Shovel of Earthquakes

[Ingwe Ingweron]

Yeah, but it wasn't one of them fancy acidy ones - just a bog-standard spade.

You are the man! ...and thank God you did it so I don't have to try it!

[MattB]

Note, you can also win the game using only a shovel for melee. I think MattB did it.

Yeah, but it wasn't one of them fancy acidy ones - just a bog-standard spade.

[MattB]

And Half-Trolls. Their innate regeneration also means an incredibly fast metabolism. It makes an amulet of slow digestion quite valuable for awhile.

Unless you are a priest/paladin, the amulet slot often spends large chunks of the game effectively redundant. I wore an amulet of Slow Digestion until dlvl62 in my last game - it was either that or Infravision (although I did wear an amulet of Inertia for a dozen levels or so).

In fact, the very first purchase I make upon starting a new game is a S.Dig. amulet. They are nearly always available and don't cost much more than an appropriate amount of food.

[krazyhades]

The no-town conduct/ironman also makes food management pretty important

[Ingwe Ingweron]

In my point of view it was already relevant, just not hugely important. Warriors want it.

Searching is almost completely useless. For that we need to do something.

And Half-Trolls. Their innate regeneration also means an incredibly fast metabolism. It makes an amulet of slow digestion quite valuable for awhile.

[Timo Pietilä]

A version or two ago, and to make Slow Digestion actually vaguely relevant.

In my point of view it was already relevant, just not hugely important. Warriors want it.

Searching is almost completely useless. For that we need to do something.

[Derakon]

When did that happen? And why?

A version or two ago, and to make Slow Digestion actually vaguely relevant.

[Timo Pietilä]

There wouldn't be much of a point left to items of Earthquakes then, would it?

If there are more cons than pros with melee-items that earthquake, then removing that completely would not be bad idea. Leave it to Grond.

That's one case of "less is more".

[Timo Pietilä]

Slow digestion now means you basically never need to eat, so yes, it counters regeneration.

When did that happen? And why?

[luneya]

I recall one game where I was playing as a priest (so no benefit to using daggers at low level) and ended up with a pick of earthquakes as my primary melee weapon for quite some time, having not found anything else that was better than my starting mace. It wasn't too bad; the particular pick I used had high modifiers, and between those and the acid brand I got acceptable damage. The earthquakes didn't trigger all that often, and I can't say that they were particularly troublesome. I was wielding a pick anyway, so the terrain mess was easy enough to dig through, and an earthquake won't destroy anything really important. Don't count on earthquakes to save your butt when it matters, of course; even with the spell of quake, the chance of it destroying what you really need destroyed is pretty low. Might save you from annoying ranged attacks (like a pack of hounds), but that's about all a quake is really good for.

[Grotug]

You get immunity to fear at level 30. And yeah, in your situation I'd just hang around at whatever depth seems interesting until I found a Word of Recall scroll. They aren't that uncommon. In the meantime, you get a taste of what ironman play is like.

Also note that diggers of Earthquakes only cause earthquakes when fighting, not when digging.

Crap, now I wish I had kept it. But still, I would probably not have used it anyway; but that makes the earthquake feature much more useful. Yeah, I guess I'll just hang around 1500' until I get a WoR; maybe I'll scum for good level feelings, although I have been getting good ones already.Picked up 4 satisfy hungers and I have the phial so I should be able to last awhile before worrying about starvation.

Timo: yeah, was thinking of keeping one of those when I found it earlier, but decided I wasn't ever going to get myself into this situation.

I have a very good character so far. Fought Adunaphel the Quiet on level 31 (it's a level 42 enemy) and defeated it without *too* much trouble. I have the mace of Taratol I believe, the one that grants immunity to elec and hastens, but I only use it for the speed and to fight blue bats and Colbrans. It's a pretty weak weapon, unfortunately. I main the rapier of Forasgil; very good weapon. I am dealing 181 damage to enemies not resistant to cold. Only one more CL to 30; yay.

[Ingwe Ingweron]

Is there any reason I shouldn't leave this item on the dungeon floor? I don't see the use of destroying things around me while I'm digging for things. Plus, my Morningstar Bloodspike gets through granite in 40 rounds.

It can cause earthquakes when used in melee, but it also does acid damage. No problem with earthquakes when digging, and until you've found a ring of digging it can come in handy. Note, you can also win the game using only a shovel for melee. I think MattB did it.

[tumbleweed]

Thanks guys. I left it in the dungeon; I suppose tunneling quickly anywhere in the map might have its advantages, but I've never had the patience for it and rarely use shovels.

I usually just keep a decent ring of digging around for those special tunneling occasions.

I don't like melee-earthquake myself either. I vote for removing that from the thing, it is useless as it is (more con than pro in this case).

There wouldn't be much of a point left to items of Earthquakes then, would it? Maybe making it an activation with an appropriately long charging time would be a good idea? Or maybe giving it a low chance to cause earthquakes when tunneling, after all?

[Derakon]

Get slow digestion -item. I think that counters regen and then some.

Slow digestion now means you basically never need to eat, so yes, it counters regeneration.

[Timo Pietilä]

In other news, I accidentally deep descended without a scroll of recall. I don't really want to climb 1650' feet to the surface; I'm thinking there are a fair number of scrolls of recall at 1650'? I have 12 rations of food, but that's not really very much for a half-troll who has a high metabolism.

Get slow digestion -item. I think that counters regen and then some.

Also food should be plentiful that deep. Elven waybread is what I end up using with my warriors in late game, and I tend to find more than I use so that I don't need to buy any (BTW, those cure poison, so if you are in desperate need of cure poison that works).