1st time Mage at mid level

[Rooker]

Hi. I'm not new at rogues but I am new to Angband and I've been playing the same character now for some time and I feel that I've been stalled too long at the mid levels. I'm playing a mage and I think I've maxed all stats (they have an exclamation mark next to them and subsequent potions do nothing) but I don't necessarily feel my power growing. I have a beastly weapon and can fare well in melee but uniques take a hell of a beating and my spells seem to have plateaued. I have the Raal's spellbook which contains some really odd and seemingly situational or useless spells.

I've been hovering around the 40 mark (probably obvious from the stat gains) but my main question is what can I expect from, for example, level 80 monsters versus the 40ish ones that I can mostly handle or avoid. Also, what kind of upgrade can I expect from any spells that I have currently?

I should mention that I'm playing version 3.41. Thanks.

[Derakon]

Hi there, and welcome to the forums!

Mages are hard. Really hard. You'll always be horribly fragile and most uniques (and plenty of non-unique monsters as well) can kill you in one or two turns, so you need to know when to fight and when to flee. Unfortunately this requires some degree of foreknowledge about the game. Or you can turn on the "Know complete monster info" cheat option, which IMO isn't a cheat at all, just an equalizer between newbies and veterans.

Your current offensive arsenal is basically it until you get Kelek's Grimoire of Power, which is the last spellbook in the game and only enters native depth at 4500' (level 90). Right now you should be relying heavily on Meteor Swarm, Rift, and attack wands. Wands of Drain Life, Dragon's Fire, Dragon's Frost, and Annihilation are all really strong in the hands of a mage because you get a (your device skill - level of wand)% bonus to the damage dealt. Most of those wands are around level 60, and you can see your device skill on the character screen.

However, compared to warriors you don't fare too badly. You can fight from range, which means you don't take damage from enemy melee attacks, and your attacks never miss (assuming you don't fail to cast the spell), which means your damage output is quite consistent.

Anyway, good luck!