ivanforum

[kalgor]

Today I was fighting the Generatrix Vesana, I first attacked it with a lightning wand but it did not kill it, and i was taking quite a beating, so i used a polymorph wand on it, it transformed into a great carnivorous plant and I easily killed it. But to my surprise, the little balsa sticks and rock fragments had also polymorphed in a banana, a carrot and a healing potion!, so I tried the wand on some random loot i gathered around the dungeon and got some other random junk (with something useful, some scrolls, maybe a healing potion or two).
Did anyone seriously experimented with this? do the items you get depend of the quality of the items you polymorph? did you knew you could polymorph items? what about monster wielded items?
thanks.

[Atomic]

Aye, this is well-known; it is a feature in several other roguelikes as well as IVAN. It's called polypiling. From what we've discerned, in IVAN the top 5 items of the stack will be polymorphed, with a range of 5 squares. I use it at least once in most games; stones (gained from mining the walls -- which is doubly handy as it can produce gemstones as well) make some superb polypiling fodder. You have to be careful with this though, as a lot of nice gear and stat-boosting foodstuffs can be generated, which increases your danger level and causes more powerful monsters to spawn. There isn't really a way to avoid this, other than not using anything you get from the polypiling. My suggestion is to just be cautious, and careful with what you do with your new spoils.
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"Also, I'm the only person I know capable of a pelvic pary and riposte." -- Squashmonster

I moderate in red.

[kalgor]

I guess you also know that polimorphing a locked container is a good way to open it...

[Atomic]

Aye, as is using a scroll of Change Material to turn it into something edible. If you're feeling a bit like abusing the system, try turning it into ommel cerumen.
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"Also, I'm the only person I know capable of a pelvic pary and riposte." -- Squashmonster

I moderate in red.

[Elohssa]

I'm well versed with the ommel cerumen trick, but I've been too chicken to use it on a a container that had stuff I might want in it. What happens. Do the items just fall out? Are they poly'd (I guess not). Since WoP are more common than SoCM, I can imagine using one to bust a chest, if other options aren't available.

Regarding abuse, my personal formula is simple. If you can do it in the game (not wizmode), it's not cheating. If they turned it off, I won't complain, but while it's available in the latest version, I will use the crap out of it. In fact, I make it a priority. The auto-balancing system will get me eventually, but WHAT A RIDE! With valupurium and GEF across the board, plus angel hair limbs, I've beaten two uber bosses on the same level! Then that whip-whore torn me a new one.
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Shaw's Principle: Build a system even a fool could use, and only a fool would want to use it.