Complete N00b's Journey Character #3: Anwe, the Hobbit Warrior

[Sphara]

Do Staves and Potions of Speed stack? Or do they only stack with worn items?

Which Uniques are okay for me to dispatch without too much trouble?

Which is a better light source: The Phial of Galadriel, or the Lantern of True Sight? I'€™m thinking the Lantern of True Sight, since I do need blindness resistance.

Is Nether resistance vital? If so, what is the best way to go around getting it?

They don't stack.

Akhorahil, Adunaphel and Ji Indur you can kill pretty easily when hasted. Being ringwraiths, their drops are usually good. Dwar the dog lord maybe too but watch out his summons.

Worst nether breathers are usually dracolich and nightcrawler. Of uniques, Osse and Carcharoth breath nether. You have no business against any of these without the resistance. (EDIT: Atm, not even WITH the resistance) Almost every 'W', 'G' or 'L' have nether attacks. As do all late beholders but those you should never fight. Eye monsters do not drop anything but are generally a huge pain in the ass.

[Estie]

Do Staves and Potions of Speed stack? Or do they only stack with worn items?

No. Only +10 from buff, whether from potion, staff, rod or activation.

Which Uniques are okay for me to dispatch without too much trouble?

Umm type ~e and look which of the ones below The Balrog of Moria are still alive.

Which is a better light source: The Phial of Galadriel, or the Lantern of True Sight? I'€™m thinking the Lantern of True Sight, since I do need blindness resistance.

The phial frees an inventory slot, the lantern gives pblind. Take your pick.

Is Nether resistance vital? If so, what is the best way to go around getting it?

No. Not because nether isnt common and dangerous, but because the resistance is unreliable and the reduction random. For now, you want to avoid big nether breathers like Osse anyway, resistance or no. When you find nether resist, you can hold onto it as swap and use it just to kill some of the nether uniques, then discard (unless its an otherwise good item, of course) - or you can just leave them alone.

Congrats on 760 hp.

[Derakon]

To clarify on nether: it is common and nether breath can hit for up to 550 damage. The resistance lowers that by anywhere from 1/2 to 1/7th (i.e. still taking 6/7ths of the full damage), randomly, which means you might take as much as 471 damage from a full-strength nether breath if you have resistance. Or you might take only 275. So it's useful in the long run, for cutting down on consumable use, but doesn't make a huge difference when determining whether you're in one-shot territory.

The resistance also protects against experience drain caused by nether attacks, for what that's worth.

[Grotug]

Nether resistance is pretty handy if you are not familiar with which monsters dish out nether (some dish out copious amounts of damage of the stat draining stuff). Some artifacts have it. Himring comes to mind, and I believe Hithlomir also has it. If memory serves one of the amulets has it, too, but I don't remember the name. Otherwise any peice of Elvenkind equipment and Aman cloaks have a chance of having it (and they also have a chance of having any of the other high resistances). That said, I agree with the other posts about nether in this thread.

I would go with True Sight lantern if it's your only source of pBlind. It also provides see invisible.

[wizard44]

Thanks for the responses folks. Got to D:71 and a couple of better items, but I still don’t think I’m out of the woods.

Complete N00b's Journey: Part 3-13

Took the Lantern of True Sight and filled it to get blindness resistance. I then bought some more scrolls of Phase Door and recalled back to D:65, where I took out a great ice wyrm after some potion damage while teleporting away Saruman of Many Colours before he could act. I get a Potion of *Healing* for the trouble. I also sneak by a couple of uniques to get an additional Potion of Healing and Potion of *Healing* from a vault. D:66 again had Saruman of Many Colors, forcing me to reload the level. Upon reloading, I directly descend to D:67 to avoid an archlich. A run-in with an eye druj almost cost me my life with his balls of nethers and forces me to teleport to avoid it. I recover and manage to kill Waldern, King of Water after quaffing a potion of speed. The level had a greater vault, but given the high level of the Uniques there as well as the concentration of out of depth danger level, I had to give it a pass. D:68 was a bit better, but still very difficult to navigate. Taking out an Ancient Multi-Hued Dragon, though gave me Iron Shod Boots of Speed [4, +8] <+8>, which was a GREAT find, though I do miss having nexus resistance from the boots of stability. I take out Quaker, Master of Evil without too much of a problem. I also find the Hard Leather Cap of Thranduil, which is borderline useful, since I can re-equip the Phial of Galadriel and free up an inventory slot, and a replacement staff of speed there, which will be of great use towards maintaining a consistent fast speed. I also find and quaff a Potion of Augmentation to boost my Strength and Constitution. I then move to D:69, where I got to level 39 after killing some multi-hued dragons. In a battle with some giants, I manage to find a potion of Constitution to maximize my Constitution stat, but a lesser titan’s summons force me to leave the level. D:70 had a group of trolls that dropped a chest that gave me the Bastard Sword Calris (5d4) (0, +20), but had a curse that could not be broken when I tried to use a scroll of Remove curse. I also find a Potion of Experience in the level and get to Level 40. Saruman of Many Colors and the Mouth of Sauron on the same level, though, force me to descend yet again. D:71 saw me killing a great hell wyrm, and Harowen the Black Hand, the latter who dropped the Star of Elendil <+3>, which was less useful than the Phial of Galadriel. The only other useful item that I found was a scroll of *Enchant Armour*, which went to my boots of speed. I take a brief sojurn in D:72, where I find a scroll of *Enchant Weapon*, which brings my artifact Scimitar to its previous damage before its disenchantment, and a Scroll of Remove Curse, where the uncursing made the weapon fragile. I also run into Adunaphel the Quiet, who dies to Mithril Arrows of Wounding. Killing Adunaphel resulted in a ring of Speed <+8>, and the Pike ‘Til-I arc’. Having a completely full pack, I decide to pull out and Recall back to town. I stash my potions of *Healing* and scroll of *Destruction*. I then switch my headgear to the Hard Leather Cap of Thranduil, and get back the Phial of Galadriel and stash my rods of illumination. I then go to the Black Market and buy a Potion of Strength to maximize my Strength stat, another scroll of *Destruction*, and a better ring of Damage to better improve my character.

The next goal for this guy is to get to D:74, and to try to get an even better artifact weapon.

Going to ditch Til-i-arc and Calris, since they do less damage to evil creatures than my scimitar. Disenchantment resistance isn’t worth monster aggravation, even if I could remove the curse right? (If it is, should I wait until I get a *remove curse* scroll before attempting this?)

I’m going to restock on Phase Door scrolls and some resist heat and cold potions, since I had to drop these to make room for these last few items. I think having a ring of Speed is a priority. In my new equipment setup, I think See Invisible, Free Action, the four base resistances, and poison resistance are the top priorities, according to what you guys have collectively said. Which is the best setup that would allow me to have these resistances (and other needed ones) while letting me have that speed ring?

Which Uniques can this character handle, and which one should definitely be avoided? I’m thinking I might have a chance on Saruman and the rest of the ringwraiths not name the Witch King, while the Phoenix is still off-limits. What about Tselakus, the Dreadlord, Ungoliant the Unlight, The Great Wyrm of Many Colours, Dwar Dog Lord of Waw, Atlas the Titan, Fundin Bluecloak, and Feagwath the Undead Sorcerer?

The ladder is updated with Anwe’s status, and any tips and answers to the above questions would be helpful.

[Pete Mack]

Sauron disenchants, as does Saruman, etc, so Calris isn't a bad backup. Amulet of Weaponmastery is a good alternative there.
With ESP, permanent speed +9, CON 18/200 and good damage, you are over the hump. From now on you should be focused on the final fights, though you will want permanent speed of 20 (or more) for them. You'll also want *potions* of speed for the final fights. (Staffs and wands will have their charges stolen.) Also, Healing potions of various types, scrolls of *Destruction* and both kinds of Banishment are what you want to start stocking for later. Basically you have the game beaten at this point, so long as you don't get bored and make a careless mistake.

[Estie]

Going to ditch Til-i-arc and Calris, since they do less damage to evil creatures than my scimitar. Disenchantment resistance isn’t worth monster aggravation, even if I could remove the curse right? (If it is, should I wait until I get a *remove curse* scroll before attempting this?)

The way to fix Calris is to read enchat weapon to hit scrolls on it and yes, both it and Til-i-Arc are not keepers.

Which is the best setup that would allow me to have these resistances (and other needed ones) while letting me have that speed ring?

Well, start by equipping the non-negotiable stuff and work from there. That would be Haradekket, Amrod, speed ring, "infravision (you really havent found anything useful yet for the amulet slot ?), lantern, elven cloak, Thorin, Cammithrim, speed boots.

Ideally, you want to equip that damage ring, so try it and see if you can get a satisfactory setup with that; note the damage with your best combination.

If you dont like the result, use Barahir instead of the damage ring which should make it easier to get everything you want from your gear. Compare the damage from this setup.

Personally, I would try damage ring, Himring, Dor Lomin. If you want pconf, youll have to go with Barahir.

Which Uniques can this character handle, and which one should definitely be avoided? I’m thinking I might have a chance on Saruman and the rest of the ringwraiths not name the Witch King, while the Phoenix is still off-limits. What about Tselakus, the Dreadlord, Ungoliant the Unlight, The Great Wyrm of Many Colours, Dwar Dog Lord of Waw, Atlas the Titan, Fundin Bluecloak, and Feagwath the Undead Sorcerer?

You are able to kill all of those with enough healing potions now, but that doesnt mean you should - it has to be profitable to kill a monster and if you invest potions of *healing* and get another armor of resistance, it is not.

Of those you listed, the easier ones are Saruman, Ringwraiths (not Witch King), Phoenix, Tselaskus, Fundin.

[Sphara]

You will soon find amulet(s) of Trickery and Weaponmastery. They are ego items, not artifacts. Trickery gives a small speed bonus, DEX bonus, rPois, rNexus and it sustains DEX. Weaponmastery gives slaying bonuses, rDisen, STR bonus and it sustains STR and CON.
Either one is a no-brainer over <+6> Infravision. Six points of infravision is not bad at all but it becomes obsolete after Telepathy item is found.

If you go melee with Morgoth, you'll gonna need sustains on STR, DEX and CON. He reduces every stat on a successful hits. Start thinking of an endgame-kit that has all of those 3.

[fph]

Since no one has mentioned it yet, about uniques: beware of the Tarrasque. That damned thing breathes fire, cold and disenchantment like a machine gun.

[wizard44]

Once again, thank you for the input. Anwe has reached D:74 and has gotten some nifty items to fill up the weak spots.

Complete N00b’s Journey: Part 3-14

First, I dropped Til-i-arc and Calris, since the aggravate monster is a deal breaker and I already have a better artefact weapon that has that attribute if I somewhat didn’t mind having that in the future. I bought 20 Scrolls of Phase Door, 10 potions of Cure Critical Wounds, 3 Potions of Resist Heat, and 5 potions of Resist Cold. I followed Estie’s recommendation and put on the damage ring, Himring, and Dor Lomin. I then Recalled back to the dungeon to get back to D:71. I take on a pack of gravity hounds and the Cat lord, which does a number on my Dexterity and forces me to quaff quite a few potions of Cure Critical Wounds before it dies and drops a useless set of Caestus. Killing a mature black dragon yields a better ring of damage. A group of chaos hounds cause trouble for me and cause me to teleport quite a few time to deal with them. Nevertheless, I get to level 41 after killing the lot and have my dexterity restored. I then kill Ulfang and his sons, and end of getting ‘Thunderfist’ after killing Ulfast’s summons. I also open a nearby chest and get a much-needed Amulet of Weaponmastery (+3,+3) <+3 STR>. I also read-id a scroll of Rune of Protection and descend to D:72. I get hungry at this point and Recall after getting to D:73 in order to read my scrolls of satisfy hunger. Upon a recall back, I get hit by a nexus vortex’s breath and get teleported to the other end of the level. I then encounter Saruman of Many Colours and eliminate him and his friends after a tense battle. He drops the Lochaber axe ‘Mundwine’, which paled in comparison to my scimitar. D:74 had a demon filled room next to me that contained 4 pit fiends among the crowd, forcing me to reload the level by stairdancing. I clear a room filled with apprentices and mumaks, where I find and discard a staff of Power and get another potion of *Healing* and another staff of speed. I also get a wand of annihilation and a staff of holiness, the former of which I keep. I also get more Potions of Healing, and proceed to clear a nearby vault. The vault, upon clearing, contained the Full Plate Armour of Isildur [75, +25] <+1 CON>, the Pair of Leather Boots of Feanor [2, +20] <+15 speed>, a better Amulet of Weaponmstery, a Rod of Healing, a scroll of *Destruction*, and another potion of *Healing*. I also get to level 42 from clearing out the denizens of the vault. I also kill Atlas, the Titan, and Arlen, Maia of the Sun, which gets me to level 43. I also find the Iron Crown of Beruthiel, which I drop due to the stat decreases. Having a full pack, I then go to D:75 and make a Recall. I drop my Potions of *Healing* and scroll of destruction, replenish my Scrolls of Phase Door, and conclude the part.

The next goal: Get to D:80, and hopefully get everything we need for the final dive. Basically, this includes arrows of Slay Evil, some more Healing and Speed Potions, several potions of Life, a way to sustain dexterity, and a better artifact weapon.

I believe the play is to toss out the metal brigandine armour of the Rohirrim in place of the Plate Armour of Isildur for later storage. I also ditch all other artefact weapons other than my current weapon and Zarcuthra to free up storage space. Is that a good plan?

I think the only real attribute slot missing on my character is sustain dexterity. Which item grants it without having to sacrifice one of my other needed resistances?

Uniques that I feel I can take at this point should I encounter them in this next dive are Ar-Pharazon the Golden, Kronos Lord of the Titans, the Ringwraiths other than the Witch King, Feagwath the Undead Sorcerer, and Osse Herald of Ulmo. I’m still going to avoid, the Phoenix, Radagast the Brown, Qlzqqlzuup the emperor Quylthulg, the Tarrasque, and Maeglin the Traitor of Gondolin. Any other Uniques that I need to watch out for in my dive to D:80?

The ladder has been updated with Anwe’s latest status, and as always, tips and answers to the above questions are appreciated!

[Pete Mack]

Feanor! One of the top 5 artifacts in the game, and exceedingly rare. You won't see that again for a looong time. A very lucky find.

[Nick]

the Pair of Leather Boots of Feanor [2, +20] <+15 speed>

In case it's not clear, this is possibly the best artifact you can find. These now give you huge flexibility with the rest of your kit, because that plus your speed ring (or even possibly minor speed bonuses from other gear) covers your permanent speed requirements. Also they're really rare and some people play for years without ever finding them

EDIT: Ninja'd by Pete

[Estie]

I believe the play is to toss out the metal brigandine armour of the Rohirrim in place of the Plate Armour of Isildur for later storage. I also ditch all other artefact weapons other than my current weapon and Zarcuthra to free up storage space. Is that a good plan?

Note that with your current setup, Haradekket does more damage vs evil than Zarcuthra; that can change again depending on your stats and amount of flat damage added.

With Feanor you only need +5 speed from somewhere to achieve +20, which means you can replace the speed ring with the right gear. "Trickery could provide some speed, so could a ring of power.

Most importantly, you need the sustains. Your ring of bodykeeping would do, but the ring slot is wasted for that purpose. Shield would be an option, robe of sustenance, or a crown of might if you have ESP from elsewhere.

Basically, keep farming for a little longer

home storage junk:

- scrolls of remove curse (those are sold in the temple)
- scrolls of satisfy hunger
- Osondir
- Hurin
- Totila
- XBow of accuracy
- all of your bolts

[Pete Mack]

Sustains are a luxury. Restoring (Life/Vigor/Augmentation) are enough. Your biggest weakness by far at this point is lack of any way to deal with M's summons and damage. Otherwise, sustain str/Con is fine, along with just little more speed.

[Estie]

Sustains are a luxury. Restoring (Life/Vigor/Augmentation) are enough. Your biggest weakness by far at this point is lack of any way to deal with M's summons and damage. Otherwise, sustain str/Con is fine, along with just little more speed.

He is not in a competion for a low turncount win, he is trying to get his first winner. Sure, with a dozen potions of life, sustains are a luxury; but given the choice to rush to the endgame or keep increasing the power of his level 43 warrior, I recommend the latter. Not losing damage output during the fight is a factor and working in sustains into the kit isnt any harder than starting to collect restoration mushrooms - both happen naturally during play.