How should an ironman @ decide which randarts weapons to carry, and which to drop?

[Wanderlust]

I've got an ironman dunadan paladin who seems to be getting reasonably powerful, cautiously exploring in the DL60's: http://angband.oook.cz/ladder-show.php?id=20234

All these randarts weapons are confusing me, though. Right now she's carrying 3 different weapons, which are all comparable in terms of the damage they do, and yet different.

As her main weapon, she's carrying the Katana of Earnimlos, which is mostly excellent because of the +4 wisdom it grants. The extra SP come in handy. Also it sustains life force, but that doesn't really seem significant since @ is also holding a rod of restoration.

She's also got 2 swap artifact weapons with roughly similar damage output and various different mixes of slays, resistances, and minor abilities.

In general, how should @ be thinking about which weapons to carry, and which to discard? It's not easy to throw decent artifacts away, knowing they'll be lost forever. In fact my last @ died as an indirect consequence of a poor choice in this area.

These tricky choices are the reason I like ironman. But when I don't know how to think about the trade-offs in a reasonably coherent way, it sometimes begins to feel tedious instead of fun.

Any good tips?

[Derakon]

I'd lose the scimitar, but the halberd is a superior damage dealer if you can get the katana's important stats/passives from some other source, and if you can get STR/DEX high enough to max its blows. In particular it'll be a better Morgoth slayer, since only Slay Evil applies there.

I'm kind of surprised you haven't !*-inscribed your *Healing* and Speed potions, but otherwise my only comment on your inventory is that Purification and Healing is IIRC probably not worth carrying. I think the only new spell paladins get from it is Restoration. So I guess carry it or the rod, but not both. And hope you find a copy of Godly Insights soon.

[Pete Mack]

Use the Hilbert as soon as you can. Only hold the Katana until the Heal spell gets to 5% with the Halberd.

[Wanderlust]

Thanks for the tips, much appreciated.

Question about that halberd, though. With slay evil, it does 388.4 vs. evil creatures, and 331.1. vs. other. It seems like only a small difference. So why is slay evil so important for the final fight?

Also, the scimitar actually does more damage vs. evil at present, clocking in at 407.9. So how is it that the scimitar is the one to dump?

[Derakon]

The halberd has a little more room to grow in terms of blows/round; it's at 4.3 right now compared to 4.7 for the scimitar. I expect, though I haven't done the math, that that will give it an edge over the scimitar. It's a question of 8d2 + 23 vs. 8d5 + 19, really, since Slay Evil doubles the damage dice of the weapon. That's all Slay Evil does -- it's extra damage. So you go with the weapon that does the most damage against your enemy. Honestly what you have right now is sufficient, and you're a paladin so you're hardly worried about the fight taking a long time. But the more damage you can do, the better.

The other thing the halberd has going for it is an acid brand, which will make it considerably more powerful against Sauron. The only slays/brands that affect Sauron are Evil and Acid.

[Nick]

Use the Hilbert as soon as you can.

Only if he's running Angband on a quantum computer

[Sky]

did there use to be a *slay evil* brand?

[Pete Mack]

*Slay Evil* isn't a brand. It's a weapon type: slay evil with higher bonuses and a random ability.

[Sky]

well, for example, there is Slay Troll and *Slay Troll*, with the second doing more damage than the first, like Acid brand and "weak acid".
if i recall correctly, there used to be great weapons of *Slay Evil* back in the days.

[Pete Mack]

It's only *slay* demon, dragon, and undead that do extra damage. *Slay* troll, orc, giant, evil just have extra non-melee attributes added (along with higher bonuses)

[Derakon]

well, for example, there is Slay Troll and *Slay Troll*, with the second doing more damage than the first, like Acid brand and "weak acid".
if i recall correctly, there used to be great weapons of *Slay Evil* back in the days.

The only egos where the *Slay* actually does more damage are Demon, Dragon, and Undead, because there are specifically 2 types of those slays, one of which is x3 and the other of which is x5. For all other *Slay*s, the only difference between Slay and *Slay* is that the latter is a more rare ego item that gets a stat boost and some extra ability.

[Estie]

I concur...use the Hilbert.

[Wanderlust]

OK, @ has dropped Purification and Healing in favor of the rod of restoration, since the rod can be used right now, whereas the spell book won't kick in until CL45.

Now she's found a copy of Holy Infusions. Inventory slots are scarce and I'm not really sure the spells in the book are worthwhile. Is it worth carrying?

[Derakon]

Short answer: no.

[Wanderlust]

Thought not. Thanks!