Endgame weapon, enchanting weapons, picking and choosing weapons...

[Ehrblast]

I've been using Forasgil for more than ten levels (currently at cl32).
Currently:

5.0 blows/round.
Average dmg/rnd: 208 vs. animals, 256.5 vs. creatures not resistant to cold, 189.5 vs. others.

Unique weapons that I've come across so far, like Elvagil, or Theoden, haven't been near as good. Same goes for random weapons I've found on the floor, like Defenders, Westernesse, any "slay" types.
I guess I'm surprised how long the weapon is lasting, considering how often I come across others, and the chances for something good from a unique. Kind of imagined I'd gradually upgrade to better and better weapons, but rather I'm seeing myself getting better at using it.
Will the only better weapon simply be one with better to-hit and to-dam bonuses, everything else being determined by other factors like race and equipment?
I thought of also holding onto a regular weapon with high bonuses to enchant, so I got a slew of enchantment scrolls. Maybe with a branding spell, it could get near a unique weapon, but so far with Forasgil (and Belthronding), it seems im fitted out nicely right now.
Is it typical to stay with a weapon for most of the game? Or, is it likely I'll shortly come across a better artifact (Im at dl36)? And about enchanting weapons and armor: it seems you cant further enchant artifacts, so has it been feasible to enchant regular weapons? I like the idea, but it seems it wont come close to what I already have.

[Raxmei]

Forasgil is a light weapon with good damage bonus, making a really good early weapon for warrior types. However all it really does well is kill things and there are other weapons that do that better or do other things for you. If you didn't have Free Action or See Invisible then those Westernesse weapons would be really tempting even if they did less damage, for instance. Theoden remains interesting as a source of telepathy and you'll eventually be strong enough to wield it well. Elvagil just isn't very good. Weapons that deal more damage and have more interesting properties (resistances, stat bonuses, other abilities) are going to start showing up with increasing frequency. You're currently at the depth where things have started getting interesting.

Artifacts can be enchanted, but it's harder than for normal objects. Regular weapons and armor won't start failing to enchant until they get close to +10 but artifacts have a chance to fail right from the start. The failure rate even on normal objects increases steeply around +10 so it'd take an unreasonable number of scrolls to go past that point. Even if you can cast it as much as you want you're not going past +15.

[Estie]

The key in the code you posted is "5.0 blows". Eventually, youll have enough str/dex to get 5 blows with any weapon, and at that point Forasgil falls off.

If you have an interesting weapon, look at the damage and number of blows youd currently get and extrapolate to 5 blows to see its future potential.

[Mark]

Originally Posted by Estie

The key in the code you posted is "5.0 blows". Eventually, youll have enough str/dex to get 5 blows with any weapon, and at that point Forasgil falls off.

If you have an interesting weapon, look at the damage and number of blows youd currently get and extrapolate to 5 blows to see its future potential.

This would be good information to be explicitly presented in the weapon info screen. 4/5/6 blows respective of class limits.

[Ehrblast]

You're currently at the depth where things have started getting interesting.

That's the truth. I'm now on dl41, and just passed a level, don't know how to describe it other than a section of it had unbreakable rocks in the shape of a skull and crossbones, as well as another place, or vault of unbreakable rocks. got a lot of stuff there.
I've got Dal-i-thalions boots, so I'm covered for paralysis. also have an amulet of sustenance, so the stat potions ive had, im starting to use. was reading comparing theories of saving them for endgame compared to using them right there. had a lot of pure stat potions but more of the stat-swap, havent used them yet. prolly wait till i get more pure stat ones, then use the swap ones before them. (?)

look at the damage and number of blows youd currently get and extrapolate to 5 blows to see its future potential.

Right. i was simply looking at the current situation, not realising the weapons would get better as I did.
Forasgil at 5 blows, gets me:
213 animals, 231.5 not resistant to cold, 194 others.
Im looking at a Two0Handed Great Flair of Westernesse:
+2 str, con
+1 dex
2.8 blows
175.8 orcs, 175.8 trolls, 175.8 giants, 107.1 others.
Now, at 5 blows and more, that looks like itll be stronger, yes? plus the stat bonus.

If you didn't have Free Action or See Invisible then those Westernesse weapons would be really tempting even if they did less damage, for instance

In that "skull" room, I got Elendils Star, covering me for invisbile thangs, as well as the boots, that ive had for a couple levels.
My Dex is at 18/100, finally having superb stealth and +8 Fast. While typing this I just dfeated Ulfang the b\Black, getting the shield Celeborn, better than my elvenkind small shield.
EDIT: well about the shield. aside from the bonuses, the elvenkind had rNether, Celeborn has rLight and rDark. im starting to encounter more nether enemies, like hounds. maybe i should stick with the ekvenkind. havent come across dark-wiedling enemies yet...
I've started using a spreadsheet, inspired from another post, to keep track of things im using or got at home. equipment management seems to be taking a steeper curve. cool, though.
next time i come across a good weapon, ill have to rethink my strategy about them. thanks.

[Carnivean]

Permanent walls that aren't the edge of the map are vaults. They contain out of depth monsters and out of depth items.

As for the weapons, don't think too far ahead. You'll get much better weapons in the near future unless you are desperately unlucky. Junk the great flail. It's not worth swapping for now, and in 10 levels you'll have seen 5+ items better than it.

You can always look at the inventory of your home by the ~ menu, and at your current resistances on the alternate character screen (Shift-C, h).

[Zikke]

I think he means he uses a spreadsheet to help keep track of resist coverage gaps and come up with different combinations of gear.

[Ehrblast]

he means he uses a spreadsheet to help keep track of resist coverage gaps and

yeh thats right. was unclear on that. theres so many combinations, and i could easily get careless, using two pieces of gear covering the same resistances. at these levels, im tossing what i [still] think are good items, to obtain better ones. maybe i dont need an upgrade right now, but ive come across tons of rad armor.
right now i got:
Dwarven Scale Mail (-2) [38 +11] <+2 STR +3 Infra>; this one helps with paralysis. Come across many Dragon Armors, and though the AC and bonus are low, Im figuring i dont need their particular bonus atm (red=fire, black=acid, etc). it seems my tendency is to lookout for artifacts, regular drops and whatnot not having a combination of resistances i need atm (red dragon armor=fire, black=acid, etc). In particular, I need rConfusion and rPoison. I got the boots Dal-i-thalion, helps with poison, but ive been poisoned one adfter the other, faster than it wil recharge.
i tossed it, the flail. I did however find the Spear Aiglos (3d6) (15 +25 <+4 DEX +2 Wis>, with much better avg dmg @ 5 blows, plus frost ball and prevents paralysis. And yes, im now blessed by the gods. was waiting for them to notice...
from town, i made my way back down to, well im at dl38, and this hella hard level with two vaults, Kavlax the Many Headed in one and Feagwath the Undead in another. Kavlax was no issue, but,
"Feagwath The Undead touches you..."
"You die."
well great.
Anyway, these vaults are f***ing awesome. Ill have an active battle just sitting there throughout the afternoon, getting in there, teleporting out, taking time to make sure i dont die again.

[Derakon]

Resistance to poison is not the same thing as being able to cure poison. There are monsters that can breathe poison, for upwards of 800 damage -- in particular, watch out for Ancient Multihued Dragons, Great Swamp Wyrms, Drolems, Shelob, and Ungoliant. You need resistance to poison to be able to withstand their breath attacks.

The damage dealt by being poisoned is trivial outside of the early game, since it's only ever 1HP per round and there are many ways to cure it. In fact, if you aren't adventuring with a stack of Cure Critical Wounds potions, then you're needlessly putting yourself at risk -- they'll clear poison, and confusion, blindness, and stunning too. Of course they won't prevent you from getting re-confused/blinded/etc, but most monsters don't persistently apply status ailments over and over again.

[Timo Pietilä]

Originally Posted by Derakon

Resistance to poison is not the same thing as being able to cure poison. There are monsters that can breathe poison, for upwards of 800 damage -- in particular, watch out for Ancient Multihued Dragons, Great Swamp Wyrms, Drolems, Shelob, and Ungoliant.

One of the greater demon races also breathe poison. Don't remember which though. Usually they are pushovers by the time I meet them anyway.