phase for shortcut

[PowerDiver]

There is a trick I use pretty often, but I'm not sure I've ever seen it mentioned here or on rgra.

Suppose you have two rooms, separated by a couple of rows of granite walls. Sometimes, to get from one room to the other by walking along corridors, you might need to travel a long way. If you go to the edge and phase, you have a fair shot of landing in the other room. Try a few times and you will get there.

This helps to keep down the turncount, but even if you do not care about turncount it can still be advantageous. Most obviously, if the corridor path is blocked by a monster you do not wish to fight, you avoid the monster. Less obviously, if you walk along the path you may come into detection range of monsters you would prefer did not know where you are.

I do this many times a game. The opportunities abound if you look for them.

[Derakon]

Yep, I do this fairly often too. Just because phase is random doesn't mean it's useless for going where you want to go.

In the late game, you may be good enough at tunneling to close short distances in less time than you'd on average need to phase there. Of course, that destroys the barrier between the two sections.

[PowerDiver]

In the late game, you may be good enough at tunneling to close short distances in less time than you'd on average need to phase there. Of course, that destroys the barrier between the two sections.

The barrier is often worth preserving. I sometimes stone-to-mud or tunnel a few squares to get closer, but phase before the last tunnel that would break the barrier.

[fizzix]

I do this too. I think I learned the trick from reading one of your (Eddie's) long reports. Probably the bold rogue one.

I also learned other valuable tricks like illuminating corridors so you can see when the monsters round them. (I used to chuck -light now I love to find them)

[buzzkill]

Me too. If I'm running a caster that can cast phase door for next to nothing. I'll use phase for movement quite a bit.

[PowerDiver]

There's one more point about barriers. If rubble is blocking a corridor, it is often better to phase past it to leave the corridor blocked.

[Veritas129]

I use that trick pretty often too. Found myself doing it after getting tired of running half the map just to get to some spot 2 spaces away. Obviously once I can tunnel or stone to mud through then its not too big a deal but its still nice at earlier levels or if you dont want to create a pathway.

I also just started using phase door to get through hordes of monsters to a fleeing unique with my paladin. Sometimes those bastards summon a horde of monsters and then push through them when they decide to puss out. Ive had a bunch of luck phase dooring past the hordes and landing right in front of them lol

[Magnate]

I have long coveted Sangband's semi-controlled phasing. You choose your target square and you end up within a few squares of it (unless you're a high-level mage, when you end up exactly on it). This significantly cuts down the number of phasing attempts to jump the kind of barrier we're discussing.

[Nomad]

I have long coveted Sangband's semi-controlled phasing. You choose your target square and you end up within a few squares of it (unless you're a high-level mage, when you end up exactly on it). This significantly cuts down the number of phasing attempts to jump the kind of barrier we're discussing.

Directional phasing would be cool. Read/cast phase door, press a direction key, land in a random spot within the compass quadrant you aimed for. At least that way you could keep moving in roughly the right direction with successive phases, instead of taking one step forward, two steps backwards.

[Derakon]

Zangband and its derivatives have a dimension door (pick a spot, teleport to it) spell which I always found to be hugely overpowered. Forcing it to be short-ranged and LOS-only might help it be more balanced, as would making it imprecise.