Latest Progress

[starstealer]

Have begun playing vanilla again recently, and I have to say I like many of the newer modifications and improvements to the game. I'm still not entirely "comfortable" with the diving technique - but I think it has at least renewed my ferver for getting further into the game than I have ever managed before.

Anyway: Ragi is there. I like his weapons and most of his kit, but of note is two items that are missing. Speed and Poison Resistance.

Not sure that there's any better options among his gear at home - but if there's something I missed - please let me know. I've never won this infernal game and I'd like to at least get to the point where I can try (I've never even gotten down to level 80 or so...)

[Derakon]

Nice weapon. It doesn't really need the fire brand from your ring though, given the many useful slays on Aule (including acid brand). At the very least see if you can get a Ring of Dexterity to get you an extra blow; Ring of Constitution would also be good since it's hard to have too many hitpoints. If you find a Ring of Poison Resistance, carry it as a swap.

Your body armor is nothing special. Dragon Scale Mail is neat but it doesn't stack up against even low-level artifact armors. Wear Arvedui (for strength and shards resistance) or Hithlomir (for stealth and nether resistance) instead. Celegorm is similarly only giving you resistance to darkness; everything else it gives is redundant. Though you don't have any better options right now, be on the lookout for Thorin or Anarion, or even a Shield of Elvenkind with a useful random resistance.

I forget what spells rangers get from Raal's; are you actually using it? If not, sell the book, or stash it in your home. As a ranger you should be relying on your bow for ranged damage, not on spells.

You should have a big pile of potions of Cure Critical Wounds in your inventory. They're the best readily-replenishable way you have to rapidly restore hitpoints. Buy out the temple if you have to to get more of them; I try not to go into the dungeon without 15.

Similarly, I generally have a big pile of Phase Door scrolls with me, for shoot-n-scoot (and for short-range "give me some room so I can chug healing potions"). Better than a 5% fail on your spellcasting IMO.

You're past the point at which casting Teleport (or using a staff of teleport) is usually more dangerous than it's worth. Teleport Other is good, but there are times when it's not up to the task; try to carry scrolls of Teleport Level for those occasions.

Sell Paurhach, Nimthanc, Forasgil, Elvagil, Mormegil. You're never going to use them, so they're just taking up space. Angband is not a good game for pack rats.

[starstealer]

Excellent - thanks for the advice.

The ring of flames is really the best ring I've gotten - I did have a ring of dex +2 at one point, but at the time the weapon I had wasn't getting more blows from it and it was just a simple Slay weapon - so having another option to boost damage was nice. The occasional Fire ball is useful too.

At the time that I switched the armor out, I didn't think Arvedui was giving me much other than the STR boost - since nexus was covered with the boots. I'm not sure if I had shards from another source that is now gone or what - but it certainly wouldn't hurt to have it. Celegorm is obviously just a "well I don't have anything better" option.

Raal's mostly has the other ball spells. I don't use it often, so I could probably get rid of it. It is useful to remove some of the lower level monsters from my way without wasting arrows or time. I probably overvalue it since I typically used to play wizards...

Potions are a good idea. I've been stowing my !Healing and !*Healing away since the beginning so that I have some for the end game, but I think I get a little cocky and don't bother with other healing. I'll grab some the next time I'm in town.

I'm out of Teleport level at the moment - so the _Teleport is there in its place. I agree that teleport can be dangerous, but at the moment it is the option I have - so I work with it. Phase door is very rarely used for me - if I need to get away to heal, I've been using -TO. If I want to fight with arrows, I'll generally just cast it. My melee damage is good enough though, that I generally am fine sticking it out there.

For the other random crap I have - that gets sold on an "As needed" basis. I won't sell something that is genuinely useful to me - but if I have the room in my home - I will typically store an assortment of secondary weapons, other artifacts and the like.

Thanks again.

[Pete Mack]

Keep all 3 flavors of healing potions (including ordinary !Healing.)
Also, it's nice to have a modest stack of !rMana.

As for _Teleport, it's a bad choice all around at your depth.
Stick to Teleport Other. It's a shame you don't have Mordy's Escapes--that has some very nice guaranteed escapes, if you prepare your ground before fighting.