Apparently it isn’t that hard to survive the 248 damage from upgrading it. 155hp, 92 shielding from self-targeting with wand and Scroll of Challenge halving the damage. (ShPD 2.2.1)
Apparently it isn’t that hard to survive the 248 damage from upgrading it. 155hp, 92 shielding from self-targeting with wand and Scroll of Challenge halving the damage. (ShPD 2.2.1)
How much shielding does that give?
Don’t know the exact numbers, but I’d say about 120 on high levels.
Edit: Just tried it. At max level you get 115.
Pricking yourself to level it up from +9 to +10 does 248 damage. You’d need to be level 28 and at full HP to not die with just a Potion of Shielding. I’ve usually beaten the game before I hit 28. Much easier to use a Scroll of Challenge or a Blessed Ankh and actually get some use out of the +10 Chalice.
Yeah, I usually save my experience potions to get to level 30. And of course some of it is absorbed by the armor. Just took 229 damage to get to +10.
The wiki gives a table to help. There’s a minimum level where you can upgrade the chalice with or without a potion of shielding.