A few beginner questions

**Sky** · June 16, 2020, 22:46

Angband Vanilla (this game) doesn't have auto-swap with diggers.

**whartung** · June 17, 2020, 15:57

Originally posted by Sky

Angband Vanilla (this game) doesn't have auto-swap with diggers.

From the 4.2.1 tarball, in src/cmd-cave.c

Code:

static bool do_cmd_tunnel_aux(struct loc grid)
{
        ...
        /* Find what we're digging with and our chance of success */
        best_digger = player_best_digger(player, false);
        if (best_digger && best_digger != current_weapon) {
                /* Use only one without the overhead of gear_obj_for_use(). */
                oldn = best_digger->number;
                best_digger->number = 1;
                player->body.slots[weapon_slot].obj = best_digger;
                memcpy(&local_state, &player->state, sizeof(local_state));
                calc_bonuses(player, &local_state, false, true);
                used_state = &local_state;
        }
        ... dig ...
        /* Swap back */
        if (best_digger && best_digger != current_weapon) {
                best_digger->number = oldn;
                player->body.slots[weapon_slot].obj = current_weapon;
        }
        ...
}

So, looks like it does auto swap.

Oh, and this (from src/effects.c):

Code:

 * Teleport player or monster up to context->value.base grids away.
 *
 * If no spaces are readily available, the distance may increase.
 * Try very hard to move the player/monster at least a quarter that distance.

Helps explain my teleport question.

**Sky** · June 17, 2020, 19:03

that must be a 4.2 thing because i just tested it in 4.1.3 and swap doesnt work.

**Nick** · June 17, 2020, 21:43

Originally posted by Sky

that must be a 4.2 thing because i just tested it in 4.1.3 and swap doesnt work.

Yes, correct.

**moosferatu** · June 28, 2020, 15:28

I've made it to DL 85 now! You all were right that the later levels weren't noticeably harder, though I assume that's because my stealth is good and I avoid a lot of fights.

I updated my character dump: http://angband.oook.cz/ladder-show.php?id=23594

I have a couple of questions:

1. I've been using Aglarang for a very long time:

Code:

the Katana 'Aglarang' (6d6) (+10,+10) <+5, +1>
     Found lying on the floor at 1950 feet (level 39)
     
     +5 dexterity.
     +5 speed.
     +1 attack speed.
     Cannot be harmed by Acid.
     Sustains dexterity.
     
     Combat info:
     6.0 blows/round.
     Average damage/round: 345.

I've found weapons that do more damage in special cases, but I like it because of the speed boost and the consistent standard damage. However, since I have so much speed, I was considering switching to one of these:

Code:

the Lochaber Axe 'Mundwine' (3d10) (+12,+17)
     Conjured forth by magic at 4250 feet (level 85)
     
     Slays demons, animals, evil creatures.
     Provides resistance to Acid, Lightning, Fire, Cold.
     Cannot be harmed by Acid, Fire.
     
     Combat info:
     4.7 blows/round.
     With +1 STR and +0 DEX you would get 5.0 blows
     With +0 STR and +1 DEX you would get 5.0 blows
     Average damage/round: 504.5 vs demons, 404.6 vs animals and evil
     creatures, and 305.1 vs. others.

Code:

the Mace 'Taratol' (3d6) (+12,+12)
     Dropped by Tom the Stone Troll at 2050 feet (level 41)
     
     Slays dragons (powerfully).
     Branded with lightning.
     Provides immunity to Lightning.
     Cannot be harmed by Acid, Fire.
     
     When activated, it hastens you for d20+20 turns.
     Takes 383 to 760 turns to recharge at your current speed.
     Your chance of success is 96.2%
     
     Combat info:
     5.0 blows/round.
     Average damage/round: 507 vs dragons, 377 vs creatures not
     resistant to lightning, and 247 vs. others.

Mundwine seems like a good choice, though I haven't really fought that many demons. The lightening immunity on Taratol is appealing, but it's damage against non-dragons isn't much better than Aglarang. Perhaps I should just stick with Aglarang until I find something even stronger?

2. With understanding that I could still die before making it to Sauron, I'm starting to get nervous about the final fights. Is my character strong enough? Should I be fighting more uniques and gaining more levels? Is there any other prep I should be doing?

**sffp** · June 28, 2020, 15:43

Are you actually hitting things?

Or are you standing down the hallway firing arrows?

I might consider swapping for something that gave me another Con point (just to max out HP) but for me I keep Aglarang

(Taratol's haste self doesn't do you as much good as it does to other non-ranger @'s)

Originally posted by moosferatu

I've made it to DL 85 now! You all were right that the later levels weren't noticeably harder, though I assume that's because my stealth is good and I avoid a lot of fights.

I updated my character dump: http://angband.oook.cz/ladder-show.php?id=23594

I have a couple of questions:

1. I've been using Aglarang for a very long time:

Code:

the Katana 'Aglarang' (6d6) (+10,+10) <+5, +1>
     Found lying on the floor at 1950 feet (level 39)
     
     +5 dexterity.
     +5 speed.
     +1 attack speed.
     Cannot be harmed by Acid.
     Sustains dexterity.
     
     Combat info:
     6.0 blows/round.
     Average damage/round: 345.

I've found weapons that do more damage in special cases, but I like it because of the speed boost and the consistent standard damage. However, since I have so much speed, I was considering switching to one of these:

Code:

the Lochaber Axe 'Mundwine' (3d10) (+12,+17)
     Conjured forth by magic at 4250 feet (level 85)
     
     Slays demons, animals, evil creatures.
     Provides resistance to Acid, Lightning, Fire, Cold.
     Cannot be harmed by Acid, Fire.
     
     Combat info:
     4.7 blows/round.
     With +1 STR and +0 DEX you would get 5.0 blows
     With +0 STR and +1 DEX you would get 5.0 blows
     Average damage/round: 504.5 vs demons, 404.6 vs animals and evil
     creatures, and 305.1 vs. others.

Code:

the Mace 'Taratol' (3d6) (+12,+12)
     Dropped by Tom the Stone Troll at 2050 feet (level 41)
     
     Slays dragons (powerfully).
     Branded with lightning.
     Provides immunity to Lightning.
     Cannot be harmed by Acid, Fire.
     
     When activated, it hastens you for d20+20 turns.
     Takes 383 to 760 turns to recharge at your current speed.
     Your chance of success is 96.2%
     
     Combat info:
     5.0 blows/round.
     Average damage/round: 507 vs dragons, 377 vs creatures not
     resistant to lightning, and 247 vs. others.

Mundwine seems like a good choice, though I haven't really fought that many demons. The lightening immunity on Taratol is appealing, but it's damage against non-dragons isn't much better than Aglarang. Perhaps I should just stick with Aglarang until I find something even stronger?

2. With understanding that I could still die before making it to Sauron, I'm starting to get nervous about the final fights. Is my character strong enough? Should I be fighting more uniques and gaining more levels? Is there any other prep I should be doing?

**moosferatu** · June 28, 2020, 15:51

Originally posted by sffp

Are you actually hitting things?

Or are you standing down the hallway firing arrows?

I do both. I have a fear of wasting too many arrows. If I'm afraid of a monster (and/or don't know what it does), I will just shoot arrows at it. Otherwise, I usually start with a few arrows and finish with melee.

**wobbly** · June 28, 2020, 16:47

Pretty sure Aglarang does the most damage when you multiply by the extra speed. Particularly if you are shooting.

**Sky** · June 28, 2020, 16:59

the unfortunate truth of rangers is that at a certain depth, you only shoot arrows at uniques or other really big mobs, because *everything* can destroy your arrows - acid hounds, plasma vortex, fire dragonfly, ice elementals, hydras, ugh, the list is endless. So yeah, you will hit things.

**Pete Mack** · June 28, 2020, 19:33

Taratol is nice for the immunity and activation. It is a great swap against (blue) dragon pits. But it isn't an endgame weapon. Nor, for that matter, is Mundwine. Aglarang is better, especially for a ranger who benefits from the speed whilst shooting.
You will find better weapons

**moosferatu** · June 30, 2020, 15:25

Made it to DL 98!

I updated my character dump: http://angband.oook.cz/ladder-show.php?id=23594

How long should I hang out on 98 trying to find better loot and fighting uniques? My equipment doesn't seem that bad, though I would kind of like a different melee weapon. I understand that Sauron and Morgoth summon uniques. Is it recommended to kill a bunch more before proceeding?

Unrelated question about speed, I have "effective_speed" enabled and I've noticed that there appears to be diminishing returns for speed increases. For example, when wearing the gear in the dump and hasted, my speed is 4.0x. If I switch back to wielding Aglarang (speed +5) my effective speed is just increased to 4.1x. I don't quite understand what's going on here and if that minor increase is of any value.

**wobbly** · June 30, 2020, 16:00

Code:

{
	/* Slow */     1,  1,  1,  1,  1,  1,  1,  1,  1,  1,
	/* Slow */     1,  1,  1,  1,  1,  1,  1,  1,  1,  1,
	/* Slow */     1,  1,  1,  1,  1,  1,  1,  1,  1,  1,
	/* Slow */     1,  1,  1,  1,  1,  1,  1,  1,  1,  1,
	/* Slow */     1,  1,  1,  1,  1,  1,  1,  1,  1,  1,
	/* Slow */     1,  1,  1,  1,  1,  1,  1,  1,  1,  1,
	/* S-50 */     1,  1,  1,  1,  1,  1,  1,  1,  1,  1,
	/* S-40 */     2,  2,  2,  2,  2,  2,  2,  2,  2,  2,
	/* S-30 */     2,  2,  2,  2,  2,  2,  2,  3,  3,  3,
	/* S-20 */     3,  3,  3,  3,  3,  4,  4,  4,  4,  4,
	/* S-10 */     5,  5,  5,  5,  6,  6,  7,  7,  8,  9,
	/* Norm */    10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19,
	/* F+10 */    20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29,
	/* F+20 */    30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 36, 37, 37,
	/* F+30 */    38, 38, 39, 39, 40, 40, 40, 41, 41, 41,
	/* F+40 */    42, 42, 42, 43, 43, 43, 44, 44, 44, 44,
	/* F+50 */    45, 45, 45, 45, 45, 46, 46, 46, 46, 46,
	/* F+60 */    47, 47, 47, 47, 47, 48, 48, 48, 48, 48,
	/* F+70 */    49, 49, 49, 49, 49, 49, 49, 49, 49, 49,
	/* Fast */    49, 49, 49, 49, 49, 49, 49, 49, 49, 49,
};

This is the energy table used by the game, you get an action when you reach 100 energy & at normal speed you get 10 energy/tick, +1 speed you get 11/tick etc. until it slows down at +26. So moving from +34 speed (40 energy) to +39 speed (41 energy) is only a small increase.

As far as whether it's worth it, more speed is always better, but the main pt to aim for is at least Morgoth speed (+30 speed).

**Pete Mack** · June 30, 2020, 17:39

MoD (Holy Avenger) (+21,+21) is one of the best weapons in the game. I suppose a weapon with speed might be marginally better, but that character is hard to top.

You might want a better bow though, unless you plan to use melee against Morgoth. (For that, it makes a fine stat stick.) Amrod is a powerful mid game weapon, but doesn't do max damage like an x5 bow with big damage bonus. You can afford to give up CON, and STR is less useful if you are using archery.

**moosferatu** · June 30, 2020, 18:21

Thanks wobbly and Pete! Good to know.

Little disappointed that a generic MoD is so good. I was hoping that maybe I'd find a cool artifact that was better, but it sounds like I shouldn't count on it.

Yeah, it would be nice to have a better bow. I've found it fairly discouraging trying to find good bows, but I'll grind 98 a bit to see if I can get one.

**Pete Mack** · June 30, 2020, 20:52

MoD (HA)--especially with big damage bonus--is not generic, any more than a high-gamage x5 Longbow of Lothlorien. You are lucky to find even one in a game. Certain dwarven DSMs are better than most artifacts, too.
That said, if you do find an endgame bow, consider Aglarang for extra speed.

A few beginner questions

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment