New to Angband (and this forum)

**buzzkill** · January 10, 2012, 01:39

I probably go with the Boots of Wormtongue and Grondicam over your current kit. You'll lose a bit of damage output, but you'll gain +3 speed and the ability to see invisible and plug the electric resistance hole (and free phase door to boot). See invisible is going to become more important as you go move deeper, and a little extra speed never hurt anyone.

**Blougram** · January 13, 2012, 01:15

Thanks! I followed your advice, and the extra speed came in handy. And having upped my strength and dexterity I now get 3.8 blows (well, hits) with my trusty cutlass. I'm currently exploring level 32 and haven't encountered anythi ng a bit of hackin' and slashin' won't solve. I'm not sure about delving deeper though; do I need to get more resistance first? What are my biggest weaknesses?

Code:

 Name   Ugh Uggerton                             Self  RB  CB  EB   Best
 Sex    Female       Age             37   STR:  18/73  +2  +5  +4 18/183
 Race   Dwarf        Height          42   INT:     14  -3  -2  +2     11
 Class  Warrior      Weight         131   WIS:     11  +2  -2  +0     11
 Title  Commando     Social  Role model   DEX:     10  -2  +2 +10  18/20
 HP     472/472      Maximize         Y   CON:  18/15  +2  +2  +0  18/55
 SP     0/0                               CHR:  18/77  -3  -1  +0  18/37

 Level               31   Armor   [33,+106]     Saving Throw         59%
 Cur Exp         135706   Fight   (+14,+13)     Stealth        Excellent
 Max Exp         135706   Melee   (+24,+25)     Fighting       Legendary
 Adv Exp         180000   Shoot   (+23,+22)     Shooting          Heroic
 MaxDepth   1600' (L32)   Blows    3.8/turn     Disarming            58%
 Game Turns     1670326   Shots      1/turn     Magic Device          49
 Standard Turns  181441   Infra       50 ft     Perception       1 in 38
 Resting Turns    85561   Speed           3     Searching            21%
 Gold              2161   Burden  159.8 lbs

 You are the only child of a Dwarven Priest.  You are a credit to the
 family.  You have dark brown eyes, wavy black hair, a one foot beard,
 and a dark complexion.


rAcid:+...+.+...... Nexus:.......+.....
rElec:+.....+...... Nethr:.............
rFire:+.....+.+.+.. Chaos:.............
rCold:+.....+...... Disen:.............
rPois:............. Feath:+..........+.
rLite:............. pFear:............+
rDark:............. pBlnd:............+
Sound:......+...... pConf:.............
Shard:............. pStun:.............

Light:............. Tunn.:............+
Regen:+.........+.. Speed:...........+.
  ESP:............. Blows:.............
Invis:+............ Shots:.............
FrAct:+............ Might:.............
HLife:............. S.Dig:.............
Stea.:+.....++...+. ImpHP:.............
Sear.:.............  Fear:.............
Infra:............+ Aggrv:.............


  [Character Equipment]

a) the Cutlass 'Gondricam' (1d8) (+10,+12) [+50] <+4, +2>
     Dropped by an Uruk at 1300 feet (level 26).
     
     +4 dexterity.
     +2 stealth.
     Provides resistance to acid, lightning, fire, cold.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, electricity, fire, cold.
     Feather Falling.  Speeds regeneration.  Prevents paralysis. 
     Grants the ability to see invisible things.  
     
     Combat info:
     3.8 blows/round.
     With +2 STR and +0 DEX you would get 4.0 blows
     With +0 STR and +2 DEX you would get 4.1 blows
     Average damage/round: 117.8.
     
b) a Long Bow of Power (x3) (+9,+22)
     Found lying on the floor at 1400 feet (level 28).
     
     
     
c) a Ring of Dexterity <+4>
     Bought from a store.
     
     +4 dexterity.
     Sustains dexterity.
     
d) a Ring of Strength <+4>
     Found lying on the floor at 1550 feet (level 31).
     
     +4 strength.
     Sustains strength.
     
e) an Amulet of Resist Acid
     Dropped by a Snaga at 600 feet (level 12).
     
     Provides resistance to acid.
     Cannot be harmed by acid.
     
f) a Lantern (Everburning)
     Found lying on the floor of a special room at 450 feet (level 9).
     
     Cannot be harmed by fire.
     
     Radius 2 light.  No fuel required.
g) Studded Leather Armour of Elvenkind (-1) [12,+16] <+1>
     Dropped by Lokkak, the Ogre Chieftain at 1600 feet (level 32).
     
     +1 stealth.
     Provides resistance to acid, lightning, fire, cold, sound.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, electricity, fire, cold.
     
h) a Cloak of Aman [1,+18] <+2>
     Bought from a store.
     
     +2 stealth.
     Provides resistance to nexus.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, electricity, fire, cold.
     
i) a Leather Shield of Resist Fire [8,+2]
     Dropped by Grishnákh, the Hill Orc at 650 feet (level 13).
     
     Provides resistance to fire.
     Cannot be harmed by fire.
     
j) an Iron Helm [7,+4]
     Bought from a store.
     
     
     
k) the Set of Gauntlets 'Paurhach' [3,+14]
     Dropped by an Acolyte at 1550 feet (level 31).
     
     Provides resistance to fire.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, electricity, fire, cold.
     Speeds regeneration.  
     
     When aimed, it creates a fire bolt with damage 9d8.
     Takes 11 to 20 turns to recharge at your current speed.
     Your chance of success is 93.4%
     
l) the Pair of Leather Boots of Wormtongue (-1,-1) [2,+0] <+3, +2>
     Dropped by a Soldier at 1300 feet (level 26).
     
     +3 speed.
     +2 intelligence, dexterity, stealth.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, electricity, fire, cold.
     Feather Falling.  
     
     When activated, it teleports you randomly up to 10 squares away.
     Takes 26 turns to recharge at your current speed.
     Your chance of success is 92.2%

**Goldbug** · January 13, 2012, 03:05

You're doing pretty well. Kudos.

rPoison is the only major weakness, although you should be able to find a ring of rPoison before around dlvl 40 when it becomes quite important.

Your natural Dex is still pretty low, so that store-bought ring of Dex you're wearing is good for now, but once you've found a couple of potions of Dex (or even Nimbleness) you should probably look to get a ring of Con instead, even if it's only +2.

Can't see what you're carrying on the second dump, but judging by the first dump you're carrying appropriate numbers of !CCW, ?Teleport Level, and staves of Teleportation (the last being particularly vital for escaping from repeated confusion attacks).

I haven't played a warrior for a while, but IIRC I found some source of Magic Mapping to be more useful than I'd imagined. For a warrior, who can't Detect Monsters/Evil, it helps to at least know the layout of the area so you have a known escape route.

If you find a Rod of Probing, zap it whenever you encounter a sleeping unique or unknown monster. I used to throw those rods away, but they're one of the best items in the game.

**buzzkill** · January 13, 2012, 19:19

What Goldbug said. A strong unresisted poison breath, though unlikely, could kill you. You may be better off with a big ring of damage over either the dex and/or strength. Wearing the amulet of resist acid gains you nothing. In general, you only gain a benefit from a single resist from equipment. Additional identical resists granted by equipment gain you nada. A double-resist can only be achieved through the use of magic (scrolls, potions, spells, etc), in conjunction with a single resist from equiptment.

**Blougram** · January 23, 2012, 01:52

Thanks! I'm happy to announce that she's still very much a live and kicking (those foes)! I gained resistance to poison, and upped my CON for more HP. Do I need more/higher resistances or higher stats before delving deeper than L47? The normal monsters lurking there don't pose much of a problem (I can always teleport away if surrounded), but I stumbled upon a Great Wyrm of Chaos around level 42 or so. And this worries me. Is it - generally speaking - not enough to be able to deal comfortably with the normal monsters before going deeper? Do you always have to be ready for out-of-depth things, or are them appearing just random and unlikely events that you shouldn't really worry about or prepare for?

Anyway, here's another character dump. Any advice/pointers would be greatly appreciated:

Code:

 [Angband 3.3.2 Character Dump]

 Name   Ugh Uggerton                             Self  RB  CB  EB   Best
 Sex    Female       Age             37   STR:  18/90  +2  +5  +3 18/190
 Race   Dwarf        Height          42   INT:  18/76  -3  -2  +2  18/46
 Class  Warrior      Weight         131   WIS:  18/47  +2  -2  +0  18/47
 Title  Champion     Social      Lordly   DEX:  18/67  -2  +2  +2  18/87
 HP     834/834      Maximize         Y   CON! 18/100  +2  +2  +3 18/170
 SP     0/0                               CHR! 18/100  -3  -1  +0  18/60

 Level               39   Armor    [76,+68]     Saving Throw         69%
 Cur Exp        1057256   Fight   (+23,+23)     Stealth        Excellent
 Max Exp        1057256   Melee   (+34,+35)     Fighting       Legendary
 Adv Exp        1200000   Shoot   (+35,+12)     Shooting       Legendary
 MaxDepth   2350' (L47)   Blows    6.5/turn     Disarming            71%
 Game Turns     2879874   Shots      2/turn     Magic Device          57
 Standard Turns  362268   Infra       50 ft     Perception       1 in 38
 Resting Turns   186708   Speed           5     Searching            21%
 Gold             46910   Burden  185.7 lbs

 You are the only child of a Dwarven Priest.  You are a credit to the
 family.  You have dark brown eyes, wavy black hair, a one foot beard,
 and a dark complexion.


rAcid:....+.+.+.... Nexus:.......+.....
rElec:+.....+.+.... Nethr:.............
rFire:......+.+.... Chaos:.............
rCold:......+.+.... Disen:.............
rPois:...+......... Feath:...........+.
rLite:+............ pFear:............+
rDark:+............ pBlnd:............+
Sound:......+...... pConf:.............
Shard:............. pStun:.............

Light:+............ Tunn.:............+
Regen:............. Speed:+..........+.
  ESP:.........+... Blows:+............
Invis:+............ Shots:.+...........
FrAct:+............ Might:.............
HLife:............. S.Dig:.....?.......
Stea.:......++...+. ImpHP:.............
Sear.:.............  Fear:.............
Infra:............+ Aggrv:+....?....+..


  [Character Equipment]

a) the Long Sword 'Anguirel' (2d5) (+11,+12) <+3, +2>
     Dropped by a Troll priest at 1700 feet (level 34).
     
     +3 speed.
     +2 strength, constitution, attack speed.
     Slays evil creatures, demons.
     Branded with venom.
     Provides resistance to lightning, light, dark.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, electricity, fire, cold.
     Prevents paralysis.  Grants the ability to see invisible things. 
     Aggravates creatures nearby.  
     
     Combat info:
     6.5 blows/round.
     With +3 STR and +0 DEX you would get 6.7 blows
     With +0 STR and +2 DEX you would get 6.7 blows
     Average damage/round: 322.4 vs. evil creatures, 364.9 vs. demons,
     364.9 vs. creatures not resistant to poison, and 279.9 vs. others.
     
     Radius 1 light.
b) a Long Bow of Extra Shots (x3) (+12,+12) <+1>
     Dropped by a Ninja at 1700 feet (level 34).
     
     +1 shooting speed.
     
c) a Ring of Slaying (+7,+4)
     Bought from a store.
     
     
     
d) a Ring of Resist Poison
     Found lying on the floor at 2200 feet (level 44).
     
     Provides resistance to poison.
     
e) an Amulet of Resist Acid
     Dropped by a Snaga at 600 feet (level 12).
     
     Provides resistance to acid.
     Cannot be harmed by acid.
     
f) the Phial of Galadriel {special}
     Dropped by a Young red dragon at 2100 feet (level 42).
     
     You do not know the full extent of this item's powers.
     
     It can be activated.
     
     Radius 3 light.
g) Metal Lamellar Armour of Elvenkind (-3) [58,+13] <+2>
     Dropped by Kavlax the Many-Headed at 2350 feet (level 47).
     
     +2 stealth.
     Provides resistance to acid, lightning, fire, cold, sound.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, electricity, fire, cold.
     
h) a Cloak of Aman [1,+17] <+2>
     Bought from a store.
     
     +2 stealth.
     Provides resistance to nexus.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, electricity, fire, cold.
     
i) a Leather Shield of Resistance [8,+13]
     Dropped by an Ancient blue dragon at 2350 feet (level 47).
     
     Provides resistance to acid, lightning, fire, cold.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, electricity, fire, cold.
     
j) a Hard Leather Cap of Telepathy [2,+7]
     Found lying on the floor of a special room at 1800 feet (level
     36).
     
     Grants telepathy.  
     
k) a Set of Caestus of Combat (+2,+5) [5,+14] <+1>
     Bought from a store.
     
     +1 strength, constitution.
     Aggravates creatures nearby.  
     
l) the Pair of Leather Boots of Wormtongue (-1,-1) [2,+0] <+3, +2>
     Dropped by a Soldier at 1300 feet (level 26).
     
     +3 speed.
     +2 intelligence, dexterity, stealth.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, electricity, fire, cold.
     Feather Falling.  
     
     When activated, it teleports you randomly up to 10 squares away.
     Takes 30 turns to recharge at your current speed.
     Your chance of success is 93.3%
     
  [Character Inventory]

a) 20 Rations of Food
     
     
b) 44 Potions of Cure Critical Wounds
     
     
c) a Potion of *Healing*
     It can be thrown at creatures with damaging effect.
     
d) 10 Potions of Restore Life Levels
     
     
e) a Scroll of Teleport Level
     Bought from a store.
     
     
     
f) 2 Scrolls of Summon Undead
     Dropped by an Ancient black dragon at 2350 feet (level 47).
     
     
     
g) a Scroll of Banishment
     Dropped by a Mature red dragon at 2350 feet (level 47).
     
     
     
h) 20 Scrolls of Identify
     
     
i) 13 Scrolls of Word of Recall
     
     
j) a Scroll of *Destruction*
     Found lying on the floor at 2350 feet (level 47).
     
     
     
k) 4 Rods of Trap Location
     
     
l) 3 Rods of Probing
     
     
m) 5 Rods of Fire Bolts
     
     
n) 2 Rods of Frost Bolts
     
     
o) 7 Rods of Lightning Bolts
     
     
p) a Rod of Illumination
     Dropped by a Dark elven mage at 1600 feet (level 32).
     
     
     
q) 2 Staves of Teleportation (12 charges)
     
     
r) 3 Staves of Identify (36 charges)
     
     


  [Home Inventory]

a) 3 Potions of Berserk Strength
     
     
b) 4 Staves of Teleportation (23 charges)
     
     
c) 2 Staves of Identify (23 charges)
     
     
d) 2 Rings of Strength <+4>
     +4 strength.
     Sustains strength.
     
e) a Ring of Dexterity <+4>
     Dropped by a Troll chieftain at 2200 feet (level 44).
     
     +4 dexterity.
     Sustains dexterity.
     
f) the Set of Gauntlets 'Paurhach' [3,+12]
     Dropped by an Acolyte at 1550 feet (level 31).
     
     Provides resistance to fire.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, electricity, fire, cold.
     Speeds regeneration.  
     
     When aimed, it creates a fire bolt with damage 9d8.
     Takes 13 to 24 turns to recharge at your current speed.
     Your chance of success is 94.3%
     
g) a Set of Mithril Gauntlets of Agility [6,+6] <+5>
     Dropped by a Phantom at 2300 feet (level 46).
     
     +5 dexterity.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, fire.
     
h) the Dagger of Rilia (2d4) (+14,+13)
     Dropped by a Grey wraith at 2350 feet (level 47).
     
     Slays orcs, trolls.
     Branded with venom.
     Provides resistance to poison, disenchantment.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, electricity, fire, cold.
     
     When aimed, it fires a stinking cloud with damage 12.
     Takes 7 to 12 turns to recharge at your current speed.
     Your chance of success is 93.9%
     
     Combat info:
     5.0 blows/round.
     With +0 STR and +2 DEX you would get 5.2 blows
     Average damage/round: 253.5 vs. orcs, 253.5 vs. trolls, 253.5 vs.
     creatures not resistant to poison, and 200.5 vs. others.
     
i) the Cutlass 'Gondricam' (1d8) (+10,+12) [+50] <+4, +2>
     Dropped by an Uruk at 1300 feet (level 26).
     
     +4 dexterity.
     +2 stealth.
     Provides resistance to acid, lightning, fire, cold.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, electricity, fire, cold.
     Feather Falling.  Speeds regeneration.  Prevents paralysis. 
     Grants the ability to see invisible things.  
     
     Combat info:
     5.0 blows/round.
     With +1 STR and +0 DEX you would get 5.2 blows
     With +0 STR and +3 DEX you would get 5.2 blows
     Average damage/round: 194.5.
     
j) the Halberd 'Osondir' (3d5) (+16,+12) <+3, +2>
     Dropped by a Mature multi-hued dragon at 2100 feet (level 42).
     
     +3 strength, wisdom.
     +2 charisma.
     Slays undead, giants.
     Branded with flames.
     Provides resistance to fire, sound.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, electricity, fire, cold.
     Blessed by the gods.  Feather Falling.  Grants the ability to see
     invisible things.  
     
     Combat info:
     4.1 blows/round.
     With +1 STR and +0 DEX you would get 4.5 blows
     With +0 STR and +2 DEX you would get 4.5 blows
     Average damage/round: 279.1 vs. undead, 279.1 vs. giants, 279.1
     vs. creatures not resistant to fire, and 196.7 vs. others.
     
k) a Whip (Defender) (1d3) (+13,+8) [+3] <+2>
     Dropped by a Mature blue dragon at 2250 feet (level 45).
     
     +2 stealth.
     Provides resistance to acid, lightning, fire, cold.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, electricity, fire, cold.
     Sustains wisdom.
     Feather Falling.  Speeds regeneration.  Prevents paralysis. 
     Grants the ability to see invisible things.  
     
     Combat info:
     5.0 blows/round.
     With +0 STR and +2 DEX you would get 5.2 blows
     Average damage/round: 158.5.

**Derakon** · January 23, 2012, 02:38

Originally posted by Blougram

Is it - generally speaking - not enough to be able to deal comfortably with the normal monsters before going deeper? Do you always have to be ready for out-of-depth things, or are them appearing just random and unlikely events that you shouldn't really worry about or prepare for?

You should never be comfortable in this game. Comfort is a weakness; it makes you complacent. And then the game drops a surprise on you, and in your complacent state you aren't mentally prepared to deal with it, so you make mistakes.

More generally, there are always going to be monsters that you don't want to fight -- either because they can kill you easily, or because they simply aren't worth the bother (e.g. disenchanters, or drujs, or quylthulgs). So you should get used to avoiding monsters. The game did you a kindness by dropping that Great Wyrm of Chaos on you: dangerous enough to get your attention, but not really dangerous enough to be immediately fatal.

Regarding the character dump, things I see that stand out:

* Anguirel aggravates. This makes it much harder to avoid fights because nothing is ever asleep. Of course, it has good damage and is your only source of FA/SI, so ditching it may be difficult. The cesti also aggravate, naturally. Be on the lookout for Cambeleg or gloves of Power.

* Use a Ring of Damage instead of a Ring of Slaying. +to-hit is not especially valuable compared to +to-damage. You can compare your percent chance to hit a monster with and without that ring by looking at the monster memory for a monster whose AC you know; odds are your hit chance won't even change by 1%. Hell, your rings of STR and DEX at home would be better.

* With 834HP you can, just, survive a full-strength poison attack (max 800 damage). Given how valuable ring slots are, you might consider only carrying the Ring of Resist Poison as a swap, and using a much more useful Ring of Damage for general use. You shouldn't have trouble finding a +12 damage ring, which would give you 78 more damage/round at current stats. Of course, carrying rings in the inventory risks getting them destroyed by electrical attacks. You could also carry Rilia as an indestructible source of poison resistance, but then you're vulnerable to paralysis when wearing it.

* Lose the scrolls of Summon Undead. There's a lot of dangerous undead out there, and usually they're not worth fighting. Not to mention you run the risk of reading them accidentally when you meant to teleport or the like. On that note, where are your scrolls of Phase Door? I bring 15 with me on each trip and they do get used.

* The elemental attack rods are unlikely to match the damage your bow puts out. Certainly it's not worth dedicating three whole inventory slots to them.

**buzzkill** · January 23, 2012, 16:48

Originally posted by Derakon

* Lose the scrolls of Summon Undead. There's a lot of dangerous undead out there, and usually they're not worth fighting.

Yep. In case you didn't know, that's "Summon Undead Enemies" who will most likely drain your XP and summon more undead at just the wrong moment. You have no allies in Angband.

**fph** · January 23, 2012, 18:49

Originally posted by Blougram

The normal monsters lurking there don't pose much of a problem (I can always teleport away if surrounded)

And another important piece of advice: at your depth, teleport self ceases to be a safe escape. Just after you teleport, the monsters get the first turn; if you land close to a big breather or a bunch of Time Hound, you're toast. The means of safe escape you need to hang on to are teleport level, deep descent, destruction, teleport other. You should use _destruction and -teleport other in cases when you won't get killed if they fail. Their failure rate may be a measly 5%, but when you rely on that 20 times in a row...

**meJustmeNotyou** · February 3, 2012, 05:37

for those who don't know and are new...

no resistance to a damage type = full damage.

1 kind of resistance to a damage type (spell or item based) = 1/3 damage.

2 kinds of resistance to a damage type (spell AND item based) = 1/9 damage.

As Derakon said basically, when you feel comfortable (and you're new) that is when you die almost always.

I'm not giving a spoiler or anything, just saying there are some dang tough things in the game and you better make sure you have resistances when they find you.... the more types the better cuz you never know when one type of damage will blast in your face... unless you think you can take full damage from any attack unresisted (you can't).

also, lastly... breath weapons work based on a creature's current health vs max health... the healthier they are, the more the breath will do.

odds are you will die... at one point unless your extra extra cautious... just don't make a save game unless it's for CATastrophic events

game is just more fun when death actually hurts.

and you learn from your mistakes

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