Should I wear Dragon Scale Mail?

[PeterWelzien]

Hello everyone. I just recently started playing Angband and is now looking for some advice. I've got a level 20 mage and not long ago I found a Blue Dragon Scale Mail. The question is: should I wear it? Wearing it results in me losing a few points of mana. And since it's soo heavy, and I'm soo weak (my charcter that is), I'll also lose some speed.

Is it good enough to warrant the mana and speed loss?

[d_m]

Hello everyone. I just recently started playing Angband and is now looking for some advice. I've got a level 20 mage and not long ago I found a Blue Dragon Scale Mail. The question is: should I wear it? Wearing it results in me losing a few points of mana. And since it's soo heavy, and I'm soo weak (my charcter that is), I'll also lose some speed.

Is it good enough to warrant the mana and speed loss?

Possibly but probably not. DSM was recently improved... before then the answer was a definite no.

If you find the breath weapon activation useful, or you need resist lightning, then it might be OK. Otherwise it's probably best to just sell it.

The answer would probably change to "yes" if it was (for instance) blue DSM of speed +7.

[Derakon]

DSM is better than it used to be, but that doesn't make it good in all or even most situations. My big concern is the speed penalty here. Losing speed is a huge disadvantage, since it means that your enemies can get double moves on you (assuming you don't have a source of permanent speed from other equipment, which you probably don't). That more than makes up for having the breath weapon and electricity resistance that the DSM gives you. Speed is king.

[Tiburon Silverflame]

Also, as a mage, you're avoiding melee as much as you can, so raw AC (which is what the DSM most offers) is less useful. The recharge time used to be several hundred turns, so while the breath's handy, it's too intermittent.

Consider this: say you had a Ring of Protection +15, and a Ring of Speed +4. Which would you rather use? You can't use them both, it's one or the other. This is pretty much the decision you're making.

Final point: the DSM will be worth some nice $$$, which you can use to buy some better-enchanted armor, or perhaps some Enchant Armor scrolls, or whatever.

[PeterWelzien]

Since my strength is only 11 I can't carry much loot as it is. When my inventory is full I'm down to speed -2 as it is. I guess the DSM would make me too slow. And I've got resistance against lighting, acid and cold, so I guess I'd better just sell the DSM.