What are the odds?

[hyperdex]

Hi all,

I've recently gotten back int Angband after a few years away, and it looks like I may be able to win with this character! If you look at my home, you'll see why. I managed to get a Power Dragon Scale mail from a chest at level 41! Given that it is a rarity 1 object with a min level of 100, what are the odds of it being generated at level 41? I assume they are pretty small. I swapped the PDSM out in the last level because I found a Dwarven PDSM that gives a stat boost as well as the normal array of resistances. This almost certainly has to be one of the best armors in the game, artifact or not.

The weapon I'm using, Aglarang, I've been using since the early 30s. I've just never found a better weapon for dealing out damage. I'd like to get a *Slay Evil* for Morgoth, but I'm patient.

Any suggestions? At this point I've taken out all non-Morgoth uniques and have every resistance/protection covered except for nexus. What should I be looking out for as I head down to face him?

I must say I like the changes that have occurred in the last 4 years or so. I like the new identification system -- it just works well without getting in the way of fun. The plethora of new vaults and interesting rooms is also welcome! And, on a personal level, I really like how the squelching system has been incorporated into gameplay. With a Ctrl-K = k-a[Enter] macro you see something annoying once and you never have to see it again.

[Pete Mack]

Yes, dwarven PDSM (and BalanceDSM) is way overpowered. I've found the latter twice, though never the former. I've also found dwarven MHDSM, which is also very, very good. CON in the armor slot is just huge, and strength is very useful, too.

[Grotug]

Did "Elessar get upgraded? I seem to remember it being not so useful as it appears to be now. If so, well done!

Personally, I'd wear Fingolfin and swap the lightning immunity ring for the fire one. I don't think -7 to dam and aggravation warrant lightning immunity and you are powerful enough that you do not need the heal activation (a nice bonus, but not really necessary). I think the significant increase in damage from Fingolfin and lack of aggravation will significantly reduce how often you need to heal. Also something to consider at 7 blows per round +10 to dam = +50 to your overall damage, so instead of doing 415 you'll be doing almost 465 per round. 415 damage per round for a top-level warrior is sort of the bare minimum amount of damage you want to be doing. You may also want to consider an amulet with a slay to it like Weaponmastery for further dam output (losing +2 speed will have a very negligible effect given you have 5 rods of speed and are effectively +45 speed right now), though the heal activation and +10 AC certainly are worthy substitutes to +4 dam.

Unless you've already killed Sauron, you'll want rNexus for him; but I don't think you need it for Morgoth. You'll also want to stockpile more healing potions before the final fight. Should be fairly easy now, especially when you find a good endgame weapon (at which point your character will enter legendary status).

I would drop the staves of destruction and store the rods of restoration at home and instead carry ?Holy Prayer and !Berserk Strength. You have hold life and the three important sustains covered so I doubt you are using the rods of restoration very much?

PeteMack: what version do you play? I feel like super-powerful items show up more in 4.1.2 than any other version I've played.

[Pete Mack]

Elessar used to be (+6,+6). It actually was nerfed.

[Sky]

+7, not +6.

[hyperdex]

Quick update: This character ended up a WINNER!

I made the Fingolfin/Narya change suggested here and accumulated about 35 potions of *Healing*/Life. I never found a better weapon than Aglarang, but it was enough.

For the final battle I read ProtEvil and sped myself up. I would use a potion whenever I was below 700 HP, and I used 4 banishment scrolls when Morgoth summoned demons/dragons. I ended up only needing about 10 potions to beat him.

What fun!

[Sideways]

Congratulations, post the dump in the ladder!

[hyperdex]

Done.

http://angband.oook.cz/ladder-show.php?id=21656

[Pete Mack]

35 *Heal* is massive overkill. (It's usually scrolls that run out first, though with a bit of luck, you can rely on TO alone for summons.)
466 dam/turn is perfectly respectable. Aglarang isn't an uncommon choice for dwarf or HT warrior.

Edit: that said, I would have gone for more damage and less base speed with that character. Big three HA/+attacks would be fine. Or (in your case) Zarcuthra. Certainly shield of Haradrim. Possibly Ring of Damage. By and large, the more damage, the fewer absolute turns to kill Morgoth, and the less chance he'll do something unlikely and bad.

You also have a lot of junk at home. Of course it doesn't matter at the end, but earlier, it makes choosing what to save easier. Hurin, for example, is a pure midgame weapon. Ditch it when you no longer need it.

[hyperdex]

Yeah. 35 was a bit of overkill. I had spent some time bouncing between 98 and 99 looking for additional useful gear. I think I did replace my Boots of Speed +10 with Boots of Elvenkind +9 (+4 to Stealth), but other than that I did not find much of interest. Eventually I got bored so I went down to 100 to see if I could take him on. As a plus, my son got to watch -- he now thinks the game is too easy.

Here's a naive question that I should probably know the answer to. If one is a fighter with maxed out stats, what benefit does Berserk Strength provide? Does it provide a +damage bonus? I never used it in my win, but were I a little more conscious of its benefits, I may have had an easier time.

I definitely don't use my house to its fullest advantage. It causes me anguish to part with an artifact, so I usually end up with a number of artifacts that I will never actually use cluttering up my house. I'm not sure how I overlooked Hurin so many times -- I should have sold that long before.

Has the idea of a museum ever been floated around here? It would be a building where you could donate objects. You'd never be able to use the object again, but you could stop by the museum and "see" the objects. I would use it for unwanted artifacts, and there's a part of me that would also like to have a room with a complete set of dragon scale mails. The museum could be a building like any of the others in town, or (even more fun) it could be a dungeon like set of rooms that allow for dropping objects (but not picking them up) so you could arrange your "exhibits" the way you want.

[Gwarl]

Has the idea of a museum ever been floated around here? It would be a building where you could donate objects. You'd never be able to use the object again, but you could stop by the museum and "see" the objects. I would use it for unwanted artifacts, and there's a part of me that would also like to have a room with a complete set of dragon scale mails. The museum could be a building like any of the others in town, or (even more fun) it could be a dungeon like set of rooms that allow for dropping objects (but not picking them up) so you could arrange your "exhibits" the way you want.

Some variants already have one.

[Sky]

Has the idea of a museum ever been floated around here?

more times than you can imagine.

[Derakon]

Berserk Strength increases your to-hit at the cost of some of your AC. It also slightly heals you and makes you immune to fear effects -- though warriors already get protection from fear at level 30.

Berserk Strength does not actually increase your STR score or otherwise impact your stats

[Pete Mack]

If you add all the buffs together (Berserk, Heroism, Bless), you get +32 (internally +96) to_hit bonus. This would take a DL 50 warrior (~300 internal to_hit, and +150 bonus) from 450 to_hit to 542. Against Sauron, this corresponds to a 5% absolute increase in hit probability (74% to 79%) vs. Morgoth, or an effective damage increase of 7%. Against Sauron, it's +6% absolute hit probability and +9% relative damage.

For a priest (or Mage) in combat or with archery, the difference is much, much higher. I always felt Mage really should get Heroism at dl 40 or so, just as a convenience. (At that level, I am nearly always using a ton of archery, and end up with inventory management problems from carrying buffs.)

[Moving Pictures]

Quick update: This character ended up a WINNER!

I made the Fingolfin/Narya change suggested here and accumulated about 35 potions of *Healing*/Life. I never found a better weapon than Aglarang, but it was enough.

For the final battle I read ProtEvil and sped myself up. I would use a potion whenever I was below 700 HP, and I used 4 banishment scrolls when Morgoth summoned demons/dragons. I ended up only needing about 10 potions to beat him.

What fun!

I have found that Rune really buggers Morgoth up.