[Ironband] Dead in the dark..

[dzhang]

So, with me on my Macbook, I was pretty excited by the recent threads about Mac compiles of various *bands. I decided to give Ironband a try, and was liking it after 2 relatively quick deaths exploring the game.

Third try, Dwarf with 15's in DEX and AGI and a 14 in STR. A flurry of good luck netted me 18/30 AGI (after racial adjust!) for +4 speed, and a Ring of Damage (+10), and a Ring of See Invisible by dlvl 6. At this point, I realized that I'm running a bit low on light, with about 200 turns left on my current torch and 2 full torches. However, I had also collected 6 Flasks of Oil by then, so I thought there probably wouldn't be any problems. Not so.

I cleared dlvl 6 at a moderate rate, trying to find a lantern or a torch, but no luck. I was down to 1 torch when I walked down to dlvl 7, so I micromanaged by removing the torch whenever I wasn't in a corridor. Still no luck, and my last torch burned out. Bit my teeth and went down to dlvl 8, and started wandering in the dark. Did OK for a while, but then I walked into a dark room, and got breathed on by a baby dragon, and bitten by 4 Giant Scorpions. Some cursing, moving, and turns wasted prolonging the inevitable by quaffing !oCSW later, I was dead.

This really frustrates me, because it felt like I was seeing a lot of torches on dlvl 1-3. Should I have fully explored those levels to pick up all the torches I can? That seems somewhat boring and counter the goal of Ironband though :/ Should I have gone for higher LUCK?

Alternatively, a suggestion: Make a Phlogiston spell to recharge your light source in either the first or the second book.

[Antoine]

So, with me on my Macbook, I was pretty excited by the recent threads about Mac compiles of various *bands. I decided to give Ironband a try, and was liking it after 2 relatively quick deaths exploring the game.

Third try, Dwarf with 15's in DEX and AGI and a 14 in STR. A flurry of good luck netted me 18/30 AGI (after racial adjust!) for +4 speed, and a Ring of Damage (+10), and a Ring of See Invisible by dlvl 6. At this point, I realized that I'm running a bit low on light, with about 200 turns left on my current torch and 2 full torches. However, I had also collected 6 Flasks of Oil by then, so I thought there probably wouldn't be any problems. Not so.

I cleared dlvl 6 at a moderate rate, trying to find a lantern or a torch, but no luck. I was down to 1 torch when I walked down to dlvl 7, so I micromanaged by removing the torch whenever I wasn't in a corridor. Still no luck, and my last torch burned out. Bit my teeth and went down to dlvl 8, and started wandering in the dark. Did OK for a while, but then I walked into a dark room, and got breathed on by a baby dragon, and bitten by 4 Giant Scorpions. Some cursing, moving, and turns wasted prolonging the inevitable by quaffing !oCSW later, I was dead.

This really frustrates me, because it felt like I was seeing a lot of torches on dlvl 1-3. Should I have fully explored those levels to pick up all the torches I can? That seems somewhat boring and counter the goal of Ironband though :/ Should I have gone for higher LUCK?

Alternatively, a suggestion: Make a Phlogiston spell to recharge your light source in either the first or the second book.

Uh, there's a couple of options - search the early floors quickly but thoroughly to pick up torches: or go down more briskly and look for a lantern or a glowing pebble. You were unlucky not to find a lantern before your torches ran out, but it can happen.

Try not to unnecessarily spend turns resting or retracing your steps while you have a torch equipped.

There is a light-source spell in one of the early books.

A.