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Ancient Domains Of Mystery, forum overview / Spoilers / The best laid plans...

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Darren Grey
Registered user

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4233 days, 14 hours, 18 minutes and 16 seconds ago.
Posted on Thursday, April 10, 2008 at 19:00 (GMT -5)

Learning started off at 24 and went up from book reading and a comfy chair room effect (one advantage to ID stair-hopping for books I guess). Only problem with the char was low hp, but I had 3 morgia squares stabilised in the big room (and 4 stoma squares in a level under dwarftown - with any other char I woulda so gone for a couple of stoma precrowns). No book-casting used other than to train mana sometimes (though I had the remove curse spell to use for that instead). Lack of castings was not an issue - I had plenty of books. Feel so stupid for dying to that golem, but I guess I'm just not used to being that deep with so little HP.

I didn't beat the max artifact challenge - managed to get 15 precrowns with a level 50 troll (after much effort) but the game crashed when giving the amulet to Khelly (worst possible game for it to happen in of course). Now trying again with a Candle-born gnomish thief (with Heir gift) - fairly weak so far, and keeping him in DD till he improves. Got an early precrown, but it was the fudging black tome. Will progress slowly and carefully... Thieves are quite nice in a lot of ways (especially being pretty much immune to traps with auto-searching and alertness) - may write a guide for them after I'm done with this.
Waldenbrook, the dwarven shopkeeper, mumbles: "I'd offer 9 gold pieces for yer dwarven child corpse."
Darren Grey
Registered user

Last page view:

4233 days, 14 hours, 18 minutes and 16 seconds ago.
Posted on Friday, April 11, 2008 at 04:05 (GMT -5)

Okay, so gave the short turn challenge another go and this time I'm doing reasonably well. Nowhere near as short on turns as I'd like but successful at least. Have just completed the Tower and am level 26 at 17k turns. Now about to plummet down the CoC.

Started with Le 16 and Acid Bolt and Teleport spells, and clearing the bug temple got me to level 15. Then ID-hopped for books + blink dog corpse (blink dogs ate into my turn count big time). Came out of the ID around 5-6k turns with some more offensive spells, more teleport and invis. Did pyramid straight away, using teleport to avoid all traps. Had to go in and out a couple of times to regen PP, but never got seriously hit (had decent PV). Then went to CoC, stabilised lots of herbs and did all the dwarftown quests whilst slowly raising To. Got SoCRs from the mystic (hurrah!) Let Khelly die, killed SfB with acid bolt (thankfully he never came near me) and somewhere along the line found Acid Ball and Lightning Ball.

Dwarven graveyard was a little tough at first - avoided normal folks with invis, but had to resort to lightning ball to kill the three baddies (bolts kept being shrugged off). Had to teleport out a few times to regen PP. DarkForge was a breeze - great fun in fact, since it got me some extra levels prior to the tower. Also found RDSM [+2, +14]! Decided to not bother with TotHK - doesn't give enough xp for the amount of turns it requires.

Tower was simple enough with frost bolt and invis, but the Wyrm was predictably troublesome. Ran out of acid bolt, and he kept shrugging off magic missile, so I had to get close and use acid ball. Was a bit touch and go, but thankfully I avoided a fair number of his energy rays and he soon panicked. Cautiously approached him in the corner, trying to keep elementals in my way, and after a bit of effort (and spenseweed, and a power prayer) finally killed him. Cleared a few more of the denizens to score some extra levels (and To increases to boot).

Used the loot from the Tower for crowning - lightning immunity and Branalbin's Cloak. The perm invis will be handy when diving (was planning to keep casting it on myself anyway). I'll only be taking on monsters that are worth the xp. 268 HP and 406 PP, which is good for this stage in the game. Little chance of me matching gut's finish in 24k (if I make it at all) but this is certainly by far the fastest I've ever played.

Passing the EG will likely be trouble - anyone got any advice on that? I've been playing pure spellcaster, so no missiles to speak of and lowish DV. Kitty karma is thankfully fine, but that can change easily with a spellcaster.
Waldenbrook, the dwarven shopkeeper, mumbles: "I'd offer 9 gold pieces for yer dwarven child corpse."

[Edited 1 time, last edit on 4/11/2008 at 04:07 (GMT -5) by Darren Grey]
Darren Grey
Registered user

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4233 days, 14 hours, 18 minutes and 16 seconds ago.
Posted on Friday, April 11, 2008 at 05:07 (GMT -5)

Okay, I'm really fucked now... I thought I'd missile him from a distance and teleport to the stairs when he was far enough away. Of course as soon as he's far enough away his clone appears. After a lot of teleporting and acid balling I've killed off the first incarnation and got 1.5 mil xp (brought me from level 28 to 31). Nice, but I'm left with the same problem on my hands. Is the only choice to try and avoid his hits whilst diving down the stairs with him next to me? If that's the case then hello YASD...
Waldenbrook, the dwarven shopkeeper, mumbles: "I'd offer 9 gold pieces for yer dwarven child corpse."
soirana un
Unregistered user
Posted on Friday, April 11, 2008 at 05:42 (GMT -5)

c'mmon... it is one turn he won't follow you downstairs.
Darren Grey
Registered user

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4233 days, 14 hours, 18 minutes and 16 seconds ago.
Posted on Friday, April 11, 2008 at 05:45 (GMT -5)

Ah! Well %&$# me silly, I didn't know that. Figured he'd follow me down the stairs. But hurrah, he didn't and the one critical hit he landed caused only 20 damage.

God damn, I got so bloody tense about that... Ah well, onto the casino now, and a kitty ring is waiting after that. 19.3k turns.
Waldenbrook, the dwarven shopkeeper, mumbles: "I'd offer 9 gold pieces for yer dwarven child corpse."
Portrait
gut
Registered user
Painted this one too.


Last page view:

4891 days, 16 hours, 35 minutes and 12 seconds ago.
Posted on Friday, April 11, 2008 at 05:56 (GMT -5)

You're actually about on pace for 26000 turns.
Well, that depends entirely on how you play out
the rest. If you start abusing your mana stat,
and teleporting yourself all over the place, you
are on pace. If you would prefer to walk the
levels, and save your mana stat, it will take a
bit longer.

Also, consider Auto_Pickup for the gift shop. If
you use the gift shop, I recommend not reading
every spellbook they have. Read the really good
ones as much as you think you will need to, then
forget the rest. Bookreading can eat turns big
time. How will you handle the gift shop?

BDC's are pretty much out of the question for a
fast gate shutting, so think about killing
the AKW for the exp. points. Invis plus MM spell.

EDIT: I forgot to mention this.
If you bookcast teleport, to save on castings,
don't forget the extra energy points that eats
up. If you teleport into a room, the monsters in
there may get a few free swings at you.
Put me in the 'fool filter', where I belong!


[Edited 1 time, last edit on 4/11/2008 at 06:12 (GMT -5) by gut]
Darren Grey
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4233 days, 14 hours, 18 minutes and 16 seconds ago.
Posted on Friday, April 11, 2008 at 07:34 (GMT -5)

I've just put the orbs into the anomalies and am about to descend. Turn counter is just below 24k, so I guess I'll have it wrapped up in 26k total. Nuurg-Vaarn brought me up to level 50 (though earth temple also helped, as did some minor vaults that I teleported straight into, blasted quickly, then left).

I didn't use auto_pickup in the casino, but went through it quickly by going down the middle of 3 lines at once, looking around at each step for items of interest. Only read spellbooks that I felt I needed (there were 3 more acid balls, which was handy). Got a GoGS from there too. Used Ventriloquism on the shopkeeper to make him hostile without any curse of summons, but he was way too tough for me (brought me to 14 HP in something like 10 hits in one round) so I just teleported out.

Is the best tactic in D50 to just teleport in and blast everything? Nothing's hurt me in a good while (though Nuurgy got me to half HP at one point).

[EDIT: And bugger, my only potion of uselessness got destroyed in the mana temple because I had no way to detect or avoid traps.]
Waldenbrook, the dwarven shopkeeper, mumbles: "I'd offer 9 gold pieces for yer dwarven child corpse."

[Edited 1 time, last edit on 4/11/2008 at 07:36 (GMT -5) by Darren Grey]
Portrait
gut
Registered user
Painted this one too.


Last page view:

4891 days, 16 hours, 35 minutes and 12 seconds ago.
Posted on Friday, April 11, 2008 at 07:57 (GMT -5)

> he was way too tough for me (brought me to 14 HP

> Didn't you use darkness!?

> Is the best tactic in D50 to just teleport in
> and blast everything?

I only do that if I desperately want to achieve
a certain turn mark, and feel that's the only way.
My characters usually aren't at exp. level 50
though. It might be safer for you. It would
definitely be quicker, but the balors are capable
of 'deciding to fight to death in a blind rage'.

I usually pull the handles, to make the balors
teleport to me, one at a time. Actually, sometimes
there can be more than one, but it's still safer.

EDIT: If you do win, your score should be really
high, do to completing so many dwarf quests.

Put me in the 'fool filter', where I belong!


[Edited 1 time, last edit on 4/11/2008 at 07:59 (GMT -5) by gut]
Darren Grey
Registered user

Last page view:

4233 days, 14 hours, 18 minutes and 16 seconds ago.
Posted on Friday, April 11, 2008 at 09:02 (GMT -5)

It is done! And yeah, I got a ridiculous amount of points - 76.9 million to be precise, easily dwarfing the next on my high score list (28.5 for Mugs).

Charged D50 from the front and magic missiled everything - figured that'd be the fasted way to clear things. Acid balled the balors - they weren't much trouble. Chaos wizards were annoying for wasting my time, but managed to keep it to about 25k turns overall, which is still quite respectable. One of the balors thought it'd be a lark to summon diamond golems followed by doppelganger kings, but neither were enough to threaten me in any way. Was expecting D50 to be more of a struggle, but ah well. Required several prayers for PP, and had to use a couple of SoCRs, but still had enough left to clear me before leaving the chain.

The edited flg:

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                 Screenshot
------------------------------------------------------------------------------



                      ^^^^^^^^^                                         ^^^^^
                      ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^  ^^^^^^^^                        ^^^..^
                       ^*^^^&&&&&&&~~~~~~~~~~~~^^^^=                 ^^^^.@^^
                      ^^^&&&&&&o&&&&&&&~~~~~~~&&&====       """""&&^~^^^^.^^
                      ^^^^^^^^&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&==     """""&&~~~^....^
                       ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^&&&&&&&&&""""=""""""""""&&&&&o..~^^^
                           ^^^*^"""""""""""""""""""=="""""""""&&&&&&&&&&^^
               ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^""""""""""""""""""""=""""""""&&&&&&&&&&&~
              ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^"""""&&&&"""*&&&&""""=="""""&&&&&&&&&&&
              ~~"o""""^^"""""""""&&&&&&&&&......^^^^=="""""""&&o&&&&~~
              """""""""""""""""&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&.^^*^^===""""""&&&&&&~~~
               """""""""""""&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&....^^^^==="""&&""&&&~~~~
                """""""""""&&&&&&&&&&&&&*&&&&&&&&&.""""""===="""""~~~~~^^
                           &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&""""""==""====""~~~*^^^
                            ^^*^^ ^&&&&&&&&&&&&&&"""""===""""""""~~~~^^^^
                            ^^^^^  ^^^^ ^^^&&&&&&&&&&""""""=^^"""~^^^^^^
                             ^^^         ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^+^^ ^^^
                                          ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Rip           St:39  Le:26  Wi:38  Dx:47  To:35  Ch:21  Ap:15  Ma:40  Pe:24 N-
DV/PV:104/54     H:648(648)    P:865(865)    Exp: 50/36125351   DrCh  M: 25020
Blessed Invisible Bloated Coward
------------------------------------------------------------------------------


----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                            Background Information
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Name: Rip                 Race: male Gnome          Class: Wizard
Eye color: green          Hair color: gray          Complexion: brown
Height: 3'5"              Weight: 127 pounds
Age: 108 (grown-up)
Star sign: Wand           Birthday: 23/Wand (day 83 of the year)

YOUR HISTORY:
        Your parents are travelling adventurers. They are doing moderately
 well but are talented enough to survive.
        As a young child you were often alone. You did not have any
 friends. You do not like to remember those times. They were very sad.
        As a kid you often watched the adult adventurers preparing for new
 exciting journeys. They sparked your imagination.
        As a young adult you were a credit to your family. Your parents
 supported your plans and were very understanding. They tried to help you
 along your way with all means at their disposal.
        You decided to become a Wizard.


----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                  Inventory
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total weight: 2913 stones                Carrying capacity: 12997 stones

Head          : blessed leather cap [+0, +3]                           [5s]
Neck          : uncursed ankh                                          [3s]
Body          : uncursed red dragon scale mail (-1, -4) [+2, +14]    [220s]
Girdle        : uncursed girdle of giant strength [+0, +0] {St+12}    [30s]
Cloak         : blessed Brannalbin's Cloak of Defense [+3, +3]        [30s]
Right Hand    : uncursed sword of Nonnak (+2, 4d3+2) [+2, +2] {Wi+5}  [80s]
Left Hand     : uncursed large crystal shield (-1) [+10, +2]         [210s]
Right Ring    : uncursed ring of the master cat [+0, +5] {Dx+16} (+16 spd)
Left Ring     : uncursed ring of immunity                              [1s]
Bracers       : blessed bracers of regeneration [+0, +6]              [18s]
Gauntlets     : uncursed elemental gauntlets (-1, +0) [+0, +3]        [10s]
Boots         : blessed seven league boots [+1, +0]                   [30s]
Missile weapon: -
Missiles      : blessed dagger of returning (+2, 1d4)                 [10s]
Tool          : heap of 18 blessed spenseweeds                        [36s]

*** Most equipment wasn't found till very late on - the SLBs were on D42 or so
for instance.  Ring of immunity was from a surge of power somewhere in
the lower 40s.


----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    Stuff
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Total weight: 2229 stones   Carrying capacity: 12997 stones

Helmets ('[')
   uncursed crown of science [+4, +8] {Le+9}                          [65s]
   uncursed adamantium cap [+0, +2]                                   [36s]
Armor ('[')
   uncursed ancient mummy wrapping [+1, +5] {Ap-8}                    [60s]
   uncursed red dragon scale mail (+0, -3) [-1, +16]                 [220s]
   uncursed red dragon scale mail (-1, -4) [-1, +13]                 [220s]
Shields ('[')
   uncursed large mithril shield (-2) [+7, +2]                        [96s]

<snip>

   blessed scroll of chaos resistance                                  [2s]
*** Had one left from the mystic's gifts.  Very little corruption in the
game as a whole, and most of them on D50.

In general was often short on items, including stuff I normally find
essential.  Was lucky to get an early set of blankets in addition to
the pair given by Thrundarr.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                Weapon Skills
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Melee weapon           Lvl   Hit   Dam   DV   Level          Required marks
---------------------  ---   ---   ---   --   -------------  --------------
Unarmed fighting         1    +1    +0   +0   basic                50
Daggers & knives         1    +1    +0   +0   basic                50
Clubs & hammers          1    +1    +0   +0   basic                50
Maces & flails           1    +1    +0   +0   basic                50
Swords                   1    +1    +0   +0   basic                48
Axes                     1    +1    +0   +0   basic                50
Whips                    1    +1    +0   +1   basic                50
Pole arms                1    +1    +0   +0   basic                50
Twohanded weapons        1    +1    +1   +0   basic                50
Staves                   1    +1    +0   +1   basic                50

*** A couple of accidental hits - otherwise everything was killed with
spellcasting.

Missile weapon         Lvl   Hit   Dam   Ra   
*** Snipped cause I never touched any missiles.

Shields                Lvl   DV               Level          Required marks
---------------------  ---   ---              -------------  --------------
Shields                  4    +8              skilled              198
*** Mostly gathered on D50.  Went through the majority of the game at shield
level 1 or 2.


Damage caused with your melee weapons:
--------------------------------------
Right hand: +40 bonus to hit, 4d3+10 damage


Damage caused with your missile weapons:
----------------------------------------
Ammunition: 1, base range: 2, +33 bonus to hit, 1d4+9 damage




----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                   Skills
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Alchemy ..................100    (superb)       [+2d4]
  Backstabbing ............. 61    (good)         [+1]
  Climbing ................. 68    (good)         [+1d3]
  Concentration ............100    (superb)       [+2d4]
  First aid ................ 71    (great)        [+1d3]
  Gemology .................100    (superb)       [+1d5]
  Haggling ................. 64    (good)         [+1d3]
  Healing ..................100    (superb)       [+1d3]
  Herbalism ................100    (superb)       [+2d4]
  Listening ................100    (superb)       [+1d5]
  Literacy .................100    (superb)       [+2d4]
  Mining ................... 50    (fair)         [+1]
  Pick pockets ............. 63    (good)         [+1d3]
  Stealth ..................100    (superb)       [+1d3]
  Tactics .................. 61    (good)         [+1]
  Two weapon combat ........ 75    (great)        [+1]
  Ventriloquism ............ 83    (great)        [+1d3]

*** Skills were almost impossible to raise, mostly because they were never
being used.  I never pickpocketed once, nor did I ever properly
apply mining, gemology, ventriloquism, etc.  Hrm, forgot all about
alchemy...  Haven't a clue what my recipes were.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                   Spells
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

   Acid Ball           :   477,  17pp     (Effectivity: +26)
   Acid Bolt           :    50,   8pp     (Effectivity: +21)
   Bless               :   133,   5pp     (Effectivity: +1)
   Burning Hands       :   781,   4pp     (Effectivity: +24)
   Calm Monster        :   136,   5pp     (Effectivity: +0)
   Create Item         :    56, 195pp     (Effectivity: +0)
   Cure Critical Wounds:   412,   9pp     (Effectivity: +0)
   Cure Disease        :    54,   6pp     (Effectivity: +0)
   Cure Light Wounds   :   671,   3pp     (Effectivity: +3)
   Cure Serious Wounds :    56,   8pp     (Effectivity: +0)
   Darkness            :  1153,   2pp     (Effectivity: +1)
   Death Ray           :    54,  80pp     (Effectivity: +0)
   Destroy Undead      :   804,   5pp     (Effectivity: +1)
   Disarm Trap         :    51,   8pp     (Effectivity: +0)
   Earthquake          :   128,  44pp     (Effectivity: +0)
   Farsight            :   265,  10pp     (Effectivity: +3)
   Fire Bolt           :   964,   5pp     (Effectivity: +14)
   Fireball            :   136,  11pp     (Effectivity: +0)
   Frost Bolt          :  1138,   6pp     (Effectivity: +26)
   Greater Identify    :    54,  80pp     (Effectivity: +0)
   Heal                :    60,  31pp     (Effectivity: +0)
   Ice Ball            :   113,  14pp     (Effectivity: +4)
   Identify            :    59,  57pp     (Effectivity: +0)
   Improved Fireball   :   439,  17pp     (Effectivity: +0)
   Invisibility        :   701,   5pp     (Effectivity: +10)
   Knock               :   471,   7pp     (Effectivity: +0)
   Know Alignment      :   264,   6pp     (Effectivity: +0)
   Light               :   885,   1pp     (Effectivity: +6)
   Lightning Ball      :   852,  16pp     (Effectivity: +9)
   Lightning Bolt      :    55,  10pp     (Effectivity: +0)
   Magic Lock          :   688,   5pp     (Effectivity: +0)
   Magic Map           :   243,  22pp     (Effectivity: +4)
   Magic Missile       :   850,   4pp     (Effectivity: +32)
   Mystic Shovel       :    58,  77pp     (Effectivity: +0)
   Neutralize Poison   :    56,   8pp     (Effectivity: +1)
   Petrification       :    62,  90pp     (Effectivity: +0)
   Remove Curse        :    56,  39pp     (Effectivity: +0)
   Revelation          :   556,  18pp     (Effectivity: +1)
   Scare Monster       :    61,   9pp     (Effectivity: +0)
   Slow Monster        :    64,   5pp     (Effectivity: +0)
   Slow Poison         :  1207,   3pp     (Effectivity: +0)
   Strength of Atlas   :   153,   6pp     (Effectivity: +0)
   Stun Ray            :   202,   5pp     (Effectivity: +0)
   Summon Monsters     :    55,  24pp     (Effectivity: +0)
   Teleportation       :   599,  11pp     (Effectivity: +25)
   Web                 :   139,   7pp     (Effectivity: +0)

*** Hurrah for Acid Ball and Magic Missile!  And evidently I used
Teleportation an obscene amount to reduce turns (both book-casting
and regular casting).


----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                              His further life:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

After he leaves the Drakalor Chain he is welcomed by his people with great
honors. They acknowledge his noble deeds, his valor, his cunning and his
great skills that helped to prevent the complete destruction of the world he
knows. He returns to his lands victorious and is hailed as a great leader.
Eventually he becomes king and rule your subjects with an iron fist for a
long and peaceful time, allowing his people to prosper and grow.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
              His achievements during his adventures:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Rip, the gnomish wizard, saved the world with his brave efforts and became a
great ruler without even stopping to save himself.
He scored 76943484 points and advanced to level 50.
He survived for 0 years, 41 days, 8 hours, 53 minutes and 58 seconds (25020
turns).

*** That's so much shorter than any of my other games!  And it was without
SLBs for the vast majority.  Most of my winners spend about a year
sight-seeing the Chain.  And those points... wow...  Have to wonder
what's the best way to optimise points in terms of doing other little
quests here and there before leaving.

Rip visited 75 places.
*** Only went to CoC, upper bugville, Tower, DarkForge, Infinity, Pyramid,
graveyard, bandit town,
and a brief stop in the barbarian glade and DDL (depositing items
whilst exploring the nearby dungeons).  Ignored all early game areas
and the high kings dungeon.

His strength score was modified by +16 during his career.
His learning score was modified by +8 during his career.
His willpower score was modified by +21 during his career.
His dexterity score was modified by +16 during his career.
His toughness score was modified by +23 during his career.
His charisma score was modified by +9 during his career.
His appearance score was modified by +6 during his career.
His mana score was modified by +18 during his career.
His perception score was modified by +10 during his career.

*** Stats were hard to raise, though I started getting loads of random
stat increases on D50.  Also found a couple of PoGAs in there.
Most of the game was spend with very low St and Pe, with Wi, To
and Dx gradually built up with herbs.

He was the champion of the arena.
He was the head of the thieves guild.
*** Thrundaar's first quest was a bandit, so when I went to the graveyard I
popped into Laweninwhatsit and decided I might as well pop Yergy off
at the same time.
He adhered to the principles of the Cat Lord and thus rose to great fame.
*** In such a short game I only came across a half dozen cats.
He left the Drakalor Chain after completing his quest and became a great
leader and famous hero.
1879 monsters perished under his attacks.
The following 22 artifacts were generated during his adventure:
  the si
  the scythe of corruption "Moon Sickle"
  the ring of the master cat
  the golden gladius "Death's Sting"
  the Chaos Orb of Elemental Water
  the Chaos Orb of Elemental Air
  the Chaos Orb of Elemental Fire
  the Chaos Orb of Elemental Earth
  the obsidian quarrel "Thunderstroke"
*** Casino - ignored
  the lead-filled mace "Big Punch"
  the Brannalbin's Cloak of Defense
*** Crowning gift
  the sword of Nonnak
  the elemental gauntlets
  the crown of science
  the ancient mummy wrapping
  the ankh
  the rune-covered club "Skullcrusher"
*** Casino - ignored (for once)
  the glaive "Long Sting"
*** Greater giant vault - ignored.  I teleported into the middle and cast 20
acid balls for a level up, then had a look around at the junk lying
around - this was part of it.
  the Chaos Orb of Elemental Mana
  the jet-black battle axe "Executor"
*** Never saw - wouldn't have touched anyway.
  the ring of immunity
*** Surge of power after the Earth temple.
  the shining long spear "Soaker"
*** Greater giant vault again - also wholly ignored.
He possessed the following intrinsics:
  He was fire resistant (enhanced through items).
  He was poison resistant.
  He was cold resistant (enhanced through items).
  He was acid resistant (gained through an item).
  He was lucky (enhanced through an item).
  Fate smiled upon him (enhanced through items).
  He was able to control teleportation.
  He was invisible (gained through an item).
  He was resistant to death rays (gained through an item).
  He was shock resistant (gained through items).
  He was able to see invisible things (gained through an item).
  He was immune to shock attacks.
  He was immune to fire attacks (gained through items).
  He was immune to acidic attacks (gained through an item).
  He was immune to ice attacks (gained through an item).
He had the following talents: Alert, Beast of Burden, Careful, Charged,
Defensive Fighter, Good Learner, Greased Lightning, Long Stride, Master
Packager, Miser, Porter, Potent Aura, Quick, Shield Expert, Shield
Specialist, Strong Magic, Treasure Hunter, Very Careful, Very Quick.
He had a final speed score of 127 (final base speed: 121).
He was a paragon of his religion.
He asked for 17 divine interventions.
He was a holy champion of Balance.

The following monsters were vanquished:
      2 ancient blue dragons
      1 Ancient Chaos Wyrm
     19 ancient red dragons
*** A vault of these dudes netted me loads of xp before the Mana temple.
      1 Ancient Stone Beast
      9 balors
*** Pussies  :P
     39 blink dogs
*** And only one bloody corpse...
      1 Chaos Archmage
*** Was worried about this guy, but acid ball made short work of him.
      7 diamond golems
      8 doppleganger kings
*** Haha, what jokers.
     37 earth elementals
      1 eternal guardian
*** Damn foo shouldn't have gotten in my way.
     44 frost giants
     35 frost giant berserkers
*** Vault of these netted me some much-needed strength.
      2 great red wyrms
*** Red wyrms + frost bolt = easy levels.
      1 greater air elemental
      1 greater balor
*** Gave 5 million xp when killed - quite nice, but I was already well over
level 50.
    151 greater chaos servants
     57 greater claw bugs
*** First kill, and they got me up to level 14 or so.
      1 greater fire elemental
      2 greater molochs
*** Bumped into in the unreal dungeon.  They got the usual acid ball
treatment...
     26 karmic baby dragons
*** Room of these in the tower gave me some nice ex and eq.
      9 killer bugs
      4 liches
*** Played with these a little in the CoC graveyard and gave up when they
weren't providing much xp.
      1 master necromancer
      1 Master Summoner
      1 master thief
      2 molochs
      1 Snake from Beyond
      1 undead chaos dwarven berserker
    135 writhing masses of primal chaos


EDIT: Oh, and didn't know or think about darknes working on the shopkeeper. Ah well, didn't need the points anyway, and there might've been some risk to it.

I think I can definitely do this all faster. I wasted a lot of time hunting blink dogs, going back and forth between areas, and killing things I didn't need to. Pure spellcasting is definitely the way to go, with invisibility and teleport used to bypass most areas and monsters. Playing that level 50 troll previously helped me know which enemies were worth killing for xp or not. I would have definitely done better with Farsight earlier for quicker exploration (only got it very near the end of the game). High Kings certainly seems worth cutting out since the guardian is easily passed, and even killing one guardian can be worth some xp (though I was never really short).

Thanks for giving me another challenge to be obsessed with, gut :) At least unlike IronMan and BrimstoneMan I've had some auccess with this straight away...
Waldenbrook, the dwarven shopkeeper, mumbles: "I'd offer 9 gold pieces for yer dwarven child corpse."

[Edited 1 time, last edit on 4/11/2008 at 09:28 (GMT -5) by Darren Grey]
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4891 days, 16 hours, 35 minutes and 12 seconds ago.
Posted on Friday, April 11, 2008 at 09:59 (GMT -5)

That's impessive. It beat my highscore by a fair
clip too : ) Kind of surprising that diamond golems
and doppleganger kings were no threat to you. Wow!

> Very little corruption in the game as a whole,

I have actually gone through an entire game,
without ever generating a SoCR, and still left
the chain with no corruption. There's only so
much one can get corrupted in 25000! turns.
I don't think I have ever done it in 41 days.
Especially without 7LB's for most of the game!

> Have to wonder what's the best way to optimise
> points in terms of doing other little quests
> here and there before leaving.

I'm not completely sure, but I think the unicorn
and blup quests are worth it. I normally do those.
I have been thinking about the bug temple too
though. The guide book says you need to crush all
of the statues to stop the bug spawning, but
that's not true. There are only two statues that
need to be crushed, to stop the spawning, and
get the credit (points). One would still have
to battle through them all though.

Also, I think that the items you have equipped
when exiting the chain also have an effect on
your score. That's why in some .flg's you will
see a PC having a stack of 182 Si's in their
missile slot. If you had worn the AMW, and a
few other valuable items, it would have boosted
your score somewhat. I'm sorry I forgot to
mention that, but I thought you probably already
knew. Anyway, I usually don't do that. I like
for my finishing equipment to reflect what I
wore on D:50. (For some reason?)

Holy champions of law also get more points.
If memory serves, I think you also get points
for ID'ing tremendous amounts of items.

> In such a short game I only came across a half
> dozen cats

I think my record for fewest cat sightings is
three. One was in the arena.

> 1 Chaos Archmage

Did you blind or confuse him first? Go in after
him?

It gets addictive : )


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Silfir
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4062 days, 15 hours and 26 seconds ago.
Posted on Friday, April 11, 2008 at 10:24 (GMT -5)

Doppleganger kings are tremendously easy to kill with spells of any sort, since they don't copy resistances or immunities.

And with Magic Missile, there is no monster you have to be afraid of.
You drop the golden ball.
You kick the golden ball. It slides to the west.
Suddenly Harry Potter, the apprentice wizard, appears! "That's not how you play Quidditch! are you even listening?"
Which direction? (123456789) 4
Harry Potter, the apprentice wizard, is hit by a bolt of acid! Harry Potter, the apprentice wizard, is annihilated.
You hear the ecstatic cries of a large crowd!
Darren Grey
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4233 days, 14 hours, 18 minutes and 16 seconds ago.
Posted on Friday, April 11, 2008 at 10:40 (GMT -5)

Yeah, acid ball simply made the doppelgangers kinga evaporate, whilst a few hits of magic missiles easily took down the diamond golems (they never seemed to shrug them off). I was actually using the diamond golems as shields for the balors whilst casting acid ball, since they weren't hitting me often (the balors didn't hit me often either, but they had corrupting hits).

As for the Archmage, no preparations whatsoever. Went in and acid balled him, plain and simple. Always stayed out of direct line from him, and had to cast Light a few times, but he didn't last very long.
Waldenbrook, the dwarven shopkeeper, mumbles: "I'd offer 9 gold pieces for yer dwarven child corpse."
Darren Grey
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4233 days, 14 hours, 18 minutes and 16 seconds ago.
Posted on Monday, April 14, 2008 at 10:18 (GMT -5)

Hmm, just been studying what the guidebook says about the final score. I find it hard to believe what it says is wholly accurate or complete, but it's interesting to serve as a guide for the relative weights of what is there. It seems that perhaps one major reason why my score was so higher than gut's characters was because I had picked up way more xp, which weighs very heavily on the final score. This makes teleporting into vaults and quickly killing the main guys a very turn-efficient way of increasing the score count. Might also make the BDC more lucrative, since there's quite a bit of xp to be had in there.

Being paragon of order gives a huge bonus. Saving Khelly is also worth quite a lot. Minor quests don't seem to be worth much in the scheme of things, but saving Blup seems worth it for how quickly it can be done. Another big factor is HP - every point above 300 gives a big bonus. Drinking potions of boost toughness before leaving the chain would obviously enhance the score (though I personally don't like such artificial enhancements). There's a decent bonus for getting through the game without prayers, but I find that very hard to do. Dunno how you manage to achieve it, gut - I had to spend a huge number of prayers on restoring PP (17 in total according to the flg). High piety can also give a decent bonus, which explains why the piety abusers on the hall of fame have such tremendous scores.

Personally I'd like to knock the third place down, since as much as I respect what a great player Alex is I don't like seeing a piety abuser on such a high spot (the two archmages I don't mind). I think it might be possible with a lawful speed victory (means finding a whip early I guess - and blink dogs before that), especially if I can save Khelly. Might try with a grey elven wizard, simply to compare with my gnome. Can probably cut down on turns immensely if I can find early books of Farsight, Invisibility and Teleport. Lightning Ball would also make an early DF pool wish possible.
Waldenbrook, the dwarven shopkeeper, mumbles: "I'd offer 9 gold pieces for yer dwarven child corpse."

[Edited 1 time, last edit on 4/14/2008 at 10:19 (GMT -5) by Darren Grey]
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4891 days, 16 hours, 35 minutes and 12 seconds ago.
Posted on Monday, April 14, 2008 at 11:40 (GMT -5)

> Personally I'd like to knock the third place down,

Agreed, and I heartily second the respect also :P

> I think it might be possible with a lawful
> speed victory (means finding a whip early I guess

Actually, if you kill Hotz after doing the BUGWIL,
the amulet of law will still work well enough.
Wear it while looking for a blinky, and on the
road to dwarftown, you will almost always be at
L alignment by the time you hit DT. I no longer
do this though, as I'm 90% possitive that the
dwarven mystic's SoCR are based on holding your
N (whatever flavor) alignment for 2000 turns,
before chatting with him.

A whip would work nicely though, and are often
generated in the black market. Also, if one does
encounter a white altar at any point in the game,
conversion is no longer a problem. Just have to
remember to stop munching on wight corpses after : )

> Can probably cut down on turns immensely

That seems to be my problem lately, I am not
really trying for 24000 turns, but the fewest
possible turns. There is a BIG difference between
the two. I am certain that a few of my latest
deaths could have been avoided with a bit more
patience, but the point is to do the best I can,
so I don't regret it. Much.

One option about early spellbooks, is to roll
PC's until you get them. I know it's scummy, but
you don't have to roll a TP spellbook. If you have
a source of invisibility, Barnabus can be robbed
for a great spellbook sometimes. Roll scumming
seems to be more efficient though, in terms of
real life time spent.

> Hmm, just been studying what the guidebook says
> about the final score

You have some interesting ideas about this, especially
the BDC's. In addition to what you stated, I also
think there are score benefits for ID'ing many
items. I have no programing exp. myself, so I
don't know what the benefits are, but if I have
the SoA spell, I will sometimes pick up a lot of junk
throughout the game, for no other purpose than
ID'ing it.

I also don't like 'artificial' inflation of the
score, but I don't consider this too bad, because
it does help find useful items (like robes of
invisibility), that easily blend in with often
overlooked items.

Actually, I am more concerned with the 'turns'
aspect of the challenge, than the score. The
nice scores are fun, but if given the choice
between a higher score or fewer turns, I would
choose the latter.

I do believe that when the HoF is next updated,
'Rip' should knock the piety abused PC down a
notch already. I may try playing some PC's for
score, instead of turns, to try to bump him again.
I also think the archmages are cool, they make
for interesting and informative reads as well.
Besides, I have no realistic way of bumping them
down anyway : )

Piety scumming isn't exactly easy, so I don't
have a problem with piety abusing PC's on the
Hof, but the score benefits are just too big for
the amount of effort involved. It would be like
using casino gold (or dragon gold doubling) to
just inflate piety for a huge score. Even worse,
would be if someone figured out how to manipulate
the 'got the merchants guild to owe him money'
bug. They could potentially hold the #1 spot,
permanantly, even if they had relatively little
play skill.



Put me in the 'fool filter', where I belong!


[Edited 1 time, last edit on 4/14/2008 at 11:44 (GMT -5) by gut]
Silfir
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4062 days, 15 hours and 26 seconds ago.
Posted on Monday, April 14, 2008 at 12:08 (GMT -5)

I dunno. Piety overflow sounds to me like it shouldn't deserve a place in the HoF at all. Casino gold should be better enforced - making the big casino guard teleportation resistant for instance, forcing you to take some other measure to remove him - but the fact that the slot machines' odds are in favor of the player instead of the house at least was intentional. Dragon doubling gold may also be a feature rather than a bug, but integer overflows definitely belong to the latter group.
You drop the golden ball.
You kick the golden ball. It slides to the west.
Suddenly Harry Potter, the apprentice wizard, appears! "That's not how you play Quidditch! are you even listening?"
Which direction? (123456789) 4
Harry Potter, the apprentice wizard, is hit by a bolt of acid! Harry Potter, the apprentice wizard, is annihilated.
You hear the ecstatic cries of a large crowd!
Darren Grey
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4233 days, 14 hours, 18 minutes and 16 seconds ago.
Posted on Monday, April 14, 2008 at 12:10 (GMT -5)

There are players on the HoF with the merchants guild score bug - they are listed as bugged score :P Jan is thankfully wary of that.

I thought the IDed items aspect was simply the number of entries in your "/" list - if so it's worth rather little overall. XP dominates everything, and this can be clearly seen by just looking at the high score list. It's the biggest reason those archmages have their place (wishing for EMs and AKWs to kill whilst slowed to 10 speed, etc).

When I talked about "artificial" inflation I meant doing things just before leaving the Chain just to increase your score - using stat-boosting potions is especially bad.

Good point on the amulet or order - will definitely have to try that. But again you're right about the SoCRs from the mystic. Still, if I could save Khelly that wouldn't be an issue.

Speedrun OCG might also be interesting... Hmm... Guess I've got 3 challenges to give myself now: fastest game (have to beat you :P), higher score, and OCG highest score. And still gotta do the max artifacts some time... (wish that troll hadn't crashed - now I know about xp affecting the score so much that guy would have gotten an insane number of points)
Waldenbrook, the dwarven shopkeeper, mumbles: "I'd offer 9 gold pieces for yer dwarven child corpse."
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4891 days, 16 hours, 35 minutes and 12 seconds ago.
Posted on Monday, April 14, 2008 at 14:55 (GMT -5)

> I dunno. Piety overflow sounds to me like it
> shouldn't deserve a place in the HoF at all

As long as it is documented, I don't mind so much.
I can just take that into account, in my own
evaluation. I suppose though, if one looked at it
from the standpoint of 'what if everyone did it',
it wouldn't seem as ok anymore. All there would
be is just piety scummers at the top. Not good.

> There are players on the HoF with the merchants
> guild score bug - they are listed as bugged
> score :P

So THAT's what that meant. I had never read those,
thinking some 'memory editing' had occured. It's
nice to know it was just the merchant's guild bug.

> When I talked about "artificial" inflation I
> meant doing things just before leaving the
> Chain just to increase your score - using stat
> -boosting potions is especially bad.

I think the game takes into consideration stat-
boosting, and doesn't count it. Also, I think it's
the same way with speed, but again, I'm not sure.
I don't think there is anything unseemly about
equipping your best gear before leaving the chain.
It makes sense that one would dress well, for
their return home : ) Equipping a gazillion Si's
in the missile slot is pushing it though. I think
I did that in one of my previous games, just to
see if it actually worked, and I noticed little
difference in the final score. I don't think I
will do that again.

To me, it also seems a bit 'artificial' to wish for
AKW's in the SMC while invisible, just before
leaving the chain. I have also done that as well,
although not in any of my HoF victories. I had a
RoDS at the end of one of those wins, and was
sorely tempted, but it really wasn't a challenge
encountered in the course of the game, so I
skipped it. I would have been doing it only for
points, and no other reason. If I were to really
pursue points though, I would do it. I don't
think that's too scummy.

> Speedrun OCG might also be interesting...

It's been a while since I've done an ultra, I'll
leave that one to you : ) That did get me thinking
about early game experimentation with corruption
traps though. Corruption is required in an OCG
game, so trying for teleportitis may be worth the
early game corruption. Maybe not though, do to the
chance of killing your dexterity.

One final thing, I did kill the Oracle in my last
game, just to test the effects. I thought that I
might be able to deal with the early game dooming,
but alas, it's too difficult. Some PC's would
have to abuse starvation, to make use of the +6
learning boost. I try to avoid sickness and
starvation tactics, in most of these games, so
my gray elf wound up with only a +2 learning
boost. Still nice, except for the dooming.

I realized that there is no danger in killing the
Oracle for any PC. Her spells only work in a
straight line, and she can not cross water, or
walk through walls. She is forced to stand in one
her island and eat arrows until dead. I killed
her with three arrows, with my bow skill at 0.
It would definitely be a benefit, if only there
were an early-game way of doom removal. The only
way I can think of is kick robbing stores, and
that's too scummy to me.

Put me in the 'fool filter', where I belong!
Darren Grey
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4233 days, 14 hours, 18 minutes and 16 seconds ago.
Posted on Monday, April 14, 2008 at 18:31 (GMT -5)

I'd forgotten about the corruption requirements for an OCG - that makes it quite a bit harder. Would like to see how quickly I could do it though. Requires a bit of luck getting PoCC and SoD obviously.

I decided it was time to do a little research into this points business, and I've turned up some very enlightening results... When I was playing Mugs I made a backup just before the final descent in case of a crash/power outage etc, so I've kept it around since winning for testing stuff. Closing the gate and saving again before playing around reveals the following things before leaving the Chain:

1. Equipment makes no difference to the final score. None at all. Wearing nothing is the same as wielding the TotRR and lots of great artifacts. Whoever equips 100 sis in their missile slots is wasting their time.

2. Number of saves doesn't matter. Obviously can't test with zero saves, but I get the impression there's no bonus for it either.

3. Stat boosting has no effect. Not sure about changing actual base stats.

4. Killing the Master Thief and becoming head of the guild is worth 20,000 points (this matches the Guidebook's statement of 5k before multipliers).

5. Each corruption is worth around -20k points.

6. Experience is worth around 1 point for every 3.5 xp. This means that 1,000,000 xp is worth about 290,000 points.

7. Using the turn reduction bug I've been able to look at how low turn amounts affect the final score. It seems that below 80k turns on completion you start getting a points bonus. You get 1000 points per turn under 80k, up to a maximum of 80 million points for 0 turns (I was able to get a bonus of 79,997,000 when completing on turn 3).

8. Sacrificing 100 gold is worth 130 points.

This all means that the low number of turns is hugely more important than anything else. Shaving 1k turns is worth a million points - the same as saving Khelly (if the Guidebook amount is right) or getting 3.5 million xp. Killing the master thief has to be done in 20 turns or it's not profitable. Same with each of the dwarven quests. Blup's mom has to be done in 80 turns - same for getting crowned in fact. Of course this looks at a direct points per turns swapping - it doesn't take into account how the rewards for these quests impact your game. But cutting every possible corner still seems wise.

It seems possible that being a paragon of order would give 8 million points, as the guidebook says, meaning it's obviously quite worth some effort. Sacrificing millions of gold is also an easy way to get more than millions of points, though the only ways to attain that sort of gold are scummy.

I need an extra 20 million points to get the number 3 place. My plan is to somehow make this up from the following:
-8 million from a lawful victory
-5 million from finishing in 20k turns
-1 million from saving Khelly (maybe)
-2/3 million from BDC
-rest from... somehow...

I suppose killing several EGs is another possibility, if it takes less than 500 turns each. AKW and casino shopkeeper would also become necessary targets, possibly Blup's mom too (though that's a very chaotic act). Slow monster spell would help increase xp yields.
Waldenbrook, the dwarven shopkeeper, mumbles: "I'd offer 9 gold pieces for yer dwarven child corpse."
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4891 days, 16 hours, 35 minutes and 12 seconds ago.
Posted on Monday, April 14, 2008 at 20:03 (GMT -5)

A lot of interesting stuff there.

> Equipment makes no difference to the final score

I'm surprised by that, but I shouldn't be. My
own experience with missile Si's indicated little
or no benefit. Nice to know for sure in any case.

> Number of saves doesn't matter

That one, I already knew from my own (long ago)
tests. That's just a personal challenge.

> Stat boosting has no effect. Not sure about
> changing actual base stats.

I'm pretty sure that increasing base stats
gives benefits.

> Using the turn reduction bug I've been able to

Turn... reduction... bug.
what
Please do not tell me, there is a bug in the
game, that would allow anyone to finish in as
few turns as they choose.

> It seems that below 80k turns on completion
> you start getting a points bonus.

Really 80k, the guidebook said 50. I'm inclined
to believe your numbers though.

> Shaving 1k turns is worth a million points

Goodness!

> Killing the master thief has to be done in
> 20 turns or it's not profitable

Wow! Still, the BM discount might be worth it.
Did you check to see how costly prayers were?

> -5 million from finishing in 20k turns

Ambitious, to say the least. Limiting prayers
should be worth something, so maybe that can
help a bit with score.

There was a thread, long ago about increasing
score. If memory serves, it was when Alex was
going for the highscore. I forget where I found
it, may have been google groups. Anyway, it might
be worth searching out, if you like. I think I
remember reading there that you get points for
increased weapon/missile marks. Also, increased
spellcastings of the spells you know (or was it
effectivity?) give points. I don't know if that
would be turn efficient though.


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Silfir
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4062 days, 15 hours and 26 seconds ago.
Posted on Tuesday, April 15, 2008 at 06:42 (GMT -5)

There is a turn reduction bug. I discovered it while playing Rhea. I didn't announce it because I don't want people abusing it to get more turns in, though apparently Darren Grey knew it anyway. Since he didn't use it (that much I think I can have trust in), it's fine though.

With this bug, it's possible to finish the game with exactly one or two turns on the turn counter, depending on whether leaving the chain counts as one turn or not.
You drop the golden ball.
You kick the golden ball. It slides to the west.
Suddenly Harry Potter, the apprentice wizard, appears! "That's not how you play Quidditch! are you even listening?"
Which direction? (123456789) 4
Harry Potter, the apprentice wizard, is hit by a bolt of acid! Harry Potter, the apprentice wizard, is annihilated.
You hear the ecstatic cries of a large crowd!
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4891 days, 16 hours, 35 minutes and 12 seconds ago.
Posted on Tuesday, April 15, 2008 at 12:30 (GMT -5)

drats.

I knew that kind of thing was possible
with memory editors, but having a bug
like that in the game is disheartening.


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Darren Grey
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4233 days, 14 hours, 18 minutes and 16 seconds ago.
Posted on Tuesday, April 15, 2008 at 12:30 (GMT -5)

I've been aware of the bug for a while now - can't remember where I learnt of it. Never abused it of course (though it's almost unavoidable for it to happen a small amount during the course of any game). I'm guessing you noticed it Silfir because Rhea has the turn counter on in the dynamic display? Anyway, I won't post the details here, but I can e-mail you the info if you're morbidly curious, gut. It's disgustingly simple and easy to abuse, but I've never heard of anyone abusing it for score purposes (other than in my testings). 3 turns is the best you can leave the Chain on - I'll leave the practical considerations of that as something for you to ponder on, Silfir ;)

gut:
>Did you check to see how costly prayers were?

Prayers increase in cost exponentially based on use of each type. I don't know the exact values for any of them (other than an idea of precrowns), but abusing prayers a lot will quickly lead to drastic reductions. I think I saw some code-dived info on this long ago on RGRA, with exact costs for each type of prayer.

>Ambitious, to say the least. Limiting prayers
>should be worth something, so maybe that can
>help a bit with score.

Actually I really think abusing prayers for PP regeneration is the way to go. That way you can spend most of the game teleporting everywhere. The bonus for getting by without prayers doesn't seem very much, and keeping piety high isn't all that worth it unless you can invest several million gold (notably I could get the 20 million points easily with 15 million gold).

>I think I
>remember reading there that you get points for
>increased weapon/missile marks. Also, increased
>spellcastings of the spells you know (or was it
>effectivity?) give points. I don't know if that
>would be turn efficient though.

You've seen the info above - almost nothing is turn-efficient. Turns are worth such an insane amount. Even making Blup happy isn't worth it unless you can find the cave, teleport in, chat, teleport out, get to Terinyo, find Blup, chat with him and get out all in under 80 turns - actually quite hard! If guidebook figures are anything to go by then 1000 spell memory gets you 800 points and 1000 weapon marks gets you 200 points. This is only worth considering for archmages that are after every little point possible.

Khelly's worth saving if you have a convenient altar and access to DF pools - 1000 turns worth of points and added rewards to boot. Dwarf quests aren't worth it (tempted to even skip griffyard). Most levelled should be skipped with Magic Map + Farsight + Teleport unless there's high xp monsters worth skipping. Slow Monster would be a handy spell in this respect. Cat lord may actually be worth killing for the xp.... (though I don't think I'd risk that)
Waldenbrook, the dwarven shopkeeper, mumbles: "I'd offer 9 gold pieces for yer dwarven child corpse."

[Edited 1 time, last edit on 4/15/2008 at 12:31 (GMT -5) by Darren Grey]
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Posted on Tuesday, April 15, 2008 at 12:51 (GMT -5)

> I'm guessing you noticed it Silfir because Rhea
> has the turn counter on in the dynamic display?

I have the dynamic display set to turns, from the
beginning to end of EVERY game I play! How could
I miss a turn bug?!

> Anyway, I won't post the details here, but I can
> e-mail you the info if you're morbidly curious,

Goodness no! I'm the opposite of curious, I'm
crushed. This is horrible. After failing about
a hundred consecutive attempts to reach some mark
like 20,000, if I did it NOW nobody would believe
it.

I know that's exactly the way it would happen too.
In my very next game, I'm assured of a book shop
on D:1, three stable morgia/moss patches on D:2,
and a blink dog corpse on D:3. I will easily beat
the game in less than 20,000 turns. Of course it
will look a bit suspicious, after just finding
out about a turn reduction bug.

I will keep trying anyway.


Put me in the 'fool filter', where I belong!
Darren Grey
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4233 days, 14 hours, 18 minutes and 16 seconds ago.
Posted on Tuesday, April 15, 2008 at 14:14 (GMT -5)

I'm afraid due to a sudden chaotic urge I've sent you the details of the turn reduction bug, including the best method for reducing turns by huge amounts quickly (in real life time of course - in game time it's nothing). You could delete it without reading, but I don't think you have enough Wi to do that ;P

Oh, and thinking about it you can get out of the Chain with 2 turns on the clock actually.
Waldenbrook, the dwarven shopkeeper, mumbles: "I'd offer 9 gold pieces for yer dwarven child corpse."
FantomFang
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5793 days, 48 minutes and 31 seconds ago.
Posted on Tuesday, April 15, 2008 at 17:07 (GMT -5)

See, now i have the urge to know it to, see what you've done! =) Not like it matters anyways, i've never been much for cheats and stuff like that, i know playing my ADOM chars i never went out of my way to abuse anything. It's more satisfying that way .

I just gotta say though, because i find it kind of funny, but my last 2 characters, who i successfully got to the low 20's in level with have both died because of starvation, directly or indirectly. First one crushed by luggage while starvation training, because i was too retarded to put my girdle of carrying on and then after 3 turns of starving status was crushed. The 2nd character starved to death b/c i wasn't paying enough attention while holding down the 5 button on the number pad to get the ratling traders to restock, and starved to death without the game stopping me =P I'm sticking to w5 from now on, lol.
Going for 2nd win
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4891 days, 16 hours, 35 minutes and 12 seconds ago.
Posted on Tuesday, April 15, 2008 at 19:04 (GMT -5)

> You could delete it without reading, but I
> don't think you have enough Wi to do that ;P

Nope. Not enough Wi at all : )
It is a fiendish little bug, and I have
unknowingly been shaving a point here
and a piont there for years, without
even knowing it. Well, it's good to
know, so now I can avoid it at least.
Thanks.


Put me in the 'fool filter', where I belong!
Darren Grey
Registered user

Last page view:

4233 days, 14 hours, 18 minutes and 16 seconds ago.
Posted on Tuesday, April 15, 2008 at 19:54 (GMT -5)

It's not something I ever think about or consider avoiding - it's simply part of any game. I can't imagine it makes too much difference overall unless you knowingly try to use it more.

Hmm, just thinking of an alternative line for your sig:

The beggar eagerly snatches up the heap of 1000 cursed moss of mareilons and devours them. The beggar scream "Oh my stomach! I'm getting shaky!!!" The beggar's joints begin to lock up, slowing him down immensely, until suddenly the integer wraps round and he blasts off at close to the speed of light.
"Whhheeeeeeeeeee!!!!"
You feel as though behaving in relativistic form.
Waldenbrook, the dwarven shopkeeper, mumbles: "I'd offer 9 gold pieces for yer dwarven child corpse."
Portrait
gut
Registered user
Painted this one too.


Last page view:

4891 days, 16 hours, 35 minutes and 12 seconds ago.
Posted on Tuesday, April 15, 2008 at 21:13 (GMT -5)

I have been trying to think of variations, but I
had not thought of one like that: ) That's a good
one.


Put me in the 'fool filter', where I belong!
Silfir
Registered user
Writer of Overly Long Guides


Last page view:

4062 days, 15 hours and 26 seconds ago.
Posted on Wednesday, April 16, 2008 at 03:19 (GMT -5)

You had me starting to get confused there, Darren... Now I'm still not sure whether we're talking about the same bug. The vague clues lead me to believe it's plausible we do, though...
You drop the golden ball.
You kick the golden ball. It slides to the west.
Suddenly Harry Potter, the apprentice wizard, appears! "That's not how you play Quidditch! are you even listening?"
Which direction? (123456789) 4
Harry Potter, the apprentice wizard, is hit by a bolt of acid! Harry Potter, the apprentice wizard, is annihilated.
You hear the ecstatic cries of a large crowd!
vogonpoet
Registered user

Last page view:

4950 days, 21 hours and 49 minutes ago.
Posted on Wednesday, April 16, 2008 at 04:25 (GMT -5)

Man you guys are killing me with curiosity. Harsh indeed.


My own attempts at a limited turn / relatively but not relativistic speed game have been abysmal (I would be more than happy to get in under 60000 turns and/or 90 day limit to be honest):

lots (20? 30?) of elves went to fairly quick deaths, gnomes doing a bit better.

Current gnome getting screwed by RNG into becoming somebody else:
1/ surge of power on Si level gave her the dwarven pickaxe, making mining for knowledge dreadfully tempting.
2/ Four spellbooks in Waldenbrooks, two invisiblity, one strength atlas. Awesome shopping. Fourth book, Wish. Oh my god, Wish. Am on book caster line already, so now trying Archmage attempt becomes horrendously tempting, with trip to library and maybe BDC scum.
3/ Found WoW with one charge in DH2, so saved Kelly for tele book, and now attempt for my first ever Ultra ending tempting too.

Currently at top of pyramid at around 16000 turns (was in ID for ages and ages before first spellbook of Tele and Telecontrol), with one more wish, not sure what to do about temptations.

If I wish for spellbooks of Acid Ball, now I have my second Telebook, I guess my Gnome could still come in under 60000 turns (still no magic map), but, but, but Wish......

I hate dilemmas
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