[PWMAngband] A necromancer in Middle Earth

[Derakon]

that's harsh. it might as well have Escaping, since you're not going to melee anything with 12 DPS

Doesn't the fear caused by Escaping also penalize your spell failure rate?

[Sky]

it does?? i never noticed. i regularly wear two Escaping on my mage builds so i would lean towards no.

actually, let me go test that.

CL 33 mage with 18/10 INT.
yep, it does. a 44% fail Resistance goes up to 50% fail with two rings.
a 15% fail Earthquake spell goes up to 50% fail ..
a 6% fail Magic Missile goes up to ... 6% fail.
lesser recharging goes from 6% fail to 17% fail.

i can't really see how this works, but apparently the higher the spell level, the more they are affected by the penalty. or maybe, the lower the spell level, the more they are affected by the casting stats.

[PowerWyrm]

OF_AFRAID adds a flat 20% fail to the rate, which is the base spell failure rate minus the bonus from INT minus the bonus for "easy" spells (level < clvl). The result is capped vs the minimum/maximum failure rates. Because of these caps, the effect of OF_AFRAID is marginal, that's why using rings of escaping with a spellcaster is great. It's basically the same as a priest using a pointy weapon. Would be much less useful if the penalty was applied after the cap, like for example when the character is stunned.

[PowerWyrm]

We head southeast from Bree and quickly reach the entrance of the Maze... but we recall inside instead of taking the long route. As the name implies, the Maze is a dungeon made of labyrinth levels exclusively. We land on 1750ft, find an Ironwood staff... and blast the whole level when we ID it as a staff of *Destruction*. Time to go downstairs I guess... but not before finding a Turquoise ring (of Intelligence) in a small area that survived the destruction blast. Not that it matters now our intelligence is maxed. We feel nervous on 1800ft, but telepathy doesn't reveal anything out of depth. There's something worthwhile on the level though. We find a Tungsten wand (of Polymorph), an Ivory rod (of Hold Monster), and Celegorm:

q) the Leather Shield of Celegorm [8,+20]
     Found lying on the floor of a labyrinth at 1800 feet (level 36).

     Provides resistance to acid, lightning, fire, cold, light, dark.
     Provides protection from blindness.
     Cannot be harmed by acid.

There are clearly better shields than this. We go down to another (not so) nervous place, and immediately find some ego boots of Mirkwood. These could be helpful if we ever need to free up a ring slot and lack poison resistance. For now we'll keep our artifact boots and ring of Resist Poison. Nothing else on the level, we go down to 1900ft. We kill Fasolt and his escort of giants, but get nothing for our effort, so we go down again. This time, Castamir pays us a visit, and we get Bloodspike out of his corpse.

u) the Morning Star 'Bloodspike' (2d6) (+8,+22) <+4>
     Dropped by Castamir the Usurper at 1950 feet (level 39).

     +4 strength.
     Slays animals, orcs, trolls.
     Branded with poison.
     Provides resistance to nexus.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, fire.
     Grants the ability to see invisible things.

     Combat info:
     1.0 blows/round.
     With +1 STR and +0 DEX you would get 1.1 blows/round.
     With +0 STR and +4 DEX you would get 1.1 blows/round.
     Average damage/round: 56.7 vs. creatures not resistant to poison, 48.8
     vs. animals, 56.7 vs. orcs, 56.7 vs. trolls, and 40.9 vs. others.

We find a Titanium wand (of Door Destruction) and proceed to the last level of the dungeon. The Minotaur of the Labyrinth awaits us, but unlike his mythological counterpart, he dies pretty easily. But we only get Paurnen from him.

q) the Set of Gauntlets 'Paurnen' (+3,+3) [3,+14]
     Dropped by The Minotaur of the Labyrinth at 2000 feet (level 40).

     Provides resistance to acid.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, fire.
     Makes you fall like a feather. Prevents paralysis.

     When aimed, it shoots a bolt or beam of acid that inflicts 10d8 points of
     damage, which your device skill increases by 76 percent.
     Takes 6 to 11 turns to recharge at your current speed.
     Your chance of success is 96.2%

We also get a 4d5 long sword from killing a lich, but it's not the one we were looking for...

t) the Long Sword of Angmar (4d5) (-22,-25) <-10>
     Dropped by a monastic lich at 2000 feet (level 40).

     -10 strength.
     -10 wisdom.
     -10 speed.
     Branded with fire.
     Cannot be harmed by acid.
     Slows your metabolism. Grants the ability to see invisible things.
     Prevents paralysis. Aggravates nearby creatures.
     Grants the ability to sense undead.

     Combat info:
     1.0 blow/round.
     With +7 STR and +0 DEX you would attack a bit faster.
     With +13 STR and +0 DEX you would get 1.1 blows/round.
     With +0 STR and +5 DEX you would attack a bit faster.
     With +7 STR and +5 DEX you would get 1.1 blows/round.
     With +0 STR and +8 DEX you would get 1.1 blows/round.
     Average damage/round: 13.2 vs. creatures not resistant to fire, 50 vs.
     creatures susceptible to fire, and 0 vs. others.

We recall back to Bree, donate some useless artifacts, drop the Mirkwood boots and the staff of *Destruction* in our house, and spend the night in the tavern. Our next destination, the Heart of the Earth, is quite far from Bree. We'll have to go to Rivendell, then east through Mirkwood forest, and then northeast. Better get well prepared before that...

[PowerWyrm]

Once we're ready, we begin our journey to the Heart of the Earth. We take the east road to Rivendell, cross the Misty mountains and Mirkwood forest (we'll be back here... but later). While we're at it, we put the Wounded Bear out of his misery. We continue to the northeast to the Iron Mountains and reach the path to the Heart of the Earth. We recall into the rocky dungeon at 2000ft, where we instantly spot an ancient gold dragon. The Queen Ant is also on the level, so we'll head in her direction instead. We find a Carved Oak amulet (of Inertia), a Waxy mushroom (of Sprinting)... and two artifacts in a chest!

p) the Fur Cloak of the Druedain [3,+10] <+4>
     Taken from a chest found at 2000 feet (level 40).

     +4 stealth.
     +4 searching skill.
     +4 infravision.
     Provides resistance to poison, dark.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, fire.

q) the Pair of Leather Boots of Wormtongue (-1,-1) [2,+0] <+2, +3>
     Taken from a chest found at 2000 feet (level 40).

     +2 intelligence.
     +2 dexterity.
     +2 stealth.
     +3 speed.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, fire.
     Makes you fall like a feather.

     When activated, it teleports you randomly up to 10 squares away.
     Takes 24 turns to recharge at your current speed.
     Your chance of success is 95.8%

The extra speed on the boots is probably worth losing resistance to time and two points of intelligence. Not sure about that cloak, unless we get a nice ring in the near future that forces us to get poison resistance elsewhere. Unfortunately, there's also a 13-headed hydra on the way to the Queen Ant, so we have to back up close to the ancient gold dragon, which is now awake. Let's put some distance while sprinting is still active. We don't manage to outrun the dragon, so we start casting frost bolts to lower his health while he's still far away and probably can't one-shot us with his sound breath. He breathes once when at 50% health, which does roughly 40 damage to us, so we stop caring about him and simply pelt him with shots. For our effort, we get another artifact.

p) the Robe of Incanus [2,+20] <+3>
     Dropped by an ancient gold dragon at 2000 feet (level 40).

     +3 intelligence.
     +3 wisdom.
     +3 searching skill.
     Provides resistance to acid, lightning, fire, cold, mana.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, fire.
     Sustains intelligence, wisdom.
     Speeds regeneration. Grants the ability to see invisible things. Prevents
     paralysis.

A great robe, perfect for endgame spellcasters. For now, sound resistance is probably more important than resistance to mana. But we clearly want that equipped if we hope clearing the Nether Realm or the Void. We wait for the slowing part of the sprinting effect to go away and, since there's no other way, we activate our cloak for double fire/poison resistance and face that 13-headed hydra. Fortunately for us, it's weak to cold, and only breathes poison once before dying. We go kill the Queen Ant for a (Blessed) morning star and two random artifacts:

c) the Seeker Arrow of Nendol (4d4) (+9,+5)
     Dropped by The Queen Ant at 2000 feet (level 40).

     Slays demons (powerfully).
     Branded with lightning.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, fire.
     Returns when thrown.

u) the Quarterstaff of Rathon (1d11) (+16,+13) <+4, +3>
     Dropped by The Queen Ant at 2000 feet (level 40).

     +4 intelligence.
     +3 dexterity.
     Provides resistance to lightning, fire, shards, nether, disenchantment.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, fire.
     Prevents paralysis.

     Combat info:
     This weapon should be wielded with both hands.
     1.1 blows/round.
     With +4 STR and +0 DEX you would get 1.3 blows/round.
     With +0 STR and +2 DEX you would get 1.3 blows/round.
     Average damage/round: 28.5.

We'll have to check with the bow we have stored in our house, but the damage with this arrow is probably better than our sling/shot combo. The quarterstaff is outright better compared to the beaked axe we're carrying for disenchanters, so we'll dump that axe when we recall to a town. We find an Alexandrite ring (of Soulkeeping), and reach...

Lvl: 30, HP: 240, SP: 234

Since there's nothing more to do on the level, we go down to 2050ft. We put on our telepathy staff and feel anxious about a fallen Maia, vampire lord and ancient silver dragon, plus probably more stuff we'd have a hard time to kill now. But we feel there are very good treasures on the level, so we'll still explore a bit. The vampire lord doesn't reveal to be a threat after all when he easily dies from our undead slaying pebble. And he drops two useful potions of healing. Since our pack is full and we're carrying a potion of enlightenment, might as well use it on this level. There's an unidentified rod and and unidentified potion, but nothing more of interest. One equippable item might be an artifact though. In fact, we rapidly find a heavy crossbow of extra shots that is better than the one we have stored at home. The rod is in the same room as the fallen Maia, so we approach silently (or as silently as a thunderlord can be), we ID it as a rod of Acid Bolts, and we leave the room. The new potion on the level is a Cyan potion... of Augmentation! Oh and there's ANOTHER one on the level! The ancient silver dragon is in a little + cell (a lesser vault), so we teleport him away and go loot the cell. Unfortunately, an undetected Ariel was also in the vault, and by the time we teleport her away, there's only one item remaining in the vault.

s) the Spear 'Nimloth' (1d6) (+11,+13) <+3>
     Found lying on the floor in a vault at 2050 feet (level 41).

     +3 stealth.
     +3 speed.
     Slays undead.
     Branded with cold.
     Provides resistance to cold.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, fire.
     Grants the ability to see invisible things. Blessed by the gods.

     Combat info:
     2.0 blows/round.
     With +1 STR and +0 DEX you would get 2.3 blows/round.
     With +0 STR and +1 DEX you would get 2.3 blows/round.
     Average damage/round: 63 vs. creatures not resistant to cold, 85 vs.
     creatures susceptible to cold, 63 vs. undead, and 48.4 vs. others.

One extra point of speed and see invisible compared to Til-i-arc. We'll lose three points of intelligence, but it will do. And we manage to reach that second potion of Augmentation anyway... We also find a Coral amulet (of infravision) and a ring of constitution (+3), but wearing it would only give us 20 more hit points. Finally we manage to find Ariel again, but this time we prepare ourselves with double resistance from our cloak plus a Speed potion and wipe her with nether bolts. We find a Brass rod (of Polymorph), a Tin wand (of Disable Traps), and since our pack is more than full now, we recall back to Bree. We restock, drop some stuff at home and donate more useless atifacts. We keep our sling over a bow/arrow combo because we still have more versatility with our arsenal of pebbles and shots.

We recall back to the Heart of the Earth and go down again to 2050ft. The place feels terribly dangerous, and we spot Eol and Adunaphel, along with two great crystal drakes, which seem to be in a vault in the middle of the level. Adunaphel finds us quickly, so we quaff Speed and start shooting our slay undead pebble. We need to stop often to heal damage from her nether bolts, but she finally dies. Her drops: a book of magic spells (Resistances of Scarabtarices), some bolts of slay giant, some magical stuff, her Ring, and some artifact gauntlets.

n) the Black Ring of Power of Belfin (+7,+1) <+2, +3, +1, +5>
     Dropped by Adunaphel the Quiet at 2050 feet (level 41).

     +2 strength.
     +3 intelligence.
     +1 wisdom.
     +2 dexterity.
     +1 constitution.
     +5 infravision.
     Provides resistance to lightning, disenchantment.
     Provides protection from confusion.
     Cannot be harmed by lightning.
     Sustains strength.
     Aggravates nearby creatures.
     Grants telepathy.

q) the Set of Caestus of Sir Robin (-50,-50) [5,+30] <+3, +1>
     Dropped by Adunaphel the Quiet at 2050 feet (level 41).

     +3 stealth.
     +3 searching skill.
     +3 infravision.
     +1 light.
     Provides resistance to acid, lightning, fire, cold, poison, nether, chaos,
     disenchantment.
     Provides protection from blindness.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, fire.
     Sustains strength, intelligence, wisdom, dexterity, constitution.
     Slows your metabolism. Makes you fall like a feather. Speeds
     regeneration. Grants the ability to see invisible things. Prevents
     paralysis. Sustains your life force. Makes you afraid of melee, and worse
     at shooting and casting spells.
     Radius 1 light.
     Grants telepathy.

Mixed blessing artifacts, not sure if they're worth keeping. We also clear a lesser vault (we have to dispel a ranger chieftain), find a Glowing mushroom (of Clear Mind), a Garnet ring (of Bodykeeping), and reach...

Lvl: 31, HP: 278, SP: 242

We should probably avoid Eol, so he gets teleported away as soon as the wakes up. And the crystal drakes too. We start looting the vault they were in, find a book of hunting (Killing from Afar), a cursed Obsidian amulet (of Speed), and these artifacts:

t) the Dagger of Enethori (1d4) (+17,+25) [+18] <+2, +3>
     Found lying on the floor in a vault at 2050 feet (level 41).

     +2 strength.
     +3 wisdom.
     +2 dexterity.
     +2 infravision.
     +3 speed.
     Slays animals, giants, dragons (powerfully), undead (powerfully).
     Branded with weak poison.
     Provides resistance to dark.
     Cannot be harmed by acid.
     Sustains wisdom.
     Slows your metabolism. Makes you fall like a feather. Grants the ability
     to see invisible things. Blessed by the gods. Aggravates nearby
     creatures.
     Grants the ability to sense undead.
     Grants the ability to sense giants.
     Grants the ability to sense dragons.

     When activated, it allows you to randomly breathe sound, shards, chaos or
     disenchantment for 250 points of damage.
     Takes 313 to 460 turns to recharge at your current speed.
     Your chance of success is 97.0%

     Combat info:
     3.3 blows/round.
     With +1 STR and +0 DEX you would get 3.4 blows/round.
     With +0 STR and +1 DEX you would get 3.5 blows/round.
     Average damage/round: 137.8 vs. creatures not resistant to poison, 137.8
     vs. animals, 146.5 vs. giants, 164.1 vs. dragons, 164.1 vs. undead, and
     129.2 vs. others.

u) the Spear of Rundi (1d6) (+10,+16) <+4, +2, +3>
     Found lying on the floor in a vault at 2050 feet (level 41).

     +4 strength.
     +2 wisdom.
     +3 infravision.
     Branded with weak poison.
     Provides resistance to acid, disenchantment.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, fire.
     Sustains wisdom.
     Prevents paralysis. Blessed by the gods.
     Grants telepathy.

     When activated, it grants or extends protection from evil for 93+1d25
     turns.
     Takes 78 to 86 turns to recharge at your current speed.
     Your chance of success is 95.9%

     Combat info:
     3.0 blows/round.
     With +1 STR and +0 DEX you would get 3.3 blows/round.
     With +0 STR and +3 DEX you would get 3.3 blows/round.
     Average damage/round: 109.3 vs. creatures not resistant to poison, and
     98.4 vs. others.

Again, very nice, but not enough to consider using them. There'a another lesser vault on this crowded level, so why not clear that one too. We find a Light Green potion (of Dragon Breath), a Zirconium wand (of Acid Bolts), and pretty much nothing else. Our pack is full again, and after exploring only one level, we have to go back to the town again. We buy a scroll of Remove Curse and remove the curse on the Speed amulet we found, so we're now at +9 speed. We buy a potion of enlightenment and a scroll of Banishment from the Black Market and store them at home.

And back to 2050ft we go. The level is quite dull, so we quickly go down to 2100ft. The place seems not dangerous, but we feel superb treasures! Another useless deep book maybe. Mapping our starting area, we find out we're on a cavern level... well that's logical for the "Heart of the Earth", and we'll probably find more cavern levels as we go deeper. And as planned, we find a book of Summoning (Anti-summoning) on the level. We look for the closest stairs, kill an ancient blue dragon on the way... and he drops a book of Necromancy (Dark Evocations)! Finally we can learn more spells: Follow (order undead monsters to follow us), Ice Storm, Haste Self, Resistance (we won't need our cloak of lordly resistance anymore), Undead Form (we can die and play as a ghost if we want), Drain Life, and Teleport Level. We cast them all (except Undead Form) for the xp, and Teleport Level brings us back up to 2050ft. We find a convenient trap door in the corridor we start in and trigger it to go back to 2100ft. We spot a nasty vault south of our starting position, with all sorts of big Ds and even an iron lich. Said lich manages to find his way to us and starts summoning undead and casting water balls like mad, so we have to teleport away. We end up east to the vault next to Uvatha, which will pose less problems than the bloody lich. We kill him, but he only drops his ring:

q) the Black Ring of Power of Thlos <+1, +3>
     Dropped by Uvatha the Horseman at 2100 feet (level 42).

     +1 infravision.
     +3 tunneling.
     Cannot be harmed by lightning.
     Sustains strength.
     Slows your metabolism. Speeds regeneration. Aggravates nearby creatures.
     Grants the ability to sense evil.
     Grants telepathic awareness.

Junk. We teleport away most of the dangerous stuff from the vault and collect our loot: an Aluminium-Plated rod (of Illumination), a Molybdenum rod (of Slow Monster), a Malachite ring (of Slaying), a Gelatinous mushroom (of Stoneskin). We kill Uldor, and he drops Anarion.

r) the Large Metal Shield of Anárion [12,+20] {Uldor the Accursed}
     Dropped by Uldor the Accursed at 2100 feet (level 42).

     Provides resistance to acid, lightning, fire, cold.
     Cannot be harmed by acid.
     Sustains strength, intelligence, wisdom, dexterity, constitution.

Nice if you like sustains. We take the closest stairs to 2150ft to end up right next to a zoo! Since most of the stuff inside is weak to cold, we clear it and reach...

Lvl: 32, HP: 285, SP: 250

Inside the zoo, we find a Titanium rod (of Detection) and a Copper amulet (of the Moon). We kill Fire Phantom and get this rapier:

t) the Rapier 'Arthlo' (1d6) (+20,+15) <+3>
     Dropped by Fire Phantom at 2150 feet (level 43).

     +3 dexterity.
     Slays dragons.
     Provides immunity to cold.
     Provides protection from blindness.
     Cannot be harmed by acid.
     Blessed by the gods.
     Grants the ability to sense dragons.

     Combat info:
     3.3 blows/round.
     With +1 STR and +0 DEX you would get 3.5 blows/round.
     With +0 STR and +1 DEX you would get 3.5 blows/round.
     Average damage/round: 116.2 vs. dragons, and 91.5 vs. others.

Nice swap item for cold immunity. We find a Shimmering potion (of Strength). We also kill Medusa, but we only get a copy of Raal's Tome of Destruction (Magic) and Forces of the Mind (Sorcery). And that's it for 2150ft. We go down to 2200ft where we don't find anything exceptional, except Akhorahil which we can probably kill. And indeed we do. One of his summons drops a Mithril-Plated wand (of Cold Balls). Akhorahil himself drops a bunch of magical stuff and his ring:

q) the Black Ring of Power of Falad <+3, +1>
     Dropped by Akhorahil the Blind at 2200 feet (level 44).

     +3 strength.
     +3 intelligence.
     +1 wisdom.
     +3 constitution.
     +1 light.
     It causes your melee attacks to slay undead (powerfully).
     Provides immunity to cold.
     Provides resistance to light, dark.
     Provides protection from confusion.
     Cannot be harmed by lightning.
     Sustains wisdom.
     Aggravates nearby creatures.
     Radius 1 light.
     Grants the ability to sense undead.

We flee from a drolem, which we can't kill fast enough at the moment. And there was actually something worthwhile on the level: Cambeleg.

s) the Set of Leather Gloves 'Cambeleg' (+8,+8) [1,+15] <+2>
     Found lying on the floor at 2200 feet (level 44).

     +2 strength.
     +2 constitution.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, fire.
     Prevents paralysis.

Tough choice here... the +2 to constitution is nice, but we need Paurhach for regeneration and we don't really need the melee damage boost. We'll keep these gloves for later, although this means having to carry them in our inventory for now (remember that we cannot drop true artifacts in our house). Pack is full again, which means another trip back to town. We get a potion of Toughness from our home and quaff it since our internal constitution is 18, then we won't need to care about these potions again. While in town, we cast Undead Form for the xp and revive at the Temple immediately. Nothing to buy in the shops (at least that we can afford), so we resume diving.

Back at 2200ft, we spot really out of depth monsters, like Ulik or a great ethereal wyrm, both which could obliterate us in one round. They seem to be in a small vault though. Kavlax is also in the room we start in, and Quaker close to use in a room to the south. We can probably kill Kavlax with Drain Life, and while hasted we have a speed advantage. And indeed it works (he breathes only nexus and lightning once). The first thing we find in the room even before looking at Kavlax's loot is Giver of Sleep:

f) the Mithril Shot 'Giver of Sleep' (2d4) (+5,+5)
     Found lying on the floor at 2200 feet (level 44).

     Slays undead (powerfully).
     Branded with fire.
     Returns when thrown.

     Combat info:
     2 shots/round.
     Hits targets up to 100 feet away.
     Average damage/round: 215.2 vs. creatures not resistant to fire, 344.2
     vs. creatures susceptible to fire, 301.2 vs. undead, and 86 vs. others.

The fiery counterpart to the Ripper, and with that we get all four brands for our sling. Kavlax's drops are three magical items, and these gloves:

p) the Set of Mithril Gauntlets of Cuand [6,+8] <+1>
     Dropped by Kavlax the Many-Headed at 2200 feet (level 44).

     +1 strength.
     +1 speed.
     Provides resistance to lightning, poison, nexus.
     Provides protection from blindness.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, fire.
     Speeds regeneration. Prevents paralysis.

I guess we can get rid of Paurhach now... We feel there are excellent treasures on the level, probably good stuff in that vault with Ulik and the wyrm. It's gonna be tricky to deal with them, as they have a wide range of awareness and both ignore walls. But first, Quaker. Strangely, for an earth elemental, he doesn't resist acid. Around a corner, we find... a house foundation stone. And as we approach to pick it up, it turns into a monster: Emperor Mimic. We kill him and continue towards the vault. We map the area and find out they're in an Infinity vault. With a lot of stuff. And Ulik is already awake. But he breaks out the vault and we teleport him away. We start clearing vault monsters, and the wyrm wakes up. We need to teleport him away before he breathes nether and end our life. Next on the line is Scatha, which we will kill. And we do. And we reach...

Lvl: 33, HP: 330, SP: 258

We check Scatha's drops, and find this seeker bolt:

c) the Seeker Bolt 'Belerion' (4d5) (+1,+7)
     Dropped by Scatha the Worm at 2200 feet (level 44).

     Slays orcs, trolls, dragons.
     Branded with weak cold.
     Cannot be harmed by acid.
     Returns when thrown.

Nice damage and a couple slays. We'll check our damage output with a crossbow back in town. The rest of the vault is trivial to clear, and we loot a potion of Augmentation, a studder leather armor of Elvenkind (shards), Aiglos, an Aluminium wand (of Drain Life), a Lead wand (of Fire Balls), our fifth book (Advanced Necromancy), and this mithril bolt:

d) the Mithril Bolt 'Ninach' (5d5) (+0,+7)
     Found lying on the floor in a vault at 2200 feet (level 44).

     Slays orcs, giants.
     Branded with fire.
     Cannot be harmed by acid.
     Returns when thrown.

Another great find for shooting with a crossbow.

u) the Spear 'Aiglos' (3d6) (+15,+25) [+5] <+2, +4>
     Found lying on the floor in a vault at 2200 feet (level 44).

     +2 wisdom.
     +4 dexterity.
     Slays evil creatures, orcs, trolls, undead (powerfully).
     Branded with cold.
     Provides resistance to cold.
     Provides protection from fear.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, fire.
     Slows your metabolism. Prevents paralysis. Blessed by the gods.
     Grants the ability to sense undead.

     When aimed, it shoots a radius-2 frost ball that inflicts 96 points of
     damage at the centre, which your device skill increases by 76 percent.
     Takes 70 turns to recharge at your current speed.
     Your chance of success is 96.2%

     Combat info:
     3.7 blows/round.
     With +1 STR and +0 DEX you would get 3.8 blows/round.
     With +0 STR and +1 DEX you would get 4.0 blows/round.
     Average damage/round: 257.5 vs. creatures not resistant to cold, 380.7
     vs. creatures susceptible to cold, 216.8 vs. evil creatures, 257.5 vs.
     orcs, 257.5 vs. trolls, 339.6 vs. undead, and 175.7 vs. others.

This is worth considering using, as 175 vs all and 216 vs evil isn't that bad at this point. We learn four spells from our new book: Cold Brand (weapon), Detect Treasure, Word of Recall and Shield. We go back to town to sell some junk arts and check our new bolts with the crossbow we have stored at home (+16 heavy crossbow of extra shots). The result clearly favors the xbow vs the sling: we do roughly 300 damage vs all with the xbow (400-500 with fire/cold brand) instead of 80 with the sling (150-200 with brands). We switch our shooter and make room in our quiver in case we find more missiles. We check the shops and buy two scrolls of banishment from the Black Market. Still got a bit of exploring to do in the Heart of the Earth...

We land on a dull level, so we immediately go down to 2250ft. The level also being dull, we cast detection spells over and over before realizing that 2250ft is the bottom of the dungeon and there are no down stairs. So we start looking for the dungeon boss. We can pretty much obliterate anything that doesn't resist fire and cold at this point, so it should not be hard to finish this dungeon quickly. And we finally find Golgarach, the Living Rock and slay him. He drops a light crossbow of the haradrim, which is exactly the same as our heavy crossbow of extra shots, but since it's todam is lower, we keep our current crossbow. Finally we're done with this dungeon, so we recall back to Bree and check our next destination: the Small Water Cave. Let's have a look at our stats and equipment before taking another nap...

  [PWMAngband 1.1.12 Character Dump]

 Name   PowerWyrm     Age             19         Self  RB  CB  EB   Best
 Sex    Male          Height      14'11"  STR:  18/88  +6  -3  +4 18/158
 Race   Thunderlord   Weight    16st 5lb  INT! 18/100  +2  +3  +9 18/***
 Class  Necromancer   Turns used:         WIS:     15  +1  +0  +4  18/20
 Title  Conjurer      Game         39786  DEX:     16  +1  +0  +4  18/30
 HP     363/363       Player      200150  CON:  18/45  +3  -2  +4  18/95
 SP     251/258       Active      178025

 Level                 33    Armor      [53,+75]    Saving Throw     72%
 Cur Exp           829874                           Stealth          Bad
 Max Exp           829874    Melee       1d6,+23    Disarm - phys.   78%
 Adv Exp          1045000    To-hit       32,+21    Disarm - magic  100%
                             Blows      3.0/turn    Magic Devices     91
 Gold               91412                           Searching        89%
 Burden          160.8 lb    Shoot to-dam    +16    Infravision    40 ft
 Overweight      -19.1 lb    To-hit       24,+21    Speed             10
 MaxDepth     2250' (L45)    Shots        2/turn

 You are one of several children of a Thunderlord. You have a Blue Eagle.

Ac :.........+...+ Nxs:........+.+.+.
El :........+++..+ Ntr:........+.....
Fi :.........*...+ Chs:..............
Co :+....+..+....+ Dsn:..............
Po :.......+..+... FF :...........+.+
Lt :.............. Fe :.....+........
Dk :.....+.++..... Bld:.........++...
Snd:......+....... Cnf:............+.
Shr:.............. Stn:..............

Lit:.........+.... Tun:..............
Rgn:..........+... Spd:+...+.....++..
ESP:.............. EA :..............
SI :+............. XS :.+............
FA :........+++.+. XM :..............
HL :.........+.... Dig:..............
Stl:+......+...+.. -HP:..............
Src:.......+....+. Afr:..............
Inf:.......+...... Agg:..............

Rad:..............
Evi:..............
Ani:..............
Und:..............
Dem:..............
Orc:..............
Tro:.........+....
Gia:..............
Dra:.............+


  [Character Equipment]

a) the Spear 'Nimloth' (1d6) (+11,+13) <+3>
     Found lying on the floor in a vault at 2050 feet (level 41).

     +3 stealth.
     +3 speed.
     Slays undead.
     Branded with cold.
     Provides resistance to cold.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, fire.
     Grants the ability to see invisible things. Blessed by the gods.

     Combat info:
     3.0 blows/round.
     With +1 STR and +0 DEX you would get 3.3 blows/round.
     With +0 STR and +1 DEX you would get 3.3 blows/round.
     Average damage/round: 105.1 vs. creatures not resistant to cold, 138.4
     vs. creatures susceptible to cold, 105.1 vs. undead, and 82.7 vs. others.

b) a Heavy Crossbow of Extra Shots (x4) (+11,+16) <+1>
     Found lying on the floor at 2050 feet (level 41).

     +1 shooting speed.

c) a Turquoise Ring of Intelligence <+3>
     Dropped by a mature law drake at 2150 feet (level 43).

     +3 intelligence.
     Sustains intelligence.

d) a Platinum Ring of Constitution <+3>
     Found lying on the floor in a vault at 1300 feet (level 26).

     +3 constitution.
     Sustains constitution.

e) an Obsidian Amulet of Speed <+3>
     Found lying on the floor in a vault at 2050 feet (level 41).

     +3 speed.

f) the Phial of Amannar <+4>
     Dropped by Lokkak, the Ogre Chieftain at 1300 feet (level 26).

     +4 intelligence.
     Provides resistance to cold, dark.
     Provides protection from fear.
     Cannot be harmed by fire.
     Sustains constitution.

     When activated, it lights up a radius-3 area, or the entire room if you
     are in one, inflicting 2d15 points of damage on any light-sensitive
     creatures within the radius.
     Takes 22 to 40 turns to recharge at your current speed.
     Your chance of success is 97.0%

g) Gold Dragon Scale Mail (-2) [28,+17]
     Dropped by Draebor, the Imp at 1700 feet (level 34).

     Provides resistance to sound.

h) the Fur Cloak of the Druedain [3,+10] <+4>
     Taken from a chest found at 2000 feet (level 40).

     +4 stealth.
     +4 searching skill.
     +4 infravision.
     Provides resistance to poison, dark.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, fire.

i) the Orcish Shield of Hungorod [12,+17] <+1>
     Dropped by Ulfang the Black at 1700 feet (level 34).

     +1 strength.
     +1 constitution.
     Provides resistance to lightning, cold, dark, nexus, nether.
     Cannot be harmed by acid.
     Prevents paralysis.

j) the Hard Leather Cap of Ciryonaed [2,+21] <+4, +1>
     Found lying on the floor of a labyrinth at 950 feet (level 19).

     +4 wisdom.
     +1 light.
     Provides immunity to fire.
     Provides resistance to acid, lightning.
     Provides protection from blindness.
     Cannot be harmed by acid.
     Prevents paralysis. Sustains your life force.
     Radius 1 light.
     Grants the ability to sense trolls.

k) the Set of Mithril Gauntlets of Cuand [6,+8] <+1>
     Dropped by Kavlax the Many-Headed at 2200 feet (level 44).

     +1 strength.
     +1 speed.
     Provides resistance to lightning, poison, nexus.
     Provides protection from blindness.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, fire.
     Speeds regeneration. Prevents paralysis.

l) the Pair of Leather Boots of Wormtongue (-1,-1) [2,+0] <+2, +3>
     Taken from a chest found at 2000 feet (level 40).

     +2 intelligence.
     +2 dexterity.
     +2 stealth.
     +3 speed.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, fire.
     Makes you fall like a feather.

     When activated, it teleports you randomly up to 10 squares away.
     Takes 40 turns to recharge at your current speed.
     Your chance of success is 96.2%

m) the Shovel of Fauron <+2>
     Dropped by Mughash the Kobold Lord at 1050 feet (level 21).

     +2 strength.
     +2 dexterity.
     +2 searching skill.
     Provides resistance to nexus.
     Provides protection from confusion.
     Prevents paralysis.


  [Character Quiver]

a) the Mithril Bolt 'Ninach' (5d5) (+0,+7) {*@f0}
     Found lying on the floor in a vault at 2200 feet (level 44).

     Slays orcs, giants.
     Branded with fire.
     Cannot be harmed by acid.
     Returns when thrown.

     Combat info:
     2 shots/round.
     Hits targets up to 140 feet away.
     Average damage/round: 543.4 vs. creatures not resistant to fire, 776.4
     vs. creatures susceptible to fire, 543.4 vs. orcs, 543.4 vs. giants, and
     310.4 vs. others.

b) the Seeker Bolt 'Belerion' (4d5) (+1,+7)
     Dropped by Scatha the Worm at 2200 feet (level 44).

     Slays orcs, trolls, dragons.
     Branded with weak cold.
     Cannot be harmed by acid.
     Returns when thrown.

     Combat info:
     2 shots/round.
     Hits targets up to 140 feet away.
     Average damage/round: 429.4 vs. creatures not resistant to cold, 572.6
     vs. creatures susceptible to cold, 501 vs. orcs, 501 vs. trolls, 501 vs.
     dragons, and 286.2 vs. others.

c) the Iron Shot 'Ripper' (2d4) (+15,+5)
     Dropped by Sangahyando of Umbar at 1300 feet (level 26).

     Branded with cold.
     Returns when thrown.

d) the Mithril Shot 'Giver of Sleep' (2d4) (+5,+5)
     Found lying on the floor at 2200 feet (level 44).

     Slays undead (powerfully).
     Branded with fire.
     Returns when thrown.


  [Character Inventory]

a) 3 Books of Necromancy [Necromancy for Beginners]

b) 3 Books of Necromancy [Dark Conjurings]

c) 2 Books of Necromancy [Necromantic Incantations]

d) 2 Books of Necromancy [Dark Evocations]
     Cannot be harmed by fire.

e) a Book of Necromancy [Advanced Necromancy] {*@R-15,20}
     Cannot be harmed by fire.

f) 30 Light Yellow Potions of Cure Critical Wounds

g) 10 Pungent Potions of Restore Mana

h) 13 Scrolls titled "milemo quo" of Teleportation

i) 3 White Gold Rods of Magic Mapping

j) a Zinc Rod of Teleport Other

k) 5 Gold-Plated Wands of Teleport Other (35 charges)

l) the Robe of Incanus [2,+20] <+3>
     Dropped by an ancient gold dragon at 2000 feet (level 40).

     +3 intelligence.
     +3 wisdom.
     +3 searching skill.
     Provides resistance to acid, lightning, fire, cold, mana.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, fire.
     Sustains intelligence, wisdom.
     Speeds regeneration. Grants the ability to see invisible things. Prevents
     paralysis.

m) the Set of Leather Gloves 'Cambeleg' (+8,+8) [1,+15] <+2>
     Found lying on the floor at 2200 feet (level 44).

     +2 strength.
     +2 constitution.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, fire.
     Prevents paralysis.

n) the Elven Staff 'Aegil' (1d1) (+0,+0) <+2, +1>
     Dropped by The Wight-King of the Barrow-downs at 1750 feet (level 35).

     +2 intelligence.
     +2 dexterity.
     +1 light.
     Provides resistance to fire, nexus.
     Provides protection from fear.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, fire.
     Sustains constitution.
     Speeds regeneration. Grants the ability to see invisible things.
     Radius 1 light.
     Grants telepathy.

     When activated, it grants or extends protection from evil for 99+1d25
     turns.
     Takes 98 to 108 turns to recharge at your current speed.
     Your chance of success is 89.3%

     Combat info:
     This weapon should be wielded with both hands.
     3.8 blows/round.
     With +1 STR and +0 DEX you would get 4.0 blows/round.
     With +0 STR and +1 DEX you would get 4.0 blows/round.
     Average damage/round: 42.2.

o) the Spear 'Aiglos' (3d6) (+15,+25) [+5] <+2, +4>
     Found lying on the floor in a vault at 2200 feet (level 44).

     +2 wisdom.
     +4 dexterity.
     Slays evil creatures, orcs, trolls, undead (powerfully).
     Branded with cold.
     Provides resistance to cold.
     Provides protection from fear.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, fire.
     Slows your metabolism. Prevents paralysis. Blessed by the gods.
     Grants the ability to sense undead.

     When aimed, it shoots a radius-2 frost ball that inflicts 96 points of
     damage at the centre, which your device skill increases by 76 percent.
     Takes 70 turns to recharge at your current speed.
     Your chance of success is 96.2%

     Combat info:
     3.7 blows/round.
     With +1 STR and +0 DEX you would get 3.8 blows/round.
     With +0 STR and +1 DEX you would get 4.0 blows/round.
     Average damage/round: 257.5 vs. creatures not resistant to cold, 380.7
     vs. creatures susceptible to cold, 216.8 vs. evil creatures, 257.5 vs.
     orcs, 257.5 vs. trolls, 339.6 vs. undead, and 175.7 vs. others.

p) the Quarterstaff of Rathon (1d11) (+16,+13) <+4, +3>
     Dropped by The Queen Ant at 2000 feet (level 40).

     +4 intelligence.
     +3 dexterity.
     Provides resistance to lightning, fire, shards, nether, disenchantment.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, fire.
     Prevents paralysis.

     Combat info:
     This weapon should be wielded with both hands.
     2.3 blows/round.
     With +6 STR and +0 DEX you would get 2.7 blows/round.
     With +0 STR and +2 DEX you would get 2.8 blows/round.
     Average damage/round: 72.8.


  [House List]

a) an Elven Cloak [6,+7] <+1>
b) an Ironwood Staff of *Destruction* (1 charge)
c) a Short Bow of Numenor (x3) (+15,+13) <+1>
d) a Cypress Staff of Power (3 charges)
e) an Aluminium-Plated Rod of Illumination
f) 10 Oily Yellow Potions of Healing
g) a Pair of Leather Sandals of Mirkwood [1,+5]
h) a Sling of Extra Shots (x2) (+12,+11) <+1>
i) the Seeker Arrow of Nendol (4d4) (+9,+5)
j) the Rounded Pebble of North (1d2) (+19,+1)
k) the Iron Shot 'Tardin' (1d4) (+11,+0)
l) 3 Scrolls titled "se sus reculor" of Banishment
m) 3 Cloudy Potions of Enlightenment
n) 4 Scrolls titled "phario ruma se" of Deep Descent
o) a Vermilion Potion of *Healing*

[PowerWyrm]

The Small Water Cave is a little watery dungeon at the entrance to the Mines of Moria. We should be able to recall at the bottom of the dungeon and aim straight for the boss. We leave Bree in the morning and recall near Rivendell. We should be able to reach the dungeon easily by going south from there. And indeed nothing noticeable happens during our travel. We recall to 2250ft... which is clearly a small labyrinth level filled with nasty stuff, including a lesser black reaver, great balance drake and ancient multihued dragon, all very close and prone to wake up very fast. We should probably flee. In fact, we'll use teleport level immediately. Back to 2200ft, we don't see any threat close, so we start exploring the level, hoping to find some stairs down quickly. We find a potion of constitution on the level, raising our hps to 396, which should be enough against the boss and his water balls. We find some stairs down and go back to 2250ft. A "terribly dangerous level", but nothing in sight. We equip our telepathy staff and detect our boss on the level, but otherwise no real threat (except maybe an ancient power dragon, but he's on the opposite corner of the level compared to the boss). On our way, we get attacked by Shadowfax, and unfortunately we have to slay Gandalf's steed. We make our way to the Watcher in the Water, haste ourselves and start shooting our fiery bolts at him. Fortunately for us, we stay out of reach of his deadly tentacles and we only have to suffer a water ball once. Unfortunately for him, he doesn't resist fire and falls quickly. For our effort, we get some boots of stability, armor of resistance, and these three random artifacts:

m) the Amulet of Deliad <+3>
     Dropped by The Watcher in the Water at 2250 feet (level 45).

     You do not know the full extent of this item's powers.
     +3 infravision.
     Provides resistance to light, dark, sound.
     Provides protection from fear.
     Sustains your life force.
     Grants telepathic awareness.

Not that great, but if we find some good body armor, we could use it for the light and sound resistances.

p) the Pair of Steel Shod Boots 'Lasaereg' [7,+27] <+4, +3, +1>
     Dropped by The Watcher in the Water at 2250 feet (level 45).

     +4 wisdom.
     +3 dexterity.
     +1 constitution.
     Provides resistance to cold.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, fire.
     Sustains intelligence.
     Makes you fall like a feather.
     Grants the ability to sense dragons.

Useless.

r) the Main Gauche of Arthiar (1d5) (+26,+10) <+3, +1>
     Dropped by The Watcher in the Water at 2250 feet (level 45).

     +3 strength.
     +1 light.
     Slays dragons, demons (powerfully).
     Branded with lightning.
     Provides resistance to lightning.
     Provides protection from confusion.
     Cannot be harmed by acid.
     Grants the ability to see invisible things.
     Radius 1 light.
     Grants the ability to sense evil.
     Grants the ability to sense dragons.

     When activated, it inflicts 120 points of damage on all evil monsters in
     sight, heals 50 hit points, cures all temporary negative effects, and
     grants protection from evil for 1d25+3*clvl turns.
     Takes 294 to 360 turns to recharge at your current speed.
     Your chance of success is 95.9%

     Combat info:
     4.0 blows/round.
     Average damage/round: 132.8 vs. creatures not resistant to lightning,
     132.8 vs. dragons, 158.4 vs. demons, and 107.2 vs. others.

Also useless. We recall back to Bree and donate them to the shops. We drop the randart amulet in our house and check our next destination: the Helcaraxe.

[PowerWyrm]

The icy land of the Helcaraxe lies straight north from Bree. We leave town and recall to the Orc Cave to save us some time. Soon we reach the mountains of the north, but instead of going west and around, we first go east to the nearby town of Carn Dum. This is where the Angband dungeon, home of Morgoth, is located, and we'll be back there soon to slay its infamous master. We check the shops quickly, and buy a scroll of mass banishment from the Black Market. Since it's late in the evening, we enter the tavern and spend the night there. The next morning, we leave town by recalling west and continue west and around the mountains to the entrance to the Helcaraxe. We recall at 2250ft inside the icy cavernous dungeon were we equip our telepathy staff and detect Moltor, the Dwarven Archer in the distance. We pay a visit to the old friend and claim his treasures. We get the Star of Elendil, and... the seeker arrow he was constantly shooting at us!

n) the Star of Elendil <+3>
     Dropped by Moltor, the Dwarven Archer at 2250 feet (level 45).

     +3 light.
     Cannot be harmed by fire.
     Grants the ability to see invisible things.
     Radius 3 light.

     When activated, it maps out a portion of the level around you.
     Takes 102 to 200 turns to recharge at your current speed.
     Your chance of success is 94.8%

Finally a permanent light source with light. We'll have to swap our rods of magic mapping for rods of illumination next time we go back to town.

c) the Seeker Arrow of Lorion (4d4) (+10,+6)
     Dropped by Moltor, the Dwarven Archer at 2250 feet (level 45).

     Slays orcs, giants.
     Branded with weak lightning.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, fire.
     Returns when thrown.

Lovely. We take the closest stairs down to 2300ft. Gorlim is on the level, and we should be able to kill him. We grab a few corpses on our way and raise them to block him inside a corridor. Unfortunately, the poor wights we raised only last two rounds against Gorlim's melee attacks. We switch to shoot and phase (he doesn't resist fire), heal when the big mana bolt comes out (we should probably have switched to the robe of Incanus for the mana resistance, but we only had to suffer once from the spell), and easily kill him. But we only get a pair of magical boots from his corpse. Nothing interesting on the level, we go deeper. Next level is a cavern level with no dangerous monster around, but we feel something worthwhile on it, so we explore it until we find this awl-pike:

u) the Awl-Pike of Namir (1d8) (+13,+21) [+1]
     Found lying on the floor of a cavern at 2350 feet (level 47).

     Slays evil creatures, trolls, giants, dragons, undead.
     Branded with cold.
     Provides immunity to fire.
     Provides resistance to cold.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, fire.
     Sustains dexterity.

     When activated, it attempts to put to sleep all monsters within line of
     sight.
     Takes 123 to 136 turns to recharge at your current speed.
     Your chance of success is 93.7%

     Combat info:
     2.0 blows/round.
     With +7 STR and +0 DEX you would get 2.3 blows/round.
     With +0 STR and +2 DEX you would get 2.3 blows/round.
     Average damage/round: 95 vs. creatures not resistant to cold, 124.4 vs.
     creatures susceptible to cold, 85.2 vs. evil creatures, 95 vs. trolls, 95
     vs. giants, 95 vs. dragons, 95 vs. undead, and 75.4 vs. others.

Nothing else except fire immunity, and we already have that on our hat. We also find a Wrinkled mushroom (of Second Sight), a scroll (of *Remove Curse*), an Iron rod (of Fire Bolts), a Zinc wand (of Fire Bolts), and this amulet:

o) the Jewel 'Ladon' <+3, +1>
     Taken from a chest found at 2350 feet (level 47).

     You do not know the full extent of this item's powers.
     +3 constitution.
     +1 searching skill.
     Provides immunity to acid.
     Provides resistance to lightning, fire, cold, light.
     Sustains dexterity.

     When activated, it causes a radius-10 earthquake around you.
     Takes 77 to 85 turns to recharge at your current speed.
     Your chance of success is 93.7%

Immunity to acid and +3 to constitution... probably worth losing 3 speed for it. But our pack is already full, and we recall to make some room and changes in our inventory. We sell some arts, including the now useless lightless phial, restock a bit and go back to the dungeon. We recall to 2350ft next to Mim, which gets promptly stunned and killed. He drops a blessed weapon, and this studded leather armor:

o) the Studded Leather Armour of Aredh (-1) [12,+21] <+4>
     Dropped by Mîm, Betrayer of Turin at 2350 feet (level 47).

     +4 dexterity.
     Provides resistance to acid, poison, light, dark.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, fire.

     When activated, it heals 35% of max HP (minimum 300HP), cures all
     stunning, heals all cut damage, neutralizes poison, and cures blindness,
     confusion and amnesia.
     Takes 294 to 360 turns to recharge at your current speed.
     Your chance of success is 93.5%

Meh. The activation is nice, but sound resistance is probably more important at this time. We map the area and find out we're again on a cavern level. Nothing interesting, we go deeper. Next level has Lorgan and Ren on it, as well as a zoo with many winged horrors. We should kill the uniques and maybe clear the zoo. Ren is the first to come to us, so we welcome him with ice storms and mithril bolts. He dies pitifully, only casting a nether bolt once. We loot all kind of goodies from his corpse, including Belegennon, Dethanc, his Ring and this mithril plate:

o) the Mithril Plate Mail 'Agondur' (-3) [60,+16] <+1>
     Dropped by Ren the Unclean at 2400 feet (level 48).

     +1 intelligence.
     Provides resistance to poison.
     Cannot be harmed by acid.
     Makes you fall like a feather. Sustains your life force.
     Grants telepathic awareness.

Well I guess it's decent, but still no endgame armor. Will get donated.

n) the Mithril Chain Mail 'Belegennon' (-1) [28,+20] <+4, +2>
     Dropped by Ren the Unclean at 2400 feet (level 48).

     +4 dexterity.
     +2 stealth.
     Provides resistance to acid, lightning, fire, cold, poison.
     Cannot be harmed by acid.

     When activated, it teleports you randomly up to 10 squares away.
     Takes 5 turns to recharge at your current speed.
     Your chance of success is 91.6%

And this one.

s) the Dagger 'Dethanc' (2d4) (+9,+12) [+10]
     Dropped by Ren the Unclean at 2400 feet (level 48).

     Branded with lightning.
     Provides resistance to lightning.
     Cannot be harmed by acid.

     When aimed, it shoots a beam of lightning that inflicts 6d6 points of
     damage, which your device skill increases by 89 percent.
     Takes 17 to 30 turns to recharge at your current speed.
     Your chance of success is 97.2%

     Combat info:
     3.8 blows/round.
     With +1 STR and +0 DEX you would get 4.0 blows/round.
     With +0 STR and +2 DEX you would get 4.0 blows/round.
     Average damage/round: 146.3 vs. creatures not resistant to lightning, and
     106.3 vs. others.

And this one too...

l) the Black Ring of Power of Aelerad {cursed}
     Dropped by Ren the Unclean at 2400 feet (level 48).

     It randomly makes you teleport.
     It occasionally makes a loud noise.
     It paralyses you every now and then.
     It makes you too scared to fight.
     Provides resistance to lightning.
     Cannot be harmed by lightning.
     Makes you afraid of melee, and worse at shooting and casting spells.
     Prevents teleportation. Aggravates nearby creatures.

Curses on randarts have been towned down... but when something gets cursed now, it gets *CURSED*. Luckily for us, we can also donate this piece of crap... While we're on the level, we also kill Lorgan. He drops the pebble of Moon-Stone, and these boots:

r) the Pair of Witan Boots of Winas [10,+19] <-2, +7>
     Dropped by Lorgan, Chief of the Easterlings at 2400 feet (level 48).

     -2 stealth.
     +7 speed.
     Provides resistance to light.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, fire.

Basically noisy boots of speed. We'll swap Wormtongue for these and Nimloth for our shards/disenchantment randart quarterstaff.

c) the Rounded Pebble of Moon-Stone (1d2) (+10,+10)
     Dropped by Lorgan, Chief of the Easterlings at 2400 feet (level 48).

     Slays animals.
     Returns when thrown.

Good damage, we'll keep it if we find a great sling. At this point, our pack is overloaded with stuff and we have to drop our basic books to pick up everything. We do so and recall back to Bree to make some room. With a lighter inventory, we recall back into the dungeon at 2400ft. Seems interesting. We get harassed by a Will o' the wisp who manages to make us hallucinate just when a lesser black reaver decides to wake up, so we teleport away. We kill a dreadmaster for a potion of Augmentation. We also kill a great balance drake, and reach...

Lvl: 34, HP: 437, SP: 260

Upon arriving on the level, we spotted an out of depth true believer (along with a death knight) that was not asleep, and we supposed he was trapped in a vault... but this is not the case, and he's now approaching dangerously. These antimagic users must be treated with extreme care: they're very fast, hit very hard, and will make your spells and devices fail miserably. So unless you're able to deal damage fast from a safe distance, the best way to deal with them is to use a scroll: teleportation, banishment, destruction... We retreat in a long corridor, haste ourselves and start shooting, maybe we'll be able to kill him before he gets to us. It's not the case, but he's at 30% health when he catches us, so we continue shooting while taking a good beating and after three turns he flees in terror and we finish him. He drops a Steel-Plated wand (of Dragon's Frost)... go figure. When the Star has recharged, we map the area where the true believer was, but don't see any vault. A lone out of depth encounter then. We obliterate Waldern, Tom and Bert (no idea where Bill went), and for our efforts we are rewarded with Thorin and these boots:

r) the Pair of Ethereal Slippers of Gonwe [0,+20]
     Dropped by Tom the Stone Troll at 2400 feet (level 48).

     Provides resistance to fire.
     Provides protection from fear.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, fire.
     Sustains dexterity.
     Speeds regeneration.
     Grants the ability to sense evil.
     Grants telepathic awareness.

     When activated, it attempts to magically enhance a weapon's to-hit bonus
     1 time(s).
     Takes 258 to 346 turns to recharge at your current speed.
     Your chance of success is 95.0%

Completely junk, except maybe for the activation.

p) the Small Metal Shield of Thorin [5,+25] <+3, +4, -1>
     Dropped by Bert the Stone Troll at 2400 feet (level 48).

     +3 strength.
     +4 constitution.
     -1 stealth.
     Provides immunity to acid.
     Provides resistance to sound, chaos.
     Provides protection from fear.
     Cannot be harmed by acid.
     Prevents paralysis.

Still one of the best items in the game... Our current shield also gives strength/constitution, but only +1, and nexus/nether/dark which are covered elsewhere, so switching shields is a no brainer. And since sound is now covered too, we can replace our gold DSM by Incanus that we have been carrying around for a while. And down to 2450ft we go. We put on our ESP staff... and detect a medium vault with a great wyrm of radiance and Saruman. Should be profitable. But first, we kill a ranger chieftain for another potion of augmentation. Our stats are starting to look good... We also kill a mature white dragon who drops Gorlim.

r) the Iron Helm of Gorlim (+8,+8) [7,+10] <-3, -5>
     Dropped by a mature white dragon at 2450 feet (level 49).

     -3 intelligence.
     -3 wisdom.
     -5 searching skill.
     Provides protection from fear.
     Cannot be harmed by acid.
     Grants the ability to see invisible things. Prevents paralysis.
     Aggravates nearby creatures.

We're not that desperate for the extra bonuses... A lich drops a potion of enlightenment, and since our pack is full, we quaff it. The vault appears to be a skull vault, so the nasties are trapped. And there's an arkenstone inside. We find a new scroll and a new staff, but instead of risking IDing destruction, we go someplace else to try them. The scroll is simply *Enchant Weapon*. The staff is Speed. A dreadmaster drops this spear:

v) the Spear 'Echir' (1d6) (+8,+20) <+3>
     Dropped by a dreadmaster at 2450 feet (level 49).

     +3 searching skill.
     Slays demons (powerfully), dragons (powerfully), undead (powerfully).
     Provides resistance to acid, chaos, disenchantment.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, fire.
     Grants the ability to see invisible things.
     Grants the ability to sense undead.
     Grants the ability to sense demons.
     Grants the ability to sense dragons.

     Combat info:
     4.0 blows/round.
     Average damage/round: 218.4 vs. demons, 218.4 vs. dragons, 218.4 vs.
     undead, and 159.2 vs. others.

A powerful slayer... with 1d6. Junk. We open the skull part of the skull vault, get rid of the great wyrm and Saruman, kill the rest and collect our loot, which is basically this arkenstone:

f) the Arkenstone 'Viendeldi' [+3] <+2, +3>
     Found lying on the floor in a vault at 2450 feet (level 49).

     +2 intelligence.
     +3 light.
     Provides resistance to shards.
     Cannot be harmed by fire.
     Sustains strength, wisdom.
     Slows your metabolism.
     Radius 3 light.
     Grants the ability to sense animals.

     When activated, it completely lights up and magically maps the current
     level, sensing all objects.
     Takes 107 to 210 turns to recharge at your current speed.
     Your chance of success is 92.8%

This will replace Elendil nicely. We recall again to get rid of some artifacts, and since our home is full, we buy another one next to it. We come back to 2450ft in the Helcaraxe and this time we'll try to kill the boss on the next floor. The level appears worthwhile, and we find this helm:

o) the Steel Helm of Gwinen [9,+11]
     Found lying on the floor at 2450 feet (level 49).

     Provides immunity to cold.
     Cannot be harmed by acid.
     Sustains your life force.

Well... cold immunity is nice, but not that nice to waste an equipment slot just for it. We also kill some minor stuff and reach...

Lvl: 35, HP: 540, SP: 281

Two new spells to learn this level: Word of Destruction and Nether Ball. Useful. But it's time to go down to the last level and meet the boss: the White Balrog. And... the place is murderous. Ringwraiths, Saruman, dreadlords, osyluths, dracoliches and similar nasties in two vaults, not mentioning the probable mimic pit. The room we start in has a couple Gs that we kill, giving us two potions of enlightenment. We quaff one to see what the unknown treasures really are. Few unknown scrolls, stat potions, lots of blade of chaos and cloaks (so that's indeed a mimic pit), and probably an artifact or two in the bunch of weapons and armor. First, we visit the vault with the White Balrog inside. We start by killing Hoarmurath of Dir, we teleport two undead beholders and Eol away, then process to kill the White Balrog and Ji Indur Dawndeath almost simultaneously. After the smoke clears, we're bathing in loot. We pick up a potion of Augmentation, a potion of Constitution (we're now maxed), and all sorts of artifacts. While sorting the loot, we spot one of the dracoliches that is coming our way and carefully move away more than ten spaces from it to minimize its breath damage. We start shooting and after four turns it breathes nether as all good dracoliches do. We're surprised as we're instantly left with 109 out of our 575 hps... and breaths were supposed to be less dangerous from a safe distance. First, we teleport the dracolich away... and then equip back our quarterstaff with nether resistance instead of our ESP staff. Doesn't take long for the dracolich to come back, but this time we're prepared and we kill it. More loot. At this point, we'll have to get rid of many things in our inventory if we want to pick up all the artifacts. We read a scroll of banishment near a nycadaemon to banish U, which also should get rid of the osyluths on the level. We identify a scroll (of *Enchant Armour*) and find even more artifacts in the vault once it is cleared. Let's take a look at what we found on the level till now:

k) the Black Ring of Power of Falinnar <+1, +3>
     Dropped by Hoarmurath of Dir at 2500 feet (level 50).

     +1 strength.
     +1 intelligence.
     +3 wisdom.
     +3 dexterity.
     +3 constitution.
     +1 stealth.
     +1 light.
     Provides immunity to cold.
     Provides resistance to light, dark.
     Provides protection from fear, confusion.
     Cannot be harmed by lightning.
     Sustains strength, constitution.
     Speeds regeneration. Grants the ability to see invisible things. Prevents
     paralysis. Aggravates nearby creatures.
     Radius 1 light.
     Grants the ability to sense evil.

     When activated, it grants temporary resistance to acid, lightning, fire,
     cold and poison for 40+1d40 turns.
     Takes 237 to 290 turns to recharge at your current speed.
     Your chance of success is 97.5%

Very nice. We won't use it because of the aggravation, but it's nice.

l) the Black Ring of Power of Heldon (+8,+8) <+4, +3, +1>
     Dropped by Ji Indur Dawndeath at 2500 feet (level 50).

     +4 strength.
     +3 searching skill.
     +1 light.
     Provides resistance to acid, shards.
     Provides protection from fear.
     Cannot be harmed by lightning.
     Sustains intelligence, dexterity.
     Slows your metabolism. Prevents paralysis. Sustains your life force.
     Aggravates nearby creatures.
     Radius 1 light.
     Grants the ability to sense undead.

A little Gorlim-like ring, not useful to us.

m) the Metal Brigandine Armour of the Rohirrim (-3) [48,+15] <+2>
     Dropped by Hoarmurath of Dir at 2500 feet (level 50).

     +2 strength.
     +2 dexterity.
     Provides resistance to acid, lightning, fire, cold, sound.
     Provides protection from fear, confusion.
     Cannot be harmed by acid.

More suited for melee classes, and I like the mana resistance better.

n) the Hard Leather Cap of Thranduil [2,+10] <+2>
     Dropped by Ji Indur Dawndeath at 2500 feet (level 50).

     +2 intelligence.
     +2 wisdom.
     Provides protection from blindness.
     Cannot be harmed by acid.
     Grants telepathy.

Grants ESP instead of fire immunity on our crown. This means we can keep it as swap and get rid of our ESP staff.

r) the Short Sword of Atantar (1d7) (+14,+18) <+2, +4>
     Dropped by Ji Indur Dawndeath at 2500 feet (level 50).

     +2 strength.
     +4 wisdom.
     Slays undead.
     Branded with cold.
     Provides resistance to acid, cold, poison, disenchantment.
     Cannot be harmed by acid.
     Sustains dexterity.
     Blessed by the gods.

     Combat info:
     4.0 blows/round.
     Average damage/round: 201.2 vs. creatures not resistant to cold, 252.8
     vs. creatures susceptible to cold, 201.2 vs. undead, and 166.8 vs. others.

Meh.

t) the Lead-Filled Mace 'Amlath' (4d3) (+20,+14) <+1, +4>
     Dropped by Hoarmurath of Dir at 2500 feet (level 50).

     +1 dexterity.
     +4 speed.
     Slays animals, orcs, trolls, giants, dragons, undead (powerfully).
     Branded with poison.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, fire.
     Grants the ability to see invisible things.
     Grants the ability to sense undead.
     Grants the ability to sense trolls.

     Combat info:
     3.8 blows/round.
     With +0 STR and +3 DEX you would get 4.0 blows/round.
     Average damage/round: 221.1 vs. creatures not resistant to poison, 186.6
     vs. animals, 221.1 vs. orcs, 221.1 vs. trolls, 221.1 vs. giants, 221.1
     vs. dragons, 289.9 vs. undead, and 152.4 vs. others.

Still not worth it.

u) the Shovel of Fast Digging <+2>
     Dropped by Ji Indur Dawndeath at 2500 feet (level 50).

     +2 strength.
     +2 tunneling.
     +2 speed.

Just +2 speed is probably not worth it.

v) the Light Crossbow 'Miolmar' (x4) (+11,+11) <+2, +1>
     Found lying on the floor in a vault at 2500 feet (level 50).

     +2 speed.
     +1 shooting power.
     Provides resistance to light, dark.
     Provides protection from fear.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, fire.
     Sustains wisdom.
     Makes you fall like a feather.
     Grants telepathic awareness.

     When activated, it inflicts 120 points of damage on all evil monsters in
     sight, heals 50 hit points, cures all temporary negative effects, and
     grants protection from evil for 1d25+3*clvl turns.
     Takes 284 to 348 turns to recharge at your current speed.
     Your chance of success is 92.9%

Unfortunately way worse than our heavy xbow of extra shots +16. I'd like to see what's inside the other vault, especially to ID three new types of scrolls, but first we have to leave Aglarang (dropped by a greater mummy) behind, since there's nothing else we can drop from our inventory at this point. We will be able to find true artifacts again, as long as we don't pick them up and donate them in a shop. Eol is back, but we let him live for now because we don't want to get more drops we wouldn't be able to pick up. We kill a master mystic, and...

Lvl: 36, HP: 595, SP: 289

We learn the spell Ball of Terror, but at this point we probably won't use it, since Ice Storm not only stuns, but also cuts and damages non cold resistant monsters. From the other vault, we see Saruman escape with a dreadlord, a master unbeliever, a dracolich and an undead beholder. Since we're still far away from the vault, we cast Word of Destruction to get rid of them all. The first scroll we identify is Holy Prayer. The second... is *Destruction*, and we say goodbye to our vault. Well... it's time to recall then. As usual, back to Bree, bye crap arts, restocking (there's one scroll of Mass Banishment in the Black Market)... and to the next dungeon we go! This time, it's the Mines of Moria.

[PowerWyrm]

We recall back to the Small Water Cave, since the entrance to the Mines of Moria is just nearby. We reach the entrance quickly and recall to the bottom. And omens of death haunt the place! We activate our arkenstone and detect an Hourglass vault. Our goal, the Balrog of Moria, is inside... but Polyphemus is there too. We'll have to be careful. On our way, we clear a V pit that also was on the level. We loot Lebohaum, a potion of augmentation (now the only stat that isn't maxed is WIS), a potion of enlightenment (might as well use it here), a copy of Shadows Escapes (rogue deep book), a potion of *Healing*, a scroll (of Dispel Undead), and this cloak:

m) the Elven Cloak 'Tanfal' (+5,+1) [6,+11] <+1>
     Dropped by a vampire at 2500 feet (level 50).

     +1 stealth.
     +1 speed.
     Provides protection from fear.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, fire.

That's basically a plain elven cloak...

o) the Steel Helm 'Lebohaum' [9,+40]
     Dropped by a vampire at 2500 feet (level 50).

     Provides resistance to sound.
     Provides protection from fear, confusion.
     Cannot be harmed by acid.
     Prevents paralysis.

With Lebohaum, your head is safe! But my hat is better. We feel superb treasures on the level, and I bet they are all in the vault. Too bad I left the scroll of mass banishment I bought at home... Well we approach the vault, kill a ranger chieftain which drops... a scroll of banishment. Looking more closely at the vault, only Polyphemus is a real threat inside, so we'll keep the scroll for a later use. Rogrog gets out of the vault first, but he's quickly trampled by Polyphemus, which we teleport away. We clear the vault... and too bad we're not a sorceror, because we find their deepest book, Power of Ancient Sorcerors. The Balrog of Moria wakes up (in fact, he was just outside the vault), and we get ready for him. We alternate between Ice Storm and our cold branded seeker bolt, and we destroy him easily. He drops Azaghal and a book of prayers (Purifications and Healing).

t) the Main Gauche of Azaghâl (2d5) (+12,+14)
     Dropped by The Balrog of Moria at 2500 feet (level 50).

     Slays dragons (powerfully).
     Provides immunity to fire.
     Provides resistance to acid.
     Provides protection from fear.
     Cannot be harmed by acid.
     Grants the ability to sense dragons.

     Combat info:
     4.0 blows/round.
     Average damage/round: 246.8 vs. dragons, and 144.8 vs. others.

Only provides fire immunity, and we already have that. We continue looting the vault: we find some scrolls (of Acquirement), a Chromium rod (of Disable Traps), a Quartz ring (of Speed), and a bunch of artifacts...

b) the Heavy Crossbow of Feithal (x4) (+11,+16) <+1>
     Found lying on the floor in a vault at 2500 feet (level 50).

     +1 shooting speed.
     +1 light.
     Slays undead.
     Branded with lightning.
     Provides resistance to lightning, light.
     Provides protection from confusion.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, fire.
     Sustains constitution.
     Radius 1 light.

Exactly the same enchantments as our xbow of extra shots, but it's branded and gives confusion resistance, so it gets equipped at once.

b) the Bolt 'Elmand' (1d5) (+16,+8)
     Found lying on the floor in a vault at 2500 feet (level 50).

     Branded with weak acid.
     Cannot be harmed by acid.
     Returns when thrown.

     Combat info:
     2 shots/round.
     Hits targets up to 140 feet away.
     Average damage/round: 392.6 vs. creatures not resistant to lightning,
     336.6 vs. creatures not resistant to acid, 392.6 vs. undead, and 224.4
     vs. others.

Good for stuff that resist everything but acid, although Ninach with 5d5 does almost the same damage vs all (311).

q) the Dagger of Eithmo (3d4) (+13,+16) <+3>
     Conjured forth by magic at 2500 feet (level 50).

     +3 intelligence.
     Slays demons (powerfully), dragons (powerfully), undead (powerfully).
     Provides resistance to sound, shards.
     Cannot be harmed by acid.
     Blessed by the gods.
     Grants the ability to sense undead.
     Grants the ability to sense demons.
     Grants the ability to sense dragons.

     Combat info:
     4.0 blows/round.
     Average damage/round: 286.8 vs. demons, 286.8 vs. dragons, 286.8 vs.
     undead, and 159.6 vs. others.

From one of the scrolls of acquirement we read. Would be great for a melee class with all the big slays on a 3d4 dagger, not that great for us.

s) the Long Sword 'Falebrel' (2d5) (+5,+15) [+35]
     Found lying on the floor in a vault at 2500 feet (level 50).

     Slays evil creatures, orcs, dragons (powerfully).
     Branded with poison.
     Provides resistance to light, dark.
     Cannot be harmed by acid.
     Grants the ability to sense evil.
     Grants the ability to sense orcs.
     Grants the ability to sense dragons.

     Combat info:
     4.0 blows/round.
     Average damage/round: 203.2 vs. creatures not resistant to poison, 177.2
     vs. evil creatures, 203.2 vs. orcs, 255.2 vs. dragons, and 151.2 vs.
     others.

Useless.

u) the Scythe of Beleb (5d3) (+11,+17) <+2>
     Found lying on the floor in a vault at 2500 feet (level 50).

     +2 dexterity.
     Slays animals, giants, dragons.
     Branded with weak fire.
     Provides resistance to acid, lightning, fire, cold, sound.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, fire.
     Speeds regeneration. Grants the ability to see invisible things.
     Grants the ability to sense animals.
     Grants the ability to sense dragons.

     Combat info:
     4.0 blows/round.
     Average damage/round: 228.8 vs. creatures not resistant to fire, 320 vs.
     creatures susceptible to fire, 228.8 vs. animals, 274.4 vs. giants, 274.4
     vs. dragons, and 183.2 vs. others.

Even more useless...

v) the Pick of Azog <+3>
     Found lying on the floor in a vault at 2500 feet (level 50).

     +3 strength.
     +3 constitution.
     +3 tunneling.
     Sustains strength, constitution.

I guess I can equip that now that we have confusion resistance elsewhere, it will give a boost to CON enough to put it over the 18/200 threshold. And with this, we reach the honorable value of 685 HPs for a spellcaster at level 36. Since we're loaded with artifacts again and there's nothing more to get on the level except a good beating by Polyphemus, we recall back to Bree and reorganize our inventory. Looking at our stat panel, we have now very high stats with INT and CON over 18/200, we resist everything except stunning and are immune to both fire and acid. We stand at a good +19 speed, and we have limited ESP + full ESP on a swap item. In a word, we're good till the end game... So we should be fine for our next destination: the Illusory Castle.

[Sky]

ok, wait, can uniques be trampled?

also, does finding one artifact arrow that "returns when fired" mean you then have an endless supply of that arrow?

[PowerWyrm]

ok, wait, can uniques be trampled?

also, does finding one artifact arrow that "returns when fired" mean you then have an endless supply of that arrow?

Uniques getting trampled happens all the time in Angband. Most common case is around 1900ft before the Queen Ant is dead, as her fire ant minions have the KILL_BODY flag and will easily trample all lower level uniques you get in the area.

And yes, artifact arrows are pretty much an unlimited supply of good missiles. During the 1.1.12 coding phase, I considered removing the "return when thrown" flag on artifact arrows and just leaving it on the regular magic arrows, which are never enchanted and cannot become either ego or artifact, but after some discussion about if it would be worth it to waste a slot on an "unique powerful missile", I reverted that and simply nerfed the artifact arrows.

[PowerWyrm]

Sign: "Welcome to PWMAngband 1.1.12 beta 5"

Nice, new updates. For our next destination, we recall back to the Small Water Cave again, and follow the Misty Mountains south through the Dunland. We soon arrive at the Illusory Castle. We recall at 2500ft in this dungeon full of glass walls. We detect many items in a room, as well as a zoo, and we go check about these. The room is a normal room with seemingly higher object generation, but nothing worth mentioning (except a fight with a drolem). Same goes with the zoo. We feel something worthwhile, so we take some time exploring the rest of the level. unfortunately, the only worthwhile item we find is Elvagil.

n) the Long Sword 'Elvagil' (2d5) (+12,+12) <+2>
     Found lying on the floor at 2500 feet (level 50).

     +2 dexterity.
     +2 stealth.
     Slays orcs, trolls.
     Cannot be harmed by acid.
     Makes you fall like a feather. Grants the ability to see invisible
     things.
     Grants the ability to sense orcs.
     Grants the ability to sense trolls.

     Combat info:
     4.0 blows/round.
     Average damage/round: 195.2 vs. orcs, 195.2 vs. trolls, and 142.8 vs.
     others.

Even if you find that at 500' with a melee class, I'm not sure it's even worth it, so for us... We take the closest staircase to 2550ft and a cavern level. We'll go down again as soon as we find some stairs, but first we make a stop to kill Itangast with our dragon slaying bolt. We also kill a nycadaemon and reach...

Lvl: 37, HP: 705, SP: 297

Itangast drops an ego green DSM, Crisdurian, the horn of Helm, and some magical stuff.

q) the Executioner's Sword 'Crisdurian' (4d7) (+18,+19)
     Dropped by Itangast the Fire Drake at 2550 feet (level 51).

     Slays evil creatures, orcs, trolls, giants, dragons, undead.
     Cannot be harmed by acid.
     Grants the ability to see invisible things.

     Combat info:
     This weapon should be wielded with both hands.
     2.8 blows/round.
     With +0 STR and +1 DEX you would get 3.3 blows/round.
     Average damage/round: 211.1 vs. evil creatures, 263 vs. orcs, 263 vs.
     trolls, 263 vs. giants, 263 vs. dragons, 263 vs. undead, and 159.3 vs.
     others.

Melee class weapon. We'll pass...

s) the Horn of Helm <+2>
     Dropped by Itangast the Fire Drake at 2550 feet (level 51).

     +2 strength.
     +2 constitution.
     Provides resistance to cold.
     Provides protection from fear.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, fire.

     When activated, it awakens all nearby sleeping monsters and hastes for 25
     turns all monsters within line of sight.
     Takes 16 to 28 turns to recharge at your current speed.
     Your chance of success is 96.7%

Our pick is currently better. We take the closest staircase to 2600ft and look for our next victim: the Glass Golem. We cannot ESP him, but we use a spell and detect him right above us. Soon he wakes up, and we wait for him in a room to have clear space for shooting. The fight is longer than expected because one he resists all elements and isn't a type any of our bolts slay, and two he loves causing amnesia requiring a Cure Critical Wound potion to remove the status effect. And he drops nothing... I thought all dungeon bosses were supposed to drop at least one excellent item, but some stupid maintainer forgot to add drop flags for the Glass Golem. I guess we'll see another sign when we take a nap again... And with this we're done with the dungeon, so we recall back to Bree. As always, we do some inventory management and prepare for our next destination: the pass of Cirith Ungol.

[PowerWyrm]

We recall to Minas Anor, which is the closest location to our destination. The pass of Cirith Ungol lies only a few steps east. We recall deep into this dusty dungeon full of spider webs, where we tend to find a lot of circular rooms. Strange architecture... We clear a minor vault for a potion of *Healing* and leave the boring level. The next one at 2650' seems much more interesting with its Orb vault and hydra pit. We're quite short on money at this point, and we don't want to pass on a good item in the Expensive Black Market, so a hydra pit is more than welcome. And we also find a scroll of mass banishment outside of the pit. Now that vault... We didn't even enter it, and we got already these gloves:

q) the Set of Leather Gloves of Tandoria [1,+21] <+3>
     Found lying on the floor at 2650 feet (level 53).

     +3 constitution.
     Provides resistance to poison.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, fire.
     Prevents paralysis.

These could be useful, but not now, so we'll store them in our house. Still don't know if we'll ever use Cambeleg, probably not, so we should think about donating them when we recall. The vault poses no threat at all, so we loot it easily and find a crystal of Psychoportation (spellbook for telepaths), some ego gloves (of Thievery), a ring of polymorphing of ancient red dragon, and the following artifacts:

p) the Necklace of the Dwarves <+3, +5, +1>
     Found lying on the floor in a vault at 2650 feet (level 53).

     +3 strength.
     +3 constitution.
     +5 infravision.
     +1 light.
     Provides protection from fear.
     Speeds regeneration. Grants the ability to see invisible things. Prevents
     paralysis.

This could be equipped with a ring of speed to replace our ring of constitution/amulet of speed current combo.

u) the Lead-Filled Mace of Marwe (6d3) (+7,+19) [+22] <+4>
     Found lying on the floor in a vault at 2650 feet (level 53).

     +4 speed.
     Branded with poison.
     Provides resistance to nether.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, fire.

     Combat info:
     3.3 blows/round.
     With +0 STR and +1 DEX you would get 3.8 blows/round.
     Average damage/round: 255.7 vs. creatures not resistant to poison, and
     167.4 vs. others.

This would probably have been nice for a melee class, but the damage output is too low for us. We will want a very heavy hitter for the endgame.

v) the Long Bow of Dainar (x3) (+14,+8) <+2, +1>
     Found lying on the floor in a vault at 2650 feet (level 53).

     +2 strength.
     +2 shooting speed.
     +1 light.
     Slays animals, giants, undead, demons (powerfully).
     Provides protection from fear.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, fire.
     Slows your metabolism.

     Grants the ability to sense animals.
     Grants the ability to sense demons.
     Grants telepathic awareness.

Two extra shots, but unfortunately low damage. We will recall and check with an artifact arrow just for comparison with out current shooter. We go back to Bree, drop our excess supplies, store some randarts for later, and examine that bow. Our current xbow does 312-546 damage with a randart bolt, the bow does 213-428 damage with a randart arrow, so we'll keep our xbow for now. Maybe we'll find enough *enchant weapon* scrolls to enchant that bow above +8. Ok, back to the dungeon... We skip the level we recall on and descend to 2700ft. A cavern level with nothing in sight, except some stairs that we take. We light the next level with our Arkenstone, which also provides ESP animal, so we are immediately aware of Shelob's presence. Apart from her, there's nothing else on the level. We make our way to the big spider and shoot her with our firey bolt. Seems she forgot she can cast spells and we kill her before she can even touch us. And we get this scythe:

q) the Scythe of Slicing of Oiondorod (10d6) (+14,+15)
     Dropped by Shelob, Spider of Darkness at 2750 feet (level 55).

     Slays trolls, giants, undead.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, fire.
     Sustains wisdom.

     When aimed, it creates random and unpredictable effects.
     Takes 270 to 299 turns to recharge at your current speed.
     Your chance of success is 88.8%

     Combat info:
     This weapon should be wielded with both hands.
     2.8 blows/round.
     With +0 STR and +1 DEX you would get 3.3 blows/round.
     Average damage/round: 432 vs. trolls, 432 vs. giants, 432 vs. undead, and
     206.6 vs. others.

Funny, this has the One Ring activation. Oh yeah, somewhere along the way, we also reached:

Lvl: 38, HP: 720, SP: 305

We can learn one more spell now, but we need the last necromancer spellbook for that.

We're already done with this dungeon. We recall and go back to Bree. We get rid of Cambeleg and Aiglos, as I don't think we gonna use them and they take two inventory slots to carry. Next time, we'll go the the sunken land of Numenor, where Ar-Pharazon awaits to be killed.

[PowerWyrm]

Our next trip is going to be very interesting, as we'll have to cross the western sea to reach the sunken land of Numenor. Since we don't have anything remotely close to recall to, we recall west to Hobbiton and start going even more west. Once we attain the western shore, we turn south. We cross the sea (with a lot of teleporting) until we touch land again. Once at the entrance of the dungeon, we recall to our deepest point. This trip will also be very short, as our deepest point is also the depth of this dungeon's boss. And for sure, Ar Pharazon is here. But first, we have to clear a P pit which happens to be on our path to Ar Pharazon. We get a rusty wand (of Lightning Balls) from the giants, and this sword:

q) the Short Sword 'Felcarin' (1d7) (+12,+16) [+30] <+3, +1>
     Dropped by an enchantress at 2750 feet (level 55).

     +3 dexterity.
     +1 infravision.
     Slays evil creatures, demons (powerfully).
     Branded with lightning.
     Provides resistance to lightning.
     Cannot be harmed by acid.
     Slows your metabolism. Speeds regeneration.
     Grants the ability to sense undead.
     Grants the ability to sense demons.

     Combat info:
     4.0 blows/round.
     Average damage/round: 184.8 vs. creatures not resistant to lightning,
     167.6 vs. evil creatures, 219.2 vs. demons, and 150.4 vs. others.

Well it seems there was also an enchantress among the giants... We go around the pit and meet Ar Pharazon. Since he resists fire and lightning, we switch to our cold branded seeker bolt to shoot him from afar. We go away a few times, come back, face a few summons, and vanquish him. The kill happens to be profitable, as we get four artifacts off his corpse:

q) the Blue Stone of Arent <+5, +1, +2>
     Dropped by Ar-Pharazôn the Golden at 2750 feet (level 55).

     +5 intelligence.
     +1 wisdom.
     +2 dexterity.
     Provides immunity to lightning.
     Provides resistance to acid.
     Provides protection from fear.
     Speeds regeneration. Grants the ability to see invisible things. Prevents
     paralysis.
     Grants the ability to sense animals.

That's a nice boost to INT, although we don't need that at this point. I guess it can be used as a swap for lightning immunity.

r) the Arkenstone of Thráin <+3>
     Dropped by Ar-Pharazôn the Golden at 2750 feet (level 55).

     +3 light.
     Provides resistance to light, dark.
     Cannot be harmed by fire.
     Grants the ability to see invisible things. Sustains your life force.
     Radius 3 light.

     When activated, it completely lights up and magically maps the current
     level, sensing all objects.
     Takes 142 to 280 turns to recharge at your current speed.
     Your chance of success is 93.4%

Pointless once you have the corresponding randart.

s) the Leather Scale Mail 'Thalkettoth' (-1) [20,+25] <+3>
     Dropped by Ar-Pharazôn the Golden at 2750 feet (level 55).

     +3 dexterity.
     +3 speed.
     Provides resistance to acid, shards.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, fire.
     Prevents paralysis.

Good but not great.

v) the Heavy Crossbow of Thanth (x6) (+10,+16) [+20] <+2>
     Dropped by Ar-Pharazôn the Golden at 2750 feet (level 55).

     +2 constitution.
     +2 shooting power.
     Provides immunity to fire.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, fire.

Massive might, but the extra shot on our current xbow is more important: damage would go down from 312-546 to 234-351 with our fire branded bolt. We recall back to Bree, drop a couple arts and consumables in our home and prepare for the next journey: the forest of Mirkwood.

[PowerWyrm]

Mirkwood is a place full of spiders. But not only. There's an insane presence there near the ruins of Dol Guldur. And it corrupts everything in the area. Once there was an istar full of benevolence living there. Now his soul has been corrupted and he attacks every traveler who dares entering the forest. Hordes of vorpal bunnies and screwy squirrels accompany him. His name is Radagast. He must be stopped. Looking at our map, it seems we already passed near Mirkwood when going to the Heart of the Earth dungeon, so we can recall there directly. Then into the dungeon at a depth of 2750ft. Our goal is 3200ft this time, so we'll probably have to make multiple trips. And the first monster we kill on the level drops Amrod...

o) the Short Bow of Amrod (x4) (+12,+15) <+2>
     Dropped by a young ethereal drake at 2750 feet (level 55).

     +2 strength.
     +2 constitution.
     +2 shooting power.
     Provides resistance to lightning, fire, cold.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, fire.
     Speeds regeneration.

Using Thranduil, we spot a ranger pit, and Osse in a medium vault. Not sure if we can take on Osse yet, but the pit we can clear. We get nothing of either pit or vault, and since Osse resists the slays and brands on our missiles, we teleport him away and forget about him for now. We take the stairs to 2800ft, and here we have Arien on the level (as well as Rogrog, but he's not a real threat). If we can't kill Osse yet, maybe we can kill her... although it seems she resists all elements too. We'll have to use Nether Bolt against her, heal with Drain Life, and cure stuns from her plasma bolts with potions. She summons an ainu twice, but we teleport the buggers away and proceed to kill her. We get Colluin for our effort.

q) the Cloak 'Colluin' [1,+15]
     Dropped by Arien, Maia of the Sun at 2800 feet (level 56).

     Provides resistance to acid, lightning, fire, cold, poison.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, fire.

     When activated, it grants temporary resistance to acid, lightning, fire,
     cold and poison for 20+1d20 turns.
     Takes 321 turns to recharge at your current speed.
     Your chance of success is 97.5%

Not really useful when you cast the spell. The level has good treasures, so we explore it (plus there's still Rogrog somewhere). Said troll doesn't give much trouble and drops this crown:

s) the Iron Crown of Earnuin [0,+14] <+3, +5, +2, +1>
     Dropped by Rogrog the Black Troll at 2800 feet (level 56).

     +3 strength.
     +5 wisdom.
     +2 searching skill.
     +2 infravision.
     +5 speed.
     +1 light.
     Provides resistance to shards, disenchantment.
     Cannot be harmed by acid.
     Sustains intelligence.
     Makes you fall like a feather. Grants the ability to see invisible
     things.

     When aimed, it shoots a radius-2 fire ball that inflicts 144 points of
     damage at the centre, which your device skill increases by 53 percent.
     Takes 261 to 319 turns to recharge at your current speed.
     Your chance of success is 94.0%

Nice one, we don't need it yet, but if we find a better weapon, it will cover some resistance holes and boost our speed nicely. Also in a room we find a Blackthorn staff (of Dispel Evil). We kill a dracolich which drops a scroll of deep descent, which will be used once we're done on this level. Most of the remaining stuff is inside one of the new vaults/rooms (one with west/east walls made of lava), so we go there first. We kill an ancient power dragon, and reach...

Lvl: 39, HP: 742, SP: 313

There's nothing inside the vault, except some minor boots of speed. We find a Spruce staff (of Earthquakes) on the level, as well as some scrolls (of Trap Creation), but that's all. We read the scroll of deep descent to get to 3050ft. A dangerous place with not one, but two graveyards. One has an archlich, the other one a dreadlord, we can probably clear them. The dreadlord is first to come, so we kill him and get this dagger:

t) the Dagger of Linde (1d4) (+8,+17)
     Dropped by a dreadlord at 3050 feet (level 61).

     Slays evil creatures, orcs, demons (powerfully), dragons (powerfully).
     Provides resistance to nexus.
     Cannot be harmed by acid.
     Speeds regeneration. Sustains your life force.
     Grants the ability to sense evil.
     Grants the ability to sense dragons.

     When aimed, it creates a line of rock remover, inflicting 20+1d30 points
     of damage to susceptible monsters, which your device skill increases by
     79 percent.
     Takes 181 to 199 turns to recharge at your current speed.
     Your chance of success is 96.4%

     Combat info:
     4.0 blows/round.
     Average damage/round: 156.8 vs. evil creatures, 167.6 vs. orcs, 188.4 vs.
     demons, 188.4 vs. dragons, and 146.4 vs. others.

At this point, we don't care about weapons. Only something with a huge dice and slay evil will be of any use. Continuing to clear the first graveyard... and I completely forgot there can be bone golems inside. Since there's only one in this graveyard, we use our necromantic powers to control his weak mind and order him to stay put. Not only it will spare us the fight, but it also will help crowd controlling the area. After clearing the passwall and the normal undead, we start removing the drujs. For our effort, we get Numenor and Thengel.

r) the Jewel Encrusted Crown of Númenor [0,+18] <+3, +2, +1>
     Dropped by a vampire lord at 3050 feet (level 61).

     +3 intelligence.
     +2 dexterity.
     +3 searching skill.
     +1 light.
     Provides resistance to cold, light, dark, shards.
     Provides protection from blindness, stunning.
     Cannot be harmed by acid.
     Grants the ability to see invisible things. Prevents paralysis.

A super-crown of serenity. Would be nice to keep around, but this would cost us an inventory slot.

t) the Metal Cap of Thengel [3,+12] <+3>
     Found lying on the floor in a pit at 3050 feet (level 61).

     +3 wisdom.
     Provides protection from confusion.
     Cannot be harmed by acid.

Will be donated. Pack is already full, and we have to drop the copies of our first spellbook. We'll clear the second graveyard and recall to make room. Unfortunately, said graveyard has nothing interesting in it. We go back to Bree, clear our inventory, compare the three bows we now have (we keep the +2 shot randart one), and go back to Mirkwood. And we recall on a level with a greater vault... We find a potion of enlightenment and we use it immediately. So there are two new amulets, a new rod, and some supplies. We kill a great ice wyrm and reach...

Lvl: 40, HP: 761, SP: 321

Two new spells to learn now, but it'll probably be a while before we get our last book. The only dangerous enemy inside the vault apart from more great wyrms is Osse again, and again we teleport him away. The new rod is a Polished Steel rod (of Lightning Balls). We clear the vault without too much trouble, and fill our inventory with artifacts:

o) the Pendant of Norfearan <+4>
     Found lying on the floor in a vault at 3050 feet (level 61).

     +4 wisdom.
     +4 dexterity.
     +4 tunneling.
     Provides immunity to acid.
     Provides resistance to fire, cold, dark, disenchantment.
     Speeds regeneration.

Could have been better.

s) the Hard Leather Cap 'Tarnkappe' [2,+10] <+4>
     Found lying on the floor in a vault at 3050 feet (level 61).

     +4 stealth.
     Provides resistance to dark.
     Provides protection from blindness.
     Cannot be harmed by acid.
     Prevents paralysis.

Another low level artifact that will be donated.

t) the Set of Gauntlets of Telathang [3,+18] <+3>
     Found lying on the floor in a vault at 3050 feet (level 61).

     +3 strength.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, fire.
     Sustains constitution.
     Grants telepathic awareness.

     When aimed, it shoots a radius-3 frost ball that inflicts 200 points of
     damage at the centre, which your device skill increases by 91 percent.
     Takes 307 to 377 turns to recharge at your current speed.
     Your chance of success is 97.3%

Probably based on some low level crap.

u) the Trident 'Lorlad' (1d10) (+5,+19) <+3, +2>
     Dropped by a dreadlord at 3050 feet (level 61).

     +3 intelligence.
     +2 dexterity.
     Slays evil creatures, animals, orcs, trolls, giants, dragons, demons
     (powerfully), undead (powerfully).
     Branded with lightning.
     Provides resistance to lightning.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, fire.
     Sustains constitution.
     Grants the ability to see invisible things.
     Grants the ability to sense evil.
     Grants the ability to sense orcs.
     Grants the ability to sense trolls.
     Grants the ability to sense giants.
     Grants the ability to sense dragons.

     When activated, it allows you to randomly breathe fire or nexus for 200
     points of damage.
     Takes 498 to 730 turns to recharge at your current speed.
     Your chance of success is 95.8%

     Combat info:
     4.0 blows/round.
     Average damage/round: 216 vs. creatures not resistant to lightning, 192.4
     vs. evil creatures, 192.4 vs. animals, 216 vs. orcs, 216 vs. trolls, 216
     vs. giants, 216 vs. dragons, 262.8 vs. demons, 262.8 vs. undead, and
     168.8 vs. others.

That's some heavy loaded weapon... but with less than 200 vs evil, it's still not worth it. "Lorlad the dreadlord" is funny though...

v) the Short Bow of Amras (x3) (+12,+15) <+2, +1>
     Dropped by a dracolich at 3050 feet (level 61).

     +2 intelligence.
     +2 wisdom.
     +2 dexterity.
     +1 speed.
     +1 shooting speed.
     +1 shooting power.
     Provides resistance to lightning, fire, cold.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, fire.
     Slows your metabolism.

Probably not worth keeping. The second amulet seems to be outside of the vault, so we'll check that first before recalling again. And it's just a Driftwood amulet (of Sustenance). Back to Bree again, we check the shops just in case, buy one potion of healing, drool on a ring of speed +9 (500k in XBM -- with no selling option, we only managed to spare 276k since the beginning of our adventure), unload stuff and recall back, hopefully on a quieter level. This time no greater vault, but minor ones... and Smaug. We kill him for an ego gold DSM, an ego shield (of the Avari), Firestar and this mace:

q) the Mace 'Glaraglon' (3d4) (+8,+26) [+6] <+5, +1>
     Dropped by Smaug the Golden at 3050 feet (level 61).

     +5 strength.
     +1 infravision.
     Slays evil creatures, animals, orcs, demons (powerfully).
     Branded with acid.
     Provides resistance to fire, nether.
     Provides protection from fear.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, fire.
     Slows your metabolism. Grants the ability to see invisible things.
     Grants the ability to sense demons.
     Grants the ability to sense orcs.

     Combat info:
     4.0 blows/round.
     Average damage/round: 290.8 vs. creatures not resistant to acid, 258.4
     vs. evil creatures, 258.4 vs. animals, 290.8 vs. orcs, 356 vs. demons,
     and 225.6 vs. others.

Decent damage.

p) the Morning Star 'Firestar' (2d6) (+15,+17) [+2]
     Dropped by Smaug the Golden at 3050 feet (level 61).

     Branded with fire.
     Provides immunity to fire.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, fire.

     When aimed, it shoots a radius-2 fire ball that inflicts 72 points of
     damage at the centre, which your device skill increases by 81 percent.
     Takes 56 turns to recharge at your current speed.
     Your chance of success is 96.6%

     Combat info:
     3.3 blows/round.
     With +1 STR and +0 DEX you would get 3.5 blows/round.
     With +0 STR and +1 DEX you would get 3.8 blows/round.
     Average damage/round: 193.1 vs. creatures not resistant to fire, 270.3
     vs. creatures susceptible to fire, and 141.8 vs. others.

We check a cell vault and get this promising bow:

t) the Long Bow of Carmarth (x3) (+25,+19) <+2>
     Found lying on the floor in a vault at 3050 feet (level 61).

     +2 shooting speed.
     Provides immunity to cold.
     Provides resistance to lightning.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, fire.

     When activated, it cures blindness and grants the power of telepathy for
     24+9d9 turns.
     Takes 229 to 280 turns to recharge at your current speed.
     Your chance of success is 94.8%

Two extra shots, very nice enchantments, and activates for second sight. Could even be better than our xbow, although it's our only source of pConf at this moment. Finally we can proceed deeper... but not before killing Vargo, who was waiting near the stairs. Next level is boring, but we spot a lesser vault nearby. And before long, our pack is full again, as we pick up more artifacts:

d) the Mithril Bolt of Thunder (3d5) (+5,+5)
     Found lying on the floor in a vault at 3100 feet (level 62).

     Branded with lightning.
     Cannot be harmed by acid.
     Returns when thrown.

     Combat info:
     2 shots/round.
     Hits targets up to 140 feet away.
     Average damage/round: 433.2 vs. creatures not resistant to lightning,
     433.2 vs. undead, and 247.6 vs. others.

Worse than our main bolt (Ninach), so will be donated. At this point, we can also get rid of the Elmand bolt, which is barely better vs non acid resistant monsters and takes one quiver slot.

p) the Full Plate Armour of Isildur (-3) [62,+25] <+1>
     Found lying on the floor in a vault at 3100 feet (level 62).

     +1 constitution.
     Provides resistance to acid, lightning, fire, cold, sound, nexus.
     Provides protection from confusion.
     Cannot be harmed by acid.

Armor and confusion protection. Probably not worth trading for mana resistance at this point.

s) the Zweihander 'Icon of Life' (4d8) (+0,+0) [+20] <+1>
     Dropped by a bile demon at 3100 feet (level 62).

     +1 light.
     Provides resistance to light, dark, nether, time.
     Cannot be harmed by acid.
     Blessed by the gods.

     Combat info:
     This weapon should be wielded with both hands.
     3.3 blows/round.
     With +0 STR and +1 DEX you would get 3.8 blows/round.
     Average damage/round: 118.8.

A defensive weapon. Resistance to time is nice, but other stuff are more important. We recall back to Bree and check our new bow. With the one we have stored in our house, we do 223 damage vs all and 447 vs some. With the new one, we do 316 vs all and 633 vs non lightning resistant monsters (not mentioning over 800 vs demons). This is even better than our xbow. We switch to that and reequip the shovel with pConf we stored in our house to cover it. Since we're down to 18/190 CON, we also equip the Necklace of the Dwarves instead of an amulet of speed (we're still at +16, so it should be ok). We recall back to Mirkwood and down to 3100ft. Whoa, it's a big open area! And with a greater quylthulg in sight and non targetable, we immediately teleport out of this death trap. We use our arkenstone to enlighten the level, and yes, half of it is just a big cavern. The rest has a medium permawalled vault, so we'll check that first. We find a couple potions of healing/*healing*, and two artifact rings:

o) the Ring of Barahir <+1>
     Found lying on the floor in a vault at 3100 feet (level 62).

     +1 strength.
     +1 intelligence.
     +1 wisdom.
     +1 dexterity.
     +1 constitution.
     +1 stealth.
     Provides resistance to poison, dark.
     Cannot be harmed by lightning.

I guess it would be helpful if one ring slot was dedicated to poison resistance at this point, otherwise not worth it.

p) the Ring of Fire of Panivien [+7] <+2, +3, +4, +1>
     Found lying on the floor in a vault at 3100 feet (level 62).

     +2 strength.
     +3 intelligence.
     +4 wisdom.
     +3 dexterity.
     +3 constitution.
     +1 light.
     Provides resistance to nether, chaos.
     Provides protection from confusion.
     Cannot be harmed by lightning.
     Sustains intelligence.
     Slows your metabolism. Makes you fall like a feather. Prevents paralysis.
     Sustains your life force.
     Grants the ability to sense trolls.

     When aimed, it shoots a radius-3 fire ball that inflicts 120 points of
     damage at the centre, which your device skill increases by 31 percent.
     Takes 234 to 286 turns to recharge at your current speed.
     Your chance of success is 91.0%

Randart rings of power are usually really nice. This one is nice, but not overpowered. We equip it over our old +4 CON ring. Then we go to the closest stairs, not before killing a paladin who drops a good pick:

r) the Pick of Erebor <+3, +5, +1>
     Dropped by a paladin at 3100 feet (level 62).

     +3 strength.
     +3 constitution.
     +5 tunneling.
     +1 light.
     Provides resistance to light, dark, chaos.
     Sustains strength.

We equip it, even if we don't really need the boosts and resists at this point. Down to 3150ft, an unremarkable place. The Phoenix is here, we'll make a small detour to kill him. He doesn't drop anything good, but we loot this sword off a dark elven priest:

r) the Broad Sword of Morostir (9d5) (+19,+19) [+8] <+3, +1>
     Dropped by a dark elven priest at 3150 feet (level 63).

     +3 strength.
     +1 wisdom.
     +1 dexterity.
     +3 searching skill.
     +1 light.
     Slays animals, trolls, giants, dragons (powerfully).
     Branded with fire.
     Provides resistance to fire.
     Provides protection from fear.
     Cannot be harmed by acid.
     Blessed by the gods.
     Grants the ability to sense trolls.
     Grants the ability to sense dragons.

     Combat info:
     4.0 blows/round.
     Average damage/round: 525.6 vs. creatures not resistant to fire, 886 vs.
     creatures susceptible to fire, 405.2 vs. animals, 525.6 vs. trolls, 525.6
     vs. giants, 766 vs. dragons, and 284.8 vs. others.

That's a damn nice sword, pity it doesn't have slay evil. This can be fixed, but we'll have to find the proper artifact gloves for that... Finally, we descend to 3200ft where Radagast waits for us. Nothing too unusual except a lesser vault. We kill an eye druj to reach...

Lvl: 41, HP: 784, SP: 329

We were level 38 when we started the dungeon, this is going very well. The time when we were struggling with double digit hps and bad rolls is long over. We clear the lesser vault and find a ring of speed +9, which replaces the +8 one (we keep our randart ring of fire for pConf). We kill a few adventurers and to prepare the fight with Radagast, we try to raise their corpses and bones... but nothing happens.

After a brief talk with our Dungeon Master, it seems that our Raise Dead spell is broken. We move away from the area, find a quiet room and take a nap.

We wake up and go back to our previous location. We try our raise Dead spell again, and this time it works. We get a skeleton human companion, but he doesn't want to come with us, so we'll leave him behind. We find Radagast and start the nether bolt/drain life combo. He summons some animals, and unfortunately one of his new friends happens to be a jabberwock, so we teleport him away. Then his corrupted mind shows up when he starts summoning... Mirkwood spiders! But they won't help him at this point, as they're instantly wiped by our ice storms. We have to cure the stunning from his ice spears frequently with potions, but life drain and mana resistance work well against his mana bolts. Doesn't take too long to kill him, and we only have to replenish our mana pool twice with potions. He drops one of our midlevel spellbooks, and this flail:

u) the Two-Handed Great Flail of Breva (3d8) (+8,+21) <+2>
     Dropped by Radagast the Brown at 3200 feet (level 64).

     +2 strength.
     +2 intelligence.
     Slays evil creatures, trolls, dragons, undead, demons (powerfully).
     Provides protection from confusion.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, fire.
     Sustains strength.
     Prevents paralysis.
     Grants the ability to sense evil.
     Grants the ability to sense dragons.

     Combat info:
     This weapon should be wielded with both hands.
     3.3 blows/round.
     With +0 STR and +1 DEX you would get 4.0 blows/round.
     Average damage/round: 248.7 vs. evil creatures, 300 vs. trolls, 300 vs.
     dragons, 300 vs. undead, 402.5 vs. demons, and 197.8 vs. others.

This one has slay evil, but doesn't have the damage of the 9d5 sword... We recall back to Bree and clear our inventory as usual. We also restock on CCW potions, as we used many during our fight with Radagast. Next time, we'll head up to Mordor. If we don't stand a chance against Sauron at this point, we may at least be able to get rid of his ugly Mouth.

[Pete Mack]

I'm not sure why you're donating a lightning brand bolt. That will work against things like the Tarrasque, and it just takes a slot in the Quiver, not a full inventory slot.