What now? PosChengband advice

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  • grodrigues
    Rookie
    • Apr 2014
    • 22

    What now? PosChengband advice

    Had a good High-Elf mage going on FAAngband; but somehow misplaced the save file and since macros are not working for me in the last version and playing mages without a working set of macros is an exercise in frustration, decided to give PosChengband a try. Since I only play mage characters (the only exception was ToME4 where I managed to win with a dwarf bullwark), fired up a Sorcerer. After a couple of losses, I finally understood that the main stat is Charisma and not Intelligence (should be in the docs) and chose a High-Elf (have a soft spot for them; my two Angband winners are High-Elf mages) with patient personality.

    You can find the a character dump here: http://angband.oook.cz/ladder-show.php?id=16477

    As you can see from the game time, I have been playing for a long while: my play style is to keep descending and clear up each level, which gives a couple of levels per play session. The Orc Caves and the Labyrinth are cleared up: the Labyrinth is somewhat painful: small manouevering space kills teleport effectiveness and since mapping does not work if you are on the move, as you must, I rushed to the stairs and then either Stone to Mud to manouever or as the last resort, crossed my fingers when using tele away against some tougher, awoke monster on the path.

    As general comments on the game, the auto-pickup seems very powerful but too much of a hassle to use effectively. Maybe import the FAAngband squelch and auto-inscription options, which are IMHO, as good as it gets? Cannot get used to the joke monsters. Variant Maintainer? Really? Oh well, there's no accounting for tastes I suppose.

    As far as play style goes, I had Trump Spying always on before finding Gimli. I basically just Lightning Bolt everything to death (making me an arch enemy of compassion -- still do not have a grasp of how this Virtue thingy works). At 2 sp per casting, with the great mana regenerating rates and with only a couple of dice of damage difference for their closest competitors, it really cannot be beaten. If I *really* need to conserve mana, fallback to Magic Missile as it is practically a free cast. Area damage, I go for Lightning Ball as it destroys only wands and rods, and with all the spell arsenal of a Sorcerer still have not found much use for them. If I need a different element just choose something else in Book of Elements, with the occasional use of Nether Bolt or Mana Thrust. Resist Environment covers basic resists; Haste Self always on. Never used any hamperings (Sleep, Slow, etc.); just easier to blast everything away.

    So while things have been going particularly smooth until now, I really do not know what to do next. What are good places to level up? Stat gain? Good gear? I still do not have all the basic resists, nether, confusion and blindness. Watch should I be watching out for? I will probably respec my current spellbook load out soon -- it has been working just fine, but I surmise that I will be needing some more offensive punch soon. Also, with some reshuffling, I may be able to drop a couple more spellbooks: e.g. do not need Trump Spying in Conjurings and Tricks anymore; Phase Door can be found in other spellbooks (although at 2 sp vs. 1, not an inconsiderable difference if you use it a lot), and until now I still have not needed a tele away beam-ing. Any suggestions?

    Thanks in advance for any advice.
    Last edited by grodrigues; July 19, 2014, 23:09. Reason: edited title
  • mewmew
    Apprentice
    • Jul 2014
    • 83

    #2
    >Cannot get used to the joke monsters. Variant Maintainer? Really?

    I recall I tried to use oook's spoiler page to check him and found that The Variant Maintainer is from ToME2 actually:



    also it's from an old joke from the end of 90s:



    BTW it's funny how some of what was mentioned there was improved in Sil (:

    Comment

    • chris
      PosChengband Maintainer
      • Jan 2008
      • 702

      #3
      Hanging out around DL30 of The Icky Caves is fine. At this point of the game, you can probably survive for stat gain if you are cautious. And, as you noted, getting resist base is a must at this point of the game. You have spells, but relying on always keeping those up is asking for trouble. Confusion and blindness resist are also a priority.

      If you get levitation, then consider DL30 of The Lonely Mountain instead. It is infested with young sleepy dragons which tend to be a good source of loot and experience.

      I would avoid The Giants Hall with your low hp. I also would not risk the DL24 Angband quest just yet.

      A Word of Caution: With a Sorcerer, playing with any resistance hole can be deadly due to your low hp. Use probing and stealth to avoid fights when necessary.

      Comment

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