A few newbie questions

[Derakon]

A) They don't provide a linear progression. Each potion gives a random amount of improvement across a range.

This is true when your internal stats are above 18. But if you have, say, an internal stat of 16 and +5 from your race/class/gear, then your stat would read 18/30 and your next potion would take you to 18/40.

Also, once your internal stat passes 18, every potion provides at least a /10 of improvement, possibly excepting the last two. So things do speed up for awhile.

[Ingwe Ingweron]

Also, once your internal stat passes 18, every potion provides at least a /10 of improvement, possibly excepting the last two. So things do speed up for awhile.

I seem to remember going from 18/84 to 18/87 with a !Strength and thinking, "Argh, that was a waste!". I've learned to expect minimal improvements in the 18/90's, but I'm not sure it's only the last two potions that are <10.

[ChrysFox]

Hi again, guys!
I have a couple of questions:

1. There are a fair number of monsters that are resistant to everything that I can throw at them - multi-hued dragons are a great example, as are stone golems. I've been running away from the ones I can't kill with magic missile, but I'm wondering - how do you kill these things? I can't imagine using magic missile on them 70 times. Warriors can just close and stab them to death, but mages don't seem to have that luxury.

Shoot them Seriously - pop those arrows into your quiver, they won't hurt anybody if they're in storage. As you find arrows, and bows, ID them, and swap out for and/or add better ones, and keep an eye out for enchant weapon scrolls to bring the low ones up. With a good bow, and good arrows, you can kill even an Ancient, albeit taking some damage, and probably losing 1/4 of your inventory
Morning star is nice, but until your strength builds, look into daggers, swords and rapiers. There's some really nice ones out there, and a lot lighter, so you get more blows (and more damage) per round.
Swap out that =Escaping for the Damage, dump the Delving - Stone to Mud does the same, for the most part.
And DO try to find equipment that covers your missing resistances, of which you have too many to go poking around the dungeon at that level.

2. Similarly, I've started running into uniques that have 800 HP or so (or more). That's way too much for my damage output right now, so I'm wondering if it's a good idea to nuke him with my black dragon scale mail, hit him with a couple fire / acid bolts, and then teleport him away. Will he recover his HP while I'm resting and looking for him?.

Maybe. I've found it's hit or miss on who regenerates. I'm guessing somebody probably knows who does waht much better than I do.
Make sure you have a personal backup escape (staff, scroll, etc) in case you get the dreaded 'you failed to concentrate'


Above all, have fun.

[Monkey Face]

As you go further down you'll find additional spell books in the dungeon that are not available in the magic shop. (They can be found in the black market.) These include Rael's Tomb of Destruction and Kelek's Grimoire of Power which both have several advanced attack spells which will help against some of the tougher to kill monsters.

[Freddo]

Hey, welcome to Angband!

1) Start using attack wands. Your magic device skill gives you a percentile damage bonus to wands (of (skill - item level)%, though item level isn't displayed anywhere). Mages have fantastic device skill, which means that attack wands actually do more damage than the equivalent spells in most cases.

Anyway, good luck!

is this still the case in V3.5.1?

I tried to use various wands with my L35 mage, and it seemed like my own spells ALWAYS did more damage...

[Derakon]

is this still the case in V3.5.1?

I tried to use various wands with my L35 mage, and it seemed like my own spells ALWAYS did more damage...

Yes, it's still true in 3.5.1. Ignore the item description; it doesn't incorporate the percentile bonus. Also don't underestimate the value of an attack that doesn't use up your mana; wands go a long way towards stretching your mana supply in the early/mid game when your INT hasn't maxed out yet.

Once you get Raal's Tome, the basic attack wands become somewhat less useful, but around about that you start finding the Dragon's Flame/Frost/Breath wands and Wands of Annihilation, which are all competitive for the entire game (Annihilation has higher average damage than Manastorm against single targets). Well, maybe not Dragon's Breath, just because the damage element is random.