Best resist Fire/Cold/Poison etc for fighter

[Estie]

Stun resist might or might not be more common with randarts, but either way, its a luxury resist. You make sure to have the important stuff coverd; if that setup also happens to give you pstun, enjoy being able to melee mystics. If not, avoid mystics like the gazillion other high-risk-low-reward monsters.

That said, pstun is nice to have for the Morgoth fight and can save a few potions.

[AnonymousHero]

Originally Posted by jford_2505@hotmail.com

Looks like it might still be safest to get pStun at around 2500', especially when the consequences of being knocked out are so dire.

Nah, don't bother with it. Just make sure you have plenty of 0-fail escapes for when you get stunned (which means pBlind + pConf + scrolls of Teleport/Teleport Level/Destruction/...). Group stun is very rare in practice, so if you just avoid Mystics and Grand Master Mystics like the plague you'll be fine.

There's a reason that pStun isn't more common in the standard artifact set -- it just isn't that necessary when you know about Mystics.

(If any of the devs are reading this, I would venture a suggestion that mystics should perhaps be changed to 2dX instead such that they don't knock you out quite as fast.)

[Derakon]

Originally Posted by AnonymousHero

There's a reason that pStun isn't more common in the standard artifact set -- it just isn't that necessary when you know about Mystics.

I'd guess it has more to do with pStun previously having been granted by rSound. When the split happened, artifacts that granted rSound did not automatically get pStun; instead, pStun was added by someone wherever they thought it made sense (and also added as a "random power" such as Holy Avenger weapons get). Most of the artifacts that give pStun are either uncommon or usually outshone by other artifacts; consequently, most players just do without.

(If any of the devs are reading this, I would venture a suggestion that mystics should perhaps be changed to 2dX instead such that they don't knock you out quite as fast.)

The other suggestion made in this thread was to import NPP's "hit to stun" mechanic and do away with monster critical hits entirely.

[krazyhades]

The glaring non-mystic stunning instagib being of course the dark room filled with plasma hounds, but the changes to pack sizes help this a bit.

[Timo Pietilä]

Originally Posted by Derakon

pStun was added by someone wherever they thought it made sense (and also added as a "random power" such as Holy Avenger weapons get).

Three categories for random power: abilities, resistances and sustains.

Protections like pStun count as ability (SI, FA, ESP etc.). HA:s get sustains. From weapons Lothlorien bows, Blessed, Gondolin and *slay evil* get abilities, and none of those are useful (except rarely). In armors there are more useful possibilities, like Magi and Lordliness crowns.

[biini]

My last char got knocked out and killed from 980HP by a last hound standing. To avoid that (and not having found pstun), which attacks can stun me? Mystics/GMM, plasma, sound, vibration? Anything else?

[Derakon]

The only realistic threats of knockout are Grand Master Mystics (very fast, multiple melee attacks that each could cause/worsen stunning) and Plasma Hounds (pack animals, semi-frequent breaths, move quickly). Theoretically you could be knocked out by any monster whose attacks deal enough damage to trigger the stunning threshold (IIRC either 15 or 20 damage in a single blow), but only if they got absurdly lucky and stunned you many times in a row; a single attack is not going to cause enough stunning to knock you out.

Similarly, you might be knocked out by multiply chained sound or gravity breaths from Vibration or Gravity Hounds, but they don't increment the stunning timer enough for that to be realistic, especially compared to the amount of damage those attacks do. That is, you're far more likely to just die than you are to get knocked out.

I'd wager that when that last hound was all that was left standing, you were already badly stunned. If you ever get a "stunned" status, let alone a "heavily stunned" status, you should immediately clear it with a Cure Critical Wounds potion, of which you should be carrying, at bare minimum, 10 when you enter the dungeon.

[Timo Pietilä]

Originally Posted by Derakon

Similarly, you might be knocked out by multiply chained sound or gravity breaths from Vibration or Gravity Hounds, but they don't increment the stunning timer enough for that to be realistic, especially compared to the amount of damage those attacks do. That is, you're far more likely to just die than you are to get knocked out.

Has happened to me for both pack types, so not so unrealistic. Gravity KO has actually made a top ten "phew, that was close" situations: KO by gravity, getting blinked around until one breath just before I die puts me into corridor not accessible to hounds.

Impact hounds are one source of getting insta-KO. Pretty much any multiple sources that can stun you can also KO you in single round, so don't fight multiple monsters of that kind.

Reduced hound packs have made these much less likely though.