Randart Ring

[gkorbel]

I've been playing Angband / Moria for three decades. I think this is the best randart ring I've ever found.

c) the Ring 'Noeglien' <+5, +1>
Found lying on the floor in a vault at 100 feet (level 2)

+5 strength.
+1 light.
Provides immunity to lightning.
Provides resistance to cold, poison, sound, nether, chaos,
disenchantment.
Provides protection from fear, confusion.
Cannot be harmed by lightning.
Sustains strength, intelligence, wisdom, dexterity, constitution.
Speeds regeneration. Prevents paralysis.
Radius 1 light.

At 100' -- that ought to help!

[Grotug]

A ring of STR <+5> at that depth is insane. A ring of Lightning immunity on level 2 would be a huge find. A ring of rPois at that depth is wonderful to find, not to mention a =FrAct. All of those things and more in one ring? That's just bonkers.

[luneya]

Simply encountering a vault at 100 feet is nuts. The artifact seems reasonable for a ring of power, but even in vaults you shouldn't be finding those until DL 80 or so.

Granted, you do occasionally find some sweet loot on DL 1, but not like that! DL 1 'Thancs are common (or the randart equivalent; I usually play standarts). My best was a DL 1 Raal's when I was actually playing a mage. That was a fun early game, but of course it wasn't any different to playing a normal mage game once I got down to the depths where Raal's is native.

[Sky]

and then you are terrorized that you will die before you get to actually cast anything out of raal's

[fph]

A ring of STR <+5> at that depth is insane. A ring of Lightning immunity on level 2 would be a huge find. A ring of rPois at that depth is wonderful to find, not to mention a =FrAct. All of those things and more in one ring? That's just bonkers.

And you didn't even mention pconf, pfear and regeneration. At that depth even only +1 light (in the form of a lantern) would be a welcome find for me...

[luneya]

and then you are terrorized that you will die before you get to actually cast anything out of raal's

Actually, no. The first spell of Raal's is learnable at a surprisingly low level, probably for situations like this. You still have to get through the stages where your main offensive spells are magic missile and ice bolt (and IIRC also fire bolt), but Raal's is practical after that; acid bolt becomes a niche spell (against single non-resistant monsters) rather than a main weapon, and the elemental balls from the town books are strictly worse than anything Raal's provides.

[Estie]

Actually, no. The first spell of Raal's is learnable at a surprisingly low level, probably for situations like this. You still have to get through the stages where your main offensive spells are magic missile and ice bolt (and IIRC also fire bolt), but Raal's is practical after that; acid bolt becomes a niche spell (against single non-resistant monsters) rather than a main weapon, and the elemental balls from the town books are strictly worse than anything Raal's provides.

Hmmm when I get Raals early I leave it at home and use acid bolt, to save on an inventory slot. The one spell that is really superior to acid bolt is Rift.

[Pete Mack]

Yep, Raal's isn't much good until pretty late in the game. You need a LOT of Mana to cast those spells. And even then, it's a stopgap until you can cast the big 3 Kelek damage spells. (Except Rift, as you mentioned.)

[kandrc]

Yep, Raal's isn't much good until pretty late in the game. You need a LOT of Mana to cast those spells. And even then, it's a stopgap until you can cast the big 3 Kelek damage spells. (Except Rift, as you mentioned.)

Rift is great. I love to use it against Morgoth. With a mage, I map the level and make my way to the biggest open room, then I mana storm him at distance, then rift him when he's a few squares away. I'll only TO if he summons and I have to clean up, or if he gets adjacent so that I don't get an earthquake.

Agree that Raal's is not useful early. I leave it at home until 3 missiles with meteor swarm.

[Monkey Face]

Explosion is another spell in Raal's that I use frequently.

[Pete Mack]

You mean meteor swarm? It's a pretty expensive spell, and it's so easy to lose valuable stuff on the floor with it. That said, I do like Ice Storm, since it's so beneficial to melee (or it was; no idea if it's still true after stunning was nerfed again.)

[PowerWyrm]

The BIG problem with Meteor Swarm is that you often kill stuff with the first meteors, and then the other ones destroy all the drops on the floor. So you need to switch to another spell for the killing blow.