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So I've been trying to get a Elbereth-Thresholds-Delving-Listen pacifist build off the ground in Sil-Q. It's an odd build: you have an unparalleled amount of information and control over the dungeon, letting you cordon off a safe area to move in while locking any and all enemies into side rooms, but if the situation ever gets out of your careful control you are liable to die instantly.
Over the course of several attempted runs today, I got into two situations that would normally be run-enders and survived, only to YASD immediately after.
First, I was attempting to maneuver a grotesque out of my way and into a room where it could be locked up, but foolishly got myself pinned in a dead end. I put three points in melee (having previously had no investment at all) and bought Knock Back, hoping to push it out of the way, but my strength of 1 was not up to the task. For lack of any better ideas, I equipped a greataxe I had been hauling around to ID, quaffed all my unidentified potions, put all my spare experience into melee, and held right. I whiffed the vast majority of my attacks and most of the rest were absorbed by the grotesque's protection, but with the help of two potions of dexterity I managed to outpace its regeneration for long enough to kill it. Fortunately I had a shovel to clear the rubble grotesques leave as a final fuck-you.
On the next floor, I left a door open for a moment too long before warding it with Song of Thresholds, allowing a darting horror to get in and kill me in two attacks.
A few attempted runs later, I was in the unusual situation of being down to a single torch with only 660-ish turns of light, with no light sources in sight. To conserve my light, I uneqquipped it, relying only on Song of Delving and Listen to navigate the dungeon. I used Song of Thresholds to lock off rooms and then systematically paced back and forth over the floor of each room in the dark, hoping to stumble across a spare torch. At once point, I was noticed by a lesser vampire, and while retreating down a hallway and singing Elbereth to get it off my tail, I stumbled over a mithril helm (special). I equipped it to find it was a mithril helm of brilliance, giving me a badly needed inexhaustible source of light!
A mere 73 turns later, I tried to walk past a spectre that I assumed would start fleeing from my Song of Elbereth. It did not. I died in two attacks.
Over the course of several attempted runs today, I got into two situations that would normally be run-enders and survived, only to YASD immediately after.
First, I was attempting to maneuver a grotesque out of my way and into a room where it could be locked up, but foolishly got myself pinned in a dead end. I put three points in melee (having previously had no investment at all) and bought Knock Back, hoping to push it out of the way, but my strength of 1 was not up to the task. For lack of any better ideas, I equipped a greataxe I had been hauling around to ID, quaffed all my unidentified potions, put all my spare experience into melee, and held right. I whiffed the vast majority of my attacks and most of the rest were absorbed by the grotesque's protection, but with the help of two potions of dexterity I managed to outpace its regeneration for long enough to kill it. Fortunately I had a shovel to clear the rubble grotesques leave as a final fuck-you.
On the next floor, I left a door open for a moment too long before warding it with Song of Thresholds, allowing a darting horror to get in and kill me in two attacks.
A few attempted runs later, I was in the unusual situation of being down to a single torch with only 660-ish turns of light, with no light sources in sight. To conserve my light, I uneqquipped it, relying only on Song of Delving and Listen to navigate the dungeon. I used Song of Thresholds to lock off rooms and then systematically paced back and forth over the floor of each room in the dark, hoping to stumble across a spare torch. At once point, I was noticed by a lesser vampire, and while retreating down a hallway and singing Elbereth to get it off my tail, I stumbled over a mithril helm (special). I equipped it to find it was a mithril helm of brilliance, giving me a badly needed inexhaustible source of light!
A mere 73 turns later, I tried to walk past a spectre that I assumed would start fleeing from my Song of Elbereth. It did not. I died in two attacks.