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

[HallucinationMushroom]

I get keen senses chiefly for those first Raukar. Other than boosting will by a little bit, I don't do anything specifically for molds.

[half]

Is it possible through careful play and keen senses to always have a chance to avoid violet molds?

Interesting question. I think it is. The problem cases seem to be if there is magical darkness or if you step diagonally around a corner (in a corridor, the entrance to a room, past some rubble, or in some interesting architecture). As far as I can see, you can tell if you are in these situations and choose not to proceed until the magical darkness creature is destroyed, or not proceed at all if the architecture doesn't allow you to proceed safely. I suppose it is possible to be dropped by a false floor into a situation where all exits are blocked like this, but that is super unlikely.

Have I missed anything? Do the people who get most annoyed by violet molds always buy keen senses and then follow this advice? Are they ruined by typos?

[HallucinationMushroom]

That's a good point about the keen senses. If I had to win, I would play excessively carefully, whereas I am the opposite regularly. So, it would be best to always avoid violet molds if possible. OTOH, I have seen in a very few cases situations where avoiding the violet mold was impossible. About as often as I've required a shovel or light source prior 500ft... excessively rarely, but are you going to gamble your life on it? In any case, I think getting both will and perception are going to happen, so no points are going to be wasted either way.

Is it possible through careful play and keen senses to always have a chance to avoid violet molds? I actually do not know this. I've heard of players shooting arrows down hallways and other odd things to detect/avoid molds but I have never tried actively avoiding them.

[T-Mick]

Wouldn't keen senses do the same simpler & cheaper? Or am I missing something here. I always get further with this then without, though seeing as I'm yet to win I'm probably not the best person to be answering.

Keen Senses alone costs 1100 points, including the 3 point requirement. For the same price, you could get 4 points of will. And then have 100 points to spare. In the end, I think KS pays for itself, with the +5 to spotting, but it makes all those other perception skills so expensive.

[wobbly]

Also, immediate points into will to mitigate possible loss to violet molds. Perhaps 1500xp.

Wouldn't keen senses do the same simpler & cheaper? Or am I missing something here. I always get further with this then without, though seeing as I'm yet to win I'm probably not the best person to be answering.

[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.

[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]

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...

[taptap]

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

[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...

[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...

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.