Sil 1.3

[seraph]

okay so with a vampiric weapon equipped and identified, =hunger will identify but =sustenance will not.

[seraph]

don't know if this is a bug. when equipped with elessar, a ring of sustenance will not id. if your hunger "balances out" it and one item is known, the other should still id right?

[wobbly]

I don't think the drain on vampiric weapons is working properly against enemies you can't see. I'll check a bit closer next time I use one.

[wobbly]

What is a pt of dex in Sil to an archer anyway? +1 melee? (well you've probably gone versatility or your melee is better then your archery & pt blank makes no sense), +1 stealth? (sneakers don't usually pt blank, if you're really caught & need to you can still pt blank & just take the hit), +1 archery/evasion? (here it's a straight pt calculation, either it's cheaper to grab it or cheaper to get more archery & evasion).

I suspect the main pt of the dex in the tree is for melee elves that shoot. It costs you 6000 to grab 10 archery, flaming arrows & dex. That's a significant melee/evasion drop that is partially bought back by grabbing the dex.

[taptap]

I guess my point is that "point blank" is a pretty bad alternative to "versatility" b/c it will cost so much more to get DEX.

But you do not need point blank at all. A lot of players play archers without either ability. You can e.g. take crippling shot to get more shots on approaching enemies just fine. Or sprinting / leaping to get range. Or fear to drive enemies away. Or stealth to select targets better.

[mibert]

I admit I don't quite agree with the point you're making.
flaming -> DEX
vs.
versatility -> DEX
doesn't seem especially weird to me. The Point Blank issue is a separate consideration. For example I take Flaming Arrows all the time, but almost never take Point Blank.

I guess my point is that "point blank" is a pretty bad alternative to "versatility" b/c it will cost so much more to get DEX.

[bron]

I admit I don't quite agree with the point you're making.
flaming -> DEX
vs.
versatility -> DEX
doesn't seem especially weird to me. The Point Blank issue is a separate consideration. For example I take Flaming Arrows all the time, but almost never take Point Blank.

[mibert]

Careful shot/flaming arrows may seem like a contradiction. It's not. You turn flaming arrows on & off to conserve arrows. The less arrows you're breaking the more often you can use flaming arrows.

thanks, ok, i see.

but I still think
careful shot->point blank->flaming->DEX
vs
versatiltiy->DEX
is odd.

[wobbly]

Careful shot/flaming arrows may seem like a contradiction. It's not. You turn flaming arrows on & off to conserve arrows. The less arrows you're breaking the more often you can use flaming arrows.

[mibert]

I noticed that the archery tree is somewhat weirdly structured:

- to me it seems that "versatility" and "point blank archery" are two ways to deals with monsters next to you
- if i decide to go "point blank archery" in stead of "versatility", I have to take "careful shot" first
- now of course the DEX point is something i want, but for that i require either "versatility" or "flaming arrows", both are bad options given my previous pick of "point blank archery/careful shot"

[mibert]

I noticed that Orcs sometimes carry weapons of Gondolin. Feels odd.

[seraph]

i noticed that sometimes grotesques sometimes stop following me. can anyone tell me why? can they become unwary?

[wobbly]

eye for detail could stand a buff, as valuable as perception abilities are. just had a game in which i fell through no less than four false floors. the last i had eye for detail. i think my perception was > 10 as well.

I'm not sure it ever gets perfect but when you hit over 20 perception it's pretty damn close. You spot chest traps just walking in to a room & secret doors before you reach them.

Usually this ability is not worth it, but for a pure sneaker or pacifist it's pure gold. Keep in mind a 1 con character probably can't survive a deadfall trap & at -1 str a doriath pacifist can't open a locked door without either high perception or song of freedom (well song elbereth & pushing enemies through, but that has issues). +webs, -1 str & no fa you have a problem.

The other option is taking it as your "freebie" on a finarfin where your perception is going to get high enough for it to work well anyway.

I also sometimes take it for the ascent just because by then every ability was high enough to do the throne room & I just don't want to deal with extra hassles.

Note: You've also got an extra +5 if you stand still, part of why it tends to work better for stealth characters is you tend to do this anyway. Worth occasionally doing it deliberately in the maze or an approach to the forge.

[seraph]

if you inscribe @w0 on something you can wield it by pressing w0. works for other commands too. i think there is something to disable auto pickup but i don't remember it.

[Wm I]

You can inscribe weapons with !a in Sil to make them prompt you before attacking.

What?! What other such inscription tricks exist?

EDIT: Found all I needed in the Angband documentation.