Initial Reactions and comments

[CyclopsSlayer]

First let me say that overall I really enjoy NewAngband! Definitely the toughest version to play so far, but fun none-the-less!
A few comments;

1. Elite/Boss and variable Leveled mobs, very interesting idea. Makes stepping into a room of 'easy' mobs not always a good idea. BUT! the chance to become an Elite or Boss might be too high, especially early on as they are often melee immune and no one that early has the magical punch to handle something 5-10 levels out of depth.

1a. Elite/Boss mobs that normally do not drop treasures, drop coin instead it seems. I understand this fully, but the Docs do say they 'alway drop at least one magical...'

2. Balance, does melee damage grow too fast? An average char can leave town after dropping Marti and Maggot with 3 blows a round and +10 damage per blow without hardly breaking a sweat. Boss White snake I killed dropped a 1d8 (+6,+4) cutlass with +5 attacks at 50'. Even 10 levels out of depth that is excessive. Had a Monk that did 2 blows at +195 damage a blow.

3. Critical Failure Melee attacks. EVERY SINGLE ONE of my high melee damage characters has died not from the mob hitting them, BUT them hitting themselves!! I am seriously afraid to find a good weapon, I will be more of a threat to myself than to the mobs. I can run from even an enraged Boss, but one round of me whacking on myself and it is gravestone time.

4. Going through so many chars as I am today has me having to repeat many times setting my options and alternate window display modes. I use 4 windows, main, Inventory choice, Monster Recall, and messages. The same as their default names. Some method to Save and Load option settings would be appreciated.

5. Some items don't seem to display in the magic item color. Specifially, 'Armor of Light' resist light and perm light, yet shows as only normal on the merchant. (grey text instead of violet text)

6. Grammar and pluralization errors, minor. For example, 'Wooden Parts' the game makes into 'Partses' when the original is already plural.

7. During char creation the only thing changed by rolling is Age, Height, Weight, Status, none of which have any game effect I can see. Is there any reason to maintain the roller for these?

Well, enough for now, back to trying to get a char down past 100' and thinking about maybe someday in the far future trying to get an advanced class...

[CyclopsSlayer]

Errr, ummm, OMFG!

I had started out to try a Dwarf Monk, but along the way I found something that makes me wonder if another path might be better...

The Dagger 'Bee Sting' (E:34, L:9) (1d3) (+18,+18) [+9] (+1 Attack)

15 Attacks a round!!!! 15d3 + 793

I have no idea what powers it has yet as I have yet to find a Artifact ID scroll for sale with this char.

However, as a Monk his damage is 4 Attacks a round for 900.

Are their any spoilers on Artifacts? The Dagger has been levelling like mad and it's E rating (ego?) has been climbing FAST.

Glanus died yet again to Reflection, urk! Making sources of Probing MUCH more common right off the bat would help, but I have yet to have seen any methods yet in what must be 20 some chars.


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[NewAngband 1.7.0 Character Dump]

Name : Glanus Age 45 STR: 12
Sex : Male Height 51 INT: 5
Race : Dwarf Weight 159 WIS: 13
Class : Monk Social Class 44 DEX: 10
Level 11 CON: 12
Experience 80 Chr: 2
+ To Hit 81 Max Exp 80
+ To Damage 225 Exp to Adv. 97 Max Hit Points 175
+ To AC 45 Gold 2450 Cur Hit Points -13
Ability P 3 Stat Points 2 Max SP (Mana) 0
Multiplier 1 Skill Points 2 Cur SP (Mana) 0
Shooter Mul 1 Class Level 1
Leaders Mul 1 Class Kills 5
( ----- Skills ----- )
Swords : 0 Shooting : 2 Leadership: 0 Blows/Round: 4
Hafted : 0 Throwing : 0 Alchemy: 1 Shots/Round: 1
Polearms : 0 M. Arts : 12 Crafting: 0 Wpn.dmg/Rnd: 900
Daggers : 0 Agility : 5 Combat Feats: 0 Infra-Vision: 50 feet
Axes : 0 Stealth : 1
Rods : 0 Spellcraft: 0
(Character Background)
You are the only child of a Dwarven Miner. You are a
credit to the family. You have dark brown eyes, straight
black hair, a two foot beard, and a dark complexion.



[Miscellaneous information]

Maximize Mode: OFF
Preserve Mode: OFF
Autoscum: ON
Small Levels: ON
Arena Levels: ON
Persistent Dungeons: OFF
Recall Depth:
Variaz Dungeon: Level 4 (200')

Your body was a Player.

Your Attributes:
You can cause mold to grow near you.
Your eyes are sensitive to infrared light.
You have free action.
You have a firm hold on your life force.
You are carrying a permanent light.
You are resistant to poison.
You are resistant to disenchantment.
You are completely fearless.
Your eyes are resistant to blindness.
Your attack speed is affected by your equipment.

You have defeated 321 enemies.


[Mutations]

You can cause mold to grow near you.


[Character Equipment]

a) (nothing)
d) a Long Bow (x3) (+0,+1)
e) a Ring of Protection [+8]
f) a Ring of Lordly Protection [+13] {90% off}
k) (nothing)
m) a Brass Lantern (with 3333 turns of light)
n) (nothing)
o) a Cloak [1,-1]
p) (nothing)
s) an Iron Helm [5,+2]
u) a Set of Leather Gloves [1,+5]
x) a Pair of Hard Leather Boots [3,+1]
z) (nothing)
{) 22 Light Arrows (2d4) (+1,+1) (+1 attack)
|) (nothing)


[Character Inventory]

a) 10 Rations of Food
b) 3 Flasks of oil
c) 13 Potions of Cure Serious Wounds
d) 11 Potions of Cure Critical Wounds
e) a Potion of Infra-vision
f) a Potion of Speed
g) 5 Scrolls of Teleportation
h) 5 Scrolls of Word of Recall
i) 37 Scrolls of Identify
j) 2 Scrolls of Blessing
k) 3 Scrolls of Repair Weapon
l) 3 Wands of Magic Missile (0 charges)
m) a Wand of Wonder (9 charges)
n) a Ring of Shard Resistance
o) an Amulet of Infra-Vision (+1 to infravision)
p) Soft Studded Leather [5,+0]
q) a Metal Cap (+6,+7) [3,+0] (+2 to infravision)
r) a Morning Star (2d6) (+6,+8) (+1 to speed)
s) 5 Arrows (1d4) (+0,+0)
t) 34 Arrows (1d4) (+0,+0)
u) 26 Flight Arrows (1d3) (+9,+2) [+3] (+1 to speed)
v) 23 Flaming Arrows (2d4) (+9,+7) [+5] (+1 to infravision)
w) a Parchement - Khuzdul - The hidden tonge of the Dwarves


[Home Inventory (page 1)]

a) The Cord Armour 'Ulkrol' [4,+5] (+4)
b) The Dagger 'Bee Sting' (E:34, L:9) (1d3) (+18,+18) [+9] (+1 attack)
c) a Parchement - Alchemical Healing
d) (nothing)
e) (nothing)
f) (nothing)
g) (nothing)
h) (nothing)
i) (nothing)
j) (nothing)
k) (nothing)
l) (nothing)


[Home Inventory (page 2)]

a) (nothing)
b) (nothing)
c) (nothing)
d) (nothing)
e) (nothing)
f) (nothing)
g) (nothing)
h) (nothing)
i) (nothing)
j) (nothing)
k) (nothing)
l) (nothing)

[Variaz]

1. Actually, I never had problems with the early elites. In fact, I usually gain my first few levels by killing one or two. If you kill farmer maggot, you gain your first level. Place two points into a weapon skill, raise your dexterity by two, and you shouldn't have problems.

1a. Monsters with the "ONLY_GOLD" flag always drop, well, only gold. But you're right, the doc doesn't mention it. Besides, perhaps I should see to it, as it's annoying to only get gold for beating a tough boss.

2. Melee is supposed to be pretty strong, but it can also be risky, as bosses abilities are generally oriented toward killing melee characters(except Magic Return and Magic Immune). Then again, maybe it's TOO strong. In 1.6.1, it wasn't strong enough until you got a real big weapon. Now I made it stronger, but perhaps it went the other way. Currently, what makes melee more powerful is that your initial damage roll gets multiplied by 5. Maybe I should tone it down to 3 or something... As for the 5 extra attacks weapon, you have been lucky to get that that early!

3. I get it you speak of the returning bosses. Here's a good tip: the look command('l'). Look at them, then recall them('r'), and you will see all the abilities a monster may have. I remember the abilities doesn't show up in the term windows. This is something I should check. But don't worry, you can see a returning boss when you meet one!

4. It's something to consider, thanks for suggesting it. Though it's not my priority for 1.7.1...

5. The "Armor Of Light" is not considered a 'magical' item. It's a normal item with an innate ability. This essencially mean you could enchant one with a scroll of Magic Item, and it would work(and the armor of light would keep it's original ability). Same thing for the Mage Plate.

6. I just fixed this one! However, there might be some other grammatical errors in the game(and in this post...) and it's probably due to the fact that I am not a native english speaker. I'm for Quebec, the french canadian province. While I think my english is not too bad, it's probably not perfect.

7. Errr...not really. Perhaps they should be customizable... And then, perhaps they should be removed entirely. They just help giving a little more personality to your character. If you don't care about that, then, these numbers are useless.


Item leveling might have to get re-coded, it still use that old, outdated code. For the Bee Sting dagger, 15d3 + 793 is your total, BASE damages(without counting the skills). If you miss, you will do less than that. Daggers gives you a ton of extra attacks, but their base damages are very, very weak. The blows is what balances them compared to swords.

As for monks being weak, I don't think they are at all. Unarmed Combat ability with Agility skill can give you a great AC, Spin Kick is very powerful, plus you can use it as a combat feat. Hard Kick is useful to keep enemies away, Ki Punch is an always hit attack that does half magic damages(so it can be used on melee immune), High Sommersault is a very good hit-and-run move that can be used with the combat feat skill, and Martial Arts Mastery allow you to get a big martial arts skill.

And remember! Reflecting elites/bosses can be identified by using look, then recall them. You will see all their abilities, and can avoid them!

[manchu]

I just wanted to comment on point number 3 from above. Is there a way to increase melee accuracy so that you do not hit yourself??? I also have gotten 'BEE STING' and leveled it to L25 but now I am afraid to use it since if I hit myself by accident I will be dead for sure.

By the way...I'm from Winnipeg. I think your English is pretty good, I've heard much worse from some of the French people I know in Winnipeg. Its nice to see a Canadian boy doing such good work. I'm new to this variant but so far I really enjoy it. I haven't tried all the features out since I am playing as a monster ('p') and cannot learn any abilities or magic. But what I have tried so far has been a lot of fun.

[Variaz]

Actually, there is nothing such as a "Critical Miss", it's due to the ability of bosses to return 50% physical damages. When you meet a boss, use the look command, then recall it on the main screen to see it's abilities, and see if the returning is there. You should be able to avoid it.

However, if you do get "critical miss" things on a monster OTHER than an elite or boss with this ability, then by all means say it, as it is certainly not intended...