Thanks for answering the questions you could, and also for adding some organization to my post. It hadn't crossed my mind, but that will make it much easier to answer my questions.
On the gods question, I already know what they all do, but the majority of them don't seem very worthwhile to me. I'm just looking for practical ways to use them because I feel like I should be getting more out of them. I guess I'm looking to learn how you guys tend to use them from your experience.
Also, is this the thread you mentioned? BDR makes a post detailing the gods, and sparks a discussion on it. I've read through it. Good stuff. It actually mentions in there that Lori will harden material regardless of int, and that isn't corrected, so that's why I thought otherwise.
Also, another quick question.
10. I've had vlad tamed twice, and the first time he followed me down to GC9, the other time I could not get him down no matter how I tried. Is there a reason he wouldn't follow me? My hypothesis is that he wouldn't follow me until he healed more, but then sherry came in and ended the game while I was letting him heal (he had ~1000/3000HP).
I've been playing for a month or two, and many questions have come to mind. I've read a majority of the forum and the wiki, but many of these questions remain unanswered. It's a diverse bunch of questions, covering many different topics, which I'll list here.
Also, I ran into Sherarax for the first time last night. I had just slain Elpuri (I was amazed at how little trouble I had with him in melee), and this time I wanted to go further into the dungeons because last time I opted for the freedom ending. I went upstairs to manage my inventory and do some sci-talking with my mystic dark frog, when she shows up. I slowed her, and planted a bear trap, and she got a turn on me, but didn't do any damage. I decided to melee her once, which killed her, but she was saved by her amulet. I'm pretty sure she was weakened from fighting vlad outside of my vision, because she was covered with glowing blood. I decided to melee her again, perhaps too confident from my last action, and with her retaliating attack her chameleon whip poly'd me into a slate golem. At this point I knew it was the end, not even my AoLS could save me (I don't think golems can wear amulets). The same turn all of my limbs were severed. I spent my next action praying to Sophos, hoping to get teleported away, but he just gave me an ommel cerumen arm, which sherry quickly severed before finishing me off ("killed by Sherarax's dirty attack below the belt" - never saw that message before, gave me a good laugh). This brings me to my first question.
1. What is the general boss strategy in IVAN? After a certain point, it seems like most spawned enemies don't give me much trouble, unless they are spawned with great equipment. The biggest danger is when a boss spawns. This game in particular, I didn't have any problems with any of the bosses (and I met all of them except for Ischaldirh and Oree) except for Golgor Dahn and Sherarax. What is the best way for dealing with these pests? I'll usually slow them down and haste myself first. With Golgor Dahn I kept laying down bear traps and blasting him with wands 'til I was out charges, when I reluctantly closed in to finish him off. I was planning something similar with sherry but I had no more offensive wands so I was going to have to deal with her in melee or run.
2. What is the damage value of the fire damage added by a flaming sword? I know it's nice because the flaming damage always goes through, but what is it's magnitude? I had to make a choice between my flaming mithril long sword and Golgor Dahn's sapphire two-handed scimitar, but I'm not sure which was actually better.
3. What is the best way to detect secret rooms? Usually the chests within have some prime loot, so I definitely don't want to miss any. The wiki says to detect material mithril, but I believe I've seen other material chests before (adamant I remember, perhaps some others), although I don't remember if that was actually in a secret room or the more obvious hidden rooms. Last game I started digging into all of the possible spots that one might be.
4. Is there a good way to heal pets? I've thrown healing potions at my pets before, so they were covered in healing liquid, but is there a better way?
5. Is there a way to clean off your equipment? I've had bottles of healing liquid break in my inventory, coating my weapons so that they heal my enemies.
6. How much better is a strongbox than a small chest to keep in your inventory? I think they're the same weight, but, if I remember correctly, the small chest can carry more items. I'm not sure because the last few games I've just been using strong boxes, but sometimes I'll take two with me because one fills up. I've never had anything inside of either break.
7. What's the deal with Ischaldirh? The wiki says he's one bad mofo, but sherry is something to fear more because she actually spawns. It mentioned something about Ischaldirh bear hunting. Does he only spawn under certain circumstances, or is he located in a specific room or what?
8. What is good god/prayer strategy, and what are the more useful gods? Lately I've been praying to Atavus and Loricatus every three hours. Atavus in hopes of the arcanite plate mail, which I'm actually going to stop doing because I can usually get armor at least as good as it by the time he gifts it anyways, and he's never done anything else useful for me (always "nothing happens", except once I got a chest that had nothing useful in it). Loricatus I always wield something hoping he'll harden it, but I've never gotten him to harden anything past what I could do myself. He's still very useful later on when my equipment begins to break more often and repair scrolls become more rare. I also use Dulcis whenever I come across a master necro or a mystic dark frog to get a pet. The others I only use very infrequently (Silva if I need a limb, etc.). I have a feeling I should take more advantage of (arch)angels when I'm fighting bosses. Also, what's the best way to be on good terms with Valpurus/Mortifer, since their weapons look well worth it? If you find an altar, sacrificing is obvious, but you don't always find one. Is it best to pray with Legifer/Cruentus until the Valpurus/Mortifer like you?
9. Is there anything I should know about what lies below GC9? I haven't been down there yet and I haven't been able to find any information on it. Should I take any extra precautions or preparations? I'm not sure what to expect.
Well that was much lengthier than I had thought it would be, but these questions have been on my mind for a while. Also, I only play vanilla IVAN right now, no CVS/LIVAN/other variants. Thanks for taking the time to read and answer my questions!
//ADDED THE NUMBERS TO THEM QUESTIONS FOR EASE OF ANSWERING// -Em
I'm part of the new wave; I just downloaded IVAN in January. I just beat the game for the first time today, I got the freedom ending.
I've been lurking the forums for a while, I learned a lot by reading the entire "anything relating to ivan you're too lazy to create a new topic for" thread. Lots of good info in there for a game like this that has very little documentation. I'm happy to see an active and knowledgeable community here, my thanks go out to you guys that make it happen.
IVAN is a fun game, I like it because you can get right into a game and have a decent set of equipment by the time you're out of the UT. In most roguelikes you have to identify items and make sure they are uncursed before you use them, so it's a long time before anything interesting happens. I'm a very experienced nethack player and IVAN is a fresh change in the roguelike scene, exactly what I was looking for when I downloaded it. Anyways, this is my first post on the forums, but I'll start contributing more now that I've got a handle on the game.