feature request: display magic item failure rates

[bebo]

seeing how now in the weapon information window avg damage etc is displayed, and how spell failure is clearly displayed in the spellbooks, i wonder if it's possible to have displayed in the various magic item descriptions their failure rate - it would really help inexperienced players (like me) to choose for example whether to use a scroll of teleport or a staff.

EDIT: i'm not really sure - is this the right place to post this kind of stuff?

[takkaria]

seeing how now in the weapon information window avg damage etc is displayed, and how spell failure is clearly displayed in the spellbooks, i wonder if it's possible to have displayed in the various magic item descriptions their failure rate - it would really help inexperienced players (like me) to choose for example whether to use a scroll of teleport or a staff.

EDIT: i'm not really sure - is this the right place to post this kind of stuff?

Sure it is. That feature request has already been made, and it may well be in 3.1.1—failing that, in 3.1.2.

PS. Use scrolls when you can't afford to fail, staffs otherwise.

[Pete Mack]

For a character with "Heroic" device level, the device failure rate is:

  between 3.5% to 3.7% for utility devices 
 (like Staff of teleportation, wand of teleport other, staff of ID)

  between 5.5% and 6.0% for difficult (depth 50+) devices
  (Staff of *Destruction*, Rod of Healing, etc)

[NeoWizard]

@Pete:

That is good to know but it wont help bebo cause you have to be an experienced player to know what the rated depth of the item is!

EDIT: Unless of course you go through the edit files.

[buzzkill]

As long as we're talking about magic items...
This is coming from a guy who tries to avoid reading edit files, spoilers, etc.
These are my current assumptions, please correct me if I am wrong...

In general, wands are easiest to use, followed by staffs, and then rods.
In general, rods are most powerful, followed by staffs, than wands, and, if generating an attack than can be resisted (or saved against), rods are more likely to be successful.
Failure rate is determined based on 3 factors, magic item ability, class level, and the native depth of the item.

Dose anybody ever really use items (or spells) such as sleep, scare, slow, confuse, or polymorph? I know that I'll put them to use (in the early game) if I find them, but they're always the first thing I drop when low on pack space, and the first thing I sell when I reach the surface. Between the failure rate, and the odds that something you would actually want to sleep or slow would resist it, they just don't seem worthwhile. Am I missing something?

[sanarota]

Okay, do you know any magic tricks as in real ones not those fake ones? Just anything that’s cool and fun to do. I'm not David Copperfield, or even the balding-45-year-old who performs at a 5-year-old's birthday party. Is magic caused by the mind? Do you know any real simple magic tricks? Does anyone know any cool, simple, and easy to learn magic tricks? Thank you.