Sil: advice for newbies

[Pete Mack]

At 250' and found two forges on the level, with 3300 to spend. Playing Feanor, so no free ability. What should I make?
Edit: Cleared the rest of the level for max exp. I have enough for 9 smithing and 2 abilities with 300 left over, or 10 and 1 with 700 left over (this isn't much use.)

Further edit:
I could make rings of accuracy, evasion, one other item, giving enough for 2 ability and 10 skill. That would get 2 lesser jewels of brightness and an amulet of preservation or equivalent.

[debo]

At 250' and found two forges on the level, with 3100 to spend. Playing Feanor, so no free ability. What should I make?
Edit: Cleared the rest of the level for max exp. I have enough for 9 smithing and 2 abilities with 100 left over, or 10 and 1 with 500 left over (this isn't much use.)

IMO you should make a resolution to never use smithing and just put that xp into melee.

[HallucinationMushroom]

Feanor should get a free smithing ability. What is your grace score? It may matter to the good smiths around here. 13 smithing score hits +2 accuracy rings with jeweler, which I consider endgame quality rings, and jeweler sets you up to craft feanorian lamps should you find mithril. But, I'm no smith!

[debo]

I really don't think there's any reason to do early game smithing anymore at all, unless you're doing something stylistic. The frequency of good drops was boosted enough in 1.3 that you're going to find a lot of stuff that matches or eclipses what you would make with starter smithing that it's just sort of pointless.

Maybe taking 2 smithing pts and weaponsmith to guarantee you have a longbow, arrows, and a digger could be worth it. I prefer to just put it into early will (helps w draining) or early perception (trap detection, chest opening.)

[Pete Mack]

Oh you are right. So I can spend everything for nice jewelry (what else is new?) or spend 1500 and get 5 ego pieces of armor+16 lb mail corslet or lether armor of venom's end. Considering the state of my armor, (ordinary leather, boots, and helm) that has real value. About all I can't get is high end ego armor, gloves, and hats. That looks very nice.

[Pete Mack]

Just found a mithril helm at 150'. Will it make 3 1lb lamps or just one?

[debo]

Just found a mithril helm at 150'. Will it make 3 1lb lamps or just one?

It will melt into 10 x (weight) mithril pieces. (You can do this at any forge.) I believe a f.lamp requires 10 pieces flat to make.

[Pete Mack]

How exactly do melee dice work? I happened to find a grotesque on this level. Fortunately I found a staff of foes (and of revelation), so I won't go attack it. I understood that mattock is the best weapon, but
a) 8d4 beats 5d(2+3)
b) Critical resistant monster
c) No slay for TUNNEL weapon against STONE monster (I checked)
Best chance LOOKS to be Great Axe, which has 4d(4+3)
Edit: 30/2 is exactly the same mean base damage as from a battle axe, which is 3d(4+5) for STR3 character. But the battle axe has higher variance, so the actual mean damage should be higher against extreme armor, even without criticals.

[HallucinationMushroom]

I understood that mattock is the best weapon, but
a) 8d4 beats 5d(2+3)
b) Critical resistant monster
c) No slay for TUNNEL weapon against STONE monster (I checked)
Best chance LOOKS to be Great Axe, which has 4d(4+3)
Edit: 30/2 is exactly the same mean base damage as from a battle axe, which is 3d(4+5) for STR3 character. But the battle axe has higher variance, so the actual mean damage should be higher against extreme armor, even without criticals.

a. Is the 8d4 the great axe? That would be 4d7 if it is the same axe as below. Either way, unless I've guessed wrong about what this 8d4 is, the great axe still wins out.

Yeah, I would agree that your battleaxe 2handed at 3d9 will win out over high protection vs a 5d5 mattock due to the variance you mention since max damage is slightly higher. Your to-hit would be higher as well.

I wouldn't consider mattocks as good weapons anymore, but they used to be top tier before they were nerfed to 5dx over 6dx, and before game changes to charge (used to double damage dice) and knockback (based on weapon weight) and opportunist (knockback used to trigger opportunist). Also consider that mattocks can never be considered 'sharp'. You will need a lot of raw damage to overtake what a sharp weapon can do -- either by song of sharpness or just simply inherently sharp.

[Pete Mack]

Sorry. I understood it was the best weapon against Grotesques, perhaps via a slay. But there is no slay. What does the STONE flag on Grotesques actually do?

[HallucinationMushroom]

Horns of blasting will hurt grotesques, so I can only assume it has something to do with that. I recall killing grotesques with one... maybe 2-3 blasts per kill? It's really kind of an edge case though, not something I recall ever doing with any frequency.

[wobbly]

Yep horns of blasting hurt them (along with silent watchers & kemenrauko) but unless you have high grace or channeling you'll probably run out of voice 1st before you kill it. The only real pt to a mattock against a grotesque is saving a spot on a swap weapon by using your digger to punch through them. You'll also sometimes find 5d3 mattocks. Oh & charging them with a mattock is kind of satisfying anyway.

[Pete Mack]

Found the forge Orodruin. With Gauntlets of Forging +3, it gives 18 smithing. What should I make? Note: Have mithril, but don't really want to waste 18 smithing on Feanor. There's another forge on the level, but it's infested with whispering shadows :/

[Infinitum]

How much do you have invested in smithing previously? 18 is enough for a sharp mithril longsword with danger; which is probably better than any weapon you're like to find. If you can clear the shadows you could make a smithing hammer with masterpiece and get some extra bonuses on the sword (prioritize +1 evasion for riposte). If they've already started to multiply you better not though.

[Pete Mack]

I have Jewelry and nothing else, 4 points smithing. Combined with a +3 Gauntlets of the Forge, I can make almost anything except the very highest. Getting Weaponsmith and enchantment would cost 2000 EXP (1500 for the abilities; another 500EXP skill.) I was considering a ring of strength and an amulet of constitution. I can't make blessed realm, and I can't make either Feanorian weapon, Hador, or Fury. I can't afford the additional 3 skill I'd need for artifice. Managed to clear the forge easily with a lantern and Keen Senses. It's a small room, so the dark wasn't very deep. Used it for 3 Feanorian lanterns.

I wasn't planning to do Smithing at all, beyond the lanterns, except I found the artifact forge.

I thought maybe greatsword of Nargothrond, and some combination of:
Horn of Blasting (I don't have a mattock, and Kemenraukos/Grotesques will show up RSN)
* Mattock of Belegost
* Amulet of CON or
*Ring of Strength
* Ring of Dex
* Feanorian lantern of Brightness