Priest try

[Derakon]

I sometimes wonder if players miss how easy it is to get early firepower out of a few well picked wands. Even if you're not a red book caster scrolls of recharge are cheap & reliably available. Wands of light are common & turn orc/troll packs in to free xp. Stinking cloud is simple early crowd control. Wonder is little risk early game if you have a reliable escape etc.

I think a lot of players do miss this, because they look at the limited charges and immediately think "this isn't something I can incorporate into my strategy because it'll run out." But if you have an item that makes a single "encounter" (with a pack of enemies or a single strong enemy) vastly easier, and then you discard the item, it still proved useful, right? And a wand of Magic Missile will wreck early game uniques through Brodda or so, and the bigger bolt wands will do similarly through 1000' or maybe even further.

You also see this with the characters who have a million rods in their inventory, despite the fact that they're heavier than wands, because the rods at least safely recharge on their own and thus can be "incorporated" into one's overall strategy. Of course, by the time you can stockpile a big bunch of rods, they're not keeping up damage-wise any more. Whereas attack wands generally do quite competitive damage at the time they start showing up.

Next time you play a mage, buy a Wand of Magic Missile along with your starting book, and see how far that takes you as opposed to getting a second book or whatever.

[Bimbul]

That happens sometimes. As Carnivean notes, though, you can lay down multiple glyphs prior to starting the fight, and then just move back to the next glyph after each one gets destroyed.

I think it was scroll I used, sadly.

[Bimbul]

I think a lot of players do miss this, because they look at the limited charges and immediately think "this isn't something I can incorporate into my strategy because it'll run out." But if you have an item that makes a single "encounter" (with a pack of enemies or a single strong enemy) vastly easier, and then you discard the item, it still proved useful, right? And a wand of Magic Missile will wreck early game uniques through Brodda or so, and the bigger bolt wands will do similarly through 1000' or maybe even further.

You also see this with the characters who have a million rods in their inventory, despite the fact that they're heavier than wands, because the rods at least safely recharge on their own and thus can be "incorporated" into one's overall strategy. Of course, by the time you can stockpile a big bunch of rods, they're not keeping up damage-wise any more. Whereas attack wands generally do quite competitive damage at the time they start showing up.

Next time you play a mage, buy a Wand of Magic Missile along with your starting book, and see how far that takes you as opposed to getting a second book or whatever.

I've wondered a bit about this - I am very guilty of just not using wands as I tend to fill up my inventory of what I see as more long term useful stuff.

One item that intrigues me a little on this front is potions of dragon breath. They seem useless by the time you get them but...

[Ingwe Ingweron]

One item that intrigues me a little on this front is potions of dragon breath. They seem useless by the time you get them but...

I almost always "ignore" these, mostly because I think belching dragon breath just freaks me out. Actually, I have used them on occasion if when I find it there happens to be a nearby target of opportunity. I don't usually bother with them, because the breath is unpredictable. I don't want to rely on them against enemies that have any resistances. Not quite as much russian roulette as a Wand of Wonder, but still chancy.

[Estie]

Hrrrm humm.

With this this great pro-wand campaign going on, I have been trying to get more out of them than I used to. But I am back to my old habits, unconvinced.

I dont know how much other people use wands; for some reason Derakon assumes that nobody does. Personally I have always used them, but they are a very low priority in my list of things that make the cut into the inventory.

When I find attack wands, I carry them up to the point where either the inventory fills up or I start to get slowed down by weight. If opportunity arises, I fire them of course. But empty wands that get dropped also get squelched.

The glorious beam of light down the snaga filled hallway happens about once every 10 games or so. There are dozens of wand types and light is usually the first to go, because its the least versatile. Snagas are best left to their slumber.

Sure, wands make short work of early uniques, but I try to avoid killing those that early. I prefer to get deeper first where their drops become better. Wormtongue might well die after I have to-ed Saruman away. At that stage, magic missile wands have long been culled.

[brbrbr]

Hrrrm humm.
With this this great pro-wand campaign going on, I have been trying to get more out of them than I used to. But I am back to my old habits, unconvinced.
I dont know how much other people use wands; for some reason Derakon assumes that nobody does.

Me too. Wands are always weaker than primary character attack.
The only viable place for them is early mage when mana is still low.


Hey guys, look how RNG loves me! Am I going to loose ability to read with such small INT?

[Derakon]

Me too. Wands are always weaker than primary character attack.
The only viable place for them is early mage when mana is still low.

They never miss and can be used reliably at range. That makes them better than practically any other attack option before 1000', except for facesmash warriors who just plow through that part of the game in a half-hour anyway.

I'm not saying that everyone should be using them for the entire game, but they do a great job of greasing the early game, and I don't think many people appreciate that. Clearly I'm not the only person with an appreciation for wands though.

[Estie]

To demonstrate my point:

g) the Leather Scale Mail 'Valdor' (-1) [20,+13] <+1>
Dropped by Brodda, the Easterling at 2550 feet (level 51).

+1 stealth, attack speed.
Provides resistance to poison, light.
Cannot be harmed by acid, electricity, fire, cold.

[brbrbr]

Ok, I get 0% Heal and Teleport Other now. That is awesome. Really cool

Also, dwarf+priest is very good at HP. Enough buffer to not fear any shadow on the level.

All I need now is speed and decent way to inflict damage.
Weapon doesn't seem to scale with DEX or STR. Maybe some magic is going to happen at 18/200 levels, will see. Until then I am carrying wand of Annihilation

[Derakon]

Weapon doesn't seem to scale with DEX or STR. Maybe some magic is going to happen at 18/200 levels, will see. Until then I am carrying wand of Annihilation

You can get up to 4 blows/round as a priest (assuming you don't have gear granting you extra blows). Mages are similarly capped. But you do need to get your STR/DEX up fairly high, especially if you're using a heavy weapon.

[brbrbr]

Reached DL70 with little troubles.
0% TO is super-useful for clearing vaults.

Picking right gear becomes tricky. Basically it is WIS vs Damage choice.
WIS is preference so far, as Orb is still strong.
I do have better weapon, but my casting falls below Advanced failure rate if I use it. I might carry it as a swap. In that case I would also need a stack of *Healing* as a backup.
Or maybe I just stand and hammer monster at the head with low damage In that case I will need a stack of Restore Mana...

Hmm, interesting..

BTW: I just found that Orb of Draining can jump over one monster and hit another behind. Cool targeting!

[krazyhades]

Reached DL70 with little troubles.
0% TO is super-useful for clearing vaults.
...
BTW: I just found that Orb of Draining can jump over one monster and hit another behind. Cool targeting!

yes vaults in angband are basically all about TO

Every area of effect spell can jump over monsters, unless it's an AoE delivered by a bolt (like meteors). Also notice that you can press 'o' when targeting to target a tile instead of a monster. This is very important and powerful in the *bands because it lets you aim a bolt behind a monster that initially cannot be targeted, but where the monster is still in the bolt's path and takes the hit.

[brbrbr]

it lets you aim a bolt behind a monster that initially cannot be targeted, but where the monster is still in the bolt's path and takes the hit

Is that "LoS abuse"?

Could you guys clarify the terminology:
1) What is "LoS abuse"?
2) What is "Knight move"?
3) What is "Hockey stick"?

Also - Can monsters touch me to drain charges/disenchant if I stand on Rune of Protection?

[Carnivean]

Is that "LoS abuse"?

Could you guys clarify the terminology:
1) What is "LoS abuse"?
2) What is "Knight move"?
3) What is "Hockey stick"?

Also - Can monsters touch me to drain charges/disenchant if I stand on Rune of Protection?

1) LOS abuse is when you plan to use the limitations of the asymmetric LOS in Angband. Sometimes the monster can see you but not them, and other times you can see them but not they you. This obviously doesn't mimic the real world. Abusing it involves creating the situations where they can't see you and attacking them without fear of retaliation.

2) Knight's Move is named after the movement pattern of the chess piece, ie 2 forward and 1 to the side. If there is a monster in that position relative to @, then @ can see the monster but it cannot see @.

3) Fairly sure this is a synonym of the Knight's Move.

Monsters can't touch you through a rune, so no.

[brbrbr]

Thanks, Carnivean