A Few Questions/Observations From an Old Player

[Oramin]

BUG REPORT:

Ok, the game (3.3.2) crashed for me for the first time.

I was dealing with Impact Hounds and a Nexus Vortex. The Nexus Vortex got stunned, at which point I attacked/killed it and the game crashed. I don't precisely what happened and I didn't write down any error codes (sorry).

I believe I actually killed it and the Hounds breathed again after it was killed but I wasn't paying that much attention (since I have Stun resistance and wasn't worried about dying due to damage).

[Mondkalb]

After loosing another wimpy rogue my current one is being more lucky. He found a ring of see invisible on level 2 which made it a lot easier to handle the invisible stat drainers. The last few chars had no SI item whatsoever until very deep levels.
I also found boots of speed +8 somewhere relatively early which gave a considerable boost. I'm playing with randarts, but have only two (now clvl 34 at 2400'). A nice weapon with high damage but no other benefits and a good shield which looks a bit like a boosted Celegorm.

But still, the ego items showed up very late.

[fph]

Minor nitpick: Vanilla has never sold ?Teleport in shops, outside of the Black Market of course. It's a common addition in variants, but it's never been in the base game.

Oops, must've mixed them up, thanks for the correction.

[Derakon]

4-No more ?teleport in shops

Minor nitpick: Vanilla has never sold ?Teleport in shops, outside of the Black Market of course. It's a common addition in variants, but it's never been in the base game.

[fph]

I don't think that the driving reason for many changes was "making fast diving a viable style", but the following recent changes IMHO favored divers:

1-paralyzation is no longer instadeath
2-statgain potions are more spread out
3-the average depth of artifacts (Phial especially) has been slightly increased
4-item burning/freezing chances have been lowered (not sure if this belongs here)
5-no-selling (not sure)
6-introduction of ?deep descent (ok, that's maybe not as "recent" as the other changes listed here)

The following changes, OTOH, helped more level-clearers:
1-detect objects nerfed
2-destruction destroys artifacts
3-Ancient MHD depth increased
4-No more ?teleport in shops

[Oramin]

Oh, I figured my pace didn't qualify as "fast diving".

No, what I was saying was that I don't know how much the game has been tweaked to make fast diving a viable play style.

[Derakon]

Let me just assure you, Oramin, that your dive rate is not "fast diving".

Generally speaking, a fast diver will at bare minimum not bother to explore every level -- they'll take down stairs before they've seen everything on the current level. They'll also probably not be especially obsessive about piling up loot to take to town (and yes, no-selling is an excellent option for divers).

[Oramin]

I don't know about support for fast diving. I'm diving at what I consider to be a decent speed and I'm playing 3.3.2; I typically go down a level when I haven't finished filling up my inventory with decent loot to take upstairs. My understanding is that they nerfed the drop rate in 3.4.x which would make diving fast more dangerous.

Incidentally, if you have the "no selling" option on that will encourage you to dive faster without adequate gear (because you can't sell the loot you find to buy stuff from the stores).

[Mondkalb]

I thought the game was changed to support fast diving. In my experience this was more fun in older versions, maybe because autoscum for good levels..

[Oramin]

I think it is the pace you play at. My CLVL 32 Hobbit Rogue is down at Max DLVL 31 and he's found:

Pauregen
Dethanc
Elvagil
Osondir
Nimloth
Thalkettoth
Heavy Crossbow of Extra Shots
Phial
Cammithrim
Amulet of the Magi
A couple of Westernesse weapons

And because I routinely haul stuff up I have well over 100k gold as well as numerous items purchased from the Black Market (including Boots of Speed +5 and a Ring of Con +6).

I almost never use my CCW potions because I'm properly geared up for the level. I also chicken out when, for example, there's a Great Hell Wyrm in a Vault on DLVL 30 and I don't have Fire Resistance or Teleport Away.

[Mondkalb]

I don't know, is it just the RNG?
I had three chars killed today in the end of pure boredom. There is nothing special to be found on the first 20-30 levels. It's plain dreary.
Well, hordes of pungent monsters of course. I have to buy new armor constantly and all my money goes into WoR and CCW.
Lousy weapons and even lousier armor.
I can't remember when I last found a good item before 1700'.

[Nick]

Do any any of you have the double "any"?

Not in mine.

[Oramin]

Going a bit off topic:

Anybody have their copy of "The Hobbit" handy?

I just noticed what appears to be a typo on page 17 in my current one:

"If you have ever seen a dragon in a pinch, you will realize that this was only poetical exaggeration applied to any any hobbit, ..."

Do any any of you have the double "any"?

[Oramin]

Nah, not quite that bad. He's at 1.3 blows and only needs +1 STR for a whole 1.6.

Besides, the See Invisible and Free Action are easily worthwhile.

[scud]

And, of course, after I make that comment, Smeagol drops a Cutlass of Westernesse on L3.

That 'it's lovely and shiny but I need another 7 strength to get 1.1 blows from it' feeling...