Stealth or speed?

[Sirridan]

So what is more valuable right now to me, stealth or speed? Right now I'm leaning towards stealth, although +3 speed would be *really* nice too, but the stealth may help more as I bum around for stat potions in the 30's+.

In addition, switching to Thal loses me rElec and rFire and rNether, but gives rShard. Right now I can ignore nether, but fire and elec may sting if I run into a young dragon.

Any thoughts? (Basically boils down to Hithlomir vs Thalkettoth)

Dump below

  [Angband 3.1.2 Character Dump]

 Name   Tormil                                   Self  RB  CB  EB   Best
 Sex    Male         Age            117   STR:     17  +1  +2  +1  18/30
 Race   High-Elf     Height          97   INT:     13  +3  +2  +1  18/10
 Class  Ranger       Weight         183   WIS:     10  -1  +0  +0      9
 Title  Tracker      Social   Respected   DEX:     16  +3  +1  +0  18/20
 HP     195/195      Maximize         Y   CON:     17  +1  +1  +0  18/10
 SP     34/34                             CHR:     14  +5  +1  +0  18/20

 Level               23   Armor    [17,+41]     Saving Throw         72%
 Cur Exp          21696   Fight     (+4,+3)     Stealth           Superb
 Max Exp          21696   Melee   (+16,+22)     Fighting          Superb
 Adv Exp          23460   Shoot   (+14,+23)     Shooting          Heroic
 MaxDepth   1300' (L26)   Blows      3/turn     Disarming            54%
 Game Turns      196370   Shots      2/turn     Magic Device          78
 Player Turns     19448   Infra       40 ft     Perception        1 in 1
 Active Turns     17033   Speed      Normal     Searching            57%
 Gold             25476   Burden  140.6 lbs

 You are one of several children of a Telerin Warrior.  You have light
 grey eyes, straight blond hair, and a fair complexion.



rAcid:......+...... rConf:.............
rElec:......+...... Sound:.............
rFire:......+...... Shard:.............
rCold:+.....+...... Nexus:.............
rPois:............. Nethr:......+......
rFear:............. Chaos:.............
rLite:+...........+ Disen:.............
rDark:......+...... S.Dig:.............
rBlnd:............. Feath:.............

Light:+............ Aggrv:.............
Regen:............. Stea.:......+......
  ESP:............. Sear.:....+........
Invis:............+ Infra:............+
FrAct:...+......... Tunn.:.............
HLife:............. Speed:.............
ImpHP:............. Blows:.............
ImpSP:............. Shots:.............
 Fear:............. Might:.............


  [Character Equipment]

a) The Rapier 'Forasgil' (1d6) (+12,+19)
     Slays animals.
     Branded with frost.
     Provides resistance to cold, light.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, electricity, fire, cold.
     
     Combat info:
     3 blows/round.
     With an additional 4 strength and 0 dex you would get 4 blows
     With an additional 2 strength and 3 dex you would get 4 blows
     With an additional 0 strength and 5 dex you would get 4 blows
     Average damage/hit: 29.8 vs. animals, 33.4 vs. creatures not
     resistant to cold, and 26.2 vs. others.
     
     Radius 1 light.
b) a Short Bow of Power (x2) (+10,+23)
c) a Ring of Strength (+1)
     +1 strength.
     Sustains strength.
     
d) a Ring of Free Action
     Prevents paralysis.  
     
e) an Amulet of Searching (+6)
     +30% to searching.
     
f) The Phial of Galadriel (charging)
     Cannot be harmed by acid, electricity, fire, cold.
     
     When activated, it lights up the surrounding area, hurting light-s
     ensitive creatures.
     Takes 11 to 20 turns to recharge.
     Your chance of success is 95.9%
     
     Radius 3 light.
g) The Soft Leather Armour 'Hithlomir' [4,+20] (+4)
     +4 stealth.
     Provides resistance to acid, lightning, fire, cold, dark, nether.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, electricity, fire, cold.
     
h) a Cloak [1,+4]
i) a Leather Shield [6,+4]
j) a Metal Cap of Intelligence [3,+7] (+1)
     +1 intelligence.
     Sustains intelligence.
     
k) (nothing)
l) a Pair of Iron Shod Boots [3,+4]


  [Character Quiver]

n) 83 Arrows (1d4) (+0,+0)
     Combat info:
     Hits targets up to 100 feet away.
     Average damage/hit: 51.5.
     35% chance of breaking upon contact.
     
o) 16 Arrows (1d4) {magical}
     You do not know the full extent of this item's powers.
     
     Combat info:
     Hits targets up to 100 feet away.
     Average damage/hit: 51.5.
     35% chance of breaking upon contact.
     
p) (nothing)
q) (nothing)
r) (nothing)
s) (nothing)
t) (nothing)
u) (nothing)
v) (nothing)
w) (nothing)


  [Character Inventory]

a) 3 Books of Magic Spells [Magic for Beginners]
b) 2 Books of Magic Spells [Conjurings and Tricks]
c) 2 Books of Magic Spells [Incantations and Illusions]
d) 18 Potions of Cure Serious Wounds
     
e) 15 Potions of Cure Critical Wounds
     
f) a Potion of Enlightenment
g) 19 Scrolls of Phase Door
h) a Scroll of Teleportation
i) 9 Scrolls of Teleport Level
j) 3 Scrolls of Word of Recall {!*}
k) a Rod of Treasure Location {!!}
l) a Staff of Mapping (7 charges)
     
m) a Staff of Healing (2 charges)
     
n) 2 Staves of Teleportation (16 charges) {!*}
     
o) a Staff of Speed (5 charges)
     
p) 2 Staves of Identify (28 charges)
     


  [Home Inventory]

a) a Book of Magic Spells [Magic for Beginners]
b) 28 Potions of Cure Serious Wounds
     
c) 25 Potions of Cure Critical Wounds
     
d) a Potion of Restore Strength
e) a Potion of Restore Dexterity
f) a Potion of Restore Constitution
g) a Potion of Restore Life Levels
h) a Scroll of Remove Curse
i) 5 Scrolls of Recharging
j) The Leather Scale Mail 'Thalkettoth' (-1) [10,+25] (+3)
     +3 dexterity, speed.
     Provides resistance to acid, shards.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, electricity, fire, cold.
     Prevents paralysis.  
     


============================================================
                   CHAR.
|   TURN  | DEPTH |LEVEL| EVENT
============================================================
         1      0'    1   Began the quest to destroy Morgoth.
      7959    100'    2   Reached level 2
      9782    150'    3   Reached level 3
     17664    250'    4   Reached level 4
     17875    250'    4   Killed Bullroarer the Hobbit
     17875    250'    5   Reached level 5
     18423    250'    6   Reached level 6
     31320    300'    7   Reached level 7
     43322    300'    8   Reached level 8
     48683    300'    9   Reached level 9
     53752    400'   10   Reached level 10
     70686    500'   11   Reached level 11
     75441    650'   11   Killed Smeagol
     75471    650'   11   Found The Rapier 'Forasgil'
     80299    700'   12   Reached level 12
     85242    800'   13   Reached level 13
     85423    800'   14   Reached level 14
     88140    800'   15   Reached level 15
     92938    900'   15   Killed Lagduf, the Snaga
     96456    950'   15   Killed Nar, the Dwarf
     96456    950'   16   Reached level 16
    103170    950'   16   Killed Orfax, Son of Boldor
    103170    950'   17   Reached level 17
    114635   1000'   18   Reached level 18
    118109   1050'   19   Reached level 19
    120927   1050'   20   Reached level 20
    121107   1050'   20   Killed Ufthak of Cirith Ungol
    121197   1050'   20   Found The Scimitar 'Haradekket' (LOST)
    134298   1100'   20   Killed Brodda, the Easterling
    140772   1100'   21   Reached level 21
    145014   1100'   21   Killed Ugluk, the Uruk
    147234   1100'   21   Found The Soft Leather Armour 'Hithlomir'
    148235   1150'   21   Killed Mughash the Kobold Lord
    156482   1150'   21   Killed Grishnakh, the Hill Orc
    158906   1150'   22   Reached level 22
    172482   1200'   22   Found The Leather Scale Mail 'Thalkettoth'
    172613   1200'   22   Killed Shagrat, the Orc Captain
    175553   1200'   22   Killed Angamaite of Umbar
    175657   1200'   22   Found The Phial of Galadriel
    179245   1250'   23   Reached level 23
    188291   1300'   23   Killed Boldor, King of the Yeeks

[PowerDiver]

Stealth does not help against hounds or vortices.

[Djabanete]

Originally Posted by PowerDiver

Stealth does not help against hounds or vortices.

Nicely put. Speed all the way.

[Zikke]

Until you get telepathy, that is. Keep inspecting those higher-end ego weapons. Some of them have telepathy on them randomly.

[Derakon]

My main concern is the resistances, honestly. You can kludge together fire resistance with potions, but there's no substitute for resist electricity until you get the Resistances spellbook, which you shouldn't expect to see for quite awhile. If you do go with Thalkettoth, then be very careful with detection.

Incidentally, +3 speed is also +30% damage and does increase your effective stealth, since monsters will be checking for disturbance less often. Speed is king in Angband.

[Sirridan]

Well put, I found relec on an amulet so I think I will go for thalkettoth after all. I wasn't taking hounds or vortecies or Q's in mind.

@30 now, let's see how the rng treats me.

[Pete Mack]

Going without fire resistance is pretty questionable. Hellhounds are native to DL 34, and can do surprising amounts of damage without resistance. The speed doesn't really start to pay off until dl 40.