By "near the start of the game" I mean the first time through the UT.
The best I ever found was the Helmet Of Understanding (AV 24 iirc).

What about you?

Well, I remember finding Vermis. Of course, the reverse also occurs...

What, Vermis finds you?

A Turox levitating and moving on it's own in UT1? No thanks!

Vermis, Saal Thuul, Holy banana, scroll of charging, wand of mirroring, and a scroll of change material all in UT. I was killed by a veteran kamikaze dwarf as soon as I entered GC.

I had a "skeleton finds Turox on UT2". Two deaths resulted (yes, I loaded a bone file of that level afterwards).

My best start game item, not counting wishes, would probably be just one of the artifact weapons (Turox usually).

Wow. Found a SoCM in UT2 just laying there on the ground. Not even in wizmode!

Well capristo, it is a teleporting spear

Nah, I meant finding crappy items, which you woulda known if you followed the link.

Found Saal'thul, just next to the first stairs in UT1

Very nice Eagle! At least it wasn't a backpack like I once got...

I know, I was joking

Well my best single find was probably a 4 shot wand of cloning. Much more useful than an artifact weapons which you will undoubtedly find later. You just have to be able to survive long enough to make it useful.

Four shot wand of cloning?

I thought there was only 1-3 shot ones...

Ive gotten a couple four-shots. they are pretty rare though.

I remember finding Vermis on I believe UT2, dieing, finding one on UT1, then loading the first as a bones file

In Fluffy's RoTK Mod, finding Sky Scorcher, already at +4, in UC1.

Dang at first I thought ROTK = Return of the King. That would be way cool to have a Lord of the Rings version of IVAN

If only IVAN had more recent graphics... *sob*

I believe that would be FMW's mod, not Fluffy's.

I have found a flaming valpurium long sword +10, and learned the hard way while fighting a golem the truth about these weapons....

I guess that was actually one of the worst items I've found.

The best has always been Mjolak. I'm sure I've found it in UT1 a couple times.

I found (well, received) Neerc se'Ulb on UT2.

Hm, I seem to recall finding a meteoric steel chainmail once, that was nice.

what did you do? eat all of new attnam first? Use the banana peel trick or sulphuric acid to kill people and eat them to become chaotic enough to get Ne'erc Se'Ulb?

Nope, I found a Wand of Polymorph and a pick axe in the first couple levels, and an altar to Mortifer near the end of UT2. Then I polypiled and sacrificed almost all the results until Morti was satisfied enough. I was also able to get a second Neerc se'Ulb about halfway through GC.

Well, I got a valpurium shield back by UT2 once, IIRC, so the same should be possible with Mortifer. I found an altar and two books on UT1, and then a third book on UT2. Yays.



...in what way was it relevant?

Edit: Ah, the stones. Nvm, I'm stoopid