[Announce] Poschengband 3.4.0 Released

[chris]

Tried playing a duellist the other day & it just felt frustrating to play. Challenging everything got irritating fast & not challenging everything made killing enemies too slow. Am I missing something? Or are they actually just irritating to play?

I haven't really tried the duelist yet (There are some design aspects I don't like, but now that I'm thinking of it, I might make some changes). Yes, you do need to challenge most everything you kill, at least early on. The game auto-prompts you for a new target after killing your current target (EDIT: Once you hit CL35), so this shouldn't be too bad. You can also make a macro to challenge the nearest target (I like to bind these sorts of things to the '-' key which is my 'fire' key ... It's right next to the movement keys in the normal keyset so it's practically effortless to use while moving about).

[chris]

Ahhhhh... At last that final exam is over! Now I can do something useful again! Helping in the quest to destroy the Serpent of Chaos, for example. I'll post my list of suggested tweaks only in a couple of days so as to not overwhelm you with feedback. Don't worry, my next but one post is going to be much shorter

Bug reports

• sometimes, ninjas can only uncover permanent walls when walking into them, for example right at the beginning of the Thieves Quest
• the game calls it a "dishonourable" act when you unknowingly sell a valuable item for a low price
• You feel "less knowledgeable" after try-id'ing a rod
• 'b'rowsing your ninjutsus causes the game to ask you which ninjutsu to "use" (however, the game does ask the correct question if you browse the ninjutsus using 'm?'
• the option "Display detailed food status" has no help entry
• same with "Ignore whenever any monster does"
• There is at least one shopkeeper-rumour referring to "ZAngband"
• When a ninja is exposed to an opponent's lightsource: "Your mantle of shadow become [sic] thin."
• When a ninja assails their opponent: "You make [sic] surprise attack, and hit the Mean looking mercenary with a powerful blow!"
• Freesia is referred to as an "it"

Feature requests

• new option: Use special colour for used stairs. This would come in handy during the very early game, when you can't afford a ?WoR yet and need to walk several DLs upstairs. It would also be useful when you want to retreat to a previous, partly explored DL without ending up on unexplored terrain.
• let shopkeepers keep worthless items that they unknowingly bought from you. If you buy them back, this should raise your character's sense of honour and justice again
• inform players when they gain new abilities (ninjutsu etc.)
• new option: Interrupt when leaving trap-detected area
• new option: Use special colour for border of trap-detected area (possibly replacing the option where you get 'x'es all over the map)
• perhaps same for object-detected area

I think that once I saw some of these features in Angband or Quickband, if that's of any help.

Thanks for the ideas. I fixed the ninja wall bug and will look into the other bugs/feature requests when I get some time. Documentation is unfortunately last on my TODO list since it is so unpleasant (and will probably take hundreds of hours to complete).

[wobbly]

Tried playing a duellist the other day & it just felt frustrating to play. Challenging everything got irritating fast & not challenging everything made killing enemies too slow. Am I missing something? Or are they actually just irritating to play?

[caruso]

Ahhhhh... At last that final exam is over! Now I can do something useful again! Helping in the quest to destroy the Serpent of Chaos, for example. I'll post my list of suggested tweaks only in a couple of days so as to not overwhelm you with feedback. Don't worry, my next but one post is going to be much shorter

Bug reports

• sometimes, ninjas can only uncover permanent walls when walking into them, for example right at the beginning of the Thieves Quest
• the game calls it a "dishonourable" act when you unknowingly sell a valuable item for a low price
• You feel "less knowledgeable" after try-id'ing a rod
• 'b'rowsing your ninjutsus causes the game to ask you which ninjutsu to "use" (however, the game does ask the correct question if you browse the ninjutsus using 'm?'
• the option "Display detailed food status" has no help entry
• same with "Ignore whenever any monster does"
• There is at least one shopkeeper-rumour referring to "ZAngband"
• When a ninja is exposed to an opponent's lightsource: "Your mantle of shadow become [sic] thin."
• When a ninja assails their opponent: "You make [sic] surprise attack, and hit the Mean looking mercenary with a powerful blow!"
• Freesia is referred to as an "it"

Feature requests

• new option: Use special colour for used stairs. This would come in handy during the very early game, when you can't afford a ?WoR yet and need to walk several DLs upstairs. It would also be useful when you want to retreat to a previous, partly explored DL without ending up on unexplored terrain.
• let shopkeepers keep worthless items that they unknowingly bought from you. If you buy them back, this should raise your character's sense of honour and justice again
• inform players when they gain new abilities (ninjutsu etc.)
• new option: Interrupt when leaving trap-detected area
• new option: Use special colour for border of trap-detected area (possibly replacing the option where you get 'x'es all over the map)
• perhaps same for object-detected area

I think that once I saw some of these features in Angband or Quickband, if that's of any help.

[chris]

It looks like a Mauler debug message displaying damage dealt is still appearing in normal games (cmd1.c line 4135).

This is intentional (though probational). While designing, I found having this information made the game more fun so I thought I'd leave it in there for a bit.

[MarvinPA]

It looks like a Mauler debug message displaying damage dealt is still appearing in normal games (cmd1.c line 4135).

[mrrstark]

This is a neat way to implement a pseudo-skill-tree style class to Angband.

[delstrudo]

Ahh, very good. Would imagine this behavior would also exist with beastmen when they've got a mutation that adds an auto attack such as elephant trunk as well.

[chris]

I should probably add a Psion help page at some point. In the mean time, here are some random thoughts and build ideas. Of course, you should experiment and play however you like!

There are 24 psionic powers and you only get to learn 8 of them (Levels 1, 10, 15, 20, 30, 35, 40 and 50). Each psionic power has a min level to learn so you can generally only pick 1 power from the L40 and L50 tiers. The L50 powers are quite strong so you won't want to miss them.

Here are the powers. These descriptions are available in-game so I don't think this is much of a spoiler. For this class, it is also somewhat required to know what powers are possible so you can pick your choices wisely:

Mana Thrust (L1)
Mana Thrust grants you an offensive ranged attack. With this      
power, you will have good early offense as well as the ability to 
scale the damage of the mana thrust quite considerably. No monster
can resist the Mana Thrust but this attack only effects a single  
monster at a time and some monsters might reflect the spell.      

Energy Blast (L1)
Energy Blast grants you an offensive ranged attack. With this       
power, you will have good early offense as well as the ability to   
scale the damage of the blast quite considerably. The blast will    
produce an elemental ball whose type is of your choosing, although  
the range of choices will depend on how much focus you invest in    
the blast. This is also an area based attack so you may damage      
multiple monsters at a time.                                        
                                                                    
Psionic Seeing (L1)
Psionic Seeing grants you considerable powers of detection.         
Depending on how hard you focus, you may detect monsters, traps,    
doors, stairs, and objects. Concentrate even more and you can map   
your surroundings, gain temporary powers of telepathy or even map   
the entire level!                                                   
                                                                    
Graft Weapon (L1)
Weapon Grafting is a power unique to the psion. Invoking this         
power fuses your current weapon to your arm for a limited time. In    
a sense, your weapon becomes an extension of you and may be           
wielded much more effectively. However, while this spell is           
active, you will not be able to remove your weapon.                   

Psionic Clarity (L1)
Psionic Clarity focuses the mind of the psion. While only active    
for a short while, this power lowers the casting costs of all       
other psionic powers and can be quite useful. However, the utility  
of Psionic Clarity may only become manifest late in the game, so    
it is not recommended as an early choice.                           
                                                                    
Psionic Blending (L10)
Psionic Blending grants great powers of stealth. While active, you     
will be able to blend in with your surroundings and sneak up on        
many foes. With maximal focus, you may even suppress aggravation       
(from your equipment), though your stealth will still be somewhat      
disrupted.                                                             
                                                                       
Psionic Shielding (L10)
Psionic Shielding is a defensive power. While active you will gain 
Free Action as well as increased Armor Class. With the former, you 
will be immune to deadly paralyzation attacks from your enemies.   
With the latter, monsters will have a much harder time hitting     
you.                                                               

Psionic Travel (L10)
Psionic Travel grants a wide array of teleportation powers. From 
inexpensive short ranged 'blinking' to long ranged escapes, you  
will have it all. Indeed, with great focus you will even be able 
to control your teleportation and choose where you land!         
                                                                 
Psionic Protection (L20)
Psionic Protection is a defensive power. While active you will    
gain resistance to elemental attacks (Fire, Cold, Lightning, Acid 
and Poison). The more you mental focus you devote to this power,  
the more of the elements you will resist.                         
                                                                  
Combat Transformation (L20)
Combat Transformation is an offensive power, channelling your    
mental focus into enhanced melee fighting. While active, your    
skills in combat will improve affecting the accuracy of your     
blows. Also, your reflexes will quicken in line with your mental 
accuity affecting the speed of your attacks. This power requires 
your constant focus and as a result, increases the casting costs 
of all other psionic powers.                                     
                                                                 
Archery Transformation (L20)
Archery Transformation is an offensive power, channelling your    
mental focus into enhanced shooting. While active, your skills    
with all missile weapons will improve affecting the accuracy of   
your shots. Also, you will shoot with increased speed. This power 
requires your constant focus and as a result, increases the       
casting costs of all other psionic powers.                        
                                                                  
Ego Whip (L20)
Ego Whip is an offensive power which lashes a targetted monster    
repeatedly with your psychic energy. The effect lasts for multiple 
rounds during which time you may perform other separate actions.   
However, monsters do get a saving throw against the ego whip every 
turn, and if they make a save, they are able to shake off the whip 
completely.                                                        

Psionic Speed (L30)
Psionic Speed channels your mental energy into speed of motion,     
granting great powers of haste. With increased focus come           
increased speed, and the total amount of haste can greatly exceed   
what is possible for other classes.                                 
                                                                    
Psionic Healing (L30)
Psionic Healing is a recovery spell. By focusing your mind, you    
will be able to heal your wounds. In addition, cuts, stuns and     
poison will be cured. With total focus, you can even restore your  
stats.                                                             
           
Brain Smash (L30)                                                        
Brain Smash is an offensive spell. Although it does no physical  
damage, it inflicts a powerful mental attack on your foes which  
may confuse, stun or slow them.                                  
         
Mind Wave (L30)                                                        
Mind Wave unleashes the effects of your mental focus on all       
visible monsters. The damage is not as great as Psionic Storm but 
the ability to affect many monsters at once compensates for this. 
                
Psionic Crafting (L40)                                                  
Psionic Crafting channels your mental focus into an object,      
enchanting it in the process. With maximal focus, you can even   
craft excellent items!                                           
             
Psionic Storm (L40)                                                    
Psionic Storm unleashes your mental focus in a large, powerful   
ball of mana.                                                   
                
Psionic Backlash (L40)                                                 
Psionic Backlash is a defensive spell. While active, any enemy    
that damages you will take a proportional amount of damage in     
retaliation. The greater your focus, the greater the retaliatory  
damage.                                                           
             
Psychic Drain (L40)                                                     
Psychic Drain allows you to draw mental energy and focus from the  
magic around you. Whenever you are hit by a magic spell you will   
convert some of the damage into mana. This power has no effect on  
non-magical damage like breaths, rockets or melee.                 
                  
Psionic Disruption (L50)                                                 
Psionic Disruption allows you to block the minds of others     
hindering their ability to cast spells. But be warned: innate  
monster attacks (breaths and rockets) will not be affected!    
               
Mental Fortress (L50)                                                
Mental Fortress grants immunity to Dispel Magic and Anti-magic. In 
addition, it increases the power of your spells.                   
          
Mindspring (L50)                                                         
Mindspring greatly enhances your mana recovery. 

Psionic Foresight (L50)
Psionic Foresight allows you to see into the future. With        
knowledge of events before they take place, you will be able to  
avoid many attacks altogether!

Since you only get limited choices, you should probably decide up front on your play strategy. Some builds I like are: Caster, Archery or Melee.

Here are some sample builds:

Build #1: Caster
L01: Mana Thrust or Energy Blast
L10: Travel
L15: Seeing
L20: Whip
L30: Healing
L35: Clarity
L40: Storm
L50: Fortress

Build #2: Archer
L01: Seeing
L10: Travel
L15: Blending
L20: Archery
L30: Healing
L35: Clarity
L40: Crafting
L50: Disruption

Build #3: Melee
L01: Graft Weapon
L10: Seeing
L15: Shielding
L20: Combat
L30: Healing
L35: Clarity
L40: Backlash
L50: Disruption

Of course, there are many possibilities. I just wanted to give some starting thoughts for the curious.

[chris]

Hello,

I'm actually still on the previous version but assuming this may still be relevant.

When using a Centaur Archeologist, it appears that the extended crack ability also includes the hooved attacks with it. It's nice, but probably not supposed to be happening. Just wanted to put this out there

Yes, that's a bug and you'll see this with Samurai and Weaponmasters too. Should be fixed for next release (3.4.4). Thanks!

[chris]

I didn't have a problem finding a ring bearer it's just keeping a powerful one for more than 10 minutes before they throw you off in disgust. Maybe I'm role playing too much but it just felt strange to have powerful monsters just decide they didn't want a ring of power after all. So I just stuck to level 40ish monsters for the most part.

Oh, I see. Yeah, that can be annoying!

Well, you are a cursed ring of power, I guess. And you lured that monster into picking you up only to seize control of its will and begin controlling it to do your evil bidding!

The way it works, every monster action they have a small chance (1 in 10000 unless unique, then 1 in 1000) of attempting to break your power over them. And in this small chance, they still need to roll a saving throw against you. The higher your level, and the higher your charisma, the less likely they are to break your dominance. If they do, however, it can be nasty. But it is often worth the attempt to charm them back to your side.

[delstrudo]

archeologist potential bug

Hello,

I'm actually still on the previous version but assuming this may still be relevant.

When using a Centaur Archeologist, it appears that the extended crack ability also includes the hooved attacks with it. It's nice, but probably not supposed to be happening. Just wanted to put this out there

[Jiamat]

I didn't have a problem finding a ring bearer it's just keeping a powerful one for more than 10 minutes before they throw you off in disgust. Maybe I'm role playing too much but it just felt strange to have powerful monsters just decide they didn't want a ring of power after all. So I just stuck to level 40ish monsters for the most part.

[HugoVirtuoso]

By the way, we never had a Psion winner in PosChengband (or even in its predecessor, Chengband)!

And Monster Talk?...Where do I see this?

[AnonymousHero]

(She blinded me with Psions!)

I think I love you.