What to do with a wand of polymorph?

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james wrote:

> I forgot one other thing -- a wand of polymorph can be a great defensive
> weapon. Yeah, there's a chance that you can turn a monster into
> something even worse, but it can get you out of trouble. I avoided
> a certain death from an owlbear that way once.

I had a recent character who ran into about three air elementals in the
mines that he wasn't strong enough to deal with; zapping one of these wands
from the inside was an effective strategy, and fun as well  

--
Benjamin Lewis

You break out of the cave spiders stomach! --more--

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In article <1119451721.781467.261070@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>,
Cyde Weys <cyde@umd.edu> wrote:

>A) Polymorph myself? I have a ring of polymorph control but no dragon
>armor, so I'm thinking I could polymorph myself into a gray dragon, lay
>some eggs, kill them for the scales, and then make a gray dragon scale
>mail?

It takes a long time (and a lot of food) for baby dragons to grow up.
They will wipe out your pudding population if you aren't careful. (If
you're tired of puddings, it's a good way to get rid of them though.)

>B) Polymorph my pet? I don't have a good pet and this could be really
>useful. Only problem is it's kind of risky and I might totally use up
>the wand of polymorph without getting anything good.

Yes, this is wasteful unless you get lucky. I often have to do dozens
of trap dances to get the pet I want.

>C) Polymorph items?

This is definitely the most effective use of the wand. There are
strategies for maximizing yield.

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In article <1119451721.781467.261070@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>,
Cyde Weys <cyde@umd.edu> wrote:

I forgot one other thing -- a wand of polymorph can be a great defensive
weapon. Yeah, there's a chance that you can turn a monster into
something even worse, but it can get you out of trouble. I avoided
a certain death from an owlbear that way once.

Archived from groups: rec.games.roguelike.nethack (More info?)

On Wed, 22 Jun 2005, Cyde Weys wrote:

> So I'm sitting around pudding farming when one drops an unidentified
> wand. I try engrave-testing it and it is a wand of polymorph. YES!!!
> However, I have no idea what to do with it, as there are so many
> possibilities ...
>
> Should I,
> A) Polymorph myself? I have a ring of polymorph control but no dragon
> armor, so I'm thinking I could polymorph myself into a gray dragon, lay
> some eggs, kill them for the scales, and then make a gray dragon scale
> mail?

raising babies dragon into adult is a long and tedious process. Maybe
letting them play in the (ex) pudding farm good be a good way to raise
them fast... Killing your pet is not a nice idea after that.

> B) Polymorph my pet? I don't have a good pet and this could be really
> useful. Only problem is it's kind of risky and I might totally use up
> the wand of polymorph without getting anything good.

Try with several pets in a line, it's better. And you may end up with
rather good pets after emptying a wand. All you have to do is know when to
stop. "le mieux est l'ennemi du bien".

> C) Polymorph items? I'm in a pudding farm right now so naturally there
> are a lot of items laying about. Should I try polypiling and hope for
> a magic marker or other useful goods?

Most dropped items are probably useless, so that could be a good idea
(typically to turn useless scrolls into usefull one, or already known
spellbooks into new one).

Another nice thing to try is to build over-enchanting weapon :
Gather arrows (either lying in the dungeon or pudding-farmed).
Enchant them to +7.
Make a few separate stacks.
Try to enchant each stack separately.
rinse, repeat.
You should end up with some +8, +9 or even +10 arrows (and a lot will
dissapear in the process).
Polypile them into +10 usefull weapon.

Similar trick can probably be done with elven armor to get +7 usual armor.

Hypocoristiquement,
Jym.

Archived from groups: rec.games.roguelike.nethack (More info?)

In news:<1119451721.781467.261070@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>, Cyde
Weys <cyde@umd.edu> says...
> So I'm sitting around pudding farming when one drops an unidentified
> wand. I try engrave-testing it and it is a wand of polymorph. YES!!!
> However, I have no idea what to do with it, as there are so many
> possibilities ...
> Should I,
> A) Polymorph myself? I have a ring of polymorph control but no dragon
> armor, so I'm thinking I could polymorph myself into a gray dragon, lay
> some eggs, kill them for the scales, and then make a gray dragon scale
> mail?

Ehhh.. That sounds like a hideously bad idea. Rasing baby dragons is a
slow process and I think that petkillers (filicide even!) are
disapproved of even by the chaotic gods.
Roleplaying-wise it would put you way off the chaotic end of the scale
IMHO.

> B) Polymorph my pet? I don't have a good pet and this could be really
> useful. Only problem is it's kind of risky and I might totally use up
> the wand of polymorph without getting anything good.

This is what polytraps are for. And they are usually available for free
and can be used an infinite number of times.

> C) Polymorph items? I'm in a pudding farm right now so naturally there
> are a lot of items laying about. Should I try polypiling and hope for
> a magic marker or other useful goods?

Could be fun to try. The chance to get a magical tool out of non-magical
ones is virtually negligible. Consult the polypiling section of the
wands spoiler.

D) Save it and zap some threatening bad guy with it and hopefully watch
him turn into something meek.

I'd go for C, then D, then B and perhaps A (but *not* for the 'female
dragon -> eggs -> baby dragons -> filicide -> scales -> scale mail'
idea).

/Kristoffer

--
This cookie has a scrap of paper inside. It reads:
Sbe nal erzrql gurer vf n zvfrel.

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Cyde Weys wrote:
> So I'm sitting around pudding farming when one drops an unidentified
> wand. I try engrave-testing it and it is a wand of polymorph. YES!!!
> However, I have no idea what to do with it, as there are so many
> possibilities ...

Reading your subject line, the first thought that stroke me, was:

For the most interesting and maybe maximum effect go into a shop
and break the wand while standing adjacent to the shopkeeper.

But reading further I saw that you were not asking for a fancy effect.
So my bald suggestion is: save it until you _have_ a need for another
pet or object or _are_ in need to polymorph yourself or a creature.

Janis

This might affect the shop items (and the shopkeeper might charge
you - if you survive), might polymorph the shopkeeper and yourself,
any your items, and you may get blasted - ...well, maybe; I haven't
checked that all.

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"Cyde Weys" <cyde@umd.edu> writes:

> So I'm sitting around pudding farming when one drops an unidentified
> wand. I try engrave-testing it and it is a wand of polymorph. YES!!!
> However, I have no idea what to do with it, as there are so many
> possibilities ...

If you pudding-farm, you simply don't need a /oP. A wand
of infinite patience would be more useful.

Best,
Jakob

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james <fishbowl@conservatory.com> wrote:
> In article <1119451721.781467.261070@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>,
> Cyde Weys <cyde@umd.edu> wrote:
>
>>A) Polymorph myself? I have a ring of polymorph control but no dragon
>>armor, so I'm thinking I could polymorph myself into a gray dragon, lay
>>some eggs, kill them for the scales, and then make a gray dragon scale
>>mail?
>
> It takes a long time (and a lot of food) for baby dragons to grow up.
> They will wipe out your pudding population if you aren't careful. (If
> you're tired of puddings, it's a good way to get rid of them though.)

Punch a hole at the corner of the level, and keep farming for a while.
The level below will now be full of plenty of food, which you can easily
restock just by going back up and carrying on.