svn branch

[Pete Mack]

I decided the time was right to give the latest svn branch a whirl, so I rolled up a nice High-Elf Warrior. So far:
* Starting with 5000 GP (effectively) is just too much. (I ended up with AC 16, a Main Gauche +4, and stacks of ?Phase, !CSW, !oil, and ?detect stairs/doors, and was rolling through unique kobolds and orcs without noticing them.)
* Ordinary armor is actually useful now. (Augmented chain mail [42,+0] means I can fight Khim and the like without worrying about disenchantment.)
* Bonus AC means that strengthened Rings of Reckless Attacks are a no-brainer. I bought mine--(+4,+5)[-14]--in the black market, without a second thought.
* A "good" feeling at 1400', with a mumak wandering around left me with a happy feeling. Of course, taking it in melee at cl 20 made me happier still:
Welcome to dl 21
Welcome to dl 22
(Cambeleg at 600', AC 65 and Reckless Attacks helped too.)

Character dump

[Derakon]

The extra value of armor is a known problem. Rings of Reckless Attacks will need a nastier AC malus, though.

[Magnate]

Originally Posted by Derakon

The extra value of armor is a known problem. Rings of Reckless Attacks will need a nastier AC malus, though.

... and warriors don't get to start with chainmail. Fixing that now!

[Pete Mack]

Originally Posted by Magnate

... and warriors don't get to start with chainmail. Fixing that now!

Thx. That was just a crazy start! (Though I admit it was fun, just this once.)

[PowerDiver]

Originally Posted by Pete Mack

* Ordinary armor is actually useful now. (Augmented chain mail [42,+0] means I can fight Khim and the like without worrying about disenchantment.)

Doesn't that mean the AC change is broken? The point of Khim et al is that you are supposed to be afraid to melee them at their native depth.

Speaking of which, for balance purposes, shouldn't all monster AC be increased by 30% or so? However much player AC goes up proportionally wielding Celeborn + Anarion in a typical endgame kit.

[ewert]

I think this general AC change should go hand-in-hand with warrior class getting +1% armor every 2 class levels. (+25% max at clvl 50)

[Pete Mack]

@Eddie-
Actually, I was a bit afraid of Khim: I took of Cambeleg while I fought him. Otherwise, I didn't have any equipment I cared about. Nevertheless, he didn't disenchant much.

[PowerDiver]

Originally Posted by Pete Mack

* Starting with 5000 GP (effectively) is just too much.

If the value pricing I hate so much is here to stay, I think the time has come to get rid of birth_money as an option and make it mandatory. Put MB1 and PB1 into the general store so casters are guaranteed to have them available to start the game.

[Derakon]

Mm, I don't agree. It's good for newbies to start out with some vaguely sane gear already equipped. Otherwise they're liable to spend several lives dying before realizing that combat is hard because they're butt-naked.

However, the different classes should start with roughly equivalent total value in starting gear. We could change things so that the starting gear is debited from their starting cash. For example, you start with 600 AU, then the game automatically buys you a shortsword, some soft leather armor, some torches, some rations, the first mage book, and a scroll of Word of Recall, out of that account. You get to keep whatever money is left after those purchases are made.

This would have the side-effect that charismatic characters would start with slightly more money.

[PowerDiver]

Originally Posted by Derakon

Mm, I don't agree. It's good for newbies to start out with some vaguely sane gear already equipped. Otherwise they're liable to spend several lives dying before realizing that combat is hard because they're butt-naked.

The problem is that every time the valuation model gets tweaked, you can no longer use the gear you coded last time. You're right about it being bad for newbies. I guess I don't have a solution.