ID by Use and Consumables

[Netbrian]

Hi! I've been playing through Angband 3.1.1, and really appreciate the ID by use system. However, I have a quick question -- is the intent of the system to also cover identifying consumables? It looks to be the case (for instance, this is why potions of death were removed), but I ran into a few items where this can be problematic.

1. Curse Weapon/Armor scrolls. Honestly, I think these should just be removed. Unlike, say, a potion of detonations, it doesn't look likely that we'll ever see any possible use for these, and they're obnoxious.

2. Potions of Toughness and their friends. I had my ranger's dexterity drained by an un-IDed potion of toughness, which put me off un-IDed potions at that point. My suggestion is to change these so if they're drank unidentified, they always drain charisma. That way, people aren't punished for applying ID by use, but they're not mislead as to the potion's behavior.

3. It looks like Deep Descent is already being changed -- I had a nasty surprise when I read it in the town early on, and was thrown to dungeon level 7 with no recall and without being all that prepared. Fortunately, I was able to stairscum my way back up.

I really like this system, and hope to see it continued!

[fizzix]

Hi! I've been playing through Angband 3.1.1, and really appreciate the ID by use system. However, I have a quick question -- is the intent of the system to also cover identifying consumables? It looks to be the case (for instance, this is why potions of death were removed), but I ran into a few items where this can be problematic.

1. Curse Weapon/Armor scrolls. Honestly, I think these should just be removed. Unlike, say, a potion of detonations, it doesn't look likely that we'll ever see any possible use for these, and they're obnoxious.

2. Potions of Toughness and their friends. I had my ranger's dexterity drained by an un-IDed potion of toughness, which put me off un-IDed potions at that point. My suggestion is to change these so if they're drank unidentified, they always drain charisma. That way, people aren't punished for applying ID by use, but they're not mislead as to the potion's behavior.

3. It looks like Deep Descent is already being changed -- I had a nasty surprise when I read it in the town early on, and was thrown to dungeon level 7 with no recall and without being all that prepared. Fortunately, I was able to stairscum my way back up.

I really like this system, and hope to see it continued!

1. What really needs to be done is to rework the mechanism of curses. It is helped a little with enchant/break curse being separated in 3.1.2 though.

2. These are a bit bad, but they're also rare. I only usually run across 0-1 a game. They don't seem to have terribly much impact though. That might be because I try to get to stat-gain depth very quickly.

3. Well, that's why you have to be a bit careful when reading unid'd scrolls. There are a couple scrolls that can kill you if you're not careful, and they include ?DD, ?TL, and the 2 summon scrolls. These don't prevent ID by use as I see it. IIRC, reading DD in town will work like a recall and you'll have enough time to run to the alchemist or general store and buy a recall scroll to reverse it.