Sil Builds/Challenges/Concepts/Stupid-Ascension-Tricks

[andrey]

Nice idea for Hador. Just tried it out. Died at 400Ft from a critical hit

[debo]

FYI starting Feanor 4/3/3/3 and gradually working to momentum and the rest is a less extreme, super fun build (re: the Hador one). Artistry start works well with this one. Holy heck does stuff die fast.

Not that I would know personally, of course...

[HallucinationMushroom]

I wouldn't be a good bad influence if I didn't persuade you to play Sil at least little bit. I'd like to think I was a bad influence, anyway, considering my ridiculous forum name.

If I could find a little time I would like to try an '8' skill challenge, but mainly from inspiration from your Hador idea Debo. That being, worry less about surviving, worry more about killing... if I'm reading your build correctly.

That being said, does concentration work with continual flanking attacks? Edit: Yes, Through experimentation I can confirm this.

[debo]

So in HM's comment in my last dump, he challenged me to create a build that focused on Channeling. Given that I didn't even realize that Channeling was an ability (!), I used SilScraper and "ls *.dmp | xargs grep '(Channeling)' | wc -l" to discover that 21 other ladder characters had previously decided to buy this ability.

I am astonished. Why would you even bother? Has anyone here used it to reasonable effect before???????

[half]

So in HM's comment in my last dump, he challenged me to create a build that focused on Channeling. Given that I didn't even realize that Channeling was an ability (!), I used SilScraper and "ls *.dmp | xargs grep '(Channeling)' | wc -l" to discover that 21 other ladder characters had previously decided to buy this ability.

I am astonished. Why would you even bother? Has anyone here used it to reasonable effect before???????

I'm not sure if it is any good. The idea is more as something for people who want to use staffs but not invest in Will than as something for specialists. Think of it as 500 exp to get 5 points of Will (which can only be used in one, not particularly useful way!). It might work well with a non song based stealth build to get Morgoth to sleep. How much Will do you need to do this with a staff? Well, it is 5 less if you get channelling, which could be a saving of a lot of experience (though only if you don't get many other Will abilities).

[debo]

Yes, I was quite drunk when I wrote that last post. Apologies for the belligerence I've never taken Channeling myself, but I can see how it could be situationally useful -- sort of like throwing mastery for staves.

[clouded]

The debuffing staves are maybe a little underused by the community, or at least I don't hear them brought up often. I'm certainly guilty of almost always ignoring them, trumpets too. I have bought channeling once though, I forget the exact reason, but I was deep and used it as some sort of desperation attempt at surviving.

One thing that could make it better is that you can occassionally use a staff without using up a charge (idea taken from PosCheng devicemasters). This would open its usefulness up to staves that don't require will to use, getting an extra charge or two out of foes, revelations and so on would be a thing worth considering. Also a possibility is some sort of help with identifying devices, one reason I don't use them much is because I am bad at identifying them.

[WildKhaine]

Was reading this thread and decided to do the Two-Skill challenge:

http://angband.oook.cz/ladder-show.php?id=14325

Not a Morgy kill but still a win.

[taptap]

The debuffing staves are maybe a little underused by the community, or at least I don't hear them brought up often. I'm certainly guilty of almost always ignoring them, trumpets too.

Staves weigh 5 lb each and don't stack. I am almost always close to both the number of item and the weight limit - I won't carry a staff unless it has some obvious benefit. That is treasure, revelation, warding for archers, recharge, maybe foe.

[debo]

Staves of majesty are amazeballs as an escape if you have any will at all. Freedom is handy in early game (where you generally find it) if you have a low perception character, as you can open chests w them. Also very handy to have if you haven't found a digger by 400ish feet, as you can still get out of a jam if trapped / deadended by rubble. (Stonewalled?)

It becomes harder to justify holding onto staves other than rev and treasures at the deeper depths for sure, as your inventory is jammed and most clever escapes probably won't work as well / aren't needed anymore. A trumpet of blasting aimed down is a godsend if you get yourself hopelessly trapped / surrounded.

Although -- can you die from falling through a false floor? Never thought of that risk with the blasting horn...

[HugoVirtuoso]

Spoiler:
Staves of Freedom are very handy against rubble, especially against Morgoth's earthquakes.

I should have known this during the Sil 1.0.x days...

[taptap]

For those people who need challenges: How about light level challenges?

[HallucinationMushroom]

Cool idea. Zero light at start... interesting. You could even go negative, I assume, with a shadow cloak... or, maybe that is simply zero light. I suppose it wouldn't be a huge deal if you prioritized listen on the perception tree and avoided the monsters that breathe darkness, since light is your darkness resistance. I might have to try this one out... if I can ever fire Sil up... I can't seem to pull away from the mindless farming of Path of Exile. It's a sickness...

[bron]

I've been having lots of fun with the "limited skill points" challenge. I admit I haven't actually won yet at any level. But the thing that is kinda cool is how different the game feels at the different limit points. Individual abilities can make a big difference, and falling under a particular threshold changes things. Bar-8 is way different (and much harder) than bar-10. And bar-7 is insanely much harder than bar-8

[HallucinationMushroom]

I'd like to pose a question. If you absolutely had to win the game, upon risk of death, lets say, what are some things that you would do differently to ensure victory?

I think a jewel and a digger at the first forge would be something I would do, prompting a Feanor 2,5,4,3. Also, immediate points into will to mitigate possible loss to violet molds. Perhaps 1500xp.

For example, if this were Nethack, I would be requesting a lawful dwarven valkyrie.