Aule wrote:They're a lot more dangerous than my first kills of them led me to believe. But that's because I had some resistance. I should have been alerted when the first volleys did so much surprising damage. It's hard for me to focus, sometimes. I was being watched, too, and that always seems to unnerve me. Better get used to it, tho. I suppose XL27 on Zot:5 is somewhat of a draw.
Orbs of fire are super buff. Let's go over how buff they are:
[09:56] <Cheibriados> orb of fire (*) | Spd: 15 | HD: 30 | HP: 150 | AC/EV: 20/20 | non-living, see invisible, lev, !sil | Res: magic(immune), hellfire, fire+++, cold, elec+++, poison+++, rot+++, neg+++, torm, napalm | Vul: silver | XP: 9248 | Sp: b.fire (3d40), malmutate, fireball (3d43) | Sz: little | Int: normal.
-Permanent hasted speed.
-High HP and HD (HD determines a lot of things like chance of casting a spell, spell power, accuracy in melee (no melee on orbs of fire at least), etc).
-Amazing defenses.
-Sees invisible, flying, can't be silenced, non-living, MR immune.
-Hugely omniresistant, the only thing they don't resist the shit out of is cold which is 'only' one level. (Also silver vulnerability, good luck with that I guess)
-One spell can do up to -129- damage! (assuming you roll 0 on AC and have no rF) And if you're not hasted, it can cast TWO of these before you get your turn back!!
Before you get comfortable, there are other big nasties in zot:5 too:
[09:57] <Cheibriados> ancient lich (L) | Spd: 10 | HD: 27 | HP: 85-130 | AC/EV: 20/10 | Dam: 20(drain) | undead, doors, evil, spellcaster, see invisible | Res: magic(immune), fire, cold++, elec, poison+++, drown, rot+++, neg+++, torm | Vul: holy++ | XP: 7513 | Sp: b.cold (3d37), paralyse, sum.greater demon, animate dead, iron shot (3d44), esc:teleport self / b.draining
[09:57] <Cheibriados> .. (3d33), slow, invisibility, throw icicle (3d37), crystal spear (3d48) / b.fire (3d37), confuse, haste, b.draining (3d33), sum.greater demon, esc:banishment / mystic blast (3d30), b.cold (3d37), invisibility, animate dead, o.destruction (9d20) | Sz: Medium | Int: high.
Good HP, great HD, great defenses, sees invisible, MR immune, however CAN be silenced. Omniresistant but at least not as much as orbs of fire. Dispel undead and holy work great on them. Have amazingly powerful conjurations including a max 144 damage crystal spear, the ability to summon fiends and hellions and gang on you with a demonic army, invis, haste, confuse, slow, paralyze (all at high HD so they pierce MR very easily), animate dead and massively powerful iOODs:
[10:01] <Patashu> !lg * ikiller=ancient_lich max=sdam x=sdam -2
[10:01] <Sequell> 1379/1380. [sdam=132] hyperelynae the Anemomancer (L18 DEAE of Sif Muna), blown up by an ancient lich in the Abyss on 2012-05-23 21:09:40, with 231168 points after 61147 turns and 2:50:40.
And the other really big killer, orb guardians:
[09:57] <Patashu> %??orb guardian
[09:57] <Cheibriados> Orb Guardian (X) | Spd: 14 | HD: 15 | HP: 65-103 | AC/EV: 13/13 | Dam: 45 | doors, fighter, see invisible | Res: magic(120), drown | XP: 2765 | Sz: Giant | Int: normal.
Slightly slower than hasted, good HD and HP, good defenses, high damage (about stone giant level), sees invisible, great MR. But it's just fodder, right? Well, don't let a moth of wrath reach one, or this can happen:
[09:57] <Patashu> %??orb guardian perm_ench:berserk
[09:57] <Cheibriados> Orb Guardian (X) | Spd: 21 | HD: 15 | HP: 98-155 | AC/EV: 13/13 | Dam: 67 | doors, fighter, see invisible, !sil | Res: magic(120), drown | XP: 2765 | Sp: berserker rage | Sz: Giant | Int: normal.
A berserk orb of guardian is OVER TWICE NORMAL SPEED, has great HP, the same good defenses as before and now hits as hard as a freight train. Ouch! Don't be that corpse.
Pretty much any combination of more than one monster in the zot:5 vault can become dangerous very fast, so lure monsters out as proactively as possible and use great discretion (and memorize Haste if possible).