HE mage approaches the mid-game

[bio_hazard]

I'm playing for the first time in a long while. After a few really boring games when I didn't find anything fun I finally have a mage going who's had fantastic luck with his kit so far. I'm back in town because some jerk burned my book 3 and poke my head in the BM. There's both a !Int and a TO rod. Which would you buy? Or just save my money in case a book shows up.

Also, I guess while I'm pausing here... Is the ring of the mouse helping me at all or should I ditch that and just wear the Ring of Damage or Digging? And I had decided to leave the artifact torch at home because I figured the activation on the star was more useful and I could just double-resist if I was going to mix it up with cold monsters.

http://angband.oook.cz/ladder-show.php?id=25496

[PowerDiver]

Which choice might save your game the next time you unexpectedly find yourself in serious trouble?

Which choice will best help you get to a special item in the dungeon, say an arkentstone in a vault?

Those are the questions you should consider IMO.

As to the ring of digging, I would not carry it as a swap. My advice is to use the inventory slot for wands of stone to mud, or commit to wielding the ring.

[Estie]

As to the ring of digging, I would not carry it as a swap. My advice is to use the inventory slot for wands of stone to mud, or commit to wielding the ring.

Why is that ? I wouldnt want to give up the stealth, but a quick switch to activate the digging ring isnt a big deal. And when youre digging through layers of granite, things likely wake up mouse ring or no.

Theres nothing wrong with carrying wands, but carrying ring also seems fine.

[PowerDiver]

It's just a slot management mindset, combined with forgetting to keep track when having to wear the ring to recharge. I know I've paid an [admittedly not huge] price for screwing up with regards to recharging a ring.

If it's worth a slot to have stone to mud, just carry wands instead. Often enough, you want to use it twice in a row without waiting for a recharge. If that's not viable because you don't have any wands and the magic store doesn't either, I believe you should wear the digging ring and use the slot for resist potions or ?bless or something else for a trip or two.

I suppose I could be wrong for some play styles, especially since I am not well versed in 4.*, but in my experience it is clear enough that I thought it worth making the suggestion.

[ewert]

I usually use the =Dig to just dig normally instead of carrying a much heavier pickaxe on low STR characters in the early game. I always play no_sell so digging multiple squares for veins is the main reason I carry it. If I only used it on vaults etc., sure a wand is arguably better in that scenario.

To be honest, I would probably get the potion if you are already at (raw stat) 18 but below like 18/30, as the boost is big. Wands of teleport other come around often enough, and the rod won't be enough by itself always.

[Estie]

Just to be clear, my point was between wands and ring of digging. When it comes to !int vs rod of TO, let me reinforce what PowerDiver carefully suggested: rod all the way.

[sffp]

I love the extra stealth the Mouse gives you.
How often does your character melee?

And rods of TO are endgame material so the buy choice is easy for me.

[PowerDiver]

I usually use the =Dig to just dig normally instead of carrying a much heavier pickaxe on low STR characters in the early game. I always play no_sell so digging multiple squares for veins is the main reason I carry it.

I can't argue with that. I never mine for money, so that never even occurred to me. If I have a spell and plenty of mana and the money wall is adjacent to me I might grab the gold, but I just don't think of it otherwise.

Obviously, this is in the context of no_sell, as I am the instigator of that idea. Perhaps I should consider early mining, but it seems unlikely I will make that part of my game.

[bio_hazard]

I got the rod of TO, and then promptly found another one in the dungeon.

I'm back in town often enough to make the extra $$ from a bit of mining worthwhile.

Anyway, I'm down to 3100' CL 30.

http://angband.oook.cz/ladder-show.php?id=25496

Finally got ESP from a helm of Telepathy. The randarts have been really good this game. Still haven't found any dungeon books. I'd like to get rNether and rConf but otherwise it's a pretty stress-free dive right now since I can either TO or avoid pretty much anything.

[Estie]

Some nice boots there!

Digging up veins has become a routine for me in the early game; I buy a shovel or pick (unless I am dwarf, of course). There's usually something to buy if you have cash and at the very least you can always afford all the consumables you ever want.

[bio_hazard]

whelp, died to a sound blast from a great warm of law at 3900'. Still never found any dungeon books.

[ewert]

I can't argue with that. I never mine for money, so that never even occurred to me. If I have a spell and plenty of mana and the money wall is adjacent to me I might grab the gold, but I just don't think of it otherwise.

Obviously, this is in the context of no_sell, as I am the instigator of that idea. Perhaps I should consider early mining, but it seems unlikely I will make that part of my game.

To be fair, I think I implemented no_sell for Vanilla earlier. Not sure, but IIRC.

Early veins are great, easily gives you enough boost in the sub 20s to buy a nice item or two from shops while you pop in. Mind you, I tend to play a 'must clear level' mentality very often, including digging through 20-30 squares if there are like 5 veins in a row.

[ewert]

I got the rod of TO, and then promptly found another one in the dungeon.

Yeah, depending on how fast/well one plays, this is why I said I might buy the !Int instead if I am sitting at native 18 or low 18s. Especially wands of TO are not rare, while statgain is always slow until you hit 40 (or farm 30).

[PowerDiver]

To be fair, I think I implemented no_sell for Vanilla earlier. Not sure, but IIRC.

Before 3.0.6? I think that's the first time I released code that used it. I think I was using it personally before that, but ISTR that's the first time I shared any code with the community. I don't remember what I might have done for 2.9, which was my first version played.

More importantly, I banged the drum loudly and repetitively back when r.g.r.a. was the main discussion area. I don't remember anyone else being 1 tenth as loud in support, but perhaps that's just my memory. Was oook a thing when 3.0.6 was current?

[ewert]

Before 3.0.6? I think that's the first time I released code that used it. I think I was using it personally before that, but ISTR that's the first time I shared any code with the community. I don't remember what I might have done for 2.9, which was my first version played.

More importantly, I banged the drum loudly and repetitively back when r.g.r.a. was the main discussion area. I don't remember anyone else being 1 tenth as loud in support, but perhaps that's just my memory. Was oook a thing when 3.0.6 was current?

Yep, in that case it was before the current form of development, apparently at least on github status and oook the first nosell seems to have been mine but anything prior that would predate that yeah. Not sure what the earliest version was that I tweaked was, but the latest seemed to be 3.1.2. where I posted the tweaks I made.