trying to get farther using the suggested high elf ranger

[zaimoni]

Originally Posted by will_asher

Dive 7: I didn't dive any deeper because I filled my inventory quickly. (maybe I should be willing to drop more stuff.) I come back with a +4 +5 main gauche which I wield and enchant up to +4 +8 (no enchant to-hit scrolls in the shop), and my long bow is now at +2 +7.

Assuming that I wasn't low on supplies and had adequate ID (to enable appropriate stacking), for money items in early game
* DL 3: wands are usually better than merely enchanted armor for money; easier to force stacking. Have to get to this level on the first trip to avoid money problems for second trip.
* DL 8: the chance of seeing ego weapons/armor starts being noticeable rather than fluky. Unless running out of supplies, recall only when out of "expendable slots".

I find that my money problems completely end on DL8 because merely enchanted weapons and armor become expendable slots, as do low-level town spellbooks; ego weapons bounce all of them out of inventory. [Do overstuff home with low-level town spell books to prevent problems with stores not having them when you need them.]

[will_asher]

Originally Posted by Magnate

How on earth is the main gauche better than the holy avenger?? I guess you get an extra blow with it? Even so, I'm sure the HA is a better weapon.

With the gauntlets of power, I get 4 attacks with the main gauche and 2 with the holy avenger trident. (which I've sold by this point) One of the main advantages of holy avenger is SI and I have that anyway. Am I wrong about the main gauche being better?

Originally Posted by Magnate

The danger with this is that you're tempted to do a lot more melee. I've done this too, and my rangers *all* die because they get into melee fights that they should have avoided.

I'm not used to playing rangers much, so I melee kinda often anyway, and I'm getting out of that habit. Better melee ability won't stop me from continuing to use my bow more.

Originally Posted by Magnate

Of course, if you find you don't like diving, by all means play the traditional way. It's all about what you enjoy.

I'm not and was never trying to become a speed diver, I'm just trying to get my first win. I'm just calling my trips down into the dungeon 'diving' because it's faster than typing 'trips down into the dungeon'. Didn't mean to mislead.
I may not be diving real fast, but it's still faster than I'm used to diving. Just want to dive fast enough to make me a better player and prevent tedium and hopefully carelessness.

..again thanks everyone for the tips.

Dive 11: to dL23, cL23. recalled because I ran out of arrows. I updated my dump. nothing that much is different about it, but after I made the dump I bought a +5 ring of constitution from the black market. Wondering which of the rod of cold balls or staff of dispell evil I should take with me and which to leave at home.

-Will

[Mondkalb]

Wow! Amulet of Devotion on Dlvl4. That is pretty lucky. That is a Level 70 item.

[petebull]

Originally Posted by Magnate

4. Contrary to Pete, I find _Obj really helpful when diving.

What I meant was that I don't buy _Obj on the first trips as other stuff and knowledge is more important. And _Obj is normally obvious on the first try of an unknown staff after descending the stairs.

I switched from Dunedain warriors to HE rangers after my first posts and they are really fun. I didn't make it past 1300' but am getting deeper than most warriors.

[Diogenes]

Go Go Go!

Love to see more results - I think I will have a go at the HE Ranger, too. HT Fighters (clev 30, dlev 21) get a bit boring after a while.

Beat the jiffies out for Morgoth for me, please :-)

Cheers,

Peter.

[will_asher]

Dive 12: to dL24, cL25. I found Mordenkainen's Escapes, never used door creation spell before (never got this far with a magetype spellcaster), so I use it just to see exactly what it does. surrounded by doors, weird, doesn't seem very useful. I had expected it to ask for a direction and make a door in the nearest wall in that direction, but that wouldn't be real useful either. With more spells now, it seems like I should stop wearing the gauntlets of power but I would lose 2 attacks with my main gauche, tough choice.. I'm now significantly past the point where I usually die.

Dive 13: to dL25 and death to carelessness and Nar the Dwarf. I shouldn't underestimate him just because I'm seven levels past his native level, especially when there's also a group of black ogres with him. should've teleported away 3 or 4 turns earlier. stinkin. At some point I lapse from being careful into carelessness and I never notice when it happens until I'm dead. stinkin.

http://angband.oook.cz/ladder-show.php?id=7111

[Dragonboneman]

Damn. Oh well, it happens to us all. You're improving though, keep it up.

[Psi]

Originally Posted by will_asher

Dive 12: to dL24, cL25. I found Mordenkainen's Escapes, never used door creation spell before (never got this far with a magetype spellcaster), so I use it just to see exactly what it does. surrounded by doors, weird, doesn't seem very useful.

On the contrary, instant LoS disruption can be very useful. It prevents summons next to you and can often buy you a precious few turns against approaching casters.

[Magnate]

Originally Posted by will_asher

With the gauntlets of power, I get 4 attacks with the main gauche and 2 with the holy avenger trident. (which I've sold by this point) One of the main advantages of holy avenger is SI and I have that anyway. Am I wrong about the main gauche being better?

I thought about this some more and it's a fairly close call. I had assumed it was 3 vs 2 attacks, but 4 vs 2 evens it up a lot. At low dlevs most of your opponents are animals, which the HA doesn't slay, and the dice are not very different (if the HA was 2d5 or 2d6 it would be a lot better). So it was probably a good enough decision, since the HA sold for a lot more. Once you get deeper and face more evil/demon/undead, the HA would win out. As well as SI it gives you a random sustain, which can be very handy if it's STR.

I'm not used to playing rangers much, so I melee kinda often anyway, and I'm getting out of that habit. Better melee ability won't stop me from continuing to use my bow more.

It does for me. I play lots of rangers because I want to stop myself meleeing, but it's just instinctive for me. I keep bumping into things, and I whack away instead of phasing and shooting. I've got to the stage where I deliberately use crappy melee weapons (and pass up gauntlets of power) to make sure I have to phase away.

I'm not and was never trying to become a speed diver, I'm just trying to get my first win. I'm just calling my trips down into the dungeon 'diving' because it's faster than typing 'trips down into the dungeon'. Didn't mean to mislead. I may not be diving real fast, but it's still faster than I'm used to diving. Just want to dive fast enough to make me a better player and prevent tedium and hopefully carelessness.

No worries. I'm not a speed diver either - but I have accepted Eddie's argument that diving quicker than you normally do actually makes you a better player, so I try that. Exactly what you were saying really.

Wondering which of the rod of cold balls or staff of dispell evil I should take with me and which to leave at home.

I know this is out of date now, but I'd take the staff. The rod doesn't do much you can't do with arrows (you can usually only get a few balls to hit multiple enemies). The staff is devastating in pits and against big groups of escorts.

CC

[Bandobras]

Originally Posted by will_asher

death to carelessness and Nar the Dwarf

Pity. Have you tried the options that warns you when your hitpoints are below x%? Set at 30% it would probably save you this time, assuming no quick_messages.