[Crawl] ["a"] a the Human Fighter - from the Temple to the Lair
Erik Piper
Creating a stash is important, because it gives you one central place to
go back to when you want to pick stuff up or drop it off. The reason for
using the Temple as a stash is simple: there are no monsters there.
However, it's quite high up in the dungeon, and later on, we'll be
relocating to the top of the Lair, which, although it contains monsters,
doesn't contain anything that can burn, freeze, or carry your equipment,
which is practically as good as an empty level.
a converts to Trog. Ta-da.
a has made a big decision. He won't be using rods -- I want this game to
be minimalist.
That means we'll need Traps and Doors skill -- being sent to the Abyss
by a Zot trap in the Lair system is a nasty delayed instadeath. This is
also a good chance to put all that unused XP I mentioned to good use.
I'd also really prefer to have SOME ranged attack. With no magic and no
rods, that means missiles. Slings and darts kind of suck, and highly
enchanted bows can't provide their full enchantment bonus without really
high strength, so I'll be using crossbows.
I spend a boring while collecting darts and bolts from junkpiles and
disarming traps. Surprisingly, it works out with no need to dip into my
rations.
D:5
---
Potion of degeneration. Gets my dex for 2 points.
Ogre. Poison-and-pillar takes it out, even though things are now
complicated by having to pray all the time.
I hear a distant slurping noise. Some time later, a centaur and a jelly
both enter my LOS at once as I exit a corridor. I start backing up...
the centaur leapfrogs the jelly and is firing at me, so I nudge forward
again. Then the jelly approaches, I back up again, and the jelly blocks
the centaur. I continue backing up, making sure to block the centaur via
the jelly, until I have 3 turns distance to the jelly -- one to pray,
one to quaff Might, and one to swap in my starting short sword, which
I'll sacrifice to the jelly. Since the jelly is slowing down the
centaur, this also manages to get the centaur off my trail temporarily,
but as I chase the jelly at the end of the fight, he shows up again and
I have to break pursuit so I can melee him. No matter, the Might ends
the jelly battle pretty quickly once I find it again.
Yet another Ogre, and I forgot to rest after the jelly/centaur mess, so
I head up on staircase before it can get to me, rest, then descend down
another. I soften it up with darts, turning Darts skill off as soon as
it reaches 1. I join battle and a big white G appears in the distance. I
round our pillar to get it out of sight ASAP.
Most edible corpes, incidentally, are going to my own stomach. :-)
Seems like I miscounted stairs on D:4 in my last episode -- nothing new
to find there as I backtrack up the three staircases on D:5.
D:6
---
"There is an entrance to Topybefokit's Armour Shop here."
Interesting tidbits include +3 randart boots that slightly hurt evasion,
but insulate, a helmet of SeeInvis, and a +2 randart splint mail
granting insulation, levitation, and 2 points of strength. Rock and
roll. Now all I need is to actually have money.
Still no Remove Curse or Detect curse besides the ones I read by IDing
earlier on... sigh.
Necrophage... I decide to just take the risk of the rotting. I have
enough ! of ordinary healing to spare. The fight's a nasty one, since I
forget they're immune to poison.
A short while later and I can go berserk. Great! And then I can't again.
Beginnings are never easy...
Blork the orc. I make sure not to give him any turns at range, and whomp
on him.
?oCurseWeapon. Fortunately I'd just found my second ?oRC of the game.
Snake/Ice beast encounter. Snake drops easily. I really don't wanna
drink another !oMight, so I lure the beast up to D:5 -- fortunately not
losing any potions in the process -- then teleport using my ring and
redescend to D:6.
...This game seems to be Ogremania. The metameaning of this is that my
Armour skill is going up unusually fast due to all of this wandering
around with a giant XP pool (Ogre battles consist of
jab-jab-run-run-pray, so there are few chances to feed weapon skills).
Not that that's a bad thing.
I clear the level, so I go about disarming traps, taking out yet another
ogre along the way, then finally wear-test my unID'd armours, "hoping"
for a cursed one as an excuse to uncurse my dagger of venom. Nope. I'm
hungry and I don't want to see that ice beast... I decide to leave the
dagger cursed and dive.
D:7
---
SLIME CREATURES!
Just kidding.
Brown snake. Crap. Poison resistant... I decide food is my biggest
commodity here... time to berserk. Oops, too hungry... !ofMight, then.
Boy, that was dumb -- shoulda had a snack and berserked instead. Oh well.
No longer hungry, and I have 2 scroll of remove curse...
Temple
------
I arrive without encountering the ice beast, and start wield/wear
testing. The first ?oRC falls quickly to some cursed ring mail. I
curse-ID the rest of my stuff without needing the second, and find a
short sword of flaming. Ooh, that ice beast doesn't know what it's got
coming... but now I'm hungry again, no need to hurry that encounter. I
pick up my last potion of might and set on my way.
D:7
---
!ofLevitation. I'm now starting to scroll-ID potions -- I'm overdue for
Mutation and Cure Mutation.
\ofDisintegration.
Randart-marked dagger. I scroll-ID it.
B - the +3,+9 dagger "Plog"
A long knife or a very short sword, which can be held or thrown.
Damage rating: 3
Accuracy rating: +6
Base attack delay: 110%
It inflicts extra damage upon your enemies.
It glows with mutagenic radiation.
Good in a pinch, I suppose.
Mines entrance... and an orc pack. I switch to Plog and go berserk.
An amulet. It's cursed and doesn't self-ID. Huh, cursed amulets are
pretty rare. Well then, yet *another* ?ofID then...
L - a cursed amulet of controlled flight (around neck)
Well, whatever.
Clearing the level, I wear-test my armour and finally get to upgrade my
body armour -- a +1 chain mail. After disarming some traps, I mull over
whether or not to peek into the Orcish Mines. I pray to Trog and he says
"yes." Entering, all I see are vanilla orcs and a goblin. Soon an orc
wizard appears in the distance to the SE, but a little use of terrain...
(The orc wizard is the one E-NE of me...)
#..........#
##o)oo........
#..@#.....#
##$o#o....$###
#............##
##....><......#
...solves the problem...
You hit the orc wizard, but do no damage.
The orc wizard is lightly wounded.
The orc wizard mumbles some strange words.
The orc wizard blinks!
The orc wizard casts a spell.
The magic dart hits you!
* * * LOW HITPOINT WARNING * * *
...sort of...
I get one with the \ofDisint just as another one moves in and goes
invisible. Crap. This calls for a snack and a berserk. One dead
invisible mofo later...
p - an orcish falchion
...This is the main reason why I decided to peek. Even my flaming short
sword is probably better, but crosstraining or no, I can't afford to
waste XP on Short Blades forever.
Adjust (i)tems, (s)pells, or (a)bilities?
p - an uncursed orcish falchion (weapon)
Adjust to which letter?
a - an uncursed orcish falchion (weapon)
p - a +2,+0 elven dagger of venom
Adjust (i)tems, (s)pells, or (a)bilities?
p - a +2,+0 elven dagger of venom
Adjust to which letter?
d - a +2,+0 elven dagger of venom
p - a potion of levitation
You hear a shout!
Back into the fray, and an orc priest appears in the distance too. I
maneuver hit out of LOS and get hacking. The priest didn't see me, so I
get to heal up in a "corner" until...
You hear a shout!
An orc and a wizard. I just barely handle it without exceptional
measures. More healing... when I peek out to dissect the corpses I
generated, I immediately sight that priest again, so back in my alcove I go.
You hear a bark!
Crap, a warg.
c - the +3,+9 dagger "Plog" (weapon)
The warg soon panics.
It hits you with an orcish dagger.
##.##.#...##
#.[.....h..##
##).........##
##............
#...#.....# #
##..#@.....###
#............##
##....><[.....##
You hit it [the mofo is to the northwest -- the terrain helps pinpoint
him]. You puncture it! Etc., finish off the warg, and back to the falchion.
Some while later I hit double orc priest trouble and am brought to 10hp.
There go two !oHW... and my last !oMight. I now actually have it as an
invocation, silly overreacting me. Some nasty orc wizard with a dagger
of draining, a warg, and an orc that won't die tag-team me, so I finally
read a scroll of fear, eat up... and discover I've already killed the
orc wizard. But the satiation comes in handy a little later for yet
another priest sighting. Hoo... this getting-started-with-long-blades
stuff sure is making me ineffective and into a lot of binds...
I'm obviously not ready for this. I ignore the obvious but un-ID'd
dagger of draining, limp back up for 2 of my remaining 4
!ofBogStandardHealing, do some wear-ID'ing that yields +3 orcish ring
mail, and continue diving the dungeon.
D:8
---
The +3 ring mail resists the jelly I immediately meet among a pack of
orcs, and Plog is of course unaffected. I berserk for the orcs, the
quokka... the phantom...?! SIGMUND...?! Crap. But Trog's Might
invocation helps me fell him despite the slowing.
I forget to rest, and what do I see but a manticore...
D:7
---
D:8
---
...but a little berserking works wonders.
Vanilla helmet.
This section contains just one staircase, so D:7, D:8.
A mummy. Drop potions, fight... curses my ring of invisibility on the
way out. Oh well, I still don't have a ring for the second slot anyway.
D:7, D:8 for the last segment of the level, and I draw a killer bee. And
an elven hand crossbow! W00t! Now for that bee... assuming it's just one.
Oh. Those three immortal words.
It hits you!
Huh. Unseen horror. OK, let's see... frankly, I can live without doing
this third of D:8 for a while... and indeed, that ain't just one killer bee.
D:7
---
D:8
---
D:9
---
A frog, which quickly panics. A certain elven hand crossbow takes it down.
!ofSpeed, identified by a "blessed" ?ofID that also finally marks my
?oRU and =ofTeleportation as such. On second thought, I should have
charge-ID'd the wand. Oh well.
Lava. Gotta be careful with my scrolls, but I can't afford to drop them
either.
An ice beast. I panic it with my short sword of flaming, then get it
with the hand crossbow.
q - a +3 ring of dexterity (right hand)
Just as I'm wrestling an imp... here comes a troll. And Edmund. I can't
flee up just any old stairs due to that unseen horror, and I can't
berserk without dipping into my rations. I haven't even touched my
scrolls of teleportation, so I read one now. I lure a yummy lizard
upstairs, kill it, eat it, head down, kill Edmund, berserk, kill troll.
?ofBlinking.
An orc wizard gets my last ?ofRemoveCurse without my noticing, and I get
stuck with cursed +0 ring mail while testing armours to enable their
dumping.
A giant beetle proves to be too much for melee, but a retreat plus
crossbow fire panic it so I can chase and kill it.
Just when I think the level is quiet, I meet a yak, another, an ogre
before I can finish it off, and a hipogriff while I'm running. And I'm
hungry (berserked to kill the first yak), "naturally"... I lure it up
the stairs...
D:8
---
...and use Might.
Crap, now I'm starving. Will a scroll of fear work? Yes, it did. A
ration and a jab from Plog later, it's fleeing and I have the
initiative. It dies a bleeding pincushion.
D:9
---
I finish off the rest of the crew for experience.
D:10
----
D:10
----
Psyche. Usually not a problem... ...because I usually use some magic.
OK, charge!
!ofConfusion. And my crossbow's +2,+0 (actually a misstroke, I could
have ended up identifying something even stupider), and my wand has 4
charges.
I find a scroll of recharging, and I've also been carting around a
scroll of enchant weapon, so I shortly head off for a stash visit. Sort
of...
StaffPolicy's ghost
The apparition of StaffPolicy the Cruncher, an experienced Elf
Crusader.
Hmm... almost certain to have some fire magic. Let's handle this AFTER
the stash visit.
Crap. That yak was fleeing, not chasing me. It won't screen the ghost as
I head for the stairs. Maybe that snake? Yes. Whew.
Temple
------
I leave myself only a minimum of healing/escape; the rest is a reserve.
D:10
----
Bees. I have to heal up at the end, and I abort healing midway due to
hunger.
A staircase to the Lair.
I finish healing up -- there's plenty of edible corpses on the way with
a little luck. I dive in, form the foundation of my new stash, find and
stash a scroll of remove curse (I'd like to hold out for some long
blades to test), find a jackal and a giant brown frog, lure the jackal
upstairs, kill it, eat it, redescend, and quit for the night.
This is a, the Human Fighter, in all his midlevel glory.
Dungeon Crawl version 4.0.0 beta 26 character file.
You are feeling hungry.
Welcome, a the Human Fighter.
Trog says: Kill them all!
## ########
##.#####.#..#.##
#.....#........####
#........#....#.#.##
##.......?.........#
#.#.##.@%......#.##
#............#.####
..........#...### .#
.....##........###. ....
..## ##.#......#.#.....
##...............
##..............###
####......#.##.....#
##.......#.###.......
a the Slicer (Human)
(Level 10 Fighter)
Play time: 06:19:20 Number of turns: 16047
Experience : 10/6094
Strength 16 Dexterity 18 Intelligence 10
Hit Points : 74/77 Magic Points : 9
AC : 9 Evasion : 10 Shield : 6
GP : 254
You are in the Lair.
You worship Trog.
Trog is greatly pleased with you.
You are hungry.
Inventory:
Hand weapons
a - a +0 orcish falchion (weapon)
b - a +2,+0 elven hand crossbow
c - the +3,+9 dagger "Plog"
It inflicts extra damage upon your enemies.
It glows with mutagenic radiation.
d - a +2,+0 elven dagger of venom
e - a +0 orcish short sword of flaming
x - a glowing glaive
Missiles
m - 41 darts
u - 15 elven darts
Armour
g - a +0 helmet (worn)
h - a +0 shield (worn)
i - a +0 pair of boots (worn)
j - a +0 pair of gloves (worn)
k - a +0 elven cloak (worn)
l - a cursed +0 orcish ring mail (worn)
Magical devices
f - a wand of disintegration (4)
Comestibles
s - a bread ration
t - 2 meat rations
Scrolls
n - 2 scrolls of fear
o - 2 scrolls of teleportation
w - 2 scrolls of identify
Jewellery
q - a +3 ring of dexterity (left hand)
z - a cursed ring of invisibility (right hand)
D - a ring of teleportation
L - a cursed amulet of controlled flight (around neck)
Potions
p - a potion of heal wounds
r - 2 potions of healing
I - a potion of speed
Books
v - a book of Surveyances
You have 4 experience left.
Skills:
+ Level 7 Fighting
- Level 5 Short Blades
+ Level 8 Long Blades
+ Level 2 Crossbows
- Level 1 Darts
+ Level 2 Throwing
+ Level 6 Armour
+ Level 6 Shields
+ Level 4 Traps & Doors
You have 9 spell levels left.
You don't know any spells.
Vanquished Creatures
[snipped]
Rubinstein
Btw, I'm currently running a L11 Okawarian MiGL who had just cleared the
Mines (altar of Okawaru on the Mine's bottom, first and only reward so
far: a +2 swamp dragon armour!!!). Anyway, I don't feel very comfortable
in that depths with a pure fighter, so every little trick I can
assimilate from your posts is highly welcome...
Go Erik, don't stop posting and don't die, at least not before I do! ;-)
Good Luck,
Rubinstein
R. Dan Henry
wrote:
>a converts to Trog. Ta-da.
Wait a minute... he's not a fighter anymore! In one stroke, you've
turned him into a berserker! What a convenient way to make your point
that there's no such thing as a fighter. :-)
>Huh. Unseen horror. OK, let's see... frankly, I can live without doing
>this third of D:8 for a while... and indeed, that ain't just one killer bee.
I have yet to see just one killer bee.
>Crap. That yak was fleeing, not chasing me. It won't screen the ghost as
>I head for the stairs. Maybe that snake? Yes. Whew.
New players should be informed that player ghosts will not, unlike
most monsters, follow you up/down stairs, so you don't need a gap to
escape them that way (although you likely will suffer a last attack
without a gap).
R. Dan Henry
danh...@inreach.com
Erik Piper
> On Fri, 06 May 2005 22:02:04 +0200, Erik Piper <erNO...@skyAM.cz>
> wrote:
>
>
>>a converts to Trog. Ta-da.
>
>
> Wait a minute... he's not a fighter anymore! In one stroke, you've
> turned him into a berserker! What a convenient way to make your point
> that there's no such thing as a fighter. :-)
:-D Truth is, once we get into such things as armored-fighter/mage
strategy, Crawl strategy becomes a much more complex game -- yet it's
already such a complex game that just a detailed description of a
not-really-unusual trip to the Temple takes up a really long post! If
this series is to be of any help to beginners, the strategy of the
character studied needs to be minimalist; otherwise, the truly important
and most nearly universal points will get lost in the noise from the
exponentially rising complexity as factors get added in. Thus my
decision to nix Spellcasting and the more complex side of Evocations. If
I'm serious about survival in such a situation, I might as well get the
most out of at least one of those limitations...
And that means Trog. :-) Breaking the eggshell of his a's class has more
to do with the fact that it's usually hard to stick tightly in your
original class without a deliberate effort.
>>Huh. Unseen horror. OK, let's see... frankly, I can live without doing
>>this third of D:8 for a while... and indeed, that ain't just one killer bee.
>
> I have yet to see just one killer bee.
Hmm... don't pack creatures sometimes show up alone? Maybe not; maybe
they really do only come in packs.
>>Crap. That yak was fleeing, not chasing me. It won't screen the ghost as
>>I head for the stairs. Maybe that snake? Yes. Whew.
>
> New players should be informed that player ghosts will not, unlike
> most monsters, follow you up/down stairs, so you don't need a gap to
> escape them that way (although you likely will suffer a last attack
> without a gap).
The concern wasn't so much to create a gap as to block a clear shot for
the ghost's ranged (flame) attack -- ranged attackers rarely, if ever,
will try to fire through another enemy. But yes, that's a very important
and non-obvious point.
Erik