some questions and observations to [3.5.0]

[Tibarius]

Dear Folks,

having time to play currently, i am trying to win the game with a mage class type currently. Some questions and observations during my gameplay:

1. I am using "monster recal" Information in a sub-window. In the description of a Monster there is (usually) a %hit probabilty for melee combat. Is there anything the same available for shooting?
2. There is always the Addition '(If you can see it)'. Does it mean the hit probability changes depending on the fact if i can see or not see a Monster?
3. Average Damage on weapons revealed with the Inspect command:
Is the average damage calculation made by assuming that each blow will hit the Monster?
4. The mage spell 'lightning bolt' should be re-named in 'lighning beam', since it always beams.
5. What does the stun effect do? I was not able to notice anything. Should it make you unable to move?
6. Is there a way to Speed up spell graphics? Especially the Meteor spell is kinda nerving if you shoot 4 Meteors at a distant target.
7. How does resistance nether work? I thought it reduces damage somewhere between 1/3 and 2/3 of the Maximum damage. In the current game a Death Drake breathed nether on me. I dropped from full (475 hp) to 203 hp. So i got 272 nether damage with resistance nether active. The Monster description says the Drake can breath for 308 damage. Bug?
8. The Long sword 'Anguirel' is branded with venom but hast resistance to Elec instead of Poison. Bug?
9. It Looks like mana storm will have a 14% fail Chance on Level 50 with Maximum int (18/***). Is there a way to reach the 0% or is it intended to be this way?

Thanks for usefull comments on all or single Points.
Cheers,
Tibarius

[MattB]

5. What does the stun effect do? I was not able to notice anything. Should it make you unable to move?

I think it effects your damage or to-hit. The real danger is that after 'stun', you get 'heavy stun' then you get 'knocked out' (and usually dead as a result).

6. Is there a way to Speed up spell graphics? Especially the Meteor spell is kinda nerving if you shoot 4 Meteors at a distant target.

Yes, go into the '=' menu and change 'base delay factor'. I have it at 10.

7. How does resistance nether work? I thought it reduces damage somewhere between 1/3 and 2/3 of the Maximum damage. In the current game a Death Drake breathed nether on me. I dropped from full (475 hp) to 203 hp. So i got 272 nether damage with resistance nether active. The Monster description says the Drake can breath for 308 damage. Bug?

Not a bug - just weird. The higher resistances have a random resist effect.

8. The Long sword 'Anguirel' is branded with venom but hast resistance to Elec instead of Poison. Bug?

Sadly venom brand does not give rPoison. I guess it would make, e.g., a whip of venom too powerful. And it just happens to have rElec.

9. It Looks like mana storm will have a 14% fail Chance on Level 50 with Maximum int (18/***). Is there a way to reach the 0%?

Not that I know of!

Have fun!

[jford_2505@hotmail.com]

5. What does the stun effect do? I was not able to notice anything. Should it make you unable to move?

Also affects spell fail rate (minimum 20% if stunned I think).

7. How does resistance nether work? I thought it reduces damage somewhere between 1/3 and 2/3 of the Maximum damage. In the current game a Death Drake breathed nether on me. I dropped from full (475 hp) to 203 hp. So i got 272 nether damage with resistance nether active. The Monster description says the Drake can breath for 308 damage. Bug?

Nether resistance reduces damage by one seventh to one half. I.e. the death drake will hit you for 154 - 264 hp if you resist nether. You were hit for 272 hp, so I'm guessing the death drake in question was particularly healthy: (~1900 hp instead of the average 1848 hp). You were also unlucky in that your resistance reduced the damage by the minimum 1/7th amount.

For a full description of resistance damage reduction, see http://angband.oook.cz/forum/showthread.php?t=6744

[Timo Pietilä]

Also affects spell fail rate (minimum 20% if stunned I think).

And item activations.

[Derakon]

Being stunned is bad news. It makes you worse at just about everything. Quaff a potion of Cure Wounds (light/serious/critical) and it'll clear up your stunning.

Average damage display does assume you always hit. It also takes critical hits into account -- that is, it calculates your odds of getting a crit and how much that crit would increase your damage by, and folds that into the average.

If you can't see a monster, you suffer a significant penalty to-hit. I think your chance of hitting is halved.

You cannot get Mana Storm down to 0% fail. It's still the best DPS spell that mages can get, though it's not quite as good as zapping Wands of Annihilation if you don't count the time spent recharging them. You get a bonus to the damage of your wands of (your magic devices skill - level of wand)%, note. So mages get a lot of mileage out of attack wands.

[Tibarius]

wands

Thank you everyone for the excellent answers.

If i remember it right the wand of Annihilation says on inspecting it, it does 250 Points of damage. If that is modified by device skill - how please? Even if it would be increased for 50% it would still not surpass the damage from mana storm.

And would it be possible, that the Inspect command Shows the damage i can actually do with it, if i aim the wand? (or give a hint that the device skill will further modify the damage)

Besides that i felt wands for combat purposes less effective because for big Monsters you Need usually a lot more charges than a single wand offers.

[Derakon]

As I said, the bonus is (your device skill - level of wand)%. It's not shown in the 'I'nspect screen, which is a shame. Wands of Annihilation are level-60, so if you have a device skill of 110 (should be easily achievable for most high-level mages) then you'll get a 50% bonus, putting the damage at 375/shot. I don't remember what Mana Storm does, but it has a higher failure rate than aiming the wand does; once you take those into effect the wand does have a slight advantage. And of course it doesn't destroy floor items, and wands don't cost mana to use (just to recharge, but you can do that outside of combat).

Wands aren't going to be your sole offense as a mage, but they're an important supplement for a long time. In particular, Drain Life, Annihilation, and Dragon's Flame/Frost remain solid options for almost the entire game. Drain Life is particularly huge early on before you find Raal's, as there are many unique monsters that resist all elements, or all except electricity.

[Timo Pietilä]

Drain Life is particularly huge early on before you find Raal's, as there are many unique monsters that resist all elements, or all except electricity.

Acid is least resisted of all elements (oddly because that's most common resist for player). Acid bolt and acid ball make actually quite a lot of damage for high level mage. Problem is that, like manastorm, it tends to destroy things at the floor.

Rod of acid balls makes 125 points of damage before adjustments (I think) and it is only 10 levels deeper than annihilation. In hands of high-level mage stack of those is quite formidable weapon. It has an advantage over annihilation that you can target things when there is some monster between you and your target.

I sometimes carry those even with warriors, damage done is big enough that you can kill groups of monsters with it.