YASD in the making

[PowerDiver]

On the previous level, I saw a black dragon pit, and despite being able to activate my ring for double resistance I let it go. There were a score of ancient dragons along with a wyrm and I figured it was just too much and I would lose my staves in the process.

On the current level, I detected a green dragon pit. Only about a dozen ancient dragons with one wyrm, but I lack rPoison so I was able to pass it by. But the RNG has decided to tempt me with a potion of poison resistance. I don't think I am capable of passing up two dragon pits in a row.

Anyone care to try to talk me out of it? Here is the ladder dump..

[Magnate]

On the previous level, I saw a black dragon pit, and despite being able to activate my ring for double resistance I let it go. There were a score of ancient dragons along with a wyrm and I figured it was just too much and I would lose my staves in the process.

On the current level, I detected a green dragon pit. Only about a dozen ancient dragons with one wyrm, but I lack rPoison so I was able to pass it by. But the RNG has decided to tempt me with a potion of poison resistance. I don't think I am capable of passing up two dragon pits in a row.

Anyone care to try to talk me out of it? Here is the ladder dump..

Presumably you are intending to Dispel Evil the entire pit before the potion runs out? The odds are against you surviving the expected number of breaths if you get them all into LOS for a dispel ...

[fizzix]

I would lure the wyrm and as many of the ancient dragons as you can away from the pit and TO them. (or kill the ancient dragons if you can get only one at a time) Then approach the pit from the other side, quaff your potion, and dispel the rest of the dragons.

good luck!

[Nick]

I just lost an O character to trying to dispel a red dragon pit, if that helps.

[PowerDiver]

Who was I kidding? I failed my save when I saw the !rPoison. Someone would have had to be particularly eloquent to talk me out of it.

Presumably you are intending to Dispel Evil the entire pit before the potion runs out? The odds are against you surviving the expected number of breaths if you get them all into LOS for a dispel ...

I thought I remembered that ancient dragons are only 1/12 likely to breathe. That means only about 1 to 2 breaths every other player turn at +30 speed.

It turned out the approach was from a side and the door to the moat was at the bottom. Thanks to my ridiculous speed, I made it into the moat at the side with only two ancient dragons getting through the door into the moat at the bottom. After -stoneToMud, I unloaded the staves and then faced another hurdle. They cast fear many times, and I had no way to unfear. I tried shooting with Cubragol, but that didn't cut it, and I was forced to use my ego ammo with the buckland sling.

I had to teleport the wyrm away, but I killed the rest. The !rPoison ran out when I had killed about half of the ancient dragons. I had to use my !*HEAL when I was _dispelling, but as a priest that's something to use rather than to save.

[Magnate]

I thought I remembered that ancient dragons are only 1/12 likely to breathe. That means only about 1 to 2 breaths every other player turn at +30 speed.

I think it's more like 1/5.

They cast fear many times, and I had no way to unfear.

You're a priest - you had no recourse to Bless, Chant or Prayer???

[Derakon]

Bless, Chant, and Prayer have +AC and +to-hit. Remove Fear removes the status but does not prevent it from recurring. Bizarrely, it's the mage-types that get Heroism and Berserk, which are the only sources of temporary fear resistance in the game.

[PowerDiver]

I think it's more like 1/5.
You're a priest - you had no recourse to Bless, Chant or Prayer???

You made me double-check, and breath chance is 1/24 for an ancient green. That's 1/6 to spell and then breath is 1 of 4 choices. Maybe my 1/12 recollection accounted for it being at twice normal speed or maybe I was just confused.

Bless etc counteract the hit penalty from fear, but do not let you melee. I wanted to use acid-branded Aglarang with 4 blows. For that I needed remove fear from PB1 or potions. Heroism really ought to be a priestly spell rather than a magely spell IMO.

[Derakon]

Priest combat boosters:
* Bless, Chant, Prayer
* Temporary resistance (fire/cold)
* Protection from Evil (AIUI useless against monsters that are higher-level than you?)
* Rune of Protection (very useful, but very expensive)
* See Invisible (technically; it's a temporary buff)

Mage combat boosters:
* Temporary resistance (basic five)
* Speed
* Heroism
* Berserker (separate line because it stacks with heroism)
* Stoneskin (or whatever we call +50 AC these days)
* Rune of Protection (whaaaaaat)

This is all balanced by priests getting the big healing spells and Banish Evil, natch.

[PowerDiver]

Priests should be the foes of undead, one of whose typical attacks is fear. Opposition to fear is priestly. Heck, potions of boldness and heroism are sold in the temple rather than the alchemist shop presumably because someone else felt that way. It's also in the fantasy I've read. In those books, the priestly inspire heroism [in others] rather than the magely.

[PowerDiver]

What a prophetic title to this thread. It had nothing to do with playing aggressively as it turned out. I died to simply ignoring a thunder wyrm after I killed a death drake, for no apparent reason.