Rods of Stone to Mud

Collapse
X
 
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts
  • UglySquirrell
    Swordsman
    • Jul 2011
    • 293

    Rods of Stone to Mud

    Was wondering why these aren't in the game? And if there's any chance of seeing them in the future.
  • Magnate
    Angband Devteam member
    • May 2007
    • 5110

    #2
    Originally posted by UglySquirrell
    Was wondering why these aren't in the game? And if there's any chance of seeing them in the future.
    No idea - I thought they were. I don't see any reason we couldn't have them, but we'd need to check if they were removed at some point previously, and if so why ...
    "Been away so long I hardly knew the place, gee it's good to be back home" - The Beatles

    Comment

    • Malak Darkhunter
      Knight
      • May 2007
      • 730

      #3
      I know there are wands of stone to mud, i have them in my current 3.3.1 game but haven't seen rods.

      Comment

      • buzzkill
        Prophet
        • May 2008
        • 2939

        #4
        Altering the dungeon is too easy already. There are wands, spells and the ability to tunnel with just about anything. Do we want PC's running about with a stack of rods of STM.

        I may be coming around to the PoV that rods shouldn't stack.
        www.mediafire.com/buzzkill - Get your 32x32 tiles here. UT32 now compatible Ironband and Quickband 9/6/2012.
        My banding life on Buzzkill's ladder.

        Comment

        • Magnate
          Angband Devteam member
          • May 2007
          • 5110

          #5
          Originally posted by buzzkill
          I may be coming around to the PoV that rods shouldn't stack.
          I think my view is more that wands shouldn't stack. Then the incentive to upgrade to rods is that they do stack, albeit with a recharge time preventing successive use.
          "Been away so long I hardly knew the place, gee it's good to be back home" - The Beatles

          Comment

          • buzzkill
            Prophet
            • May 2008
            • 2939

            #6
            Originally posted by Magnate
            I think my view is more that wands shouldn't stack. Then the incentive to upgrade to rods is that they do stack, albeit with a recharge time preventing successive use.
            Interesting, I was leaning on rods because they have unlimited potential (and are seldom destroyed), but nerfing wand stacking may work well too. It would encourage use rather than conservation. I think that I'd still like to see stacking (of all things) limited to some extent. Maybe rods could be limited to a stack of 3 or 5, or be far more susceptible to destruction while stacked.
            www.mediafire.com/buzzkill - Get your 32x32 tiles here. UT32 now compatible Ironband and Quickband 9/6/2012.
            My banding life on Buzzkill's ladder.

            Comment

            • nppangband
              NPPAngband Maintainer
              • Dec 2008
              • 926

              #7
              Originally posted by Magnate
              I think my view is more that wands shouldn't stack. Then the incentive to upgrade to rods is that they do stack, albeit with a recharge time preventing successive use.
              They used to stack when thier charges were identical. But then you had the absurdity of having a full backpack, using one wand from a stack, then having it fall to the ground because the charges were no longer identical. It was just plain annoying. The rod/wand stacking patch was the first patch I ever got accepted into vanilla, but I can see other, better solutions.

              I could see them not being stacked at all. Or make then much more rare and much more powerful. Or more succeptable to destruction. Or all of those.
              NPPAngband current home page: http://nppangband.bitshepherd.net/
              Source code repository:
              https://github.com/nppangband/NPPAngband_QT
              Downloads:
              https://app.box.com/s/1x7k65ghsmc31usmj329pb8415n1ux57

              Comment

              • d_m
                Angband Devteam member
                • Aug 2008
                • 1517

                #8
                I think V is moving away from having wands/rods with overlapping effects.
                linux->xterm->screen->pmacs

                Comment

                • fizzix
                  Prophet
                  • Aug 2009
                  • 3025

                  #9
                  Originally posted by d_m
                  I think V is moving away from having wands/rods with overlapping effects.
                  Really? what's the rationale? A wand of fire bolts is a very different beast than a rod of fire bolts. The wand is useful, the rod is useless.

                  Comment

                  • Derakon
                    Prophet
                    • Dec 2009
                    • 9022

                    #10
                    So the rod should be removed then.

                    A stack of rods of Stone to Mud would be pretty unbalancing, I suspect. The ability to rapidly dig a tunnel is occasionally tactically very useful, and shouldn't be available to just anyone. For that matter, the ability to quickly dig can be useful in general if you're playing a marginally-stealthy character. If you want the ability, use the existing wands, and risk losing them to electrical damage / charge drainers.

                    If we remove wand/staff stacking, then we're going to need to reconsider the recharging spells. Currently, IIRC, you can always safely recharge any stack of wands/staves so long as the stack is big enough and completely empty. Obviously that won't work any more if they don't stack, but it's a significant part of making devices more useful for mages in the endgame.

                    Not to mention, taking out Morgoth with wands of Annihilation is a lot less feasible if each one takes up a separate slot in the backpack.

                    Comment

                    • Narvius
                      Knight
                      • Dec 2007
                      • 589

                      #11
                      Thoughts:

                      Make rod usage automatically fail below a certain (high) MD skill level, and once that threshold is reached quickly scale success chance up to acceptable levels. Basically, at MD 99 you fail, at MD 100 you have 50% and so on (I don't know the exact numeric values, but you know what I mean).

                      Buff MD for non-mage classes, nerf for mages. Because, you know, mages already can cause most of these effects, and this would limit them without decreasing the power of their spells, or anything else. Basically, make them rely less on devices (until very end-game at least).

                      This would also create the interesting problem of lack of high-level detection for mages - since -Detection probably won't work for mages unless they're high-level anyways.


                      General rationale: Rods are better, but you probably can't use them because you suck, so haha. Also, warriors need these things more than mages. Also, adhering to class stereotypes < gameplay.
                      If you can convincingly pretend you're crazy, you probably are.

                      Comment

                      • Timo Pietilä
                        Prophet
                        • Apr 2007
                        • 4096

                        #12
                        Originally posted by Magnate
                        No idea - I thought they were. I don't see any reason we couldn't have them, but we'd need to check if they were removed at some point previously, and if so why ...
                        They have never existed. I can see a reason why not have them: one more object to make game easier.

                        If you really abuse stone to mud it becomes a really powerful spell. Making that a rod gives priests and warriors an advantage that only arcane class has currently, and even there you either use wand or mana which both have drawbacks.

                        Comment

                        • UglySquirrell
                          Swordsman
                          • Jul 2011
                          • 293

                          #13
                          Maybe have an alternative slot for shovels and picks, I like the idea of using them but hate having to switch weapons. Would it be possible to have them used when you tunnel and you have one in you're backpack? I find it strange that you can or would use you're weapon to tunnel through rock.

                          Comment

                          • Timo Pietilä
                            Prophet
                            • Apr 2007
                            • 4096

                            #14
                            Originally posted by nppangband
                            They used to stack when thier charges were identical.

                            I could see them not being stacked at all.
                            Wand stacking in inventory is one thing missing from Frog-Knows, so that is later addition, though not much later (it has been there a long time).

                            Comment

                            • Malak Darkhunter
                              Knight
                              • May 2007
                              • 730

                              #15
                              Originally posted by d_m
                              I think V is moving away from having wands/rods with overlapping effects.
                              the game has 4 different items that basicaly do the same thing, rods are best for detection, identify, recall. wands are best for actual combat. I think having staffs are pointless, their cumbersome and just seems wierd to be lugging that type of thing around, specifically stacks of them. Also we have scrolls that do alot of the same things, and are lighter. I would support the idea of removing staffs, and move them into the field of wands/rods in areas that aren't covered.
                              but you could also keep staffs move them to be usuable for a mage as a melee weapon, with the same spell abilities, but requiring a recharge time as a rod/artifact.

                              I envision something like this- A staff of teleportation (1d6) (0+0)
                              Activates for teleportation, requires 25 turns to recharge.

                              But it has to wielded as a melee weapon to use, just like ego, or artifacts.

                              This would encourage warriors to look for wands and rods, yet encourage mages to look for staffs. then nerf the stores to allow purchase of a few more wands of detection, for warriors at game begining to balance out, so warriors wouldn't be looking so much for staffs of detection, teleport, before they start diving.

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              😀
                              😂
                              🥰
                              😘
                              🤢
                              😎
                              😞
                              😡
                              👍
                              👎