Strategy against bad moves

Best practices and optimistic theories.
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PowerWyrm
Balrog
Posts: 1574
Joined: Sun 27.11.2005, 15:57

Strategy against bad moves

Post by PowerWyrm » Fri 30.05.2008, 11:38

Situation #1:
The Ancient multi-hued dragon breathes acid.
Your Bar Chain Mail of Elvenkind is unaffected!
You feel much better.
You have 23 Potions of Cure Critical Wounds {@q1}.
The Ancient multi-hued dragon claws you.
The Ancient multi-hued dragon claws you.
The Ancient multi-hued dragon bites you.
You feel much better.
You have 22 Potions of Cure Critical Wounds {@q1}.
You feel much better.
You have 21 Potions of Cure Critical Wounds {@q1}.
The Ancient multi-hued dragon breathes fire.
You die.
Checking inventory at death reveals:
) a Book of Magic Spells [Resistances of Scarabtarices] {@m9}
h) 21 Potions of Cure Critical Wounds {@q1}
i) 10 Potions of Healing {@q1}
k) 2 Scrolls of *Destruction* {@r2}
n) an Amulet of Teleportation {@w1}
First: a rogue at level 31 has access at least to some resist spells; a death from fire breath means the double fire resist was probably not on... always cast double resist against base breathers if you can.
Second: never inscribe both CCWs and heals with @q1 - heals are precious, they should be used when really low on hps... but you should be able to quaff them quickly.
Third: quaffing CCWs curing 6d8 (yeah that's an average of 27 hps!) against AMHD which does 233 dam each time it breathes it probably not the best move; if you can't handle the dragon with a couple heals in between, simply quit the fight, there's no shame playing as a coward in this game...
Fourth: I see a lot of people playing with macroed amulets of teleportation... those are simply not reliable, you SHOULD have scrolls, staves or spells for teleport that have a very low fail rate; remember that rogues have 5% fail on their spells, so it's not rare to fail Teleport 3 times in a row...

PowerWyrm
Balrog
Posts: 1574
Joined: Sun 27.11.2005, 15:57

Re: Strategy against bad moves

Post by PowerWyrm » Fri 30.05.2008, 11:50

Situation #2:
You have slain the Air hound.
The Air hound misses you.
The Air hound misses you.
The Air hound misses you.
The Air hound claws you.
You feel much better.
You are no longer poisoned.
You have 29 Potions of Cure Critical Wounds {@q1}.
The Air hound breathes gas.
You are poisoned!
The Air hound breathes gas.
The Air hound misses you.
The Air hound misses you.
The Air hound claws you.
The Air hound misses you.
The Air hound breathes gas.
The Air hound breathes gas.
The Air hound breathes gas.
The Air hound breathes gas.
You die.
Recent deaths show a lot of such mistakes... do you really think quaffing a CCW is the best thing to do, considering you get healed by an average of 27 hps during the only turn you have before the hounds will breathe on you for probably over 200 dam? In this situation, you may panic...

Ashi
Giant Mottled Ant Lion
Posts: 218
Joined: Sun 10.11.2002, 19:58

Re: Strategy against bad moves

Post by Ashi » Fri 30.05.2008, 19:26

Amulets of Teleportation really should be replaced once you start diving past 1000 ft. At that point, you should be making enough gold to invest in some Staffs or Scrolls of Teleportation.

On the other hand, new players can't afford those staffs or scrolls so they will most likely be diving with no teleportation at all -- unless they can get an Amulet or Ring of Teleportation. These will suffice in many situations under 1000 ft; for example, when you run into your first Orc unique or get pushed off the stairs by a big pack of monsters, you'll often wind up fighting them for a few rounds or trying to escape one square at a time until they finally catch up and kill you. In situations like these, you generally can wait a few rounds for the random teleportation to kick in, and you'll be glad you had random teleportation instead of no teleportation at all.

You won't have this luxury after 1000 ft, as most hounds, summoners, and out of depth spawns can kill you *very* quickly. Be sure to stock up on scrolls or get a staff!

PowerWyrm
Balrog
Posts: 1574
Joined: Sun 27.11.2005, 15:57

Re: Strategy against bad moves

Post by PowerWyrm » Sat 31.05.2008, 16:41

g) a Staff of Teleportation (7 charges)
This should be macroed... you need to have a panic button when overwhelmed in real time. Otherwise, you'll die... a lot.

Ace
Crystal Ooze
Posts: 368
Joined: Fri 15.02.2008, 12:50

Re: Strategy against bad moves

Post by Ace » Mon 02.06.2008, 09:49

More bad Moves:

You think, "oh there is a monster in this vault whose color I dont recognize!" But yet, you attack without checking the monsterlist first to see what properties it had. The possible outcome of this mistake is:
The Vampire lord misses you.
The Vampire lord hits you.
The Vampire lord misses you.
The Vampire lord bites you.
You feel your life draining away!
The Eye druj casts a nether ball.
You feel your life draining away!
The Eye druj casts a nether ball.
You feel your life draining away!
You hit the Eye druj.
You hit the Eye druj.
It was a great hit!
You miss the Eye druj.
The Eye druj casts a nether bolt.
You feel your life draining away!
The Vampire lord misses you.
The Vampire lord hits you.
The Vampire lord bites you.
You die.
Lesson's learned: Always check the monstelist if you encounter unknown monsters


It's also a bad move to attack summoner's in the open. More monsters might be able to overwhelm you!
Lesson's leaned: Always build a tunnel with Stone to Mud wands / spells and lure the monster into your direction. Or skip the monster.

PowerWyrm
Balrog
Posts: 1574
Joined: Sun 27.11.2005, 15:57

Re: Strategy against bad moves

Post by PowerWyrm » Mon 02.06.2008, 11:27

Another good example:
The Black reaver invokes a mana storm.
You die.
Be careful about your max hp before attacking anything you know that has devastating attacks... and even if you have the proper resistance to that attack. Mana balls can do up to 600 dam, and it's unresistable - attacking a Black Reaver with 300 hps is plain suicide. Stuff like nether/chaos breaths could do insane damage too... a dracolich breathing nether for example will do 600 dam unresisted, but still up to 514 dam with nether resistance! Even base breathers are dangerous... a simple great hell wyrm will breathe fire for 533 dam if you only have base resistance, enough to kill most characters without the proper hps.

PowerWyrm
Balrog
Posts: 1574
Joined: Sun 27.11.2005, 15:57

Re: Strategy against bad moves

Post by PowerWyrm » Mon 02.06.2008, 11:38

You have 3 charges remaining.
The Vibration hound breathes sound.
You have been stunned.
You are no longer stunned.
The Vibration hound bites you.
The Vibration hound misses you.
The Vibration hound misses you.
The Vibration hound claws you.
You die.
Teleporting from trouble into a pack of hounds is not a mistake... it's simply bad luck. However, using the following item as a weapon is a big mistake:
a) a Halberd of Fury (3d5) (+3,+14) (+1) { for sale }
Aggravation is something you want to avoid at all cost, unless it's a VERY powerful item (One Ring, Deathwreacker...), or if you're already aggravating from another item (combo Fury weapon + Combat gloves). A simple dagger +9 +9 would be much better than the heavy halberd anyway...

PowerWyrm
Balrog
Posts: 1574
Joined: Sun 27.11.2005, 15:57

Re: Strategy against bad moves

Post by PowerWyrm » Thu 05.06.2008, 11:09

The Night mare bites you.
You feel your life slipping away!
The Night mare hits you.
The Night mare misses you.
The Night mare hits you.
You are confused!
You are no longer gorged.
The Elder vampire hits you.
The Elder vampire hits you.
The Elder vampire misses you.
The Elder vampire bites you.
You keep hold of your life force!
You have 4 Potions of Speed {@q2}.
The Night mare misses you.
The Night mare hits you.
The Night mare hits you.
The Night mare hits you.
The Night mare bites you.
You die.
You feel your life slipping away!
I've seen a lot of people quaff a speed pot just before dying... I imagine that's because they press the wrong macro key for something more useful like healing, teleporting or destroying. Everyone should have a "panic" button macro for extremely dangerous situations which require a radical action taken in one turn, and bind the macro to something that can be easily accessed.

PowerWyrm
Balrog
Posts: 1574
Joined: Sun 27.11.2005, 15:57

Re: Strategy against bad moves

Post by PowerWyrm » Thu 05.06.2008, 11:13

The Panther claws you.
You have 2 Potions of Restore Life Levels {@q2}.
Steel Dragon can see again.
Steel Dragon was killed by The Cat Lord.
The Panther claws you.
The Panther misses you.
You have a Potion of Restore Life Levels {@q2}.
The Cat Lord magically summons his minions.
The Cat Lord magically summons his minions.
The Cat Lord claws you.
You die.
Definitely someone needs to redo his/her macros here...

PowerWyrm
Balrog
Posts: 1574
Joined: Sun 27.11.2005, 15:57

Re: Strategy against bad moves

Post by PowerWyrm » Thu 05.06.2008, 11:22

The Impact hound breathes force.
The Impact hound breathes force.
The Impact hound breathes force.
You die.
This is why resist sound is important... not vital but important. It is very frustrating to lose a char because you get KOed by vibration, impact or plasma hounds. When missing sound resistance, it is even more important to check the "stun" status of the character when meeting such hounds, and never hesitate to quaff a CCW when stunned, even if the character has only lost a few HPs to the breaths.

Ace
Crystal Ooze
Posts: 368
Joined: Fri 15.02.2008, 12:50

Re: Strategy against bad moves

Post by Ace » Fri 06.06.2008, 10:46

PowerWyrm wrote: Definitely someone needs to redo his/her macros here...
It's a bad move to re-assign macros for quaffing / using often because you might get forget / remember incorrectly what the current setting is in a panic situation.

E.g. you use CCW on F1 and Healing on F2 and later in the game you want to use only healing and change to F1 Healing F2 speed (or whatever)

PowerWyrm
Balrog
Posts: 1574
Joined: Sun 27.11.2005, 15:57

Re: Strategy against bad moves

Post by PowerWyrm » Fri 06.06.2008, 12:09

You feel yourself moving faster!
You have 6 charges remaining.
The Dracolich breathes nether.
You feel your life draining away!
The Dracolich shrugs off the attack.
The Dracolich breathes nether.
You feel your life draining away!
You die.
This thing can breathe nether for 600 dam unresisted... it is foolish to wait in the corner of a room for it to come to melee range or cast weak spells that will only do a small amount of damage. If it breathes, then you're better off if it badly wounded, because breath damage is proportional to monster hp. Wait behind a corner, cast a spell to slightly reduce its potential breath damage (or shoot missiles if you're not a spellcaster), and then go straight in melee. Monsters in melee range tend to use spells less anayway...

PowerWyrm
Balrog
Posts: 1574
Joined: Sun 27.11.2005, 15:57

Re: Strategy against bad moves

Post by PowerWyrm » Fri 06.06.2008, 12:16

You must be kidding me...
Zenith the level 33 Dunadan Mage killed by a Battle-scarred veteran (6 Jun 08)
Looking more closely to the chardump reveals this fatal mistake:
f) a Brass Lantern (with 0 turns of light)
And the result of course is...
It hits you.
It hits you.
It hits you.
You die.
This will teach a basic rule... NEVER stay afk in town outside of the tavern if you don't have infravision or a permalight.

Ace
Crystal Ooze
Posts: 368
Joined: Fri 15.02.2008, 12:50

Re: Strategy against bad moves

Post by Ace » Fri 06.06.2008, 12:34

The character had no equipment whatsoever... it must have been on purpose ;)

PowerWyrm
Balrog
Posts: 1574
Joined: Sun 27.11.2005, 15:57

Re: Strategy against bad moves

Post by PowerWyrm » Mon 09.06.2008, 11:16

Huan, Wolfhound of the Valar breathes shards.
You have been given a deep gash.
Huan, Wolfhound of the Valar breathes sound.
You have been stunned.
Huan, Wolfhound of the Valar breathes shards.
You die.
... and your high level char, which has neither shards nor sound res simply croaks. Of course, Huan can be mistaken for one of Maggot's dogs... but diving very deep with missing resistances is a gamble.

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