mages are tough

[manchu]

My first attempt at newangband was a monster character playing as 'p' which has not been too tough yet. My second attempt is a gnome mage. He can dish out the damage via magic missile but man does he die alot! I don't have detect monsters yet so every time he happens to enter a room where there is a monster waiting by the door he gets whacked. I'm not complaining, I know this is supposed to be a hard variant and I am okay with that because its also a pretty cool variant.

A mage related question. Some elites are immune to magic but my gnome mage can still kill them using his class power magic missile but elites that are magic returning still send that magic missile back to him. Why is that?

Also, any tips on avoiding those ambush type of moves?
And, how can I get his resistance up against stunning and knock outs?

-manchu

[Variaz]

Missile type is particular in that it is a mix between physical and magic damages. So a monster immune to magic will still get some damages from Missile, as it's also half-physical. However, while it does hurt immune monsters, it will still be returned by returning bosses. Oh, and remember that Missile is LESS affected by spellcraft than other types(since it's not entirely magic...), so don't be surprised if you do less damages with Missile later in the game.

As for avoiding ambushes, well...Detect Monster or Reveal could do the job. Perhaps you could purchase a staff until you get the spell. Then again, since detection is nearly a must for mages, maybe I should put Detect Monster book in the Magic Shop... And for stuns, a ring of safety can do the job, and having a high constitution also give you a chance to escape the effects of Knock Out. Basically, 1% chance per constitution points. So if you have 100 constitution, you won't be affected!