Finally, Wormtongue drops something useful

[bio_hazard]

Steel Helm of Wisdom (+1) (for my HE Rogue). Gee, Wormy, you shouldn't have...

Bought an everburning lantern in the BM (only ~600 gold- this seems WAY too cheap), and of course run into Golfimbul about 2 minutes later who drops the Phial.

[Derakon]

Bought an everburning lantern in the BM (only ~600 gold- this seems WAY too cheap)

Compare an everburning lantern at ~600 vs. a standard lantern (at, IIRC, less than 150) plus a lifetime's supply of oil (2500 turns/AU at estimated lifespan of 500000 turns, tops). That oil supply only costs 200 more AU. And if you only last for 50000 turns, which seems more likely, then the oil's even cheaper.

Sure, you don't have to worry about refueling your new lantern while in the dungeon, but as long as you top up when in town you shouldn't ever run out of light with a standard lantern either. I'd much rather a lantern of Brightness than Everburning.

[Timo Pietilä]

Compare an everburning lantern at ~600 vs. a standard lantern (at, IIRC, less than 150) plus a lifetime's supply of oil (2500 turns/AU at estimated lifespan of 500000 turns, tops). That oil supply only costs 200 more AU. And if you only last for 50000 turns, which seems more likely, then the oil's even cheaper.

Sure, you don't have to worry about refueling your new lantern while in the dungeon, but as long as you top up when in town you shouldn't ever run out of light with a standard lantern either. I'd much rather a lantern of Brightness than Everburning.

I think this is not a question about optimization but annoyance. Not needing to bother with oil and check lantern fuel status is a big bonus, bigger than price difference for sure. You can run out of fuel even with 14000 turns of fuel in lantern if the level is interesting enough for long combat sequences and exploration. All it takes is one greater vault or some item you recognize as high-level artifact in very hard to reach position.