Blackguards: 4.2.0 to 4.2.1

[DavidMedley]

I still have a few concerns with the spells. The ones that give a certain number of blows are confusing. Leap into Battle says it gives 4 blows, Whirlwind Attack 3 blows, Maim Foe 3 blows, Forceful Blow 1 blow. Current weapon gives 5 blows per round for a ton of damage. So why would I use these spells?

Relentless taunting doesn't seem to be doing much. Hard to tell, but they seem to be casting, summoning friends, etc the same whether I cast the spell or not.

As a level 50 Blackguard, I'm finding the only useful spells to be Unholy Reprieve and Forceful Blow to send them away from you. My melee weapon is so good that it feels it is better than activating werewolf form.

Hey, thanks for the feedback.

The blows spells are still somewhat useful with light weapons. Leap is still very useful for closing gaps, Whirl can still deliver extra blows against multiple adjacent foes, the stun from Maim has many benefits, and Forceful Blow does 200 pts force damage and throws the enemy back.

To your point, though, when you find a light weapon that is much better than your other options the blows spells are a bit disappointing. One of the goals was to give BGs incentive to use big heavy weapons and I'm not entirely pleased with the way I did it.

Relentless Taunting almost certainly does cut in half the chances of a monster using an ability: https://github.com/angband/angband/s...scoped_q=taunt If you've run experiments and it's not working, I'd be very interested to hear that. It also affects their movement, but there are several factors that I don't fully understand yet. Taunt is completely irresistible and I've bumped the duration to 12+d12. It seems to be popular from the feedback I've received.

In werewolf form you're still using your melee weapon. You can see it via the I key. You get 1 extra blow per round and +1 footspeed, which usually doubles your movement speed. It's completely at-will; you can get out of it for no SP or time. Very handy, especially if the other spells aren't your cup of tea.

Berserk Strength should be beneficial at all levels if you're meleeing. Maim is definitely worth giving up 2 blows for vs stunable enemies that you can't kill in 2 rounds or less. Quake can break LoS and will keep enemies from summoning even better than Taunt.

I hope some of that helps!

[DavidMedley]

To quote myself:

It might surprise you how effective stun is. I have written down: "Damage reduced 25%. Accuracy reduced 25%. 10% chance to miss a turn. Gives player +10 to-hit for crit calc only. See mon-timed.h and test_hit in player-attack.c." It might do other things, too. But at a minimum it's very effective at reducing the damage you take in melee combat.

[mrfy]

The blows spells are still somewhat useful with light weapons. Leap is still very useful for closing gaps, Whirl can still deliver extra blows against multiple adjacent foes, the stun from Maim has many benefits, and Forceful Blow does 200 pts force damage and throws the enemy back.

I've given up carrying the first book since I wasn't using the spells much, if at all, in favor of another inventory spot. I did use Whirl a lot for a while, but groups of monsters now are either too easy, or dangerous enough that I want to fight them singularly.

To your point, though, when you find a light weapon that is much better than your other options the blows spells are a bit disappointing. One of the goals was to give BGs incentive to use big heavy weapons and I'm not entirely pleased with the way I did it.

My current weapon is 28 lbs, with a lot of extras so it's been my primary for quite a while.

Relentless Taunting almost certainly does cut in half the chances of a monster using an ability: https://github.com/angband/angband/s...scoped_q=taunt If you've run experiments and it's not working, I'd be very interested to hear that. It also affects their movement, but there are several factors that I don't fully understand yet. Taunt is completely irresistible and I've bumped the duration to 12+d12. It seems to be popular from the feedback I've received.

I've been trying to activate it consistently before getting into battles. Perhaps it is less effective against Great Wyrms and Archliches and Ainu(s) and high-level uniques. Or it's just observer bias, I notice when the monsters cast/summon because I'm watching for it.

In werewolf form you're still using your melee weapon. You can see it via the I key. You get 1 extra blow per round and +1 footspeed, which usually doubles your movement speed. It's completely at-will; you can get out of it for no SP or time. Very handy, especially if the other spells aren't your cup of tea.

I'll look at it again, but while you can switch out of the mode, it does take another turn to turn back into werewolf. I don't expect it to take no time, but it is a consideration. For example, lengthy battle, you have opponent slowed, you're sped up, turn into werewolf, attack, monster speeds back up, exit from werewolf, hit him again with slow monster, then have to take the extra turn to change back to werewolf.

Berserk Strength should be beneficial at all levels if you're meleeing. Maim is definitely worth giving up 2 blows for vs stunable enemies that you can't kill in 2 rounds or less. Quake can break LoS and will keep enemies from summoning even better than Taunt.

Ok, next Into the Shadows book I find I'll try out some of the spells again.

FWIW, I never use Quake, even against Morgoth.

Thanks for the response.

[DavidMedley]

I appreciate the report and I'm definitely listening. I'll have more opportunities to watch people when 4.2.1 is published, too.

The code for reducing enemy casting via Taunt is incredibly simple. None of the things you've mentioned could have an effect.

Are you meleeing enemies? How do you get close to them? Leap, Taunt and Werewolf are all meant to reduce the pain of closing the gap (and Quake, kinda). They can each reduce enemy ranged attacks by 2-4 times! And Taunt can stack with the other two.

[Kusunose]

The under construction sign is always there, but there should also be a list of recent builds - I'm not sure why that isn't currently showing. You can see that list here.

The list is blocked from loading because it is mixed content, i.e. an HTTP content inside an HTTPS content. Here is the error message from the Chrome developer console.

Mixed Content: The page at 'https://rephial.org/nightlies' was loaded over HTTPS, but requested an insecure frame 'http://buildbot.rephial.org/builds/master/builds.html'. This request has been blocked; the content must be served over HTTPS.

Firefox and Edge also block the list. You need to change the link to builds.html with https protocol.

[DavidMedley]

If you take the s off it works for me

http://rephial.org/nightlies

[Kusunose]

So rephial.org can be accessed with both HTTP and HTTPS
and the list is blocked when it is accessed with HTTPS.

In that case, the protocol-relative URL probably can fix the problem.
remove the protocol from the link in the IFRAME tag; change it as follows:
src="//buildbot.rephial.org/builds/master/builds.html"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protocol-relative_URLs

[DavidMedley]

To DL37 and CL29 with my first "detects fearable" Blackguard. It's a lot of fun having a different detectable monster list than any other class! Thanks for making that happen, Nick!

I'm not relying only on Seek Battle for detection, but trees keep sneaking up on me, which is kinda fun and weird.

[mrfy]

Are you meleeing enemies? How do you get close to them? Leap, Taunt and Werewolf are all meant to reduce the pain of closing the gap (and Quake, kinda). They can each reduce enemy ranged attacks by 2-4 times! And Taunt can stack with the other two.

I usually just walk up to them, speed up if I need to, activate taunt, hit them with slow monster (which wakes them) and attack. If it's someone I have to be careful that they don't get a hit on me, I'll try to time my attacks so I move back when it's their turn to move. I'm used to shoot-and-scoot attacks from primarily playing rangers and mages.

[DavidMedley]

What if the monster is awake?

[mrfy]

What if the monster is awake?

I lurk for them in a corridor with a corner. Speed up right before they turn the corner, turn on taunting, hit them with slow monster, etc.

[Hounded]

Loving this new Blackguard. The mechanics instantly transformed my usual deliberate, cautious "explore every corner" habits into a fast diving sociopath that resents every round not spent fighting something.

Mission acconplished.

[archolewa]

Loving this new Blackguard. The mechanics instantly transformed my usual deliberate, cautious "explore every corner" habits into a fast diving sociopath that resents every round not spent fighting something.

Mission acconplished.

Absolutely agree. The spells with their own blow counts means I'm utterly pasting baddies using weapon that would otherwise be too heavy (found 'Totila' early, and I was all "YES!").

Plus, the fact that you heal a little every time you use a spell (and I use Leap Into Battle pretty much every round if I don't have something better to cast) definitely gives that "Tough as Oak" feel that I like in my barbarian-style characters. My blackguard definitely feels much tougher than a similar Warrior. And there is nothing more satisfying than an enemy turning around and fleeing in terror, only for me to LEAP after and murder them with extreme prejudice.

One interesting thing I've noted is that Rings of Damage are no longer the godsend that they are with Warriors, at least in the early to mid game (I'm at like DL40 or something). When you're swinging for 1 or 2 blows, rather than 3 or 4, an extra +5 damage becomes much less important.

Also I really like how much I'm using my spells, even from the beginning. This is definitely a nice change of pace from the paladin, who I find generally plays more like a weak fighter with renewable Cure Light Wounds potions than a Holy Warrior until late into the midgame.

[DavidMedley]

Thanks, guys!!! Me and Nick and everyone else who contributed are, I'm sure, happy that you and others are enjoying it.

[archolewa]

So one thing I noticed with Leap into Battle. If you target a monster behind another monster, then it seems that your character will attack *both* monsters, not just the one they hit first, or the one targeted. Is that intentional?