02-19-2003, 08:32 PM
Ho boy ... haven't talked about classic D in awhile, but since no one else has posted yet I'll try to answer to the best of my knowledge.
IIRC (and I may not), Magic helps determine to hit% for spells. So adding to that should help. More importantly, watch how you shoot your spells.
1 2 3 4 5
X X X X X
X X Y X X
From this horribly deficient diagram, say you're the mage at Y. The number easiest to hit would be 3, followed by 1 and 5. 2 and 4 would be harder to hit. (And don't forget to skew this graph for the isometric view). So basically try to keep your shots as straight along the tiles as they can be.
Arty/Battle Mages:
The theory behind an Artillery Mage is that spells/mana comes first, and everything else is secondary. AC is often ignored in this build, leaving it with power but risk. It is more challenging than Battle (but not necessarily worse, you just have to be more careful).
Battle Mages tend to focus on getting a high AC. It leaves your spells weaker, but it also means you can tank like a warrior. This is the build where you can teleport into a room, shoot fireballs with abandon, and still come out alive (assuming your equipment is good enough). Hence, less skill overall, since it's harder to die (again, not necessarily better/worse, it's just a matter of preference).
Of course, if you want to play a true Arty Mage, you could go for the Beyond Naked Mage rules. The simplistic rules basically say that you wear only cursed items, meaning you are truly relying on your spells to save you. Beyond Nake Mage Rules if you want more on that.
Anyone who's played classic D more recently could go into infinitely better detail.
IIRC (and I may not), Magic helps determine to hit% for spells. So adding to that should help. More importantly, watch how you shoot your spells.
1 2 3 4 5
X X X X X
X X Y X X
From this horribly deficient diagram, say you're the mage at Y. The number easiest to hit would be 3, followed by 1 and 5. 2 and 4 would be harder to hit. (And don't forget to skew this graph for the isometric view). So basically try to keep your shots as straight along the tiles as they can be.
Arty/Battle Mages:
The theory behind an Artillery Mage is that spells/mana comes first, and everything else is secondary. AC is often ignored in this build, leaving it with power but risk. It is more challenging than Battle (but not necessarily worse, you just have to be more careful).
Battle Mages tend to focus on getting a high AC. It leaves your spells weaker, but it also means you can tank like a warrior. This is the build where you can teleport into a room, shoot fireballs with abandon, and still come out alive (assuming your equipment is good enough). Hence, less skill overall, since it's harder to die (again, not necessarily better/worse, it's just a matter of preference).
Of course, if you want to play a true Arty Mage, you could go for the Beyond Naked Mage rules. The simplistic rules basically say that you wear only cursed items, meaning you are truly relying on your spells to save you. Beyond Nake Mage Rules if you want more on that.
Anyone who's played classic D more recently could go into infinitely better detail.
Trade yourself in for the perfect one. No one needs to know that you feel you've been ruined!