My Thoughts on 4.2

[DavidMedley]

Balance. A warrior has to lug around staffs, rods and potions to get the same effects you get via spells. So, if you eliminate spellbooks, it's actually warriors that end up having fewer slots available. Casters are already at an advantage like this, because a single spellbook serves multiple purposes.

Good point.

[DrWho42]

Hello! Angband player going back to around 2005. I'm creating this thread to post my feedback, for whatever it's worth.

i maybe started playing in the late 1990s, then rediscovered it in maybe the late 2000s?

[DavidMedley]

Blackguard

Blackguards seem very boring until at least CL 8. I remember this special ability in Faangband where you'd get a slight speed boost whenever you attack in melee or get hit. Maybe blackguards should start with something like that. Maybe not speed, but Berserk Strength. And the CL 14 spell could be used to get BS before combat or generate extra turns of it between combats?

What is the magnitude of IMPAIR_HP? Like, do HPs recover at half the normal rate?

I haven't played this class much, but it doesn't seem to add much interest to the game thus far.

[Diego Gonzalez]

I like the combat spells of the blackguard a lot. It was one of my strongest melee characters ever. I had the same feeling of boredom at first but later it was a fun experience.

[DavidMedley]

Traps

I really like that the ways of identifying traps have been reduced. It always seemed a bit cheap to just magically identify all traps, and then what seems like it's supposed to be a big part of the game is reduced to almost nothing.

I wonder if something other than all-or-nothing trap ID would work? Thematically, whoever set up a particular trap might have imbued it with some degree of magical detection resistance. In-game you'd have a chance to notice traps with magic just like you have a chance to notice traps with your eyes.

[DavidMedley]

Bat Form (Necromancer)

I didn't appreciate Bat Form at first. I saw the speed boost and thought "Oh, I can maybe use this to get away from normal speed creatures." But it's a really amazing way to explore! From level 3 a Necromancer can scoot around picking up treasures, finding stairs, and picking his fights carefully. There's not much XP to be gained in this, but you need equipment/money/dive or climb more than XP at times.

From shape.txt:
name:bat
combat:0:-10:10
obj-flags:FEATHER | SEE_INVIS | PROT_BLIND
values:SPEED[3] | STEALTH[3] | INFRA[5]
effectAMAGE
dice:5
effect-msg:taking bat form
blow:bite
blow:scratch

Not sure what that combat info means exactly. It's supposed to be +0 to hit, -10 to dam and +10 to AC but my to dam seems to drop much more than this. Anyway, the speed, stealth and infra benefits are obvious.

[DavidMedley]

Minor suggestion for shapechange: I see that my name is changed to "Bat" but it would be nice to have it noted on the status bar.

[DavidMedley]

Better Readouts

I REALLY REALLY LOVE the improved amount of information that is getting to the player. Additional information in the status bar, character sheet, monster recall, and probably lots of other places. I played an older version after playing 4.2 and really missed the additional info! Great job on that, Nick and whomever else!!

[Pete Mack]

Dave--
Have you discovered the 'knowledge menu'? I am not sure which variant created it, but i saw it in UnAngband first, liked it, and made it portable. Useful for objects and stores, also finding out what uniques are left. Use ~ key to access it.

[DavidMedley]

Yes, thank you. Very cool.

[DavidMedley]

Remove Curse

I find it a bit odd that cursed items don't stick on you anymore, but I guess it makes sense since you have to wear just about everything now. The Remove Curse spell, then, actually removes attributes of the magic item. So can we get Remove Curse to remove any attribute, not just the ones marked as curses? I'm mainly thinking of light for necros, but I'm sure there are other instances where a supposedly positive aspect of an item is detrimental.

[fph]

That seems like a nice idea to me (and a great solution to the necro light-bonus randart problem). It would probably need some balancing for some early mixed-blessing items though; for instance, =mouse and =escaping, but nothing that cannot be solved (for instance: +4 speed and permanent fear are two effects of the same removable item property; or permanent fear is a 100-power curse).

[Derakon]

I like the idea, but it'd require either special-coding the attributes you'd want to remove, or else writing UI code to let the player select attributes to remove.

The issue fph raised is also a good one. Personally I'd solve the example listed by removing Rings of Escaping from the game.

Another possibility to specifically solve the necromancer's problem would be a mid/high-level necromancer spell that removes the +light effect from your equipment.

[Oraticus]

Another possibility to specifically solve the necromancer's problem would be a mid/high-level necromancer spell that removes the +light effect from your equipment.

This is actually what I was thinking as I was reading the above comments, except why make it mid/high level? Why not change the "Create Darkness" spell and instead make it "Remove Light"? Darkness is just the absence of light, anyways, so you're not creating it as much as removing existing illumination. Make it a ball spell that, if it detonates in a bright room, darkens the room, and if it detonates on items, it removes their +light property. Added benefit of not having to enter or linger at the entrance to bright rooms... darken from a distance.

Pretty much everything resists dark anyways, so it's damage is pretty much a moot point, but it has the thematic use of "Create Darkness" but makes more sense (IMHO).

[Derakon]

The main reason to make it higher-level is that thematically, magic powerful enough to suppress, say, the light of the Phial of Galadriel literally did not exist in-setting. The Silmarils likewise do not get extinguished so far as I'm aware. The Trees were burnt rather than magically suppressed, but we'll chalk that up to using substandard materials.

Gameplay-wise, being able to cast the spell early on is certainly more convenient for the player. The only question there, I think, is how much value there is in making the player work for their rewards.