings are common weapons because they are amazingly cheap and simple, with ammo literally lying on the ground. This makes them ideal starting weapons from a gameplay and realism perspective.

Also Lindybiege, while seemingly quite knowledgeable in a few areas, has some gaping holes that he seems unaware of. Also he's a bit of a conspiracy nut.

[krazyhades]

Originally Posted by Timo Pietilä

Not necessarily artifact-quality (couple of strings doesn't really an artifact make)

I wouldn't mind artifact slings. It's not necessarily just the physical properties of the item that make it an artifact in Tolkein/Angband, but the power of its legacy, including famous wielders and the heroic deeds accomplished with it. For a non-Tolkein example, the Sling of David was wielded by a destined king to slay a titanic foe, making it in my mind artifact material despite being, in purely physical terms, a couple of strings.

[quarague]

Can't we make slings more powerful in the early game by upgrading pebbles from 1d2 to say 3d2 or something like that? Iron shots would have to be upgrade somewhat as well, but maybe mostly through being less likely to break. This would make a (+0,+0) sling with (+0) pebbles stronger than most non magic melee weapons but once the player gets to magic and ego weapons, slings are not that good anymore, even if also magic/ ego with magic/ego ammo (unless it's a good buckland of course).

[Estie]

Slings should be more effective...but not as effective as they are currently (Buckland)....*scratches head*. I think slings are perfectly fine the way they are now :P
Dont forget, +2/+2 Buckland slings are very rare, you wont find one every game.

Edit: as for early game effectiveness, I really dont see a need. They are what 80% of my characters use early game anyway, simply because they (and shots) are so common early on. While a heavy xbow with bolts of fire does more damage, I dont have that yet, but my magic sling with pebbles of fire (+5,+5) does the job just fine.

[Timo Pietilä]

Originally Posted by Estie

Slings should be more effective...but not as effective as they are currently (Buckland)....*scratches head*. I think slings are perfectly fine the way they are now :P
Dont forget, +2/+2 Buckland slings are very rare, you wont find one every game.

Problem with that as I see it is that there is a huge jump from sling to buckland sling. Normal sling is just crap compared to any other ego launcher, buckland can be better than anything else and at minimum about equal to extra shot longbow (bit worse ammo, +DEX).

Hm. in 4.x extra shot and extra might is restricted to bows it seems. I have vague memory of seeing extra shot H and LXbows in older versions. Has this changed or do I just member something that didn't actually happen?

Anyway, slings have only one ego-type: buckland.

[PowerWyrm]

Originally Posted by Timo Pietilä

Problem with that as I see it is that there is a huge jump from sling to buckland sling. Normal sling is just crap compared to any other ego launcher, buckland can be better than anything else and at minimum about equal to extra shot longbow (bit worse ammo, +DEX).

Hm. in 4.x extra shot and extra might is restricted to bows it seems. I have vague memory of seeing extra shot H and LXbows in older versions. Has this changed or do I just member something that didn't actually happen?

Anyway, slings have only one ego-type: buckland.

Err... you can get slings/bows/xbows of Accuracy/Power/Extra Might/Extra Shots in the latest version. The only restrictions are for Lothlórien (bow), Haradrim (xbow) and Buckland (sling).

[Timo Pietilä]

Originally Posted by PowerWyrm

Err... you can get slings/bows/xbows of Accuracy/Power/Extra Might/Extra Shots in the latest version. The only restrictions are for Lothlórien (bow), Haradrim (xbow) and Buckland (sling).

My bad, I just read "type:bow" and assumed that that means bow.

After your post I took a second look and noticed that buckland is "item:bow:Sling"

So yes, my memory is correct, my eyes need fixing.

[bio_hazard]

How about an ego sling that has a good chance to stun, and gives rStun?