Your favorite Variant

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  • Nero
    Scout
    • Apr 2010
    • 28

    Your favorite Variant

    I am looking for a variant. Please tell me your favorite variant and why, I want a little more flavor, more races, classes, items, etc.
  • EpicMan
    Swordsman
    • Dec 2009
    • 455

    #2
    Hengband

    -Lots of races, some of whom play quite differently (android, specter)
    -Lots of classes, and a number of spell schools to further specialize
    -optionally further specialize your character with a personality (defensive, offensive, combat-focused, etc)

    -Multiple towns and dungeons
    -Really fun quest levels
    -Weapon and spell proficiencies - use a weapon or spell a lot and you will get better with it.

    Comment

    • Zikke
      Veteran
      • Jun 2008
      • 1069

      #3
      I like FAangband because Nick has made the itemization and spell system very interesting and fun. And the First Age only thing is pretty neat for lore reasons, though I've never actually read the Silmarillion (but I just bought it on eBay and it's in the mail! So excited)

      I also like PosBand because you can play monster races (including a "Q") and the different monsters can fight each other, which is fun. And it has a Soul race where you can possess the corpses of things you kill.
      A(3.1.0b) CWS "Fyren_V" NEW L:50 DL:127 A++ R+++ Sp+ w:The Great Axe of Eonwe
      A/FA W H- D c-- !f PV+++ s? d P++ M+
      C- S+ I- !So B ac++ GHB? SQ? !RQ V F:

      Comment

      • Magnate
        Angband Devteam member
        • May 2007
        • 5110

        #4
        Originally posted by Nero
        I am looking for a variant. Please tell me your favorite variant and why, I want a little more flavor, more races, classes, items, etc.
        Did you try a search? The search function isn't great, but there are so many old threads comparing the features of different variants that you really didn't need to post this.
        "Been away so long I hardly knew the place, gee it's good to be back home" - The Beatles

        Comment

        • d_m
          Angband Devteam member
          • Aug 2008
          • 1517

          #5
          I like Hellband and Steamband for their totally different takes on Angband (Dante's Inferno and Steampunk, respectively).

          I still have a huge soft spot for the first variant I played, Cthangband (now Scthangband) just for adding in all the Cthulhu-mythos and being really strange/hard. Those variants have been dormant a long time though.

          Despite it being kind of sprawling I do like ToME just for how huge and crazy it is. That said I don't envy the maintainers of it.

          Finally I have been playing Un and FA a lot recently, and would definitely recommend those.

          That said, I miss many of the newer V features (monster list, item list, lack of *identify*) in most variants--one of the benefits of playing Un, FA, Daj, or other "newer" variants is that they tend to have (or absorb) more of those features.
          linux->xterm->screen->pmacs

          Comment

          • Tatami
            Apprentice
            • Oct 2009
            • 59

            #6
            Hellband will always have a place in my desolate black eart because I love the source material and it is very well excecuted by konjin_. The run through dis is easily one of the funnest experiences one can have in a roguelike.

            I guess I should say Hengband though becuase after beating vanilla and hellband 6 months ago it is all I have been playing. Really enjoying the J-madness amid the accelarated chardeath.

            Comment

            • Taw
              Rookie
              • Apr 2010
              • 9

              #7
              Hellband is made of awesome thanks to, in part, the themed levels and huge number of uniques (I generally treat them with a "gotta catch 'em all" mentality) keeping things interesting. Gets pretty tough around mid-game, though.

              I love TOME and Fury's sprawling quality; it's a lot more interesting to dive to level 70 in three different dungeons with different flavors than to scum level 70 three times in a single dungeon. (In the interest of full disclosure, the sheer brokenness of Fury in particular allows me to reach Moria with reasonable regularity, whereas in harder variants I generally die in the teens at best. Let me tell you, Jedi and SoulKnives are awesome.)

              Steamband has a really interesting theme. And pants. Do any other *bands have pants? There's a neat skill system there, too.

              As a huge Silmarillion person, I love FA in theory, and what I've seen of it is really nifty with some unusual takes on gameplay stuff, but at this point in time it's way too hard for me.

              (ETA: I mean SoulKnives, not Mindblades. Mindblades is a skill, not a class.)
              Last edited by Taw; May 9, 2010, 01:01.

              Comment

              • buzzkill
                Prophet
                • May 2008
                • 2939

                #8
                Originally posted by Nero
                I am looking for a variant. Please tell me your favorite variant and why, I want a little more flavor, more races, classes, items, etc.
                I'm pretty sure this is the given description of DaJ. It's like Vanilla, but different. Experience life as a golem for a change, a melee heavy character with no HP regeneration.
                www.mediafire.com/buzzkill - Get your 32x32 tiles here. UT32 now compatible Ironband and Quickband 9/6/2012.
                My banding life on Buzzkill's ladder.

                Comment

                • Zikke
                  Veteran
                  • Jun 2008
                  • 1069

                  #9
                  Originally posted by d_m
                  That said, I miss many of the newer V features (monster list, item list, lack of *identify*) in most variants--one of the benefits of playing Un, FA, Daj, or other "newer" variants is that they tend to have (or absorb) more of those features.
                  I think this is the main reason that I keep going back to V. You get used to the really nice features in the new versions of V and then you don't have some or most of them in the variants.
                  A(3.1.0b) CWS "Fyren_V" NEW L:50 DL:127 A++ R+++ Sp+ w:The Great Axe of Eonwe
                  A/FA W H- D c-- !f PV+++ s? d P++ M+
                  C- S+ I- !So B ac++ GHB? SQ? !RQ V F:

                  Comment

                  • NotMorgoth
                    Adept
                    • Feb 2008
                    • 234

                    #10
                    Sangband, because I love the way it has a complex and flexible skill system without fixed 'character classes,' but keeps the simple V-style dungeon without wildernesses, multiple towns etc.

                    Comment

                    • Nero
                      Scout
                      • Apr 2010
                      • 28

                      #11
                      I've downloaded, Tinyband, quickangband, Unangband, Hengband, and several others. I tried to download steamband but it wouldn't let me.

                      Comment

                      • Nick
                        Vanilla maintainer
                        • Apr 2007
                        • 9633

                        #12
                        You can alway try the Furytech mirror.
                        One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
                        In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.

                        Comment

                        • will_asher
                          DaJAngband Maintainer
                          • Apr 2007
                          • 1124

                          #13
                          Obviously, my favorite is DaJAngband, since it's mine, but I've given the pitch before. Just see the site in my sig for a description.

                          Anyway, besides DaJAngband, my favorite of the few others that I've tried is Steamband. It would seem unlikely that that was my favorite because I'm not very familiar with the steampunk theme stuff and it seems harder than vanilla which isn't something I'm looking for. But I really like the way Steam handles skills and melee weapon power, and though I'm not familiar with the theme, it seems to be well done in the game.

                          Most other variants I've tried turned me off quickly because of annoying wilderness (ToME, Un, Portralis..), confusing terrain (Un), and some with a level of silliness which isn't to my taste (Z and certain aspects of ToME).
                          Last edited by will_asher; May 10, 2010, 20:57.
                          Will_Asher
                          aka LibraryAdventurer

                          My old variant DaJAngband:
                          http://sites.google.com/site/dajangbandwebsite/home (defunct and so old it's forked from Angband 3.1.0 -I think- but it's probably playable...)

                          Comment

                          • the Invisible Stalker
                            Adept
                            • Jul 2009
                            • 164

                            #14
                            Definitely O. It's just much less silly than other variants, or V for that matter. None of these angels or similar monsters which have no business being in a roguelike. Also, the O system of magic realms and classes seems very well thought out. And the combat system makes more sense than V's. To be honest, the only reason I play V is that selecting items from menus is broken in the Mac version of O.

                            My second choice would be Ironband. I like the 9 Ironband stats more than the traditional 6. And Ironband eliminates the "game of shopping" phenomenon.

                            Comment

                            • Nick
                              Vanilla maintainer
                              • Apr 2007
                              • 9633

                              #15
                              Originally posted by the Invisible Stalker
                              To be honest, the only reason I play V is that selecting items from menus is broken in the Mac version of O.
                              Is this Oangband 1.1.0u? And if so, what is wrong with the menus? I have an update of it which just needs to be compiled IIRC, so can do some fixes easily.
                              One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
                              In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.

                              Comment

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