What am I doing wrong?

[Chud]

I've been grinding so much on my current game that I stayed on dungeon level 11 from CL 15 all the way to CL29....

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Ok, actually, I found a potion of experience... :-)

[Pete Mack]

Stealth* and detection are key for Kobold rogue. Initially, it's melee is pretty weak, but its survivability is high, so long as you are careful in what monsters you face. A few magic devices (or a good bow) can help a lot. You *really* can't clear levels. But you can dive pretty fast and pick off targets of opportunity. (A few lesser hounds will level you up fast, for example.)

* I'd pick Elvenkind shield over Celegorm, given the choice, but it's a great find at DL 6 in any case.

[Moving Pictures]

Congratulations! Good luck with Morgoth.

Actually, in the end, I had essentially over-prepared for Morgoth. In a nutshell, as long as you have enough *healing* and "life" potions, combined with enough mass banishment scrolls, and can match speed and do some damage (I was up to 37 with toys and a spell; punching out a crapton per arrow) it's just a simple matter of going to-to-toe with the old blighter.

I am now cautiously diving a kobold rogue... the first flavour got obliterated at its 12th level due to a wifey-induced accidental mouse movement at a critical moment; the second died a wretched death this morning.

This gal lucked into Collanon on the sixth level. Her life expectancy is therefore better, i would argue. And kobold means that rPois is taken care of from the get go. Plus she has a longbow of power (how a kobold is supposed to hold such a beast, I dare not fathom), so now can do the damage-at range. Dumb as a stump, though, so no mana points.

[Derakon]

Congratulations! Good luck with Morgoth.

[Moving Pictures]

Sweet mother of ...

.... Sauron is kaput.

[Moving Pictures]

If you have rune of protection as a spell, one variation on an anti-summoning corridor that works particularly well as a ranger is:

WSW
SW
WRW
WWRW
WWWRW
WWWWRW
WWWWWRW
WWWWSW
where S is corridor, W is wall and R is rune of protection. Vary the number of R's according to the strength of the monster, and sit on the bottom R.
You end up getting a lot of free shots, the monster can only summon behind itself, and you can step to the final free space if you need to heal etc.

Ooooo.... I likey. I tried runes with another char, but found them of no use, because the summoned critters could break it without much effort. But I can't fiigure out how it could be employed outside of a vault situation ... but I'm welcome to input.

Would it also make sense to park some runes on both sides of an opening (say a vault) so that outbound nasties can't summon multiples?


PS: offed Osse, after a whole bucketload of TOs and phase doors (to change positions to allow for better angle on the summoned nasties for the aforementioned TO.)

[Adam]

If you have rune of protection as a spell, one variation on an anti-summoning corridor that works particularly well as a ranger is:

WSW
SW
WRW
WWRW
WWWRW
WWWWRW
WWWWWRW
WWWWSW
where S is corridor, W is wall and R is rune of protection. Vary the number of R's according to the strength of the monster, and sit on the bottom R.
You end up getting a lot of free shots, the monster can only summon behind itself, and you can step to the final free space if you need to heal etc.

If you place the last S under the R and you stand on it you can even shoot the monster without it having LOS on you (so can't even breath on you). But I actually find that tactic rather unfair so I never cast rune. Actually I would even change the game in a way that @ could have only 1 rune on the field so the above would not be possible.

[jevansau]

If you have rune of protection as a spell, one variation on an anti-summoning corridor that works particularly well as a ranger is:

WSW
SW
WRW
WWRW
WWWRW
WWWWRW
WWWWWRW
WWWWSW
where S is corridor, W is wall and R is rune of protection. Vary the number of R's according to the strength of the monster, and sit on the bottom R.
You end up getting a lot of free shots, the monster can only summon behind itself, and you can step to the final free space if you need to heal etc.

[Moving Pictures]

There's no sliding scale. Each column corresponds to one equipment slot, with @ corresponding to innate traits. All traits that aren't explicitly "+1 to whatever" are binary -- you either have them or you don't. The only ones that stack are that you can combine a permanent source of resistance with a temporary source of resistance to take 1/9th normal damage (instead of the usual 1/3rd for single-resist). Permanent does not stack with permanent.

Ah, so the letters correspond not with a scale, but an ID for a particular item. Of course, now that I look at it, it seems so .... obvious.

[Derakon]

I know this may sound daft but I *only* this week discovered the secondary menu in the character display that shows what resistances are offered. I don''t understand the sliding scale and how it works, but I intuit that the further to the right I go, the better. At this moment, the only things left vacant are pShard and pStun. I have multi-hued dragon mail; could switch out for one that will give me pShard, but then I'd lose poison.

There's no sliding scale. Each column corresponds to one equipment slot, with @ corresponding to innate traits. All traits that aren't explicitly "+1 to whatever" are binary -- you either have them or you don't. The only ones that stack are that you can combine a permanent source of resistance with a temporary source of resistance to take 1/9th normal damage (instead of the usual 1/3rd for single-resist). Permanent does not stack with permanent.

[Moving Pictures]

The other thing that can't be said enough is that there are a lot of monsters you should never, ever fight in the game. Unless you have at least Fire immunity and are doing an insane amount of damage to Demons, never fight greater balrogs. There is a very long list of things you should never fight; and it takes a lot of playing for it to really sink it. But Greater Balrogs are high on that list.

At the moment, with the right arrows at range, the damage potential is 900+ points/round. It's at the point now that - following the suggestion on ditching rods of frost/fire bolts, I am pondering dropping the cluster of cold/fire balls for 80 more arrows, just because of the ranged damage. The only merit to the cold/lightning balls is that their range is greater, and they do tickle more than one target at once.

Right now, the pure immunities are to acid and cold.

I'm having some challenge doing as you suggest, generating the list of what can and can't be faced. Some of the 5000 point things are, if you get 'em at range, easy pickings. Others, not so much. And sometimes, it's context.

I have learned that one-on-one is desirable, any other option is a no-go.

There are 10 rods of TO in the arsenal, now, and with a stack of those, it's easier to chisel away at the banished buddies and get at a unique. Still feel there's toys out there I could collect, though.

[Sideways]

If for some reason you do want to fight big inventory-destroyers, you can always create a gratuitous anti-summoning corridor someplace remote and temporarily dump things like banishment scrolls or potions of life (or even books) at the far end, out of the fight's way. If you need to leave the level in a hurry and leave that stuff behind, too bad - I wouldn't recommend this approach to a character who tele-levels regularly. But having done so much grinding, you should be so strong you won't have to tele-level regularly.

[Grotug]

The other thing that can't be said enough is that there are a lot of monsters you should never, ever fight in the game. Unless you have at least Fire immunity and are doing an insane amount of damage to Demons, never fight greater balrogs. There is a very long list of things you should never fight; and it takes a lot of playing for it to really sink it. But Greater Balrogs are high on that list.

Morgoth won't do any fire during his fight, so you won't lose scrolls to him. He's more a deal insane amounts of pure damage kinda guy, than an inventory destroyer the way a lot of monsters are.

[Moving Pictures]

Be careful using banishment scrolls, especially mass banishment. Unless you're playing a Mage, you *will* need some vs. Morgoth.

That's why I am trying to collect the blasted things. My morning coffee-and--angband experience was on L88 where I managed to lure the Tarrasque into a hallway and did the old back-up-while-firing-a-crapload-of-arrows technique to kill it. Disappointing drop. Then a greater balrog dropped in, and after I had chiseled it down to a few asterisks with the help of a lot of arrows and three *healing* potions, it started summoning all sorts of nasties, including a few uniques. I TOed its friends ( I guess the balrog uses demons as ablative armour, much the same way spellbooks serve the same purpose on the ranger, right) and finally offed the bugger. Also a lousy drop. Oh, and the two banishment scrolls I had picked up were turned to ash in the battle.

Here's my concern. If I cant handle a greater balrog or a pit fiend is there any hope in being ready for the big boys? I think not.

I know this may sound daft but I *only* this week discovered the secondary menu in the character display that shows what resistances are offered. I don''t understand the sliding scale and how it works, but I intuit that the further to the right I go, the better. At this moment, the only things left vacant are pShard and pStun. I have multi-hued dragon mail; could switch out for one that will give me pShard, but then I'd lose poison.

[Pete Mack]

Be careful using banishment scrolls, especially mass banishment. Unless you're playing a Mage, you *will* need some vs. Morgoth.