Talk:Loadstone

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A loadstone becomes cursed when it leaves your inventory, not when you pick it up. So if you somehow manage to encounter an uncursed loadstone in the dungeon, you can in fact pick it up and drop it again, as long as you only do so once. I think this point should be corrected in the main article, but I'm not sure how to go about it, since it's a very subtle point, that makes almost no difference in gameplay, so the correction ought to be subtle.

As far as I know, the only way to encounter an uncursed loadstone is to find one that was generated inside a container. Djao 12:22, 20 October 2006 (UTC)

Does this mean that all loadstones in containers are uncursed? Or does it use another gems generation %? I've actually found quite a few in containers, and if they are uncursed then that would make it a lot easier to find them early on in the game. --206.75.108.8 15:30, 13 October 2007 (UTC)

Sadly, a loadstone in a container is highly likely to be cursed. I believe the proportions are about 93% cursed, 7% uncursed, although these ratios are only estimates (I have not source dived). Djao 05:31, 16 October 2007 (UTC)
It's 1/11 uncursed, 10/11 cursed. mkobj.c, line 184 is responsible - it reassigns rocks to other gems without updating curse status, and 1/10 of all *-class are rocks. --Tjr 19:29, 6 August 2011 (UTC)

faff about kicking

the warnings about super-kicks and variance only apply if there is overlap between the load and not-load ranges. any chance somebody could put some numbers to the ranges? i'd guess that the absolute minimum distance you can kick a non-load stone without modifiers of any sort is way noticably more than the absolute maximum you can kick a loadstone with every single modifier. this needs numbers. --194.116.198.188 11:47, 13 April 2012 (UTC)

Not really. You won't kick loadstones anywhere without at least having gauntlets of power or kicking boots; my wizmode tests with a L30 monk, with 18/** strength and Grand Master in martial arts, suggest that only the former works, actually. If you're going to kick-ID gray stones, take off such enhancers. Numbers would just clutter up the article. -Ion frigate 18:32, 13 April 2012 (UTC)
Taking off the enhancers is unnecessary if the stone is in the open. If you're that strong and the stone only moves one or two squares, it's a loadstone. Other gray stones will go like 10+ squares, so it's not even close. If you only have Str 7, you might kick a luckstone only two squares, but in that case, the fact that the stone moved proves it's not a loadstone. Derekt75 02:25, 14 April 2012 (UTC)

weapon?

If you throw an uncursed loadstone, will it be the same weight and do that much damage?

removing it

Some time ago, there was a long list of creative ways to get rid of a loadstone. Where has it gone? I remember something about digging down in a shop - if steal and you are too slow, the shopkeeper will take all your inventory. Yes, this technique is easy, though I never tried. Take away all your inventory, save the loadstone and a pickaxe in a sack. Then go into a shop, drop your inventory on the entrance square, and then start digging in the shop. The shopkeeper will take away all your inventory, including the loadstone.--Newtkiller 18:24, 15 January 2009 (UTC)

54th inventory item

What characters come after #? Alysdexia 02:07, 15 January 2009 (UTC)

They're all #. # stands for an unassigned letter. See invent.c, line 7 and invent.c, line 77 RJaguar3 17:31, 15 January 2009 (UTC)
And a quick wizard mode test confirms this. RJaguar3 17:54, 15 January 2009 (UTC) Furthermore, in the tty port, you can't select the second pound sign if it is on the same page as the first pound sign. RJaguar3 17:56, 15 January 2009 (UTC)

Bones and uncursed loadstone

If you pick up a noncursed gray stone and, based on the weight, discover it is a loadstone (this can happen on a bones level, for example), simply #name it and drop it.

Loadstones always autocurse when leaving the player's inventory in any way. The only ways to get an uncursed loadstone on the ground are 1) to #force a chest with one of those rare uncursed loadstones, 2) presumably for a character with an already-uncursed loadstone in inventory to leave bones, and to hit that 20% chance it is not cursed again. Yes, it is theoretically possible this was done/carried by the late player of a bones file, but I believe this is so rare it only clutters up the article. That's why I removed the above. --Tjr 02:27, 6 August 2011 (UTC)

I recall trying loadstones in wizard mode to see if you could leave a bones with an uncursed loadstone in your possession. In all of my attempts every loadstone was cursed; this is hardly conclusive but it is possible that dropping equipment by dying is considered "leaving your inventory". -- Qazmlpok 13:13, 6 August 2011 (UTC)
My guess is whoever added that simply forgot that loadstones autocurse when dropped. It's a moderately obscure property, since one does not normally pick up loadstones again after dropping them. So this person was thinking of a bones file where someone had uncursed a loadstone and dropped it, forgetting that the loadstone would still be cursed. So yes, a good removal. -Ion frigate 20:54, 6 August 2011 (UTC)

Another method of removal

I can't wiztest this at the moment, but wouldn't it theoretically be possible to get rid of a loadstone by repeatedly putting it in and taking it out of a cursed Bag of Holding? --12.207.212.134 16:25, 7 August 2014 (UTC)

It says "The stone won't leave your person.", so that's impossible. --Bluescreenofdeath (talk) 05:44, 8 August 2014 (UTC)

Weight proportion to utility

Loadstone could be considered for buffing into a HARD gem in future releases/variants, which would make it suitable for engraving. Academic, but neat, I think.

Possibly as something that never dulls.

This game is big on useless items that do one or two neat tricks. ——Bodark (talk) 15:56, 28 April 2015 (UTC)