The Sling is a Thing in xNetHack -------------------------------- The lowly sling has long been a target of derision, a waste of slots in vanilla. I knew that "enhanced" slings existed in some variants but, until [xNetHack][1], I had never found a variant I preferred to vanilla. Here, in no particular order, are the salient features of the xNetHack "enhanced" model: * Flintstone weight has been reduced to 2 aum. * Flintstones can be manufactured at will by simply banging rocks together. * Upon creation all flintstones are uncursed, will stack and are immune to corrosion. * Flintstones still have a 1d6 base but also get strength damage like thrown projectiles. At expert and 25 strength each flintstone will average 11.5 damage. Cavepersons will average 2.5 per toss resulting in 28.75 average damage. A full toss of 4 stones produces 46 damage with no resources wasted on enchantment. * Blessing your flintstones for Gehennom will raise your Caveperson average damage against demons and undeads to 35 a toss, with a maximum of 56. That's Magic Missile territory on the top end. * There is a chance any H monster can be insta-killed if you are at least Skilled in the sling (as per David and Goliath). * Disenchanters have no affect on sling projectiles. * Plain rocks are effective against water monsters and of little use otherwise in comparison to flintstones. * Skill is the major deterrent to breakage in xNetHack. Luck, enchantment and blessed projectiles help but advancing your skill is the most important factor. This makes Rangers much more enjoyable in xNetHack as well. * I never imagined I would be walking around with a sling wielded all the time. Now all I need are silver nuggets... [1]: https://nethackwiki.com/wiki/XNetHack "Via NetHackWiki"