Learning Spells

[gut]

> had trouble learning burning hands with a Le of 19

That's a horrible Le stat. I'm talking at least 25 and
above for reasonable results. As Moloch says, class
first, but I rank the Le stat as a strong second.

[Al-Khwarizmi]

I don't know if literacy is actually important when LEARNING spells. I have no means of backing this up but isn't literacy just a checkpoint to see if you can actually read? with Literacy at 75 i get some messages saying i don't understand the runes but (I have no way of proving thins) I think that to see if you really learn something, how much you learn from it and if you get a bad effect or not, only concentration and learning matter.

I don't know, but messages about not understanding the runes in a spellbook can also appear with literacy at 100 (I sometimes get them with starting wizards that have crappy Le or are reading a powerful spellbook). So perhaps it's just a generic message for the fact that you can't learn the spell.

[Superteeth]

Well, I guess I am going to try boosting learning up using crystals of knowledge, then use the wand of wishing for concentration, bring that and literacy up to 100, find a room with stacked books along the shelves, and THEN try to learn Strength of Atlas. Although I have no reason for carrying around junk, I am quite the packrat with my characters (but not so bad that I carry around a lot of logs for no reason).

[gut]

In my exp. literacy doesn't have to be maxed for good
results. It's really all about the Le stat. If CoK are
available, that's great, and can speed things up by
quite a bit, but you should be able to learn spells
without them. Get Le to 15 by using Garth training,
as it's cost quite effective. Next, eat the Oracle for a
+6 boost, then remove the dooming, this should
bring you to 21. Next, use a combination of starvation
+ CoK if available, if not, oh well. Next, don the CoS,
as it will boost Le by 9, and to my knowledge, the
intrinsic dooming that comes with it does not inhibit
spell learning. Also remember to equip any other +Le
equipment that you may have, like a ring of mental
stability. Lastly, bless any potions of boost Le that you
may have in your inventory. With this Le stat, you should
be able to learn most spells.

You don't have to waste a wish on the concentration
skill, as casting out of HP's is a viable option. Mostly,
that's what you would be doing anyway for bosses and
greater vaults. All it will do is drain your Ma stat, which
is prolly already like, 3 or something, so what's the big
deal eh? Use that wish for something fun!

[Grey]

That's a horrible Le stat. I'm talking at least 25 and
above for reasonable results. As Moloch says, class
first, but I rank the Le stat as a strong second.

Indeed. I'd rank character level as a third, since I've had chars before who've raised in levels without changing Le and suddenly found it much easier to learn spells. Probably not as important as Le, and certainly not a substitute, but it can still make a good difference. Not sure how important Concentration is, since I rarely bother trying to learn much without it.