Why inscribe objects?

[joelsanda]

What do folks inscribe on objects? I've never inscribed an object (never won, either, maybe there's a correlation ;-) and can't think of a reason to inscribe something I have.

What are some reasons you inscribe an object?

[BlueFish]

Interface ease of use. There is no functional difference other than that.

inscribe "@u1" on a staff and you can use it by typing "u1" rather than "uX" where X is the inventory letter. It's pretty convenient.

Also, inscribing your primary weapon and y our digger with @w0 allows you to use the X command to swap them.

[Magnate]

My one and only inscription (unless I'm really taking the time to set up all the ease-of-use ones) is !r!d!k!v on scrolls of recall. I've ruined many a pleasant session by reading my last one at the wrong moment.

[Starhawk]

@f0 is the only one I use, to specify that a given stack of ammo stays at the top of the quiver to be used with the easy-fire (h) command. Normally my cheapest throwaway ammo that I want to spam.

[Nomad]

What do folks inscribe on objects? I've never inscribed an object (never won, either, maybe there's a correlation ;-) and can't think of a reason to inscribe something I have.

What are some reasons you inscribe an object?

There are some inscriptions you can put on objects that the game can actually read as instructions. The ! inscription allows you to specify warnings before you use a command. A couple of useful ones:

!d - ask for confirmation before I drop this object
!k - don't squelch this object
!q - ask for confirmation before I quaff this potion
!r - ask for confirmation before I read this scroll
!* - ask for confirmation before I do anything with this object

@[command letter][number] allows you to set up shortcut slots. For instance, inscribing a rod with @z1 allows you to zap it by pressing z then 1, instead of checking to see what inventory letter it's at every time.

Using @m[number] is also a good safety precaution when you're using spellbooks. Say you've got the first mage book in inventory slot a, and you're casting spells from it by using the key strokes m,a,(spell). If that spellbook gets destroyed by fire, the next book will move up into slot a, and you might accidentally cast as spell from that one. But if you've got the book inscribed @m1, the keystrokes m,1,(spell) will only ever cast from that book, so if it's destroyed, nothing will happen when you hit those keys.

The quiver is a special case. If you inscribe ammo with @q[number] it will move into the numbered slot you specify. So you can make sure ammo always goes into the first slot when you pick it up with @q0, or make sure it goes at the back where you won't fire it by accident with @q9. You can also inscribe stuff when it's already in the quiver to reorganise into a different order without having to drop it and pick it up again.

And if you inscribe two weapons with @w0, that marks them as swap weapons, and pressing X will automatically swap the one from the pack for the one in your wield slot.

[joelsanda]

Ah ... thanks for the great replies. I can see myself inscribing things now :-)

[fph]

Later on using @m<number> is important on spellbooks, especially for divine casters: sooner or later you'll want to get rid of some useless spellbooks such as the first one, and if you use ma<letter> (rather than inscription+m1<letter>) you'll have a hard time retraining your muscle memory.

[buzzkill]

For the longest time I used no inscriptions, and then for a long while after that I used only one, !!. It notifies you when the item in question has recharged. I still don't use many inscriptions, mostly just @z1 and similar, for zapping commonly used rods. But then again, I'm in no hurry when I play. Sucessful characters typically take me months to finish, win or lose.

[joelsanda]

For the longest time I used no inscriptions, and then for a long while after that I used only one, !!. It notifies you when the item in question has recharged. I still don't use many inscriptions, mostly just @z1 and similar, for zapping commonly used rods. But then again, I'm in no hurry when I play. Sucessful characters typically take me months to finish, win or lose.

/nod. I really like @w0 to swap between, currently, my dagger and shovel. I can see the need to swap between other weapons once I have better stuff down the road. But you're right about the patience piece - *band is not the place to find instant gratification ;-)

[Scraper]

I tend to inscribe stuff with what resistances they have as well. Since I don't know the artifact list. It helps when trying to mix and match your gear to get all the main resists covered etc.

[Max Stats]

In the old days, before the game remembered it for you automatically, inscriptions were a great way to remember where and when you found significant objects (artifacts, powerful egos, high level spellbooks).

[joelsanda]

In the old days, before the game remembered it for you automatically, inscriptions were a great way to remember where and when you found significant objects (artifacts, powerful egos, high level spellbooks).

Yeah, IIRC that was done in Moria? And while I see modern *bands remember where significant objects are found why is that important?

[Derakon]

I definitely remember inscribing items that were dropped by uniques as a quick way of tagging them as "at least good", back in the ZAngband days (so, branching from Angband 2.8.x). Better than waiting for pseudo to kick in...

[joelsanda]

I definitely remember inscribing items that were dropped by uniques as a quick way of tagging them as "at least good", back in the ZAngband days (so, branching from Angband 2.8.x). Better than waiting for pseudo to kick in...

Oh ... yeah. I can see that. Very useful!

[fph]

/nod. I really like @w0 to swap between, currently, my dagger and shovel.

Useful complement to that inscription: use "^." on the shovel. Apart from looking like a one-eyed Japanese emoticon, it prevents you from running if you forgot to un-equip your shovel.
It's very handy, especially when you have an ESP weapon to walk around and a better one to take down strong enemies.