A thread for dumb questions

[Nick]

Is there a specific command to return to normal form as a druid or do I have to try to do something I'm not able to in shifted form?

'm' will do it - or, as you say, any command which gives the prompt to return to normal.

[Bill Peterson]

What's the trick, if any, to identifying rings and staves? It appears that you have to be wearing or using them at exactly the time when the proper circumstance happens. The only thing that makes this mechanic tolerable is that the ones that are hard to ID aren't that useful.

[MattB]

What's the trick, if any, to identifying rings and staves? It appears that you have to be wearing or using them at exactly the time when the proper circumstance happens. The only thing that makes this mechanic tolerable is that the ones that are hard to ID aren't that useful.

Sell 'em.
As you say, if it's not immediately obvious on first use, it's probably not that useful.

[Pete Mack]

There are only two such rings you are likely to use:
* resist fire and cold in the early game
* resist poison in the midgame.
Both are trivially easy to ID by use.
Otherwise just ignore them. They arent even worth the pack space to ID by selling.

[Bill Peterson]

Sell 'em.
As you say, if it's not immediately obvious on first use, it's probably not that useful.

(sound of hand slapping forehead)

[sffp]

There are only two such rings you are likely to use:
* resist fire and cold in the early game
* resist poison in the midgame.
Both are trivially easy to ID by use.
Otherwise just ignore them. They arent even worth the pack space to ID by selling.

One other addition that will be useful (til it's not)
* Free Action

Other passive type rings: (not really useful)
Feather Fall
Soulkeeping

The ones you really want: (not passive)

Damage
Strength

[Pete Mack]

@SFFP
Good quality Ring of Mouse. I was wearing one instead of =speed in my current mage. I eventually replaced it with =CON<+5>, for +100HP. Dropped from Legendary to Heroic stealth, and I can definitely tell the difference: no more sneaking past sleeping Hellhounds and the like.

[sffp]

@SFFP
Good quality Ring of Mouse. I was wearing one instead of =speed in my current mage. I eventually replaced it with =CON<+5>, for +100HP. Dropped from Legendary to Heroic stealth, and I can definitely tell the difference: no more sneaking past sleeping Hellhounds and the like.

For rogues especially - getting to legendary is so important.

[Kaiman]

A bunch of possibly dumb questions by a newbie.

How exactly do weapons work. I have a Dagger that says "1d4 (+9 +12) [+10]"

Ok, so I think it first rolls (based on my dexterity and the "___ chance to hit such a creature in melee" stat?) to see if I hit the target or miss, and the weapon gets a +9% chance to this roll? Then if I hit, it rolls a random number from 1 to 4 and increments by +12? Or do I have the 9 and 12 switched around? And what does the [+10] do?

Is there anyway to renew/repair a damaged helmet, shield, etc, or is the only hope to find/buy a better one?

Speaking of buying - I'm not very far into the game and pretty much everything at the shops is either unusable by my character or worse than the gear I already have. So at this point are the shops just worthless and my only way of improving my gear is to grind until I get lucky random drops of better stuff? If that's the case, then what is the point of all this gold I'm finding. It seems I will be unable to spend it unless there are shops with way better swag at lower levels that I haven't found yet.

And then speaking of unusable - why are most of the spellbooks, tomes, etc, grayed out? I've already Gained all the Spells from the only 2 books my character can use - how do I go about gaining higher level spells if I can't even use the books?

Is there a way to do a *one-time* centering of the screen on my hero? I don't want continual centering but occasionally when I'm near the edge it would be nice to re-center it.

And then finally, how do I gain strength and speed? My character can't carry all that much for being an 8-foot tall ubermensch, and I end up having to drop a crapton of useful items just to avoid speed penalties. Is this also a case of grinding until I get a lucky drop from some gear that boosts my stats?

[Julian]

A bunch of possibly dumb questions by a newbie.

How exactly do weapons work. I have a Dagger that says "1d4 (+9 +12) [+10]"

Ok, so I think it first rolls (based on my dexterity and the "___ chance to hit such a creature in melee" stat?) to see if I hit the target or miss, and the weapon gets a +9% chance to this roll?

So, to-hit calculations are weird and complicated. If you look at the character screen, it says "To hit: X +Y"

The X is your base chance to hit, based on race and class and level. The +Y is your bonus from stats and equipment. Your to-hit skill is the base plus three times the bonus. (For reasons.) The plusses are not straight percentage changes.

It then generates a random number based on this, compares it to the targets armor class (with some extra calculations involved), and if it beats the target’s AC, you hit.

I am simplifying here.

Then if I hit, it rolls a random number from 1 to 4 and increments by +12?

Yes. Damage is easy to understand.

If you don’t worry about critical hits. (It’s not worth worrying about critical hits.)

There are likely other plusses to your damage from stats and other gear; the total plus is in the character screen.

And what does the [+10] do?

Adds to your armor class, making you harder to hit.

Is there anyway to renew/repair a damaged helmet, shield, etc, or is the only hope to find/buy a better one?

Enchant armor scrolls will raise the plus, but by +9, raising it further gets very improbable, and by +15 it gets impossible.

Early gear usually ends up being replaced rather than repaired.

Speaking of buying - I'm not very far into the game and pretty much everything at the shops is either unusable by my character or worse than the gear I already have. So at this point are the shops just worthless and my only way of improving my gear is to grind until I get lucky random drops of better stuff? If that's the case, then what is the point of all this gold I'm finding. It seems I will be unable to spend it unless there are shops with way better swag at lower levels that I haven't found yet.

Consumable items and the black market are the main uses for money; I have found boots of speed in the armor shop, so it’s worth checking, but stores and money are not very useful by mid-game.

In general, you’ll get most of your kit from killing things and taking their stuff. Uniques are one of the main sources of early weapons and armor, but everything gets better as you go deeper.

And then speaking of unusable - why are most of the spellbooks, tomes, etc, grayed out? I've already Gained all the Spells from the only 2 books my character can use - how do I go about gaining higher level spells if I can't even use the books?

There are more books, but you cannot buy them.

Is there a way to do a *one-time* centering of the screen on my hero? I don't want continual centering but occasionally when I'm near the edge it would be nice to re-center it.

Either control-L or @, depending on which command set you use.

And then finally, how do I gain strength and speed? My character can't carry all that much for being an 8-foot tall ubermensch, and I end up having to drop a crapton of useful items just to avoid speed penalties. Is this also a case of grinding until I get a lucky drop from some gear that boosts my stats?

Gear is one way, but you mostly have to optimize your inventory better until you get deeper in the dungeon.

[Hounded]

Some thoughts in line below.

A bunch of possibly dumb questions by a newbie.

How exactly do weapons work. I have a Dagger that says "1d4 (+9 +12) [+10]"

Ok, so I think it first rolls (based on my dexterity and the "___ chance to hit such a creature in melee" stat?) to see if I hit the target or miss, and the weapon gets a +9% chance to this roll? Then if I hit, it rolls a random number from 1 to 4 and increments by +12? Or do I have the 9 and 12 switched around? And what does the [+10] do?
- That'll be +9 to hit and +12 to damage. I'm fuzzy on the mechanics of how that gets executed. I generally compare weapons by inspecting/looking at them and seeing the average damage per round calculation in the extended description. The [+10] is a boost to your armour class.



Is there anyway to renew/repair a damaged helmet, shield, etc, or is the only hope to find/buy a better one?
- Scrolls of enchant armour / enchant weapon will repair negative values. To be honest I frequently find better/replacement equipment fast enough that it's seldom an issue.



Speaking of buying - I'm not very far into the game and pretty much everything at the shops is either unusable by my character or worse than the gear I already have. So at this point are the shops just worthless and my only way of improving my gear is to grind until I get lucky random drops of better stuff? If that's the case, then what is the point of all this gold I'm finding. It seems I will be unable to spend it unless there are shops with way better swag at lower levels that I haven't found yet.
- Yeah. Gold becomnes pretty much irrelevant except to replace consumables. The Black Market is worth checking and, if you're lucky, you may find something worth purchasing there but most of the time you're just going to accumulate it with not much to spend it on.



And then speaking of unusable - why are most of the spellbooks, tomes, etc, grayed out? I've already Gained all the Spells from the only 2 books my character can use - how do I go about gaining higher level spells if I can't even use the books?
- If you're a half-caster (Rogue, Ranger, Blackguard, Paladin) there will be three books readable whilst the full casters have five. The books are divided up into the different schools of magic so the grey ones will either be for a full caster of your school or a different school (As a Blackguard you won't use 2 of the Shadow Books or any of the Magic/Priest/Nature books). The final book will be a dungeon acquisition (unless you run across it in the Black Market).



Is there a way to do a *one-time* centering of the screen on my hero? I don't want continual centering but occasionally when I'm near the edge it would be nice to re-center it.
- I use the "L" command to skid around the map and generally when I cancel it I'm in a better position in terms of viewing. (workaround I guess)



And then finally, how do I gain strength and speed? My character can't carry all that much for being an 8-foot tall ubermensch, and I end up having to drop a crapton of useful items just to avoid speed penalties. Is this also a case of grinding until I get a lucky drop from some gear that boosts my stats?
- Potions: You'll encounter potions of "Brawn" or "Intellect" or such fairly early on. These restore and boost a specific stat at the expense of another so should be used with discretion. Deeper down you'll find potions of "Strength", "Intelligence", "Dexterity" and so on which are a straight boost of that stat. There are some food items which will do so as well.
- Equipment: Lots of equipment will come with boosts to one or more stats. You'll probably see this first from rings (ex. Ring of Strengh +3). Artifact equipment nearly always boosts at least one stat.

[Pete Mack]

You roll 1d(TOTAL TO-HIT) against (monster AC) *2/3.

Note that internally, your to-hit is 3x the displayed to-hit.

[Kaiman]

Thanks for the help. Ctrl+L does what I was wanting with the centering, and the weapon stuff y'all explained makes sense. Disappointing that all this gold I've been collecting is nearly useless but at least now I know.

- If you're a half-caster (Rogue, Ranger, Blackguard, Paladin) there will be three books readable whilst the full casters have five. The books are divided up into the different schools of magic so the grey ones will either be for a full caster of your school or a different school (As a Blackguard you won't use 2 of the Shadow Books or any of the Magic/Priest/Nature books). The final book will be a dungeon acquisition (unless you run across it in the Black Market).

I'm a Druid and only two books - Lesser Charms and Gifts of Nature - seem to work for me. Every other one is greyed out when in my inventory and I can't seem to interact with it in any possible way except picking up and dropping.

[Pete Mack]

You can read all yellow and light orange books as a druid. And books are not the only thing worth Au.

[Hounded]

I'm a Druid and only two books - Lesser Charms and Gifts of Nature - seem to work for me. Every other one is greyed out when in my inventory and I can't seem to interact with it in any possible way except picking up and dropping.

The rest will be found in the dungeon. Others here will lilely be able to tell you at which depths they become common. Druid I find really fun because the progression of the spells lends itself to a different play style. Starting as a sneak then a heavy melee and ultimately high power caster in the end game.