[YAVP] (V) High-Elf Ranger winner

[azfalt]

Jean Pierre III avenged the deaths of his ancestors in the pits of Angband, Jean Pierre II
and Jean Pierre I.

This is my first win with a ranger, and my lowest turn-count so far - I still have no idea how bebo got a high-elf ranger winner in ~600k turns.

I relied entirely on missiles for the early and mid game, switching to melee only in the end-game for Sauron and Morgoth. Morgoth was easy to beat with phase door and a big stock of healing potions. He'd probably be a tougher boss if he moved more slowly, since he outpaces his summoned minions whenever I phase away, and his earthquake hits keep the nasties out of LOS. I probably could have used just !CCW and ?phase to beat Morgoth, but I actually had more !healing then !CCW since the store never had them in stock.

I almost never cast a single attack spell in the game, except for heavy use of magic missile early on, and some stuff out of Raal's, for fun. Why do rangers have so much magic? They're already missile experts, and they melee almost as well as rogues... seems like they've got too much going for them.

[bebo]

The main reason i was able to go really fast with my ranger was that i found Feanor at dlvl 3150 at around 220k turns. First and only time i found those magnificent boots actually.

In the early levels, especially if i have a good shooter, i make extensive use of rings of escaping (which imho may be too good, since they still allow you to shoot, even if with a big malus, although if you have two equipped the malus doesn't stack).

I also make extensive use of detect treasure and mapping to get fast where i want, avoiding useless fights. One if not the main reason i love rogues is the detect treasure spell.

Finally, i probably was quite lucky

PS - you should check out some other winners: Eddie, Pete and others have wins under 250k turns - now THAT is CRAZY!

[Pete Mack]

I've never won in less than 450K turns, and that was NPP with small levels. My fastest V win is just a little under 600K turns.

[azfalt]

Still fast wins all around, and impressive.

I'm trying to imitate the faster playing/diving and avoidance style of play, and I have to say the game is much more fun this way. I find myself making more use of objects found on the dungeon floor rather than recalling all the time to the surface, picking and choosing fights, and generally being far more tactical in dungeon exploration.

It's way more fun than just grinding through levels.