Near-newb questions

[PopTart]

I started playing Angband at 4.0.5, so the changelog has some unfamiliar terms. A couple questions:

1. What was a sticky curse? Should I be glad they are removed?

2. Where can I get more info about the new dungeon generation algorithm?

3. What's the best (most powerful) race and stat build for a ranger, especially for character levels 1-15ish?


Thanks for your help!

[PopTart]

From the changelog: "Most wands, staffs and rods are identified on first use, the main exceptions being when they affect monsters and are tested in the absence of monsters."

Why would a device not be identified when it affects monsters? If I see a monster speed up, shouldn't my character conclude that my device is a "hasten monster" device?

[Sky]

Sticky curses neant that if you wore a cursed item, you could not remove it until you uncursed it. For low level characters, almost certain death.

Races are all fairly balanced, but i suggest human or half orc. Having a lower XP requirement means more levels, more hp, more spells, and when you hit maxlevel the bonuses of the stronger races barely count.

High Elves have a very useful See Invisible, but you pay with a HUGE penalty to XP. Dunedain have good CON and solid stats, but nothing worth 180% XP cost.



Half-Trolls make the best mages, no question. Built-in SP regeneration > high INT.

[Sideways]

From the changelog: "Most wands, staffs and rods are identified on first use, the main exceptions being when they affect monsters and are tested in the absence of monsters."

Why would a device not be identified when it affects monsters? If I see a monster speed up, shouldn't my character conclude that my device is a "hasten monster" device?

If it's tested in the absence of monsters, it won't speed up any monsters and therefore you can't conclude what it is.

[PopTart]

If it's tested in the absence of monsters, it won't speed up any monsters and therefore you can't conclude what it is.

Ah, got it. Then it should say "the main exception being..."

[Nick]

Ah, got it. Then it should say "the main exception being..."

Correct! Apologies for my imprecision

[Pete Mack]

Ranger is a pretty terrible choice for a "near newb". Until you get a good bow, (and/or cl20) you're pretty much stuck with a mix of low damage archery and very mediocre melee. Rogue is a better choice for a mage half-caster, especially before CL 20. Rogue melee is excellent, nearly as good as a warrior. And rogue has much lower Mana costs for utility detection spell. Rogue also has detect objects spell which becomes useful around CL 15 or so. It's a boss spell, one of the very best spells of any class. And only Rogue has it.

[PopTart]

Awesome! All these replies have been helpful, and I'll try playing as a human ranger. It's hard not to play as a high elf, since I don't mind grinding for experience in exchange for higher stats. But yeah, neither the upper levels nor the stores are likely to produce any worthwhile bows or arrows.

[Pete Mack]

Up to the low CL 30s, EXP just isn't that big a deal. I think HE is a better choice up to CL 15, just because of the stealth. Since an early ranger is pretty fragile, stealth is a big deal.

[Derakon]

It cannot be overstated just how garbage rangers are in the early game. They can do anything, but they can't do anything well. Even archery isn't exactly amazing before you get access to enchanted gear; a longbow lets you deal 3d4 damage at range, assuming you hit. You'll go through a ton of arrows if you try to use archery as your primary damage source in the early game. Meanwhile, rangers are bad at melee and bad at spellcasting.

For your introduction to the game, literally any other class will excel at something. I second the recommendation of a rogue, or a paladin is also a good choice. Mage and priest can be tricky due to their limited physical stats, but at least you should have a clear idea of what they do well. As for warriors, if you're coming from the more popular modern RPGs where warriors are "the boring option", they're not boring in Angband! They can afford to play far more aggressively than anyone else*, and they have an amazing early- and mid-game. That 3d4 damage the ranger can do? Warriors can do 3d5+6 damage (that's double the average damage of the arrow), right from the start of the game. Sure they have to be in melee range, but that kind of damage will melt enemies before they can hit back.

*except for a rogue in the hands of a very skilled player, who can stealth past most of the game.

[Pete Mack]

Yes. Warrior and Rogue are the best starting points for newbs; warrior is better for a pure newb, since it can power through where no other class can. Paladin is a good choice too. Mage comes in next; it's sort of a purist's rogue class, where evasion and careful choice of target rule all. (Priest isn't all that different from Paladin, but is also very fragile at the start.)

[Sky]

I don't mind grinding for experience in exchange for higher stats.

you will soon find out that this is not a reason why high elves are inferior.

[Pete Mack]

@sky--Huh? HE is a very, very powerful race. I'm not sure what you think is stronger?

[Derakon]

High-Elves are above-average everywhere, but for any given class there's usually a race that complements it better. Probably the most notable exception is Mage, since the other high-INT race, Gnome, is considerably more frail. But Dwarves make better priests/paladins, Kobolds and Hobbits make better rogues (and probably rangers), and Half-Trolls make better warriors.

Of course, you are by no means required to only choose complementary race/class combinations. Wasn't there someone on these forums that got a win with every single combination?

[Pete Mack]

HE definitely makes the strongest rogue and ranger classes. I agree it's not optimal for Priest and (possibly) Paladin, but Dunadan is probably a bit better than Dwarf, especially if you plan to use melee. The -2 DEX is pretty punitive on top of additional DEX loss for priest. If you pick Dwarf priest, it's a long, long time before you can become the canonical healer-fighter of a high level priest.