Spoiled questions about cats...

[Grey]

Kitty ring:

-extra melee criticals (lots more damage from that)
-extra Dx (lots more missile damage)
-5 PV (take more damage)
-Fate smiles (more luck causing and receiving damage)
-extra speed (do more damage quicker)
-see invis (quicker to swap in than AMW, so you can do damage to invis monsters more quickly)

No other ring matches up, unless you really have your head up your ring :P

[Baranor]

I certainly try for the kitty ring at all costs, but if I get trapped between two cats and don't have a way to get rid of them. I don't mind all that much killing them. I certainly don't reroll a character for it. Sometimes I like the challenge of killing the cat lord. Webs are your friend.

[UnknownSoldier]

I know the kitty ring is a mighty tasty bit but what else can give me six levels in a single fight ? Aside from wishes which aren't exactly plentiful.
And I believe you cannot have enough levels under your belt. More level equal more power.

[Sami]

I know the kitty ring is a mighty tasty bit but what else can give me six levels in a single fight ? Aside from wishes which aren't exactly plentiful.
And I believe you cannot have enough levels under your belt. More level equal more power.

Nuurag-Vaarn.

[Molach]

Well, it is good. But still, in some cases I'd wear something else. Chars with music and instrument might as well not kill 'em. But still, the GB focuses a lot on cats, as if the ring will make up for all pain endured so far. "It is enormously helpful in the end game, particularly because it grants +16 to Dexterity when the PC's dexterity is being destroyed by corruption". Hm. Use moss here. And if you get this far, no great need for it, surely. Who would not want to wear a ring of karmic absorbtion? Hm?

Also, it can still blow up in your face if you slay another cat, can't it? Does it damage? How much? Could be dangerous. I wouldn't know, I've owned the ring 2 times at most. I am a dog-person, no doubt.

[Silfir]

Levels do not equal power. At least not usually. Very few class powers are significant enough.

Dexterity in the endgame:

Moss -> back to 27 modified
put on kitty ring -> 43 awesomeness

instead of:

Moss -> back to 27 aw poo doesn't it go higher my arrows aren't doing anything

[warheart]

I know the kitty ring is a mighty tasty bit but what else can give me six levels in a single fight ? Aside from wishes which aren't exactly plentiful.
And I believe you cannot have enough levels under your belt. More level equal more power.

Momma water dragon.

There are many places you can "scum" for easy experience, while there aren't any rings as good as kitty ring. Of course it's not a big deal if you can't get it, you shouldn't risk your life just for not destroying kitty karma, but if you are a littlebit careful, it's not that difficult to get the ring.

[sorear]

I know the kitty ring is a mighty tasty bit but what else can give me six levels in a single fight ? Aside from wishes which aren't exactly plentiful.
And I believe you cannot have enough levels under your belt. More level equal more power.

The eternal guardian gives three levels per fight, can be fought as many times as you want, and is much easier to kill than the cat lord. In particular, the EG is much slower than the cat lord, and can be kited to death by anyone with a penetrating, humanoid slaying, or merely strong (I did it with a mundane eternium two-handed sword once, 6d5+90 -60PV is still a lot of damage) attack. Oh, and you aren't depriving yourself of anything by killing him, since after you've reached your target level (usually 30 for my mindcrafters, ~3 kills) you can still show him the ring. Is a very chaotic act though - don't do this as N crowned.

[JellySlayer]

I used to jump through hoops to avoid killing cats. Which isn't especially easy when you are playing a melee character. It uses some resources which aren't abundant in the beginning of the game.

So the last char (a drakish paly) that made it to the kitty lord had to kill him. Not to hard, all thing considered, cost me a couple of prayer, one !oUH and a few charges from a wand of paralization.
I gained 6 levels ! Ok, I cheated, I cast slow on myself before the killing blow.

So I'm asking : is the kitty ring really worthwhile to get compared to this mass of experience I got in exchange, not to mention all the hassle of not killing cats ?

another related question :
I think I read somewhere that the cat lord increase in level for each cat killed ? Would it be worthwhile to hunt cats before his level to gain more experience when you kill him ?

My reasoning always goes like this: it is not worth losing the character to save a cat. If a cat spawns very early and I will have difficulty running away from it, then I will just kill it. If I get a few levels and can more easily escape, or have a way to train or otherwise dispose of the cat, then the circumstances change, of course. Most melee characters in particular I find have a very hard time effectively avoiding cats before level 10, and I rarely bother trying for the RoMC with them.

[Soirana]

Well, both ring and xp are nice but not really necessary. problem is xp comes via very troublesome fight, which is reason i tend to avoid killing cats if possible.

And actually ring is lot of better for mellee chars...