Smithing Time!

[DavidMedley]

Well I finally allowed myself to peek into Artifice. That's gonna cost me at least 30 hours of my life! So many possibilities, even at 100'!

What are the favorite Sil-Q recipes out there? A polearm with (duh) Polearm Mastery caught my eye immediately.

[DavidMedley]

3 Uses?

Hmm, I didn't notice that using Artifice automatically requires 3 uses of the forge. That tempers my excitement a bit.

[debo]

Hmm, I didn't notice that using Artifice automatically requires 3 uses of the forge. That tempers my excitement a bit.

Good smithing pun!

[Quirk]

Hmm, I didn't notice that using Artifice automatically requires 3 uses of the forge. That tempers my excitement a bit.

Usually Artifice is taken a little later on as having one really exceptional item is outweighed in the early game by filling in obvious lacks. However, you don't need a great deal of Smithing to make powerful items, particularly if you're willing to make use of the Danger curse; a flame-branded Great Spear with Danger comes in at only 11 Smithing.

[DavidMedley]

Sure, it only makes sense. But when I thought I was gonna create 3 (admittedly weak) artifacts at 100' my eyes got as big as Grond.

[DavidMedley]

Putting 1500 points into Smithing and Jeweler for a Horn of Terror and a couple other trinkets seems like a good investment for Elbereth/Majesty builds.

[wobbly]

Good smithing pun!

I hope it quenched your thirst for puns.

Putting 1500 points into Smithing and Jeweler for a Horn of Terror and a couple other trinkets seems like a good investment for Elbereth/Majesty builds.

I played a bunch of these. They're fun, just be careful of horrors which are immune to both.

[DavidMedley]

Blood in the Water

I tried this a couple times. Seems like everything's going great and I'm the world's greatest genius, then I get low on health and suddenly the piranhas are all over me! Gotta be more careful with my health and escape routes because it can all go wrong so fast.

Starting with a Horn of Terror is pretty awesome, though. I've also been making
a Ring of Ered Luin <+1>
It improves your will by 1. It provides resistance to fear
and confusion.
an Amulet of the Vigilant Eye <+1>
It improves your perception by 1. It provides resistance to
hallucination. It grants you the ability: Keen Senses.

[DavidMedley]

Forge Appearance

What controls when a forge appears? I know there are 3 guaranteed forge levels, but it seems like you can still "miss" it by (guessing) seeing the room but not using the forge. So I'm paranoid to leave those levels until I've used the forge.

Outside of those three, is it totally random? I saw someone refer to guessing how many are left... so do you only get X additional forges per game?

[wobbly]

What controls when a forge appears? I know there are 3 guaranteed forge levels, but it seems like you can still "miss" it by (guessing) seeing the room but not using the forge. So I'm paranoid to leave those levels until I've used the forge.

Outside of those three, is it totally random? I saw someone refer to guessing how many are left... so do you only get X additional forges per game?

If that was me guessing how many are left it refered to turncount. Forges are created on level gen. For the guaranteed forges its when that depth first gens. 500' (or 550' if you shaft from 450').

The non-guaranteed forges are special rooms. The odds of a special room increase with depth (see generate.c). For the proportion of forge to non-forges look in rooms.txt

The short of the long is unexplored rooms on your level are no more likely to be forges then unexplored rooms on a new level and there are more deeper. Though I've never run the numbers to check if theres a sweet spot for forge chance.

[DavidMedley]

Thanks, Wobbly! Yeah, I was thinking it was you commenting on one of your winners. I'd swear I've gone to 100', left, come back and still had the forge. But maybe I'm wrong.

So if you're a smith build, you want to see as many rooms as possible, right? To give yourself max chances to find forges? Maybe wait until after 500' to employ that strategy?

[Infinitum]

If you want to play around with smithing, put in ~4 points early for good quality equipment on the first forge, then just pump your combat skills and dive as fast as you comfortably can until staff of revelations depth. You'll end up seeing more forges, get a chance to naturally pick up smithing equipment and won't die nearly as much. Bespoke items aren't good enough to compensate for the xp deficit in the midgame compared to what is likely to drop otherwise.

[DavidMedley]

If you want to play around with smithing, put in ~4 points early for good quality equipment on the first forge, then just pump your combat skills and dive as fast as you comfortably can until staff of revelations depth. You'll end up seeing more forges, get a chance to naturally pick up smithing equipment and won't die nearly as much. Bespoke items aren't good enough to compensate for the xp deficit in the midgame compared to what is likely to drop otherwise.

I don't understand all these words. 4 points - OK, but any particular abilities? How deep is staff of revelations depth? What is a bespoke item?

[Quirk]

I don't understand all these words. 4 points - OK, but any particular abilities? How deep is staff of revelations depth? What is a bespoke item?

4 points would get you any of Weaponsmith, Armoursmith or Jeweller.

Revelations is native to 650', so you'll see it close to there, maybe a little earlier.

"Bespoke items" are items created with Artifice.

[Quirk]

In general, by the first forge, you don't have much in the way of armour or equipment. Armoursmith can greatly improve your survivability for the next few levels as protection matters a lot early on, and just getting the basics of armour, helm, boots, gloves and shield sorted out is a big deal. Archers gain a lot from Weaponsmith by having a good bow and a way to boost arrow supplies. Jeweller is a slightly longer-term play - it gives you items you're unlikely to find for quite a while.