For people who have won several times

[ulrichvonbek]

Is there usually one specific turning point where a character goes from being one that is just surviving to one who has a good chance of winning?

The reason I ask is I've won twice, and 1st game Ringil and 2nd Palantir were the turning points in those games for me. I just found Vilya with a L42 Paladin, and I'm kind of hoping that will be the turning point for this character.

On the other hand, I'm wondering if multiple winners (I'm thinking at least five wins, but maybe even 10+) just know that if they stay alive long enough, the RNG will eventually provide the gear needed to win.

[d_m]

On the other hand, I'm wondering if multiple winners (I'm thinking at least five wins, but maybe even 10+) just know that if they stay alive long enough, the RNG will eventually provide the gear needed to win.

I'm not a particularly fast diver, but my experience is that once I get some +speed items I start feeling very good. Until then things are up in the air.

The biggest predictor for me is trying to play a little each day, rather than playing a ton. If I play for 4-5 hours, there's a good chance I'll get sloppy if I'm not really careful, especially if I get tired.

[ulrichvonbek]

I looked back at my winner post, and I also got Cubragol (floor) and Glaive of Pain (drop) from the same greater vault with Palantir. Maybe it would be more accurate to say that clearing half that vault was the turning point in that game. (And it didn't hurt that Hammerhand was just a few steps from the stair when I entered the level with that vault.)

[Derakon]

Assuming I don't screw up, every character should be winnable. Some are of course harder than others, but there's no real point where I'm wondering "Man, am I even going to make it to the end?" Of course there are points where it would be suicidal to try to take on the endgame, but I can recognize those, so I don't.

However, there are often points where I get some new piece of equipment and suddenly I'm able to take on vastly more powerful enemies, which in turn accelerates the rate at which I gain new useful gear. You could think of the player's power level as following an S curve -- gaining slowly at the beginning, then at some point (highly variable depending on drops) it inflects sharply upwards, then eventually you start running out of improvements to find and it flattens out again (assuming you haven't gone and won first; maximum power is not remotely required for victory).

So sometimes I go quite a long time without any plans more detailed than "tiptoe around nasty enemies, kill what I can, and hope something good drops". I'll still win eventually, but I don't have any idea how long it'll take.

[Mondkalb]

I'm thinking it's the other way around: Everytime I start a new character, I am confident that he will make it.
Loosing characters is dued very often to things outside of the game, mostly in my head.

Playinig too long, playing while drinking a beer ^^, listening to something on radio, and so on are frequently the cause for early or late deaths.

Also greed. Don't underestimate the power of craving for that unidentified ring in some dangerous greater vault or such.
Finally, in late game I get often overconfident and tend to forget how dangerous some of the uniques can be.

That tends to happen after finding one of the elven rings or the Crown of Gondor or similar powerful artifacts. So don't think finding a good weapon is a turning point for winning the game - it's the first step to bring about ruin.

What d_m said goes for me too. Playing a little each day or at least have a break every now and then prevents some of the more stupid mistakes ...

[Sirridan]

once my con gets maxed or near it, or better to say, when my hp is high enough I can't get insta killed by any one attack (although, low speed may allow multiple attacks per my action, but usually max con means >= +10 speed).

omg long time since last post.

[Chud]

Interesting - I've never won, but have that "turning a corner" feeling with my current character (see the recent "YACD, about to die" thread ). My main focus now, to the extent that I'm able to focus on it, is to not get reckless and start thinking that just because Ren was easy this time, and hey that drolem was no big deal, I've got it all set... there's a long way to go and even those could well have been mostly good luck.

("Hey, did you notice that the drolem never breathed? Count on that next time..." :-) )

Trying to be careful still...

[Timo Pietilä]

Is there usually one specific turning point where a character goes from being one that is just surviving to one who has a good chance of winning?

The reason I ask is I've won twice, and 1st game Ringil and 2nd Palantir were the turning points in those games for me. I just found Vilya with a L42 Paladin, and I'm kind of hoping that will be the turning point for this character.

On the other hand, I'm wondering if multiple winners (I'm thinking at least five wins, but maybe even 10+) just know that if they stay alive long enough, the RNG will eventually provide the gear needed to win.

I can see how Ringil changes things, but Palantir is pretty useless heavy piece of rock for me.

Turning point for me is when I have >+10 speed with 600+ HP and FA + basic four + poison and decent weapon. Then I usually don't die unless I try something I know is stupid. Not that I die often before that either.

[Storch]

There is always a distinct moment when I suddenly feel that it is monsters who should be afraid of me and not vice versa :-)

[LostTemplar]

FA and scroll or staff of destruction in ironman games. In normal games just FA is enough. ESP to feel completely safe.

[nppangband]

The biggest predictor for me is trying to play a little each day, rather than playing a ton. If I play for 4-5 hours, there's a good chance I'll get sloppy if I'm not really careful, especially if I get tired.

Same here. Being a maintainer means I rarely get to play for 30 minutes before I see something that isn't quite right, or get an idea for something I want to change. So I stop and add it.

Most of my deaths happen because I forgot that I added or changed something, and I end up getting killed by my own feature.

[ulrichvonbek]

Palantir is pretty useless heavy piece of rock for me.

With it, I could activate for enlightenment, so I had a much easier time finding additional gear that I needed. However, it is heavy and I didn't wear it all the time.

Cubragol for the extra +10 perm speed may have had more impact on that game.

[HallucinationMushroom]

I usually breathe a sigh of relief when I have Blind+Confu+FA. Then I know it's really up to me to royally screw up, which I often do. My largest obstacle to winning is staying is staying in the right mindset to win. I've got a demon on my shoulder that is always nagging me to do silly things and it's so much fun when they pay off.

[Max Stats]

I've got a demon on my shoulder that is always nagging me to do silly things and it's so much fun when they pay off.

A few Orbs should take care of that.

[ulrichvonbek]

Having read the responses so far, I think I've decided that people with lots of victories look at the game somewhat differently than I do currently. I guess I need to rethink things, but hopefully I'm making progress. I've got my 5th character ever past L40.