Newbie Finds First Greater Vault

[Madoka]

This won't be very exciting for you veterans, but I finally ran across a greater vault. I've been a long time, intermittent Angband player since v.2.9.x. However, I don't remember ever running across a greater vault. Of course I've never won, and because I am/used to be a kill everything type of player, I've never gotten below L58. So I'm a newbie when it comes to clearing vaults.

I started a new warrior in 4.0.1 and managed to get to Player level 41. I had been hanging around L50 as I hadn't run across any good speed items, so my speed was only +4. I noticed that many of the annoying monsters that drain life and stats move quickly.

I recall back down and get a danger 8 reading. Oh...first one. Walk around and get a treasure 8 reading. Oh.... Fire up the detect rods. And find an Interstices vault. First Greater Vault Ever.

What to do...so I study it for a bit. Only 2 uniques, but one seems to be Polyphemus. I watch him for a bit and he stays in the far right compartment. I have one rod to TO and the Trident of Ulmo. I also have 2 staves of teleportation and several Healing potions. Luckily I had just found an Amulet of ESP a few levels ago. So the greedy part of me doesn't allow me to pass it up.

I slowly clear out all the monster on the outside and some that come out to attack. There's piles of swag on the floor. Never seen so much swag before. Suddenly a big U comes around. Crap, it's fast. Look down at the monster list. Crap, it's a unique, Balrog. But its not red like Polyphemus. The stupid old "kill everything" me kicks in. Quaff a potion of speed and went at it. It actually went pretty well, giving me a false sense of power. Finish clearing out the left side of the vault.

The right side of the vault wasn't too bad either, and I was left with the big P in the isolated room. Now there's buttloads of swag everywhere, and as it turns out I missed ID'ing one item. So far I've only found Orcrist, Hammerhand, and Camlost. What could big P have? The false sense of power kicks in again, and I quaff some speed and go in.

Holy shit, Polyphemus hits hard! Real hard. Like the cavern is even coming down on me hard. Now it becomes attack for a while, get a HP warning, use some healing potions, repeat. All the while the cavern is rearranging itself around me. After my last healing potion, he's still not dead. I start wondering if I need to GTFO. But he's in the red too. I decide to stay for one last round...and he dies. I have about 150 HP left. Stupid lives to fight another day.

He had Haradekket. Hmmm. Not sure if that was worth it. On the way out I run across some boots I had missed ID'ing as it was in a pile of stuff. Turns out they were Boots of Speed +10. Hell, I could have used that earlier. :facepalm: At first I wasn't happy they were acid vulnerable until I remembered that Ulmo gives me acid immunity. Woot.

I recall back up, drop off my new swag, restock, and go back down. To find a Danger level 9. WTH?! Danger level 9. WTF?! Right after that vault? Never got a 9-9 before.

Turns out there's a checkerboard vault in the middle of the level. Never seen one before. There's like 6 uniques in there, 5 are red. I stare at all those monsters in there, and admire the shimmering beauty of some of them.

While it's obvious to all you veterans, I realise that unless those things can bore through granite, I can take one monster at a time. I slowly start in, and it's going ok...until I see Atlas ripping through the vault. This is bad. I get to the end of the row, dig through and down he comes. This time Stupid learned his lesson. I TO him away. I do wonder what crap he picked up, but after Polyphemus, I'm not doing that again.

I end up TO'ing The Phoenix, the Lernaean Hydra, Osse, Radagast, the Cat Lord, and Cantoras (one of these guys was in a lesser vault also on the same level, but I forgot who that was). Ended up with Firestar, Mundwine, Totila, Gondricam, Evenstar. But the really good finds were a Ring of Speed +7, the Arkenstone, and a Balance DSM of Resistance.

Recall up, drop off swag, rearrange my equipment, and go back down. I find a chest that has...a Ring of Speed +7.

So in three straight descents I go from +4 to +25 speed.

[Philip]

Your first vault cleared is always a sweet feeling. Part of me insists you should be dead for the whole Polyphemus thing, of course. And don't worry too much about Atlas, monsters don't pick up artifacts anyway, and what he was carrying probably wasn't too great.

[MattB]

And don't worry too much about Atlas, monsters don't pick up artifacts anyway

But I wonder if his, and indeed Polyphemus's, shatter attack can *destruct* artifacts?

P.S. Atlas is a pussy - he's hurt by rock remover. A few good blasts from a wand of stone to mud and he turns to jelly...well, mud.

[Madoka]

From what I saw from my stupid attack on Poly, I would say no. I found Orcrist but didn't have room for it so I left it on the floor, not knowing that Poly was about to destroy the level. At the end of the battle, it was still there. All the other swag near it was gone.

Now that I think about it, Atlus left an artifact on the ground that he passed over. In a way, he made things easier as all the monsters along his path were gone.

And yeah, I really should be dead. What happened at one point, when I really should have recalled or something, was that one of his shatter attacks left him and me in separate little spaces. Now CLEARLY someone was telling me to go, having totally spared my ass. But no, I rest up and go in again. I forgot about that when writing the above.

There's no helping stupid sometimes.

[Derakon]

I'm pretty sure that artifacts protect the squares they're on from being hit by earthquakes. They're no protection against Word of Destruction though.

Does using rock remover on monsters actually do that much damage? I thought it was some trivial amount like 6d8 damage or something.

[Bee Vortex]

Hmmm, I encountered a 9-9 as well yesterday on L55ish. Saved... went to bed and had decided to leave it be. I have only 1 TO and am facing some 15 uniques in the vault including Gothmog.

Maybe I should look for a opening to at least explore a small bit of the vault, I have all resists except shards and +38 speed (found a +16 ring yesterday).

Then again, I'm not in a hurry, better take on those uniques 1 by 1.

[MattB]

Does using rock remover on monsters actually do that much damage? I thought it was some trivial amount like 6d8 damage or something.

I was joking.
Maybe that comment should have belonged in the 'Really Bad Ideas' thread from a while back.