Sil: compilation of annoying deaths

[Philip]

Could be dex, then. You did mention having bad dex. I doubt free action can do anything to help. I agree about the bonus for the next attempt on a failed attempt, although technically, if you knew what stat to boost, it's possible you had !STAT.

[half]

Pits require an evasion roll to escape. The difficulty is 10, or 15 for spiked pits. This reflects the fact that you need Dex and manoeuvrability, with heavy armour making it more difficult. Taking off your armour could help.

[Infinitum]

The Orc Warrior hits you. You die.

Chopped me for a cool 19 damage right through my hardened leather armor. I mean I could've just retreated a few steps in order to avoid the theorethical (...) 1-shot, but dragging monsters around the level has its own risks, and i had just greatsword'd like 5 of its predecessors no sweat. The high variability is as much part of the game as anything I suppose, but god damn its hard to stomach sometimes.

[locus]

The Orc Warrior hits you. You die.

Chopped me for a cool 19 damage right through my hardened leather armor. I mean I could've just retreated a few steps in order to avoid the theorethical (...) 1-shot, but dragging monsters around the level has its own risks, and i had just greatsword'd like 5 of its predecessors no sweat. The high variability is as much part of the game as anything I suppose, but god damn its hard to stomach sometimes.

I feel like you want either real armor or a high constitution or a really really high evasion before you go toe-to-toe with things that output high damage? I mean, you talk about how you killed 5 of them no sweat, but the more you fight the more likely it is the Law of Large Numbers is going to catch up with you eventually.

If I'm playing a slugger I generally give him high CON, and anything less than 30 hp is a sign I need to consider my options to make sure I don't get killed.

[Patashu]

The Orc Warrior hits you. You die.

Chopped me for a cool 19 damage right through my hardened leather armor. I mean I could've just retreated a few steps in order to avoid the theorethical (...) 1-shot, but dragging monsters around the level has its own risks, and i had just greatsword'd like 5 of its predecessors no sweat. The high variability is as much part of the game as anything I suppose, but god damn its hard to stomach sometimes.

If you have the monster recall screen open and look at it whenever fighting (which I recommend at all times), you'd see that orc warriors deal 3d7 damage - meaning they can do at most 21-your minimum protection roll in damage. If you have that much HP or less, do not engage unless you have no other option. If you're very close to that threshold HP, start to act more cautious and look for ways to disengage from combat now, rather than keep fighting and then realize that you've been boxed in from the other side because you were not looking at your circumstances!

If you look at the stats for orcs - high damage, shit accuracy, shit evasion - you get the picture that they're high variance monsters that are not usually a threat, but the more you fight, the more chances you give them to be really lucky and put you in life threatening danger. So don't let them do that! Outsmart the orcs and therefore the game!

[Infinitum]

I always play with the recall window open, and yes as I mentioned I knew I was taking a risk not retreating up. More precisely, I was at exactly 19 life and was wearing hardened leather and boots (2-7 dmg), Orc Warriors indeed deal 3d7 damage, which unless I've misunderstood the way damage is calculated left a ((1/7)^3) x (1/6) = 1-in-1974 risk of being oneshotted disregarding to-hit chance and critical hits (which I should point out this wasn't). Guess I was feeling lucky..?

[locus]

I always play with the recall window open, and yes as I mentioned I knew I was taking a risk not retreating up. More precisely, I was at exactly 19 life and was wearing hardened leather and boots (2-7 dmg), Orc Warriors indeed deal 3d7 damage, which unless I've misunderstood the way damage is calculated left a ((1/7)^3) x (1/6) = 1-in-1974 risk of being oneshotted disregarding to-hit chance and critical hits (which I should point out this wasn't). Guess I was feeling lucky..?

You can't really disregard critical hits though, unless you have a really high evasion. 21 damage from a non-crit is unlucky, but you could have easily taken 21 damage from a crit (unless your evasion is like +14 or something). 2-7 armor and 19 hp is not enough that you should feel comfortable wading through an army of orc warriors.

[Patashu]

I always play with the recall window open, and yes as I mentioned I knew I was taking a risk not retreating up. More precisely, I was at exactly 19 life and was wearing hardened leather and boots (2-7 dmg), Orc Warriors indeed deal 3d7 damage, which unless I've misunderstood the way damage is calculated left a ((1/7)^3) x (1/6) = 1-in-1974 risk of being oneshotted disregarding to-hit chance and critical hits (which I should point out this wasn't). Guess I was feeling lucky..?

It is quite low, but imagine a slightly different case - you take 18 damage instead of 19, are on 1 hp, and now you have to retreat and if you're in danger of taking a single attack from anywhere your fatality chances shoot through the roof anyway. That's why you get cautious when you're 1-2 bad attacks from death, and not < 1

[wobbly]

You can't really disregard critical hits though, unless you have a really high evasion. 21 damage from a non-crit is unlucky, but you could have easily taken 21 damage from a crit (unless your evasion is like +14 or something). 2-7 armor and 19 hp is not enough that you should feel comfortable wading through an army of orc warriors.

Regarding this, anyone know what the game uses as weapon weights for enemies? Does it vary?

[debo]

2.0lb per damage die, I think.

[taptap]

It is quite low, but imagine a slightly different case - you take 18 damage instead of 19, are on 1 hp, and now you have to retreat and if you're in danger of taking a single attack from anywhere your fatality chances shoot through the roof anyway. That's why you get cautious when you're 1-2 bad attacks from death, and not < 1

If you add one critical hit to it 2 bad attacks (2x4d7 - 2x armour) caution starts (almost) at full health even with constitution 4.

[locus]

You probably won't get max-damage crit by an orc twice in a row. There's "caution" and there's "planning for something that happens once every hundred million rounds of combat".

[taptap]

You probably won't get max-damage crit by an orc twice in a row. There's "caution" and there's "planning for something that happens once every hundred million rounds of combat".

I once died an instant death from full health to a fire chest trap with what most would consider a high perception character (quite low con admittedly).

Think about the same likelihood with Ururaukos or big Ds - you will often be in danger of being killed at full health in a single hit. And even improbable events will happen from time to time if you go through thousands and thousands rounds of combat.

[locus]

I once died an instant death from full health to a fire chest trap with what most would consider a high perception character (quite low con admittedly).

Think about the same likelihood with Ururaukos or big Ds - you will often be in danger of being killed at full health in a single hit. And even improbable events will happen from time to time if you go through thousands and thousands rounds of combat.

Events improbable enough to happen every few thousand rounds of combat will tend to happen if you go through thousands and thousands of rounds of combat. Events improbable enough to happen every few hundred million rounds of combat are very unlikely, even if you go through thousands and thousands of rounds of combat. Being cautious is good, but "two consecutive max damage crits from an orc warrior" is in the hundreds of millions to one against, not the thousands to one against category. If you have 5-12 protection and 41 hp, you have my permission to go toe to toe with an orc warrior.

[BlueFish]

I daresay most combat rounds with a sword spider give a non-zero chance of dying for most characters. Sword spiders can attack twice and, given perfect rolls, can do huge damage.