Here's how I start gnome mages

[Ingwe Ingweron]

Here's one of mine that got nexus scrambled at 1500’ - Strength was nerfed to 10 - http://angband.oook.cz/ladder-show.php?id=18091

Play had to slow down quite a lot, but @ pulled it off in the end.

[Ingwe Ingweron]

As for my own Dunadan mage, it got stat-swapped by a nexus attack. (I thought they removed that possibility several versions ago. Was it intentionally restored, or is that a bug?) I had enough int-boosting gear not to immediately rage-quit what had previously been a promising character, but died a couple dungeon levels later after underestimating the difficulty of killing some guys with my weakened magic.

Sorry about the loss. It happens though. My worst have been when it's against Sauron and I had to go all the way back to the beginning!

Nexus stat swap is not a bug and, as far as I know, has been around a long time. It just isn't as likely to occur as the other nexus effects. When it does though, it's like suddenly being thrust into an iron-man game. A corollary is when you find an early !Experience and then get stat-drained. It can take a very, very long time to get to stat depth or find a mushroom of vigor. Meanwhile it's quite dangerous.

[luneya]

I say, "Try them all, every race/class combination!" At least for me, whether a combination turned out to be boring was more a matter of the RNG than anything else.

I agree. These days I usually pick my race and class by rolling dice. The resulting hobbit warriors can be surprisingly effective

As for my own Dunadan mage, it got stat-swapped by a nexus attack. (I thought they removed that possibility several versions ago. Was it intentionally restored, or is that a bug?) I had enough int-boosting gear not to immediately rage-quit what had previously been a promising character, but died a couple dungeon levels later after underestimating the difficulty of killing some guys with my weakened magic.

[Ingwe Ingweron]

Yeah, you picked a slow XP race (Dunadan). They're somewhat easier to start, longer to finish. Gnomes have the best magic device skill in the game, making rods and wands truly lethal in their hands with the damage multiplier, and gain levels fairly fast. Human mage is an interesting sort-of-challenge mage, and they level the fastest of all.

To each his own. Warrior for me is boooooooorrrrrriiiiiinnnnggggg.

I say, "Try them all, every race/class combination!" At least for me, whether a combination turned out to be boring was more a matter of the RNG than anything else.

[Bogatyr]

Yeah, you picked a slow XP race (Dunadan). They're somewhat easier to start, longer to finish. Gnomes have the best magic device skill in the game, making rods and wands truly lethal in their hands with the damage multiplier, and gain levels fairly fast. Human mage is an interesting sort-of-challenge mage, and they level the fastest of all.

To each his own. Warrior for me is boooooooorrrrrriiiiiinnnnggggg.

[Derakon]

Does it actually do 250 though? Like if you watch the hit, miss messages are you really hitting much more often then 1 in 2? Perhaps you're dealing more like 125, 150 or 160?

Yes, it's important to realize that the melee damage numbers when you 'I'nspect a weapon assume that all blows land, and typically mages have around a 60-75% chance to hit their opponents in melee.

Also of course, if you're in melee, then you're getting hit by your opponent. Attack spells and wands don't have that problem. Mages are so squishy that they really need to avoid melee at all costs.

Just be glad you're not playing in the old days -- as mentioned, the attack spells were bloody awful. Not only that, but Raal's Tome was the last dungeon spellbook! As compensation, Tenser's Transformations included the spell Globe of Invulnerability, which did exactly what it said on the tin. So mages basically had to somehow scrape their way to a copy of Tenser's, at which point they were literally invincible and just waded into groups to ineffectually flail at the monsters with their melee weapon.

[Estie]

Ok, my Dunedan mage heroically died at dl95.
I was clearing a huge open vault in knight position.
TO, TO, TO, TO - I have teleported, probably, hundreds of monsters.
I went onto autopilot and didn't notice Huan returned from the back.
Ironically, I commented the similar death couple of days ago.

At the far end of the vault Kelek was lying...

I am not upset about the loss. Honestly, I get bored playing mage.
For the last ten levels I just wished it would finish soon. And it did.
Dunadan + careful birth points allocation + some luck made mid game solid.
I was really looking forward for the late game, but it is disappointing.

I found Raal and discovered that most of the spells there are weak.
Rift for 200 damage? Meteor for 150? C'mon guys, my Totila does 250 against evil in flimsy mages hands, why would I use spells?
I also tried wands of annihilation, drain life but again, simple Totila does better.
So Rune of Protection + Melee is how I fought the last Uniques - that is just parody to Priest playstyle! Where is the killing machine which mage ought to be in the end game????

TO, TO, TO, TO, TO.... boring. I really miss my warrior.

In Angband, mage has always been the offensively weakest class. The classes are balanced so that offense + utility = constant, more or less, and mage has the best utility from the red books. In olden days, the spell damage wasnt even on par with 4 attack melee; these days, it is.

The big mage-only spell-line is banishment, to be found in Kelek´s; maybe, if you had managed to get it, youd have experienced some mage glory, though even with manasorm, mage damage is nowhere near stellar.

I think picking Dunadan was a mistake. While bonus stats are the best thing for all other classes, mage is the one exception; you need to pay for those stats with slower xp gain, and while stats enable fighters to kill faster to make up for that, this isnt true for mages. If you ever try another mage, maybe try human.

[wobbly]

I found Raal and discovered that most of the spells there are weak.
Rift for 200 damage? Meteor for 150? C'mon guys, my Totila does 250 against evil in flimsy mages hands, why would I use spells?
I also tried wands of annihilation, drain life but again, simple Totila does better.

Does it actually do 250 though? Like if you watch the hit, miss messages are you really hitting much more often then 1 in 2? Perhaps you're dealing more like 125, 150 or 160?

[brbrbr]

Ok, my Dunedan mage heroically died at dl95.
I was clearing a huge open vault in knight position.
TO, TO, TO, TO - I have teleported, probably, hundreds of monsters.
I went onto autopilot and didn't notice Huan returned from the back.
Ironically, I commented the similar death couple of days ago.

At the far end of the vault Kelek was lying...

I am not upset about the loss. Honestly, I get bored playing mage.
For the last ten levels I just wished it would finish soon. And it did.
Dunadan + careful birth points allocation + some luck made mid game solid.
I was really looking forward for the late game, but it is disappointing.

I found Raal and discovered that most of the spells there are weak.
Rift for 200 damage? Meteor for 150? C'mon guys, my Totila does 250 against evil in flimsy mages hands, why would I use spells?
I also tried wands of annihilation, drain life but again, simple Totila does better.
So Rune of Protection + Melee is how I fought the last Uniques - that is just parody to Priest playstyle! Where is the killing machine which mage ought to be in the end game????

TO, TO, TO, TO, TO.... boring. I really miss my warrior.

[Ingwe Ingweron]

To me it's a nice fit where it is: in power level of book, in added flexibility to escapes, in thematics as above.

I agree, and overall I think the mage spells are well distributed across the spell books. Priests, on the other hand... their prayers I find much more haphazardly spread across the prayer books.

[wobbly]

It is in Mordenkaines, but maybe it should be in Resistances instead. Or not at all (it is fairly recent addidtion anyway). Thematically it doesn't really fit in Mordenkaines.

That's the one. I was aware I probably had the name wrong but figured it was close enough that people would get it.

As for it not fitting, I assume it's an escape in the sense that you could wack up a door to block los then stick the ward down to hold up a monster while you run. Completely logical except for the fact the game has teleport, TO, Tlevel & create stairs.

As for it better fitting resistances, what would you chop? I like all of resistances. What would you add to escapes? To me it's a nice fit where it is: in power level of book, in added flexibility to escapes, in thematics as above.

[Timo Pietilä]

Mage Rune of Protection was introduced in 3.0

That's recent in my book. It has been around only 13 years

[Werbaer]

Recent? I thought a mage's Rune of Protection has been around quite awhile. As for what book it should be in, I can see arguments for both MB5 or MB7, resistance or "escape" from blows.

Mage Rune of Protection was introduced in 3.0, when the whole mage spell list was overhauled. But at that time, it did't prevent melee damage, only enemy movement and summoning. So Mordenkainen was the better fit.

[Ingwe Ingweron]

It is in Mordenkaines, but maybe it should be in Resistances instead. Or not at all (it is fairly recent addidtion anyway). Thematically it doesn't really fit in Mordenkaines.

Recent? I thought a mage's Rune of Protection has been around quite awhile. As for what book it should be in, I can see arguments for both MB5 or MB7, resistance or "escape" from blows.

[Timo Pietilä]

Mordakeen's

It is in Mordenkaines, but maybe it should be in Resistances instead. Or not at all (it is fairly recent addidtion anyway). Thematically it doesn't really fit in Mordenkaines.