Which equip is better?

[Estie]

Hmmm true, +1 for that from me.

[Nivra]

I dont like including the x2 x3 multipliers... Unless you understand the formulas, it makes no sense. The modifier only applies to a portion of the damage, the base-die, and most people don't understand that. I'd be in favor of descriptive words for each of the modifiers...
How about slays for x2, powerfully slays for x3, and executes for x5?

[Ingwe Ingweron]

I dont like including the x2 x3 multipliers... Unless you understand the formulas, it makes no sense. The modifier only applies to a portion of the damage, the base-die, and most people don't understand that. I'd be in favor of descriptive words for each of the modifiers...
How about slays for x2, powerfully slays for x3, and executes for x5?

x2 from me!
The plain english seems better.

[Estie]

While youre at it, I still like my idea (as I am wont to) to bind multiplier to damage type:

x2: evil, animal, acid
x3: orc, giant, troll, fire, cold
x5: dragon, undead, lightning

Give the whole slaying business some structure instead of making it a continuous soup.

[StMicah]

I just cleared a lesser vault and found some cool stuff. In particular I found a cap of telepathy and Til-i-arc (not to mention some elven boots).

I decided to wear telepathy for detection and Til-i-arc because of the intelligence and speed bonus (@'s a mage). But this means I give up see invisible from my defender weapon. Am I wrong in thinking that Til-i-arc is much better as a stat-booster than the defender (I don't really care about the actual melee damage boost)?

Also, what's the likelihood I might come across an invisible monster undetected by telepathy at dlvl 30 to 40 as I explore for stat potions and a new item to cover the see invisible slot? Or don't I need to worry now that I have telepathy? I plan to cast reveal monsters every so often, but not constantly.

[Ingwe Ingweron]

I just cleared a lesser vault and found some cool stuff. In particular I found a cap of telepathy and Til-i-arc (not to mention some elven boots).

I decided to wear telepathy for detection and Til-i-arc because of the intelligence and speed bonus (@'s a mage). But this means I give up see invisible from my defender weapon. Am I wrong in thinking that Til-i-arc is much better as a stat-booster than the defender (I don't really care about the actual melee damage boost)?

Also, what's the likelihood I might come across an invisible monster undetected by telepathy at dlvl 30 to 40 as I explore for stat potions and a new item to cover the see invisible slot? Or don't I need to worry now that I have telepathy? I plan to cast reveal monsters every so often, but not constantly.

Good or bad, I would have made the same choices.

[StMicah]

Good to hear.

I just found a lantern of true sight to swap out for everburning. So I covered the see invisible with minor inconvenience of remembering to refuel.

[fph]

Also, what's the likelihood I might come across an invisible monster undetected by telepathy at dlvl 30 to 40 as I explore for stat potions and a new item to cover the see invisible slot? Or don't I need to worry now that I have telepathy? I plan to cast reveal monsters every so often, but not constantly.

Pro-tip: if you have a free slot to spare, you can carry around a spare weapon to swap in if you find an invisible monster. The same trick works for other flags, e.g., rDisen or pConf (though, as a mage, rDisen isn't that crucial and you'll probably also want a method to cure confusion when you have it).

[Timo Pietilä]

Also, what's the likelihood I might come across an invisible monster undetected by telepathy at dlvl 30 to 40 as I explore for stat potions and a new item to cover the see invisible slot? Or don't I need to worry now that I have telepathy? I plan to cast reveal monsters every so often, but not constantly.

I cast that spell every time I reach trap detection border.

I think there is only one really dangerous invisible monster that doesn't show on telepathy. Hint: you need poison resist against it.

Other than that I think Q:s are next bad, but they don't move, so reveal monsters should suffice.

[Carnivean]

Pro-tip: if you have a free slot to spare, you can carry around a spare weapon to swap in if you find an invisible monster. T

While generally good advice, for a mage, see invisible is the least of their concerns. Detection, telepathy and the see invisible spell remove all need for a flagged item.

[Timo Pietilä]

While generally good advice, for a mage, see invisible is the least of their concerns. Detection, telepathy and the see invisible spell remove all need for a flagged item.

Mage needs it more than priests: Priest sense invisible isn't detection spell, it gives you temporary see_inv, and detect evil shows evil invisible monsters which covers nearly all really dangerous ones (with one major exception), and later detection shows all monsters.

Without ESP mage is in more trouble than priest, because avoiding ghosts with only detection is hard.

It's actually only warriors that absolutely need item with see_inv.

[Tarrasque]

BTW, can we get the *slay* back ? "slay powerfully" is cumbersome, long, politically correct and boring.
Everyone understands *slay* immediately; its concise, short and somewhat of a feature of Angband.

*slay powerfully* is even longer (by a little bit) but it would fix the boring part.

[mushroom patch]

When thinking about equipment, here's how you should rank importance of various properties:

1. Speed
2. Stealth
3. Free action
4. +con
5. Base resistances (fire/cold/acid/elec)
6. +str, +dex, +whatever your spellcasting stat is
7. darkness, disenchantment resistance
8. sustains for stats mentioned above, hold life
9. poison resistance (mostly a convenience, imo)

Note carefully what doesn't appear in this list. Those properties are unimportant and can be easily compensated for by careful play. In particular, shards resistance, chaos resistance, etc. are conveniences that allow you to run around without worrying what you wake up or what gets a turn on you when you can't see it and not get killed for it. The thing is, you don't have to do that and it's better not to.

[MattB]

When thinking about equipment, here's how you should rank importance of various properties:

1. Speed
2. Stealth
3. Free action
4. +con
5. Base resistances (fire/cold/acid/elec)
6. +str, +dex, +whatever your spellcasting stat is
7. darkness, disenchantment resistance
8. sustains for stats mentioned above, hold life
9. poison resistance (mostly a convenience, imo)

It would appear that you and I differ wildly on this.

My top four, in order, would be:

1. FrAct
2. Speed
3. rBase
4. rPoison

I guess it all depends on how you play.

[Timo Pietilä]

It would appear that you and I differ wildly on this.

My top four, in order, would be:

1. FrAct
2. Speed
3. rBase
4. rPoison

I guess it all depends on how you play.

In my game of no-ego mage I learned that 3 and 4 switch places. You actually want poison more than base four, but when you enter AMHD -depths that becomes moot point, you absolutely need both.

What you definitely need is detection in some form. Knowing what's nearby is more important than anything else (after few first levels).