Leather Shield of the Haradrim

I got my character level 35 human mage running pretty smoothly in Angband. Was worried for a while because I did not have the standard resistance for a while. Now I have at least one item which provides resistance to acid/lightning/fire/cold.

The most interesting item I wield is the Leather Shield of the Haradrim. It gives me +1 attacks. An extra swing each turn is quite delicious for hand to hand combat. I also wear two +5 constitution rings maxxing out my constitution to 18/*** and my hit points to 593.

I am trying to beef up my speed. Right now it is only +8. Would like to make it to at least +10 to be twice as fast as usual. Need another item of resistance to get take 1/9 the damage instead of the current 1/3 damage. I also would like something that speeds regeneration. You never know when you will be on the run and want to regain hit points and mana pronto. There is only one other character ahead of me in the Angband Hall of Fame. It will take many moons to catch him though.

Hack and Slash

Previously I had been using my magic spells to combat the enemy in Angband. However I found the Beaked Axe of Hurin. Initially I wielded this weapon for the CON +2 advantage. But I found that once I wielded this axe, and got up to 2 hits per turn, it was time to use the weapon for combat.

I kept finding treasure and selling it in town. That allowed me to buy strength and dexterity potions. I am strong and agile enough to get 2 hits per turn with Hurin. One long awaited item I was able to buy in town was some gauntlets of Free Action.

My only disappointment was finding the Cloak of Thingol. It has a nice +3 to both DEX and CHR. However that cannot compare to my current Cloak Colluin which provides resist poison. So for now, Thingol stays in the closet. I have not sold the cloak though. If I can find another source for resist poison, I shall be putting it back on.

Human Priest

Once the character played by the Borg was dead, I decided to grow a new character from scratch manually. Normally I choose a human mage. Human is chosen to ensure I can advance quickly. And mage is chosen so I can get the identify spell at character level 11. However this time I wanted to try something different. I still chose to be a human. But I opted to be a priest instead. Thus Holyman was born.

Raising an early priest requires a different tactic. The magic is only supplemental. Battles must be fought like any warrior with hand to hand combat. Luckily you start out with a mace if you chose the priest class. So far I have been using this mace to apply the beat down to opponents. I save up enough gold to enchant the weapon to +10 to hit and damage. A ring of damage +11 helps as well. I find myself using the Bless prayer to gain a +10 to hit when in battle.

There were two discoveries that propelled Holyman into the big leagues. I bought an Amulet of Wisdom +4. Then I found some holy avenger weapon that was also +4 to Wisdom. So now I have a massive 18/80 Wisdom. There is a lot of mana for prayers there. I also have been able to learn all the spells in my spell book that my character level allows. If I could find some more spell books, I have more prayers that I can learn.

I have only found one artifact so far. They are some gloves that speed my regeneration. That comes in handy since my amulet slot is dedicated to the Amulet of Wisdom. I cannot afford to wield an Amulet of Regeneration right now. May the force be with you Holyman. My next goal is to find that spell book that contains the identify spell for priests.