Ancient Domains Of Mystery, forum overview / Spoilers / Shambling mound bug
| Online users ( Unknown) |
| Application object not working properly at the moment, no clue who is online... * Numbers in parentheses are the number of minutes since the user last loaded a page. Logged-in users time out after 40 minutes (unless they manually log out), lurkers and anonymous posters after 20. |
 Zephyr Registered user Solar Last page view: 4897 days, 10 hours, 22 minutes and 25 seconds ago. |
I was just playing with a ~lv. 20 human wizard, when I came across a shambling mound in the NDC (Above darkforge). Figuring I should train up my lightning spells, I starting casting Lightning Bolt on it. I would be told "The shambling mound is hit by the lightning bolt! The shambling mound seems to grow!". I haven't seen that second half before, so I kept casting. And kept casting. For quite some time. His HP by looking at him showed he was "Critically injured", but he wouldn't die. Eventually I switched to Burning hands, and killed him in a few hits. Level up, yay! Then I looked at my monster memory, and it showed that shambling mounds have an average of 1978 hp, and are worth 168467 xp. I don't think this is normal, and does this always work? If so, perhaps a really easy way to scum for xp, if you have a lot of patience... Give a man a fire, and he will be warm for a day. Light a man on fire, and he will be warm for the rest of his life. |
||
|
Maelstrom Registered user The Knight of the Black Rose Last page view: 3115 days, 16 hours, 52 minutes and 43 seconds ago. |
THis is not a bug. Shambling Mounds are creatures that are boosted by lightning - it has been that way since D&D 1st Edition. A pessimist sees a dark tunnel. An optimist sees a light at the end of that tunnel. A realist sees a train. And the train driver sees three idiots on the tracks. |
||
|
Zephyr Registered user Solar Last page view: 4897 days, 10 hours, 22 minutes and 25 seconds ago. |
Ah, ok. Oddly, this boosting ability of theirs isn't listed in the monster memory afterwards, and I don't think it raised anything other than HP, but I'm not sure. He certainly didn't come close to killing me. Give a man a fire, and he will be warm for a day. Light a man on fire, and he will be warm for the rest of his life. |
||
|
Maelstrom Registered user The Knight of the Black Rose Last page view: 3115 days, 16 hours, 52 minutes and 43 seconds ago. |
It should have increased it's speed, shambling mounds gained a ton of Dexterity off Lightning attacks in the RPG. A pessimist sees a dark tunnel. An optimist sees a light at the end of that tunnel. A realist sees a train. And the train driver sees three idiots on the tracks. |
||
|
Zephyr Registered user Solar Last page view: 4897 days, 10 hours, 22 minutes and 25 seconds ago. |
It didn't seem to. My monster memory says they seem to have a speed of 104. Maybe a bit high for a shambling mound, but not any kind of a detterent for spamming. Give a man a fire, and he will be warm for a day. Light a man on fire, and he will be warm for the rest of his life. |
||
|
Darren Grey Registered user Last page view: 4237 days, 21 hours, 23 minutes and 31 seconds ago. |
Hmm, new way to scum xp... Waldenbrook, the dwarven shopkeeper, mumbles: "I'd offer 9 gold pieces for yer dwarven child corpse." |
||
|
Nezur lurking Unregistered user |
> Hmm, new way to scum xp... Indeed. :P |
||
|
Zephyr Registered user Solar Last page view: 4897 days, 10 hours, 22 minutes and 25 seconds ago. |
Doing a little experimenting, it also seems to raise its number of attacks (very slowly) and its attack strength. However, if you have a high DV, it doesn't matter too much. My Wiz gained two levels off one shambling mound, and it wasn't too difficult, except that the mound was faster than him, (Sp. 104 or something, Wiz was bloated and prob'ly burdened), and had used all his PP to zap him. Anyway, a *shocking* amount of xp. Har har har. Give a man a fire, and he will be warm for a day. Light a man on fire, and he will be warm for the rest of his life. |
||
|
FantomFang Registered user Last page view: 5797 days, 7 hours, 53 minutes and 46 seconds ago. |
Huh, just checked my D&D 3rd edition Monster Manual, and it's description of Shambling Mounds fits more correctly with the OP's descritption of what happened. Quoted from MM: "Shamblers take no damage from electricity. Instead, any electrical attack (such as shocking grasp or lightning bolt) used against a shambler grants it 1d4 points of temporary constitution. The shambler loses these points at the rate of 1 per hour" That certainly seems to fit with the description =P Going for 2nd win |
||
|
J. Registered user You'll never get rid of me Last page view: 5662 days, 16 hours, 17 minutes and 51 seconds ago. |
Cool stuff! Will be sure to squeeze mucho exp out of shambling mounds every time I meet one from now on. If you're feeling happy, don't worry, it'll go away. Originally posted by noob: "I'm everytime amazed how you people know to exploit every single little bug (or not-bug) for elaborated scumming tatics even if the feature seems completely useless or bad." |
||
|
THC842 Registered user Last page view: 4484 days, 20 hours, 59 minutes and 31 seconds ago. |
Now, zap that sum' bitch a few times, then cast slow monster (on self of course) |
||
|
Darren Grey Registered user Last page view: 4237 days, 21 hours, 23 minutes and 31 seconds ago. |
And invis on it. Waldenbrook, the dwarven shopkeeper, mumbles: "I'd offer 9 gold pieces for yer dwarven child corpse." |
||
|
Zephyr Registered user Solar Last page view: 4897 days, 10 hours, 22 minutes and 25 seconds ago. |
Now, it doesn't follow exactly the way it's written in the MM, since I did kill one of the shambling mounds with a lightning bolt. It was a bit dissapointing, since I was hoping to keep it going for longer. Give a man a fire, and he will be warm for a day. Light a man on fire, and he will be warm for the rest of his life. |
||
|
Darren Grey Registered user Last page view: 4237 days, 21 hours, 23 minutes and 31 seconds ago. |
Using the Creator's Day contest char I just took on a shambling mound with about 100 divine wraths. It stayed at critical throughout. I ran out of PP and so killed it in melee - 497814 xp. That's with a speed of 186 - I could have gotten way more xp with slow monster on myself and invis on it. Monster memory says shambling mounds have between 109-12477 HP. If I ever make an archmage this might be my preferred method of getting large amounts of xp - greater molochs and AKWs are a bit more of a threat. Waldenbrook, the dwarven shopkeeper, mumbles: "I'd offer 9 gold pieces for yer dwarven child corpse." |
||
|
Nezur Registered user Last page view: 5435 days, 21 hours, 47 minutes and 14 seconds ago. |
Brilliant! I'll have to try that once I meet one. |
||
|
Nezur Registered user Last page view: 5435 days, 21 hours, 47 minutes and 14 seconds ago. |
Well, I tried out the bouncing bolts tactic described at the official forum on a shambling mound. AdomBotted a WoWi for wishing for the mound. My test Wizard's willpower was 48. I cast lightning bolt (R: 26, 6-7 pp [Power varied]) 50 times - cost 300-350 PPs. The mound was hit 9 times every casting. I turned it invisible, slowed myself down and killed it using Burning Hands - 12200000 xps. I turned an AKW invisible, slowed myself down and killed it using Petrification - 8000000 xps. Another one - 7.5 million xps. Third - 7.8 million xps. [Edited 1 time, last edit on 7/9/2008 at 16:13 (GMT -5) by Nezur] |
||
|
Darren Grey Registered user Last page view: 4237 days, 21 hours, 23 minutes and 31 seconds ago. |
...AKW can be petrified? Sure as hell didn't know that... Anyway, clear enough that shamblers aren't that much better than AKW when wished for, and take a bit more effort with the bolting malarky. Still, since any monster reduces in xp gains by 50% after 20 kills (and further after more kills) it's probably best to use a mix of these to get the highest xp rewards. What sort of speed did you go down to for the kill? Maximum xp gain is 1 billion. With 10 speed I wonder how quickly that can be attained... and if the xp loop would kick in, heh. Waldenbrook, the dwarven shopkeeper, mumbles: "I'd offer 9 gold pieces for yer dwarven child corpse." |
||
|
Nezur Registered user Last page view: 5435 days, 21 hours, 47 minutes and 14 seconds ago. |
> ...AKW can be petrified? Sure as hell didn't know that... Yep, it is possible. Sometimes they resist the spell. I was looking for a quick way to pop one off so I decided to try it. As I suspected not all powerful monsters are immune to the instakilling spells. > Anyway, clear enough that shamblers aren't that much better than AKW > when wished for, and take a bit more effort with the bolting malarky. If I badly wanted a lot of xp and had the necessary resources and a lot of Lightning Bolt castings I'd probably even wish for a shambling mound. By the way I noticed that Lightning Ball doesn't make shambling mounds grow. > What sort of speed did you go down to for the kill? My speed was 55 when I killed them. I slowed myself down through the Slow Monster spell. Apparently you can increase the xp granted even further by throwing a potion of boost speed at the monster you are going to kill. [Edited 1 time, last edit on 7/10/2008 at 07:15 (GMT -5) by Nezur] |
||
|
Darren Grey Registered user Last page view: 4237 days, 21 hours, 23 minutes and 31 seconds ago. |
I've heard minimum speed possible is 10 - I would assume that the xp gathered might then be quintupled to 60 million. Certainly enough to bring a troll to level 50... Heh, the temptations I have now :) Waldenbrook, the dwarven shopkeeper, mumbles: "I'd offer 9 gold pieces for yer dwarven child corpse." |
||
|
Evil Knievel Registered user Last page view: 5435 days, 12 hours, 35 minutes and 42 seconds ago. |
Is this practical? How do you make sure that you actually kill the high powered monster when making yourself so weak? A shambling mound that grows does become more dangerous, right? |
||
|
Silfir Registered user Writer of Overly Long Guides Last page view: 4066 days, 22 hours, 5 minutes and 41 seconds ago. |
High DV alleviates the danger apparently, so if your DV is ULTRA-high, you can take the slowing. You have to weigh up risks. 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 Registered user Last page view: 4237 days, 21 hours, 23 minutes and 31 seconds ago. |
High PV would also protect you from lucky hits it gets in, and decent HP would mean armour punching attacks would be no bother either. You only have to last 10 attacks when slowed to one tenth of its speed - not hard. Waldenbrook, the dwarven shopkeeper, mumbles: "I'd offer 9 gold pieces for yer dwarven child corpse." |
||
|
Evil Knievel Registered user Last page view: 5435 days, 12 hours, 35 minutes and 42 seconds ago. |
I tried it, without slowing, but I jumped from lvl 19 to 20 by electroluting some 300PP on a shambling mound. He kept being critically damaged all the time, Hence, the final blow was easy. |
||
|
Silfir Registered user Writer of Overly Long Guides Last page view: 4066 days, 22 hours, 5 minutes and 41 seconds ago. |
Does slowing the monster too reduce the XP gain? 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! |
||
|
Nezur Registered user Last page view: 5435 days, 21 hours, 47 minutes and 14 seconds ago. |
Yes, it does. Speeding the monster up increases the XP gain. |