The 'Questions too small to need their own thread' thread

[Yet Another Stupid Noob]

Is it better to scout all three downstairs before exploring a new level, but risk getting into a situation where you can't escape an enemy that was right next to the stairs. Or is it better to only go down one staircase, minimizing the chance you will be stuck next to a monster, but reducing the number of escape routes?

I can't say for certain, but personally, I would base if off of speed/escape options versus surival of an ambush. For example, if I was playing a spriggen or deep elf I would be more worried about being ambushed at the stairs. With a tougher character, like a Naga or fighter type, who does not have as many escape options I might try scouting first.

With that said, I find scouting to be a slight annoyance unless I am afraid of getting in over my head.

[Jeremiah]

What is the expected depth for guardian serpents?

I've never previously seen them other than in the lower levels of Snake, but just ran into one on D:9.

[Confidence Interval]

Does the existence on a level of a big, roughly square and inaccessible area in the middle of the level (taking up c. 1/4 of the total floor space) imply that there's something inside?

What about levels with lots of smaller square areas?

(If this either of those questions is yes, then the follow-up is: how do you find the way in, short of searching in every possible location?)

[KoboldLord]

Does the existence on a level of a big, roughly square and inaccessible area in the middle of the level (taking up c. 1/4 of the total floor space) imply that there's something inside?

What about levels with lots of smaller square areas?

(If this either of those questions is yes, then the follow-up is: how do you find the way in, short of searching in every possible location?)

Count up your stairwells. If you're meant to get inside, chances are there's an official way in. Several vaults are only accessible by doubling back from another level. Also look for any distinguishing features around the outside edge, like two statues bracketing a single tile of wall, or a single tile of wall that is a different color or material than the rest of the square. These distinguishing features are usually the location of the secret door.

More marginal ways in include high-powered Rapid Deconstruction or Shatter, plus controlled teleportation. Converting to Ashenzari will tell you if there's monsters or treasure in there. Generally speaking, though, if there isn't an easy way in it's not worth bothering to try.

Odds are pretty good your big square is a vault of some kind, but the smaller squares are probably nothing. No guarantees either way.

[bobross419]

Odds are pretty good your big square is a vault of some kind, but the smaller squares are probably nothing. No guarantees either way.

I know the level he is talking about. I searched every possible spot on the wall as a mummy and never found a way in... also remember seeing another post somewhere saying that it isn't a vault.

[KoboldLord]

I know the level he is talking about. I searched every possible spot on the wall as a mummy and never found a way in... also remember seeing another post somewhere saying that it isn't a vault.

It could go either way, which is why I tried to put more emphasis on looking for obvious cues like stairwells or oddly placed dungeon features rather than obsessively searching each tile of wall. There are several vaults that appear as a big, disconnected square in the middle of the level, but there's also a level layout which is basically a big square doughnut without any interesting features and nothing interesting in the hole.

Searching every tile of wall is a stupid way to approach the problem. Even if it worked, you'd burn large amounts of time and energy (in-game and real-life time and energy) to get the privilege of fighting some shadow dragons or something on D9. If loot and xp isn't easy to get at, it'll be faster and more effective generating another level of dungeon to loot than it will be trying to get at some inaccessible floor trash.

[slowcar]

would a treasure trove asking for a +3 dragon armour also take a +3 ice dragon armour?

[dpeg]

slowcar: no

[speciesxx]

How good is the staff of Wucad Mu actually? It doesn't increase the power of my spells does it, just gives MP on /evoke? And it hit hards with +22/+13 i guess >>

[Kate]

If you have sustab and clarity then it's sort of like a crystal ball of energy but better (in that it restores a huge amount of MP with decent evoc skill and is also less likely to drain your MP, and doesn't become less reliable at low MP).

[Happy Corner]

I know that if I wear heavier armor, my Armor skill trains faster. Is that true for shields, too? Do larger shields increase your Shields skill faster?

[defen]

After a random teleport in the Abyss, my character appeared in deep water. He rolled well and scrambled out, but is this a common occurrence? Is it mandatory to go lightweight in there?

[galehar]

After a random teleport in the Abyss, my character appeared in deep water. He rolled well and scrambled out, but is this a common occurrence? Is it mandatory to go lightweight in there?

As minmay said, if it really happened it's a bug. Was it in trunk with the morphing Abyss?

[Lonewordsmith]

So I started up a demigod gladiator just to mess around, see what I could do, how far I could get, you know. I found a suit of gold dragon armor on D2.

Great.

How do I handle this, guys, how should I handle it!?!?

[XuaXua]

So I started up a demigod gladiator just to mess around, see what I could do, how far I could get, you know. I found a suit of gold dragon armor on D2.

Great.

How do I handle this, guys, how should I handle it!?!?

Worship Nemelex and sacrifice it.

[bobross419]

So I started up a demigod gladiator just to mess around, see what I could do, how far I could get, you know. I found a suit of gold dragon armor on D2.

Great.

How do I handle this, guys, how should I handle it!?!?

Stash it, pump armor and str. Pick up Ring/Chain/Scale/Splint etc. to help train your armor skill if you're still victory dancing. Otherwise you can go in set skills to manual and turn off most of the stuff outside of armor and your main weapon skill.

[Tiber]

So I started up a demigod gladiator just to mess around, see what I could do, how far I could get, you know. I found a suit of gold dragon armor on D2.

Great.

How do I handle this, guys, how should I handle it!?!?

Worship Nemelex and sacrifice it.

Demigods can worship gods now? Man I must've been away for a while.

In all seriousness, stash it and forget it for a while. Then follow Bob's advice. Honestly, it's probably bound to be yet another shiny thing you died before you could use.

[defen]

After a random teleport in the Abyss, my character appeared in deep water. He rolled well and scrambled out, but is this a common occurrence? Is it mandatory to go lightweight in there?

As minmay said, if it really happened it's a bug. Was it in trunk with the morphing Abyss?

It was in the 0.9 I DL'ed off the main page the other day. I am not too familiar with the Abyss - my third or fourth time entering and surviving any duration. I was making my way through a red wall/steel wall/lava segment. The abyss changed on me, I was in a portion with mixed deep and shallow water (with a kraken out in the deep), and before I could act I got the message that I successfully scrambled out of the deep water. There was no way I could have entered the deep tile voluntarily - I was not levitating in the preceding actions. Maybe it's some kraken ability that placed me there - not too familiar with them either - but it had not spawned tentacles at that point.

[galehar]

After a random teleport in the Abyss, my character appeared in deep water. He rolled well and scrambled out, but is this a common occurrence? Is it mandatory to go lightweight in there?

As minmay said, if it really happened it's a bug. Was it in trunk with the morphing Abyss?

It was in the 0.9 I DL'ed off the main page the other day. I am not too familiar with the Abyss - my third or fourth time entering and surviving any duration. I was making my way through a red wall/steel wall/lava segment. The abyss changed on me, I was in a portion with mixed deep and shallow water (with a kraken out in the deep), and before I could act I got the message that I successfully scrambled out of the deep water. There was no way I could have entered the deep tile voluntarily - I was not levitating in the preceding actions. Maybe it's some kraken ability that placed me there - not too familiar with them either - but it had not spawned tentacles at that point.

In that case, please report it on mantis.

[Jeremiah]

What's the current status of Tornado in the released version of 0.9? It's been nerfed then rebuffed then nerfed again so many times that I've lost track of where it ended up.

I get that it takes time to expand to the full radius and has a cooldown period, but what's the damage currently like?

[galehar]

After the radius change, the damage was 6d(pow)/15 per turn. It was boosted to 12d, then nerfed to 9d, then nerfed again to 7d. There's some disagrement in the team about tornado's balance...

[galehar]

After a random teleport in the Abyss, my character appeared in deep water.

OK, so I've just had a look in the source and I don't understand how it could ever happen. After the Abyss is changed, the terrain under the player's feet is explicitely set to floor.

[Utis]

Is "Slow" worth a spell slot for an early wizard? I'd figure that everything resistant to Mephitic Cloud would also be resistant to Slow?

[KoboldLord]

Is "Slow" worth a spell slot for an early wizard? I'd figure that everything resistant to Mephitic Cloud would also be resistant to Slow?

It's not a bad spell, but I don't often end up picking it up with a wizard because wizards have lots of really awesome spells that require multiple spell skills and only so much xp to train them with. It is completely unaffected by poison resistance, which shuts down Mephitic Cloud completely for that monster. It might be worth using if you find a book of good hexes early on, but in general you get a better effect from Mephitic Cloud, and Mephitic Cloud gets to xp-piggyback on the conjurations you're building for spell damage anyway. Ultimately this is a system-wide problem with hexes and hex-like effects, and not specific to the wizard.

[speciesxx]

I'm sure it has been asked before, but i just can't find it in the forums. What skill level do i need in maces and flails to get the max speed with a whip? (i'm a caster with robes, and have no shield penalty).

[Yet Another Stupid Noob]

I'm sure it has been asked before, but i just can't find it in the forums. What skill level do i need in maces and flails to get the max speed with a whip? (i'm a caster with robes, and have no shield penalty).

I am sure Minmay will correct me if I am wrong, but I thought max weapon speed occured ~ when weapon skill = speed of weapon/10. E.g. a speed 120% weapon would be at max speed at skill 12, and its maximum speed then would be 6.

[speciesxx]

I'm sure it has been asked before, but i just can't find it in the forums. What skill level do i need in maces and flails to get the max speed with a whip? (i'm a caster with robes, and have no shield penalty).

I am sure Minmay will correct me if I am wrong, but I thought max weapon speed occured ~ when weapon skill = speed of weapon/10. E.g. a speed 120% weapon would be at max speed at skill 12, and its maximum speed then would be 6.

Think i've found the link, it was hidden well on the wiki .
http://crawl.chaosforge.org/index.php?t ... apon_Speed

Base is 11, min delay is 5, skill required is 12. What i see on the wiki, the formula seems: (base-min_delay) * 2 = skill needed.

[Utis]

It's probably just a n00b thought: how good is unarmed combat for a Kenku? I wonder if it's worthwile to start as a Kenku Transmuter, if I intend to branch out into other spell casting areas at the temple at the very latest and play him as an unarmed melee character (+ unreliable evaporate) in the very beginning.

Edit: as a corrolary to this: is unarmed combat a good fallback melee skill for a Kenku spellcaster?

And, why is Hunter not a viable starting background for a Kenku? It's greyed out in the background selection screen.

[plantaspoon]

I love kenku monk and even assasin as a melee EV build. The claw damage bonus is noticeable even as an aux attack while wielding a shortblade. They are FRAGILE tho, they have similar hp to a kobold, so you have to play careful. Transmuter would definately see the same benefits.

[Curio]

im in wizlab. Animated weapons around. Killed everything. Strange machine left with two doors at each side blocked by mirrors. How to get there?

[Happy Corner]

Destroy the mirrors with a wand (or spell) of digging. Or disintegration would probably work, too.

[MyOtheHedgeFox]

One of the machines is indestructible, as far as I remember.

Search for hidden doors in the two small rooms to the left and to the right of the room with the topmost pristine fountain.
I don't know which spells can they cast, but my Cheater always resisted something when he was in their vicinity.

[dolphin]

Does accuracy (of spells, ammo, breath, ...) decrease with distance? Should it?

[Pryor]

My L9 Demigod Transmuter just found a Staff of Earth. Should I begin training up Earth Magic, Evocations and Staff skill in order to take advantage of this item, or should I stick to Unarmed and using forms with natural attacks? I would like to eventually shoot for Necromutation (which I've never achieved yet).

Curious,

Pryor

[KoboldLord]

My L9 Demigod Transmuter just found a Staff of Earth. Should I begin training up Earth Magic, Evocations and Staff skill in order to take advantage of this item, or should I stick to Unarmed and using forms with natural attacks? I would like to eventually shoot for Necromutation (which I've never achieved yet).

Curious,

Pryor

A staff of earth is an excellent weapon for an earth elementalist, but it isn't so broken that you would want to pick up all three skills from scratch with a completely different sort of character just because one showed up. Elemental staves aren't particularly uncommon, so it isn't like you wouldn't reasonably expect to find one if you rolled up an actual earth elementalist.

[Pryor]

Even to provide him with a heavy-hitting melee option when in Necromutation form? I do see your point about spreading out skills, though. He'd need Fighting, Staves, Unarmed, Dodging, Spellcasting, Necromancy, Transmutation, Earth, Evocations. Those are a lot of skills to pump at -1 aptitude.

[Koshkindom]

Can I disable somehow such prompts like "Really walk into that cloud of steam?" or "Really walk into that cloud of noxious fumes?"? If I make this message mute I just can't see it but still need to press "Y"es or "N"o.
Please help, this is really annoying.
P.S. Sorry for my English, I'm not English-speaking.

[KoboldLord]

Even to provide him with a heavy-hitting melee option when in Necromutation form? I do see your point about spreading out skills, though. He'd need Fighting, Staves, Unarmed, Dodging, Spellcasting, Necromancy, Transmutation, Earth, Evocations. Those are a lot of skills to pump at -1 aptitude.

You can still punch things to death in lich-form. The draining brand on your lich-hands might not affect demons, but they're still base power 27 and hit faster than almost anything.

[Jeremiah]

If a treasure trove is asking for 2 scrolls of acquirement, is the stuff in the trove likely to be better than what I would have got from the scrolls?

[Happy Corner]

The odds are decent that it will be better. If you're lucky, you'll only get two useful items from those scrolls (acquirement can and sometimes does give you crappy items). If you're lucky with a treasure trove, on the other hand, you'll get MORE than two good items. I would go for the trove.

[ilpalazzo]

what's up with this poison arrow "gatling gun"? is there some hidden feature? i mean: isn't everything poison resistant in the later game? ok, it does some irresistable damage, but only a fraction - wouldn't any other bolt (fire/cold/iron shot/...) be equal/better?

[ilpalazzo]

thanks for answering, minmay


about that treasure trove:

the wiki says:
"A treasure trove is a portal to a small room filled with loot. The treasure is tailored for your character using acquirement code."

this would mean you would trade in your 2 acquirement scrolls for many more "acquirement scrolls" giving better chance of getting something good.
you won't be able to chose the kind of item though
(I would get the trove)

[Jeremiah]

I've never used the Poison Arrow gatling gun, but I think one of the advantages is that it has long range, and with Vehumet it can hit all the way to the edge of LOS.

[Livor]

the Poison arrow gatling gun (aka SpVM) has three advantages:
1, spriggans are fast so you can run from everything that is dangerous
2, The long range of Poison arrow
3, Poison arrow can poison most living enemies, including those resistant to posion

[XuaXua]

What happens if you distortion-weapon banish the Royal Jelly?