Angband 4.2.0

[Derakon]

Off-weapon means ranged weapon?

Off-weapon means that it's from a source that is not the wielded weapon itself. That means you have much more leeway to choose a weapon that has big dice but maybe not useful slays on it. Like a Mace of Disruption of Gondolin.

And correct, if you already have a brand or slay that's effective against your current target, then Slay Evil won't help you deal more damage. If you don't, and your weapon has big dice, then Slay Evil can really significantly increase your damage output. Imagine a spell that let you deal 50 more damage per round against certain targets. Is that a spell worth casting? What about 100 more damage?

For Teleport Other wands: shops only recharge items if those items are ones that they stock normally. So the magic shop will recharge Wands of Magic Missile for you, or staves of Detect Evil, but not wands of Teleport Other.

[Pete Mack]

The black market will do it... for $15K. Under certain circumstances, this is a good deal.

[DavidMedley]

Ah. Thank you both!

[Sky]

How do you die to a Spirit Naga when you're that powerful?

nah, i looked at the spoilers; i had just started that character, was about CL11, and dived too fast.

[wobbly]

And having Smite Evil cast won't help if your arrows have brands that do more damage, right? Maybe at CL50 it'll make some sense, but at CL33 Smite Evil is terrible.

Just looked and my last paladin was using the pick of Erebor. While the acid brand is fine for Sauron it doesn't work on Morgoth, Great Bile Wyrms or Bile Demons. As far as the earlier game goes I think it opens up possibilites for cold branded weapons which have a big hole against undead & also defender weapons which are otherwise useless in melee. Firestar is another interesting case, a lot of dragons & demons resist fire.

Edit: I've only had 1 serious go at the paladin since the change, I've got a few band characters alive already (though there's always a solution to that) but when I get some time I'll have a run & keep note of what weapons I'm wielding.

[DavidMedley]

Alright, I guess Smite Evil can be good. I was wrong. The price tag and fail rate both seem very high, though.

[DavidMedley]

Here's an unrelated request: Can slay undead, or at least *slay undead* come with hold life?

[Derakon]

I was going to say that Slay Undead gives See Invisible, but I just checked the gamedata and it looks like all of the basic slays are just that: a slay with no other abilities. I'll admit it's been awhile since I played; is this new?

As I recall, it used to be that Slay Undead gave SI, Slay Troll gave regen, and a few others had miscellaneous powers, but now it looks like you have to get a *Slay* weapon for that. And even then, the *Slay* weapons all give a random resistance or power, with the only thematic elements being which stat they boost. I gotta say I feel like this reduces the window in which a Slay/*Slay* weapon would be plausibly useful to minuscule size.

[DavidMedley]

Yeah... stuff like "of Morgul" "of Gondolin" and such have an array of often complementary powers, which is cool. Slay Demon could/should have Resist Fire, and so on, so these weapons are more viable as switches.

[Werbaer]

[...] it looks like all of the basic slays are just that: a slay with no other abilities. I'll admit it's been awhile since I played; is this new?

Has been this way at least since 2.7.9v6

[Derakon]

Hm, maybe I'm getting my memories conflated with variants then, or with the pre-2.9 days (and given that ZAngband branched off of 2.8.something, those are in many ways the same thing...). I guess this also points to me not paying much attention to basic Slay weapons!

[Werbaer]

Hm, maybe I'm getting my memories conflated with variants then, or with the pre-2.9 days (and given that ZAngband branched off of 2.8.something, those are in many ways the same thing...).

Oops, made a typo.
Had been this way at least since 2.7.9v6 (the Ben Harrison Code rewrite)

[Derakon]

Welp. Guess I'm just going senile then.

[fruviad]

As a Druid under the "Fox Form" spell, is there a command that will terminate the spell? Or must you attempt a command that isn't possible while shapechanged and then respond to the ensuing "Change back to your original form? [y/n]" prompt?

[Nick]

As a Druid under the "Fox Form" spell, is there a command that will terminate the spell? Or must you attempt a command that isn't possible while shapechanged and then respond to the ensuing "Change back to your original form? [y/n]" prompt?

Yeah, 'm' is the one.