In Gratitude for 4.2.X

[Anarchic Fox]

Atop his tower Saruman reposes. As always, a portion of his awareness must watch for the Gaze of Sauron. He sees it as a beam of light ever sweeping across the land, and he knows that there are only four others who can see this beam. Never mind that, they four are elsewhere, he thinks.

In an instant the Gaze aligns west, and Saruman jerks upright in a surge of panic. His hand moves, of its own accord, toward the Palantir. Why would we converse again so soon? Saruman thinks. But then, he, too, feels it. One of the Three has shown itself. What have the elves...?

From behind a fox leaps, one paw shining silver, and tears Saruman's fucking face off.

[Anarchic Fox]

I had three wins going into this version, one each for warrior, paladin and ranger... but despite that, I still had no intuitive sense of the value of stealth. Stealth meant monsters would wake up more slowly, which seemed nice but hardly a big deal, like Life Drain Resistance. The druid has finally given me that intuitive understanding, and even in the late game I now know, should I be the least bit nervous about incursions, it's time to shapeshift. Warrior, paladin and ranger were fun, but they all still boiled down to "kill everything that comes my way." The druid has finally taught me how to play more subtly. This would have helped me with my goal of beating every class, but maybe I'm now a one class fox. :3

Also, in another forum I wrote this:

Well, there's the "respecting my time" thing... but there's also the fact that Angband recently reworked its entire spell system, introducing a class that can shapeshift into a fox. You can now claw Saruman in the face as a vulpine whirlwind of death. Beast forms retain weapon stats but remove spellcasting and item use, while adding various intrinsics. The fox gets added stealth and attack speed. I have found immense pleasure in sending orc body pieces flying in every direction as a small fluffy thing.