Need some Weapon and Armor advice.

[marteo]

Hi,
I apologize for my bad English level.

I would like to ask you for advice concerning a character whom I have now played (with cheating) for three years.

Stats :

 Name   Gorgall                                  Self  RB  CB  EB   Best
 Sex    Male              Age        29   STR! 18/100  +4  +5  +5 18/240
 Race   Half-Troll        Height     82   INT! 18/100  -4  -2  +3  18/70
 Class  Warrior           Weight    208   WIS! 18/100  -2  -2  +3  18/90
 Title  Lord              Status      1   DEX! 18/100  -4  +2  +3 18/110
 HP     1218/1218         Maximize    Y   CON! 18/100  +3  +2  +8 18/230
 SP     0/0               Preserve    Y   CHR! 18/100  -6  -1  +0  18/30

 Level           48       Armor    [35,+111]     Saving Throw     Superb
 Cur Exp    4266850       Fight    (+20,+20)     Stealth            Fair
 Max Exp    4266850       Melee    (+28,+31)     Fighting      Legendary
 Adv Exp    4800000       Shoot    (+40,+22)     Shooting      Legendary
 MaxDepth   2700 ft       Blows       5/turn     Disarming        Superb
 Gold       1568282       Shots       2/turn     Magic Device  Excellent
 Burden   123.5 lbs                              Perception          Bad
 Speed           +1       Infra        30 ft     Searching          Poor

As you may imagine, the stats are heterogene (way normal for a troll warrior !)

I hesitate between :

a) Armors :

The Augmented Chain Mail of Caspanion (-2) [16,+20] (+3)
It increases your intelligence, wisdom, and constitution by 3. It
provides resistance to acid, poison, and confusion. It activates for
door and trap destruction every 10 turns. It cannot be harmed by the
elements.
The Leather Scale Mail 'Thalkettoth' (-1) [11,+20] (+3)
It increases your dexterity by 3. It increases your speed by 3. It
provides resistance to acid and shards. It cannot be harmed by the
elements.
The Metal Brigandine Armour of the Rohirrim [19,+15] (+2)
It increases your strength and dexterity by 2. It provides resistance
to acid, lightning, fire, cold, fear, confusion, and sound. It cannot
be harmed by the elements.

b) Weapons :
The Small Sword 'Sting' (1d6) (+8,+8) (+2)
It increases your strength, dexterity, and constitution by 2. It
increases your speed and attack speed by 2. It slays animals, orcs,
undead, and all evil creatures. It provides resistance to fear and
light. It lights the dungeon around you. It grants you immunity to
paralysis and the ability to see invisible things. It cannot be harmed
by the elements.
A War Hammer (Defender) (3d3) (+7,+12) [+6] (+3 to stealth)
It increases your stealth by 3. It provides resistance to acid,
lightning, fire, and cold. It sustains your constitution. It makes
you fall like a feather and speeds your regeneration. It grants you
immunity to paralysis and the ability to see invisible things. It
cannot be harmed by the elements.
The Battle Axe of Balli Stonehand (3d8) (+8,+11) [+5] (+3)
It increases your strength and constitution by 3. It increases your
stealth by 3. It slays orcs, trolls, and demons. It provides
resistance to acid, lightning, fire, cold, and blindness. It makes you
fall like a feather and speeds your regeneration. It grants you
immunity to paralysis and the ability to see invisible things. It
cannot be harmed by the elements.

c) Shooting Wepons :
A Sling of Extra Might (x2) (+12,+11) (+1)
It increases your shooting power by 1.
The Long Bow 'Belthronding' (x3) (+20,+22) (+1)
It increases your dexterity by 1. It increases your stealth, speed,
and shooting speed by 1. It provides resistance to disenchantment. It
cannot be harmed by the elements.

Some other questions : I am playing now in dl53-55 (~2700 ft.). I did not find any object that would grant me resistance to chaos, but I have already matched chaos creatures. How deep are chaos resistances ?

Here's part of my inven :
j) a Lead Rod of Drain Life
k) 4 Titanium Rods of Fire Bolts
l) 4 Silver-Plated Rods of Frost Bolts

I use k and l very rarely, for arrows/bolts are way better?
Should I forget them ?
j is powerful but I can use it about 1 time in 5, so arrows are better too.
Should I remove it ?

Thanks for your advice

marteo

[Narvius]

a) Depends. Have you another source of rConfu? I'd rule out Rohirrim anyways. Probably Thalkettoth.
b) Sting
c) the Longbow. The sling's cheap stuff compared!

[marteo]

Ooops sorry, have copied the wrong item.

It should have been :

a Heavy Crossbow of Extra Shots (x4) (+19,+9) (+1)
It increases your shooting speed by 1.
instead of the sling.

Well, I do not have any other source of rConfu.
Sting (that you seem to prefer) gives already some speed advantage. Why not, then, Caspanion ?

Edit : I have just tested Taklletooth and Sting by 2700'
Have been confused when fighting a lesser Balrog and 4 Marilith's... Fight ended good for me, but that was not evident (although it shoult be evident)

Edit :
I just found 'the chain mail of Arvedui' (not *identified*). Better than the others items, perhaps ?
Amazing to play with +6 or +16 speed, but confusion is perilous.
One more question (plus the others ones )
What is 'ESP' ? I see it always in my self-knowledge.

Thanks

[Daniel Fishman]

Rings of Lightning and Protection are pointless. A ring or two of Damage would be best, but even a Ring of Dexterity would be useful as it would probably get you an extra blow with

p) The Glaive of Pain (9d6) (+0,+30)
It cannot be harmed by the elements. It might have hidden powers.

which is easily your best weapon. As a warrior, weapons are for killing stuff, anything else is just a bonus And this does significantly more damage than any of your other weapons.

Caspanion is your only source of poison and confusion resistances, both of which (the former particularly) are vital, so go for that.

I would also wear
j) The Hard Leather Cap of Thranduil [2,+8] (+2)
It increases your intelligence and wisdom by 2. It provides resistance
to blindness. It grants you the power of telepathy. It cannot be
harmed by the elements.
since it provides telepathy (telepathy and ESP are the same: they make you able to sense most monsters within a certain range even if they're not visible).

(the dump, btw, is at http://angband.oook.cz/ladder-show.php?id=8507 for anyone who is reading the thread but doesn't check recent Ladder posts)

[marteo]

The glaive of Pain, my best weapon ?
maybe, but I *do* need speed, and two armors are enough for me to have -1 speed.
And Sting has more useful powers (since it is bonus, as you say...)

Tharanduil provides telepathy.
The crown of Might increases the most important 3 stats by 2.
They have the same AC value.

I often zap the rods of detection (that is the reason for me to carry 3 of them) : you can be sure that I see major monsters before I am bound to fight them.

[PowerDiver]

Rings of Lightning and Protection are pointless. A ring or two of Damage would be best, but even a Ring of Dexterity would be useful as it would probably get you an extra blow with

p) The Glaive of Pain (9d6) (+0,+30)

You are correct because he is playing 306. In 310, a ring of lightning in conjunction with Pain is monstrously powerful, effectively doing 125 damage [plus other bonuses] per hit against anything lacking elec resistance, plus more criticals on top of that.

[marteo]

Hello,
I am now at dlvl 60 and more, and I cannot beat Azriel, Uriel and Gabriel;
Sould I go deeper in order to find artifacts giving me nethr res, but still not being sure that I can survive in deeper dlvls... or first of all must I try to beat them dangerously ?

May I wear a Ring of dam+11 or Barahir, or a Ring of dex+3 ?

[Magnate]

Hello,
I am now at dlvl 60 and more, and I cannot beat Azriel, Uriel and Gabriel;
Sould I go deeper in order to find artifacts giving me nethr res, but still not being sure that I can survive in deeper dlvls... or first of all must I try to beat them dangerously ?

May I wear a Ring of dam+11 or Barahir, or a Ring of dex+3 ?

You do not have to beat every creature you meet. If you try to do that, the game becomes long and boring. Make sure you have a wand or rod of Teleport Other, so you can get rid of monsters you can't beat. Keep diving, and you will find enough items to beat them later. With your current kit you should dive to 4000' and start looking for speed rings.

[Pete Mack]

What magnate said. If you avoid "dangerous" fights and save them for later, you are less likely to need to cheat. And the game is a lot more fun.

[marteo]

ok, i'll do so... I have always tried to avoid mass savefile backups, but, eh, you know...

and what about the rings ?
I have got :

Barahir (see dump for specs)
speed+5
dext+3
dam+14


Thanks a lot for the advice !

[PowerDiver]

Barahir (see dump for specs)
speed+5
dext+3
dam+14

Generally speaking, a warrior should wear the best speed ring on one hand and the best damage on the other, until you find the elven rings. You need a good reason to do otherwise. This may be different now that elemental rings brand your melee weapon, but you don't list any of them above.

[Daniel Fishman]

Elemental rings would be a consideration were he not playing 3.0.6

[Mondkalb]

Well, if you don't wear Caspanion, Barahir is a source of rPoison ...

[marteo]

As said, I'm playing 3.0.6, so the elemental rings have no branding effects.

I'll wear speed and damage rings, but notice that wielding Pain, the dext+3 give me one more blow. I do not use the bow so often, one more blow may be better.

Considering Caspanion and Barahir, I'll do the maths to know. Maybe Takkletooth+Barahir is good too.

[Daniel Fishman]

If dex+3 gets you another blow I think you want to wield it ahead of the damage ring - 4*14 (+14 to each of 4 blows) < 45 + 9d6 (one extra blow).