Persistent levels

[fph]

Another thing that may be useful to include together with persistent levels is a scroll of "recall to specific dungeon level". Otherwise it might take a while if you wish to go back to that greater vault you skipped at dlvl 40, but now you are at dlvl 60...

[Sky]

i'm at DL46, CL34. i've pretty much cleared every level, because, there isn't any reason NOT to. i'm playing a relatively low-XP class/race combo.
i'm horribly short on artifacts for this CL/DL combination, normally i would already have most gear ready for lower depths, but i can't grind levels, so i only have one FA, one pBlind, no ESP, no pConf. i can't swap anything.

i've only left a level early twice: once when i teleported away The Queen Ant, and another where i had no SI and there were at least 10 Dreads on the level, plus one elder vampire (all passwall).

[Sky]

another WEIRD bug.

i recalled to town, and now my Phial does not emit light. torches dont work either. i can cast by the light of the stores, and when i go down in the dungeon, everything works as normal.

[Derakon]

i'm at DL46, CL34. i've pretty much cleared every level, because, there isn't any reason NOT to. i'm playing a relatively low-XP class/race combo.
i'm horribly short on artifacts for this CL/DL combination, normally i would already have most gear ready for lower depths, but i can't grind levels, so i only have one FA, one pBlind, no ESP, no pConf. i can't swap anything.

Ha, interesting. I hadn't thought about it, but this does effectively mimic forced-descent in that regard. You can take heart in the fact that people routinely win forced-descent games despite having skipped a fair number of dungeon levels. You don't actually need all that much gear to win the game.

[Ingwe Ingweron]

Ha, interesting. I hadn't thought about it, but this does effectively mimic forced-descent in that regard.

"...hadn't thought about it..." Huh? That was what I thought the whole point was for persistent levels. A sort of "Forced Descent-Lite" Whereas in forced descent you might need to run down some convenient stairs to avoid a nasty end, in this "lite" version you can go back up again when and if @ survives to be strong enough, in order to collect objects or kill uniques you didn't want to leave behind.

[Sky]

well i'm not there yet, but i guess the game can still be grinded for gear, as mobs *do* respawn. however, it will only be mobs drops, not pregenerated gear. will probably need to make it to DL90, and i don't have anywhere near enough stuff right now.

[Pete Mack]

Vaults between DL 90 and 98 are ridiculously common. Don't despair yet. The big issue on forced descent games isn't equipment in any case. It's consumables. How are you doing for those? (I.e. how many of the various healing potions, and how many of the big 3 scrolls?)

[Nick]

Another thing that may be useful to include together with persistent levels is a scroll of "recall to specific dungeon level". Otherwise it might take a while if you wish to go back to that greater vault you skipped at dlvl 40, but now you are at dlvl 60...

I am thinking of making recall ask "which level?" when recalling from town in persistent levels mode; it would have to restrict to levels the player has visited (probably by rejecting invalid ones rather than picking from a potentially 100-long list).

[Sky]

consumables. How are you doing for those?

i'm playing a half orc mage.

i'm finally seeing some reasonable artifacts, and have a helm of telepathy, plus rDisench, rPois, rChaos, rShards, pBlind and pConf, and Resistances of Scarabatrice, so i'm covered for elemental resistance. I've killed Saruman (who dropped NOTHING) and a Bile Demon. I still need to run from dracolisks.

my main source of damage is Meteor Swarm, which means i will need to use !mana for big fights. I'm currently down to 4.
I am stashing all the *healing i find at home, and try to rest whenever possible instead of chugging !heal.

i have ... zero .. scrolls of Banish, MBan, *Destroy.

at this stage i'm not squelching anything, but i'm also not really finding anything. I do have boots of speed +6, which is nice, and a Ring of Dex +6 and Ring of Int +6. I am yet to find "a BIG artifact".

In my previous runs to DL99 i have found tons of !mana, so i hope i'll have enough when, if, i make it down.






OT, the no-light-from-light-sources-on-DL0 bug is still happening.
oh and i left Tharanduil, Glaurung and Ithengast on DL50.

[kandrc]

i will need to use !mana for big fights.

Probably a mistake. When I play forced-descent mages (and this isn't much different) or priests, I use them only in life-or-death emergencies. Running out against M is not a viable strategy, but avoiding "big fights" for the time being is.

[Pete Mack]

Try using archery and magic devices. Usually you'll have a pretty big stack of Drain Life wands by DL 98, and a half dozen *Annihilation*. (Use the latter only for bosses.) Recharging them is much cheaper than meteor swarm. So is archery, which is particularly effective after you get Tenser's (tho maybe not for a half-orc.) Once you get Rune of Protection, even melee works OK for most monsters.

[Sky]

Im keeping a mental diary of what DL each unique is stuck on .. Arien in on DL57, together with Radagast. Glaurung is on DL50 with Itengast.

Question: if i *destroy a unique, does it have a new chance of spawning on yet-unexplored levels?

[Nick]

Question: if i *destroy a unique, does it have a new chance of spawning on yet-unexplored levels?

It should, yes.

[Sky]

ok, i've been playing some more, and i have done almost 20 levels in a couple hours.

i don't know, there's times where the game seems harder, because some options you normally have are simply not there. even if i run away from a level (not had to really abort a horrible situation yet) i still have to deal with it when i recall back.

BUT, the lack of uniques ... and the ability to deal with the a little at the time ..

see, every bunch of levels, a set of uniques will show up. And even if you go down, the same bunch will still harass you, until you kill them or die trying.

And if you maybe forget about them, they can still show up later and annoy you , maybe when you are fighting a at-depth unique.

But here, you can just leave them behind, and poof! they are gone.



IMHO, this is the main thing that needs to be addressed if persistent levels is to be anything more than a funny experiment.


also, i managed to melee a hellwyrm, and to kill my first jabberwock, so i think i'm ready for the endgame.

[Pete Mack]

It's pretty convenient when Saruman and Eol show up at DL 80, when you can walk all over them.