Building a proper set of armor

[DaveS]

Alright, after having played more games than I care to admit over the past week or so I have detected a losing pattern in my game play but no way around it as of yet. It would seem that building a set of armor with a high AC and rust proofing is one of, if not the highest priorities in the game. However, unlike in NetHack, there appears to be no permanent light source available in the game, so once you hit floor four or so you rarely see a monster until it is right next to you. This is an obvious problem with aquators because even if you remove your armor you will still lose once AC point while taking it off which can quickly ruin a decent set of armor. In the 30 games or so that I have played recently, I have found exactly one scroll of armor protection and I have never found a similar ring, so it appears that relying on magical means of armor protection is dubious at best. I have yet to find elfin armor even once, so this also appears to be more luck than anything else. I have started to keep two sets of armor, but invariably I still have to switch over to my "working" set after a few run-ins with aquators and come level 20 or so I am back at an AC of 9 and becoming easy fodder for trolls / griffins.

So, the question for the experts is: how do you do it? Stick to leather armor and hope for 20+ scrolls of armor enhancement? Play 10 levels and restart of you haven't found elfin armor or a scroll of armor protection? I'm not frustrated, just curious. Coming from years of NetHack play, these are new problems for me but with Rogue's much more limited set of items to work with I'm stuck.

Dave

[Jim2wheels]

Have exactly the same problem dave. I have just started a new game and have decided to try the following:

Wear my weakest armour, probably leather based as its AC level will never change. If i find any unknown scrolls will swap to my strongest armour incase it is an enchantment scroll. My plan is to wear my leather armour until i start seeing trolls and griffins etc, or until i start losing big chunks of hp in fights, and then swap over to my best armour. In the meantime i will use all enchantments on my best armour to hopefully build it up. If i find a protect armour scroll or ring then obviously i will ditch this plan as it would not be required.

[DaveS]

That's pretty much the way I have been going as well jim. I find myself hoping to start with leather armor these days rather than something "better". I figure one of these games I will get 10 armor protection scrolls to make up for my lack of them up to this point!

Dave

[Jim2wheels]

Tell me about it, i seem to be at a stage where i dont get an even spread of anything. Its either 10 remove curse scrolls or none, 8 different armour suits but no decent weapons so on and so forth.

But then thats what makes us come back for more i guess.

On a good roll at the moment, got a mace of medusa slaying 3d4, AC at level 6, 2 staffs of slow and one staff of paralysis. plus strength up to 20 with a ring of searching.

[Nighthawk]

So, the question for the experts is: how do you do it? Stick to leather armor and hope for 20+ scrolls of armor enhancement? Play 10 levels and restart of you haven't found elfin armor or a scroll of armor protection? I'm not frustrated, just curious. Coming from years of NetHack play, these are new problems for me but with Rogue's much more limited set of items to work with I'm stuck.
Dave

I can assure you that the experts aren't any luckier than you are. For every game that "experts" have submitted that you see on the high score tables, they've played 4-5 games to get that lucky.

I don't think I've ever restarted due to bad items because there's always the chance that you'll stumble into great loot on the next floor.

Some thoughts, however:

1. You can become a hoarder of armor (if you find enough), and continue to swap out when your current set gets "rusty".
2. Aquators hang out in the middle floors (9-18), although they may appear earlier or later depending on the luck of the dice. I usually expect to start seeing them around floor 7. Use that knowledge to your advantage. If you make it to Floor 17 or 18, odds are good that the only thing that's going to rust your armor from that point downward are rust traps (rings of Searching help tremendously here).
3. If you're the type of player that plays melee only, you're going to need to learn yourself some ranged attack skills so as to not get hit as often when wearing weak armor. In fact, Jessica had a great tip for those situations in the "Ranged Attack Survey" thread:

One trick I use: checking out the edge wall of a new room that I just entered (immediately around the door). Once I know the orientation (is it wide and squat, or tall and narrow) I take some shots in the dark toward the longer directions to see if I hit anything. If you do make contact, don't wait until it gets in your field of view. Keep shooting and ask questions later.

4. Remember that there's a reason why only 14 Amulet retrievals have occurred in over 5000 submitted games

[elswitzer]

This is kind of funny because literally every game I play I get at least a few armor protection scrolls. I actually look forward to aquators because they have never posed a threat to me. My last game actually(this is just to rub it in), I found elf armor on the first level, and by the third level I had used 3 scrolls of enchant armor or whatever. All this and my starting "special" item was a ring of armor protection. And now I'm sure the Gods of Rogue will strike me down for bragging, and I will never find any of these items again. It was worth it though.

[shadowspawn]

I was being extra careful after reading this thread. Had potentially my best armor ever, carrying +3 Banded Mail and had 4 scrolls of enchant armor. Wearing some leather armor to preserve it for later, which the troll found quite amusing...

[elswitzer]

Doesnt enchanting your armor protect it from rust? Just curious why you said you were saving it.

[shadowspawn]

No, I was carrying plain Enchant Armor scrolls which do not give protection from rust. The less common Protect Armor scroll has that benefit.

[isaacrdz]

I've started using this tactic recently and it works well, "building" a good set of armor I mean. It would be nice to be asked if you'd like to wear a different armor when removing one so you don't have to go through so many screen. Selecting Yes or something takes you back to the Inventory screen.