Atch
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Those of you who have ventured below Level 19 will be aware of monsters with added brainpower and be thankful that spiders prefer to stay on the one level, but are all monsters with brains necessarily more deadly?

I was dreading Level 20 – 3N, 1W with the prospect of facing even smarter Goblins but if anything they seemed easier to deal with. Could Goblins be such perverse creatures that they are in fact made more stupid by Brains?

Similarly Tar Mothers seemed unaffected – I was expecting some sort of variation in the spawn cycle, a semi-spawn every 15 moves for example, but mercifully not!

eytanz
Level: Smitemaster

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The truth is, that brains just aren't very good at predicting what Beethro is going to do next. They make everything far more deadly when Beethro is standing in place - but if you are moving, the brains keep revising their instructions every turn, which can lead to the monsters doing stupid things indeed. And since killing goblins usually involves more movement (since you need to chase them around) than other monsters - except perhaps wraithwings - the brains often trip them up. This is compounded by the fact that the brains, like many other armchair generals, are quite enamoured of just sending their troops ahead without much respect for their lives - goblins usually avoid your sword, but the brain may give them other priorities.

But the worst problem that a goblin might face due to a brain is if he has friends. Normally, goblins are well-mannered creatures, and if their friend is ahead of them, they won't try to rush by him. A brain changes that behavior, causing goblins to try to walk around each other - but that means that they often can find themselves in situations where, if Beethro goes on the offensive, the goblin they just overtook is now behind them, blocking the path of escape.

[Edited by eytanz on 10-12-2003 at 04:58 PM GMT]

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zex20913
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Tar is also a tad dumber. If you stab some tar surrounded by two corners, you normally need to backswipe. With brains it's just two directions.

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eytanz
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That's not just tar; roaches (and spiders) are also vulnerable to that. Normally, this means you are dead:

# r
#B
# r

But not with a brain in the room.

Basically, any tactic that requires you to move (rather than stand and wave your sword) confuses the brains a bit.


[Edited by eytanz on 10-12-2003 at 06:43 PM GMT: Hey - why does the code tag now add spaces?]

[Edited by eytanz on 10-12-2003 at 06:44 PM GMT]

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NoahT
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The thing about brains is that when instructing monsters with roach logic in open spaces, the monsters won't move diagonally towards you until you're in their line of sight, which is why they aren't as smart in that kind of situation.

-Noah

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zex20913
Level: Smitemaster

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Not necessarily. Check out King Tim's Dungeons L2 1S. The roaches will begin to move diagonally before Beethro's in the sight line.

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NoahT
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Probably because something was in the way. Other than that, it should be easy to see what I mean.

-Noah

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zex20913
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Noah, check the room before you pass a judgement. I made the room, I know there is nothing in the way. There's no probably about that. Repeat, there is nothing in the way.

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NoahT
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First, could you please tell me where the hold is? I couldn't find anything under the name you said on the Architecture board.

-Noah

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zex20913
Level: Smitemaster

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Hrm...it looks like it has been deleted. Probably because it was made with an old version or something, but the point still stands.

Sometimes roaches will move diagonally with brains before they reach line of sight, even if nothing is in the way.

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agaricus5
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zex20913 wrote:
Sometimes roaches will move diagonally with brains before they reach line of sight, even if nothing is in the way.

Yes - it makes them more efficient at reaching you. 1 move diagonally = 1 move vertically + 1 move horizontally

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