Talk:Wizard mode ascension

Great idea - show newbies what's out there in the Nethack world. Could the writeup be a bit shorter?

Personally, I did a similar thing using explore mode, as I was already more advanced. Maybe a few hints at that could be placed somewhere, unless that makes it all too long. Tjr 00:52, 1 May 2009 (UTC)

Thanks for the feedback; this article was originally a blog post, but I realized it would be more effective here as a tutorial/guide, where it can more easily be crosslinked to all the other relevant articles. Since it's intended for people who haven't ascended on their own ever, I went for a more verbose style (that and it was designed for a blog, not an article), but it can probably be tightened up a bit. That and I never finished all the way to an ascension, so the article can still use some work.

If you or anyone has suggestions on how to best show off Wizard mode and educate at the same time, please fire out ideas here on the talk page! --MidnightLightning 01:32, 1 May 2009 (UTC)

Why did you not wish for magic resistance, reflection, and a tin of red dragon meat in the beginning? (Note: I almost exclusively play spellcasters, so I don't know what valkyries start out with.) Tjr 20:53, 6 May 2009 (UTC)

I hadn't done much with properties, since the deaths/inconveniences that come with not having them were minimal in Wizard mode, but I added in a section about gaining properties that includes various dragon meat for intrinsics. You can't actually wish for the 'magic resistance' and 'reflection' properties, but I've covered how to get them extrinsically from items you can wish for. --MidnightLightning 21:31, 6 May 2009 (UTC)

I removed the part on #offering unicorns - unless the unicorn if of your or the altar's alignment, there is nothing special about them (except an alignment boost) and they are complicated. In particular, unicorns will not affect the probability of converting the altar. However, they can convert *you* in those special cases. Tjr 21:13, 6 May 2009 (UTC)

Unicorns do not affect the probability of converting the altar, but they create the chance to convert it. A non-unicorn creature sacrificed on a altar not matching your alignment cannot convert the altar, but can convert you (so you're right on that point), as per the discussion on the altar page and its discussion page. Hence, I think you're mistaken, and the section about converting an altar needs to be changed back. Do you agree? --MidnightLightning 21:31, 6 May 2009 (UTC)

I routinely convert altars with non-unicorn corpses. If no exceptions apply, the chance of success is (2+EXP)/(8+EXP), where EXP is your own experience level. Tjr 21:35, 6 May 2009 (UTC)