Lantern of Shadows


Ask fellow adventurers how to stay alive in the deep, dark, dangerous dungeon below, or share your own accumulated wisdom.

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Zot Zealot

Posts: 1060

Joined: Tuesday, 21st December 2010, 17:22

Location: United Kingdom

Post Friday, 11th February 2011, 14:12

Lantern of Shadows

I picked this up early in my current game, and not being a particularly item-oriented player, left it in my stash.

But as I procrastinate before making my first attempt at an Orb run, I've given it a try and - while it's not been useful, well, it feels like it could be.

Does anyone have any cool uses for this toy? Would I be right in saying that as a melee character, it will give me a slight edge in that monsters will have to come a square or so closer before they can start spamming breath weapons and spells at me? The summoned shadows are kind of atmospheric but I suspect not very useful... what do people think?
I am sure I played flawflessly. This was an utmost unfair death. -- gorbeh
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Shoals Surfer

Posts: 320

Joined: Thursday, 16th December 2010, 20:02

Post Friday, 11th February 2011, 15:23

Re: Lantern of Shadows

The lantern also shrinks your LOS. I don't use it often. It's useful for surviving in the Abyss. I once used it in Zot:5, but I prefer fog scrolls.

Temple Termagant

Posts: 11

Joined: Wednesday, 19th January 2011, 18:52

Post Friday, 11th February 2011, 15:27

Re: Lantern of Shadows

Back when Silence had a set radius for the entirety of the duration, Lantern of Shadows was perfect to knock your LOS down to that radius. It made running for the Tomb rune through all the nasty Greater Mummies and Mummy Priests a near trivial experience for hybrids and I guess meaty characters. Not so much now. I guess you're going to have to coax that rare ghost-type creature that mages hate (serious range on that silence there) or Mennas down into the Tombs.

Right now, the only real use for it is to have an easier time exploring Abyss. Less monsters wander into LOS and the shadows give them targets to get hung up on as you scurry away.

I never used it myself as it's a heavy item and you have to hold it. You're just better off lurking in corridors.
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Vestibule Violator

Posts: 1459

Joined: Sunday, 19th December 2010, 05:45

Location: New England

Post Friday, 11th February 2011, 17:21

Re: Lantern of Shadows

I used to use it in the abyss, but now I don't bother.

Best possible use: you can use it to break into that end vault in the crypt that looks like a skull, without alerting the caged liches to your presence.

  Code:
##############################################################################
#       eye to eye with the devil
#
NAME:   david_glass_crypt
ORIENT: float
TAGS:   no_item_gen no_rotate
PLACE:  Crypt:5
MONS:   lich / ancient lich
MONS:   skeletal dragon / curse skull / curse toe
MONS:   flying skull / skeletal warrior / w:40 nothing
KFEAT:  ^ = alarm trap
MAP
.....................
.....................
..vvvvnnnnnnnnnvvvv..
..vlllllllllllllllv..
..vlllllllllllllllv..
..vllll..|||..llllv..
..vll...|||||...llv..
..vl.....|||.....lv..
..vl......@......lv..
..vmm..F.vvv.F..mmv..
..v1m...^^^^^...m1v..
..vvvvvvv+++vvvvvvv..
...vv..2.....2..vv...
 ..vv.333333333.vv..
 ...vvv.......vvv...
   ...vv+++++vv...
    .............


Step 1: equip the lantern of shadows. This allows you to stand on the space I've marked @ without the liches seeing you.

Step 2: Get yourself flying somehow. The floor has pressure plates that drop the walls if you walk on them, and you can't use lev because you want the loot.

Step 3: Control teleport to the @. This is the riskiest step. Teleports have an error of +/- 1. This could put you in the adjoining squares- where at least one lich can see you. If you're lucky (and stealthy) it won't notice you in the one turn it takes to walk to the blind spot. You could also land in the wall you're trying to hide behind (the vvv) which means you get randomly ported anywhere- possibly right in front of the liches. Odds are though you end up outside the vault, and try again.

If you do alter the liches, bail, wait for them to calm down, then restart.

Step 4: apport loot. (a mele character could do everything up to this step with scrolls / evocations. But c'mon, you can manage a level 1 spell).

Step 5: loot loot.

Step6: Leave via control tele.

This method isn't completely foolproof- for instance there are other crypt ends now, so it doesn't show up as often. Also, monsters can be spawned inside, and you'll have to deal with them first (possibly by opening the front door, then luring them away while running from the summon spam. Then come back when it's quiet to 'port in).

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