FAangband 0.3.5

[Nick]

Also, is there any info about the various forms you can transform into with items or potions? Like vampire, dragon, lion, etc.

For this and the artifacts question I had above, if they are not available in-game somewhere, would spoilers be possible?

For the most part these are not available in-game. Whether they should be is another question, to which the answer is probably yes, and I'll likely do something about it in the next version (Nick from the future: this means you).

O spoilers are reasonably accurate.

[Nick]

A trapped chest, with 'strange runes'. I failed while attempting to disarm the trap and the contents were 'scattered to the four winds'. What does that mean? Were the contents destroyed or simply scattered about the current level?

They are scattered about the current level.

How about being little more descriptive with the poisoning. Something other than 'you are poisoned/more poisoned'. A message like 'you are (mildly, moderately, severely, mortally) poisoned' would be nice. Because, let's face it, after a while you forget how many times you've been 'more poisoned'. You could base the descriptor on the number of turns that it will take for the poison wears off on it's own, or the amount of poison damage the character will sustain in relation to his HP.

Kind of like the cut indicator, I guess. I'll think about this one.

[Zikke]

Thanks for the link! I'm chewing on it as we speak.

Also, today I killed Sauron on Tor-in-Garoth (sp) lvl 85, and I didn't get any new special ability as I did for killing previous dungeon bosses. Is this by design? It says I got credit for the kill in my kill list.

Ungoliant is next!

[Psi]

Thanks for the link! I'm chewing on it as we speak.

Also, today I killed Sauron on Tor-in-Garoth (sp) lvl 85, and I didn't get any new special ability as I did for killing previous dungeon bosses. Is this by design? It says I got credit for the kill in my kill list.

Ungoliant is next!

You only get a speciality for the first two guardians you kill independent of who they are.

[buzzkill]

More FA questions

Another trapped chest, this time an explosive device. Will this blow up the chest and destroy the contents, or just cause damage to me?

Disarming chests in general... I guess it's based on DEX. My current priest is terrible at it and fails consistently (100% of the time). So, now my home is beginning to fill with chests. I wouldn't mind it so much, but I could really use some better equipment. I'm CL19 and only have 4 items that would pseudo as 'excellent'. I've been unable to find a ??? of disarming. Is there another way to open trapped chests, like brute force? After a trap has been activated, shouldn't it be used up, unable to activate again (at least physical traps)? Incidentally, I've found that failing to disarm summoning runes is a great way to accumulate both XP and swag/gold. It always nice when the monsters come to you, esp. if you know that they're coming.

Also, for protective spells that have a duration, such as bless or chant, can you cast them multiple times consecutively to increase their duration?

[Psi]

Another trapped chest, this time an explosive device. Will this blow up the chest and destroy the contents, or just cause damage to me?

Both actually.

Disarming chests in general... I guess it's based on DEX.

DEX and INT. Not sure to what proportion though.

Is there another way to open trapped chests, like brute force?

IIRC not without setting the trap off.

Also, for protective spells that have a duration, such as bless or chant, can you cast them multiple times consecutively to increase their duration?

Yes, but subsequent castings do not add as much time as the first.

[PowerDiver]

Yes, but subsequent castings do not add as much time as the first.

It is only speed with that effect, adding very little. Everything else adds full duration.

Spending as little time on each level as I do, I can buy a big stack of !rCold in town, quaff them all, and maintain temp cold resistance for an entire trip without needing to use a slot. Same is true for !hero or ?chant.

OOPS -- forgot this is an FA thread, might be wrong.

[roustk]

Is there another way to open trapped chests, like brute force?

IIRC not without setting the trap off.

Magical disarming works on chests, IIRC.

[Psi]

It is only speed with that effect, adding very little. Everything else adds full duration.

Spending as little time on each level as I do, I can buy a big stack of !rCold in town, quaff them all, and maintain temp cold resistance for an entire trip without needing to use a slot. Same is true for !hero or ?chant.

OOPS -- forgot this is an FA thread, might be wrong.

In FA, effects such as speed, bless, heroism, shield etc on subsequent castings add half the duration of the original spell (on average). Resistances are however cumulative.

[Psi]

Magical disarming works on chests, IIRC.

Yes, but the OP had said he has not come across any disarming devices and he is too low level for the spell.

[buzzkill]

The shopping bug... expanded

I've found (and shamefully used) an exploit/bug that occurs in all shops. By (I)nvestigating anything in your inventory while you are in the shop you get to know all the details, just as if you were identifying it.

I variation on this bug, probably caused by the same mechanism...

When I'm low on cash, which is most of the time (cause I'm not very good, and spend a lot of my time in the early CL's) I will buy 'average' low priced items (such as leather gloves) to see if they stack with a particular item in my inventory. This allowed me to ID items as 'average' or 'not average' for just a few GP, depending on the price of the item.

Recently, I've discovered that you need not even purchase the item, which means that this method is 'cost effective' on expensive items as well. During the checkout sequence it will ask you for a quanity or to confirm the sale (y/n), at which point it will also tell you how many of the items you already have in inventory. This effectively ID's the item in your inventory as an exact match to the one that you are buying... or not buying (hmm... on second thought, I've changed my mind, this studded leather makes my ass look fat.)

Although, obviously a bug, and cheating... it seems a lot less like cheating than 'inspecting' your items in the shop.

[Nick]

I've been unable to find a ??? of disarming. Is there another way to open trapped chests, like brute force? After a trap has been activated, shouldn't it be used up, unable to activate again (at least physical traps)? Incidentally, I've found that failing to disarm summoning runes is a great way to accumulate both XP and swag/gold. It always nice when the monsters come to you, esp. if you know that they're coming.

If I think I'm going to continue failing to disarm (and it isn't explosive) I'll just open the chest. It sets the trap off one more time, but you have at least a chance of getting the contents.

[Nick]

Recently, I've discovered that you need not even purchase the item, which means that this method is 'cost effective' on expensive items as well. During the checkout sequence it will ask you for a quanity or to confirm the sale (y/n), at which point it will also tell you how many of the items you already have in inventory. This effectively ID's the item in your inventory as an exact match to the one that you are buying... or not buying (hmm... on second thought, I've changed my mind, this studded leather makes my ass look fat.)

Ingenious exploiting of bugs is a long tradition in *bands. Go for your life.

[buzzkill]

Trident of Angband

OK, it's not the first time it's happened to me. I accidentally wielded a heavily cursed weapon. Normally, my character just dies and I get on with life, but I'm hoping this time will be different.

I have a Trident of Angband (-13,+14)[4,-5]. I'd like to lose it. From what I've read, I just need to enchant the hell out of it until it's no longer cursed, which is what I'm doing. It's currently (-5,+14)[4,-5]. I just was looking for some reassurance that I'm on the right track.

What about the [4,-5] AC penalty. Does that need to be overcome as well, and if so, how would I do that?

[Nick]

I have a Trident of Angband (-13,+14)[4,-5]. I'd like to lose it. From what I've read, I just need to enchant the hell out of it until it's no longer cursed, which is what I'm doing. It's currently (-5,+14)[4,-5]. I just was looking for some reassurance that I'm on the right track.

What about the [4,-5] AC penalty. Does that need to be overcome as well, and if so, how would I do that?

Yes, you're on the right track. Once you get to-skill to 0 you'll have a 25% chance of uncursing with each successful enchant.

You can't do anything about the AC, but you don't need to. Amusingly, there is no check for which attribute started negative in the curse-breaking code, so if it had started at (-13, +2) enchanting to deadliness would have been more effective. Unlucky for you it was +14