Frogcomposband mechanics questions

[Sideways]

Nodens is probably the single deadliest monster in the game. I have killed him a few times, but it's never really safe.

In theory, you can use the (expensive) Trump level-teleport service in Morivant to skip the Nodens quest entirely without failing it; it's a bit cheesy but, hey, Nodens is a special case.

If you do want to fight him (and risk instant death to an unlucky double-manastorm) I would suggest using your biggest offensive spells, !restoremana/clarity, and Teleport Away any time you're in trouble and/or need more time to regain mana in (you should have zero-fail Teleport Away, and Nodens doesn't resist teleportation... though many of his summons will). Also helps if the angel uniques are dead. Nodens is a passwaller, which I usually try to use to my advantage when I fight him; stay in a convenient location and wait for him to approach. Avoid areas that might allow Nodens to snipe you from around a corner (even if you have telepathy), and be extremely wary of tele-self since Nodens telefollows.

Like I said, though, being anywhere near him risks instant death to an unlucky double-manastorm... The problem isn't that you can't kill him but that he will very likely kill you first, unless you have enough HP (and enough spare !*healing*...) to reliably survive a double-manastorm.

[CyclopsSlayer]

One question I've had for a long time is with Ninjas.
(admittedly this test was back under PCB but the core should/could be similar)
When attacking from hiding there are several possible messages that the game produces. 'Hack', 'Slice' etc... I turned on the damage display to see if I could correlate slicing someone in half doing more or less than a hack or whatever.

The damage ranges displayed led me to believe there is either a vast randomizer or that the messages were merely color. I recall a hit near 1000 damage, that the same message also displayed 20ish.

It seems that only the first strike gets the Hide Critical and later hits are normal, unless the mob tries to run and then the normal hits become Backstabs.

So, do the various messages mean anything, or is a Hide Crit just a Hide Crit?
As well, what does Backstab do?

[Sideways]

There are three types of ninja critical with some similarities; the code calls them "backstab" (for hits against sleeping monsters), "fuiuchi" (for hits from the shadows, so this is the 'hide crit' proper) and "stab fleeing" (for hits against fleeing monsters). Each has a different message; backstab is "You cruelly attack so-and-so", fuiuchi is "You make a surprise attack, and hit so-and-so with a powerful blow" and stab fleeing is "You attack so-and-so in the back."

They all have slightly different effects, though with many similarities. All of them multiply the dice; backstab by between 3 and 4.5 (depending on CL), fuiuchi by between 2.5 and 3.5 (again depending on CL) and stab fleeing by 1.5. Rolling a backstab or fuiuchi critical happens before the accuracy check and (almost) guarantees that you won't miss. All three make that particular hit more likely to roll a critical injury, and backstab and fuiuchi make a hit much more likely to hit a fatal spot or roll a fatal injury.

Critical injuries and especially fatal injuries/hits on fatal spots are responsible for the most outrageous ninja criticals, almost certainly including that 1000-damage hit you remember. They can occur on normal hits, but as noted, they're more likely when you attack from the shadows or backstab a sleeping enemy.

[Saru]

http://angband.oook.cz/ladder-show.php?id=23677

Just thought I'd post my first win! @Sideways thanks for the advice for skipping Nodens through Morivant. I definitely would have died to him because of my stubborn refusal to fail any quests. If anyone has any race / realm combos for a spellcasting class, I'd appreciate some inspiration! Leaning toward grey mage, but we'll see.

Edit: I've meant to ask, what do rune swords do? 0d0 (-10, -10) and unenchantable seems like the most worthless item of all time. There must be something to them, maybe only for certain classes like rune knight?

[Sideways]

Originally Posted by Saru

Edit: I've meant to ask, what do rune swords do? 0d0 (-10, -10) and unenchantable seems like the most worthless item of all time. There must be something to them, maybe only for certain classes like rune knight?

Rune swords gain strength from killing monsters (especially uniques), and can become quite deadly over time. They also pick up some fairly serious downsides, though; because of that and how slowly they develop, many players do consider them useless, but there have been a few rune sword wins.

[chem]

is my chardump, there are multipliers listed for certain stats:

FA 5x,
SI 4x,
Rg 400%
Hl 3x

Does stacking those actually matter? Like, do I need to stack FA or SI for some reason? Multiple hold life sources stacks for greater drain resist?

How about antimagic? No multiplier there in chardump.

[Sideways]

Originally Posted by chem

is my chardump, there are multipliers listed for certain stats:

FA 5x,
SI 4x,
Rg 400%
Hl 3x

Does stacking those actually matter? Like, do I need to stack FA or SI for some reason? Multiple hold life sources stacks for greater drain resist?

How about antimagic? No multiplier there in chardump.

FA, SI and Hold Life all stack, although 3 sources of FA is enough for full protection so there's nothing to gain from having even more. You can check the help at ?lg for the details on all three.

400% regeneration is exactly what it says on the tin, you regenerate 4 times as fast as you normally would.

Anti-magic is simply on/off, there is no advantage to having multiple sources of anti-magic.

[CyclopsSlayer]

Originally Posted by Sideways

400% regeneration is exactly what it says on the tin, you regenerate 4 times as fast as you normally would.

Of course, you'll eat a lot more food with that kind of regen. Which is really only an issue early game or with exotic food requirements.
The only time I starved recently was trying a Vampire char.

[GrimaTheBold]

I'm going to add my question onto this thread.

I'm playing a Death/Sorcery mage. Am I missing some obvious answer on how kill unliving monsters that resist Nether? Am I supposed to Malediction them to death? Or with this class do you just have to avoid a lot of fights (which is not my strong suit)?

I know in the 3rd Spellbooks they get Darkness attacks - hopefully the monsters that resist Nether don't also resist Dark, but I haven't looked into that yet. But that's no help for now since I only have the town books.

Maybe Armageddon is more my speed than Death...

[Sideways]

Originally Posted by GrimaTheBold

I'm going to add my question onto this thread.

I'm playing a Death/Sorcery mage. Am I missing some obvious answer on how kill unliving monsters that resist Nether? Am I supposed to Malediction them to death? Or with this class do you just have to avoid a lot of fights (which is not my strong suit)?

The likely answer is "offensive devices", especially since you have Recharging from Sorcery; but depending on your build and equipment, melee and/or archery might also be viable options. Genocide and Annihilation work on the unliving, so if you do wish to avoid fights, a Death caster is ideal for that.