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