Noobish questions

[captflint]

I just started playing Angband, and I am enjoying it very much. But I do have some rather noobish questions. Thanks in advance for any help.

How many things can you hold in your house inventory?

What is the difference between a rod and a wand?

What efect does armor have on spell casting?

what do the pluses on equipment mean? I think I read that they are magical bonuses, but bonuses to what?

Is there a level cap? If so what is it?

I will post anyother questions I have in this same thread as I think of them if you want to help an Angband noob. Again, thank you.

[Nick]

How many things can you hold in your house inventory?

24

What is the difference between a rod and a wand?

Wands have a fixed number of charges and the wand can't be used when it runs out; rods are infinite use, but after a use they take some time to recharge so they can be used again.

What efect does armor have on spell casting?

If you have too much armor, your spell point maximum is reduced.

what do the pluses on equipment mean? I think I read that they are magical bonuses, but bonuses to what?

The (+x, +y) values on weapons (and some other things) are bonuses to-hit (your chance of hitting) and to-dam (added to the damage each blow does). [x, +y] or [+y] is bonus to armor class, which makes you harder to hit and also reduces damage done by hits. Anything in a <+x> is a bonus to a stat (strength, wisdom, etc) or a skill (stealth, perception, etc)

Is there a level cap? If so what is it?

Yes. 50.

I will post anyother questions I have in this same thread as I think of them if you want to help an Angband noob. Again, thank you.

No worries

[buzzkill]

probably not 100% accurate, but here goes...

2 pages of stuff will fit in your home (24 distinct items maybe?)
rods have but a single use, then you must wait until they recharge.
wands appear earlier and have many charges, but don't recharge themselves.
armour weighing over a certain threshold (determined by STR) reduces max mana.
given (+x,+y), x is a bonus "to hit" and y is a bonus "to damage (per blow)".
your character can never exceed level 50, though he can accumulate XP beyond that.

edit: Damn it Nick.

[captflint]

Thanks guys. Another question that occured to me is to wonder how the score in Angband is calculated. I just logged out of my currently lvl 7 character. This character is one level higher than my previsous highest level character (a level 6 character of the same class), yet the level 6 character is still higher on my high score board than my level 7 character. So obviously more than just level goes into it. I was just wondering exactly what went into that calculation.

[Philip]

That calculation is partly based on maxdepth. Later, the XP part overtakes the maxdepth, but early on it doesn't. It's also possible the second character had more XP, but due to XP penalties for easier races and more complex classes, he didn't have the same level.

[Magnate]

That calculation is partly based on maxdepth. Later, the XP part overtakes the maxdepth, but early on it doesn't. It's also possible the second character had more XP, but due to XP penalties for easier races and more complex classes, he didn't have the same level.

I think gold also plays an embarrassingly large part in the calculation.

[Derakon]

Bottom line is, you shouldn't worry about your score. Just try to make it further than the last guy you played as, and ideally kill whatever killed him. Revenge!

[captflint]

Ok. So another thing I was wondering about. Are there specific weapons bonuses, or can I just use any type of weapon I pick up? I mean obviously rangers are better at ranged weapons and warriors are better at melee. But, for instance, on my ranger can I just use axes and swords and whatever else without any penalty? In some other games the weapons that you can use effectively are controlled by class, or race, or by skill that have to be learned. Is this true in Angband?

[Derakon]

The only constraints on weapon types are:

* Rangers eventually get extra shots when using bows (but not crossbows or slings)
* Priests have a to-hit and spellcasting penalty when using non-blunt weapons

Everyone else doesn't care what kind of weapon they use.

[debo]

The only constraints on weapon types are:

* Rangers eventually get extra shots when using bows (but not crossbows or slings)
* Priests have a to-hit and spellcasting penalty when using non-blunt weapons

Everyone else doesn't care what kind of weapon they use.

Hence my love for great-axe-wielding mages

(Note: I've never gotten a mage past DL50.)

[Derakon]

I should clarify about that priest penalty: there's a "Blessed" attribute that weapons can have which nullifies it. So while your priest won't be so happy using a normal dagger, they'll be just fine with a Blessed Dagger.

Also in the late game the "pointy penalty" is usually not a huge problem, so if you have a nice pointy but non-blessed weapon, it may be worth using anyway.

[captflint]

Thanks for the help so far guys. This game is making much more sense now. I am really enjoying it. I haven't even died once today! So I just had a bit of a weird experience. I was 200' down, when all of the sudden it seemed like all the mice in the game attacked me. The hallways were solid 'r's. I was able to wade though them into a room and then set up a firing position and take them out with my bow, but it got sort of hairy their for a minute. it would have been rather embarrassing for my level 10 ranger to get killed by a giant white mouse. How often do those swarms happen? There must have been at least 40 or 50 of them. Maybe even 100. Do these swarms ever happen with other creatures? Actually don't answer that last one. I don't want any spoilers.

[donalde]

Thanks for the help so far guys. This game is making much more sense now. I am really enjoying it. I haven't even died once today! So I just had a bit of a weird experience. I was 200' down, when all of the sudden it seemed like all the mice in the game attacked me. The hallways were solid 'r's. I was able to wade though them into a room and then set up a firing position and take them out with my bow, but it got sort of hairy their for a minute. it would have been rather embarrassing for my level 10 ranger to get killed by a giant white mouse. How often do those swarms happen? There must have been at least 40 or 50 of them. Maybe even 100. Do these swarms ever happen with other creatures? Actually don't answer that last one. I don't want any spoilers.

they don't swarm, they just breed explosively. You can 'l'ook monster, it tells you some of its features. Later in game, there is other methods to get better list of monsters abilities. Note on speed: don't carry so much stuff that your speed drops, speed quite often means surviving.

[fph]

They breed every few turns. Once a colony becomes quite large, they are almost impossible to kill for a low-level player.
This experience should teach you an important lesson in Angband: you don't have to kill everything. And a corollary: always have a retreat option available --- a safe path to a stairway, a teleport scroll, phase door and healing potions, or, even better, all of them.

[captflint]

Ok, next noobish question. Tell me about titles. I know that if you defeat Morgoth you the the WINNER title. And my initial title changed from Runner to Strider. What do I need to know about them? How do they change?