Back and hacking...

[temalyen]

I picked up Nethack today for the first time in a while. Spore distracted me at first, then my computer broke (and still isn't exactly fixed) and then NaNoWriMo happened. If my main computer worked, it'd be Football Manager 2009 time. But it doesn't, so now it's Nethacking time again

Comments

[repton_infinity]

Dwarven Archaeologist is my favourite class :-)

Early game, you can use your pickaxe to get into vaults and your touchstone to identify gems, which means you should have plenty of early cash. [1] In the late game, you've got a CON of 20 and you're wielding a +7 Grayswandir at Expert skilllevel :-)

[1] I guess that makes it a potential candidate for diving to minetown while avoiding level gains in order to buy cheap protection ... but I've never tried that. Gnomes and dwarfs in the mines should be generally peaceful though.

[aj_hyena]

Excalibur isn't generated until you're EXP Level 5, DL 3, minimum, and you need non-bad luck.

Valkyries are fun. You'll need to progress SLOWLY on the quest to avoid falling into lava and stepping on fire traps.

[marcmagus]

Are you sure about that? I've never heard anything about DLVL or luck affecting dipping for Excalibur, and I don't see anything about it in dipfountain(), but I could be missing something...

[aj_hyena]

I remember reading it in a spoiler somewhere, but damned if I can remember where at the moment. Level 5+ and at least non-bad luck. I've never gotten it on the first two levels. Demons and snakes, yes, but not Excalibur.

[marcmagus]

I suspect either the spoiler (it's happened) or your memory of being incorrect.

I've just tested in wizard mode: knight, wished up fountain in first room, #levelchange to 5, wished up a cursed luckstone (-3 luck); got Excalibur in about 8 dips.

Luck affects magic fountains, and negative luck can interfere with wishes. DLVL affects the chances of wishes from fountain demons. Perhaps those are what you were remembering?

[marcmagus]

I beg to differ: Monks are quite good spellcasters, and Knights can do spellcasting quite well as well (the value of the double damage on magic missiles is probably overstated, but they get pretty good options and aren't as bothered by armor as other classes).

3 fountains for Excalibur?

Chance of getting Excalibur in any given dip: 1/6
Chance of drying up a fountain when dipping an ungreased, not thoroughly rusty, non-rustproof longsword (if you don't get Excalibur): 1/4
Chance of drying up a fountain when dipping a greased, rustproof, or thoroughly rusty longsword (if you don't get Excalibur): 1/3

I've definitely had it happen before. I'm too tired just this moment to convert that into the likelihood of it happening in any given game, but that should be all the information one needs to do so.

Good luck with your future games.