On 18.07.2022 03:51, Chris Bowers wrote:
People talk about level drain resistance, and level draining all the
time. I don't understand this.
That's probably me; since years the Nethack discussion almost vanished (compared to the high traffic before) and I still regularly post about
the variant Slashem, at least, that I solely play nowadays. That's why
it might seem to be talked about here "all the time".
I've never been level drained in nethack, as far as I know. Maybe it
happened once or twice and then I ate a wraith corpse. Maybe it's a
bigger deal in Slash 'em?
I don't recall ever been level-drained in Nethack from eating wraith
corpses; is that possible? In Nethack I got level drained from attacks
of such monsters and also from other monsters (like vampires), IIRC.
Typically not that an issue, certainly not a critical one.
In Slashem it's indeed a bigger deal, a much bigger deal! - It's not
only that eating wraiths might drain levels (or HPs and Pw), it's
mainly that there are new attack wands that drain levels. And certain
monsters are equipped with attack wands that are listed in the 'item
used by monster' category. Moreover there's special levels that have
a huge density of such monsters (Guild of the Disgruntled Adventurers)
that makes it necessary to have some means of counter-action. - Mind
that a single level-drain attack wand may in practice kill a player. -
As counter action I typically try to find a c'trice corpse and avoid
line of sight with the Disgruntled Adventurers, so that any level lost
will immediately be restored by the monster's death. Other options in
Slashem are a protective amulet (but preventing the use of an amulet of reflection that would also be helpful in the Disgruntled Adventurers'
context). But also a single monster with a random wand of level drain
is typically a very dangerous situation since (as opposed to an attack
of a draining W or V monster) it's a ranged attack. The Excalibur is
thus a weapon that is of much more use (and often a preferred choice)
in Slashem. Without such a resistance it's not uncommon that (in the
heat of the fight and messages) you miss level drains and end up as a
wimpy thing.
The increased difficulty in Slashem (monsters, attack types, ...) and
more decisions you have to make to increase survival chances (amulets,
armor, weapons, ...) contributes to what makes that variant very
interesting.
Anyway, level drain has never, ever been a threat to me in thousands
of games and dozens of ascensions.
What gives?
In Nethack I wouldn't consider level drain an issue. I suppose your
statistical numbers (games/ascensions) concern Nethack (not Slashem)?
Janis
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