mordenkainen's escapes & diving

[bebo]

i was just able to buy mordenkainen's escapes with my rogue from the black market

now, i was wondering how this might/should affect my gameplay style - in particular should i dive extra fast or continue as normal?

below is my char dump

note - the high turn is partially caused by some town scumming i did - still my way of diving is probably way slower than that of more experienced players

  [Angband 3.1.0 beta Character Dump]

 Sex    Male         Age            103   STR:  18/23  +1  +2  +0  18/53
 Race   High-Elf     Height          92   INT:     14  +3  +1  +5  18/50
 Class  Rogue        Weight         176   WIS:     10  -1  -2  +2      9
 Title  Filcher      Social   Respected   DEX:     18  +3  +3  +3  18/90
 HP     291/291      Maximize         Y   Con:     16  +1  +1  +0     18     17
 SP     47/47                             CHR:     11  +5  -1  +0     15


 Level               27   Armor    [14,+51]     Saving Throw         76%
 Cur Exp          65654   Fight     (-3,+3)     Stealth           Heroic
 Max Exp          65654   Melee    (+8,+16)     Fighting          Heroic
 Adv Exp          78750   Shoot   (+11,+19)     Shooting          Heroic
 MaxDepth   2100' (L42)   Blows      4/turn     Disarming            96%
 Turns           426304   Shots      1/turn     Magic Device      Heroic
 Gold             12747   Infra       40 ft     Perception       1 in 12
 Burden        98.2 lbs   Speed           6     Searching            35%

 You are one of several children of a Telerin Ranger.  You have light
 grey eyes, straight black hair, and a fair complexion.



 Acid:......+.+.... Confu:.............
 Elec:........+.... Sound:.............
 Fire:........+.... Shard:.............
 Cold:+.......+.... Nexus:.............
 Pois:............. Nethr:.............
 Fear:............. Chaos:.............
 Lite:........+...+ Disen:.............
 Dark:........+.... S.Dig:....+........
Blind:.........+... Feath:...........+.

PLite:............. Aggrv:.............
Regen:............. Stea.:+..........+.
Telep:.........+... Sear.:.............
Invis:+...........+ Infra:............+
FrAct:..+.......... Tunn.:.............
HLife:............. Speed:+..........+.
ImpHP:............. Blows:.............
ImpSP:............. Shots:.............
 Fear:............. Might:.+...........


  [Character Equipment]

a) The Spear 'Nimloth' (1d6) (+11,+13) (+3)
     +3 stealth, speed.
     Provides resistance to cold.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, electricity, fire, cold.
     Blessed by the gods.
     Grants the ability to see invisible things.
     With this weapon, you would currently get 4 blows per round.  Each
     blow will do an average damage of 26.5 against undead, 26.5
     against frost-vulnerable creatures, and 19.5 against normal
     creatures.
b) a Sling of Extra Might (x2) (+14,+19) (+1)
     +1 shooting power.
c) a Tiger Eye Ring of Free Action
     Prevents paralysis.
d) a Rhodonite Ring of Damage (+0,+8)
e) a Mithril Amulet of Slow Digestion
     Slows your metabolism.
f) The Phial of Galadriel {!!}
     Cannot be harmed by acid, electricity, fire, cold.
     When activated, it lights up the surrounding area, hurting light-s
     ensitive creatures.
     It takes 10 turns to recharge after use.
     Radius 3 light.
g) Studded Leather Armour of Resist Acid (-1) [6,+9]
     Provides resistance to acid.
     Cannot be harmed by acid.
h) (nothing)
i) The Leather Shield of Celegorm [4,+20]
     Provides resistance to acid, lightning, fire, cold, light, dark.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, electricity, fire, cold.
j) The Hard Leather Cap of Thranduil [2,+10] (+2)
     +2 intelligence, wisdom.
     Provides resistance to blindness.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, electricity, fire, cold.
     Grants telepathy.
k) (nothing)
l) The Pair of Leather Boots of Wormtongue (-8,-8) [2,+7] (+3) {!!, uncursed}
     +3 intelligence, dexterity, stealth, speed.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, electricity, fire, cold.
     Feather Falling.
     When activated, it teleports you randomly up to 10 squares away.
     It takes 20 turns to recharge after use.


  [Character Inventory]

a) 2 Books of Magic Spells [Magic for Beginners] {@m1@b1}
b) 2 Books of Magic Spells [Conjurings and Tricks] {@m2@b2}
c) 2 Books of Magic Spells [Incantations and Illusions] {@m3@b3}
d) 2 Books of Magic Spells [Sorcery and Evocations] {@m4@b4}
e) a Book of Magic Spells [Mordenkainen's Escapes] {@m7@b7}
     Cannot be harmed by acid, electricity, fire, cold.
f) 10 Grey Potions of Cure Critical Wounds
g) 10 Scrolls titled "passequo" of Phase Door
h) 10 Scrolls titled "intia pas pa" of Teleport Level {!*}
i) 10 Scrolls titled "saneo lium" of Identify
j) 4 Scrolls titled "ter rego dio" of Word of Recall {!*}
k) a Zinc-Plated Rod of Teleport Other {!!}
l) a Platinum Wand of Stone to Mud (7 charges)
m) a Bronze Wand of Teleport Other (8 charges)
n) 2 Cedar Staffs of Mapping (10 charges)
o) 2 Birch Staffs of Teleportation (18 charges) {!*}


  [Home Inventory]

a) 20 Grey Potions of Cure Critical Wounds
     When ingested, it heals you a large amount (1/4 of your wounds, mi
     nimum 30HP), heals cut damage, and cures stunning, poisoning, blin
     dness, and confusion.
     Provides nourishment for about 75 turns under normal conditions.
b) an Azure Potion of Restore Mana {!*}
     When ingested, it restores your mana points to maximum.
c) 9 Scrolls titled "tea po" of Teleportation {!*}
     When read, it teleports you randomly up to 100 squares away.
d) a Scroll titled "gla lo inquo" of *Destruction* {!*}
     When read, it destroys an area around you in the shape of a circle 
     radius 15, and blinds you for 1d10+10 turns.
e) 2 Silver Staffs of Speed (10 charges) {!*}
     When used, it hastens you for 2d10+20 turns.
f) The Dagger 'Nimthanc' (2d4) (+4,+6)
     Provides resistance to cold.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, electricity, fire, cold.
     
     When activated, it creates a frost bolt with damage 6d8.
     It takes 7 turns to recharge after use.
     With this weapon, you would currently get 4 blows per round.  Each
     blow will do an average damage of 24 against frost-vulnerable
     creatures, and 14 against normal creatures.
g) a Main Gauche (Defender) (1d5) (+8,+6) [+4] (+3 stealth)
     +3 stealth.
     Provides resistance to acid, lightning, fire, cold.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, electricity, fire, cold.
     Sustains wisdom.
     Feather Falling.
     Speeds regeneration.
     Prevents paralysis.
     Grants the ability to see invisible things.
     
     With this weapon, you would currently get 4 blows per round.  Each
     blow will do an average damage of 12 against normal creatures.
h) The Broad Sword 'Aeglin' (2d5) (+12,+16) (+1)
     +1 searching.
     Provides resistance to lightning, blindness.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, electricity, fire, cold.
     Blessed by the gods.
     Slows your metabolism.
     
     Radius 1 light.
     With this weapon, you would currently get 2 blows per round.  Each
     blow will do an average damage of 37 against orcs, 37 against
     trolls, 37 against giants, 37 against electricity-vulnerable
     creatures, and 25 against normal creatures.
i) 41 Bolts (1d5) (+0,+0) {@f1}


  [Options]

Maximize effect of race/class bonuses        : yes (adult_maximize)
Randomize some of the artifacts (beta)       : no  (adult_randarts)
Restrict the use of stairs/recall            : no  (adult_ironman)
Restrict the use of stores/home              : no  (adult_no_stores)
Restrict creation of artifacts               : no  (adult_no_artifacts)
Don't stack objects on the floor             : no  (adult_no_stacking)
Lose artifacts when leaving level            : no  (adult_no_preserve)
Don't generate connected stairs              : no  (adult_no_stairs)
Adult: Monsters chase current location       : yes (adult_ai_sound)
Adult: Monsters chase recent locations       : yes (adult_ai_smell)
Adult: Monsters act smarter in groups        : yes (adult_ai_packs)
Adult: Monsters learn from their mistakes    : no  (adult_ai_learn)
Adult: Monsters exploit players weaknesses   : no  (adult_ai_cheat)
Adult: Monsters behave more intelligently (broken): no  (adult_ai_smart)
Score: Peek into object creation             : no  (score_peek)
Score: Peek into monster creation            : no  (score_hear)
Score: Peek into dungeon creation            : no  (score_room)
Score: Peek into something else              : no  (score_xtra)
Score: Know complete monster info            : no  (score_know)
Score: Allow player to avoid death           : no  (score_live)

[Donald Jonker]

i was just able to buy mordenkainen's escapes with my rogue from the black market

now, i was wondering how this might/should affect my gameplay style - in particular should i dive extra fast or continue as normal?

I found myself in a similar position recently, and my MO was to do my regular detects - mapping, dTreasure, dMonsters - and if there were any interesting treasure or lucrative monster/unique opportunities, make a quick detour. Otherwise, just create those stairs.

[Atarlost]

I found myself in a similar position recently, and my MO was to do my regular detects - mapping, dTreasure, dMonsters - and if there were any interesting treasure or lucrative monster/unique opportunities, make a quick detour. Otherwise, just create those stairs.

It should be a lot safer to be below depth with Mordekein's. Typically you want to use escape spells when you have two or more turns to live so if you fail you can fall back on a scroll. Create stairs, though a two turn escape instead of one turn, is known to be a sucess or failure after the first turn so you have the same last chance you have with a failed teleport spell. It's also a foolproof escape when playing with connected stairs.

The real advantage, though, is that it can be used in advance if you know where you'll be fighting something. When fighting something potentially dangerous you can have a 1 turn zero fail confusion/blindness proof escape by creating a stair before the fight begins.

You can also use stair creation to ascend to a comfortable depth if you find you have dived too far.

[Zikke]

In my opinion, Escapes = diving. I think that's my favorite dungeon book. As my dad would say, "it makes you slicker than cat snot."


Sorry for the imagery