Well thats a good start.

[chknflyrice]

I used to find them all the time, but now it's pretty rare that I don't find a down stair before a level feeling shows up, so I dive right past them. Finding any *thanc or the phial at all are uncommon events for me these days, and it's not all rare for me to be DL60 or lower before I get my hands on my first artifact.

^
There is a guy that feels my pain.

I know that in the older versions (year 2000 or so) I used to find Phial before I hit DL15. Were there any other significant changes to artifact drop rates since then? Until last month I still had a version from years ago (charisma was still a stat) but my old Tobisha finally crashed and got a new computer so I had to find a new download. I had no idea that rephial was a site until then. I was still looking for thandogrim.

Yes I play with level feeling.

[Derakon]

^I know that in the older versions (year 2000 or so) I used to find Phial before I hit DL15. Were there any other significant changes to artifact drop rates since then? Until last month I still had a version from years ago (charisma was still a stat) but my old Tobisha finally crashed and got a new computer so I had to find a new download. I had no idea that rephial was a site until then. I was still looking for thandogrim.

The Phial specifically got moved to substantially later in the dungeon to give light source upgrades more meaning. Torches were also dropped back down to radius-1 after having been radius-2 for awhile, and several ego light sources were added.

Overall rarity of artifacts gets tweaked relatively often, so very likely they're different from what you remember.

[Pete Mack]

For the most part, lantern of seeing is better than the Phil in any case. And I generally find one first.

[chknflyrice]

Well damn... RIP. Phased door (had been identifying loot from a monster room so that was the last of my mana) from a Master Mystic right into a Vampire Lord, drained my wand of TO, so I drink my restore mana pot then failed TS 3 times. Was a decent run though. Rouges are by far my least favorite to play.

[Grotug]

I've had games where I get my multiple consecutive fail rates out of the way when there was little/no consequence (such as failing multiple times to TO something sleeping I don't want to deal with) and then succeeding in a long consecutive streak when it mattered. It's interesting even after all my deaths, dying still surprises me when it happens.

I've been playing a lot of high-elf warrior lately. I think it is the easiest combination to play. I especially like it because I start out with 4.3 blows a round. What combo do you prefer?

[chknflyrice]

@Grotug

I like to play the archetype. Trolls are by far my favorite. High constitution really favors my preferred playstyle (dive deep, dive fast, die young).Paladins are a close second on the fun scale. If I'm going for a win I usually play a ranger, either Dunadan, Hobbit, or High elf. Its fun to walk into a room and "h" everything before they know whats going on.

I'm curious about the randart option in the birth menu concerning mages. It seems that the standard artifacts have always favored the bash and smash classes. I understand that random is random but is there a better chance to favor the more subtle classes in the game with this option on?

[Pete Mack]

That loss doesn't have anything to do with character class. You got into a dangerous situation that you could have avoided. Also, carry scrolls to escape with when you really need to get away (unless you have zero-fail.)

[chknflyrice]

That loss doesn't have anything to do with character class. You got into a dangerous situation that you could have avoided. Also, carry scrolls to escape with when you really need to get away (unless you have zero-fail.)

Oh yes it was avoidable. I was on a 8-9 level feeling with no staff of teleport (0 charges) and like you said no scrolls to back it up. After pulling the aggro on the monsters in the vault I usually lead them around from the outside. Usually the items remaining on the ground after doing so are artifacts. Arkenstone, an amulet, leather boots, a short and longsword remained on the floor. I was SO close to having that vault cleared and greed won. The comment was not to take blame from me and dump it on the class, it was meant to assure you that I was not heart broken about the L.

[Grotug]

Though the two best amulets in the game are non-artifact.

Hobbit Ranger; I tried that a couple times. Sauron did too many mana blasts on my fragile hobbit, though. But I should have used the ?rune of protection as someone (probably Pete Mack) on here had advised me. As Derakon pointed out, I also shouldn't have been so worried about getting disenchanted and smashed him in melee (I didn't have enough good arrows). I had him down to 4 orange **** health. The summons on that level were getting really out of hand and I was teleporting all over the place. I'll probably try it again sometime, but it is scary playing with so little CON. High Elf Ranger seems much more manageable.

[chknflyrice]

To sort of combat the caster characters that tend to spawn more casters I usually build myself a sort of "arena" by creating choke points and limiting LOS. When doing this I will set up runes of prot on spaces directly behind me to at least hinder any creatures that may be spawned there from getting to me. Doing this also allows the me to close the gap with these creatures without even moving or exposing myself to those heavy hits like you talked about. I don't know if anyone else does this but its something that helps me a lot when going after some of the more risky uniques.

[chknflyrice]

Well..... I found out what the 2-9 feeling was about.

Then chaos dsm in the next room. At DL10..... so I know I started this post talking about how my luck seems to suck.... I take it all back.