saving the sage with raw chaos dipping

[Blasphemous]

I've been using this method for a long time now, grobblewobble.
Normally however, the whole shebang starts when I get the moon sickle.
I usually dip a whole batch of useless potions that I had been gathering from the beginning and typically end up with ~100 or more potions of raw chaos.
I equip them in both hands and dip that way. Last time I did that with over 160 porc, I got 10 poga and some other useful potions, including ~15 booze.
Exchange are quite rare to get from my experience. Occasionally you will get a potion of water even if the DL is not high enough.
Also, as far as I remember, porc is a DL6 or 8 item and thus you can safely dip them on DL4 levels to get more water.

Elemental gauntlets have no impact on the incurred corruption when you spill a little liquid, they only work for orbs.
Dexterity likewise doesn't seem to lower the chance to spill as I've had characters with over 70 Dx (gray elf, cat ring, oman, bracers of war) do this and still get as many spills as chars with 20.
I'd argue that very high dexterity should completely eliminate the chance to spill but I can hear those voices of protest already so I won't even consider posting any RFEs in this department.
Anyway, this is a nice feature that can produce some pretty amazing outcome at the meager cost of ~2 corruptions.

[sweetnothing]

AoLS = Amulet of Life Saving, an item useful to save one person in the game
PoRC = Potion of Raw Chaos, a potion that can be easily created if you have an artifact containing essence of chaos and corruption (there are many of them in the game). Just dip it (! on keyboard) into any potion.
PoGA = Potion of Gain Attributes, a valueable potion. Drink blessed one.
DL = Danger Level, characteristic of dungeon levels, monsters and items. Dungeon levels with higher DL have better loot and harder monsters.
7lb = Seven League Boots, useful boots which allow to move faster
CoC = Caverns of Chaos, the main dungeon of the game

There were other acronyms listed somewhere in sticky posts.

[grobblewobble]

Last time I did that with over 160 porc, I got 10 poga and some other useful potions, including ~15 booze.
Exchange are quite rare to get from my experience.

Yes, the potions of gain attributes and booze (and some potions of learning) are what makes this really attractive. I got lucky with exchange potions the first time I tried. On later attempts I found them to be a bit more rare then I thought, as you say, so you can't really count on them to get you a wish when attempting an ultra - although still definitely worth a shot. Of course your chances all hinge on how many stacking rings you've been able to find, too. If you found and milked a ring shop, chances of a wish are still very good.

I still wonder if it's better to do this on DL 1, for maximum number of poga/booze/exchange, or DL2, for more water. Depends on your needs I guess.

[Blasphemous]

Yeah it does depend on the needs. Though I don't think you can ever have too much water so it's never a loss.
Having more poga however, means reaching certain thresholds for stats, like willpower for ball spells or more strength for damage and carrying capacity so in the long run it can be more beneficial.
In my current game, I have cleaned up two greater vaults which netted me ~25 potions of water.
I think this will last me for the rest of the game.

[sylph]

If I've already exchanged a wish, I tend to do this on D:4. The potions of strength, toughness, willpower, and potentials mean a lot more improvement to important stats than you get doing it on D:1. As said, though, it depends on what you want.