How to Kill Morgoth: Playing Angband

[Huinesoron]

And we're back!

Looking at my last post, and having just (2 months ago, that is) played a casting class in the Druid, I decided I'd leave the Priest for now and go with a Rogue. I didn't want to use a baseline Human, which left me with Elf, Budget Elf, or Elf With Extras. I decided to take the extras, and so we are now a Gnomish Rogue.

Officially, the Gnome is about 3 feet tall, but in Tolkienverse that's silly: "Gnome" is just an old term for the Noldor. My first thought for a Noldorin lady who was willing to play a bit fast and loose with the rules was of course Aredhel, and we were very nearly her... but then I remembered her Aunt, one of the few Noldorin adult women known to have joined the Exile. Sure, all we know about her is her names and that she hung out with Fingolfin, but that means we don't know she didn't become a reckless thief and launch a quixotic solo assault on Angband. She might've. You can't prove otherwise.

I decided that calling her Lalwen was a bit grim, given the other holder of that name, so now we are...

Írimë I



Well that went well. -_-

Írimë I was knocked from full health to dead in one turn by a pack of monsters she'd unleashed from a trapped chest; shades of Pandora there! Gorlim got the final blow, but I know she also got hit with acid and a bunch of other stuff; they were actually out of sight at the time, so I can't confirm exactly what got her.

The reason she went down so fast was because she'd earlier tried to take on a unique Easterling named Lokkar or something who summoned a whole bunch of stuff, some of which drained her stats pretty much to bedrock. She had basically no staying power, and Gorlim's mob took advantage of it.

Now, technically, Írimë I should get a portrait - both her character and dungeon level are past 30. But after seven runs, I feel like the early dungeon is a bit easier now, so I'm increasing the requirements: for a character to get a portrait (and her name/class retired), she needs to either reach DL 40 (2000'), or CL 35 - or both. The only ones so far who didn't get at least that far are the earliest pair, Kaitlyn and Cheri, so after the Rogue and Priest we'll be revisiting the Blackguard and Warrior.

For now, though...

Írimë II

Let's see how this goes.

Írimë is a fun character to play. Once she gets everything online, she has fantastic stealth (Írimë I's ranged between Superb and Heroic), and a 100% chance to disarm any trap she can see. As a Gnome, she also automatically identifies wands and staffs, which saves a lot of mucking about.

As an Elf spinoff, she's got the Dexterity of a Ranger - Írimë I got half her kills with a slingshot she picked up around level 5. Her starting spellbook gives her Phase Door and a collection of mapping spells, including the amazing Detect Objects which maps and identifies every bit of treasure nearby. A dungeon level becomes a matter of spotting the cool stuff and making a beeline for it. Her dungeon spellbook gives her Teleport Self and Teleport Other, as well as a spell to let her automatically teleport after using Pickpocket.

Pickpocket lets her steal a monster's drop without bothering to kill it. What this means is that if a monster is asleep, stealthy Írimë can stroll up to it, rifle its pockets, and stroll or teleport away without it ever waking up. I didn't make much use of this, but once Írimë II makes it to the point where she has all her spells and just needs better equipment, I think I just might.

... but all that's for the future. Right now she's at level 5, 100 feet underground (DL 2), and every Soldier leaves her nearly dead. Let's see how this goes...

hS

[Huinesoron]

Írimë II

... is doing okay. She hasn't had the fantastic run of artefacts her predecessor did: she's CL 18 on DL 15 with only the unique ice dagger to her name, when at this point Írimë I was already almost fully dressed in named items. But she's fine.

Her funniest moment so far was when I couldn't kill Wormtongue. Instead, she used a staff of Sleep on him and picked his pocket - pulled some gold, a shield, and a Robe of Resistance. Then she retreated back to town and put the robe on.

When she next entered the dungeon, Grima was right by her entry point. He was clearly waiting for her; and the obvious reason is that last time they fought, he fell asleep, and when he woke up his clothes were gone...

Anyway, he's dead now and she's still wearing his robe.

hS

[Huinesoron]

Írimë II

We've reached DL 35 - one level above where Írimë I had her fatal encounter with Gorlim - and the two characters are very different. Írimë I had four or five artefacts; Írimë II has only one, a Trident of Wrath she picked up on Level 20. It can do up to 530 damage per turn in the right circumstances, so it's entirely worth keeping around.

The rest of her kit is ordinary items with lots of boosts. She has a Jewel Encrusted Crown of Might which increases her strength, dexterity, and constitution; an Amulet of the Magi that does the same for her intelligence and searching while also protecting her from blindness and letting her see invisible things, a beautiful pair of leather boots which grant +6 speed(!)... she's doing okay. She has all the basic resistances, plus light and dark, shards and disenchantment; and her stealth is Heroic.

The two big things she lacks are: resistance to poison, at a point where she's starting to hit high-level hydras and the like; and a decent light source. She's stuck using a basic 2-light-radius lantern - not even a Lantern of Brightness! All those times I've complained that my only artefact is the Phial of Galadriel have come back to bite me...

She's also killed 37 unique enemies; in fact, Lorgan and Gorlim (the killers of Írimë I) are pretty much the lowest-level uniques still alive. She's getting towards the ones I've only seen a couple of times, including some I don't think I've ever killed.

... oh, and she's picked up the three elemental daggers, which she carries around in case I feel like throwing them at things in memory of Lupa's party trick. ^_^

hS

[Huinesoron]

Írimë II

What did I say I wanted? Poison resistance and a good light source? Well, on DL 38, Írimë avenged her predecessor by killing Lorgan, Chief of the Easterlings, and he dropped... the Phial of Galadriel! So now she can see more than two feet in front of her face.

Then she returned to town, and for a measely 4500 gold she bought a Ring of Resist Poison! It's meant taking off my Ring of the Mouse (increased stealth but slightly reduced attack; I've had this one since around level 5), but I have enough stealth from other sources to still be Superb.

Even more exciting, on DL 39 I found a Ring of Speed just lying on the floor. A ring of +8 Speed. With her fancy boots, Írimë is now +14 speed natively, which works out as her getting 2.4 moves for a normal-speed opponent's one.

And she needs it. She's just entered DL 40, and there is a massive difficulty bump around here. Case in point:



M is hydra; J is snake; n is naga. That's a pit absolutely stuffed with hydrae, including a bunch of 6-headed ones.

I actually think 6-headed hydrae are the biggest difficulty bump in the game. 2-4 headed ones breathe fire, which you can laugh off. 5-headed will poison you.

6-headed hydrae will breathe poison at you, and if you don't resist it, will knock 200 health off you just like that. Face two of them? You're dead. Don't heal or run fast enough from one? You're dead.

This pit was on DL 36, and Írimë hit the Teleport Self button as soon as she saw it, because nope. Four levels further down, 6-headed hydrae are becoming regular features. She's killed two so far, and been terrified the entire time.

Worse, my old enemies Inertia and Gravity Hounds are showing up. Inertia Hound breath slows you down (though that still leaves Írimë at +4); Gravity Hound breath throws you across the level into a wall. Getting caught in a room with either is a recipe for disaster.

But that's okay. She's got her Reveal Monsters spell, so she just has to keep an eye on what's happening and always be ready to jump out if it gets nasty. She'd better, because she's reached Level 40, so this is her last chance before she gets replaced with a new character.

hS

PS: Still no artefacts, other than the Phial and Trident. Which isn't to say I haven't found any... they just haven't been as good as what I already had. Like the Iron Helm of Gorlim, which showed up in a vault on DL 33: it gives -3 Intelligence and Wisdom, -5 Searching, and aggravates all monsters around you. Umm... pass, thanks. ^_^ (It also gives protection from fear and paralysis, and See Invisible, so a big burly warrior might want it. Írimë definitely doesn't.)

[Huinesoron]

Írimë II

Írimë I is avenged! After finding Gorlim's terrible hat yesterday, I cornered the man himself on DL 45 and stabbed him to death with my trident. From his hand fell the Ring of Barahir, which I think is the first artefact Ring I've found. It offers +1 to all my stats as well as resistance to poison (and Dark), so it's a perfect replacement for my Resist Poison ring.

Írimë is finally decked out in decent artefacts: as well as her trident and Phial, she has a Short Bow of Amras, Chain Mail of Caspanion (no, I don't know either), and helm Holhenneth. She could still do with a decent artefact cloak (I've found Thorongil's, but it isn't great) and a good necklace, but otherwise we're good.

I'm about to make my third attempt to get through DL 46. Last time, I ran into a pit of Dracolisks, of which I've killed one, ever; then teleported away into a large room filled with gravity hounds and Kavlax the Many-Headed. That led to me being slowed and heavily stunned; I had to chug healing potions until my remaining speed gave me time to try a teleport spell (at 30% failure rate) and still have time to recover if it didn't work.

The uniques are getting nasty. Kavlax breathes nexus and sound, neither of which I currently resist, chopping off half my health with each breath. I also ran into the Phoenix, which breathes plasma for the same damage. In contrast, Ar-Pharazon (theoretically higher-level than either of them) was a pushover: I just slowed him, hasted Írimë, and stabbed him until he died.

Current wishlist: I want more resistances. Having nexus back would be nice (it was on an old armour), and I know I'm going to hit Death Drakes soon who will try to kill me with Nether. I'd also like protection from stunning: I have protection from Confusion on my armour and helmet, but stunning would mean I can always teleport out rather than risking the spell failing. (The other protections are blindness - covered for ages - and fear, which... eh, it just means I can't kill stuff, I can still get away.) Also, I'd love Hold Life, so vampires don't keep draining my XP!

(Two things I no longer need are Feather Falling and Trap Immunity. Írimë can see and disarm all traps with 100% success - who needs a special trait to keep from falling down pits?)

Right, off to brave Level 46 again and see if I can get down further.

hS

EDIT: Kavlax and the Phoenix both showed up on DL 46, and I was able to isolate and kill them both. Picked up a very nice Staff of Speed along the way; until my recharging spell fails and blows it up, I can run at +27 speed whenever I need to.

... then I ran into a Nexus vortex (while fighting a Feanorian raider). Its first breath took me 3/4 of the way to dead; its second teleported me back up to DL 45. XD Time for a fourth attempt...! ~hS

[Huinesoron]

Írimë II

... is currently on DL 61, five levels below Waterlily's previous best. She's also CL 42, which is the highest I've ever had - and on DL 60 she picked up a self-recharging Rod of Restoration, which will allow her to magic back all her lost XP every 2500 steps.

I have killed things I never knew existed. Multi-hued hounds were a nasty shock, and I have a horrible feeling I'm going to meet a Time Dragon one of these days, but I have slain Shelob, and Smaug and Scatha, and Fundin Bluecloak the Dwarf priest. There are only five Uniques I know of that I haven't killed: Ariel the Queen of Air (an elemental), Harowen the Black Hand (stupidly fast thief), Gilim the Giant of Eruman (not seen this run), Saruman of Many Colours, and Osse Herald of Ulmo (not seen this run). Saruman is actually right here on DL 61, so it may be his time...

My traits haven't changed overmuch. Írimë now has protection from Fear and Nexus, and has picked up Regeneration (faster healing). She's also maxed out her innate stats (except Wisdom, which she doesn't use), and has actually hit the cap for her Strength. This is handy, because it means I can stop worrying about looking for Strength on equipment. But no Nether resist, no Hold Life, and no Sustain any of her stats.

She's been cautious. Big scary things usually get Teleport Other'd. This emphatically includes Death Drakes - the critters which killed both Celebestel and Lupa - which I've discovered can walk through walls and are functionally invisible (they create a moving spot of darkness around themselves, so unless they're right up close I just can't see them). She's got enough life that she should be able to take a hit from one - one hit - but I'm not keen on testing that.

She's also got a second Ring of +8 Speed tucked away, so if I find some useful boots, I can swap that out for the Ring of Barahir now that my stats are pretty high.

Oh, and she found the Nauglamir! That's where the Regeneration and Fear protection come from, along with some stat boosts. So she's now carting around an actual Silmaril for its +1 Light radius. ^_^

Anyway, off to kill and/or flee from Saruman.

hS

[Huinesoron]

Írimë II

... is dead.

No picture, because I've managed to lose the sketchbook I draw them in, but am not willing to admit defeat on finding it again.

Írimë did an amazing job. She made it all the way to 3300' - Dungeon Level 66, a full 10 levels further than my previous best, Waterlily! She killed Smaug, Saruman, Scatha, the Balrog of Moria, and even Shelob herself (oh, and don't forget Tevildo, Prince of Cats!). She made Character Level 44, three more than Waterlily, and would have been higher had it not taken so long to find a source of Hold Life.

Her final equipment included the Nauglamir, Osse's Trident of Wrath (all the way from Level 20), the Ring of Barahir, a Ring of +9 Speed, mail made from the scales of a Balance Drake (resistance to weird things like Chaos and Disenchantment), the Shield of Elros, and the Short Bow of Amras. She carried as many staves of speed as she could get her hands on, and her spells let her recharge them as often as they ran out. She got five blows of her trident every turn, could spot and disarm every trap without fail, and all she was really looking for was resistance to Nether and some better stat-sustain options.

... and then she saw the Mouth of Sauron. And she decided she could take him. And they were both down to about half health, and she thought it was going well.

Aaaaand then he "invoked a storm of raw magic", which I believe is the next stage of Celebestel's Mana Bolt from back in the day. Nothing, including the player, resists pure Magic damage, and so all her clever resistances were good for nothing. She had over 300 health remaining, but:

> The Mouth of Sauron invokes a storm of raw magic.
> The Wand of Dragon's Frost is destroyed!
> The Scroll of Enchant Armour is destroyed!
> The Pike is destroyed!
> The Gelatinous Mushroom is destroyed!
> The Seeker Arrow of Slay Evil is destroyed!
> You die.

RIP Írimë II. You were awesome.

---

Next up will be a Priest, and since we've just played an Elf With Extras (Gnome), I think I have to go for a Budget Elf next. So we will be a half-elven priest(ess). I think that probably makes us Elwing.

hS