Vehumet and AE

[mrbobbyg]

Is Vehy gonna give me tornado? I have the book of annihilations, and while I'm pleased to get abjuration from the summoning track, I'm a little worried that Tornado is a no show.

[Kate]

Nope, it's not in any of the books he gifts. It's in the relatively common book of the Tempests, and the book of the Sky, though.

[evilmike]

It would be kind of nice if vehumet gifted tornado and shatter, though. Right now he is a bit more appealing to fire/ice casters, although still good for earth/air.

[KoboldLord]

The most important divine gifts are the ones that can be used early, to get past the early game and carry you through the mid-game. Once you're clearing out Zot, you should be able to kludge something workable together even if you have to train something from scratch. Getting that 9th-level super-spell isn't anywhere near as important as filling in your 4 to 6th-level slots before they become absolutely critical.

Same goes for the other gifting deities, like Okawaru or Yredemnul. Getting something mediocre in the early game when you have nothing is better than getting something good when you're already armed to the teeth.

[Stormfox]

Tornado and Shatter would be out of character for Vehumet, as his specialty is conjurations and summoning. Or, to put it another way, cannons and cannon fodder. Even if he supports the use of some damaging non-conjurations, that doesn't mean he's particularly interested in handing them out.

[ohmi]

I wonder if making the gift-giving gods more useful in the endgame is all that bad a thing. Is it part of the actual DCSS philosophy that the gift-givers aren't considered that useful in the end game? Is it intended that god-switching be something to master if one wants to be successful in the end game?

[KoboldLord]

They have other perks that make them worthwhile in the endgame. Vehumet gives MP for Kills, which is one of the best passive abilities in the game. Also wizardry, a range boost, and an mp cost discount which are all of great value to most conjurations-focused builds. Likewise, Sif Muna and Kiku both have highly useful abilities.

It's just the gifts themselves that are largely useless, and I doubt this could be fixed permanently even if you could enter in a prompt exactly what you wanted, like a Nethack wish.