It's been a while since I've played a full game, but I recently completed a dwarf paladin (http://angband.oook.cz/ladder-show.php?id=25029) and wanted to share a few of my thoughts.
I really like the class remakes. I think overall, this was a fantastic change to the game. Classes feel more different than they did back in 3.x. I think I found a use (even if small) for every spell in the Paladin books, except for remove curse. I have no idea if classes are balanced, but I don't feel like they need to be.
I also like the remake of several monster classes, especially the Ainu. The shape changing is a really nice touch. Making spiders more powerful is also really nice. This is the first time I've really seen them. I have minor beefs with huorns moving so fast, I feel like they should be slow. I didn't get a feel for what Black Breath really does. By the time I fought the ringwraiths, I had pretty powerful gear and they only got it off once on me.
I'm looking forward to whichever part you tackle next (races? items? artifacts?)
The ole Angband problem of the latter half of the game being kind of a grindfest is still an issue. It's hard to resolve without some fundamental changes that probably aren't warranted. The first half of the game is great though. So is the very end when you face down the final boss (the Tarrasque).
One thing that I think slows down the late game in a negative way is monster summoning, specifically the ability of summoning explosions from monsters summoning other summoned monsters. It means that unless you can kill a monster before it gets a summon off, it's best not to engage at all. This makes very few late game enemies that you can square off with until you amass endgame gear. Perhaps a flag for summoned monsters that prevents them from summoning anything else for X turns might be enough to solve most of the issue. Maybe there could even be some monsters that *only* appear as summons.
One specific think about Paladins is the single combat which is a great idea. However, the cost of losing the loot after the battle is over was too much of a price to pay. I only wound up using it to cheese Quylthulgs, who also got me a free heal. So at very least I'd change single combat so that the player cannot regen. You can still use it to buy time by single combating a weak enemy and then chugging a bunch of healing potions. Or maybe reset player health & mana to what it was before entering single combat? I dunno. Maybe it's ok to have this be cheeseable.
I'll probably think of some more things later.
I really like the class remakes. I think overall, this was a fantastic change to the game. Classes feel more different than they did back in 3.x. I think I found a use (even if small) for every spell in the Paladin books, except for remove curse. I have no idea if classes are balanced, but I don't feel like they need to be.
I also like the remake of several monster classes, especially the Ainu. The shape changing is a really nice touch. Making spiders more powerful is also really nice. This is the first time I've really seen them. I have minor beefs with huorns moving so fast, I feel like they should be slow. I didn't get a feel for what Black Breath really does. By the time I fought the ringwraiths, I had pretty powerful gear and they only got it off once on me.
I'm looking forward to whichever part you tackle next (races? items? artifacts?)
The ole Angband problem of the latter half of the game being kind of a grindfest is still an issue. It's hard to resolve without some fundamental changes that probably aren't warranted. The first half of the game is great though. So is the very end when you face down the final boss (the Tarrasque).
One thing that I think slows down the late game in a negative way is monster summoning, specifically the ability of summoning explosions from monsters summoning other summoned monsters. It means that unless you can kill a monster before it gets a summon off, it's best not to engage at all. This makes very few late game enemies that you can square off with until you amass endgame gear. Perhaps a flag for summoned monsters that prevents them from summoning anything else for X turns might be enough to solve most of the issue. Maybe there could even be some monsters that *only* appear as summons.
One specific think about Paladins is the single combat which is a great idea. However, the cost of losing the loot after the battle is over was too much of a price to pay. I only wound up using it to cheese Quylthulgs, who also got me a free heal. So at very least I'd change single combat so that the player cannot regen. You can still use it to buy time by single combating a weak enemy and then chugging a bunch of healing potions. Or maybe reset player health & mana to what it was before entering single combat? I dunno. Maybe it's ok to have this be cheeseable.
I'll probably think of some more things later.
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