Guidebook work

[mike]

You can probably get a lvl 50 char with C alignment into L with one altar if 1gp is sacced repeatedly, I haven't tried this though.

I've tried and found it so frustrating that I gave up.

Elone did some testing on this a while ago. I think he concluded that altars have their own 'alignment points', so that if saccing 3k gold will convert an altar, saccing 1 gold 3k times will also convert it.

[Grey]

That was purely a supposition, no real testing in support of it.

I've always found that using a grey altar to get to NC and then a white altar to get to LN is perfectly reliable when using 1gp per sac. Never had a conversion with 1gp using this method. As for the final step to L+, healing drowning pets is best, but whipping is good too if you have the right tools.

[gut]

> Elone did some testing on this a while ago. I think he concluded

she

[gut]

I start this session with a bit of random stuff that just pops into my mind
from time to time. Appologies if I have already mentioned these, or if
they're already in the GB. Feel free to ignore most if not all of the stuff
I've typed out. It got a little more long-winded than I intended : )

---------------
The PC's range of sight seems to be effected by the time of day, on the
wilderness maps at least. In the morning (which apparantly begins at
6h), the PC sees further, and in the evening (which apparantly begins
at 22h) the PC's sight is limited to 2 squares. The farsight spell seems
to negate this.

If a PC's PV is below 4, they will suffer corresponding damage from
kicking walls and statues.

Dungeon generation has a few peculiarities that may be worth mentioning.
Almost all rooms generated on any level will have an odd number of floor
spaces available. To my knowledge, the only exception to this is the very
rare random shop room. They are capable of being generated with an even
number of available floor spaces, and this causes the 'dig' algorithm in the
game to be unable to connect them to the rest of the map. The only way
to reach these shops is by tunneling. Believe it or not, this info is not
code dived, but instead, it is the result of players such as myself nearly
going crazy because of this situation. I believe Elone was the one to finally
connect the dots.

There are also room configurations that have ~90% chance of having
a very nearby staircase. This is immediately noticable upon entering a
room, and I noticed it while on some of my ID stair-hopping adventures.
If you would be interested in including such info in the GB, just say so
and I will type some ascii pictures.

I seem to remember someone saying that monsters tamed in the underwater
cave can leave with the PC and breath air. This is probably a game bug.

No PC can tame a pet if it already has 3 pets on that level. One must lead
pets to a different level, drop them off, and return to tame more.

I re-read the herbs section again, and realized that this info is already
there, but in a bit of a cryptic layout. I'll leave it up to you to determine
whether it needs fixing, but I didn't understand it from reading the GB,
and can think of at least one other experienced player that didn't get it
either: Herbs are always generated on the same lines, regardless of
dungeon level. Meaning that if the player uses the 'l'ook command, and
moves the cursor to the topmost line, that would always be a stoma
square (if the PC could reach that square, which they can't). Moving the
line down two spaces reaches the line that dungeon floor squares are
available, and that square is always morgia.
-------------

2.18 Darkforge

> Steel golems will shrug off many lightning attacks, but can eventually
> be killed this way.

Maybe mention TP raiding DF in this section, even if the PC plans to kill
the golems, it's still often helpful to do it while wielding an eternium two-
hander of devastation : ) Another good tip is to teleport into the pool room,
and use the water squares as barriers if they are configured properly. This
can help avoid those risky critical hits. Also maybe mention that monster
generation can be controled in darkforge by leaving the last legion of
golems alone until after you are done with your business. I have noticed
that the steel horrors tend to critically hit the PC much harder than the
golems do. In any case, you don't want to have to contend with golems or
horrors while your in the middle of pool sipping.
----------

2.18.1 Kherab

> He is quite tough, with hitpoints numbering in the hundreds and a
> powerful melee attack.

He regenerates, he's immune to fire, and sees in the dark. He is more
easily killed if the water squares in the DF pool room are arranged nicely.
Poison works nicely, but it's hard to get him paralyzedbecause he's pretty
good at shrugging off bolts.

> He holds two items necessary for smithing: a
> hammer and an anvil. He is the source of two quests outlined below.

Eternium hammer, a crossbow, and some eternium quarrels.
-----------------

2.19 The Tower of Eternal Flames

> Two guaranteed examples are the elemental gauntlets (resistance) and
> the Crown of Science

The Torc and RotHK's give -fire, and the Shield of Raw Steel gives =fire.

> the bad luck it generates causes fireproof blankets and rings of ice to
> fail much more often

There is a bug in 1.1.1 that causes blankets to last longer when doomed.

> There are several other nonguaranteed artifacts which grant resistance
...
> worth remembering that artifacts are indestructible and so cannot be >

damaged by the heat

This kinda implies that -fire rings might be damaged. To my knowledge,
they can't be damaged by fire. Also, I'm pretty sure that armor and
weapons with the prefix 'red' are also impervious to heat.

>If a PC must wear items vulnerable to fire, a blessed ring of ice

Maybe clarify that RoI's will also protect items in the pack.

> If the PC is doomed or cursed
...
> fireproof blankets seem to disintegrate much more readily

Again, the game bug.

> praying on the top level will result in a pickaxe gift from the PC's god

The PC's piety level must be high for this to happen. How high, I can't
remember 100%, but I think it's 'very close'. Oh, and I'm 99.9% sure
that the PC can't be doomed or cursed either.

> invisibility is very, very desirable in the Fire Temple

As is darkness. The only temple monsters that see in darkness are fire
demons and the ACW. It is most useful for fighting the elementals,
and it's prolly best to re-light the area before tackling the ACW.
--------------------

2.19.1 The Ancient Chaos Wyrm

> It has a fire breath attack

Indeed, but it seems to me that he hardly ever uses it.

> is able to cast confusion and an energy ray.

The energy ray can only be cast in a straight line, like a PC's bolt spell.
This means that standing out of a direct line of him and shooting missiles,
or bouncing bolt spells can lead to an easy victory. This was the strategy
I used for my 'fling the bling' victories.

The energy ray has a maximum range of 13 squares, so using the farsight
spell and sniping from afar is a rare, but safe tactic.

Also, he won't fire an energy ray through another monster, so hostile meat

shields are the best defense. He won't fire through a non-hostile either, but
he will kill them to get to the PC. Still, it gives a use for a wand of monster
creation or the summon monsters spell. He can use confusion attacks as
soon as the PC enters his LoS, but only when the PC is in his LoS. Ducking
behind a door or wall works fine, but meat shields do nothing.

Here are my thoughts on the best strategy against the ACW:
1. Kill the elementals in darkness for exp. points.
2. Awaken the ACW with a bolt spell, or wand zap.
3. Retreat to the previously dug corridor.
4. Kill the monsters, but leave one as a meat shield, or make your own.
5. When the ACW appears, zap stun/paralyze rays at him until one takes.
6. Kill buffer monsters and approach the ACW.
7. Hit the ACW with a disabling potion, as they are 100% effective.
8. Hit the ACW with a PoCC if available.
9. Attack, and use the Water Orb/Elemental Gauntlet for healing if hit.

> The ACW is vulnerable to cold attacks

Nope. He's not particularly vulnerable to cold. Frost bolt is actually the
worst spell to use against him, as it kills your meat shields more quickly,
thus opening the PC to energy rays. Acid works best, as it's the most
powerful bolt spell.

> and dragon slaying ammo

and demon.
-------------

2.20.1 The Minotaur Maze
> The mazes are heavily trapped.

Please mention the importance of NOT taking one's climbing set into
the maze. In fact, I usually drop all of my vulnerable equipment on
the stairs before going in there.

A bit of mostly useless info here, but maybe worth including.
Minotaurs often panic when 'severly wounded' and run away. This can be
useful for PC's. Minotaurs will never set off traps unless they are in a state
of panic, so it's possible to use them strategically to clear a path for the PC.
I can't say that minotaurs are 100% guaranteed to set off every trap they
step on, but I can't recall ever seeing one miss. Also, whenever I encounter
a hidden wall, I drop a coin on both sides of it. This helps to keep track of
what path the PC has taken and is great for when you need to backtrack.
Only useful for when I actually walk the maze though, and that's been a
while.
----------------

2.20.1.1 The Minotaur Emperor

> minotaur mages which are able to cast confusion. When the Minotaur
> Emperor is killed,

This guy has killed many PC's, so maybe mention some strategies for him.
Stun ray works near perfectly against the mages, and is always my first
attack. As for the Emperor, I like webs, teleportation, and missiles. I never
melee the Emperor under any condition.
----------------

[gut]

2.21.3 Ratling guardians

> They seem to be flavor elements more than anything else and play no
> real role in the plot of the game.

They can be used to strategically rob the shop. They are two of only three
monsters in the game that behave in a particularly strange way, the other
is Yergius. They are motionless, and will let the PC swap places with them.
This strategy is really only worthwhile if the PC has no means of
teleportation, and no potions of invis, or Leggot sees invisible too quickly.

Place a ratling near the doorway, gather the shop items, repeatedly drop
them and pick them up until the shopkeeper doesn't block the doorway
(this can take many tries, and being fast helps), stand in the doorway,
and swap places with the ratling. An alarm sounds, and the PC will be
cursed if it's not chaoticly aligned. Just kill or outrun the summoned thugs,
which the PC should be able to do at this point in the game. Leggot won't
kill the ratling to get at you, and many thugs will be trapped in his shop
as well, they will just look on angrily as you leave : ) If one wants to keep

Leggot for future sales, then you can still lead the ratlings to any other
shops in the game.
---------------

2.22.2.1 The Ghost Librarian

> The Ghost Librarian is nonhostile and plays no role in the game

He blesses the PC if given a scroll or book.

> PC must have Stealth at 100 and spend at least 2000 turns

I think the turns must occasionally be somewhat over 2000. I think
vogonpoet can confirm this : )
------------------

2.23.1 Keriax

> He is able to breathe bolts including corrupting bolts, confuses the PC

Wands of stun/paralyze and buffer monsters are nice.
----------------

2.24 The Quickling Tree

> Quicklings fall fairly easily in melee, with missile weapons or using magic.

They don't see in darkness or invis, except for royalty.
--------------------

2.25 The Infinite Dungeon

> The ID has some unique characteristics: shops, altars and pools are
> never generated. Every dungeon level is randomly generated, so leaving
> a level and reentering it results in a completely new dungeon level.

The ID is a bigger game factor than just that... yes, I'm mainly talking about
stair hopping : ) It may be controversial to some, but it's just a scummy
(grinding) tactic like any other, and not as game-breaking as some.
It's one of the things I often point out to new players on the forums,
because I think a player should feel free to use anything that's not a
bug to help them get their first win. Here are some strategies for using
the ID:

Stair hopping is the process of repeatedly ascending and descending a
single staircase in the ID, for the purpose of generating hordes of items in
the continuously generated rooms. Items generated on the ID's floors will
be of a danger level equal to 1/3 of the ID's dungeon level. That means only
DL1 items will be generated on ID levels 1-3. On ID levels 4-6, DL2 items
can be generated, and DL3 items can be generated on ID levels 7-10. This
applies to dipping items into potions of raw chaos and exchange as well. This
does not apply to guaranteed drops, like eternium gear from chaos warriors.
Also, it seems that this does not always apply to monster generation either.
I don't know if any of the above info was ever discovered with code diving,

but regardless, I discovered most of it myself, just through extensive stair
hopping.

Benefits of stair hopping include: An easy way to acquire spellbooks, as they
are all DL1, and thus available on ID levels 1-3. An easy way to acquire
extra DV/PV points for the early game, as shields, hats, gauntlets, boots,
etc... can sometimes have nice stats. An easy source of teleport control
(actually the only guaranteed source of TP control in the game), as blink
dogs can be found after ID 4 (sometimes earlier). An easy way to aquire
potions and scrolls that can save a PC's life, and deal with bosses.

It should be noted that all of the above tactics can be used by just exploring
the levels, and is considered somewhat less scummy by many players, for
reasons that escape me. Indeed there are other non-stair-hoppy uses for the
ID as well. Such as increasing the PC's experience level, while maintaining
complete control over the chance to generate artifacts. Artifacts will never
be generated on the floor of *any* ID level, and the only monsters (to my
knowledge) that are capable of dropping artifacts when killed, are dragons
(not the baby kind, but ancients are fine) and wyrms. It is interesting to
note, that if dragons are killed in the ID, and a dropped artifact is not
collected, it will still jump into the PC's pack upon leaving the level. Nice : )
If one is interested in pre/post crowning, this offers a way to keep the PC's
exp level in proper relation to their 'artifacts generated' level. There is even
the possibility to achieve exp. level 50 in the ID before precrown attempts,
and this is the main strategy used in the 'maximum artifacts' challenge.

There are other peculiarities about the ID, such as companion behavior.
If a PC encounters white unicorns in the ID, they will often try to join the
PC's company upon exiting the ID and travelling through the wilderness.
The same thing happens to any pet/slave that gets left behind in the ID.
The Si is the only artifact in the game (other than the Chaos Orbs) that
absolutely can not be picked up by a monster in the ID. If other artifacts are
picked up by monsters in the ID, and the PC leaves the level, the artifact is
gone.
-------------

2.25.1 Filk

> Filk is found in the ID on the level corresponding to the number of first-
> killed monsters killed.

Another peculiarity, if a player passes Filk on their ID dive, all they have
to do is spend some time travelling through the wilderness. Filk will
eventually join the PC in a wilderness encounter.

2.25.2 MaLaKaI

He's listed as a chaos knight in the monser index. I'm pretty sure
he's a dwarven chaos knight. He doesn't see in the dark.


2.26.1 Yrruir, the Greater White Unicorn

> Yrruir generally attacks PCs with chaotic alignment on sight

Please mention that Yrruir will not attack a lawful PC, even if they
backstab him in the spine for no reason at all. I found out about this one
the fun way : ) It was already known though, just not by me.

2.26.2 Riurry, the Greater Black Unicorn

> Returning to Riurry and 'C'hatting results in being rewarded with 1-2
> corruptions, a blessed amulet of chaos and 5-7 uncursed potions of gain
> attributes.

More is possible. I once got 8.

2.27 The Bug-Infested Temple

> Eating a greater claw bug corpse increases speed, gives +3 Dx and -6 Wi.
> Eating a killer bug corpse also increases speed, gives +6 Dx and -12 Wi.

They give only a chance to increase Dx in 1.1.1, no longer a guarantee : (
The higher the stat, the lower the chance, and it gets pretty unlikely around
Dx=30 in my experience. There have been reports of getting Dx=70ish
though, but I think that was with utilizing starvation.



That does it for now, I'll tackle the late-game some other time.
I notice that there are some ADOM demos on the official page, and
I wonder if you would be interested in having some more. I am
willing to record some, like doing BUGWIL with an exp. level 1
wizard and such.

[vogonpoet]

2.22.2.1 The Ghost Librarian

> The Ghost Librarian is nonhostile and plays no role in the game

He blesses the PC if given a scroll or book.

> PC must have Stealth at 100 and spend at least 2000 turns

I think the turns must occasionally be somewhat over 2000. I think
vogonpoet can confirm this : )
------------------

Gah, don't remind me. Following "PC must have Stealth at 100 and spend at least 2000 turns" was ALWAYS enough for me in the past, I have no idea what the problem was with that particular PC :-/. Maybe there is a die roll for a low chance of being completely screwed over by the GL and that PC just got 'lucky'.

[Silfir]

I remember MaLaKaI to be a regular chaos knight...

[warheart]

Gah, don't remind me. Following "PC must have Stealth at 100 and spend at least 2000 turns" was ALWAYS enough for me in the past, I have no idea what the problem was with that particular PC :-/. Maybe there is a die roll for a low chance of being completely screwed over by the GL and that PC just got 'lucky'.

That happened to me too in my only ultra, thought I would need the SoCRs and there was no freaking way of getting the tome, no matter how many turns I spent there. I even went to the library 3 different times being different level, no luck.

[CheatMan]

Eating numerous Devil's Roses (ie, hundreds) does not extend sickness length but rather increases the amount of damages the final sickness blow will deal should it occur.

I just figured that out when i had a promising ultra character killed when he suffered a 1000+ (yes, over a thousand) blow during herb training.

[Grey]

Malakai is indeed a regular chaos knight (though high level). He can't see in the dark. Neither can regular chaos knights.