General Advice

[robbio]

Hi, ok so i'm not actually playing vanilla yet as i want to finish my game on zangband 1st, then i reckon i'll move over as vanilla seems more polished. Just wondered if i could get some general advice to help the game along a bit.

Can't seem to get a character dump that i can look at outside of the game so here's a quick run down of my important stats:
Beastman Nature Monk
Level:17
HP: 185
Mana:18
Str:16
int:11
wis:14
dex:18
con:20
chr:12

AC:81

+skill 8
+dead 125 %

blows round 4

Fight excellent
bows fair
ST excellent
stealth superb
perc fair
sense poor
Disarm excellent
MD excellent

I can spit acid because of a mutation.
I can cast all of the 1st spell book and half of the 2nd so frost / lighting bolt / ray of sunlight / sense enviroment / stone to mud etc.

My main problem is i'm not great with a bow and my mana is so low that i can only cast 2 lighting bolts before it runs out. This means i'm meleeing a lot which i hear isn't a good idea deeper in the dungeon, what's the quickest and best way to get my bow skills up? enchanting? or is there another way round my ranged weapon deficiencies? I haven't been fighting that deep yet as i'm trying to play it cool as i am prone to rash decisions in the heat of battle! what dungeon level do you think is good to fight on to push my charcter on a bit without risking a quick death? what level is a good level to start doing the quests? I have 4500 gold, what should i spend it on? any help would be appreciated. ciao.

[robbio]

sorry

it's not about vanilla but this seems the most active forum.

[Pete Mack]

it's not about vanilla but this seems the most active forum.

Use the right forum anyway -- all forums get read, via the new posts menu.

[buzzkill]

My main problem is i'm not great with a bow and my mana is so low that i can only cast 2 lighting bolts before it runs out. This means i'm meleeing a lot which i hear isn't a good idea deeper in the dungeon, what's the quickest and best way to get my bow skills up? enchanting? or is there another way round my ranged weapon deficiencies? I haven't been fighting that deep yet as i'm trying to play it cool as i am prone to rash decisions in the heat of battle! what dungeon level do you think is good to fight on to push my character on a bit without risking a quick death? what level is a good level to start doing the quests? I have 4500 gold, what should i spend it on? any help would be appreciated. ciao.

General advice, not specific to Z since I never played it, but I have played a little Z+.

You're playing a monk which generally (in most variants) do better without a weapon in hand. Try that if you haven't already.

Rings of accuracy and scrolls/spells of holy chant and bless will make it easier to hit.

Enchanting arrows to at least (+5,+5)(if you've got the gold to spare) is always a good idea.

In Z+, quests are very worthwhile early in the game and less so as time goes on. I've always found them to be quite a bit easier than the description would lead you to believe.

Improve your WIS (probably) in order to improve your mana, but I wager that you'll be relying more on brute force (for offense) than spells.

Just keep this character alive as long as you can. If thing seem too easy where you are at then go deeper, you're more likely to find better stuff there.

And like Pete said, post in the proper place (if you can determine it), the 'regulars' seem to live on the forums. You'll seldom have to wait long for an answer.

You may want to consider DaJAngband too, it's like Vanilla, only a little different. It's a good thing.