[slashem] Too many wimpy artifacts randomly found

[Janis Papanagnou]

My chaotic barbarian hasn't seen an altar to sacrifice for a decent
one-handed weapon - the first one is anyway Cleaver - until reaching
dlvl:6. Alas, dlvl:5 had the Mall, and two shops there offered two
wimpy artifacts, the Orcrist and the Giantkiller, and the Hellfire
was also generated randomly (in the mines, as I seem to recall). So
the altar gave me the Cleaver, and with 4 artifacts already generated
I was lucky to have then rather quickly got another one, the athame
Deep Freeze. Not the worst choice for that chaotic barbarian to have
a semi-permanent engraver for the saving E-word. But chances for a
powerful one-handed artifact from sacrifices may now be negligible.
It occurred to me that the Lawful Quest may provide the Stormbringer,
as does crowning. So let's pray as mad, was the idea... - and then...
the very first #pray'er provided Stormbringer already; what a luck!

Janis

[Chris Bowers]

What's wrong with cleaver? I ascend with it (in nethack). Is Cleaver too weak in slashem?

[Janis Papanagnou]

> What's wrong with cleaver? I ascend with it (in nethack). Is Cleaver
> too weak in slashem?

There's a couple differences; Cleaver is better than the one in NH-343,
it always gives +3 to hit and +6 damage. OTOH, it doesn't have the
hit-in-an-arc feature of NH-36x. But this must be compared to the other
influencing factors; Slashem monsters are tougher and manifold, you
generally need better weapons, and Slashem provides them. For example,
later in that game I also got the Bat from Hell (1d6+20). Since there's
also more and significantly more dangerous monster attack types (like
wands of level drain) you want some protection; that's why Stormbringer
is much more useful in Slashem. And because of the many new monsters
that curse your items any two-handed weapon is just a risk.

So, for Slashem, I'd say, use it as long as necessary but switch if
possible to a better and one-handed artifact weapon, certainly at the
point when spell casters appear.

Janis

[Janis Papanagnou]

On 09.05.2022 06:48, Chris Bowers wrote:
>

> What's wrong with cleaver? I ascend with it (in nethack). Is Cleaver
> too weak in slashem?

Just continued my Barbarian game; killed the Wizard, got the Amulet,
and now on dlvl:1 organize my findings and loot for the Planes.
My carrying capacity requires to leave back some precious items;
besides the Sunsword and the Elfrist, also the +5 Cleaver! These
charges - that certainly served me well in the game - are of course
lost for the current weapons I use
- the blessed fireproof +5 Bat from Hell (weapon in hand)
- the blessed rustproof +1 Deep Freeze
- the blessed rustproof +4 Stormbringer (alternate weapon; not wielded)
I suppose I use some marker charges to enhance the Bat and Stormy
before entering the Planes...

Janis