Am I being a coward?

[PeterWelzien]

Hello again. I've got a lvl 22 mage and is currently mucking about on dl 13. Should I be deeper? I've read in several places that I shouldn't be afraid to dive fast. Am I being too cautious?

Character dump attached.

[Derakon]

Yes, you should be deeper.

My general attitude is that it's better to be overly reckless than overly cautious. The reckless player will get into more tense situations where they have to really think about what they're doing; the cautious player, in contrast, becomes used to not being threatened by their surroundings, and then isn't ready to cope properly when an actual threat arises.

For your character, I'd say dive to dungeon level 30 at least. You're good to go deeper, and if you're going to dive to 20, then you should bite the bullet and dive to 30 -- you get to stat-gain depth and skip the part of the dungeon where hounds are most common.

By the way, I'd recommend upgrading to 3.1.2v2.

[fyonn]

I've currently got a clvl29 hobbit mage running around dlvl32 and I think I'm playing cautiously. I'm about to dive to around dlvl40 to get more into statgain range as I really need strength

dave

[PeterWelzien]

Won't I need Free Action before I go beyond level 20?

Will upgrading to 3.1.2v2 invalidate my save file?

[Derakon]

You don't need anything to go below any depth (exception: you must kill Sauron before going to dungeon level 100). As long as you avoid paralyzers you don't need free action. It just becomes harder to do so the deeper you go.

I suspect that 3.1.2v2 and 3.0.9 are not savefile-compatible. Finish your current character first (one way or another...) and then upgrade.

[PeterWelzien]

Ok. Thanks for the help.

[nullfame]

You should be careful about things that will paralyze you after dl20 if you don't have FA, but, no, you don't need it. You appear to be playing a version where a melee paralyzer is fatal. The problem is you won't find FA hanging around on 13. IIRC it is dl20 item. Death by paralysis is something everone experiences learning the game. Same with death by stunning and "it breathes, you die."

When I first played Angband I was probably a typical player. I played slow and cautious, got invested in my character and my finds, and would leave the game for weeks or months once I reached a new low and died. One reason people advocate diving is that you don't get so attached to a character so you are more willing to get back on the saddle. I probably die before dl20 half the time, OTOH I can get there in about 2 hours real time so it isn't so heartbreaking. I could probably be more cautious and improve that rate but I don't care. It is still fun to me. Running in to a sabre-tooth tiger or a dark elven priest or being tag teamed by Fang and a kobold shaman are as exhilerating as any other fight.

I used to shoot for dl=cl until things get boring or you feel like you're going too slow. Then I moved to dl=cl*1.5. Now I aim for dl=cl*2. If dl < cl you are going to slow. My 2˘. Everyone enjoys the game different. As long as you are that's all that matters.

[Fendell Orcbane]

I'm working on a high elven mage right now and it was tough surviving until I hit lvl 30, before then I would stay close to the lvl that my character was at i.e. if I was cl 22 I'd go no deeper than lvl 25. But then as I got high and high I started diving, although to be fair I did wait until I had free action and respoison before going pass lvl 20 and 40.

Mages are hard to work up because you don't have many hit points to play with and you can get killed in one shot for at least the first half of the game.

But I think you should try to go lower because the loot gets better and its easier to find spell books. And stat gain potions. These are key. Because I'm sure that you notice how little you can carry without losing speed. Being slow is another thing that will get your ass killed.

Good luck!

[buzzkill]

Go as deep as you need to, to keep yourself on your toes. a good rule of thumb is somewhere between CL=DL and CL*2=DL. You shouldn't kill everything you see. You should flee quite a bit. If the game seems boring go deeper. If merely surviving takes all your skill, then lighten up a bit. Enjoy the times when you find the balance between these two extremes because IMO they don't occur all that often. The game is how you play it. Don't worry about what you have and what you don't. You'll learn what you need through practice (and death), not by reading the forums (not that there's not a lot of great info here).

[nullfame]

I guess I wasn't paying close enough attention to realize this was a mage. My bad. Otherwise I would have referred to Angband's Definitive Guide for Mages. I'm glad nobody beat me to it.

[Fendell Orcbane]

Go as deep as you need to, to keep yourself on your toes. a good rule of thumb is somewhere between CL=DL and CL*2=DL. You shouldn't kill everything you see. You should flee quite a bit. If the game seems boring go deeper. If merely surviving takes all your skill, then lighten up a bit. Enjoy the times when you find the balance between these two extremes because IMO they don't occur all that often. The game is how you play it. Don't worry about what you have and what you don't. You'll learn what you need through practice (and death), not by reading the forums (not that there's not a lot of great info here).

I don't know dude I learned A LOT from this place, I learned stuff that I might not have thought of on my own to be honest. I doubt I would have had a *WINNER* within 6 months of playing if not for this place. Yeah, ultimately you do need to put in the time, but the forum can really change a persons game for the better.

[Chud]

Yes, you should be deeper.

My general attitude is that it's better to be overly reckless than overly cautious. The reckless player will get into more tense situations where they have to really think about what they're doing; the cautious player, in contrast, becomes used to not being threatened by their surroundings, and then isn't ready to cope properly when an actual threat arises.

This is by far the single biggest cause of death for me, by a huge margin. Not being willing enough to walk (or run) away from something juicy is second.

[Timo Pietilä]

Yes, you should be deeper.

My general attitude is that it's better to be overly reckless than overly cautious. The reckless player will get into more tense situations where they have to really think about what they're doing; the cautious player, in contrast, becomes used to not being threatened by their surroundings, and then isn't ready to cope properly when an actual threat arises.

I think you got those backwards. Reckless player doesn't recognize danger when threat arises, while cautious player does.

I'd say "be reckless in determining where you should be, be cautious about your actions when you are there".

[Derakon]

I think you got those backwards. Reckless player doesn't recognize danger when threat arises, while cautious player does.

I'd say "be reckless in determining where you should be, be cautious about your actions when you are there".

I could have phrased that better, yes. In another thread I advocated "strategic risk-taking", which is a better way to think about it, IMO.

[Tiburon Silverflame]

nullframe: More fun to beat you with it......

<ducks>