So many weapons to choose from

[ulrichvonbek]

Well, I'm kind of proud of myself for getting down to 3150' before finding =rPoison. This is the same character who ran around the one level hoping for some kind of rock remover to drop off a respawn.

http://angband.oook.cz/ladder-show.php?id=11273

I only got Godly Insights a few levels back, so all it would have taken was one drolem hiding around the corner to have ended this trip in a hurry. However, shortly after finding that good stuff, I found a lesser vault, and now I'm overwhelmed with decisions. It was kind of nerve wracking being able to ESP a sleeping AMHD or greater basilisk knowing that I'm easy 1 shot material and have to start heading the opposite direction in a hurry if they wake up. Or the zoo with several Dracolisks...run for the stairs! (Do those even belong in zoos?)

Save the battle axe of fury, or just settle with the mace of extra attacks?
Are either of the westernese weapons damaging enough to hold onto?
Which amulet to use?
Which shield to use?
What rings should I be wearing? (RoS +2, it's a RoS, but it's +2, I could have had that with Til i arc)
Should a pally even carry Purifications, or just leave it at home for Restoration (eventually)
Etc...

Basically, I need some help culling out items that seem cool, but have probably bypassed their useful period this deep in the dungeon.

[Derakon]

With telepathy and Godly Insights, you don't really need See Invisible.

RoS +2 is not worthwhile. Get that =Acid on though; your weapon is not very impressive as it stands, and that's more of a boost than =Damage gives (+31.5 vs. susceptible enemies as opposed to flat +12).

Wear the shield of Preservation and store the Elvenkind or ditch it.

The Fury axe is not as good as the mace of extra attacks, IMO. 8 extra damage is not worth aggravation.

Neither Westernesse weapon has usable damage even compared to your Defender. Really you should be using Til-I-Arc; the only thing your Defender gives you is SI, which as I noted isn't vital.

[Timo Pietilä]

The Fury axe is not as good as the mace of extra attacks, IMO. 8 extra damage is not worth aggravation.

Those are /hit, not /turn. Multiply that 8 with 7 and that is significant difference.

That said, Til-i-Arc with it double-brand and +2 speed is definitely better than either of those.

Because this is paladin without easy access to haste, that +2 RoS also means around 20% more damage / turn, so it is not something you might want to lose yet.

[Estie]

When evaluating setups I start with looking at the weapon options. Of those, you have 3 outstanding ones: Tiliarc with its double brand and +2 speed, Lotharang in combination with a = of Acid and the fury axe (also with acid ring). The latter aggravates but isnt quite endgame material, so it gets sold along with all the other weapons - and now alot of the clutter is reduced and fitting in the rest of the slots becomes an easier task.

[ulrichvonbek]

The defender was giving me stealth, which I valued highly when any big poison breather would 1 shot me easily.

I've been putting on the =Acid when it seemed safe, but taking of =Dex off means 1 less blow per round. Having said that, I like the logic of selling anything that doesn't do as much damage as the defender.

I think I'll try a trip with Til-i-arc and Lothering.

I'd like to be using Isuldur for rNexus instead of the boots, but it so heavy with the weapons I've got I think it's going sit at home for a while.

Any thoughts on the amulets? Is 60 HP more valuable than 30 mana?

[Estie]

Any thoughts on the amulets? Is 60 HP more valuable than 30 mana?

PD has given you some breakpoints in a comment to your dump. Personally, I would probably use Carlammas only if it got me over 700 hit points, which for me marks the point where I start thinking more about killing big uniques rather than avoiding them.

There is no definite answer to your question per se; it depends on playstyle. Will you notice 60 more hp ? Will your way of playing change ? Will you do things you wouldnt do without that ?
Same for wisdom. (Dont forget it also affects spell failure rate, and depending on which spells you are commonly using at your level, this could be huge.)

If your answer to these questions is, as I suspect it will be, no, then it doesnt matter which amulet you pick.

[ulrichvonbek]

Grrr - I guess this qualifies as YASD, but it doesn't seem right. Especially after trying a differet set of equipment based on the advice I got.

I ran down a hall, and when I rounded a corner, time hounds came into view. They weren't detected by telepathy when I started the run. Got two time breaths and lost about 200 hp. Maybe I just spaced, but had detected a few turns before I died, and I didn't notice them during the detect. They caught me in a hall with a sleeping copperhead snake that my ESP did detect before I started moving, so they must have been just out of range.

Here's where the stupid part comes in, I tried backing up instead of ?TL. More of them had LoS on me than I thought and I took another 3 breaths. RIP

Did I have my disturb settings set wrong? It's really hard to rest w/ ESP on disturb for any monser, but do you need to toggle that when you want to rest. I know time hounds really aren't worth fighting, so I'd have probably headed a different direction as soon as I ESPed them. Or at least tried to arrange it so that only 1 or 2 could see me at a time.

[Timo Pietilä]

Grrr - I guess this qualifies as YASD, but it doesn't seem right. Especially after trying a differet set of equipment based on the advice I got.

I ran down a hall, and when I rounded a corner, time hounds came into view. They weren't detected by telepathy when I started the run. Got two time breaths and lost about 200 hp.

Here's where the stupid part comes in, I tried backing up instead of ?TL. More of them had LoS on me than I thought and I took another 3 breaths. RIP

At your speed ONE of those can breathe three times in single round. Two can do it six times. You really really really do not want to be anywhere near them without a lots of speed and weapon that can kill them in single round.

Here is what you need to learn to do: when anything unexpected happens stop.

Think it over. Usual flee or fight response is bad in angband.

[ulrichvonbek]

Thanks for that explanation.

I don't feel quite as bad now. That encounter just didn't seem to match my recollection of the danger (although still quite scary) posed by time hounds from other games.

I had been worried so much about rPoison, that I didn't think about still being really slow compared to other times I've been past 3000'.

I also think I probably should have had disturb on any motion turned on until I had much more health and speed.

[buzzkill]

I don't feel quite as bad now. That encounter just didn't seem to match my recollection of the danger (although still quite scary) posed by time hounds from other games.

Hounds, in general, aren't really though of as putting up huge raw damage numbers, let's say, like dragons might. If you don't encounter them that often, time hounds are EASY to underestinmate. They breathe for BIG damage that is easy to overlook, in addition to the nasty side effects that you are expecting.

It's my practice to always be aware of and mostly avoid time hounds, but if you can take them down quickly, and one at a time, they give really good XP. This usually amounts to an *excellent* arrow or two as it rounds the corner, and then a 4 or 5 solid thumps on the head quickly thereafter.

[ulrichvonbek]

I agree with you on your assessment of time hounds. Any time I had run into them in the past, I was probably at +15 speed at least, not +2 speed. Unless I know there's something really good on the level, I'll just leave the level when I see time hounds and get less painful experience elsewhere. If I had only taken 2 breaths that 2nd round as a faster character might, I'd have had a chance to read the ?TL while still alive with 12HP.

I've also learned my lesson about setting my disturbance options when diving with a character who can easily be killed by rounding a corner on a pack of nasties.

[Timo Pietilä]

I've also learned my lesson about setting my disturbance options when diving with a character who can easily be killed by rounding a corner on a pack of nasties.

Automatic running has it's risks.


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Running upward....

[Scraper]

Time hounds for me get put into the "TO or destruct" category. I have fought a few of them, but all tolled they seem to be more trouble than they're worth (XP aside as previously mentioned). They are very troublesome and drop no loot. If they are near a vault or something I want, I try to lure them away to destruct them or banish them or TO them.

By the time they show up, if I don't have a reliable/ renewable TO available, I'm doing something wrong. Might just be my playstyle, but that's the way I see them. Way too much trouble for too little payoff. I usually don't care about XP though, since I'm not really a competition/turn player.