Problems with pet arch-lich and other questions

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

I'm currently playing a promising game, as a dwarven valkyrie,
with a number of lucky first times:
- first time the altar in minetown is coaligned
- first time I'm able to buy protection there (-2 AC points)
- first time I find and identify an amulet of life saving.

I had a lucky wish from a smoky potion which gave me a
gray dragon scale mail, found gauntlets of power, and now
my sats are as follows:
Chlorine the Fighter St:25 Dx:10 Co:18 In:8 Wi:11 Ch:8
HP:93(93) Pw:6(6) AC:-10 Xp:9

Thanks to Excalibur's autosearching, I found a polymorph
trap, and was able to polymorph one of my pets (thanks
to my magic whistle) into an arch-lich. At first I was
delighted, but now I'm wondering if arch-lich are really
cool pets?
It seems the only attack it does is touching monsters,
which covers them in frost, and hence is totally inefficient
againts cold-resistant monsters (I got really bored
watching it fight a giant mummy and had to kill the mummy
myself).
Second, at some time it decided to attack _me_, while
still tame! It didn't do physical damage because as
a valk I'm cold resistant, but then it started to cast
spells at me, I got messages like 'You feel like you need
some help', or 'you feel a malignant aura around you', I
don't know what these are. After a little reading, I think
it might have get confused (it seems to have stopped
doing that at least), but now I'm scared of it, and I'm
considering getting rid of it.

I'm currently doing Sokoban (will go to mine's end afterwards),
should I abandon it on the last level?

My second question is: what should I do if I find the amulet
of reflection at the end of sokoban? I'm currently wearing
the amulet of life saving, I think I should keep wearing it,
and if I die, then wear the amulet of reflection. Am I missing
something?

Anyway, this game is really going well, I think I will have
little problem doing mine's end when I'm done with sokoban,
and this character might be the first one I get to quest
level I hope.

Clemence

 

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Clemence Magnien wrote:
> I'm currently playing a promising game, as a dwarven valkyrie,
> with a number of lucky first times:
> - first time the altar in minetown is coaligned
> - first time I'm able to buy protection there (-2 AC points)
> - first time I find and identify an amulet of life saving.
>
> I had a lucky wish from a smoky potion which gave me a
> gray dragon scale mail, found gauntlets of power, and now
> my sats are as follows:
> Chlorine the Fighter St:25 Dx:10 Co:18 In:8 Wi:11 Ch:8
> HP:93(93) Pw:6(6) AC:-10 Xp:9

Aha, I knew I had another question, but could not remember
it!

What happens if I step on the polymorph trap while wearing
my gray dragon scale mail? I think I polymorph into a
gray dragon, is that good since I'm female?
Do I lose the dragon scale mail by doing so?

Clemence

 

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

Jym wrote:
> On Tue, 2 Aug 2005, Clemence Magnien wrote:
>
> > I got messages like 'You feel like you need
> > some help', or 'you feel a malignant aura around you'
>
> Probably confusion indeed. Or maybe hunger (I don't know if it affect
> liches). At least, you're magic protected and don't fear the touch of
> death...

I am almost certain that that is a cursing attack (as in, cursing your
equipment).

 

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Clemence Magnien wrote:

> What happens if I step on the polymorph trap while wearing
> my gray dragon scale mail?

"You feel momentarily different". Poly traps are magical, and magic
resistance trumps the fact that you're wearing DSM.

> I think I polymorph into a
> gray dragon, is that good since I'm female?

Yes, it's good; you might try drinking from a sink or quaffing a potion of
polymorph. If you polymorph into a female gray dragon (likely) you can
lay eggs, pick them up and carry them with you until they hatch into tame
baby gray dragons (an adolescent gray dragon will attack and probably
kill a shopkeeper).

> Do I lose the dragon scale mail by doing so?

No, when you return to <whatever you are> form you have the dragon scale
mail back. You *will* lose any cloak/robe worn over it, or shirt worn
under it, so if you're going to polymorph deliberately take those off
first. (And don't forget to pick up your helmet, boots and weapon!)

You will also lose the dragon scale mail when you polymorph into anything
else while in dragon form, even a baby <your colour> dragon (found out
the latter by bitter experience). You don't have to fear poly traps in
gray dragon form either, because you'll still be magic-resistant, but
avoid sinks until you're back in your original form.

Raisse, killed by a system shock

--
irina@valdyas.org LegoHack: http://www.valdyas.org/irina/nethack/
Status of Raisse (piously neutral): Level 8 HP 63(67) AC -3, fast.

 

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Clemence Magnien wrote on 2 Aug 2005 00:24:47 -0700:
> I'm currently playing a promising game, as a dwarven valkyrie,
> HP:93(93) Pw:6(6)

Wow, the spoiler certainly does not lie when it says, "It is possible (in
the case of dwarves) not to gain power when gaining a level."

[pet arch-lich and magic whistle]

> should I abandon it on the last level?

I'd have it kill all the shopkeepers so I could buy more protection.

I'd probably also save it to beat the castle with; as long as you have
magic resistance it can't hurt you much, even if you get confused again.

> What happens if I step on the polymorph trap while wearing
> my gray dragon scale mail? I think I polymorph into a
> gray dragon, is that good since I'm female?

You have magic resistance; you won't polymorph.


--
"Ruleless 'law' will be a political weapon and control of the
judiciary will therefore be a political prize. 'Democracy' will
consist of the chaotic struggle to influence decision makers who are
not responsive to elections." -- Robert Bork

 

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On Tue, 2 Aug 2005, Clemence Magnien wrote:

> Second, at some time it decided to attack _me_, while
> still tame! It didn't do physical damage because as
> a valk I'm cold resistant, but then it started to cast
> spells at me, I got messages like 'You feel like you need
> some help', or 'you feel a malignant aura around you', I
> don't know what these are. After a little reading, I think
> it might have get confused (it seems to have stopped
> doing that at least), but now I'm scared of it, and I'm
> considering getting rid of it.

Probably confusion indeed. Or maybe hunger (I don't know if it affect
liches). At least, you're magic protected and don't fear the touch of
death...

I guess the pet ranged attack patch would let the archlich use it's
magical attack against monsters, making it much more efficient.

Few monsters are cold resistants, to cold attack is no that bad.

> My second question is: what should I do if I find the amulet
> of reflection at the end of sokoban? I'm currently wearing
> the amulet of life saving, I think I should keep wearing it,
> and if I die, then wear the amulet of reflection. Am I missing
> something?

Reflection not only save you neck when magic missiles are coming but it
also save your armor from desintegration ray or other stuff. Reflection
can save you several time while life saving only save you once. And as
they say, if something is able to kill you once, it may well be able to
kill you twice.

I usually value reflection over life saving. The best would of course have
another source of reflection and keep both reflection and life saving.
Easier would be a shield of reflection, but that prevents from
twoweaponning, other solution is to switch the GDSM for a SDSM once you've
found a cloak of MR (or wish for both).

--
Hypocoristiquement,
Jym.

Adresse mail plus valide à partir de septembre 2005.
Utiliser l'adresse de redirection permanente :
Jean-Yves.Moyen `at` ens-lyon.org

 

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Raisse the Thaumaturge wrote:

> Clemence Magnien wrote:
>
>
>>What happens if I step on the polymorph trap while wearing
>>my gray dragon scale mail?
>
>
> "You feel momentarily different". Poly traps are magical, and magic
> resistance trumps the fact that you're wearing DSM.
>
>
>>I think I polymorph into a
>>gray dragon, is that good since I'm female?
>
>
> Yes, it's good; you might try drinking from a sink or quaffing a potion of
> polymorph. If you polymorph into a female gray dragon (likely) you can
> lay eggs, pick them up and carry them with you until they hatch into tame
> baby gray dragons (an adolescent gray dragon will attack and probably
> kill a shopkeeper).
>
>
>>Do I lose the dragon scale mail by doing so?
>
>
> No, when you return to <whatever you are> form you have the dragon scale
> mail back. You *will* lose any cloak/robe worn over it, or shirt worn
> under it, so if you're going to polymorph deliberately take those off
> first. (And don't forget to pick up your helmet, boots and weapon!)
>
> You will also lose the dragon scale mail when you polymorph into anything
> else while in dragon form, even a baby <your colour> dragon (found out
> the latter by bitter experience). You don't have to fear poly traps in
> gray dragon form either, because you'll still be magic-resistant, but
> avoid sinks until you're back in your original form.

And run from footrices!!!

Topi
--
"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are
always so certain of themselves, but wiser people so full of doubts."
- Bertrand Russell
"How come he didn't put 'I think' at the end of it?" - Anonymous

 

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Topi Linkala wrote:
>
> And run from footrices!!!
>
Nah. When you're polied into a dragon, just #monster 'em.

--
John Campbell
jcampbel@lynn.ci-n.com

 

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Raisse the Thaumaturge wrote:
> Clemence Magnien wrote:
>
>
> > I think I polymorph into a
> > gray dragon, is that good since I'm female?
>
> Yes, it's good; you might try drinking from a sink or quaffing a potion of
> polymorph. If you polymorph into a female gray dragon (likely) you can
> lay eggs, pick them up and carry them with you until they hatch into tame
> baby gray dragons (an adolescent gray dragon will attack and probably
> kill a shopkeeper).

Well, I found a wand of polymorph and zapped it on myself, but
unfortunately I turned into a male gray dragon. I later discovered
that the wand was cursed. Is this why I turned to a male dragon,
or is just a random effect and do I need to try again?

Anyway, I changed opinion on my pet arch-lich and have decided
to keep it after all (it seems to behave properly now). I've
discovered indeed that it needs three attacks to kill a
shopkeeper, so I've begun to kill shopkeepers to buy protection.
This is a first time for me, and it feels good!
The arch-lich has complicated things a bit by casting a spell
on itself so it has become invisible, but since I have a
magic whistle it is not very hard to keep it close, even when
changing levels.

There is one downside though: at the end of sokoban I should have
found the amulet of reflection... but didn't. I think the arch-lich
took it for itself. Any way to get it back?

Clemence

 

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Raisse the Thaumaturge wrote:
> Clemence Magnien wrote:
>
> > Well, I found a wand of polymorph and zapped it on myself, but
> > unfortunately I turned into a male gray dragon. I later discovered
> > that the wand was cursed. Is this why I turned to a male dragon,
> > or is just a random effect and do I need to try again?
>
> It's just a random effect and you need to try again. It's much more common
> to turn into a <your gender> <whatever> when you polymorph.

I'll try that again then.
Any advice on how many eggs I should lay? I wanted several, but
then somebody on #nethack reminded me that I have to feed them.
I think more than one must be fun, but I don't want them to
starve me or begin attacking me when there hungry!
So, I was thinking, maybe 2 or 3...

Clemence

 

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Clemence Magnien wrote:

> Well, I found a wand of polymorph and zapped it on myself, but
> unfortunately I turned into a male gray dragon. I later discovered
> that the wand was cursed. Is this why I turned to a male dragon,
> or is just a random effect and do I need to try again?

It's just a random effect and you need to try again. It's much more common
to turn into a <your gender> <whatever> when you polymorph.

Raisse, killed by a baby silver dragon called Dayapati

--
irina@valdyas.org LegoHack: http://www.valdyas.org/irina/nethack/
Status of Raisse (piously neutral): Level 8 HP 63(67) AC -3, fast.

 

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Clemence Magnien wrote:

> Any advice on how many eggs I should lay? I wanted several, but
> then somebody on #nethack reminded me that I have to feed them.
> I think more than one must be fun, but I don't want them to
> starve me or begin attacking me when there hungry!
> So, I was thinking, maybe 2 or 3...

I usually lay just the one, then when anything goes wrong, another. But
that's purely a matter of preference. Laying eggs does make you hungry!

Raisse, killed by a kitten called Poes

--
irina@valdyas.org LegoHack: http://www.valdyas.org/irina/nethack/
Status of Raisse (piously neutral): Level 8 HP 63(67) AC -3, fast.

 

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On Wed, 3 Aug 2005, Clemence Magnien wrote:

>
> Raisse the Thaumaturge wrote:
> > Clemence Magnien wrote:
> >
> > > Well, I found a wand of polymorph and zapped it on myself, but
> > > unfortunately I turned into a male gray dragon. I later discovered
> > > that the wand was cursed. Is this why I turned to a male dragon,
> > > or is just a random effect and do I need to try again?
> >
> > It's just a random effect and you need to try again. It's much more common
> > to turn into a <your gender> <whatever> when you polymorph.
>
> I'll try that again then.
> Any advice on how many eggs I should lay? I wanted several, but
> then somebody on #nethack reminded me that I have to feed them.
> I think more than one must be fun, but I don't want them to
> starve me or begin attacking me when there hungry!
> So, I was thinking, maybe 2 or 3...

I usually go for 4 or 5. More pets become a bit painfull to carry up and
down the dungeon (by the way, be sure to dig every square around stairs in
order to always have the possibility for 8 pets to come with you). Less
sometime ask that you polymorph again when they die. Out of 5, I usually
manage to raise 2 or 3 to adulthood, the other dying from hit point rather
than hunger. After Sokoban, there should be enough monsters due to special
ooms (throne, anthive, ...) to feed your dragons. Moreover, a single
dragon seems to be always eating and never fighting which may become a bit
frustrating. Several dragon ensure that there is almost always one of them
fighting for you...

--
Hypocoristiquement,
Jym.

Adresse mail plus valide à partir de septembre 2005.
Utiliser l'adresse de redirection permanente :
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Jym wrote:

> Moreover, a single dragon seems to be always eating and
> never fighting which may become a bit frustrating. Several dragon
> ensure that there is almost always one of them fighting for you...

The problem with more than one dragon is that the experience for killing
other creatures now has to be divided over even more than you and a
single pet. Two pets will rise in level about half as fast as only one:
only one of them can kill that kobold.

You want your babies to gain levels (and HP) as quickly as possible. In
my experience, baby dragons are very vulnerable, since they often attack
something they're not really up to yet. Their level is higher than it
should be.

--
Boudewijn.

--
"I have hundreds of other quotes, just waiting to replace this one
as my signature..." - Me

 

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Clemence Magnien wrote:
> Any advice on how many eggs I should lay? I wanted several, but
> then somebody on #nethack reminded me that I have to feed them.
> I think more than one must be fun, but I don't want them to
> starve me or begin attacking me when there hungry!
> So, I was thinking, maybe 2 or 3...

I typically go with four, and usually lose one or two early.
More than four is pretty unmanagable, even with a magic whistle, and
fewer risks all of them dying before they toughen up (baby dragons seem
to have a tendency to bite off more than they can chew).

I haven't had much problem with keeping baby dragons fed. Food
only seems to be a problem in the early game... by the time I get
polyed, there are usually plenty of big edible corpses to go around. I
have occasionally had to throw one something because his siblings were
beating him to all the kills (name them; it helps).

--
John Campbell
jcampbel@lynn.ci-n.com

 

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John Campbell wrote:
> Clemence Magnien wrote:
> > Any advice on how many eggs I should lay? I wanted several, but
> > then somebody on #nethack reminded me that I have to feed them.
> > I think more than one must be fun, but I don't want them to
> > starve me or begin attacking me when there hungry!
> > So, I was thinking, maybe 2 or 3...
>
> I typically go with four, and usually lose one or two early.
> More than four is pretty unmanagable, even with a magic whistle, and
> fewer risks all of them dying before they toughen up (baby dragons seem
> to have a tendency to bite off more than they can chew).

Well, it seems I will have to forgo the idea of raising baby dragons
for the time being, as I just made one of the biggest mistakes
of my career. I thought I had seen enough of the game to know about
all cheap scrolls (price less than 50 gp). So I had this uncursed
scroll the shopkeepers were offering me 45 gp for, and I was
_really_ sure it was enchang weapon or enchant armor. So I removed
all my armor except the gray dragon scale mail, made sure I was
wielding excalibur, and read the scroll.
Your armor crumbles to dust!

Doh! At least now I'm sure I will remember the price of a destroy
armor scroll for a long time.

Clemence

 

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Philip Kendall wrote:
> In article <Pine.LNX.4.51.0508041100180.23970@hagen.loria.fr>,
> Jym <moyen@loria.fr> wrote:
> >
> >no scroll can be sold for 45 zormikds
>
> 100 zorkmid scroll when the shopkeeper's offering credit?

What??!!!
When the shopkeeper offers credit he doesn't offer as much
credit as what he would give if he had money??
That's probably exactly what happened then, I price
identified some items in a shop where the shopkeeper didn't
have money anymore. That's the first time it happens to me,
that's why I made the mistake.
And now some of my items have a wrong price assigned to them
in my inventory, and I don't know which...

So, I guess this is the lesson I will learn from this
particular game then!

Anyway, that shopkeeper is a dead shopkeeper (thanks to my
arch-lich), and I can't say he didn't deserve it in view of
the nasty trick he played unto me.

Clemence.

 

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

On Thu, 3 Aug 2005, Clemence Magnien wrote:

>
> John Campbell wrote:
> > Clemence Magnien wrote:
> > > Any advice on how many eggs I should lay? I wanted several, but
> > > then somebody on #nethack reminded me that I have to feed them.
> > > I think more than one must be fun, but I don't want them to
> > > starve me or begin attacking me when there hungry!
> > > So, I was thinking, maybe 2 or 3...
> >
> > I typically go with four, and usually lose one or two early.
> > More than four is pretty unmanagable, even with a magic whistle, and
> > fewer risks all of them dying before they toughen up (baby dragons seem
> > to have a tendency to bite off more than they can chew).
>
> Well, it seems I will have to forgo the idea of raising baby dragons
> for the time being, as I just made one of the biggest mistakes
> of my career. I thought I had seen enough of the game to know about
> all cheap scrolls (price less than 50 gp). So I had this uncursed
> scroll the shopkeepers were offering me 45 gp for, and I was
> _really_ sure it was enchang weapon or enchant armor. So I removed
> all my armor except the gray dragon scale mail, made sure I was
> wielding excalibur, and read the scroll.
> Your armor crumbles to dust!
>
> Doh! At least now I'm sure I will remember the price of a destroy
> armor scroll for a long time.

Strange. Even with max Charisma (>18), price reduction seems to be only
50%. And when selling the proposed prices should be 50/38, not 45 (no
scroll can be sold for 45 zormikds). And only enchant weapons can be
brought at 45.

--
Hypocoristiquement,
Jym.

Adresse mail plus valide à partir de septembre 2005.
Utiliser l'adresse de redirection permanente :
Jean-Yves.Moyen `at` ens-lyon.org

 

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In article <Pine.LNX.4.51.0508041100180.23970@hagen.loria.fr>,
Jym <moyen@loria.fr> wrote:
>
>no scroll can be sold for 45 zormikds

100 zorkmid scroll when the shopkeeper's offering credit?

Cheers,

Phil

--
Philip Kendall <pak21@srcf.ucam.org>
http://www.srcf.ucam.org/~pak21/

 

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In article <1123154521.868404.235550@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com>,
Clemence Magnien <clemence.magnien@shs.polytechnique.fr> wrote:
>
>Philip Kendall wrote:
>> In article <Pine.LNX.4.51.0508041100180.23970@hagen.loria.fr>,
>> Jym <moyen@loria.fr> wrote:
>> >
>> >no scroll can be sold for 45 zormikds
>>
>> 100 zorkmid scroll when the shopkeeper's offering credit?
>
>What??!!!
>When the shopkeeper offers credit he doesn't offer as much
>credit as what he would give if he had money??

Yes. More specifically, avargl cre prag.

Cheers,

Phil

--
Philip Kendall <pak21@srcf.ucam.org>
http://www.srcf.ucam.org/~pak21/

 

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

Quoting Clemence Magnien <clemence.magnien@shs.polytechnique.fr>:
>When the shopkeeper offers credit he doesn't offer as much
>credit as what he would give if he had money??

"However, a shopkeeper with no gold at all will offer credit equal to 90%
of the sale price (as ever, the surcharge may apply), which is just as good."

.... shameless selfpromotion for nhid-343 but there you are.
--
David Damerell <damerell@chiark.greenend.org.uk> flcl?
Today is Brieday, July.