Artistry Start

[captnamazing]

I picked up this strategy and it's a lot of fun... makes it easier for me to get down to the interesting depths.

That said, I keep dying between 750-800.

Can I get some advice on getting over this plateau?

Mostly I dump points into melee/evasion, get the loremaster tree, get some melee/evasion abilities and will...

recently i've been experimenting with a 2/5/4/3 build that focuses on finesse

My last, deepest elf got unlucky and took about 30 points of damage in one turn off a named balrog and a kemenrauko that was hiding in his shadows

[Philip]

My personal approach is not to go for Artistry. It's a good learning experience, but by the time you start to find artistry-quality stuff just lying around, you've sort of wasted a whole lot of xp. I'd also recommend trying out a couple Fingolfin characters - Will is a stronger proficiency than Smithing.

If you want to keep Artistry, I guess you have to go a bit slower, and hope you get very lucky.

[Infinitum]

Also consider skipping Loremaster entirely; the id game isn't that contrived and most consumables that don't auto-id aren't that important anyway (I made a guide a while back, should be on the forum). Makes for a much smoother early game since you effectively open up 3600 xp, lets you transition into Keen Senses and Bane in raukar territory and later on theres usually plenty of knowledge staves to go around.

[captnamazing]

Also consider skipping Loremaster entirely; the id game isn't that contrived anyhow and most consumables that don't auto-id aren't that important anyhow (I made a guide a while back, should be on the forum). Makes for a much smoother early game since you effectively open up 3600 xp, lets you transition into Keen Senses and Bane in raukar territory and later on theres usually plenty of knowledge staves to go around.

got a link handy to ID strat?

[Infinitum]

http://angband.oook.cz/forum/showthread.php?t=6986

[debo]

I don't like the artistry start. The earlier levels are easier now, and you find better stuff at shallower depths. It's okay to practice the shallower depths, but it seems kinda junky otherwise.

[captnamazing]

Yeah, I was definitely feeling the punishment of having invested so much xp into artistry.

Last night I rolled a Fingolfin elf and fought down to 850', deeper than I've gotten with artistry.

Then I got toasted in one breath from a young fire drake.. fuck

(I got cocky )

[captnamazing]

http://angband.oook.cz/forum/showthread.php?t=6986

thanks for the link!

[captnamazing]

http://angband.oook.cz/forum/showthread.php?t=6986

what are your thoughts on putting points into perception if you aren't taking loremaster?

[Pete Mack]

Listen is awesome.

[ripforareason]

Artistry is bad, the armorsmith + enchantment start is better as you can make items of similar goodness with the added benefit of being resistant to corrosion (cloak of protection, round shield of deflection, corslet of protection, etc.). The quality of items on the floor was increased in 1.3, making Artistry rather useless. With Artifice early enough, you can make a crown with Loremaster (and song of freedom if you're lucky) by 350-400'.

Always get at least 6 perception. On a smither you want Eye for Detail, Rauko-Bane, sometimes Keen Senses, and maybe Concentration (mpa-sil only, prereqs make it bad in vanilla sil).

[Serephina]

Also bane and master hunter are a very cheeky way of basically getting +3/+6 melee, fully worth for casual perception pickups.

[captnamazing]

I'm totally in love with Rauko bane <3

[ripforareason]

Master Hunter is good when you find on boots of Taur-nu-Fuin but not worth the investment otherwise, imo. There are so many good perception skills that it will often cost you 2500-3000 XP for the ability alone, and by the time you can afford 6 perception abilities, you're probably just scumming 950'. It would probably be at its best at around 450-750', but I'm not sure you can really afford to get the ability at that point. The problem is that the game starts to get easier once you get through the 450-750 stretch.

[wobbly]

Why would it be 6 abilities unless you take lore-master? I mean you mentioned eye for detail up thread but it makes no-sense to take it if you plan on going as high as 9 perception in the long-term. Just grab a bit of extra perception early on instead. With keen-senses, bane & hunter that's 3. I wouldn't be able to resist listen there as already enough perception & the pre-requiste, but that's still only 4. & if you want to go concentration for lots of perception based melee bonuses then focus, concentration, bane, hunter is still only 4.