New boss monster (resurrection campaign)

[Tyrnyx]

No, the real kicker is the ankh benefits--luck + Luck + Fate.

Could you please explain the interaction of luck and the ankh. Mostly I want to know if you already have Lucky + Fate Smiles from religion if the ankh still provides any benefits?

Second artifact:
Lucky Strike (-1,2d15) [+3,+3] {Dex+5}

• Grants Fates Smiles
• Is very good at scoring critical strikes - I'm thinking like 50 percent
• Karmic Absorption (as to not ruin your luck)
• Weeping (Good at causing bleeding)

The name could easily be changed if the reference to cigarettes is too taboo. I think adom can handle it but... I didn't exactly go all in with:

• Fire Resistance
• Torch Effects aka Confuses Bees
• Flaming Effect

because they absolutely don't fit the theme of the location but I think would be kind of funny.

However I think if combined with:

Frozen Teardrop Necklace [0,+4] {Ch-6}

• Resistance/Immunity to Cold
• Death Ray Resistance
• Provides light
• Resistance to confusion
• Immunity to sickness
• Waterbreathing

That would be a pretty powerful incentive, if playing a Dex heavy character to at least try it. However, I think a more theme fitting artifact might be a bow or crossbow since this Ice Queen is supposed to shoot bolts -- And there are no guaranteed archery artifacts. That would be a reaaally good incentive for some characters to try this over the pyramid.

[JellySlayer]

All of the benefits of the ankh stack with intrinsic properties. The bonuses from items are slightly worse than intrinsic, but not much. Curse/doom stack as well.

[Grumbledwarfskin]

All of the benefits of the ankh stack with intrinsic properties. The bonuses from items are slightly worse than intrinsic, but not much. Curse/doom stack as well.

Is it really not quite as good as having the intrinsics natively? What I've always heard is that it's better than the intrinsics, because according to Greater Identify:

It increases your luck.
It grants luck.
It makes Fate smile upon you.

Luck + luck + fate, as you noted, with "It increases your luck" being something that can only be gotten from wearing the ankh...it gives you both intrinsics plus even more luck.

Or perhaps you were just saying that the item-granted intrinsics aren't as strong as natural ones? I suppose natural fire resistance counts as two sources, so if testing shows intrinsic luck and fate are better, perhaps they also each count as two sources?

Has there been much testing done on how well luck sources stack? The Ankh gives three kinds of luck, there are the two natural intrinsics, Blessed status and RotMC would take it up to seven (or nine if the natural intrinsics count double)...makes me wonder if there's a cap, or if diminishing returns make some some of that luck ineffectual.

[JellySlayer]

Code dived info on luck:

+2 if PC is blessed
+3 if you have the lucky intrinsic (naturally)
+6 if you have the fate smiles intrinsic (naturally)
+1d12+1 if it's your PC's birthday
+2 for every equipped item that grants luck (equipped correctly)
+4 for every equipped item that grants fate smiles (equipped correctly)
+3 if you're wearing the Anhk or Platinum Girdle (they do not stack, so having both is still +3)
If (1d100 <= Mana) Then add Max(1d(Mana * 0.1+2),4)

[Tyrnyx]

Thank you for responding. I feel much more learned. guess wearing the ankh outweighs the downsides -- increased food consumption/other thing could go on neck. Might start wearing it. I do think that an artifact [cross]bow might make it worth it for other characters if that was in the rewards.

Aside: Have you ever won double doomed or perhaps triple doomed?

[JellySlayer]

My doomed characters normally wear the crown of science when I can get it--I basically have to rely almost exclusively on artifact equipment due to item destruction problems. Double dooming makes surprisingly little difference compared to single dooming--if you're expecting to fail most/all of your luck rolls anyway, well, the extra bad luck makes less of a difference. A lot of the worst effects of dooming aren't directly luck-related as well, I think, and multiple doomings don't seem to make those any worse.

[grobblewobble]

When does the game make luck rolls, by the way?

[Arctic]

When does the game make luck rolls, by the way?

I'd suspect at least after you get hit by a monster critical, you have luck based chance to be reduced to 1 life instead of getting killed. That's just my observation. I've seen lots of times when mid-level crowned PC wearing the ankh and RotMC get critted, say, by a red wyrm. Somehow they always seem to have 1 hp left. Happens too often to be just a statistical coincidence,IMO.

[anon123]

Luck + luck + fate, as you noted, with "It increases your luck" being something that can only be gotten from wearing the ankh...

"It increases your luck" is a property separate from the two intrinsics. It is granted by the ankh, True Strength, rings of luck, and amulets of luck. I don't know if it stacks like the others, although that code-dived information would suggest it doesn't.

When does the game make luck rolls, by the way?

Probably all the time, since Luck affects a ton of things, some of which are pretty subtle. Given the boosts it offers, I find the ankh a very good artifact, which I'll typically wear for the entire game.

I always liked how TB beautifully averted the "boss that drops thing I don't really need if I can beat him" effect with the Pyramid. The challenge is of moderate difficulty, but not terribly hard. The items aren't overpowered, but very useful, even in the late game.

[Soirana]

I'd suspect at least after you get hit by a monster critical, you have luck based chance to be reduced to 1 life instead of getting killed. That's just my observation. I've seen lots of times when mid-level crowned PC wearing the ankh and RotMC get critted, say, by a red wyrm. Somehow they always seem to have 1 hp left. Happens too often to be just a statistical coincidence,IMO.

it is not chance or roll or wahtever. either you fullfill conditions to fake deadly hit or not.