Kill hole - Revision history

Hordes: /* Creating a kill hole */

2023-09-13T16:40:45Z

‎Creating a kill hole

Hordes: /* Explanation */

2023-09-13T16:37:21Z

‎Explanation

Hordes: /* Strategy */

2023-08-22T04:05:21Z

‎Strategy

Hordes: /* Strategy */

2023-08-22T04:04:29Z

‎Strategy

Ge0ff: /* Explaination */ it was correct, we need a noun here, not a verb

2023-07-08T13:52:01Z

‎Explaination: it was correct, we need a noun here, not a verb

Hordes at 17:18, 7 July 2023

2023-07-07T17:18:52Z

Ge0ff at 14:01, 6 July 2023

2023-07-06T14:01:58Z

Hordes: /* Strategy */

2023-07-05T02:26:33Z

‎Strategy

Hordes at 02:25, 5 July 2023

2023-07-05T02:25:35Z

Hordes: /* Creating a kill hole */

2023-07-05T02:02:06Z

‎Creating a kill hole

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 ==Creating a kill hole==
-To make your own kill hole, you'll need a section of rock wall, and a way to [[dig]] through it ([[formicid]] ability, or [[wand of digging]]). Ideally, the wall you're digging into won't have any open spaces behind it that you might break into by accident, which can open a whole new can of worms. The edges of the floor are usually safe, but if you're too close to the edge of the map, you might run into the indestructible border walls.
+To make your own kill hole, you'll need a section of rock wall, and a way to [[dig]] through it ([[wand of digging]], [[Formicid]] ability). Ideally, this wall won't have any empty space behind it - you can open a whole new can of worms. The edges of the floor are usually safe, but if you're too close to the edge of the map, you might run into the indestructible border walls.
-While [[Shatter]] ''can'' destroy walls (even walls made of more durable substances like stone, metal, or crystal), it lacks precision. You might get lucky and make a kill hole, or you might just break the entire wall down, and either way, you'll be making an incredible amount of [[noise]].
+While [[Shatter]] ''can'' destroy walls - even stone / metal walls - it lacks precision. You might get lucky and make a kill hole, or you might just break the entire wall down, and either way, you'll be making an incredible amount of [[noise]].
 A perfect kill hole (one which only ever allows one enemy into your LOS) looks something like this:
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-Formicids can dig walls one at a time, so this configuration would be trivial. In contrast, a [[wand of digging]] will always dig multiple tiles in a direction. You can still make a perfectly functional killhole, though there'll be a space behind you.
+Formicids can dig walls one at a time, so making this configuration would be trivial. In contrast, a [[wand of digging]] will always dig multiple tiles in a direction. It can still make a perfectly functional killhole, though there'll be a space behind you.
 To begin, find a suitable patch of rock wall:

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 <gallery widths="400px" heights="400px" class="left" mode="nolines">
-File:Killhole.png| X's show [[line of sight]] radius.<br>Left: Not a killhole; priest can attack from 2 tiles away<br>Right: Killhole, priest forced in melee.
+File:Killhole.png| X's show the current [[line of sight]] radius.<br>Left: Not a killhole; priest can attack from 2 tiles away<br>Right: Killhole, priest forced in melee.
 </gallery>

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 *You must be able to fight whatever's approaching, or have a way to escape from the killhole (e.g. have a pre-dug path back to nearby stairs).
 *If there is space behind you, a monster can [[Blink]] behind you, push you back with [[trample]] / knockback, or summon things behind you. [[Draconian shifter]]s can also use [[Blink Other]].
-*The [[Dig]] and [[Awaken Earth]] spells are one of the few things that monsters can use outside of your LOS. [[Deep troll earth mage]]s, [[cacodemon]]s, or any monster with their own wand of digging can bust through.
+*The [[Dig]] and [[Awaken Earth]] spells are some of the few things that monsters can use outside of your LOS. [[Deep elf elementalist]]s, [[deep troll earth mage]]s, [[cacodemon]]s, or any monster with their own wand of digging can bust through.
 In addition, killholes are unnecessary if enemies don't have ranged attacks. When fighting a pack of melee enemies, you can dig an ordinary hallway, which saves a charge of your wand of digging.

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 ==Strategy==
-Killholes are best used when you ''know'' there are nearby monsters, with dangerous abilities that rely on sight. Dangerous summons, powerful ranged attacks/spells, [[Smiting]], [[Damnation]], and [[Torment]] are all good examples. If you alert a number of monsters with these abilities while exploring, you may wish to create a killhole.
+Killholes are best used when you ''know'' there's a crowd of monsters, where at least some have abilities that ignore line of fire. [[Smiting]], [[Damnation]], and [[Torment]] are all good examples. If you alert a number of monsters with these abilities while exploring, you may wish to create a killhole.
 If you know there is a [[vault]] with such monsters, you may want to pre-emptively dig a killhole. Examples of good places include [[Orcish Mines|Orc]]:2, [[Elven Halls|Elf]]:3 (though watch for [[deep elf elementalist]]s), and [[Zot]]:5. Then, you can stay in the hole, and [[shout]] to lure monsters into it.
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 Killholes are not infallible. The following can make one ineffective:
-* You must be able to fight whatever's approaching, or have a way to escape from the killhole. You can dig a path back to nearby stairs, for example.
+*You must be able to fight whatever's approaching, or have a way to escape from the killhole (e.g. have a pre-dug path back to nearby stairs).
-* If there is space behind you, a monster can [[Blink]] behind you, push you back with [[trample]] / knockback, or summon things behind you.
+*If there is space behind you, a monster can [[Blink]] behind you, push you back with [[trample]] / knockback, or summon things behind you. [[Draconian shifter]]s can also use [[Blink Other]].
-* [[Draconian shifter]]s can use [[Blink Other]] to force you outside the killhole.
+*The [[Dig]] and [[Awaken Earth]] spells are one of the few things that monsters can use outside of your LOS. [[Deep troll earth mage]]s, [[cacodemon]]s, or any monster with their own wand of digging can bust through.
 In addition, killholes are unnecessary if enemies don't have ranged attacks. When fighting a pack of melee enemies, you can dig an ordinary hallway, which saves a charge of your wand of digging.

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 Kill holes may occasionally form naturally, but most mentions of them refer to the creation of artificial kill holes with a [[formicid]]'s digging ability or a [[wand of digging]].
-==Explaination==
+==Explanation==
-In short, a killhole is the intersect of 2 diagonal lines ('V', '^', '<', or '>' shaped). Cardinal directions do not work - see below for a demonstration.
+In short, a killhole is the intersection of 2 diagonal lines ('V', '^', '<', or '>' shaped). Cardinal directions do not work - see below for a demonstration.
 <gallery widths="400px" heights="400px" class="left" mode="nolines">

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 Killholes are best used when you ''know'' there are nearby monsters, with dangerous abilities that rely on sight. Dangerous summons, powerful ranged attacks/spells, [[Smiting]], [[Damnation]], and [[Torment]] are all good examples. If you alert a number of monsters with these abilities while exploring, you may wish create a killhole.
-If you know there is a [[vault]] with such monsters, you may want to pre-emptively dig a killhole. Examples of good places include [[Orcish Mines|Orc]]:2, [[Elven Halls|Elf]]:3 (though watch for [[deep elf earth elementalist]]s), and [[Zot]]:5. Then, you can stay in the hole, and [[shout]] to lure monsters into it.
+If you know there is a [[vault]] with such monsters, you may want to pre-emptively dig a killhole. Examples of good places include [[Orcish Mines|Orc]]:2, [[Elven Halls|Elf]]:3 (though watch for [[deep elf elementalist]]s), and [[Zot]]:5. Then, you can stay in the hole, and [[shout]] to lure monsters into it.
 Killholes are not infallible. The following can make one ineffective:
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 * If there is space behind you, a monster can [[Blink]] behind you, push you back with [[trample]] / knockback, or summon things behind you.
 * [[Draconian shifter]]s can use [[Blink Other]] to force you outside the killhole.
-* The [[Dig]] spell is one of the few spells that monsters can use outside of your LOS. [[Deep trol earth mage]]s, [[cacodemon]]s, or any monster with their own wand of digging can bust through.
+* The [[Dig]] spell is one of the few spells that monsters can use outside of your LOS. [[Deep troll earth mage]]s, [[cacodemon]]s, or any monster with their own wand of digging can bust through.
-** While [[deep elf earth elementalist]]s can't attack outside of LOS, their [[Awaken Earth]] spell can destroy walls.
+** While [[deep elf elementalist]]s can't attack outside of LOS, their [[Awaken Earth]] spell can destroy walls, turning them into [[earth elemental]]s.
 In addition, killholes are unnecessary if enemies don't have ranged attacks. When fighting a pack of melee enemies, you can dig an ordinary hallway, which saves a charge of your wand of digging.

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 Kill holes may occasionally form naturally, but most mentions of them refer to the creation of artificial kill holes with a [[formicid]]'s digging ability or a [[wand of digging]].
-==How It Works==
+==Explaination==
 In short, a killhole is the intersection of 2 diagonal lines ('V', '^', '<', or '>' shaped). Cardinal directions do not work - see below for a demonstration.
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   ########.####
-Having that bit of extra space has a few minor downsides. Enemies with [[blink]] can end up behind you. Hostile summoners can summon monsters in that space, too. Otherwise, it works just like the "perfect" killhole as mentioned above.
+Having that bit of extra space has a few minor downsides. Enemies with [[blink]] can end up behind you. Hostile summoners can summon monsters in that space, and things like [[trample]] can push you back. Otherwise, it works just like the "perfect" killhole as mentioned above.
-==Tips & Tricks==
+==Strategy==
-*Kill holes are best used when you know there are monsters nearby with dangerous abilities that rely on sight; dangerous summons, powerful ranged attacks/spells, [[Smiting]], [[Damnation]], and [[Torment]] are all good examples. If you alert a number of monsters with these abilities while exploring, you may wish to retreat to a suitable kill hole (or quickly build one, if there aren't any nearby).
+Killholes are best used when you ''know'' there are nearby monsters, with dangerous abilities that rely on sight. Dangerous summons, powerful ranged attacks/spells, [[Smiting]], [[Damnation]], and [[Torment]] are all good examples. If you alert a number of monsters with these abilities while exploring, you may wish create a killhole.
-**If you know there is a vault with monsters of this sort on the current level, you may wish to preemptively build a kill hole and retreat there after attracting the attention of creatures in the vault. Particularly good places to do this include [[Orcish Mines|Orc:2]], the ends of the various [[Lair]] rune branches, and [[Zot:5]]. ([[Elven Halls|Elf:3]] ''used'' to be a good place to do this before [[deep elf elementalist]]s were introduced; see below.)
-*Kill holes prevent monsters from seeing you, but they also prevent you from seeing monsters. Try to pay attention to any messages that mention noises coming from behind whatever you're fighting, as that might announce the presence of a monster you hadn't known about when you retreated. Formicids have yet another advantage in their ability to sense creatures with their [[antennae]].
+If you know there is a [[vault]] with such monsters, you may want to pre-emptively dig a killhole. Examples of good places include [[Orcish Mines|Orc]]:2, [[Elven Halls|Elf]]:3 (though watch for [[deep elf earth elementalist]]s), and [[Zot]]:5. Then, you can stay in the hole, and [[shout]] to lure monsters into it.
 *Always make sure you have an escape plan. Even with the advantage of facing your enemies one at a time, you may get unlucky and end up overwhelmed and backed into a corner. Alternatively, something far more dangerous than the enemies you were fighting might be attracted by the noise and suddenly appear with little to no warning. A [[scroll of teleportation]] is perfect for escaping -- just be sure to leave enough time for it to kick in.
 ==History==