To Health, or not to Health

[Argle]

HP, the last line of defense. When you can't Dodge it, intercept it, or hide from it, the only thing left to do is suck it up and hope you don't die. Frequently, my co-Murdertronner and I find ourselves staring at big Zeros after mashing our panic buttons and saying "Holy expletive, Batman. Good thing I maxed out my Health skill."

It seems that as you leave your 20s, and the Orc Caves, behind things will start doing phenomenal amounts of burst damage that would be lethal without maxing HP. We tend to always play Maia, Ents, Dracs, and it doesn't seem right that we have to max our Health too keep up with damage on these high hit-die races. What's a gnome to do in that situation? Besides die, I mean.

Are we doing something wrong? We've got resists, but that only goes so far, and if you're missing one: Good luck to you. Does everyone keep their Health maxed? Could the points invested here better serve us elsewhere? When we step off the stairs and 20 things breathe on us, how will these new skills help us not die and have to start all over?

I enjoy the array of character options this game gives us, but I increasingly get the sense that the bulk of these options lead to failure, and that certain things like all health, all the time, are required in lieu of just being *incredibly* well geared.


So what say you, Tomenetters that actually read these boards, is 50 health a strongly recommended, if not required, component of late game success?

[the_sandman]

Health tends to be a luxury skill (i.e., not required).

As you take stairs down/up, you should have a few turns of invulnerability so you shouldn't technically die.... unless you (foolishly!) linger for too long.

With proper planning you can get by without health. This includes: teleport scrolls, not letting a billion things appear in your line of sight, resistance potions (including dirt cheap res heat/cold pots) and AC.

Most importantly, have r_info.txt opened somewhere.

A digger is mandatory in Mordor. Alternatively, if you're familiar with the terrains, you can get by with a climbing set. I tend to carry both (mountains tend to disappear the deeper you go). Usual rule of kiting/tunneling to prevent taking excessive breath/summons damage applies here.

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Know what mobs do what elemental damage and avoid those you're uncomfortable with. Rule of thumb: nether caps at 550. You don't take those on if you have the choice, and flee if you don't. Mana storms are $$*&@#$ing ridiculous (hi Nodens).

Speed > damage to a great extent. You might need those extra moves per turn to teleport or quaff more heals. Sneakiness >>>>>>> health for sure if you have the points, no matter what class you are.

[Argle]

Interesting, thanks. I had been thinking sneakiness was the luxury skill since you wind up getting +speed items later on. It makes sense though. +1 more speed might help you avoid that lethal blow to begin with, you just have to be aware of the situation and make use of it. Messing around on 3000 Angband as a DM really opened my eyes to the importance of tactics, and speed can only help.

[C. Blue]

imo Health is a must have for yeeks that aren't warriors
Other than that, what Sandman said.
Also, if you find your HP is too low, keep in mind that Mordor starts at dlvl 34, which is quite deep, and you might actually want to scum 1000..1500 (higher..lower rarity) for stat potions, especially potions of constutition, to get your HP up. Magic-affine monsters tend to drop potions a lot, for example especially mages and warlocks but also ghouls can drop them sometimes. Those all occur in packs, allowing for better loot rates.
Also, mid-level undead monsters especially such as G(hosts), W(raiths/ights) but also L(iches) tend to drop a lot of potions, so you could scum paths of the dead for those, which has a lower monster density than most other advanced dungeons, allowing you to pick your targets. PotD requires you to pay attention though because you might encounter un-esp'able baddies (that dungeon prefers to spawn undead and _mindless_ monsters in general).

[Argle]

I like the low density feel of Cirith Ungol, but I think I'll save PotD until I can actually get a character into their 30s without mounting a salvage op for their gear shortly thereafter

Good tips to consider for hunting those sweet, sweet stat pots though!