After recent discussion, ran up a HE mage

[Pete Mack]

Lost the first one to strange attack from OoD nexus vortex, which got 3 breaths in a row. The second is going strong. I don't think I'll be able to keep up the pace of 1 level (average) per 1000 player turns.

[FONT="Courier New"]      Turn   Depth  Note
         0      0'  Began the quest to destroy Morgoth.
       400    100'  Killed Fang, Farmer Maggot's Dog
       400    100'  Reached level 2
       400    100'  Reached level 3
      1276    250'  Reached level 4
      1505    300'  Reached level 5
      2109    450'  Reached level 6
      2400    450'  Reached level 7
      3026    550'  Reached level 8
      3627    550'  Reached level 9
...
     29890   2100'  Reached level 29
[/FONT]

http://angband.oook.cz/ladder-show.php?id=20892

This helped, just a bit:
l) a Pair of Iron Shod Boots of Elvenkind [4,+8] <+4, +5>
Conjured forth by magic at 1050 feet (level 21)

[Pete Mack]

OK, this is the first character I ever went out of my way to hunt Lesser Balrogs with. They have no drop, and they are horrible in melee. But they have a really excellent EXP/HP ratio--better than 10:1. Normally I wouldn't bother with this, but a HE Mage's biggest hurdle is EXP. I've now killed 5 of them for around 70,000 EXP.

[Gwarl]

OK, this is the first character I ever went out of my way to hunt Lesser Balrogs with. They have no drop, and they are horrible in melee. But they have a really excellent EXP/HP ratio--better than 10:1. Normally I wouldn't bother with this, but a HE Mage's biggest hurdle is EXP. I've now killed 5 of them for around 70,000 EXP.

I've heard of perverse tactics like keeping wands of clone monster to clone balrogs for exp.

[Pete Mack]

Been a while since I had a game like this:

a) the Long Sword 'Ringil' (4d5) (+22,+25) <+10, +1>
Dropped by a nether wraith at 4400 feet (level 88)
k) the Set of Leather Gloves 'Cambeleg' (+8,+8) [1,+15] <+2>
Dropped by Ren the Unclean at 2600 feet (level 52)
u) the Light Crossbow 'Cubragol' (x3) (+10,+14) <+10>
Dropped by an osyluth at 4800 feet (level 96)
q) Power Dragon Scale Mail of Craftsmanship [60,+32]
Found lying on the floor in a vault at 4250 feet (level 85)

At the moment, I'm actually using these:
b) the Long Bow 'Belthronding' (x3) (+20,+22) <+3, +1>
Droppg) the Augmented Chain Mail of Caspanion (-2) [45,+20] <+2, +3>
Dropped by Golfimbul, the Hill Orc Chief at 3050 feet (level 61)ed by Adunaphel the Quiet at 2550 feet (level 51)

for damage and stats.

[Azuria]

I've heard of perverse tactics like keeping wands of clone monster to clone balrogs for exp.

Been there, done that. And as a mage, you can recharge those wands

[Pete Mack]

I just dove to 4900' to find !EXP, immunities, and Kelek. After finding Narya, killed 3 Balrog uniques AND found the last dungeon book. Belthronding is a big help.

Been there, done that. And as a mage, you can recharge those wands

[Egavactip]

I've heard of perverse tactics like keeping wands of clone monster to clone balrogs for exp.

That's a waste of a valuable slot, just hoping something comes along.

[kandrc]

That's a waste of a valuable slot, just hoping something comes along.

Back in the 2.x/early 3.x days I would save a stack of them in the home until I got an immunity, then I'd grab them all and go Wyrm hunting with many tens of charges (and the ability to recharge). Wyrm melee was element-based in such a way that they were pushovers with an immunity, even with low AC and HP. These days their melee is beefed up such that this is no longer a viable tactic, but back then you could kill a few hundred wyrms with a very weak character and be instantly endgame ready.

[Bostock]

Lost the first one to strange attack from OoD nexus vortex, which got 3 breaths in a row.

You just may be onto something. Just died to this during a mundane-ish battle with a gelugon:

(you hit the gelugon)
(2x as much as you see below, plus the below)
> You are covered with frost!
> *** LOW HITPOINT WARNING! ***
> The gelugon misses you.
> The gelugon bites you.
> You are covered with frost!
> *** LOW HITPOINT WARNING! ***
> The gelugon misses you.
> The osyluth conjures up scary horrors.
> You fight off a sense of dread.
> You resist the effect!
> *** LOW HITPOINT WARNING! ***
> The osyluth misses you.
> The gelugon claws you.
> You are covered with frost!
> You die.

Wasn't paralyzed. Don't really understand.