Killing oracle -> Something Actually Happens
issueid=3299 08-20-2014 04:27 PM
Ancient Member
Number of reported issues by SirTheta: 79
Killing oracle -> Something Actually Happens
The oracle is too easy to kill.

The oracle is currently an easy up-to-+6 Le [depending on potential etc.] that any spoiled player takes by shooting her to death with arrows from a safe distance. There is no danger at all to the player at any point,* even with +Curse/Doom - since players just wait until they can remove it to own her [e.g. right before crowning].

So, I propose that one of the following changes occur:

(1) HMV turns hostile, including Leggot, the ogre guardian, Hawkslayer, etc. [easily defeated by teleport, usually not a consequence at that point in game]
(2) (1) plus a stone giant lord is summoned on the down staircase out of HMV to wilderness. [easily defeated by TP through UD, killing easy mob, or luring him away from stairs, usually not a consequence at that point in game]
(3) (1) but Hawkslayer is blocking the stairs and doesn't move. [easily defeated by TP through UD, usually not a consequence at that point in game]
(4) something else entirely that doesn't have the above problems!

*caveat: unless you do something really stupid, like use a wand of destruction to get the HMV scroll, but use it too close to the oracle and damage her and destroy the walls
Issue Details
Issue Number 3299
Issue Type Feature
Project ADOM (Ancient Domains Of Mystery)
Category All
Status Suggested
Priority 8
Suggested Version ADOM r51
Implemented Version (none)
Milestone (none)
Votes for this feature 3
Votes against this feature 6
Assigned Users (none)
Tags (none)




08-20-2014 06:28 PM
Ancient Member
There is no danger at all to the player at any point,*
Unless you don't know you shouldn't attack her in a straight line and get extinguished by a death ray, which you'll learn either through spoilers or the hard way (the same is true of the corpse's cursedooming).

08-20-2014 06:59 PM
Ancient Member
Perhaps a future quest might require the oracle to be alive for some reason...

08-20-2014 09:17 PM
Senior Member
AFAIK, the oracle is supposed to give advice to players trying to get an ultra-ending/UCG ending, but I've never actually gotten her to spill the beans. Maybe this could be updated, and give her more of an active role for people seeking Ultra Endings?

08-20-2014 10:39 PM
Ancient Member
To tell you the truth, I don't remember ever killing and eating her, not even once.
It's a largely role-playing question - are you actually interested in immersive gameplay or just using everything to your advantage?
What I mean is that I just feel that killing and eating her is something terribly wrong.
I could perhaps do that as a CK but since I barely ever play that class, this is pretty much out of the question.
I play casters on a regular basis and 6 extra points of learning is a very nice boost but again, killing and eating the oracle feels very wrong and I don't do that.
Most inexperienced players will probably not do that either, for a multitude of reasons.
I think this is a min-maxing situation and it should be left as it is.
It's an optional feature and it's by no means a game breaker.

08-20-2014 11:33 PM
Senior Member
IMO it's okay for some things in ADOM to be trivial *if you know how to deal with them*. The Oracle is lethal if you don't know about the death ray, and also lethal if you can't handle the dooming. Similar reasoning to this rejected RFE for Filk imo: http://www.adom.de/forums/project.php?issueid=3050

I do however like the idea of giving the Oracle a useful function to discourage killing him.

08-21-2014 05:07 AM
Junior Member
If you're a newbie, you're going to leave the oracle alone. If you're spoiled, you're going to eat the oracle, because it's such a nice bonus. So it makes the game easier for veterans, which generally isn't good game design.

08-21-2014 04:46 PM
Ancient Member
Quote Originally Posted by shockeroo
IMO it's okay for some things in ADOM to be trivial *if you know how to deal with them*. The Oracle is lethal if you don't know about the death ray, and also lethal if you can't handle the dooming. Similar reasoning to this rejected RFE for Filk imo: http://www.adom.de/forums/project.php?issueid=3050

I do however like the idea of giving the Oracle a useful function to discourage killing him.
There's a very clear difference in this situation, however: the Oracle is trivial for everyone once you are spoiled / learn about her - she can mostly easily be taken out once you are level 13+. She is nowhere near as difficult to kill as Filk if Filk's weaknesses were taken away since she is stationary and cannot hit you if you aren't in direct line with her (cf. my comments on that RFE). She's also present in every game whereas getting to Filk requires a huge number of extra steps to go through.

I'm sure there are a number of experienced players who don't kill and eat her, but that's true of any strategy (I guess I will simply reference stoma or morgia abuse, as I so often do). In my opinion, this doesn't invalidate the Problem of the Oracle.

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