Drats! Bad Unique Drops!

[dhegler]

Ego items are rather useless for the most part around dlvl 50 in my experience, other than ammo. And, it does feel like artifacts are more common than usable egos by dlvl 30 or so for me.

My recent dwarf rogue has the Lance of Anfalith (7d8) (+7, +14) (+2)
+2 INT
+10% search
Slays orcs
*Slays Undead*
Poison brand
Resist Lightning, fire, nexus
Activates for Frost Ball d100 @ 70 turns
4 blows per round
126 vs orcs, 126 vs. non-poison resisters, 197 undead, 56 others.

I won't ever touch an ego item, and I found this between dlvl 20-25. Maybe a Mace of Disruption of Fury +2 (I think I found this last game), but without the other resists or *slays*, it's not as useful...

[Magnate]

Ego items are rather useless for the most part around dlvl 50 in my experience, other than ammo. And, it does feel like artifacts are more common than usable egos by dlvl 30 or so for me.

My recent dwarf rogue has the Lance of Anfalith (7d8) (+7, +14) (+2)
+2 INT
+10% search
Slays orcs
*Slays Undead*
Poison brand
Resist Lightning, fire, nexus
Activates for Frost Ball d100 @ 70 turns
4 blows per round
126 vs orcs, 126 vs. non-poison resisters, 197 undead, 56 others.

I won't ever touch an ego item, and I found this between dlvl 20-25. Maybe a Mace of Disruption of Fury +2 (I think I found this last game), but without the other resists or *slays*, it's not as useful...

That is pretty amazing for dl25 - how fast/slow were you playing? That should have a min depth more like 40 or 50 (spoiler will tell you).

Perhaps Timo is right - perhaps artifacts should be fewer and rarer. But this all needs revisiting after ego item drops are toned down a bit.

[dhegler]

I was surprised as heck when I found it. I typically found only the "Paur" gloves, Phial and maybe some low-level artifact by that point. It wasn't slay evil, but slay orc, once I checked again. When I found a lance 7d8, I knew something wasn't quite right and surprised the heck out of me when I saw how powerful it was. I haven't found anything comparable to that armor-wise yet, just some mid-level artifacts. I did find +10 BoS around the same time I found the lance. I was on cloud nine...

I was playing relatively fast down to dlvl 20-25, as I had FA already and multiple blows with my old weapon (which I thought was good at 20-25 per hit at the time).

Since, I have slowed down a bit and am only around dlvl 40 or so right now. Between 30-35 I had multiple levels that had 2-3 artifacts each, incredible luck, then it came back down to what I consider "normal" between 35-40.

It has made the game less challenging for me so far, but also been more fun. I guess the fun will start running out around dlvl 50 or so when my slots are maxed out with mostly artifacts and no need to egos any more...

[dhegler]

That is pretty amazing for dl25 - how fast/slow were you playing? That should have a min depth more like 40 or 50 (spoiler will tell you).

Perhaps Timo is right - perhaps artifacts should be fewer and rarer. But this all needs revisiting after ego item drops are toned down a bit.

How do I check the spoiler file to look for randarts? You mean that they are generated at birth in a file somewhere and then used throughout the game? So, I can look in the file to see what is possible? I will look for the file, but where is it?

[Magnate]

How do I check the spoiler file to look for randarts? You mean that they are generated at birth in a file somewhere and then used throughout the game? So, I can look in the file to see what is possible? I will look for the file, but where is it?

You have to generate the spoiler file yourself. There are two ways:

1. Wait until you die, and choose the "spoilers" option from the death menu. This avoids marking your save file as a cheater, but has an obvious drawback.

2. Use debug mode (ctrl-a) and go to the spoiler menu from there ("). This can be done in-game, but marks the character as a cheater. If you really want to see the spoilers before dying, do it this way.

In both cases the spoiler file is called "artifact.spo" and is created in the lib/user directory (which is ~/.angband/Angband on POSIX systems).

[dhegler]

I found the randart.log file, which looks like each artifact is linked to an artifact ID, which I would guess matches the built-in artifacts somewhere...

[Magnate]

I found the randart.log file, which looks like each artifact is linked to an artifact ID, which I would guess matches the built-in artifacts somewhere...

The log file is generated automatically at birth, when the randarts are generated. It's important for debugging, but useless for anything else.

[Pete Mack]

I've always liked the idea of "deep stairs" or shafts or whatever, that take you down 5-10 levels. If they were shafts, I could also imagine them not having up stairways (even when playing with connected stairs).

If about 20% of dungeons have one of these deep down staircases, you could probably dive to the bottom at least twice as fast if you wanted to. I guess that could be a problem, but I imagine it being nice, and it's a pretty discoverable game mechanic for new players.

EDIT: In fact, I could imagine many different colors of down staircases, based on how deep they take you. Maybe an incredibly rare black staircase that takes you to dungeon level 99, for instance!

It turns out that this may not be such a good idea. The danger in going down stairs isn't going down, it's finding the stairs. This means that small levels and shafts make the game significantly easier, especially for divers.

There's already plenty of room for diving abuse by mage-casters, once they get a reliable Create Stairs spell. (Just try it out and see...)

[Hariolor]

It turns out that this may not be such a good idea. The danger in going down stairs isn't going down, it's finding the stairs. This means that small levels and shafts make the game significantly easier, especially for divers.

There's already plenty of room for diving abuse by mage-casters, once they get a reliable Create Stairs spell. (Just try it out and see...)

Agreed - If I am playing a rogue/mage/ranger and survive long enough to get and use Mordekeinen's, I am probably strong enough by that point to go ahead and dive down to speed ring depth. It's usually a pretty straight shot from DL 50 to about DL 75 for me. As noted elsewhere recently, this is not much of an issue as the power gradient across those 25 levels is noticeable, but not so significant as to discourage aggressive diving.

[PowerDiver]

It turns out that this may not be such a good idea. The danger in going down stairs isn't going down, it's finding the stairs. This means that small levels and shafts make the game significantly easier, especially for divers.

On the contrary, IMO small levels make things much more dangerous. It is far more likely that a single monster you cannot afford to face will be able to defend all of the stairs in a small level than in a large level.

[Pete Mack]

On the contrary, IMO small levels make things much more dangerous. It is far more likely that a single monster you cannot afford to face will be able to defend all of the stairs in a small level than in a large level.

Good point -- when I was playing NPP with small levels I always used connected stairs, for exactly this situation. With disconnected stairs, it would be very different.

[mrfy]

Resurrecting an old thread...this was just found:

the Band of Telinaeri
Dropped by Bullroarer the Hobbit at 300 feet:

Provides protection from fear.
Cannot be harmed by Lightning.
Aggravates creatures nearby.


awesome. no stat bonuses either.

[Nick]

the Band of Telinaeri
Dropped by Bullroarer the Hobbit at 300 feet:

Provides protection from fear.
Cannot be harmed by Lightning.
Aggravates creatures nearby.

Oangband used to have Rings of Aggravation which were exactly this. Level 5 object, worth 100 gold

[mrfy]

Next game:

the Band 'Nasarmen' <+1>:
Dropped by a witch at 500 feet

+1 light.
Cannot be harmed by Lightning.
Aggravates creatures nearby.

Wow.