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Thread: A Beginner's Guide to Pools

  1. #21
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    i think the only reason to not do pool sipping anymore is if you have a VERY low age limit character like an orc or a troll, or if you have already obtained a wish and have -para, invis and teleportis. in any other circumstance , i dont think pool sipping can EVER be bad in the long run. also maybe its just me but i think that acid resistance/immunity is over-rated. though that maybe because i either play tough characters or spell casters, not something like a mist elven duelist or some shit!!
    I think pool-sipping is always a bad idea if you don't have something you REALLY need (AoLS for example, or RDSM ...), and if you don't have a good quick way to get your deity to remove cursed/doomed from you. I've lost too many good characters from getting greedy with pool-sipping, and the one thing that greatly increases my chances of getting to the end-game (or winning a game) is refraining from pool-sipping altogether.

    also , i DONOT FOR THE LIFE OF ME know what eye colour has got to do with pool sipping!!
    I can't say for sure, but I think that eye colour thing is a red herring - from my experience, it doesn't seem to make much of a difference. Maybe, just maybe, it reduces the chance to get the 'you feel cheated' (which is generated 90% or more of the time when you would have gotten a wish instead) message, but that'd be about it, I reckon. I think it's a lot like wild magic surges in D&D - you might get something good, or a lot of good things (and I've had good experiences with pool sipping, don't get me wrong), but it often ends up shafting you badly instead.

  2. #22
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    Quote Originally Posted by magpie View Post
    the one thing that greatly increases my chances of getting to the end-game (or winning a game) is refraining from pool-sipping altogether.
    Words of wisdom.
    You steal a scroll labelled HITME. The orc hits you.

  3. #23

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    There are distinct advantages to pool sipping.
    Para and Death resistance can be more valuable than wishes to players going for ultra; the fact that there is a set of intrinsics only available through pools makes a good argument for using them until you obtain a desirable one.
    When you don't have an AoLS by mid-game (usually, even for Treasure Hunters), it is the non-scummy way to improve your chances of getting it via wish, especially if you have already dug graves and searched the blue dragon caves. I suppose you could also use potions of exchange to try for them, but the odds are not good.(i thought I would mention here that wishing for rings of ice is wasteful. the Moon Sickle is a good way to obtain them, so long as you alter rings that can't be generated on the DL you use PoRC on)
    That said, preparation AND moderation are key in pool sipping. When I doom or age my characters, I stop, at least until I've counteracted the effects. Astounding and extreme, I know, but it prevents my ever having died as a result of pool sipping when I'm prepared. I should mention that I run trolls, the most susceptible to aging. They don't die from one pool aging. They usually don't even get past 'grown up'. Many of the arguments against pool sipping seem to discount the ability to stop midway through your sipping session. It is an understood fact that you are gambling with the results of each sip. Suggesting that you continue indefinitely is akin to saying that when you go to a casino, you must play blackjack until you have no money or are rich.
    Each drink is situational.
    Before any drinking, when prepared, you stand to gain otherwise unobtainable or extremely convenient benefits. Conversely, you stand to have mid level inconveniences and ONE possible genuine problem that can't be solved (teleport). Only when you have taken at least one drink to the odds change; you may then be in danger of death through aging or of losing the unobtainable intrinsic you just got.
    Last edited by Sad Death Generator; 06-09-2014 at 07:41 PM.

  4. #24
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sad Death Generator View Post
    There are distinct advantages to pool sipping.
    Para and Death resistance can be more valuable than wishes to players going for ultra; the fact that there is a set of intrinsics only available through pools makes a good argument for using them until you obtain a desirable one.
    Death resist is guaranteed through the AMW. There's no other armor that you need for an ultra. Para is important for ultras yes, but ultra is a very special case anyway... most PCs aren't ultra hopefuls--in fact, I usually consider going for ultras to be a mistake unless the RNG hands you what you need on a silver platter. Too many good characters are lost because people get this idea in their head that they have to go for an ultra.

    When you don't have an AoLS by mid-game (usually, even for Treasure Hunters)
    Then you can kill Khelly. AoLS is not worth a wish anymore for non-ultras since corruption is basically irrelevant in pre23.

    That said, preparation AND moderation are key in pool sipping. When I doom or age my characters, I stop, at least until I've counteracted the effects.
    Well, if you're going for a wish, you have to stop when you are doomed; doomed PCs cannot get wishes, ever. Here's the thing: If your character has survived well enough to be able to counter all of the effects of pool sipping, you're strong enough to win the game without needing to sip. Gambling a good character's life on the whims of the RNG is a bad investment, IMHO.
    Hoping to win with every class, doomed. Archer, Barbarian, Bard, Beastfighter, Druid, Elementalist, Farmer, Fighter, Monk, and ULE Priest down.

  5. #25
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    I only sip in the early game (when I find a pool in my usual run to the UD) because I don't mind losing the character that early, or in the midgame for an AoLS, although the latter is probably no longer the best choice due to the corruption nerf mentioned by JellySlayer.

    Sipping in any other situation is just not worth it IMHO. Well, maybe if you have a blink dog corpse stocked in DT, an altar nearby and you are an elf or dwarf. And even then, I'd be likely not to sip for fear of the tedium of periodic teleportitis prompts.

  6. #26
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    -Para is important for everybody who don't want to die from a mimic hivemind or such at d:40+ right before winning. Drinking pools is definitely safer than that.

    Also how was the corruption rate changed exactly?

  7. #27
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    TB didn't specify exactly, but he said that the rates in various areas have gone down by 20-80% IIRC. Plus the number of corruptions you actually receive is lessened with high appearance. If you're just going for a regular win and don't spam the water orb too much, you can finish with something like 4 corruptions now.

    Mimic hiveminds aren't particularly dangerous to high level PCs, para resist or no. Generally, any threat in the early game is always much, much more severe than in the endgame, and any reward you get in the endgame is much, much less important than in the early game. A ghul at level 4 is much more dangerous than a mimic hivemind at level 40.
    Hoping to win with every class, doomed. Archer, Barbarian, Bard, Beastfighter, Druid, Elementalist, Farmer, Fighter, Monk, and ULE Priest down.

  8. #28
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    I'm thinking about a mimic hivemind vs lvl 20+ character...

  9. #29
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    Well, you said "D40+ or right before winning". Either way, you won't see a hivemind before you reach the Casino (except in DH). By that point, you're pretty much invincible.
    Hoping to win with every class, doomed. Archer, Barbarian, Bard, Beastfighter, Druid, Elementalist, Farmer, Fighter, Monk, and ULE Priest down.

  10. #30
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    Once you are past the casino, paralyzing monsters are of no concern because you are nigh-guaranteed to have an amulet of free action. -Para from pools is a joke.
    gate closers: GeWi GnMo(unarmed) DeAs/Pa/Mi(staves)/Ra GePr DrBb HrMo | p7: MeBf | p17: GnPr | p20: DrDu GnAs DeCk MeWp OrBf GnTh MeHe | R57: MeDu | R101: DrAs (26,674 turns) GnDu (26,748) DrAs (18,533)
    ULE: HeRa — OCG: DeMi
    currently speedrunning DrAs.

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