revisiting Angband

[Pete Mack]

Calris is a weak endgame weapon. As such, you want to use it with a ring of damage. Feagwath doesn't have a whole lot of HP. He should go down pretty quickly if you optimize for damage. Vecna is another story: he is arguably tougher than Sauron; I would suggest avoiding him unless you have something ridiculous like a Mace of Disruption +2 attacks.

[AndyS]

I parked Calris, the CON was nice but i think I have enough without it now and I found the aggravation penalty annoying. I dont have the game open right now but Im using a katana that does more damage. Except to dragons, Calris really does a number on them. Im hoping for something better though for the end should i make it. Ive killed a quite a few uniques since I encountered Feagwath that I think were stronger, I think hed be pretty easy now with some consumables and maybe some luck. Like not summoning black reavers.

I dont think Ive ever had or seen a weapon of disruption, something to look out for forsure, thanks. Im at DL 96 now but I dont think I have the gear/consumables/knowhow for the two big guys yet. Like for instance I havent really used wands as weapons much, i set most of them to ignore when i find them (TO an obvious exception, would likely have died long ago without that), so need to test out annihlation and drain life against something fairly strong to see if they are worth bringing along. Im guessing they wont be much use for the final battles, maybe im wrong. And I need to learn how to use destruction strategically. I think the only time i used it was to learn what the scroll was. I'll either die or win tomorrow

[Adam]

If you melee the big guys, it's good to know that they drain charges from wands and heal themselves with that. Also some other monsters do this (balrogs, liches for example).

[Narry]

I think the speed works well as is. Now that there is an option to view speed as a multiplier, and when viewing a monster you can get speed comparison data, I think the diminishing speed returns become much more readily apparent to newbies.

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

Word. Don't muck it up.

[AndyS]

If you melee the big guys, it's good to know that they drain charges from wands and heal themselves with that. Also some other monsters do this (balrogs, liches for example).

Oh yeah I forgot about that, thank you. I think they are just taking up space. I melee just about everything with a little archery sometimes. I know good players also drop stuff they need before they fight monsters that can burn or otherwise destroy them. I need to try to remember to do that.

I think I will avoid many uniques now, try and find a suitable weapon, and go after Morgoth. Unfortunately avoiding them may make finding that weapon more difficult. But Im finding some of the uniques are not worth the consumables Id need to beat them. I had to give up on both the tarrasque and Ungoliant making those fights a complete waste. I didnt know better than to make sure I had enough healing on hand, they require quite a bit.

I did find a mace of disruption but unfortunately it does not have extra attacks or slay evil. It sure lays a beating on undead though. I dont think Im understanding rune of protection properly either. Does it only protect you from melee? I was standing on one for the tarrasque but he just used breath attacks. Does it mitigate those? If so then those attacks must be hella deadly without it because they were taking big chunks. If not, then Im overlooking the usefulnes of it, unless maybe to use it like a wall if you want to run away.

[Derakon]

Rune of Protection only prevents melee. That said, it doesn't affect AI; enemies will try to attack you in melee just as often when you're on a rune as when you aren't. The Tarrasque uses its breath weapons about 50% of the time, though, and they are heinously powerful. There's a reason why we generally say the Tarrasque isn't worth fighting.

Note that enemies have a chance to break Runes that scales with the enemy's level. Runes rarely last more than a couple of turns against Morgoth. But since you can cast it in advance of the fight, it can still definitely be worth using.

[AndyS]

Thank you. Yes after that encounter I concur. Pretty sure I can beat him but at the cost most of my potions that will then take me hours to reaccumulate. Seems like a better idea to fight him after you beat Morgoth, at least for a warrior. On the other hand Im not looking forward to Morgoth summoning him but I think ill take that chance instead and deal with him like everyone else in that fight.

I know it's all relative to to your stats and equipment but some monsters you read about and you dont want anything to do with them at all. Then you finally fight them and you're like seriously? That's it? Those two were very notable exceptions for me.

Edit - I'll add Huan to that list, geez. He nearly wasted me before I even knew what was happening. I think the emperor quylthulg summoned him, Im not sure, it happened very quickly and I wasnt paying close enough attention. Reminds me of something someone said about a sense of complacency . I just thought, oh look, a dog, this should be easy. I dont know what his attack was, I should have checked (i teleported in a panic to land in a more manageable mess) but he took off many hundreds of HP. I was low enough that I dont think healing would have protected me from the same attack and Im sick of wasting *healing*. I must have a resistance open that he exploited (shards I bet, I ddint know they were that dangerous) because im sure his attack did more damage than the terrasque attacks. I'll definitely take a closer look before I go near him again.

[Mondkalb]

Edit - I'll add Huan to that list, geez. He nearly wasted me before I even knew what was happening. I think the emperor quylthulg summoned him, Im not sure, it happened very quickly and I wasnt paying close enough attention.

You can browse previous messages with ^P. This way you can see, what he did to you.

[AndyS]

You can browse previous messages with ^P. This way you can see, what he did to you.

Good to know, thanks. He's dead, he wasn't that hard, I just wasnt paying close enough attn. His attacks were giving me nasty or severe cuts so I think thats shards. Seems if you have what you need, get in the right place, and learn the opponent, nobody has been too hard so far. That ws the closest I came to dying. Osse was surprisingly annoying considering his native depth but didnt really threaten me, just made me tp and chase after him a couple of times.

Still a little reluctant to drop to 99 though without a really good weapon or at least maybe a unique ring that will give me more punch. I have a tough time when a few uniques show up together so it's probably good that Im taking a lot of them out now. My turn count would make most players here roll their eyes but Id just like to try to win a game first, then maybe try to do it more efficiently. I could never beat the game at the pace some people do though, I see the numbers and they seem incredible

[Grotug]

haha, I've died so many times to Huan that if I see him, key word being if, then I get as far away as I can. Same goes for the Terrasque, but I see him less often, so I die from him less often.

Huan is very good at looking like an unassuming interloper; as you said, another dog among the pack, that often I don't see him until I'm given a deep gash or death. And, yes, shard attacks cause deep wounds.

[AndyS]

Ive been seeing the terrasque quite a bit, also Vecna but I heeded the advice above so havent actually had him in my sight yet. I carry a mace of disruption just for undead. It gives me close to 700 a round so it might be a good idea to try to take him out if I can tunnel and he's by himself, rather than have Morgoth summon him if I make 99.
Most monsters when I TO them they stay gone long enough for me to nearly clear the dungeon. Not the terrasque though, he's like a boomerang. If he's on my level it has meant a trip home every time. Speaking of deceptive appearances, Im using a tileset and Im glad I checked the esp the first time or I might have thought this is awfully low for a giant salamander.

I just noticed there is a place for this kind of thread and this isnt it. Sorry about that. I think when I first visited the forum I just saw Vanilla and maybe thought AAR was a variant I'm not sure. Ill keep it over there from now on, some good reading in there.