YAVP: Art the HECr Talismancer (Very Long)
ste...@gmail.com
several years of (very) sporadic playing without ever finding even a
rune, much less sniffing a victory.
Art's story is a familiar, age-old tale of boy meets rod. HECr's are
not your average Talismancer--without substantial skill manipulation
they cannot use a ?ofAcquirement to obtain rods. Luckily, RNG saw fit
to leave a rod of destruction lying around(my first winner also found
one lying on the ground!) in a Guardian Naga vault extremely early in
the game. From that point on, I'd say >3/4 of my kills were via
Evocations. My basic tactical plan was:
1. Detect creatures.
2. Proceed to LOS range. Stealth really helps here because it gives you
a free turn at the least and a chance to avoid bad situations.
3. 'E'voke appropriate spell.
4. Repeat.
I played extremely cautiously
At the beginning of the game, I didn't have much optimism for Art's
survival chances as I had only played a few HECr in the past. I
actually got the idea to play them in a recent thread on good
characters for newbies. I can't recommend them to new players because
they die die die in the early-mid game even if you use every dirty
trick in the book and skill management is complex. In the late game,
they are extraordinarily powerful in attack, defense and
escape/evasion. They are quite versatile and you can change gears in
their development based on what equipment you find.
There seem to be two forks for HECrs to follow in the mid-late game:
Conjurer or Fighter-Enchanter. Most YAVPs follow the Conjurer route. My
plan was to follow the Fighter-Enchanter route. I ended up with a
character who more resembled a Spriggan Enchanter than a High Elf
Crusader.
Elyvilon is probably the best god for the Fighter-Enchanter route
because he provides a cure for slowing and he doesn't require you to
sacrifice corpses. Since Berserker Rage is the lynchpin of the Crusader
strategy, both those features are invaluable and Ely's invocations are
useful in general. Additionally, starting with Fire Brand means that as
soon as you find a good long blade and an EW III scroll, you have an
end game calibre ego weapon, so you don't have as much incentive to go
with Okawaru.
I had already won with Ely, though, so I decided to go with stalwart
Okawaru for might and gifts. Even though I regretted my devotion to
Okawaru at times(his invocations lost all usefulness after finding the
rod), his gifts of boots of running and "C Xoh Cy" were integral to my
kit.
I am a bit disappointed with this character. I was preparing for the
Tomb by selecting the 9 best weapons from the hall of blades to use for
a Tukima's Dance+Silence assault when I wielded a weapon of distortion.
I was wearing an amulet of resist mutation, but I obtained the red Glow
after wielding it for one turn. I acquired several levels of fast
metabolism as well as teleportitis before losing Glow.
I used all my potions of cure mutation to kill the Teleportitis and
without that safety net I was worried about tackling the extended
endgame, so I decided to just lock up my second win and delay my
assault on the Tomb and Hells for the next game.
Abridged and Annotated CD:
Dungeon Crawl version 4.0.0 beta 26 character file.
Art the Talismancer
Race : High Elf Res.Fire : + . . See Invis. : .
Class : Crusader Res.Cold : + + . Warding : .
Worship : Okawaru Life Prot.: . . . Conserve : .
Level : 27 Res.Poison: . Res.Corr. : .
Exp : 1405303 Res.Elec. : + Gourmand : .
Sust.Abil.: . Rnd.Telep. : .
Spls.Left : 13 Res.Mut. : + Ctrl.Telep.: .
Gold : 5311 Res.Slow : . Levitation : .
Clarity : . Ctrl.Flight: .
HP : 192
MP : 52
Str : 13 Weapon : rod of destruction
Int : 26 Armour : +3 robe (resist)
Dex : 21 Shield :
AC : 14 Helmet : +1 helmet "C Xoh Cy"
Evasion : 27 Cloak : +2 cloak
Shield : 0 Gloves : +2 pair of Fencer's gloves
Boots : +1 pair of boots (run)
Play time : 22:20:00 Amulet : amulet of resist mutation
I must have left Crawl running...no way did it take this long. Probably
took only 12-13.
Turns : 195853 Ring : +5,+5 ring of slaying
Ring : ring of Vyguci
You escaped.
You worship Okawaru.
Okawaru is extremely pleased with you.
You are not hungry.
Extremely pleased? Cantankerous old bastard...
Inventory:
Hand weapons
e - a +9,+8 elven scimitar of speed (2995 gold)
(You took it off a deep elf knight on level 2 of the Elven Halls)
I took everyone's advice and waited for a better ego weapon than last
game. I was impressed.
q - the +3,+12 short sword "Obodixtegubo" (1334 gold)
(Okawaru gifted it to you on level 1 of the Hive)
It inflicts extra damage upon your enemies.
It protects you from fire.
It protects you from poison.
It lets you levitate.
It lets you teleport.
It lets you go berserk.
Used this to eat poisoned corpses and also to escape venom clouds from
elves and gold dragons.
T - a +7,+6 double sword of holy wrath (8854 gold)
(You bought it in a shop on level 6 of the Dungeon)
Never got to really see it in action because I skipped tomb/hells.
U - the +4,+2 long sword "V Rijimu" (606 gold)
(Okawaru gifted it to you on level 11 of the Dungeon)
In the hands of one skilled in necromantic magic it inflicts extra
damage
on living creatures.
It affects your AC (+5).
It affects your evasion (-1).
It prevents most forms of teleportation.
Gifted on the way up from my stash for the final assault on Zot, but I
never used it.
Armour
d - the +2 pair of Fencer's gloves (worn) (502 gold)
(You found it on level 6 of the Elven Halls)
A pair of gloves made of white silk.
It affects your evasion (+3).
It affects your dexterity (+3).
It affects your accuracy (+5).
I got these about 100 turns after I had enchanted my strength gloves to
+2 in a previously undiscovered alcove in the halls...
Q - the +1 helmet "C Xoh Cy" (worn) (602 gold)
(Okawaru gifted it to you on level 5 of the Snake Pit)
It affects your damage-dealing abilities (+2).
It protects you from cold.
It insulates you from electricity.
It lets you blink.
It lets you sense your surroundings.
Okay, so Okawaru sometimes gets it right.
S - a +3 robe of resistance (worn) (321 gold)
(Okawaru gifted it to you on level 3 of the Realm of Zot)
Better late than never, allowed me to juggle equipment to better my AC
and give me more ring flexibility at the cost of some EV and a
second level of fire protection. Before this I had a +2 Robe with +5
Evasion and a Ring of Greater Fire Protection and -2 AC equipped
X - a +2 cloak (worn) (155 gold)
(You found it on level 5 of the Elven Halls)
No ego cloaks for second consecutive win.
Y - a +1 pair of boots of running (worn) (153 gold)
(Okawaru gifted it to you on level 4 of the Hive)
Got two of these in a row from Oki, but I can't complain... much.
Magical devices
i - a wand of cold (10) (135 gold)
j - a wand of hasting (15) (180 gold)
(You took it off a deep elf high priest on level 4 of the Realm of
Zot)
Never used it, but it was a nice security blanket.
z - a wand of healing (2) (39 gold)
(You found it on level 1 of the Crypt)
Very useful.
H - a wand of digging (8) (78 gold)
L - a wand of fire (8) (117 gold)
Comestibles
u - 8 honeycombs (200 gold)
x - 2 bread rations (80 gold)
E - 2 royal jellies (240 gold)
Scrolls
f - a scroll of summoning (95 gold)
h - 3 scrolls of blinking (90 gold)
k - 4 scrolls of teleportation (120 gold)
Jewellery
a - the ring "Ufoxyxet" (315 gold)
(You bought it in a shop on level 4 of the Orcish Mines)
This ring either protects its wearer from harm or makes them more
vulnerable to injury, to a degree dependent on its power.
It affects your AC (-2).
It greatly protects you from fire.
F++ came into play much, though I wore it for a long time--up until Zot
3 when I got a robe of resistance from Oki.
b - the ring of Vyguci (left hand) (455 gold)
(You bought it in a shop on level 4 of the Orcish Mines)
This ring increases its wearer's reserves of magical power.
It affects your evasion (+4).
It affects your accuracy (+1).
Used this for almost the entire game from the time I found it.
g - an amulet of resist mutation (around neck) (210 gold)
(You bought it in a shop on level 4 of the Orcish Mines)
Used for quite awhile, but for most of the game I used:
>
the amulet of Ivuxa (around neck)
(You found it on level 5 of the Elven Halls)
This amulet protects some of the possessions of its wearer from
outright
destruction, but not infallibly so.
It affects your intelligence (+2).
It makes you much more stealthy.
>
"Much more stealthy." ability always on really clued me into the value
of stealth and allowed me to lower my risk of death considerably
because I could attack monsters one on one, get free hits and avoid bad
situations.
m - a ring of see invisible (140 gold)
(You found it on level 1 of the Snake Pit)
p - a ring of poison resistance (210 gold)
(You bought it in a shop on level 4 of the Orcish Mines)
r - a +6 ring of protection (490 gold)
(You found it on level 3 of the Swamp)
Used this for the majority of the game, up to and including Zot: 5
except for the real nasties like Klowns and Orbs of Fire.
s - a ring of life protection (420 gold)
(You found it on level 3 of the Realm of Zot)
v - an amulet of warding (210 gold)
(You found it on level 12 of the Dungeon)
B - a +5,+5 ring of slaying (right hand) (910 gold)
(You found it on level 3 of the Swamp)
LOL. First winner found a +5 dam. slaying ring also(and a +6). Art
actually didn't use this much until Zot. Stealthy RodSlinging took care
of most foes.
D - an amulet of the gourmand (245 gold)
(You found it on level 8 of the Dungeon)
Same vault as rod.
M - a ring of teleport control (294 gold)
(You found it on level 8 of the Dungeon)
Potions
c - 5 potions of speed (125 gold)
C - 5 potions of healing (100 gold)
F - a potion of magic (120 gold)
Never seen this before. Restores MPs I assume.
G - a potion of invisibility (55 gold)
R - a potion of berserk rage (30 gold)
Magical staves
w - a rod of destruction [inacc,magma,cold] (in hand) (250 gold)
(You found it on level 8 of the Dungeon)
This game I learned the joys of Bolt of Inaccuracy. It is shamelessly
broken... you can take out giants, dragons, curse skulls, etc within a
few turns. With stealth, I created maximum distance between me and the
opposing monsters and usually destroyed it or whittled it down
before it got into Scimitar range.
O - a rod of discovery (150 gold)
(You acquired it on level 2 of the Hive)
Scrolls of acquirement were hard to come by and this was the only
usable item I got from one. I got a lot of mileage out of this even
though I could have just used the spells instead.
Orbs of Power
l - the Orb of Zot (250000 gold)
(You found it on level 5 of the Realm of Zot)
Miscellaneous
t - a serpentine rune of Zot (10000 gold)
(You found it on level 5 of the Snake Pit)
y - a decaying rune of Zot (10000 gold)
(You found it on level 5 of the Swamp)
Tackled this really late using Fly which made the experience much more
pleasant.
P - a slimy rune of Zot (10000 gold)
(You found it on level 6 of the Slime Pits)
Lost a GhFi L26 there recently, so I was very cautious. With attack
rod, deflect missiles and detect creatures, it was trivial.
Z - a silver rune of Zot (10000 gold)
(You found it on level 8 of the Vaults)
I tried to storm(haha!) V: 8 with dancing weapons. All 9 were
slaughtered within 2 turns of descent. Deflect missiles+electricity
resistance+stealth+detect creatures+magic mapping made short work of
the vault though...I've never had such an easy time of it in there,
but then again I've never had Deflect Missiles at that point.
You have 20000 experience left.
All Dressed up and no place to go.
Skills:
+ Level 16 Fighting
Levelled this up religiously with every other skill turned off for
quite a long time. Relying on evocations made it quite hard to build it
up even this high.
- Level 4 Short Blades
+ Level 23 Long Blades
- Level 2 Darts
- Level 2 Throwing
Darts--so nice for reducing failure rate with weak early game
characters like HECrs.
+ Level 21 Dodging
I had to do a fair amount of victory dancing to improve this... being a
talismancer kept me well out of danger. Does it really make sense
that the better you are at avoiding getting hit, the slower your
dodging increases? :P
- Level 9 Stealth
Wow, I am very impressed with stealth. If you're cautious it smooths
out the game substantially.
- Level 2 Stabbing
- Level 14 Spellcasting
- Level 14 Enchantments
- Level 7 Translocations
- Level 5 Divinations
- Level 1 Fire Magic
- Level 12 Air Magic
I poured a lot of experience into these
+ Level 1 Invocations
Got level 1 in Zot:5...shows you how much use I made of those.
* Level 27 Evocations
Maxed around XL 23. I kept them off for a long time while building
spellcasting/fighting/dodging.
You have 13 spell levels left.
Not really sure what else I needed...never found swiftness.
You know the following spells:
Your Spells Type Success
Level
a - Fly Air/Enchantment Excellent 4
Good for stash runs and the swamp.
b - Tukima's Dance Enchantment Excellent 3
Sucked in Vault: 8, but I think it would have been good to tackle the
tomb with... I probably should have grown a pair and done the tomb
honestly, if not the hells.
c - Berserker Rage Enchantment Excellent 3
Never once used after I got the rod... just no need to put myself in
danger. Still a great spell.
d - Haste Enchantment Great 6
Used *very* sparingly.
e - Detect Curse Divination Great 3
f - Controlled Blink Translocation Great 4
Found book of warp early, pumped up translocations, but I used this
very sparingly.
g - Detect Creatures Divination Great 2
I love this spell.
h - Summon Elemental Summoning Fair 4
i - Silence Air/Enchantment Excellent 3
Amazingly useful if you're careful to make sure casters are in range.
Nerfed Deep Elf Demonologists and Ancient Liches.
j - Deflect Missiles Air/Enchantment Great 6
How could I win without this? My GhFi would have easily won if he'd had
this as well. Good argument for best spell in Crawl.
k - Selective Amnesia Enchantment Excellent 3
Erik might have a point about this being the best spell... still I
would have been fine without it this game.
Mutations & Other Weirdness
You are clumsy (Dex -1).
Orb of Fire again... I had Sharp Nails(never used), Dopey and Orange
Scales(+1 AC) until my ill-fated run in with distortion and the ensuing
!oCM bout.
Last Messages
Welcome, Art the High Elf Crusader.
Okawaru says: Welcome, disciple.
Are you sure you want to leave the Dungeon?
You have escaped!
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Vanquished Creatures
An orb of fire (Zot:5)
In my first VP I noted "30. Not as scary as advertised. "
I'd like to ammend that to "30. Not as scary as advertised if you have
a +6,+11 slaying bonus, 253 HP, 30 AC, Long Blades 27, and Unarmed 21
with extra attacks from Horns, Punches and Kicks.
2 ancient liches (Zot:5)
I used silence and they never let them get a spell off. Even still, the
first one I met drained me of a level. I had to use up my /ofHealing
and several potions to nab him.
Boris (Vault:8)
Bolt of Inaccuracy is broken.
Adolf (D:22)
Bolt of Inaccuracy is broken.
3 Killer Klowns
In my other victory, these guys were just road kill. I probably could
have killed them easily wielding a bread ration. In this one, they were
brutal.
Xtahua (Zot:3)
Bolt of Inaccuracy is broken.
2 electric golems
Luckily I had always on electricity resistance. These guys were *much*
tougher with this character than my munchkiny MiMo with +6,+11 slaying
bonuses and I left several unslain.
51 dancing weapons
One of these bastards(distortion weapon) got me from beyond the grave
when I was wield testing to prepare for Tukima's Dance in the tomb.
2 guardian nagas
One of these guarded the the vault the rod of destruction and amulet of
the gourmand on D: 8. I took him out with a combination of Haste, Might
and a +5, +9 artifact great sword not shown in the dump.
Vanquished Creatures (collateral kills)
A guardian mummy (Zot:3)
My dancing +9,+8 scimitar of speed cut him down in 2 turns or so. I
took heart from this and committed myself to get the rune from the tomb.
erisdiscordia
> Woohoo, I did it again.
Congratulations!
> I am a bit disappointed with this character. I was preparing for the
> Tomb by selecting the 9 best weapons from the hall of blades to use for
> a Tukima's Dance+Silence assault
Give the @#%% a single turn out of Silence range (it doesn't reach to
the edge of the mainview) and they'll just abjure the heck out of your
summons anyway. Thus... iffy.
OTOH stuff from Tukima's is pretty hardy, abjuration-wise.
e.
erisdiscordia
> Woohoo, I did it again.
Congratulations!
> I am a bit disappointed with this character. I was preparing for the
> Tomb by selecting the 9 best weapons from the hall of blades to use for
> a Tukima's Dance Silence assault
terj...@gmail.com
YAVP. Hi, it's me, Elethiomel.)
ste...@gmail.com wrote:
> Woohoo, I did it again. Two victories in one week after going for
> several years of (very) sporadic playing without ever finding even a
> rune, much less sniffing a victory.
Congratulations! The second victory does seem to come more easily.
> Art's story is a familiar, age-old tale of boy meets rod.
Heh.
[attack plan is:]
> 1. Detect creatures.
> 2. Proceed to LOS range. Stealth really helps here because it gives you
> a free turn at the least and a chance to avoid bad situations.
> 3. 'E'voke appropriate spell.
> 4. Repeat.
This is extremely similar to the game plan of any DECj who has gotten
Detect Creatures, with the added bonus of Fire Storm being able to
affect creatures out of LOS. (Oh, and Ice Storm is probably even more
insane here; you "throw" it, and I don't know its range, but if you can
"throw" it so the point of origin is outside of LOS... ouch.)
> I played extremely cautiously
It paid off, you won!
> At the beginning of the game, I didn't have much optimism for Art's
> survival chances as I had only played a few HECr in the past. I
> actually got the idea to play them in a recent thread on good
> characters for newbies. I can't recommend them to new players because
> they die die die in the early-mid game even if you use every dirty
> trick in the book and skill management is complex.
Yes, it is. I am still planning to get one off the ground. First I have
to finish my Troglodyte, though, and I'm going away on vacation later
today.
>In the late game,
> they are extraordinarily powerful in attack, defense and
> escape/evasion. They are quite versatile and you can change gears in
> their development based on what equipment you find.
This is why I want a HECr to go into the late game :P
> There seem to be two forks for HECrs to follow in the mid-late game:
> Conjurer or Fighter-Enchanter. Most YAVPs follow the Conjurer route. My
> plan was to follow the Fighter-Enchanter route. I ended up with a
> character who more resembled a Spriggan Enchanter than a High Elf
> Crusader.
My plan is also to go the Fighter-Enchanter route if I get one of my
HECrs off the ground. In fact, my plan is to avoid any spell that has
the "Conjuration" descriptor.
> I had already won with Ely, though, so I decided to go with stalwart
> Okawaru for might and gifts. Even though I regretted my devotion to
> Okawaru at times(his invocations lost all usefulness after finding the
> rod), his gifts of boots of running and "C Xoh Cy" were integral to my
> kit.
Okawaru's gifts can be a blessing, but many are the times I curse him
for his gifting me the wrong type of armour entirely. (Not as
irritating as Trog, who has in my latest game finally gotten the clue
and started gifting me long blades - only of orc slaying and holy wrath
though, with one long sword of freezing exception - after trying
everything including a battle axe and a quick blade.
> I am a bit disappointed with this character. I was preparing for the
> Tomb by selecting the 9 best weapons from the hall of blades to use for
> a Tukima's Dance+Silence assault when I wielded a weapon of distortion.
> I was wearing an amulet of resist mutation, but I obtained the red Glow
> after wielding it for one turn. I acquired several levels of fast
> metabolism as well as teleportitis before losing Glow.
Yeah, there's a good chance that mutations from Glow are "forced"
> I used all my potions of cure mutation to kill the Teleportitis and
> without that safety net I was worried about tackling the extended
> endgame, so I decided to just lock up my second win and delay my
> assault on the Tomb and Hells for the next game.
Did you forget to take off your "oRM before quaffing potions of Cure
Mutation? Or were you just *that* mutated? Or did you have only a
couple !oCM?
> e - a +9,+8 elven scimitar of speed (2995 gold)
> (You took it off a deep elf knight on level 2 of the Elven Halls)
>
> I took everyone's advice and waited for a better ego weapon than last
> game. I was impressed.
Speed weapons are the bomb. *Especially* with auxillary unarmed.
> q - the +3,+12 short sword "Obodixtegubo" (1334 gold)
> (Okawaru gifted it to you on level 1 of the Hive)
> It inflicts extra damage upon your enemies.
> It protects you from fire.
> It protects you from poison.
> It lets you levitate.
> It lets you teleport.
> It lets you go berserk.
>
> Used this to eat poisoned corpses and also to escape venom clouds from
> elves and gold dragons.
But... it is such a perfect weapon for a shortblader! That damage
enchantment! The vorpalness! The resists! The powers! Berserk!! Wow.
> d - the +2 pair of Fencer's gloves (worn) (502 gold)
> (You found it on level 6 of the Elven Halls)
> A pair of gloves made of white silk.
> It affects your evasion (+3).
> It affects your dexterity (+3).
> It affects your accuracy (+5).
Ooh, nice unrandart. I found one in my current game (Mask of the
Dragon) that is not quite as neat, but pretty neat anyway. Too bad
Minotaurs can't wear masks. *grumble grumble*
> I got these about 100 turns after I had enchanted my strength gloves to
> +2 in a previously undiscovered alcove in the halls...
You're not complaining, are you? ;)
> Q - the +1 helmet "C Xoh Cy" (worn) (602 gold)
> (Okawaru gifted it to you on level 5 of the Snake Pit)
> It affects your damage-dealing abilities (+2).
> It protects you from cold.
> It insulates you from electricity.
> It lets you blink.
> It lets you sense your surroundings.
> Okay, so Okawaru sometimes gets it right.
Yes, yes he does. So *this* is why you hadn't memorised regular Blink,
too. (CB gives magic containment, as you know)
> S - a +3 robe of resistance (worn) (321 gold)
> (Okawaru gifted it to you on level 3 of the Realm of Zot)
> b - the ring of Vyguci (left hand) (455 gold)
> (You bought it in a shop on level 4 of the Orcish Mines)
> This ring increases its wearer's reserves of magical power.
> It affects your evasion (+4).
> It affects your accuracy (+1).
>
> Used this for almost the entire game from the time I found it.
Wow, yeah, I'm not usually much for MP-increasing equipment, but this
has some nice added bonuses that make it very nice.
> the amulet of Ivuxa (around neck)
> (You found it on level 5 of the Elven Halls)
> This amulet protects some of the possessions of its wearer from
> outright
> destruction, but not infallibly so.
> It affects your intelligence (+2).
> It makes you much more stealthy.
>
> "Much more stealthy." ability always on really clued me into the value
> of stealth and allowed me to lower my risk of death considerably
> because I could attack monsters one on one, get free hits and avoid bad
> situations.
Yes. Stealth is very, very nice.
> B - a +5,+5 ring of slaying (right hand) (910 gold)
> (You found it on level 3 of the Swamp)
>
> LOL. First winner found a +5 dam. slaying ring also(and a +6). Art
> actually didn't use this much until Zot. Stealthy RodSlinging took care
> of most foes.
Slaying bonuses *are* very nice.
> Potions
> c - 5 potions of speed (125 gold)
> C - 5 potions of healing (100 gold)
> F - a potion of magic (120 gold)
>
> Never seen this before. Restores MPs I assume.
Yes. And it can also (I think) permanently increase your MP max.
> Magical staves
> w - a rod of destruction [inacc,magma,cold] (in hand) (250 gold)
> (You found it on level 8 of the Dungeon)
>
> This game I learned the joys of Bolt of Inaccuracy. It is shamelessly
> broken... you can take out giants, dragons, curse skulls, etc within a
> few turns. With stealth, I created maximum distance between me and the
> opposing monsters and usually destroyed it or whittled it down
> before it got into Scimitar range.
Very nice.
> Orbs of Power
> l - the Orb of Zot (250000 gold)
> (You found it on level 5 of the Realm of Zot)
Maybe the true Power of the Orb is that it's worth so much gold?
> Z - a silver rune of Zot (10000 gold)
> (You found it on level 8 of the Vaults)
>
> I tried to storm(haha!) V: 8 with dancing weapons. All 9 were
> slaughtered within 2 turns of descent. Deflect missiles+electricity
> resistance+stealth+detect creatures+magic mapping made short work of
> the vault though...I've never had such an easy time of it in there,
> but then again I've never had Deflect Missiles at that point.
Deflect Missiles is really, really nice there. I am very, very scared
of doing V:8 with my DM-less Minotaur. No rodslinging for him.
> You have 20000 experience left.
>
> All Dressed up and no place to go.
Your character should be pretty good at any job he takes up after
getting out on the surface.
> - Level 4 Short Blades
> + Level 23 Long Blades
> - Level 2 Darts
> - Level 2 Throwing
>
> Darts--so nice for reducing failure rate with weak early game
> characters like HECrs.
Yes. Too bad those XP are forever gone afterwards.
> + Level 21 Dodging
>
> I had to do a fair amount of victory dancing to improve this... being a
> talismancer kept me well out of danger. Does it really make sense
> that the better you are at avoiding getting hit, the slower your
> dodging increases? :P
Yes, quite ironic. :)
> - Level 9 Stealth
>
> Wow, I am very impressed with stealth. If you're cautious it smooths
> out the game substantially.
Then why did you turn it off? It trains pretty slowly...
> You have 13 spell levels left.
>
> Not really sure what else I needed...never found swiftness.
Without that randart, I'd pick regular Blink. Of course, having an
attack rod and a detect rod significantly reduces spell levels needed.
> h - Summon Elemental Summoning Fair 4
> i - Silence Air/Enchantment Excellent 3
>
> Amazingly useful if you're careful to make sure casters are in range.
> Nerfed Deep Elf Demonologists and Ancient Liches.
I bet that was handy
> j - Deflect Missiles Air/Enchantment Great 6
>
> How could I win without this? My GhFi would have easily won if he'd had
> this as well. Good argument for best spell in Crawl.
Yeah, it really is. With the possible exceptions of Tomb of Doroklohe
and Detect Creatures. And, of course...
> k - Selective Amnesia Enchantment Excellent 3
>
> Erik might have a point about this being the best spell... still I
> would have been fine without it this game.
> Vanquished Creatures
> An orb of fire (Zot:5)
>
> In my first VP I noted "30. Not as scary as advertised. "
> I'd like to ammend that to "30. Not as scary as advertised if you have
> a +6,+11 slaying bonus, 253 HP, 30 AC, Long Blades 27, and Unarmed 21
> with extra attacks from Horns, Punches and Kicks.
Quite so.
> 2 ancient liches (Zot:5)
>
> I used silence and they never let them get a spell off. Even still, the
> first one I met drained me of a level. I had to use up my /ofHealing
> and several potions to nab him.
Draining is *such* a pain. It is a way bigger pain in heavy armour, low
EV, and no Deflect Missiles.
> Boris (Vault:8)
>
> Bolt of Inaccuracy is broken.
Rods are broken ;)
> Adolf (D:22)
>
> Bolt of Inaccuracy is broken.
Rods are really broken ;)
> 3 Killer Klowns
>
> In my other victory, these guys were just road kill. I probably could
> have killed them easily wielding a bread ration. In this one, they were
> brutal.
Yes, they really are.
> Xtahua (Zot:3)
>
> Bolt of Inaccuracy is broken.
Rods... yeah, you get the picture.
> 2 electric golems
>
> Luckily I had always on electricity resistance. These guys were *much*
> tougher with this character than my munchkiny MiMo with +6,+11 slaying
> bonuses and I left several unslain.
Really? Did you have trouble hitting them with Bolt of Inaccuracy?
> Vanquished Creatures (collateral kills)
>
> A guardian mummy (Zot:3)
>
> My dancing +9,+8 scimitar of speed cut him down in 2 turns or so. I
> took heart from this and committed myself to get the rune from the tomb.
Yeah. Too bad about the mutation problem.
erisdiscordia
Electric golems can be hard to hit even with a quick blade, let alone
with Bolt of Inaccuracy.
e.
ste...@gmail.com
> Congratulations! The second victory does seem to come more easily.
That's true, although my first winner was a lot buffer and was in less
danger in Zot.
> [attack plan is:]
> > 1. Detect creatures.
> > 2. Proceed to LOS range. Stealth really helps here because it gives you
> > a free turn at the least and a chance to avoid bad situations.
> > 3. 'E'voke appropriate spell.
> > 4. Repeat.
>
> This is extremely similar to the game plan of any DECj who has gotten
> Detect Creatures, with the added bonus of Fire Storm being able to
> affect creatures out of LOS. (Oh, and Ice Storm is probably even more
> insane here; you "throw" it, and I don't know its range, but if you can
> "throw" it so the point of origin is outside of LOS... ouch.)
Yeah, Detect Creatures+Fire/Icestorm are grade A cheese as
well...especially if you use dual rings of fire/ice+staff of
fire/ice+vehumet conjurations boost to cast them without any elemental
skill! Still, I like fighter/evokers more for the most part and my
favorite spell school is enchantments.
> > I used all my potions of cure mutation to kill the Teleportitis and
> > without that safety net I was worried about tackling the extended
> > endgame, so I decided to just lock up my second win and delay my
> > assault on the Tomb and Hells for the next game.
>
> Did you forget to take off your "oRM before quaffing potions of Cure
> Mutation? Or were you just *that* mutated? Or did you have only a
> couple !oCM?
Only had two !oCM after quaff-IDing one early.
> > q - the +3,+12 short sword "Obodixtegubo" (1334 gold)
> > (Okawaru gifted it to you on level 1 of the Hive)
> > It inflicts extra damage upon your enemies.
> > It protects you from fire.
> > It protects you from poison.
> > It lets you levitate.
> > It lets you teleport.
> > It lets you go berserk.
> >
> > Used this to eat poisoned corpses and also to escape venom clouds from
> > elves and gold dragons.
>
> But... it is such a perfect weapon for a shortblader! That damage
> enchantment! The vorpalness! The resists! The powers! Berserk!! Wow.
Yeah, I didn't ID it until Zot: 5 so switching back to short blades was
out of the question.
> > d - the +2 pair of Fencer's gloves (worn) (502 gold)
> > (You found it on level 6 of the Elven Halls)
> > A pair of gloves made of white silk.
> > It affects your evasion (+3).
> > It affects your dexterity (+3).
> > It affects your accuracy (+5).
> > I got these about 100 turns after I had enchanted my strength gloves to
> > +2 in a previously undiscovered alcove in the halls...
>
> You're not complaining, are you? ;)
Just a bit, ?oEA were very scarce this game(The robe of resistance wsa
+3 when I received it).
>
> > Q - the +1 helmet "C Xoh Cy" (worn) (602 gold)
> > (Okawaru gifted it to you on level 5 of the Snake Pit)
> > It affects your damage-dealing abilities (+2).
> > It protects you from cold.
> > It insulates you from electricity.
> > It lets you blink.
> > It lets you sense your surroundings.
> > Okay, so Okawaru sometimes gets it right.
>
> Yes, yes he does. So *this* is why you hadn't memorised regular Blink,
> too. (CB gives magic containment, as you know)
I never used the blink ability anyway. When I say I play cautiously, I
play *cautiously*. I almost never let Art fall below 75% HP until Zot
demanded melee(then I fell below 50% a few times!) to take care of high
evasion or high resistance monsters.
> > Z - a silver rune of Zot (10000 gold)
> > (You found it on level 8 of the Vaults)
> >
> > I tried to storm(haha!) V: 8 with dancing weapons. All 9 were
> > slaughtered within 2 turns of descent. Deflect missiles+electricity
> > resistance+stealth+detect creatures+magic mapping made short work of
> > the vault though...I've never had such an easy time of it in there,
> > but then again I've never had Deflect Missiles at that point.
>
> Deflect Missiles is really, really nice there. I am very, very scared
> of doing V:8 with my DM-less Minotaur. No rodslinging for him.
It can be done--I beat it with a HDGl, MiMo and GhFi, none of which had
deflect missiles. The first two had Elyvilon greater healing tho. Stone
Giants hit *hard*.
>
> > You have 20000 experience left.
> >
> > All Dressed up and no place to go.
>
> Your character should be pretty good at any job he takes up after
> getting out on the surface.
Have you seen how much the Orb of Zot sells for? You think he's going
to get a *job*?
> > - Level 9 Stealth
> >
> > Wow, I am very impressed with stealth. If you're cautious it smooths
> > out the game substantially.
>
> Then why did you turn it off? It trains pretty slowly...
I seemed to be doing well enough with Stealth 9
> > 2 electric golems
> >
> > Luckily I had always on electricity resistance. These guys were *much*
> > tougher with this character than my munchkiny MiMo with +6,+11 slaying
> > bonuses and I left several unslain.
>
> Really? Did you have trouble hitting them with Bolt of Inaccuracy?
Bolt of Inaccuracy always misses them as far as I can tell.