The fresh mage of Belfalas

[Monkey Face]

A little late to the party here, but in answer to your original question, High Elf and Gnome are probably the best classes for mage. High Elf starts with see invisible which is nice and can also start with more mana than most other classes. Biggest drawback is slow level up (as you noted).

Gnome has innate free action which can be very useful. I can't remember, but it might also be able to start with a 3rd mana point. It's penalty for leveling up is much less than the High Elf and probably worth the extra compared to a human. Biggest weakness is lack of strength. You need to be careful not to get slowed by carrying too much.

[Kodiologist]

Innate free action does sound nice. Funny thing is, right now I happen to be wearing two things of free action (sandals and gloves) just because they had the best AC so far. I found some caestus of free action earlier, but they don't get the exemption from CUMBER_GLOVE, so I left them on the floor. :/

[Sky]

Half-troll mage is surprisingly effective. It might sound dumb, but it works.

[Pete Mack]

Cestus of free action absolutely are OK for mages.

[Kodiologist]

Oh, that's odd. Perhaps I got the message for having a total equipment weight that's too high and misread it as the message for wearing gloves.

[Pete Mack]

Yes, almost certainly. Cestuses are a bit heavier than leather gloves.

[Derakon]

Gnomes have good magic device skill, which couples with the mage's innately strong magic device skill to make attack wands even more powerful. But mostly, they have good INT without the heinous EXP penalties that high-elves have.

[Kodiologist]

I just got two-shotted by Tselakus the Dreadlord on DL 40. I was warned by the level feeling, but man, not having see invisible is a killer.

[Derakon]

Oof, yeah, that's a little late to not have either SI or ESP. Tselakus shouldn't be at DL40, but you should still have had at least some warning that he was around, beyond just the level feeling.

[Kodiologist]

That seems fair.

Dump: http://angband.oook.cz/ladder-show.php?id=22092

I was very happy with all those Intelligence bonuses, and I had the low resists covered, but lacking see invisible, confusion resistance, and blindness resistance all hurt.

[Pete Mack]

Youch! Even an ordinary dread could have taken that character out with Nether Bolt. You start getting strength drained by an invisible monster and it is time to go. Also: mage has reveal monsters at low level. Use it! Also: you need more HP. Just a few points to CON at the start can help.

Edit: But it is the detection that matters the most. Until late in the game, Mage has such bad HP that just about everything at native depth can kill you in a couple turns. You have to rely on detection, avoidance, and evasion. If you want to kill monsters, pick Warrior or Paladin. Rogue starts a little slow, but gains power fast.

[Adam]

With a low HP character i would wear the elvenkind armor instead of the resistance for sure. You don't need AC, but you need good stealth with a mage.

[Kodiologist]

Until late in the game, Mage has such bad HP that just about everything at native depth can kill you in a couple turns. You have to rely on detection, avoidance, and evasion.

Yeah, I've been leaning on Detect Monsters and picking my battles. Reveal Monsters costs a lot more mana and has a much higher failure rate, but I should've gotten into the habit of using it at this point with all my Intelligence bonuses.

Also: you need more HP. Just a few points to CON at the start can help.

That makes sense, because although I wouldn't get a lot more HP that way, just 25 extra HP (at level 30, raising Con from 10 to 16 grants 25.5 HP) are worth something when my HP are this low.

With a low HP character i would wear the elvenkind armor instead of the resistance for sure. You don't need AC, but you need good stealth with a mage.

I assumed that +1 stealth was too small a bonus to matter, but I don't actually know the scale for stealth. Is there a good place to look in the code to learn about the stealth mechanics?

[Pondlife]

Yeah, I've been leaning on Detect Monsters and picking my battles. Reveal Monsters costs a lot more mana and has a much higher failure rate, but I should've gotten into the habit of using it at this point with all my Intelligence bonuses.

I think Detect Monsters should be renamed to Detect Visible Monsters so that its limitation is more obvious.

[Sphara]

Yeah, I've been leaning on Detect Monsters and picking my battles. Reveal Monsters costs a lot more mana and has a much higher failure rate, but I should've gotten into the habit of using it at this point with all my Intelligence bonuses.



That makes sense, because although I wouldn't get a lot more HP that way, just 25 extra HP (at level 30, raising Con from 10 to 16 grants 25.5 HP) are worth something when my HP are this low.



I assumed that +1 stealth was too small a bonus to matter, but I don't actually know the scale for stealth. Is there a good place to look in the code to learn about the stealth mechanics?

I don't know the stealth mechanic exactly either but afaik, every point does give a pretty nice boost this early.

Also, at very high danger levels, neurotic approach is crucial. Not as crucial as compared to just leaving the level for good. Tselakus at DL 40 is close to omen of death -message. Awake Tselakus is beyond omen