NetHack Patch Database v0.27

323 patches

Vlad Balance

NameVlad Balance v0.4
Rating92%
AuthorChi
ForNetHack 3.4.1
DescriptionMakes Vlad much tougher
 Vlad:

* is now Speed 24 instead of 18
* ignores Elbereth, scare monster etc.
* is now 28HD instead of 14
* AC -6 instead of AC -3
* has a mesmerising gaze - saving throw at -4 vs WIS or be frozen for d5 turns. Free action does not help in this situation, but should you be able to cancel Vlad (heh! Key word - "should"), he will lose this attack. In monster vs monster combat, all Vlad's opponents who can see Vlad and are gazed upon by him will succumb to this attack, with the exception of mindless monsters and covetous monsters (Quest nemises, Wizard of Yendor, major demons) - This is a known limitation, but I cannot see any satisfactory solution to monster vs monster attacks like this.

Vlad's:

* weapon attack does 2d10 damage instead of 1d10
* bite attack does 1d12 damage instead of 1d10
* drain life attack ignores magic cancellation

This patch also contains code (which is #defined out by default) to provide for a new attack type AD_PLYM(damn, damd) which more accurately represents a mental paralysis/mesmerism attack. For attacks on the player, it ignores free action, since it is a mental attack, not physical but additionally allows for a WIS saving throw, modified by the damn attribute of the attack, and if this is failed, it causes paralysis for d(damd+1) turns. The passive attack of the floating eye has been switched over to this new attack type. A reminder that this part is commented out by default: To enable it, simply uncomment the #define MENTALPLYS line in config.h before compiling.
Downloadhttp://glass.tvu.ac.uk/~chi/nethack/files/vladb341.diff or Get it from us (15.2 Kb)
AddedApril 12, 2006 19:40
ChangedSeptember 08, 2009 21:39
Submit an update to this patch

8 Comments

5SAdderSeptember 20, 2009 15:22
Thanks you! I love the patch and am going to implement it in my ongoing project![Quote]
 paxedSeptember 08, 2009 21:39
Enabled local download.[Quote]
 SAdderSeptember 08, 2009 02:46
Hmmm. . . the link seems to be broken.
Although looking at the patch description I would love to be able to download it, nice work![Quote]
4AntherJanuary 16, 2008 18:46
I could very well be reading this wrong, but it looks to me like not even cancelling Vlad can stop his life drain attack. Admittedly cancellation isn't the most common tactic, and there are plenty of other ways to deal with him, but still. On the whole, this patch seems to make Excalibur, Stormbringer, and the Staff of Aesculapius rather more attractive for the late game, doesn't it.[Quote]
 KlamechJanuary 16, 2008 13:03
talking of sokoban, maybe there could be some kind of puzzle in vlad's tower? maybe put, say, x up-stairs on the level, each leading to a vlad with a candelabrum (only one of which is the real candelabrum) and put some kind of puzzle there so that you could work out which up-stairs to take?

then, make vlad quite difficult (as with this patch), and you're left with either successfully solving the puzzle and fighting one vlad (doable) or brute-forcing it and just randomly killing vlads until you get the correct candelabrum, which probably isn't a good idea with the above vlad.[Quote]
5CraigJanuary 15, 2008 18:07
I think this is certainly on the right track. It's certainly not that he's unkillable; loads of ways to tackle him. It's just that you have to _think_ about how you're going to handle this Vlad. The only strategy I ever have to employ with vanilla Vlad is walk at him and keep going until I see here a candelabrum. It usually takes three turns. I'd even say take it farther. I'd like to have a patch where Vlad is proportionally as much challenge as, say, Sokoban is earlier in the game.[Quote]
5John H.July 11, 2006 21:17
Thinking about this carefully for a while leads me to believe this is an excellent patch. In response to bobbens, one of the things about Nethack is that most situations have *plenty* of ways out of it. Even with this Patch, Vlad is still much easier to defeat than some quest nemeses -- his drain life attack ignore cancellation, but that doesn't mean you can't kill him from a distance (possibly from the other side of a boulder), cancel him, stone him, polymorph into something that can't get level drained, zap slow monster at him, let pets (including purple worms) take care of him, or just wombat him and eating the level drains -- one of them will always be easy to undo by simply gaining an experience point, and level drain only works if he connects, which is by no means a sure thing for an ascension-ready character.[Quote]
4bobbensJuly 09, 2006 13:53
good idea but that drain life attack sounds too nasty, sort of makes him an obligatory rubber chicken target[Quote]

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