Talk:Sting

Actually, mrivan claims that he regularly names Sting when playing Ranger, and a brief discussion on IRC yielded some insights into the approach... I might edit later.--GreyKnight 12:06, 31 August 2006 (UTC)

In some older games, I named Sting for some experiments; then I started playing elven Rangers in vanilla without Sting. I recently learned that blade artifacts like Sting are good for prying open the locks on chests; artifacts will break only 1% as often. (lock.c#line148) I am on break from vanilla, but I have started naming Sting and Orcrist in both NetHack brass and SLASH'EM; in brass it helps me kill orcs, while in SLASH'EM it stops shops from selling them. --Kernigh 19:42, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

I think for a new player trying to survive early levels Sting is a 100% good move, even if the effects aren't necessarily massive. Where the player is not at the level of sacrifice and artifact management it provides extra help in killing certain monsters, potential information on locations of rooms, corridors, monsters to sacrifice, and escape routes that are blocked. If you don't have poison resistance it could save you from trouble at the hands of Uruk-Hai, or running into a horde of monsters while on low HP. It also helps you out of webs and is less at risk when opening locked chests.

I would also point out that a combat-poor role will also benefit greatly from the to-hit bonus available to advance that first skill level in dagger.--PeterGFin 12:03, August 7, 2010 (UTC)