Newbie questions (mostly about weapons)

[nea]

Hello *,

I discovered Sil this week and I already love it. It's refreshingly different from the other roguelikes I've played over the years.

My fourth character has finally managed to stave off the early YASDs and has made it to 500ft in reasonable shape. I lost a lot of time on 450ft though, mostly due a prolonged fight against a huge Whispering Shadow infestation which had cut me off from all staircases. (My threat-o-meter really isn't calibrated to Sil yet -- on the one hand, I can get through a seemingly deadly fight against two Fire Drake Hatchlings, a Giant and a pack of Wargs unscathed, but on the other hand, seemingly harmless things regularily manage to whittle down my health.) I also suspect that I took two many abilities, sucking up valuable XP I should rather have put into my Melee skill.

I'm unsure about some other things, too:

• I've been experimenting with the different weapons in my pack. Without the shield, the Bastard Sword gives a defense rating of +14 7-14, wielding the Battle Axe grants +10 7-18, and with the Greatsword it's +12 7-18. I understand why the evasion ratings differ, but I don't get why my armor rating is lower when I wield the Bastard Sword.
  
• I'm currently wielding the Bastard Sword most of the time, but I'm considering to switch to the Battle Axe (and to drop the then-useless gloves). 3d8 + Follow-Through sounds awesome, but it'll reduce my evasion from +14 to +10. The second weak part of the axe seems to be its ridiculously low weight -- I'd have to take Momentum if I don't want to waste my Charge bonus.
  
• I really need to make some room in my inventory. Any recommendations? I think I'll ditch the Longsword.
  
• I've been wearing a Ring of Venom's End for a while, and I assume it helped me against the Distended Spiders I fought. But on the current floor, I replaced it with a Ring of Perception +2. Was that a bad decision?

EDIT: One more thing. I got frustrated with not having found even a single Brass Lantern, so even though I hadn't been planning to do any forging, I impulsively traded in 1500 XP and my Mithril Helmet for a Feanorian Lamp when I found a forge at 500ft. Was that a good idea?

[Quirk]

Originally Posted by nea

Hello *,

I discovered Sil this week and I already love it. It's refreshingly different from the other roguelikes I've played over the years.

My fourth character has finally managed to stave off the early YASDs and has made it to 500ft in reasonable shape. I lost a lot of time on 450ft though, mostly due a prolonged fight against a huge Whispering Shadow infestation which had cut me off from all staircases. (My threat-o-meter really isn't calibrated to Sil yet -- on the one hand, I can get through a seemingly deadly fight against two Fire Drake Hatchlings, a Giant and a pack of Wargs unscathed, but on the other hand, seemingly harmless things regularily manage to whittle down my health.) I also suspect that I took two many abilities, sucking up valuable XP I should rather have put into my Melee skill.

I'm unsure about some other things, too:

• I've been experimenting with the different weapons in my pack. Without the shield, the Bastard Sword gives a defense rating of +14 7-14, wielding the Battle Axe grants +10 7-18, and with the Greatsword it's +12 7-18. I understand why the evasion ratings differ, but I don't get why my armor rating is lower when I wield the Bastard Sword.
  
• I'm currently wielding the Bastard Sword most of the time, but I'm considering to switch to the Battle Axe (and to drop the then-useless gloves). 3d8 + Follow-Through sounds awesome, but it'll reduce my evasion from +14 to +10. The second weak part of the axe seems to be its ridiculously low weight -- I'd have to take Momentum if I don't want to waste my Charge bonus.
  
  
  
• I really need to make some room in my inventory. Any recommendations? I think I'll ditch the Longsword.
  
• I've been wearing a Ring of Venom's End for a while, and I assume it helped me against the Distended Spiders I fought. But on the current floor, I replaced it with a Ring of Perception +2. Was that a bad decision?

EDIT: One more thing. I got frustrated with not having found even a single Brass Lantern, so even though I hadn't been planning to do any forging, I impulsively traded in 1500 XP and my Mithril Helmet for a Feanorian Lamp when I found a forge at 500ft. Was that a good idea?

Looking at your character, your current armour rating is 9-22. Removing the shield should make that 8-19? I think we need more details on how you're calculating your armour but the bastard sword should not affect your armour in any way.

Battle Axe weight is 5.0 lbs, same as your sword. Should be 3d9 one-handed, 3d11 with both hands. That's a lot more damage, but you're losing 4 evasion. It will depend a bit on your circumstances fight by fight.

You probably want to keep your shield up against raukar and dragons; I'd be inclined to ditch the greatsword rather than the (very good) longsword. Also throwing axes, herbs of terror and possibly slow poison.

Feanorian lamp is probably a good investment. Helps against light sensitive foes.

I think I would have been inclined to keep Venom's End over Perception.

[taptap]

When I have spare Mithril I make more than a single lamp. I don't believe you have problems with light at the moment, but you get additional light by using a floor lamp (drop a bonus lamp in backpack on floor) in addition to the one you hold. This additional light does help against light sensitive enemies or rare combinations of two light eating enemies you may encounter later. Making a lamp is never a bad decision, but making two is even better.

Thus comfortable with light I would switch Irime for Orodreth boots. You win melee, archery, stealth (through the +1 dexterity bonus), a bit more armour and fire resist at the cost of one evasion and some light.

I would drop terror herbs and the second staff of light before anything else.

[nea]

Originally Posted by Quirk

I'd be inclined to ditch the greatsword rather than the (very good) longsword. Also throwing axes, herbs of terror and possibly slow poison.

I think I would have been inclined to keep Venom's End over Perception.

Yes, I dropped the greatsword, throwing axes and herbs of terror in the meantime. In hindsight, I agree I should've kept the Ring of Venom's End, but it didn't make much of a difference anyway -- I've replaced the perception ring by a second 1d2 protection ring in the meantime.

In fact, I've gotten rid of all the weapons I had when I created this thread, save for the Battle Axe of Hador's House. Lately, I've had some trouble hitting stuff, so I'm wielding a +7 1d9 Deathblade now and only switch to the axe for crit-resistant critters. I'm also lugging around Glamdring, but I think I haven't used it at all.

Originally Posted by taptap

When I have spare Mithril I make more than a single lamp. I don't believe you have problems with light at the moment, but you get additional light by using a floor lamp (drop a bonus lamp in backpack on floor) in addition to the one you hold.

Thus comfortable with light I would switch Irime for Orodreth boots. You win melee, archery, stealth (through the +1 dexterity bonus), a bit more armour and fire resist at the cost of one evasion and some light.

Thanks, the floor lamp trick hadn't occured to me. I wonder how it compares to Staves of Light, though -- those are naturally a limited resource, and at risk of burning up, but how does their light level compare to a second Feanorian Lamp?

And yes, I indeed ditched the Boots of Irime.

I've updated my dump at the Angband Ladder if anyone's curious. I'm pretty surprised how well everything worked out so far. I've obviously been very slow (I didn't redo any floors though, except for 500ft which I had to abort due to not finding any down stairs),
but I expect to succumb to a YASD any moment now anyway, so that's okay.

Addendum: This Deathblade is just awesome. The message "You hit <Balrog>!!!!!" was a lovely sight. I have some XP to spend now, though -- I think I'll improve my Melee score and switch back to Glamdring or the Battle Axe.

[ripforareason]

A +7 deathblade is one of the best weapons you will ever see short of Ringil. I would get subtlety and momentum immediately.

[bagori nd]

Originally Posted by ripforareason

A +7 deathblade is one of the best weapons you will ever see short of Ringil. I would get subtlety and momentum immediately.

I was just about to write this. It seriously is. (And it's 1.5 lb. too!!) Get Subtlety and (importantly) Rapid Attack. You'll be unstoppable.