OK, I'd read that the horsemen on Astral can move fast while pushing through monsters, and now my Lvl-30-almost-extinctionist wizard has experienced this first-hand. (Would be full-extinctionist except I stepped on an eel corpse (covering the level-port trap), and 'ported out of the Plane of Water without my 3 equipped-to-teeth Archons).

Regardless, I was hoping to do some Death-farming for a while, but now jellies can't be used to block him in. It has to be boulders. So I wished up one boulder so far, with 3 more wishes left.

So, seeking learned advice:
1. MOST IMPORTANT! - can I poke a halberd at Death through boulders? I don't think so, right?
2.a. Where is the best spot to trap a rider with boulders, especially if the answer to #1 is no?
2.b. Also Included in my needs would be enough squares to push the boulder out of the way to get at Death's loot.

Thanks in advance...
steveyo

On Tuesday, September 13, 2022 at 10:50:14 AM UTC-7, steven...@gmail.com wrote:
> Regardless, I was hoping to do some Death-farming for a while,
> but now jellies can't be used to block him in. It has to be boulders.
> So I wished up one boulder so far, with 3 more wishes left.

A blessed scroll of earth would net you 8 boulders if read
at a spot surrounded by 8 floor spots, and a single wish for
2 scrolls is likely to succeed. Asking for 3 or more will
probably yield just 1. (An uncursed scroll would drop a 9th
boulder on your head but then they're harder to maneuver.)

I think pushing a boulder on top of a Rider corpse triggers
its immediate revival these days but am not sure.

Monsters with a wand of striking will zap it at you if there
is a boulder in between.

> So, seeking learned advice:
> 1. MOST IMPORTANT! - can I poke a halberd at Death through
> boulders? I don't think so, right?

You need to see the target and not have any obstacles. Even
if telepathy is enough to see (I'm not sure offhand; the Eyes
of the Overworld definitely would be) boulders will still be an
obstacle. So you're right, "no". But you can throw or shoot
missiles 'over/under/through' the boulder. Wand zaps and
spell casts too.

I think that if you manage to get a slow monster attack past
a Rider's innate resistance, the slowness will be remembered
by the corpse and reapplied when it revives. Not sure though.
A wand of slow monster will most likely be resisted, but the
spell of same cast by a hight level hero might not be.

On 13.09.2022 20:28, Pat Rankin wrote:
> On Tuesday, September 13, 2022 at 10:50:14 AM UTC-7, steven...@gmail.com wrote:
>> Regardless, I was hoping to do some Death-farming for a while,
>> but now jellies can't be used to block him in. It has to be boulders.
>> So I wished up one boulder so far, with 3 more wishes left.
>
> A blessed scroll of earth would net you 8 boulders if read
> at a spot surrounded by 8 floor spots, and a single wish for
> 2 scrolls is likely to succeed. [...]

Is this move possible? - Last time I checked (in NH-343) the Planes
(at least Astral, for sure) was exempt from a scroll of earth being
effective there. - Has that changed in NH-36x?

Janis

On 13.09.2022 19:50, SteveYo wrote:
> OK, I'd read that the horsemen on Astral can move fast while pushing
> through monsters, and now my Lvl-30-almost-extinctionist wizard has
> experienced this first-hand. (Would be full-extinctionist except I
> stepped on an eel corpse (covering the level-port trap), and 'ported
> out of the Plane of Water without my 3 equipped-to-teeth Archons).

I suggest to always use the '^' command to check any covered square
before stepping on it; that takes no turn and makes sure you won't
get separated from your pets; given that you have pre-identified
the portal (e.g. by confused gold detection) in the first place, of
course.

Janis

On Tuesday, September 13, 2022 at 2:28:36 PM UTC-4, Pat Rankin wrote:
> On Tuesday, September 13, 2022 at 10:50:14 AM UTC-7, steven...@gmail.com wrote:
> > Regardless, I was hoping to do some Death-farming for a while,
> > but now jellies can't be used to block him in. It has to be boulders.
> > So I wished up one boulder so far, with 3 more wishes left.
> A blessed scroll of earth would net you 8 boulders if read
> at a spot surrounded by 8 floor spots, and a single wish for
> 2 scrolls is likely to succeed. Asking for 3 or more will
> probably yield just 1. (An uncursed scroll would drop a 9th
> boulder on your head but then they're harder to maneuver.)

I do not think scrolls of earth work on Astral.

On Tuesday, September 13, 2022 at 12:13:22 PM UTC-7, steven...@gmail.com wrote:
> On Tuesday, September 13, 2022 at 2:28:36 PM UTC-4, Pat Rankin wrote:
>> A blessed scroll of earth would net you 8 boulders if read
>> at a spot surrounded by 8 floor spots [...]
>
> I do not think scrolls of earth work on Astral.

You're right. In the endgame they only work when read
on the Plane of Earth. If I was ever aware of that, I had
forgotten.