writing Elbereth in the dust
Jistan Idiot
dust, I write it once, get hit, then write it a 2nd time, get hit
again, then a third time, get hit, then a 4th time, and the monster
flees.
Is it better to write it all at once
'ElberethElberethElberethElbereth' will that have the same chance to
have one of them come out right or do I have a higher chance writing
it separately?
Thanks in advance.
Brilliand Galvin
I'd recommend writing "Elbereth" each turn - or "ElberethE" (which is
the maximum you can write instantly), because if you succeed, the
monster stops attacking immediately. Writing "ElberethElbereth" and
then "Elbereth" the following turn will (if I'm reading the spoiler
correctly) guarantee you being attacked for at least one more turn,
but have a better chance of keeping you from being attacked for a
second turn.
If you know how many more turns of attacks you can survive, you might
want to multiply that by 10, add 9, and write that many letters of
"ElberethElbereth," etc. That'll give you the best chances of getting
it right in time to save your life.
If there's nothing to hinder it (stunned, confused, etc.), you have
only about a 1 in 4 chance of failing any one writing of Elbereth, so
being unsuccessful three times in a row is already rare.
Derek Ray
> On Nov 25, 10:31 pm, Jistan Idiot <jistanid...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> So normally when I have to use my finger to write Elbereth in the
>> dust, I write it once, get hit, then write it a 2nd time, get hit
>> again, then a third time, get hit, then a 4th time, and the monster
>> flees.
>>
>> Is it better to write it all at once
>> 'ElberethElberethElberethElbereth' will that have the same chance to
>> have one of them come out right or do I have a higher chance writing
>> it separately?
Do not write it all at once, as that guarantees you get hit for the
turns until you're done writing. The engraving will not take effect
until then.
You have a 70% chance (approximately) of writing "Elbereth" in the dust
correctly the first time -- contrast with the 100% chance of getting hit
once if you write "ElberethElbereth".
> I'd recommend writing "Elbereth" each turn - or "ElberethE" (which is
> the maximum you can write instantly),
Do not write "ElberethE"; I understand that the plan is then to write
"lberethEl", but that requires more thought and effort on your part, and
also requires you to check your engraving with ":" to make sure that the
final "E" didn't get obscured.
You will have much better results teaching your fingers to write
"Elbereth" repeatedly, because you don't have to check inbetween to make
sure that it works. (note that if the first engraving fails, your
second "lberethEl" does not contain a full Elbereth and even if written
correctly may fail, as it could obscure the original trailing 'E' by the
act of engraving.)
--
Derek
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TJR
> >> Is it better to write it all at once
> >> 'ElberethElberethElberethElbereth' will that have the same chance to
> >> have one of them come out right or do I have a higher chance writing
> >> it separately?
I like to keep ElberethElbereth in the clipboard and paste it into
Nethack whenever I see something "worthwhile" approaching, engraving
one paste-ment at a time. True, this does not protect me while
engraving, but it raises chances of success to around 91% (from around
70%) per turn. I engrave early and often, so the helpless first turn
is not a problem in normal circumstances. If you are right next to a
monster that can kill you in one turn, different rules apply, but if
you let yourself get into that kind of situation in the first place,
you most likely have poor Nethack playing habits.