How long to kill Morgoth?

[Tibarius]

I played like an idiot for two days now. Finally at around 23.30 local time i was able to blast the final mana-ball onto Morgoth and make him die.

I played yesterday for around 10 hours and maybe another 14 hours today. So i needed around 24 hours real time to Level a Gnome mage from Level 1 to Winner Status.

Is that quick, dull or would you consider it a normal time to win the game with a new char?

Any feedback is welcomed. Thanks.

[Derakon]

I don't keep track of how much realtime it takes to win, but I'd guess that mages are one of the slower wins due to leveling slowly and needing a lot of cautious play for the first 90% of the game or so. If you want a fast realtime win, your best bet would probably be a half-troll paladin or warrior.

I seem to recall someone on RGRA posted a ZAngband win that they achieved in a single sitting (less than 24 hours, certainly, and I think it was probably less than 15). ZAngband lent itself to abuse though, especially with the Mindcrafter class.

[Tibarius]

playing mages ...

So you think mages are a slow class Derakon? I thought that my last mage leveld pretty straitforward till clvl35 and dlvl60 i would say. Then i stayed a bit cautios to not end up one-hit(or shot) killed. And at clvl45 i felt like a super-hero just cleaning dlvl 90+ with my left Hand. The only fight i was unsure to win was Morgoth. He recovers his HPs that fast, that you may not give him a break to recover.

I have to get more experience with the other classes

[Angrist]

And how quickly are Rogues, Rangers and Priests?

[Bogatyr]

So you think mages are a slow class Derakon? I thought that my last mage leveld pretty straitforward till clvl35 and dlvl60 i would say. Then i stayed a bit cautios to not end up one-hit(or shot) killed. And at clvl45 i felt like a super-hero just cleaning dlvl 90+ with my left Hand. The only fight i was unsure to win was Morgoth. He recovers his HPs that fast, that you may not give him a break to recover.

I have to get more experience with the other classes

Yeah once a mage gets 0% TO and then especially finds Kelek's and can cast the banishes and destruction reliably, s/he is a true master of the dungeon, shaping the experience to his/her will. However it wasn't until my last mage winner reached above 600 HP that I relaxed a little bit, always concerned with the one-shot instadeaths. Warriors (especially big hit die races) reach the "you can get a bit sloppy" point much much earlier and don't have to be so anal about having matching resists for every single encounter.

With Kelek's I make a point of removing all always-awake and especially non-esp-detected monsters from any level I intend to explore seriously: bye bye Z's, g's and v's for starters. Q's too, unless I want to use a green one for dragon farming, heh!

I'm slowly branching out to non-mage classes but they always feel "cramped" -- it always feels like there's never enough detect, identify, stone-to-mud available for my play style. Without reveal monsters, you're always dealing with uncertainty.

Rogues though are certainly very interesting: with detect objects, you can bail on a level missing what you're looking for (e.g., stat potions) early.

A warrior that gets TK early on is very enjoyable. My first HT W winner found TK, tons of speed, a rod of identify in the BM, fairly early on, and was clev 50 by around dlev 60 or so.

The thing about non-mages is that you must accumulate tons of consumables for the final battles, especially: banishes & destructs. Priests have great healing spells so they don't need the stockpile of heals.

Each class has their sweet spot It's great to stand in melee with a big monster as a priest and just keep healing and healing and healing and wearing the bad guy down.

[Angrist]

Let's say I have a Half-Troll Warrior lvl 1 (or HT Paladin lvl 1). What I can achieve in first two hours of play?

[Derakon]

Let's say I have a Half-Troll Warrior lvl 1 (or HT Paladin lvl 1). What I can achieve in first two hours of play?

You could probably make it to 2000'. I'm not kidding.

Mages are godlike once they get their spellbooks. Until then they have to play very cautiously, which means slowly (in realtime, if not necessarily in game turns). Meanwhile, a warrior has everything they need to fight effectively right at the start and only really slows down for however long it takes them to get telepathy and/or a Rod of Detection. Once they have those and some speed, they can dive to the bottom and start looking for the damage output they need to kill Morgoth.

[Angrist]

fight effectively right at the start

My main weapon should be melee or archery?

[quarague]

My main weapon should be melee or archery?

melee
Angband is designed so that all builds kill the vast majority of monsters with their melee weapon. For warriors and paladins its probably more than 99%, only occasionally using archery to soften up a target. Other classes melee every harmless monster and use archery or magic for things that might be dangerous otherwise.

[Angrist]

Oddly enough, but my warriors are dying almost instantly due to the fact that I play them TOO self-confident. For example, my last character (HT warrior) died on 6 dLevel due Gallant.

[quarague]

How did you manage that? A HT warrior has natural regeneration and even at clevel1 he should be able to take on a gallant if he starts out at full hp.
Just lost my own HT warrior at clevel 32, dlevel 51 to a oneshot poison breath by a winged horror for 400 damage :-( Only had an artifact to activate for poison res but no permanent source, didn't even know he was there, breathed poison on his first turn in line of sight. Lack of easy detection is a serious problem for warriors.

[Angrist]

How did you manage that?

http://angband.oook.cz/screen-show.php?id=3069

Next turn is the end
Yes, I could have saved by using Phase door. But somehow I thought that 13 HP is enough to kill Gallant.

[Derakon]

Gallants are by far the most dangerous of the novice adventurers, possessing good HP, two melee attacks, and a ranged curse attack that can hit you even if there's other enemies in the way (unlike the Apprentice's magic missile and the Scout's arrow/magic missile).

If you can, grab at least one CLW potion and one Heroism potion before entering the dungeon. Odds are you'll pick up more in a hurry, but knowing what they are can save your overconfident early-game life.

[Tibarius]

Yasd

Hey Angrist, does it make you feel better, if i tell you that my high-elf clvl15 ranger died, because i thought 12 HP are enough to deliver the final blow to wormtongue and escape the tengu that was chasing me?

All i can say: YASD

Good Thing is - the char was only 90 minutes old.

[Angrist]

Attempts to stop play Warriors. Created HT Paladin. Went to the dungeon. Already cLevel 3, and I'm alive