1st nh 3.6.1 ascension - neutral tourist turned lawful on the altar

[m***@gmail.com]

I have ascended many characters on 3.4.3. I have failed so many on the final drive (with the amulet). I play on a tablet with the android version.

This tourist had at least 3 magic lamps fail to provide wishes! I had 2 wands of death, a ring of conflict, ring of increase damage +5, potions of full health ... all vanished! Not sure how. Energy vortex or air elemental...can they explode stuff now? Alchemy also blew up some potions. :-(

Spell of charm monster got me out of tough spots surrounded by many tough critters.

I had a helm of opposite alignment (I don't like using them, but too many 3.6.1 fails). I went for the left altar (it was slightly closer). Famine got wand of death'ed (plane of air wish) 3 times. The altar was lawful and the helm gave it to me.

I meleed with +7 magic bane and 44 armour class including SDSM and CoMR. Danced with nurses to go from mid 150s hp to 260s hp.

I know tourist is a tough early role, but the 3.6.1 end game is hard for all the roles!

Time to go back to the real world now.... unless it rains again. :-)

[YakumoRising]

Post by m***@gmail.com
I have ascended many characters on 3.4.3. I have failed so many on the final drive (with the amulet). I play on a tablet with the android version.
This tourist had at least 3 magic lamps fail to provide wishes! I had 2 wands of death, a ring of conflict, ring of increase damage +5, potions of full health ... all vanished! Not sure how. Energy vortex or air elemental...can they explode stuff now? Alchemy also blew up some potions. :-(

Lightning attacks can explode rings and wands. That's nothing new.

[Janis Papanagnou]

Post by m***@gmail.com
This tourist had at least 3 magic lamps fail to provide wishes!

Were the lamps blessed? (Roughly 1% odds for three blessed lamps fail,
much worse for non-blessed lamps.)

Post by m***@gmail.com
I had 2 wands of death, a ring of conflict, ring of increase damage +5,
potions of full health ... all vanished! Not sure how. Energy vortex or
air elemental...

That's why spare wands and rings are best kept in a sack or bag. Potions
may get destroyed by fire or cold attacks. So keep potions (and scrolls)
also in your bag. (Given that you can ascend you should know that already,
I'd suppose, so it's not quite clear why you were surprised.)

Post by m***@gmail.com
I know tourist is a tough early role, but the 3.6.1 end game is hard for all the roles!

Until the endgame initial differences of the roles diminish significantly.
Astral had been a challenge even without the changes in recent versions.

Janis

[David Damerell]

Post by m***@gmail.com
This tourist had at least 3 magic lamps fail to provide wishes!

Did you check they were blessed? If not, that is not unlikely.

Post by m***@gmail.com
I had a helm of opposite alignment (I don't like using them, but too
many 3.6.1 fails). I went for the left altar (it was slightly closer).
Famine got wand of death'ed (plane of air wish) 3 times.

I would not waste wand of death charges on Famine.

[m***@gmail.com]

Yes I always bless the magic lamps before rubbing. Just bad roll I guess.

I know lightning can blow rings, but I thought reflection provided some protection.

Wands of death on pestilence and famine works well for me.

Thanks all.

[Janis Papanagnou]

Post by m***@gmail.com
I know lightning can blow rings, but I thought reflection provided some protection.

Even though I played 1000+ games I don't know for sure, but I wouldn't
risk getting engulfed by a shocking monster, or meleeing one, or also
suffering from electric eels' attacks[*], if I am still lacking shock
resistance. I also wouldn't bet on my rings and wands staying intact
if I get hit by a creature wielding Mjollnir, or by an electric trap
that I trigger when opening chests.

Janis

[*] Wearing a ring of levitation over Medusa's sea getting disintegrated
by an electric eel attack, anyone?

[jim in austin]

Post by Janis Papanagnou
[*] Wearing a ring of levitation over Medusa's sea getting disintegrated
by an electric eel attack, anyone?

No, but how about a water nymph stealing your water walking boots in
the midst of the Swamp?

[David Damerell]

Post by m***@gmail.com
I know lightning can blow rings, but I thought reflection provided some protection.

It protects completely against zaps and not at all against melee,
engulfing, etc.

Post by m***@gmail.com
Wands of death on pestilence and famine works well for me.

It's a complete waste on Famine.

[Janis Papanagnou]

Post by David Damerell

Post by m***@gmail.com
Wands of death on pestilence and famine works well for me.

It's a complete waste on Famine.

I would rate that differently. Of course, avoiding contact in
the first place is best. Jumping around, using conflict. From
distance using missiles - or death. As opposed to missiles a
wand (or spell) of death is an instant-death for Famine. Less
time for other monsters to rearrange around you, which would
otherwise make it again more likely that the rider resurrects
while you're close. In case Famine gets adjacent meleeing might
take too much time, you constantly have to cure the stunning
attack. A death ray may miss, sure, but with a tactical
reflecting wall chances are good that you hit him quickly.

If not for Famine and Pestilence, what else would we do with
our wand(s) of death on the Astral Plane? What other ranged
attack options are better? The many '@' there can just be
teleported away, there's no need for a precious death ray.

Janis

[David Damerell]

Post by Janis Papanagnou

Post by David Damerell

Post by m***@gmail.com
Wands of death on pestilence and famine works well for me.

It's a complete waste on Famine.

I would rate that differently. Of course, avoiding contact in
the first place is best. Jumping around, using conflict. From
distance using missiles - or death. As opposed to missiles a
wand (or spell) of death is an instant-death for Famine.

Or lots of other things, which we don't use wands of death on because
their attacks are not serious - like Famine.

Post by Janis Papanagnou
If not for Famine and Pestilence, what else would we do with
our wand(s) of death on the Astral Plane?

If not for Pestilence, indeed. Every WoDeath charge I don't use on Famine
is available for Pestilence, a vastly more serious threat. I find it hard
to imagine having so many that I wouldn't want to hold them back in case
of difficulty with Pestilence.

[Janis Papanagnou]

Post by David Damerell

Post by Janis Papanagnou
If not for Famine and Pestilence, what else would we do with
our wand(s) of death on the Astral Plane?

If not for Pestilence, indeed. Every WoDeath charge I don't use on Famine
is available for Pestilence, a vastly more serious threat. I find it hard
to imagine having so many that I wouldn't want to hold them back in case
of difficulty with Pestilence.

I tend to completely avoid Pestilence, using a helm to change my alignment
(if I have it), sometimes I even wish for it. If I have enough charges in
my wand (or many wands, or scrolls of charging, the latter usually available
at that point, either natively or I write them), then I do Pestilence second
if my maxHPs are not too high to meet death.

On NAO I've died two times by Famine and two times by Pestilence and once
by Death, though I also recall one of these deaths was a combined attack and
cannot be addressed to only one of them. That's clearly my incentive to not
spare my wand(s) of death when facing Famine.

Janis

[David Damerell]

Post by Janis Papanagnou
On NAO I've died two times by Famine and two times by Pestilence and once
by Death, though I also recall one of these deaths was a combined attack and
cannot be addressed to only one of them. That's clearly my incentive to not
spare my wand(s) of death when facing Famine.

I think it would be better to correct whatever error enabled Famine to
tickle you to death... twice.

[Janis Papanagnou]

Post by David Damerell

Post by Janis Papanagnou
On NAO I've died two times by Famine and two times by Pestilence and once
by Death, though I also recall one of these deaths was a combined attack and
cannot be addressed to only one of them. That's clearly my incentive to not
spare my wand(s) of death when facing Famine.

I think it would be better to correct whatever error enabled Famine to
tickle you to death... twice.

I haven't examined it. A quick inspection of the endgame logs shows that
the first Famine death is old and there's no logfiles available any more
on NAO, the second one I just see that I fainted; maybe I forgot to eat
enough in preparation? (At least I seem to remember one inattentiveness
based game with a Famine contact, so that could have been it. Yes, this
would be my fault.) From the two Pestilence deaths only one was due to
sickness, the other one just killed me by a melee touch; I probably had
not enough maxHPs (HP:0/156; but I can't tell if it was Death who first
drained my HPs first or whether I was not prepared enough in that game).
I think my death by Death game was the one where Death killed me in combo
with Famine (who prior stunned me, so that I could not escape Death's
reach); I'd attribute that death also to Famine (not the hunger attack,
but the stun attack). But that situation was a bad coincidence, that the
two riders were both able to reach me and I was locked in. Sh%t happens.

Janis