Stair Death Flash tactic - Nystul

Proposed by Crystalion a while back, I thought I would bring this up again because I have used it successfully a couple times recently in very "high pressure situations". Time permitting, I may try some controlled tests with warrior and rogue to see whether this will still be effective with the slower casting speeds.

The theory is this: if there is enough time to do anything whatsoever before dying at the stairs, there will be enough time to cast Flash "while the level is loading". (Being able to time it right so that the spell casts immediately after the level load is crucial to the strat.)

If you are able to successfully cast flash at the moment of the level load, you will be invincible during the flash animation. While you are invincible during the flash animation it is possible to cast a spell from scroll *only* by pressing the number hotkey for the scroll on your belt (props to Crystalion on this detail too). My personal recommendation for the scroll on your belt is town portal.

Note: do NOT wait for the flash animation to show up on your screen. If your computer loads levels the way mine does the flash will actually be almost over by the time you actually see your character. So, when level load bar is about an inch from the right side, right click to cast flash (should be the active spell obviously). As soon as you see your character press 8 and left click. It doesn't much matter where the portal goes, as if it's even an inch away from the stairs it will buy you some time (less than a second, but maybe enough to cast a spell).

...It is especially important to remember to stop for a few seconds and take a deep breath before hitting "restart in town", to make sure you do not hit "New Game" instead.

Spells During Load - KingOfPain

Additional tips to Stair Death Flash: Nice tactic, to make this more useful - note where you would want that TP to be while you are laying dead on the ground. If, for example, there is a nice little clear spot at the upper right corner half a screen away then you would want to cast the TP there. When you are in town, line up the TP to the top right of your screen, click once to move your character into the TP and DO NOT move your mouse (still OK to cast Flash with right-click since Flash is not a directional spell). Your cursor will be where you want to cast the TP when the dungeon is loaded.

Additional note: If you have a screenful of monsters when you are dead at the stair, restart in town right away. OTOH, if you are dead away from your intended reentry point (TP or stair), lay there for awhile to attract all the monsters to your dead body.

Other alternatives: The Flash-TP tactic is a good choice to go with first. It's especially useful if you can accomplish this a couple of times, each time a little further away from your gear. Don't forget to play dead for a few seconds tho.

If your death screen is full of uglies, Flash-TP still won't get you too far. Here is where the different spell types (directional vs non-directional) come into play when casting-during-load. It doesn't matter where your mouse pointer is when casting non-directional spells such as Flash and ManaShield; it will always have the same effect.

The problem (or blessing) of casting-during-load is that the game tiles are not aligned from level to level. The dungeon levels are created randomly while the town layout remain the same. For example, the town entry to hell is always at 41,81 while the "up to town" stair can be at any random coordinate on lvl13. Suppose you cast a TP in the center of level 15, at coordinate 30,30 or whatever. Now, the TP in town is always at the same coordinate in town, 57,40 for the first TP slot. When casting directional spells (such as Phasing, Teleport and Town Portal) during load, the game uses the coordinates of your last-known-location be it a TP from town or stair-down on level 14. So here's the interesting part when you cast Teleport or phasing during load - You phase or teleport away from coordinate 57,40, NOT the coordinate of your TP in level 15 (30,30). This often takes you across to the other side of the level, and hopefully a less populated location. For MS users, you would want to have a MS scroll in your belt and use it right away by hotkey. If you cast a TP during load you won't see the TP on your screen; it is there, just somewhere else on the level.

Question: If one casts a spell during level load (and times it right) is it guaranteed to work or can monster interrupt the cast?

I have tested this with a lvl35 naked rogue in hell/hell. I managed to round up 9 Vortex Lords, 6 Succubuses and a couple of dogs to the stair before I dropped dead. I was lucky in the timing of the casts and managed to teleport away 10 out of 10 times. I wouldn't give a life time guarantee, but the odds are pretty good :)

Question: When one uses a town portal *scroll* one gets a funny cursor to place the spell. Would it be possible to place the town portal after you are slain?

No such luck there.

Question: If you were to cast a spell early on in lvl load, would it likely be 'finished' before you arrive? (ie flash)

Don't think so. I tried it with MS to see if the spell has actually been cast. It fails.

Question: Can you cast MULTIPLE spells in transit?! Mana shield and then flash and/or town portal, for example?

Possible on some spells combinations. Not 100% confirmed. The timing on my computer is really close to the end of the load, maybe 1/4 inch to the end, so sometimes I am not sure if I have missed or cast when the level fully loaded. But you would have to be pretty quick. Different spells (and combo) behave differently partly due to the time needed for the spell to finish before one can cast another one. I was able to cast MS with right-click and TP from belt hotkey, but the TP still needed to be left-clicked for direction.

Question: Why and how does it matter *when* you choose to start casting a spell toward the end of the load sequence?

Not sure here, I am not a code reader. My GUESS is that the program clears the buffers (may not be a full dump) and does not accept input while loading. And, that level data is actually (or close to) fully loaded when one see the end of the bar and the program is accepting inputs again.

Question: What happens if you cast chain lightning (non targ) or lightning (targ) mid load? Do you fry creatures far away from where your portal is located?

CL is a targeted spell in the sense that one bolt shoots from the caster to the cursor location. With targeted spells such as CL, FB and Flamewave you would end up casting it where you should be - at the dungeon’s TP location. However, Firewall is a different story. I can see the spell being cast but I can't find it anywhere!?!?