Bug on randart DSM?

[donalde]

Hi

My Angband 3.4.1 HE Paladin just found this randart DSM:

r) 2 Staves of Teleportation (14 charges)
     Can be destroyed by acid, fire.
     
s) the Balance Dragon Scale Mail of Arnos (-2) [50,+24]
     Found lying on the floor in a vault at 4300 feet (level 86).
     
     Provides resistance to dark, sound, shards, chaos, disenchantment.
     Provides protection from fear.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, electricity, fire, cold.
     
t) a Leather Shield of Preservation [8,+14]

Where is the activation? (previous and next item also pasted to prove it is not paste error)

[MattB]

s) the Balance Dragon Scale Mail of Arnos (-2) [50,+24]
Found lying on the floor in a vault at 4300 feet (level 86).

Provides resistance to dark, sound, shards, chaos, disenchantment.
Provides protection from fear.
Cannot be harmed by acid, electricity, fire, cold.


Where is the activation?

Presumably the randart generator doesn't consider the breath activation to be 'sacred', so just swapped it out for pfear or extra AC. Personally speaking, I don't think it should consider it sacred. But maybe that's because I rarely breathe as an attack and would far rather have another resistance.

[donalde]

Presumably the randart generator doesn't consider the breath activation to be 'sacred', so just swapped it out for pfear or extra AC. Personally speaking, I don't think it should consider it sacred. But maybe that's because I rarely breathe as an attack and would far rather have another resistance.

yeah, but IMO breath attack should stay on DSM even if they are randarts, else this is quite similar to randart Mithril Chain Mail, thus 'loosing' the feeling of DSM. I occasionally use breath attack, especially midlevels

[PowerWyrm]

This randart is probably based on something else than a DSM, so you don't get an activation.

[Timo Pietilä]

This randart is probably based on something else than a DSM, so you don't get an activation.

But the activation is quality of the base item just like resistances it gives (shard, sound, chaos, disen) so it should stay there. It's a bug IMO, and I think there is even ticket about that in trac.

[Magnate]

But the activation is quality of the base item just like resistances it gives (shard, sound, chaos, disen) so it should stay there. It's a bug IMO, and I think there is even ticket about that in trac.

It is a bug, for the reason Timo gives. The randart generator should not remove activations on base items (though it reserves the right to overwrite them with a random activation!). I do dimly recall filing a ticket for this, but have forgotten why I didn't actually fix it. Sorry.

[Timo Pietilä]

It is a bug, for the reason Timo gives. The randart generator should not remove activations on base items (though it reserves the right to overwrite them with a random activation!). I do dimly recall filing a ticket for this, but have forgotten why I didn't actually fix it. Sorry.

Found this: http://trac.rephial.org/ticket/974

but it doesn't seem to be fixed as described.

[Philip]

Wow, that armor is almost worse than normal Balance DSM. rDark, pfear vs. activation depends on other factors, but many characters might prefer the activation, half-orc warrior in particular.

[scud]

Have never noticed this before, but have just found...

r) the Red Dragon Scale Mail 'Arimrand' (-2) [24,+23] <+2>
     Conjured forth by magic at 4350 feet (level 87).
     
     +2 wisdom, constitution.
     Provides resistance to lightning, fire, cold, poison, light, dark.
     Provides protection from fear, blindness, confusion.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, electricity, fire, cold.
     Speeds regeneration.  Prevents paralysis.  
     
     When activated, it grants you protection from evil for 1d25 plus 3
     times your character level turns.
     Takes 186 to 205 turns to recharge at your current speed.
     Your chance of success is 96.2%

On the upside, it's very rare for a regular Acquirement to magic up anything that's neither ignored or quality squelched by this stage of the game.

*dumps Arimrand in a quiet corner of the dungeon*

*****

EDIT: and, pretty much immediately, another. Only this one, like donalde's, doesn't have an activation.

*****

EDIT: and three's a charm. Activationless again. These are the 'only' three randart DSMs I've found in this game, all between DL87 and DL89. None of them are any good: it's as if furnishing me with a randart DSM is considered reward enough, without regard for its attributes. If it wasn't for this thread I'd have dropped all three without noticing the absence of the breath activation.

[Pete Mack]

Actually, Arimrand is pretty OK armour, depending on your class/race. It's a great replacement for Caspannion

[scud]

In hindsight I should have kept it, at least until I'd spreadsheeted my various kit permutations! Would certainly have built around it if I'd found it before the following...

g) the Hard Leather Armour of Naresse (-1) [16,+34] <+2, +1>
     Dropped by a Dracolich at 3500 feet (level 70).
     
     +2 constitution.
     Provides resistance to acid, lightning, fire, cold, dark, sound,
     nether, chaos.
     Provides protection from fear, blindness.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, electricity, fire, cold.
     Grants the ability to see invisible things.  
     
     When aimed, it drains up to 90 hit points of life from a target
     creature.  Does not affect undead, demons, golems, elementals or
     vortices.
     Takes 277 to 307 turns to recharge at your current speed.
     Your chance of success is 94.3%
     
     Radius 1 light.

NOTES:

a. Is that a reoccurrence of erroneous bonus figures, or does the '+1' refer to the light?

b. Where does that weird list of drainage exceptions come from?

c. Stumbo is a priest, but has WIS to burn.

[Derakon]

The +1 does refer to the light radius. Though now that I think of it, I don't think I've ever seen a light radius greater than 1 on a non-light source. Oh well.

The limitations on draining spells basically limit them to only affect living non-demons.

[scud]

The limitations on draining spells basically limit them to only affect living non-demons.

D'oh! By the time the more offensive wands/staves/rods start to crop up I'm immediately trashing them in favour of the mighty Orb or the magely repertoire of spells. And the mighty Orb is so mighty that I very rarely use any other offensive prayer; haven't cast Annihilation in 1.9m turns in my current game.

Drain Life and Annihilation appear to be synonymous (unless drainage becomes annihilation somewhere between 151–200 HP). The blurb also varies...

ANNIHILATION PRAYER: Inflicts 200 points of damage on a single monster that is not undead, a demon, an elemental, a golem, or a vortex.

ROD OF DRAIN LIFE / WAND OF ANNIHILATION: Drains up to [150/250] hit points of life from a target creature. Does not affect undead, demons, golems, elementals or vortices.

[fph]

g) the Hard Leather Armour of Naresse (-1) [16,+34] <+2, +1>
     When [COLOR="Orange"]aimed[/COLOR], it drains up to 90 hit points of life from a target
     creature.

I am now picturing an adventurer trying to aim a hard leather armour... how does one do that?

[Oramin]

D'oh! By the time the more offensive wands/staves/rods start to crop up I'm immediately trashing them in favour of the mighty Orb or the magely repertoire of spells. And the mighty Orb is so mighty that I very rarely use any other offensive prayer; haven't cast Annihilation in 1.9m turns in my current game.

Drain Life and Annihilation appear to be synonymous (unless drainage becomes annihilation somewhere between 151–200 HP). The blurb also varies...

ANNIHILATION PRAYER: Inflicts 200 points of damage on a single monster that is not undead, a demon, an elemental, a golem, or a vortex.

ROD OF DRAIN LIFE / WAND OF ANNIHILATION: Drains up to [150/250] hit points of life from a target creature. Does not affect undead, demons, golems, elementals or vortices.

If you read the discussion in that long thread I started, you'll notice that you get bonus damage for each point that your device skill exceeds the base skill level on the device.

So, hypothetically speaking, if you have a 140 device skill and a Wand of Annihilation (which does 250 to folks like Gabriel and Morgoth) with a base of 70, that would be an extra 70% damage. That is, hmm, 425 a shot with about a 5% failure rate.

What's the damage with Mana Storm and it's best failure rate?