A Few Questions/Observations From an Old Player

[Oramin]

I've discovered a fairly effective and safe way to kill many Uniques; took out the Witch-King of Angmar and Gothmog in quick succession using it. However, I'm thinking it might be a bit unsporting.

As some of you have noticed, there appears to be an asymmetry in the targeting code. If something is a knight's move away from you and there is a block of stone on the inside of the 'L' then you can target the monster while it can't target you.

As an example:

AX
CD
XB

If C is empty space and D is stone, then A can target B but B can't target A.

If D is empty space and C is stone, then B can target A but A can't target B.

So, to take advantage of this you need to be able to cast Glyphs of Warding (or have a bunch of scrolls), an ability to make an anti-summoning tunnel, and a ranged attack.

Just build your standard anti-summoning tunnel, but instead of a single square then diagonal, make it two adjacent squares then diagonal.

XA   XX   XX

   GB   XX

(Hopefully that'll look ok when it posts.)

Then all you need to do is place Glyphs on each square which allows you to stop the monster in the right position. For example, if the monster is coming from the left in the above diagram, place the Glyph at G. The monster will be stopped at A, you remain at B and just keep pelting him.

Now, this obviously won't work with Morgoth, and it doesn't work very well with Huan since he seems to break the Glyph every other turn but, as I said, it does work well with some other monsters.

So, how about it? Unsporting?

Edit:

It didn't, let's see if the 'pre' tag works over here.

[Derakon]

You want the [ code ] tag for dungeon diagrams. And yeah, this is a bit unsporting, but Glyph of Warding is just a teensy bit expensive to cast, and high-level monsters break the glyphs with astonishing regularity, so I'm not entirely certain it's worth the effort. Standing on a glyph in an anti-summoning corridor works nearly as well; you just take the occasional ranged attack or broken-through melee attack, after which you cast Glyph again, heal if necessary (since you're clearly playing a priest), and continue.

If others feel this is abusive, though, then it'd be straightforward to limit you to one active Glyph at a time, or some small maximum number.

[Oramin]

Nope, playing a Gnome Mage, atm, not a Priest.

I actually prep the tunnel from the far side leaving a thin wall between me and the monster. Once the tunnel is prepared, then I break the wall and let him in.

Edit:

Ah, "Rune of Protection" for Mages not "Glyph of Warding". Different name, same basic spell.

[Derakon]

Oh right, mages can cast that too. Oh well.

[LostTemplar]

Angband is made in such a way, that, in general, there are many ways to kill monsters "for free", and this is not the easyest nor the fastest. E.g. dispelling a dragon pit with immunity is more abusive imho, also there is no reason to fight monsters, that are hard to fight in angband, you can simply teleport them away, and kill only monsters, that are pushover (dispel dragons with immunity).

Basically monster is only dangerous if it makes a surprise attack.

[Oramin]

Ok, just how much damage is a Staff of Holiness supposed to do?

The description doesn't say, so I probed a type of Lich (Master?) and it had 1488 HP. I used the Staff of Holiness once and then immediately probed it again and it had 1290 HP.

That's 198 HP of damage. My Google search brought up values of 1d120 (all integers between 1 and 120 inclusive) and 120 (a set amount of damage).

Now, I don't mind it causing a lot more damage than it is supposed to but I am wondering what's going on.

[myshkin]

Ok, just how much damage is a Staff of Holiness supposed to do?

The description doesn't say, so I probed a type of Lich (Master?) and it had 1488 HP. I used the Staff of Holiness once and then immediately probed it again and it had 1290 HP.

That's 198 HP of damage. My Google search brought up values of 1d120 (all integers between 1 and 120 inclusive) and 120 (a set amount of damage).

Now, I don't mind it causing a lot more damage than it is supposed to but I am wondering what's going on.

The base damage is indeed a flat 120 HP. However, you get an additional percent of damage for each level your device skill exceeds the level of the device. In this case, it looks as if your INT is between 18/210 and 18/219, if you are playing a clvl 50 gnome mage. That combination would amount to a 65 percent bonus, or 198 HP.

[Oramin]

That's kind of cool. Does it apply to all devices? For example, Staffs/Staves of Power, Wands of Drain Life, Wands of Annihilation, or Wands of Dragon's Flame?

[Derakon]

It should, yes. Mages who are not making use of devices, especially Wands of Annihilation, are significantly reducing their combat capabilities.

[Oramin]

Is there a way to determine the level of the device other than by reading the code? In other words, how do we determine the amount of bonus damage we get?

[Derakon]

I don't think that information is exposed anywhere in-game; you'll have to check the edit files. Look at edit/object.txt. For example:

N:396:Annihilation
G:-:d
I:65:27
W:60:0:10:3000
A:20:60 to 100
P:0:1d1:0:0:0
C:1+d2
F:IGNORE_ACID | IGNORE_ELEC | IGNORE_FIRE | IGNORE_COLD | EASY_KNOW
E:DRAIN_LIFE4

The important bit here is the first entry in the line that starts with "W:". That's the difficulty level of using the item; thus, Wands of Annihilation are level-60 wands. If your device skill was 110, say, then you'd get a 50% damage boost when using them.

The first entry on the G: line is the graphic used to display the item; useful when there's multiple items with the same name but different base types (e.g. Identify).

[Oramin]

Also, just to confirm, this bonus works with Artifacts and DSM as well?

[Derakon]

It applies any time you invoke an effect from an item, as near as I can tell.

[Oramin]

If I have both Light and Dark resistance along with a 100% saving throw, do I need Blindness resistance?

[debo]

If I have both Light and Dark resistance along with a 100% saving throw, do I need Blindness resistance?

I'm pretty sure 100% saving throw makes you immune to all status effects / bad things. (Not sure about disenchantment, but things like blindness, stunning, etc.)

But I might be wrong