Hobbit Ranger

[Egavactip]

Half-Trolls also make great beginner characters, in part due to the above, but in no small part because they make such awful mages that beginners are less inclined to try to play as a mage if they're told to play a half-troll.

This past weekend, I had my first win (out of two attempts) with a half troll mage and it was a lot easier than I had feared it would be. The early hit points really do help in during a fragile period in the life of a mage.

In my first attempt, the character also got some early intel boosts, which made him much more like a "normal" mage. That, plus an excellent crossbow, had him rocking and rolling until he met a mysterious death.

In my second attempt, the intel came a lot more slow, so there was a mid-game period where he was a poor spellcaster and a poor fighter. Eventually, however, another good crossbow helped him surmount that to the point where he started to get good. By the endgame, I was able to play him pretty much like any other mage.

So I would not try to dissuade anyone from from trying a half-troll mage.

[Werbaer]

not sure why HT is such a big thing for warriors; his HP are almost the same (1200 vs 1050~1100), has a horrible -4 DEX, and regen is so common, AND it eats a ton of food.

In older days, you didn't get stats restored on level-up. For a quick run down the dungeon, half-troll didn't care about stat drains; strength is sustained, dex doesn't matter (or did't before fractional blows were introduced).

[Sky]

i used to play HT years ago, and i kept dying of hunger - sometimes when i had food in my pack. I think "auto-clear -more- prompts" must have been on dy default, version 3- something probably.

Derakon and Hero, you both make valid points; the last 5-6 CL with a high elf are a massive pain in the butt, and you'll most likely make them by drinking potions of experience, rather than killing mobs.
IIRC the last character levels are 500k/600k/1m XP.

[Derakon]

Yeah, in terms of absolute power they're not amazing. Races with better intrinsics and more balanced stats will be more powerful in the late game. But they make the early- and middle-game much easier IME, thanks to their beastly STR, regeneration, and the larger hit die (at a time when hit die dominates over CON bonuses for determining hitpoints). And it's not like they're awful in the lategame either; STR and CON are reliably important stats and they have to put much less effort into maxing them, which gives half-trolls more leeway for equipping other gear -- at the cost of course of needing to equip other gear to get their abysmal other stats up, assuming you care.

Half-Trolls also make great beginner characters, in part due to the above, but in no small part because they make such awful mages that beginners are less inclined to try to play as a mage if they're told to play a half-troll.

[Nivra]

HT warriors are awesome!

It's not just the end-game HP diff of 1200 vs. 1050. It's the HP difference from early thru mid-game.

[Estie]

Who (except for Derakon) says HT is the best ? They are so-so, but everyone loves them.

[AnonymousHero]

not sure why HT is such a big thing for warriors; his HP are almost the same (1200 vs 1050~1100), has a horrible -4 DEX, and regen is so common, AND it eats a ton of food. Dunedain / High Elf have better stats in just about everything.

It's probably the XP penalty. It's no biggie at lower levels, but boy does it suck on later levels.

[Sky]

not sure why HT is such a big thing for warriors; his HP are almost the same (1200 vs 1050~1100), has a horrible -4 DEX, and regen is so common, AND it eats a ton of food. Dunedain / High Elf have better stats in just about everything.

[Grotug]

So I guess I finally got tired of HT Warrior. Having really good fortunes so far as a Hobbit Ranger.

http://angband.oook.cz/ladder-show.php?id=20021