Angband Help and Advice Thread

[Thomkal]

Originally Posted by PurdueBrad

Thomkal, things are working pretty good. I'm up to level 22 I think. I pulled a character dump but it looks too long to post here.

They are long, but go ahead and post it anyway. Or zip it up and attach it if you want.

[Bobble]

Originally Posted by Thomkal

Hope you are having fun with the game!

Thanks. Yeah, I'm having a good time with it.

Next question: My guy (gal, actually) is "Slow (-4)". Anything wrong with that other than I'll probably never outrun any pursuers?

[Thomkal]

Originally Posted by Thomkal

That +2 the short sword gives at the end of the name there is actually a plus to one of more of your stats. Take it on and off to see which one. (you may have to *ID* it to see the bonuses) The sword should also have several abilities on it, so make sure you *ID* it. You have the damage right on the weapons. The slay dragon only gives you extra damage against dragons, no other special abilities, so despite that nice to hit bonus on it, it will probably benefit you more to use the westernesse sword when you see the abilities on it.

I have to correct myself on something here. I've been playing this version of Angband in the IronBand Format-no recalling back to town after entering the dungeon. So I had not seen the changes made in Identify. There is no *Identify* in this version apparantly. A regular scroll of Identify or spell will tell you all the powers on an item.

And a slight correction-I said before an item that "psuedo-ID'ed" as "magical" could be cursed. That appears to be incorrect, but items can still have negative to hit and damage meaning you still wouldn't want to wield them.

For the "basic" game, they are changing things quite a bit from the variants that sprouted from the original.

[thesloppy]

Your attacks (and everything you do during a single 'turn') are effected by your speed as well. Higher speed = more attacks, as well as just plain running speed. I dunno if you can do it in all Angband variants, but in some you can adjust your character's running speed and tactics (it's one of the first things I do with a new character in TOME).

[Thomkal]

Originally Posted by Bobble

Thanks. Yeah, I'm having a good time with it.

Next question: My guy (gal, actually) is "Slow (-4)". Anything wrong with that other than I'll probably never outrun any pursuers?

yeah quite a bit actually-it means you won't get in as many attacks as you would normally, so you need to fix this as soon as you can. A -10 speed would mean your moving at half-speed, so a -4 isn't too horrible, but its not good either. I'm guessing here that you are carrying too much rather than having an item/curse that is causing it. Hit I for inventory and you will see what your burden/capacity is. So you may have to drop some things.

[Thomkal]

One thing I forgot to mention about stores. When you are in a store, and have select the item you are interested in, hit "x" for examine an item, to get details about it.

[Thomkal]

I have started up a character using the "normal" game-a Paladin by the way since there now appears many things different than what I was expecting. Let's see if I can get him higher that PB's char.

[Bobble]

Originally Posted by Thomkal

yeah quite a bit actually-it means you won't get in as many attacks as you would normally, so you need to fix this as soon as you can. A -10 speed would mean your moving at half-speed, so a -4 isn't too horrible, but its not good either. I'm guessing here that you are carrying too much rather than having an item/curse that is causing it. Hit I for inventory and you will see what your burden/capacity is. So you may have to drop some things.

I think you're right. I nearly got my butt handed to me by Bullroarer the Hobbit. He waltzes up to me, "Bullroarer the Hobbit hits you. (4x)". I phase door away to get a breather and he comes at me again, all Little-Ball-Of-Hate. Just as I'm about down and out (9 hp): "The rounded pebble (1d2) (+2,+4) hits Bullroarer the Hobbit. Bullroarer the Hobbit dies. Welcome to Level 11."

So I think I'll ditch some of the spare pebbles and see where that puts me, speedwise.

[Thomkal]

Originally Posted by Bobble

I think you're right. I nearly got my butt handed to me by Bullroarer the Hobbit. He waltzes up to me, "Bullroarer the Hobbit hits you. (4x)". I phase door away to get a breather and he comes at me again, all Little-Ball-Of-Hate. Just as I'm about down and out (9 hp): "The rounded pebble (1d2) (+2,+4) hits Bullroarer the Hobbit. Bullroarer the Hobbit dies. Welcome to Level 11."

So I think I'll ditch some of the spare pebbles and see where that puts me, speedwise.

And I think Bullroarer moves quicker than normal, so the advantage would be even more so in his favor. Good for you for beating him though, he's a tough early unique. Did you get anything good from him?

[thesloppy]

A while back didn't someone do an Angband challenge/ladder? Like where everybody started the same (variant obviously and) beginning character save file? Yeah. Someone (thomkal) should set one of those up again.

[Thomkal]

Originally Posted by Thomkal

I have started up a character using the "normal" game-a Paladin by the way since there now appears many things different than what I was expecting. Let's see if I can get him higher that PB's char.

Heh, gear up my Paladin, move into the dungeon. First room has three cave spiders in it. Shoot one with a bow, one shot kill, go up a level. Shoot the next one, one shot kill, go up a level. Perhaps it won't take me as long to catch up as I thought.

[Thomkal]

Originally Posted by thesloppy

A while back didn't someone do an Angband challenge/ladder? Like where everybody started the same (variant obviously and) beginning character save file? Yeah. Someone (thomkal) should set one of those up again.

Yeah I think someone did. Yeah someone (thomkal) should set one of those up again.

[Bobble]

Originally Posted by Thomkal

And I think Bullroarer moves quicker than normal, so the advantage would be even more so in his favor. Good for you for beating him though, he's a tough early unique. Did you get anything good from him?

A Pair of Iron Shod Boots [3,+2] and a Short Sword (1d7) [+5,+5]. The sword is nice. I can ditch the heavy broadsword and use this. I've been looking for a good melee weapon since the start.

[Thomkal]

And then nearly killed myself when I read an un Id'ed scroll and it turned out to be a summon monster scroll. Got a Green Naga that would have killed me if it wasnt for the cure light wounds spell and the two Un-ID'ed Cure Serious Wounds spell I used in desperation.

[Thomkal]

Originally Posted by Bobble

A Pair of Iron Shod Boots [3,+2] and a Short Sword (1d7) [+5,+5]. The sword is nice. I can ditch the heavy broadsword and use this. I've been looking for a good melee weapon since the start.

well that was a good find then. He can drop a lot better than that though.

[Bobble]

Another Q: On some levels there will be a line. On one side of it, I get a "DTrap" note at the bottom. What gives?

[Thomkal]

well not bad for my first time in the dungeon-back to town after the first level of it, level 5, 5 xp away from 6th level. Of course I have to replace most of my armor because the naga spit on it, but still

[Thomkal]

Originally Posted by Bobble

Another Q: On some levels there will be a line. On one side of it, I get a "DTrap" note at the bottom. What gives?

that line shows the range of your Detect Trap spell/item that you used. When the DTrap is on you will know that that area is trap free (unless a monster has the ability to create new ones). The DTrap will change colors as you get close to leaving the detected area. If you go outside the area covered the DTrap will go off and you will need to use your spell/item again to find any traps in your new area.

[Thomkal]

On my next trip into the dungeon, find a Shield of Resistance (2, +13) on level 1. That gives resistance to acid, fire, elec, and cold. Sweet.

[Abe Sargent]

Nice shield.

Make me wanna go d/l Zangband and fire it up.

[Abe Sargent]

A few other Moria/Angband/Zangband inspired mechanics from the Dungeon!

The entire food mechanic.
Potions of Experience, Sustenance

[PurdueBrad]

[Angband 3.1.0 beta Character Dump]
Sex Male Age 57 STR: 12 +1 +5 +3 18/30
Race Dunadan Height 76 INT: 14 +2 -2 +0 14
Class Warrior Weight 180 WIS: 14 +2 -2 +0 14
Title Veteran Social Unknown DEX: 14 +2 +2 +2 18/20
HP 270/270 Maximize Y CON: 12 +3 +2 +2 18/10
SP 0/0 CHR: 17 +2 -1 +0 18

Level 23 Armor [27,+43] Saving Throw 47%
Cur Exp 16207 Fight (+6,+16) Stealth Fair
Max Exp 16207 Melee (+13,+25) Fighting Heroic
Adv Exp 18360 Shoot (+13,+20) Shooting Heroic
MaxDepth 700' (L14) Blows 2/turn Disarming 52%
Turns 2336480 Shots 1/turn Magic Device Very Good
Gold 20062 Infra 50 ft Perception 1 in 35
Burden 114.5 lbs Speed Normal Searching 17%
You are one of several children of a Yeoman. You are the black sheep
of the family. You have dark brown eyes, wavy brown hair, and a very
dark complexion.

Acid:......+...... Confu:.............
Elec:......+...... Sound:.............
Fire:......+.+.... Shard:.............
Cold:......+...... Nexus:.............
Pois:............. Nethr:.............
Fear:............. Chaos:.............
Lite:............. Disen:.............
Dark:............. S.Dig:....+........
Blind:............. Feath:.............
PLite:............. Aggrv:.............
Regen:............. Stea.:.............
Telep:............. Sear.:.............
Invis:+............ Infra:.........+...
FrAct:+..+......... Tunn.:.............
HLife:............. Speed:.............
ImpHP:............. Blows:.............
ImpSP:............. Shots:.............
Fear:............. Might:.............

[Character Equipment]
a) a Short Sword of Westernesse (1d7) (+7,+9) (+2)
+2 strength, dexterity, constitution.
Prevents paralysis.
Grants the ability to see invisible things.
With this weapon, you would currently get 2 blows per round. Each
blow will do an average damage of 37 against orcs, 37 against
trolls, 37 against giants, and 29 against normal creatures.
b) a Long Bow of Power (x3) (+7,+20)
c) an Opal Ring of Damage (+0,+9)
d) an Amethyst Ring of Free Action {uncursed}
Prevents paralysis.
e) a Brass Amulet of Slow Digestion
Slows your metabolism.
f) The Phial of Galadriel
Cannot be harmed by acid, electricity, fire, cold.
When activated, it lights up the surrounding area, hurting light-s
ensitive creatures.
It takes 10 turns to recharge after use.
Radius 3 light.
g) Metal Scale Mail of Resistance (-2) [12,+15]
Provides resistance to acid, lightning, fire, cold.
Cannot be harmed by acid, electricity, fire, cold.
h) a Cloak [1,+1]
i) a Leather Shield of Resist Fire [6,+9]
Provides resistance to fire.
Cannot be harmed by fire.
j) a Hard Leather Cap of Infravision [2,+3] (+5)
+5 infravision.
k) a Set of Gauntlets of Power (+4,+4) [3,+9] (+1)
+1 strength.
l) a Pair of Iron Shod Boots [3,+4]

[Character Inventory]
a) 6 Light Blue Potions of Cure Light Wounds
b) 12 Copper Speckled Potions of Cure Serious Wounds
c) 16 Light Brown Potions of Cure Critical Wounds
d) a Vermilion Potion of Berserk Strength
e) 2 Metallic Purple Potions of Boldness
f) 4 Scrolls titled "inva dus per" of Magic Mapping
g) 16 Scrolls titled "diut valacio" of Treasure Detection
h) 6 Scrolls titled "fabra us bra" of Trap Detection
i) 3 Scrolls titled "et pultor" of Detect Invisible
j) 5 Scrolls titled "sum dulo vigo" of Satisfy Hunger
k) 14 Scrolls titled "subi idemitus" of Identify
l) 6 Scrolls titled "ocum imptus so" of Word of Recall
m) a Long Sword of Slay Dragon (2d5) (+13,+6)
With this weapon, you would currently get 1 blow per round,
averaging a damage of 39 against dragons, and 27 against normal
creatures.
n) 10 Arrows (1d4) (+1,+5)
Fired from your current missile launcher, this arrow will hit targets
up to 120 feet away, inflicting an average damage of 82.5 against
normal creatures.
35% chance of breaking upon contact.

[Home Inventory]
a) 5 Light Blue Mushrooms of Fast Recovery
When ingested, it heals cut damage, and cures stunning, poison and
blindness.
Provides nourishment for about 250 turns under normal conditions.
b) a Yellow Mushroom of Vigor
When ingested, it restores all your stats.
Provides nourishment for about 250 turns under normal conditions.
c) 3 Green Mushrooms of Clear Mind
When ingested, it cures confusion and hallucination, removes fear
and grants you temporary resistance to confusion.
Provides nourishment for about 250 turns under normal conditions.
d) 4 Brown Mushrooms of Emergency
When ingested, it grants temporary resistance to fire and cold, cu
res 200HP, but also makes you hallucinate wildly.
Provides nourishment for about 250 turns under normal conditions.
e) a Red Mushroom of Stoneskin
When ingested, it turns your skin to stone briefly, which grants a
n extra 40AC but slows you down.
Provides nourishment for about 250 turns under normal conditions.
f) 15 Light Blue Potions of Cure Light Wounds
When ingested, it heals you a small amount (15% of your wounds, mi
nimum 15HP), heals some cut damage, makes you a little less confus
ed, and cures blindness.
Provides nourishment for about 75 turns under normal conditions.
g) 4 Pink Speckled Potions of Restore Strength
When ingested, it restores your strength.
h) a Gold Potion of Restore Charisma
When ingested, it restores your charisma.
i) a Blue Speckled Potion of Brawn
When ingested, it raises your strength at the expense of a random
attribute.
j) 6 Green Speckled Potions of Heroism
When ingested, it restores 10 hit points, removes fear and grants
you resistance to fear and +12 to-hit for 1d25+25 turns.
k) 4 Violet Speckled Potions of Resist Heat
When ingested, it grants temporary resistance to fire for 1d10+10
turns.
l) a Clotted Red Potion of True Seeing
When ingested, it cures blindness and allows you to see invisible
things for 2d6+12 turns.
m) a Chartreuse Potion of Infravision
When ingested, it extends your infravision by 50 feet for 4d25+100
turns.
n) a Metallic Purple Potion of Boldness
When ingested, it removes your fear.
o) 2 Scrolls titled "quo apis que" of Remove Curse
When read, it removes all ordinary curses from all equipped items.
p) 2 Scrolls titled "quas divilum" of Deep Descent
When read, it transports you two or three levels below your maximu
m dungeon depth.
q) 6 Scrolls titled "ma venter" of Door/Stair Location
When read, it detects all doors and stairs on the level.
r) a Cutlass (Holy Avenger) (1d8) (+14,+5) [+4] (+2)
+2 wisdom.
Provides resistance to fear.
Sustains constitution.
Blessed by the gods.
Grants the ability to see invisible things.

With this weapon, you would currently get 2 blows per round. Each
blow will do an average damage of 29 against evil creatures, 33.5
against demons, 33.5 against undead, and 24.5 against normal
creatures.
s) a Long Bow of Extra Might (x3) (+8,+7) (+1)
+1 shooting power.


[Options]
Maximize effect of race/class bonuses : yes (adult_maximize)
Randomize some of the artifacts (beta) : no (adult_randarts)
Restrict the use of stairs/recall : no (adult_ironman)
Restrict the use of stores/home : no (adult_no_stores)
Restrict creation of artifacts : no (adult_no_artifacts)
Don't stack objects on the floor : no (adult_no_stacking)
Lose artifacts when leaving level : no (adult_no_preserve)
Don't generate connected stairs : no (adult_no_stairs)
Adult: Monsters chase current location : yes (adult_ai_sound)
Adult: Monsters chase recent locations : yes (adult_ai_smell)
Adult: Monsters act smarter in groups : yes (adult_ai_packs)
Adult: Monsters learn from their mistakes : no (adult_ai_learn)
Adult: Monsters exploit players weaknesses : no (adult_ai_cheat)
Adult: Monsters behave more intelligently (broken): no (adult_ai_smart)
Score: Peek into object creation : no (score_peek)
Score: Peek into monster creation : no (score_hear)
Score: Peek into dungeon creation : no (score_room)
Score: Peek into something else : no (score_xtra)
Score: Know complete monster info : no (score_know)
Score: Allow player to avoid death : no (score_live)

[PurdueBrad]

Long post there BUT doing the dump just taught me an @ssload about my character and some of his weapons.

[Abe Sargent]

Yup, don;lt need D when you have A

[PurdueBrad]

Actually, after doing that, I've been carrying two stabbing weapons due to slot restrictions (I never reach weight capacity but constantly have too many items due to the number of allowable slots), which two would you carry of:
short sword of westernesse (currently the armed weapon)
long sword of slay dragon (currently in on the character inventory)
cutlass of holy avenger (currently in my home inventory)

Thanks a ton!

[Abe Sargent]

I'd just stick with the long sword and drop the others off at my house.

[PurdueBrad]

Originally Posted by Abe Sargent

Yup, don;lt need D when you have A

Good call Abe, probably look for a better ring.

[Abe Sargent]

Sorry, meant short sword, the westernesse one tha tgives you the highly importnat Free Action and See Invisible, frees up a ring slot, and gives you two attacks. Slays orcs, ogres and giants - three slays.

[Thomkal]

Thanks for posting the dump PB. Looks like you are doing reasonably well so far. You're going to want to work on finding items that sustain your stats, and work on getting some of the higher resistances too. Especially Poison, Hold Life, Chaos, and Nether. Work towards getting all your stats at 18 or higher as well.

Definitely keep the westernese sword over the others-I'd sell the Dragon slayer sword at this point because its only useful against dragons, no other special abilities with it. If you wanted to keep two weapons in your active inventory, I'd keep the holy avenger. Use it against Undead and Demons.

You might test swapping out the Long Bow of Power with the Extra Might one at your home. All the Power one does is more damage, the EXtra Might should give you a better damage multiplier (the x3 on your bows). It gives you +1 shooting power which should make the bow x4 I think, but could be wrong about that. Compare the damage your arrows will do with both to see.

I see you got the Phial-that's the first artifact most characters get. Frees you up for having to have Scrolls/spells/Rods of Light in your inventory. A bit surprised you haven't found any more artifacts yet.

You really don't need the treasure detection scrolls anymore. Nice to have early on to help find ore to dig out, but gold starts to become a non-factor with all the stuff you can sell for gold as you go further down in the dungeon. The shield of resist fire is nice for the armor bonus, but you're not getting any benefit from the resist fire on it since you have it on your armor. Worth saving in your house though if you swap out the armor for something better later on and need fire resistance again. Cure Light Wounds potions become less and less useful as you getting stronger, and you'll begin finding Potions of Healing.

Try to find better Cloaks, Hats, Boots, and Amulet. Try to find a more permanent trap detector (Rod of Detection) and you need some way to remove them without risk to yourself. And this can be difficult for a warrior, but try to find things like wands of stinking cloud that can affect more than one monster at a time.

Overall though your character is looking good but until you start getting those higher resistances don't go too much below 1000' Good luck!

[PurdueBrad]

Thanks guys! I'll work on those things.

[Abe Sargent]

I tried d/ling the latest version of Angband that Thomkal suggested but when i load it, I see nothing on the screen. Feh. I start a new game, and only the cursor can be seen.

[Abe Sargent]

I d/l'd some fo the older windows versions - same issue

[Abe Sargent]

I tried 3..0.6 DOS and it was not compatible because my Windows (Vista) is 64 bit. I tried compatibility mode with various Windows, but to no avail.

[Abe Sargent]

Okay, I played around with the font and think I may have gotten int to work. We'll see

[Abe Sargent]

Okay I played for a bit. Can;t figure out how to pickup items even with the option selected, but it's not teh biggest lost ever or anything

[Thomkal]

Sorry you are having problems with Vista and Angband Abe. I did a quick search and found a thread that might help-don't have Vista myself. Seems like changing the font helps. You can always post there, its the forums from the site you got the game from.

Problem with blank walls in Vista - Angband Forums

that's weird that you can't pick up anything. Try the letter g and see if you can pick up?

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by Thomkal

Sorry you are having problems with Vista and Angband Abe. I did a quick search and found a thread that might help-don't have Vista myself. Seems like changing the font helps. You can always post there, its the forums from the site you got the game from.

Problem with blank walls in Vista - Angband Forums

that's weird that you can't pick up anything. Try the letter g and see if you can pick up?

Yup, I have to physically pick them up that way.

Already lost two Gnome Magi

[Thomkal]

Hmmm weird. Magi? Glutton for punishment are you? Derrick the Paladin is currently 10th level on 200'. Found an "excellent" dagger that I need to go back to town to ID. Can't really see him using a dagger unless its something very good.

[PurdueBrad]

I physically pick everything up as well, but not necessarily by choice, just because I thought I had to.

[Abe Sargent]

Gnome Mage at level 6 and now I'm about to dig deeper than 50'

[Thomkal]

Originally Posted by PurdueBrad

I physically pick everything up as well, but not necessarily by choice, just because I thought I had to.

Oops sorry about that-there's an option ( = ) key that has that setting in it. "Pick up things by default"

[PurdueBrad]

Not your fault, appreciate the heads up though, will try it out tonight.

[Abe Sargent]

I'm about to make my first major descent with Garinth IV, the Gnome Mage at level 10, with all four spell books. I expect to dive to 400' or so. I haven't gone deeper than 150' so far.

You have to be tentative with magi early if you want to live.

[Thomkal]

Originally Posted by Thomkal

Hmmm weird. Magi? Glutton for punishment are you? Derrick the Paladin is currently 10th level on 200'. Found an "excellent" dagger that I need to go back to town to ID. Can't really see him using a dagger unless its something very good.

Dagger was a Dagger of *Slay Animal* (+4, +5) The asterisks around it mean its better than a regular slay X weapon. In this case other than doing more damage to animals, it gives +2 to INT and slow digestion. Even with the bonuses, it still does less damage on average than my regular battle axe. If my dex was high enough to give me 2 attacks with it, or it added to my strength instead of INT, I might have been tempted to use it. But since its not, it sold for a cool 6450.

[Thomkal]

Originally Posted by Abe Sargent

I'm about to make my first major descent with Garinth IV, the Gnome Mage at level 10, with all four spell books. I expect to dive to 400' or so. I haven't gone deeper than 150' so far.

You have to be tentative with magi early if you want to live.

Good luck! Pretty nice to have all four spell books already. Sir Derrick the Paladin is getting close to Lvl 12, and has just arrived at 250' for the first time.

[Abe Sargent]

In my delve, I'm at 300', my Mage is eve; 12. and I just killed Smeagol and got a +3,+4 short sword and a Ring of Ice +7

[Abe Sargent]

Someone just got the Phial from Bullroarer....

[Abe Sargent]

Shit - Wormtongue on same level!

[Abe Sargent]

Wormy dropped a Main Gauche of *Slay* Dragon +3,+4 [+2]

[PurdueBrad]

I have a ring of +2 strength, if you look up at my character inventory, should I use it instead of the free action one? Also, where the hell are the good cloaks?!?! I can't find any, just base level.