Very noob, but: why #ride?

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I'm pretty new to playing nethack "seriously," and I'm wondering:

Why #ride?

I've found plenty of spoilers on *how* to ride, but I haven't figured out
why this might be a desirable thing to do.

I like playing Knights.

Cheers,
Ben
 
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Ben Kimball wrote:
>
> Why #ride?
>
> I've found plenty of spoilers on *how* to ride, but I haven't figured out
> why this might be a desirable thing to do.

More combined hit points between you and your steed.
Some steeds faster than walking, some tough enough
that there extra hit points make it worth it. Some
steeds are mean enough to take out plenty of monsters.

> I like playing Knights.

Jousting. Look into the "a"pply command when you
wield assorted weapons.
 
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Ben Kimball wrote:
> I'm pretty new to playing nethack "seriously," and I'm wondering:
>
> Why #ride?
>
> I've found plenty of spoilers on *how* to ride, but I haven't figured out
> why this might be a desirable thing to do.

Other people have already mentioned speed and flying bonus.
Specifically, horse mounts are faster than players to begin with. I
found that that is a big early game advantage when playing knights.
Also, monster attacks are randomized between player and mounts. So,
monster attacks might end up hitting the mounts. Sometimes, this is
desiable *if* the player is sort of wimpy in the early game. it's not
always a desirable effect though. Also...

>
> I like playing Knights.

Lances gets bonus if you use it while being on a mount. I find lances
very fun weapon to play. Definitely look into using mounts if you
wanna play around with lances.

>
> Cheers,
> Ben

-K
 
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What happens if you attack a cockatrice while riding a dragon?
 
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Ben Kimball wrote:
> On 8/19/05 2:33 PM, in article
> 1124479980.275617.276450@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com, "Kremti"
> <kremti@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Other people have already mentioned speed and flying bonus.
>
> And I just discovered something else; I was burdened before I mounted up.
> Now I'm not. Nice. (Knight armor is heavy!)

Yeah, there are other little bonuses like that (bonus on your carrying
capacity). I don't remember off the top of my head though. Someone
who's done source diving might be able to list?

-K
 
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thiskidrob@yahoo.com wrote:
> What happens if you attack a cockatrice while riding a dragon?

Nothing really. The mounts don't attack by themselves. Only when they
are attacked, they attack back. I don't think they attack back 'trices
either, but I don't know for sure...

-K
 
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On 8/19/05 2:33 PM, in article
1124479980.275617.276450@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com, "Kremti"
<kremti@gmail.com> wrote:

> Other people have already mentioned speed and flying bonus.

And I just discovered something else; I was burdened before I mounted up.
Now I'm not. Nice. (Knight armor is heavy!)

Best,
Ben
 
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Kremti wrote:
> thiskidrob@yahoo.com wrote:
>
>>What happens if you attack a cockatrice while riding a dragon?
>
>
> Nothing really. The mounts don't attack by themselves. Only when they
> are attacked, they attack back. I don't think they attack back 'trices
> either, but I don't know for sure...
>
> -K
>

They do attack footrices, unfortunately, if they are attacked first.
Yellow Dragons are immune though. Normal pets won't attack a footrice if
they're not immune.
 
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Ben Kimball wrote:

> Why #ride?

I believe you move at your steed's speed, which starts out faster than
you, and you get a damage bonus when you fight using a lance.

Also, you never have to wait for your pet at the stairs, and your pet is
always there to fight with you.

If you manage to get a pet dragon, you can fly.

--
Boudewijn.

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

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On Fri, 19 Aug 2005 21:22:41 +0200, "Boudewijn Waijers"
<kroisos@REMOVETHISWORD.home.nl> wrote:

>If you manage to get a pet dragon, you can fly.
>

Or better yet, a pet Jabberwock.
 
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"Kremti" <kremti@gmail.com> wrote:

> Ben Kimball wrote:
> > I like playing Knights.
>
> Lances gets bonus if you use it while being on a mount. I find lances
> very fun weapon to play. Definitely look into using mounts if you
> wanna play around with lances.

Possibly, but do note that you stand a chance of shattering your lance
if you do. You luck is supposed to play a part, but if I've done my
calculations correctly the difference is marginal, and you always stand
a chance of almost 1/250th of losing your weapon. Skill does not make a
difference[1]; luck only for tens of percents[2].
This may seem a small chance, but consider how often you hit a monster.
You will kill thousands of creatures during a normal ascension -
typically between 3000 and 4000, if YAAPs are anything to go by. And you
will hit each monster at least once, quite a few more than once. You
won't be hitting them all with your lance, of course, since you will use
your long sword as well, and use attack spells.
But let's say, somewhat randomly, that you hit with your lance 2000
times. That means you'll go through 8 lances in the course of the game.
You'll have to find those, and if at all possible enchant them up to
+6/+7. Possible, but will you bother?

Richard

[1] It makes a difference for deciding whether you joust at all, but not
for breaking your lance. More skilled players joust more often, but
break their lances no less.
[2] The maximum influence is 36/37th, for luck equal to 13.
 
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Richard Bos wrote:
> "Kremti" <kremti@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>> Ben Kimball wrote:
>>
>>> I like playing Knights.
>>
>> Lances gets bonus if you use it while being on a mount. I find
>> lances very fun weapon to play. Definitely look into using mounts
>> if you wanna play around with lances.
>
>
> Possibly, but do note that you stand a chance of shattering your
> lance if you do. [snip breakage of lances stuff]

Hmm. YANI: A lance artifact that is a knight's guaranteed first
sacrifice gift, and does not break?
 
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On 8/19/05 6:33 PM, Richard Bos wrote:

> [Y]ou stand a chance of shattering your lance if you [joust]. You
> luck is supposed to play a part, but if I've done my calculations
> correctly the difference is marginal, and you always stand a chance
> of almost 1/250th of losing your weapon. Skill does not make a
> difference[1]; luck only for tens of percents[2].

Does BUC status matter? Seems to preserve arrows, but I have no hard
evidence.

> This may seem a small chance, but consider how often you hit a monster.
> You will kill thousands of creatures during a normal ascension -
> typically between 3000 and 4000, if YAAPs are anything to go by.

Not all "monsters vanquished" are from direct player kills. It includes
all monster deaths due to any reason (pets, conflict, traps).

> And you will hit each monster at least once, quite a few more than
> once. You won't be hitting them all with your lance, of course, since
> you will use your long sword as well, and use attack spells.

More than likely, you'll get an artifact weapon by or before the Castle,
and use that for the rest of the game. Jousting is mainly an early-game
tactic.

> But let's say, somewhat randomly, that you hit with your lance 2000
> times. That means you'll go through 8 lances in the course of the game.
> You'll have to find those, and if at all possible enchant them up to
> +6/+7. Possible, but will you bother?

Again, early game tactic, probably before you do much enchanting up at all.

--
Kevin Wayne

"Stark raving sane."
--Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
 
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BManx2000 <bmanx2000@yahoo.com> wrote:

> Richard Bos wrote:
> > "Kremti" <kremti@gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >> Ben Kimball wrote:
> >>
> >>> I like playing Knights.
> >>
> >> Lances gets bonus if you use it while being on a mount. I find
> >> lances very fun weapon to play. Definitely look into using mounts
> >> if you wanna play around with lances.
> >
> > Possibly, but do note that you stand a chance of shattering your
> > lance if you do. [snip breakage of lances stuff]
>
> Hmm. YANI: A lance artifact that is a knight's guaranteed first
> sacrifice gift, and does not break?

You wouldn't need to code the non-breaking stuff extra, either; one of
the things I noticed while checking this, and which surprised me, is
that there is a call to see whether the lance resists shattering - and
normal lances never resist, but artifact lances, which don't even exist
yet, always do!

Richard
 
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Kevin Wayne <killedbyafoo@yahoo.com> wrote:

> On 8/19/05 6:33 PM, Richard Bos wrote:
>
> > And you will hit each monster at least once, quite a few more than
> > once. You won't be hitting them all with your lance, of course, since
> > you will use your long sword as well, and use attack spells.
>
> More than likely, you'll get an artifact weapon by or before the Castle,
> and use that for the rest of the game. Jousting is mainly an early-game
> tactic.

It's an early-game tactic for much, much better players than me, then,
because if I try to ride my pony before it starves (which it invariably
does, even if I feed him all my fruit), I either die by falling off or
at the very most manage to get my lance skill up one point and my riding
skill not at all. Dipping for Excalibur, OTOH, increases my early game
success with Knights no end.

Richard
 
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On Sun, 21 Aug 2005 13:03:38 +0000, Richard Bos wrote:

> because if I try to ride my pony before it starves (which it invariably
> does, even if I feed him all my fruit), I either die by falling off or at

Horses will eat standard food rations if they're hungry enough. This
works better than the fruit, as it lasts a lot longer.
Falling off is only a hitpoint problem. Gain a level or 2.

--
- Mantar --- Drop YourPantiesSirWilliam to email me.
 
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On 8/21/05 9:12 PM, Mantar, Feyelno nek dusa wrote:

> Horses will eat standard food rations if they're hungry enough. This
> works better than the fruit, as it lasts a lot longer.

They're also happy to eat lichen and shrieker corpses.

--
Kevin Wayne

"Help! I'm being repressed!"
--Dennis
 

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In article <BF2B987E.B9DC%zubin@mail.utexas.edu>,
Ben Kimball <zubin@mail.utexas.edu> wrote:
>
>
>I'm pretty new to playing nethack "seriously," and I'm wondering:
>
>Why #ride?
>
>I've found plenty of spoilers on *how* to ride, but I haven't figured out
>why this might be a desirable thing to do.
>
>I like playing Knights.

You can #ride horses, but there are other, much more fun and scary
things to #ride.
 
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racoontje@gmail.com wrote:
> Dragons? :)

Yes, although I don't like dragons as a mount since they are a bit too
slow for my taste.

I think Ki-rin makes the best mount, partially because of tiny bug that
allows ki-rin to equip a lot of equipment, including a shield of
reflection and amulet of lifesaving. Faster than dragons and self
healing, ki-rin with the right equipment makes very durable fast mount
that flies...

-K
 
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racoontje@gmail.com writes:

> Dragons? :)

What about them?

--
Jukka Lahtinen
 
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james wrote:
> In article <1124983407.647581.42860@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com>,
> Kremti <kremti@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> >I think Ki-rin makes the best mount, partially because of tiny bug that
> >allows ki-rin to equip a lot of equipment, including a shield of
> >reflection and amulet of lifesaving.
>
> How is that a bug? Horsies can wear shields (slung around the neck,
> trussed to belly), and they can wear amulets. Now, if you've got a
> hoofed beast using tools or weilding weapons or some such, I'm all
> ears.

IIRC, they aren't suppose to be able to wear armor. As of now, I
believe they can wear helmet and thus be able to get some magic
cancellation. I wasn't sure if they are suppose to be able to wield a
shield, but I was thinking they fall into the 'armor' category but I'm
not sure on that one.

Oh, horsies can wear shields? I didn't know. I might have to try that
then. I think it's a bit dubious that RL horses can effectively use
shields though :p Then again, NHINRL...

-K
 
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In article <4306581a.13685468@news.xs4all.nl>, Richard Bos says...
> Possibly, but do note that you stand a chance of shattering your lance
> if you do. You luck is supposed to play a part, but if I've done my
> calculations correctly the difference is marginal, and you always stand
> a chance of almost 1/250th of losing your weapon. Skill does not make a
> difference[1]; luck only for tens of percents[2].
>
>
Do cursed lances shatter? If not, perhaps deliberately cursing a lance could be
a sensible (ish) strategy?
 

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In article <1124983407.647581.42860@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com>,
Kremti <kremti@gmail.com> wrote:

>I think Ki-rin makes the best mount, partially because of tiny bug that
>allows ki-rin to equip a lot of equipment, including a shield of
>reflection and amulet of lifesaving.

How is that a bug? Horsies can wear shields (slung around the neck,
trussed to belly), and they can wear amulets. Now, if you've got a
hoofed beast using tools or weilding weapons or some such, I'm all
ears.