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)

Your suggestions are the way to go if you can wish. In a real game, however, cloaks of magic resistance are quite rare, and magic resistance most often comes from gray dragon scale mail or an artifact. Dragon_scale_mail#Acquiring_dragon_scales The dragon scales most often come from randomly generated/throne/Ludios/castle dragons, or per reverse genocide. Artifacts come from sacrificing, or it is your quest artifact. Caution: your quest artifact can be stolen in the late game, so we don't want to tell users to rely on it exclusively.Tjr 21:51, 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)

Huh, I admit I haven't tried it (but will do so now!), and if this is the case, the altar page should likely be modified to state so. --MidnightLightning 21:38, 6 May 2009 (UTC)

It's right here: Altar#Cross-aligned_altars. I think the altar page should be clarified a bit in that unicorns work just like any other monster when it comes to converting the altar.Tjr 21:41, 6 May 2009 (UTC)

escape kit

Perhaps you should wish for

• a blessed unicorn horn (cures most ailments)
• a wand of teleport (teleport you from death or the killer)
• a lizard corpse (cures stoning)
• a wand of digging (fall out of danger)
• either a wand of lightning, a wand of fire, or a blessed athame (Elbereth)
• a ring of free action

in the section how to get out of trouble. I like to carry these items around in my main inventory at all times. There is a page Escape_item, but it is way to "list everything in the world" to be useful. Tjr 22:06, 6 May 2009 (UTC)

The wands aren't that necessary in wizard mode where you can always decline to die, but they teach you good habits. That's why I didn't go ahead and edit it myself. BTW, Escape_item#Strategy is more useful now. Tjr 22:42, 6 May 2009 (UTC)

odd choices

you can't two weapon while wearing a shield, so perhaps silver dragon scale mail would be better. in other news, black dragons are more awesome than blue ones. --195.50.80.61 12:28, 4 March 2011 (UTC)

Shouldn't some of the armor wishes be greased? 220.255.2.127 10:27, 24 June 2011 (UTC)

Doesn't really matter, since in wizard mode you can just choose to not die, or even just teleport yourself if you do get hit by a drowning attack. Honestly, I don't know what that section is getting at. In my wizard mode games, I always start as a wizard, and wish for "blessed silver dragon scale mail" and "blessed fireproof +127 speed boots." Obviously such absurd overenchantments are not possible in a normal game, but in wizard mode, they are quite possible and quite useful. Also, the advice in that section is bad - you shouldn't wish for red dragon scale mail to cover fire resistance, you should wish for a blessed tin of red dragon meat to cover that. Then wish for GDSM instead of red, and an oilskin cloak instead of magic resistance, if you're that concerned about drowning.

As for the helm, yes you should grease it, but using ctrl+i and ctrl+f it is quite easy to undo amnesia in wizard mode, so again, it doesn't really matter. -Ion frigate 18:49, 24 June 2011 (UTC)

more like a wiki

While I like the idea of this page, I feel like it doesn't quite seem "professional" enough... I feel like it should be revamped, and get rid of words like "me" and "I", and make it sound more informative, not like it's someone talking to you. Also, there are a few bits of misinformation (like not being able to read a scroll of remove curse while blind. If you got the scroll BEFORE you went blind, you can still read it) that I feel should be fixed.

Also, on a COMPLETE side note, should we mention wishing for 2147483647 gold pieces, wishing for another one, and getting -2147483648 gold pieces so you can carry as many items as you want? This would get rid of the need for gauntlets of power (and we can put it in a sack so we can have normal gold too).--24.22.33.111 17:39, 6 April 2012 (UTC)