a triumphant return?

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  • fizzix_reborn
    Rookie
    • Nov 2024
    • 2

    a triumphant return?

    I started up a game recently for the first time in ages, expecting to die at some point in the mid 20s but I guess I remembered enough to take it all the way.


    Had a great time and I really appreciate that there's been a dedicated crew to keeping this game alive all these years. A round of applause for all of you.

    I had never played a blackguard before and didn't really know what the class was about at starting. Here are some jumbled thoughts

    I played with know all runes and know all flavors. Technically a cheat I guess, but I've never really liked the ID minigame. I also played with randarts and disconnected stairs, but otherwise no real additional difficulty enhancers

    There's a slight bug with blackguards where if you rest at full HP it drains your MP to 0. It took me a hot second to figure out how to gain MP, but I kind of enjoyed the mechanic. It probably regenerates too fast at higher levels

    Looking through the spells
    Seek battle - top tier spell. Detection is key to survival
    Berserk Strength - very useful in the early game when you struggle to kill stuff. Removing fear a nice side effect
    Whirlwind attack - minor utility to clear breeders, but otherwise just a laziness spell
    Shatter Stone - another top tier spell
    Leap into battle - bottom tier, never used. Generally you want monsters to come to you not the other way around
    Grim purpose - very useful in the middle game for the rconf.

    Maim Foe - abused this spell a lot. I'm not sure the full mechanics for monster stunning. But almost every monster is susceptible to it, even Morgy
    Howl of the Damned - general monsters running from you is an annoyance not a help. Never used this spell
    Relentless taunting - used this towards the endgame along with a good launcher and either phase or the knockback in the dungeon book.
    Venom - there was a very brief period where i made slight use of this spell. But venom is one of the weaker brands and most of my weapons had better natural brands
    Werewolf form - made some use of this in the late game. The extra attack is nice, but you need to have a decent mana pool

    Bloodlust - bottom tier trash spell. It can get you killed. I didn't realize the side effects, but "lose a turn" is a *never use* spell in my book. It almost did get me killed
    Unholy Reprieve - very useful against Morgy. Marginally useful at other points in the game
    Forceful blow - only managed to make use of this with relentless taunting.
    Quake - trash spell. If you need to sculpt the landscape, shatter stone is a much better choice. If you need a panic button spell, it's a *destruction* scroll

    In general the dungeon book was kind of disappointing with nothing of use in it. I found it early and didn't even bother carrying it until the very end.

    Some other points:

    blood falcons being immune to fear and therefore not showing up in seek battle is kind of a bug. When they show up they can one-shot you without warning. Taking them off the detection list seems obnoxious. I would make them have both the evil tag and not the no_fear tag

    Huorns being fast movers makes no sense in the gameplay or in the lore. If anything they should move slowly. When they show up, you can't handle them at all, too much HP and fast moving to boot? I could see them being a candidate for a different mechanic, such as one that doesn't attack or move or anything until 75% HP, but then...yeah a murder machine.

    Curses have been pointless forever. They still are.

    Food has been pointless forever, it still is

  • Nick
    Vanilla maintainer
    • Apr 2007
    • 9646

    #2
    Spoken like someone who should make their own variant

    Welcome back
    One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
    In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.

    Comment

    • fizzix_reborn
      Rookie
      • Nov 2024
      • 2

      #3
      The good news is that I don't need to make a whole variant to edit some flags in the monster list.

      Comment

      • Grotug
        Veteran
        • Nov 2013
        • 1637

        #4
        I just want to make a small correction on your report: the launcher you found wasn't good, it was *GREAT*! As a perpetual ranger, I'm so jelly.
        Beginner's Guide to Angband 4.2.3 Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9c9e2wMngM

        Detailed account of my Ironman win here.

        "My guess is that Grip and Fang have many more kills than Gothmog and Lungorthin." --Fizzix

        Comment

        • wobbly
          Prophet
          • May 2012
          • 2631

          #5
          Bloodlust is the most amazing part of playing a blackguard and is insanely good.

          While I understand the sentiment that there is an x% chance this will randomly kill you at no fault of your own (outside of using Bloodlust), I just ignore this and spam it anyway. You are not really getting into the blackguard spirit till you say f' it I'll spam this anyway.

          The number of blackguards I've lost to other stupid mistakes is actually higher than the number I've lost to Bloodlust especially since that number is 0 and that's with a playstyle where I'm in near permanent Bloodlust from the moment I can be.

          I don't use it against Morgy, not that suicidal but for something like a pitfiend. It's definitely on.

          Comment

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