Startscumming is the best. I decide on the criteria for a class and then
roll up about five that satisfy them. No more strength 9 priests. It really helps to do it five at a time because getting one is a pain. It's like an assembly line churning out adventurers.

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On Friday, May 20, 2022 at 10:57:42 PM UTC-5, Praetor Mandrake wrote:

Startscumming is the best. I decide on the criteria for a class and then
roll up about five that satisfy them. No more strength 9 priests. It really helps to do it five at a time because getting one is a pain. It's like an assembly line churning out adventurers.

And then there were three. One priest died. Met with a gruesome end in the dungeon. Rolled another one. Two other priests died. Before I was through
I figured out that I have to roll for Con too. Still have three left who are all
at about HP 50, maybe 7th level or so. Have been playing a barbarian on alt.org simultaneously to good effect. Playing a priest teaches you to respect the character's health more, and my barbarian is going strong at 26000
turns. About 2000 XP from 12th level. I was thinking about what Janis
said, that blessed gain levels are worthless. Well, I've managed to round
up four of them. One is blessed and the other three are uncursed. I'm going
to take the blessed one first. That way the barbarian should end up lvl 17 for the quest with a short stint of 20000 xp to collect to get from lvl 13 to lvl
14. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you should be ingenious enough to find
some use for these. Going to enchant weapon if possible, that's one way
to make the experience collect faster. I could probably also get some
cursed create monster stuff via the lawful altar in Minetown to get an
artifact or two.

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On 27.05.2022 05:38, Praetor Mandrake wrote:

On Friday, May 20, 2022 at 10:57:42 PM UTC-5, Praetor Mandrake wrote:

Startscumming is the best.

[ That's just oil for flame wars. ]

I decide on the criteria for a class and then
roll up about five that satisfy them. No more strength 9 priests. It really >> helps to do it five at a time because getting one is a pain. It's like an
assembly line churning out adventurers.

And then there were three. [...] Have been playing a barbarian on
alt.org simultaneously to good effect. Playing a priest teaches you to respect
the character's health more, [...]

Yes, I agree; from playing various (also weak) character classes with
their specific handicaps you can learn also for the other classes to
become more successful. I'm sure, though, that startscumming is in the
way of learning how to solve issues in more demanding situations.

Janis

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On 27.05.2022 05:38, Praetor Mandrake wrote:

[...] I was thinking about what Janis
said, that blessed gain levels are worthless.

I'm positive that I've never that said; it's more likely that you
misremember or misunderstood/misinterpreted the statement. Lookup
(and quote) the context and you'll certainly see.

What comes probably most close is that it makes rarely sense (for non-spellcasters) to level up beyond XL:14 (XL:14 is necessary for
the Quest in Nethack; in Slashem I happily do the quest even before
I reach XL:14, as soon as I am equipped with the supporting items
and obtained the necessary stats). Potions of gain level are very
useful and better used for other purposes (like doing full healing
alchemy as a substitute for gain energy, or in cursed potion form
for dungeon escapes; in Slashem yet more than in Nethack), for
spellcasters to be able to cast high-level spells, and [in Slashem]
also for "upgrading" items.

Janis

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Am 27.05.2022 um 05:38 schrieb Praetor Mandrake:

On Friday, May 20, 2022 at 10:57:42 PM UTC-5, Praetor Mandrake wrote:

Startscumming is the best. I decide on the criteria for a class and then
roll up about five that satisfy them. No more strength 9 priests. It really >> helps to do it five at a time because getting one is a pain. It's like an
assembly line churning out adventurers.

And then there were three. One priest died. Met with a gruesome end in the dungeon. Rolled another one. Two other priests died. Before I was through I figured out that I have to roll for Con too. Still have three left who are all
at about HP 50, maybe 7th level or so. Have been playing a barbarian on alt.org simultaneously to good effect. Playing a priest teaches you to respect
the character's health more, and my barbarian is going strong at 26000
turns. About 2000 XP from 12th level. I was thinking about what Janis
said, that blessed gain levels are worthless. Well, I've managed to round
up four of them. One is blessed and the other three are uncursed. I'm going to take the blessed one first. That way the barbarian should end up lvl 17 for the quest with a short stint of 20000 xp to collect to get from lvl 13 to lvl
14.

If you are going to quaff all four of them in fast succession, I would
say it is best to first quaff the three uncursed ones and then the
blessed one. You will end up with higher experience then, on average
halfway between the last experience level reached and the next one. You
could also end up only one or two XP below the next one...

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On Sunday, May 29, 2022 at 1:45:07 PM UTC-5, Klaus Kassner wrote:

Am 27.05.2022 um 05:38 schrieb Praetor Mandrake:

On Friday, May 20, 2022 at 10:57:42 PM UTC-5, Praetor Mandrake wrote:

Startscumming is the best. I decide on the criteria for a class and then >> roll up about five that satisfy them. No more strength 9 priests. It really
helps to do it five at a time because getting one is a pain. It's like an >> assembly line churning out adventurers.

And then there were three. One priest died. Met with a gruesome end in the dungeon. Rolled another one. Two other priests died. Before I was through
I figured out that I have to roll for Con too. Still have three left who are all
at about HP 50, maybe 7th level or so. Have been playing a barbarian on alt.org simultaneously to good effect. Playing a priest teaches you to respect
the character's health more, and my barbarian is going strong at 26000 turns. About 2000 XP from 12th level. I was thinking about what Janis
said, that blessed gain levels are worthless. Well, I've managed to round up four of them. One is blessed and the other three are uncursed. I'm going to take the blessed one first. That way the barbarian should end up lvl 17 for the quest with a short stint of 20000 xp to collect to get from lvl 13 to lvl
14.

If you are going to quaff all four of them in fast succession, I would
say it is best to first quaff the three uncursed ones and then the
blessed one. You will end up with higher experience then, on average
halfway between the last experience level reached and the next one. You
could also end up only one or two XP below the next one...

This is what Corbin did:

5 potions, 3 blessed

12 -> 13 blessed
need 20k for 14, collected

15

16

17 blessed

18 blessed

need 400k for 19

18th level for the quest ought to be okay so long as he watches out for eels. Waiting out the new moon.

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