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This was a very interesting run--because I had the One Ring and an opportunity to use it! In all my years of playing Angband, I had only previously found the One Ring twice. The first time was a drop in the ultra-late game, I think dropped by Sauron, and I was only able to use it against Morgoth. The second time, Morgoth himself dropped it, if I recall correctly, and I had no chance to use it.
This time was different.
Actually, this character had a bit of a charmed life in general. He got Boots of Speed +10 when he was somewhere in the CL 20s and he got Kelek in CL 30s--only the third time I had ever gotten a really early Kelek's drop. He also got some great weapons, so much so that even though he was a mage, he was routinely wailing on monsters.
He did have weaknesses: hit points and resistance gaps. But with all his stuff, he was able to advance pretty quickly and in the CL30s he was in the DL80s and somewhere around DL86 he got the One Ring as a drop. This put me in a quandary--should I use it? Aggravation is something a Mage definitely doesn't want, but the fact that he had Kelvin's meant that he could get rid of most threats if he needed to. But he still needed a lot of hit points to be able to go tot he final battles, and I wasn't sure how much experience the Ring drained.
I decided to store it and played for a while more. However, in the CL early 40s, I figured what the heck, let me try it. I realized that with the Ring and a lot of key swaps, I could get my constitution up where it needed to be. And you only live once, right? How often do you get the ring; might was well try it while you have it.
The ring made me a very powerful character but the experience drain was a lot more than I thought it would be--and I didn't have an item that would restore XP. This made gaining needed levels a pain. I figured I wanted at least 830 hp for the final battles, so I had to go around hunting for XP as much, if not more than, consumables. This caused me to take on a lot of creatures and uniques I ordinarily might pass on, but it was needed because of the XP drain.
In the end, it worked out. I got what I needed, HP-wise, and went into the final battles. Sauron was very easy, but Morgoth was quite pesky--and I had to be careful because of my limited hit points. But it all worked out in the end, and now I suppose I rule Middle Earth as the new Dark Lord.
The game wasn't particularly fast in terms of turns--all that resting as a mage, presumably--but it produced my win with the lowest number of experience points (out of about 81 wins, 77 recorded).
The character dump is here, for those who are interested: http://angband.oook.cz/ladder-show.php?id=22107
This time was different.
Actually, this character had a bit of a charmed life in general. He got Boots of Speed +10 when he was somewhere in the CL 20s and he got Kelek in CL 30s--only the third time I had ever gotten a really early Kelek's drop. He also got some great weapons, so much so that even though he was a mage, he was routinely wailing on monsters.
He did have weaknesses: hit points and resistance gaps. But with all his stuff, he was able to advance pretty quickly and in the CL30s he was in the DL80s and somewhere around DL86 he got the One Ring as a drop. This put me in a quandary--should I use it? Aggravation is something a Mage definitely doesn't want, but the fact that he had Kelvin's meant that he could get rid of most threats if he needed to. But he still needed a lot of hit points to be able to go tot he final battles, and I wasn't sure how much experience the Ring drained.
I decided to store it and played for a while more. However, in the CL early 40s, I figured what the heck, let me try it. I realized that with the Ring and a lot of key swaps, I could get my constitution up where it needed to be. And you only live once, right? How often do you get the ring; might was well try it while you have it.
The ring made me a very powerful character but the experience drain was a lot more than I thought it would be--and I didn't have an item that would restore XP. This made gaining needed levels a pain. I figured I wanted at least 830 hp for the final battles, so I had to go around hunting for XP as much, if not more than, consumables. This caused me to take on a lot of creatures and uniques I ordinarily might pass on, but it was needed because of the XP drain.
In the end, it worked out. I got what I needed, HP-wise, and went into the final battles. Sauron was very easy, but Morgoth was quite pesky--and I had to be careful because of my limited hit points. But it all worked out in the end, and now I suppose I rule Middle Earth as the new Dark Lord.
The game wasn't particularly fast in terms of turns--all that resting as a mage, presumably--but it produced my win with the lowest number of experience points (out of about 81 wins, 77 recorded).
The character dump is here, for those who are interested: http://angband.oook.cz/ladder-show.php?id=22107
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