Questions from a Returning Player

[FantomFang]

Hey all! I haven't played since the crowd-funding campaign was ongoing, and I decided I wanted to come back and play! After glancing through the changelogs, I've seen that quite a few things have changed - the new races/classes being implemented, new artifacts, and a ton of bug fixes/rebalances to start with. I was wondering, is there anything I should make note of specifically? I've decided that I finally want to tackle all the classes, and get a win with all of them, so I'm planning on just going down the list one by one, although I expect it to take me a while.

Anyways, I imagine I'll pick up a lot of the truly brand new things as I play, but if there's any information you'd be willing to throw my way I'd appreciate it. Relevant mechanics changes that aren't immediately noticeable being one example. Thanks!

[Soirana]

Anyways, I imagine I'll pick up a lot of the truly brand new things as I play, but if there's any information you'd be willing to throw my way I'd appreciate it. Relevant mechanics changes that aren't immediately noticeable being one example. Thanks!

Frigging scrolls going through Literacy check. And sometimes disappearing on failure. So much not an old good Adom.

[_Ln_]

1) You can't build up piety with stoma, so don't bother farming herbs.
2) Casting from hp is now a bad idea.
3) Herbs no longer work to increase potentials (unless you overtrain).
4) Gardening kicks ass now.

Honestly, if I were you, I'd wait for p21, because there is already a load of very serious gameplay changes in it compared to p20. You'll cut on learning curve a bit.

[Harwin]

Is p21 going to be a public prerelease? If not, waiting on it might not help

[FantomFang]

Frigging scrolls going through Literacy check. And sometimes disappearing on failure. So much not an old good Adom.

Hah, that is a new one. Makes sense though, although it does make things harder.

1) You can't build up piety with stoma, so don't bother farming herbs.
2) Casting from hp is now a bad idea.
3) Herbs no longer work to increase potentials (unless you overtrain).
4) Gardening kicks ass now.

Honestly, if I were you, I'd wait for p21, because there is already a load of very serious gameplay changes in it compared to p20. You'll cut on learning curve a bit.

1) I rarely bothered with precrowns (unless it fell in my lap, PC5-style) so that shouldn't affect me that much
2) Oh good to know, I know I abused that
3) Overtrain? Are you referring to using up a ton of herbs near the caps to try and push it a little bit farther?
4) I thought I read something about getting seeds from existing bushes, is that true?

Is p21 going to be a public prerelease? If not, waiting on it might not help

I have access to closed prereleases. I just have been occupied by other things, knowing that I'll have a much updated game waiting when I come back!

[JellySlayer]

2) Oh good to know, I know I abused that

HPcasting is slightly more costly and abuses Wi and To like crazy. Emergencies only for sure.

3) Overtrain? Are you referring to using up a ton of herbs near the caps to try and push it a little bit farther?

Yeah.

4) I thought I read something about getting seeds from existing bushes, is that true?

Yes. You can pick seeds from blossoming plants by applying gardening skill. Very, very efficient way to farm herbs.


Other things that may be a bit surprising...
-Teleport spell now costs quite a bit more and its cost depends on danger level.
-Teleport sometimes fails horribly in Darkforge. Don't expect to be able to loot the treasuries without a fight.
-You'll see very different artifacts randomly generated when you play now. Vanquisher can be a random drop sometimes.
-Many new corruptions.
-Thunderstroke and True Aim are awesome now. Trust me.
-Thieves' Guild is much harder to get into and pickpocket is more annoying to use. These will be tinkered with slightly in pre21 IIRC.
-Some disablers don't work on bosses anymore. You can't kill the Snake in darkness anymore for example
-Scrolls of chaos resistance are now called "corruption removal" for whatever reason. Wishing for scrolls of chaos resistance currently gives the wrong item.
-7lbs have been toned down considerably and you can only wish for 1 pair at a time.
-First aid is quite a bit better. Definitely worth buffing in the early game.
-Summoned monsters don't drop loot. This will be reverted in pre21.
-Some heir gifts have been buffed.
-Candle starsign isn't quite so overpowered; Tree is a bit better.

There's apparently some graphics and things that have been introduced too.

[FantomFang]

HPcasting is slightly more costly and abuses Wi and To like crazy. Emergencies only for sure.
Other things that may be a bit surprising...
-Teleport spell now costs quite a bit more and its cost depends on danger level.
-Teleport sometimes fails horribly in Darkforge. Don't expect to be able to loot the treasuries without a fight.
-You'll see very different artifacts randomly generated when you play now. Vanquisher can be a random drop sometimes.
-Many new corruptions.
-Thunderstroke and True Aim are awesome now. Trust me.
-Thieves' Guild is much harder to get into and pickpocket is more annoying to use. These will be tinkered with slightly in pre21 IIRC.
-Some disablers don't work on bosses anymore. You can't kill the Snake in darkness anymore for example
-Scrolls of chaos resistance are now called "corruption removal" for whatever reason. Wishing for scrolls of chaos resistance currently gives the wrong item.
-7lbs have been toned down considerably and you can only wish for 1 pair at a time.
-First aid is quite a bit better. Definitely worth buffing in the early game.
-Summoned monsters don't drop loot. This will be reverted in pre21.
-Some heir gifts have been buffed.
-Candle starsign isn't quite so overpowered; Tree is a bit better.

There's apparently some graphics and things that have been introduced too.

Heh, yeah, although I'm playing without graphics atm, since it seems to slow down the game too much for me. I did the same thing with DoomRL when it started getting a tileset.
By the thieves' guild being harder to get into, do you mean it takes more successful pickpockets?
Also, I saw the note about Thunderstroke and True Aim - they return now dont they?

And so far, the biggest change for me has been what Soirana mentioned - I'm used to being able to read scrolls rather quickly, and not having that ability makes things a lot harder.

[Blasphemous]

Remember also that stealth now rocks. At 100 you might very well sneak into darkforge, only kill the two room guardian golems, loot stuff and leave without a fight.
Stealth shines on many different occasions; it's now much more useful than it used to be.
Item destruction feels more severe now, probably because it doesn't select every 2nd item in inventory like it used to and everything made of vulnerable materials can and will be destroyed.
Traps are truly random now, not in a pattern like in 1.1.1.
Trees are immune to banshee wail.
Maze is now much more rewarding, since many potions of gain attributes drop from the minotaur emperor, his axe is now 4d20 not 3d20 +some bonuses and he also always drops one additional random artifact.

[FantomFang]

Whoa, just ran into something I've never seen before, reminds me of DCSS. Grakkus, the lizard man showed up after a message I'd never seen before popped up as I entered the level.

EDIT: Also, Teleportitis'd into the Dwarven Mystic's room (lol), he gave me a ring, a PoGA, and a couple other potions unknown at the time. I'm guessing his gifts are different now?

[Ravenshire]

These are new mini bosses and there are quite a few they are always preceded by the "you sense a blood chilling threat" message when they are spawned and are always colored purple but retain there lettering so for instance the goblin boss will be a purple g.