Early warrior diving

[Astaroth]

Hi guys I'm an Angband n00b (had been playing ZAngband for some months, recently switched). I've been rolling some Troll warriors and starting to getting better, I have some doubts though.

This was my last char:

  [Angband 3.1.0 beta Character Dump]

 Sex    Male         Age             23   STR:  18/20  +4  +5  +6 18/170
 Race   Half-Troll   Height          97   INT:     10  -4  -2  +0      4
 Class  Warrior      Weight         199   WIS:      9  -2  -2  +2      7
 Title  Myrmidon     Social     Unknown   DEX:  18/01  -4  +2  +0     17
 HP     -4/421       Maximize         Y   CON:     13  +3  +2  +0     18
 SP     0/0                               CHR:     10  -6  -1  +0      3


 Level               28   Armor    [36,+57]     Saving Throw         38%
 Cur Exp          53560   Fight   (+11,+16)     Stealth             Fair
 Max Exp          53560   Melee   (+16,+20)     Fighting       Legendary
 Adv Exp          60000   Shoot   (+22,+18)     Shooting          Heroic
 MaxDepth   1550' (L31)   Blows      3/turn     Disarming            45%
 Turns           605084   Shots      1/turn     Magic Device        Fair
 Gold             26717   Infra       30 ft     Perception       1 in 43
 Burden       133.7 lbs   Speed      Normal     Searching            13%

 Your father was a Stone-Troll Shaman.  You have puke-yellow eyes,
 mangy dark purple hair, and white scabby skin.



 Acid:+............ Confu:.............
 Elec:........+.... Sound:.............
 Fire:............. Shard:.............
 Cold:............. Nexus:.............
 Pois:............. Nethr:.............
 Fear:............. Chaos:.............
 Lite:............. Disen:.............
 Dark:............. S.Dig:.............
Blind:............. Feath:.............

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


  [Last Messages]

> The Ogre shaman hits you.
> You corrode the Ogre shaman.
> The Ogre shaman hits you.
> The Ogre shaman misses you.
> It was a superb hit!
> You corrode the Ogre shaman.
> You have slain the Ogre shaman.
> You miss the Ogre mage.
> You corrode the Ogre mage.
> The Ogre chieftain hits you.
> The Ogre chieftain misses you.
> The Ogre chieftain hits you.
> The Ogre chieftain misses you.
> The Ogre chieftain hits you.
> You die.

Killed by an Ogre chieftain.

  [Character Equipment]

a) a Trident of Acid (1d10) (+5,+4)
     Provides resistance to acid.
     Cannot be harmed by acid.
     With this weapon, you would currently get 3 blows per round.  Each
     blow will do an average damage of 36.5 against acid-vulnerable
     creatures, and 25.5 against normal creatures.
b) a Short Bow of Power (x2) (+11,+18)
c) an Obsidian Ring of Protection [+15]
d) an Aquamarine Ring of Strength (+6)
     +6 strength.
     Sustains strength.
e) a Sea Shell Amulet of Regeneration
     Speeds regeneration.
f) The Phial of Galadriel
     Cannot be harmed by acid, electricity, fire, cold.
     When activated, it lights up the surrounding area, hurting light-s
     ensitive creatures.
     It takes 10 turns to recharge after use.
     Radius 3 light.
g) Metal Brigandine Armour (-3) [20,+1]
h) a Cloak of Stealth [1,+10] (+3 stealth)
     +3 stealth.
i) a Small Metal Shield of Resist Lightning [4,+8]
     Provides resistance to lightning.
     Cannot be harmed by electricity.
j) a Metal Cap of Wisdom [3,+8] (+2)
     +2 wisdom.
     Sustains wisdom.
k) a Set of Caestus of Free Action (+0,+3) [2,+14]
     Prevents paralysis.
l) a Pair of Steel Shod Boots [6,+0]


  [Character Inventory]

a) a Holy Book of Prayers [Chants and Blessings]
b) 14 Rations of Food
c) 5 Yellow Potions of Cure Serious Wounds
d) 9 Gloopy Green Potions of Cure Critical Wounds
e) a Purple Potion of Healing
f) 3 Cyan Potions of Berserk Strength
g) 4 Scrolls titled "pratus mito" of Phase Door
h) 2 Scrolls titled "fescunno sus" of Word of Recall
i) a Platinum Rod of Trap Location
j) a Ruby Ring of Searching (-2) {cursed}
     Cursed.
     -2 searching.
k) an Azurite Ring of Constitution (+2)
     +2 constitution.
     Sustains constitution.
l) a Silver Ring of Sustain Charisma
     Sustains charisma.
m) a Set of Leather Gloves of Free Action [1,+9]
     Prevents paralysis.
n) a Short Sword of Slay Giant (1d7) (+4,+10)
     With this weapon, you would currently get 3 blows per round.  Each
     blow will do an average damage of 38 against giants, and 30
     against normal creatures.
o) a Pike of Slay Orc (2d5) (+6,+8)
     With this weapon, you would currently get 2 blows per round.  Each
     blow will do an average damage of 42 against orcs, and 30 against
     normal creatures.
p) a Broad Axe of Acid (2d6) (+4,+10)
     Provides resistance to acid.
     Cannot be harmed by acid.
     With this weapon, you would currently get 2 blows per round.  Each
     blow will do an average damage of 47 against acid-vulnerable
     creatures, and 33 against normal creatures.
q) 2 Arrows of Frost (1d4) (+3,+6) {@f6}
     Cannot be harmed by cold.
     Fired from your current missile launcher, this arrow will hit targets
     up to 100 feet away, inflicting an average damage of 159 against
     frost-vulnerable creatures, and 53 against normal creatures.
     35% chance of breaking upon contact.
r) 23 Arrows (1d4) (+1,+3) {@f5}
     Fired from your current missile launcher, this arrow will hit targets
     up to 100 feet away, inflicting an average damage of 47 against
     normal creatures.
     35% chance of breaking upon contact.


  [Home Inventory]

a) an Orange Potion of Restore Dexterity
     When ingested, it restores your dexterity.
b) a Chromium Rod of Door/Stair Location {@z1}
     When used, it detects all doors and stairs on the level.
     It takes 70 turns to recharge after use.
c) an Onyx Ring of Teleportation (+2 speed) {cursed}
     Cursed.
     +2 speed.
     Induces random teleportation.
     
d) a Calcite Ring of Slow Digestion {cursed}
     Cursed.
     Slows your metabolism.
     


  [Options]

Maximize effect of race/class bonuses        : yes (adult_maximize)
Randomize some of the artifacts (beta)       : no  (adult_randarts)
Restrict the use of stairs/recall            : no  (adult_ironman)
Restrict the use of stores/home              : no  (adult_no_stores)
Restrict creation of artifacts               : no  (adult_no_artifacts)
Don't stack objects on the floor             : no  (adult_no_stacking)
Lose artifacts when leaving level            : no  (adult_no_preserve)
Don't generate connected stairs              : no  (adult_no_stairs)
Adult: Monsters chase current location       : yes (adult_ai_sound)
Adult: Monsters chase recent locations       : yes (adult_ai_smell)
Adult: Monsters act smarter in groups        : yes (adult_ai_packs)
Adult: Monsters learn from their mistakes    : no  (adult_ai_learn)
Adult: Monsters exploit players weaknesses   : no  (adult_ai_cheat)
Adult: Monsters behave more intelligently (broken): no  (adult_ai_smart)
Score: Peek into object creation             : no  (score_peek)
Score: Peek into monster creation            : no  (score_hear)
Score: Peek into dungeon creation            : no  (score_room)
Score: Peek into something else              : no  (score_xtra)
Score: Know complete monster info            : no  (score_know)
Score: Allow player to avoid death           : no  (score_live)

It sucked but I started diving around level 30 to start stat gaining and looking for good artifacts and res sources. I thought 90+ ac was fairly enough, but I got on a summon trap and had really bad timing quaffing healing potions.

Any tip? Should I have searched for better artifacts and only then started diving?

[PowerDiver]

Originally Posted by Astaroth

I thought 90+ ac was fairly enough, but I got on a summon trap and had really bad timing quaffing healing potions.

You should only very rarely quaff healing stuff when adjacent to a monster. Use ?phase first, so they don't get a free round of hits after you quaff. If you think that nearby awake monsters are not a cakewalk, try to leave the level ASAP. If that is not an option, perhaps teleport first.

You probably need to put greater emphasis on trap detection. There are rods, scrolls, and staves. If you simply cannot get enough, you will die to a summoning trap, and get to start a new game where hopefully there is a greater supply.

[Astaroth]

Ok I didn't think about dtrap... I'll remember this the next round!

What about game priorities? Can I hope to stat gain decently without relying too much on resistancies?

[PaulBlay]

Originally Posted by Astaroth

Ok I didn't think about dtrap... I'll remember this the next round!

The sad thing is a line in your character's inventory:

i) a Platinum Rod of Trap Location

[Astaroth]

I probably looted it recently... I meant "I will remeber to USE dtrap".

[buzzkill]

Summoning traps are some of the most deadly in the game. You may want to try a different class to get the feel for 'survival by detection'. Surprisingly, there's a lot more to Angband than hack n' slash.

[Astaroth]

Yep I'm trying a Hi-Elf Ranger now!