DCSS 0.10

[Slayerik]

Correct, but early on I sometimes try weapons i normally wouldn't use, for the chance of a brand.

[tazelbain]

Humanoid mobs pickup stuff and use it against you. So you may wish to pick some stuff up to dump it later.  Orcs seem very prone to this.  Last night I had a dagger of flame used against me by 3 different orcs.  Distortion and draining brands are especially problematic.

[Sky]

So I had a nice little mob of weeny zombies and got a centaur zombie...and then got overrun by a pack of yaks. Gore ftl!

1787 Komoto the Grave Robber (level 8, -3/58 HPs)
             Began as a Grey Draconian Necromancer on Mar 27, 2012.
             Slain by a yak (10 damage)
             ... on Level 7 of the Dungeon on Mar 29, 2012.
             The game lasted 02:37:23 (9811 turns).

I was able to kite them down to the last one, but ran out of tricks and he gored my centaur...then me.

[Slayerik]

Yeah, Yaks are nastier than I ever expected at first. Caught me off-guard really. Death Yaks are real whores.....

[Ingmar]

Lowercase qs are traditionally nasty in roguelikes.

[Sky]

Lolascii.

It wasn't so much the tough yak. That's what my minions are for, dying so I can beat a hasty retrograde action.

It was the seemingly nonstop flood* of them pouring through the door. If I hadn't just raised a centaur zombie, I'd have been down in a couple turns. And I had just gotten a book with a necro spell I didn't have, a draining bolt...yay range!





*5

[Ingmar]

This thread has me playing Nethack again.

[Arinon]

Inspired by Slay's tales of victory I finally managed to win one.

Partial morgue
Highlights include:

• Almost losing my shit on Elf 5.  Tried to haste some nasty elf with a wand so Slouch could nuke his ass into orbit.  Apparently that puts you into Chei Penance.  Losing 15 from all stats and 2/3 of your outs mid fight is BAD.
• Not being able to replace a -5 Naga barding with a fucking sweet artifact barding due it having some skill I've never seen before that only appears on barding and speeds up your base move/delay.  Chei again!
• Killed Boris three times.  No idea he respawned.
• Having to kill my DDNe player ghost on Zot 4.  Nasty fucker but I guess DD ghosts don't regen health.  Thankfully.
• Torment and Tentacled Monstrosities forced many retreats and almost all my consumables out of me.  I was face checking Orb Guardians and Orbs of Fire though.

This reads like a fishing story, only of interest to the participant, but fuck it.  Tonnes of fun!

Edited to chop some length

[Thrawn]

THIS game was a winner.


Starting to get a little farther every time.  My best run so far.  Sad to lose the +5/+5 Flail of draining on this run.  Probably could of gotten out if I had remembered my scrolls, panicked a bit.

[Sky]

As of now, Gastronok is to be restricted from mexican food whilst in the dungeon.

edit: You know what sucks? Having a wicked stack of mutations built up and quaffing an unidentified cure mutation potion. It "cured" 6 mutations on my Demonspawn Abyssal Knight. Sonofa.

[Zaljerem]

Coming soon ... the adventures of BiBimBop, Ogre Wizard ...

[Arinon]

Didn't see it mentioned anywhere but something just about everyone should be doing at or near the start is hitting 'm' to go into skills and switch it from auto to manual.  Most melee dudes have much longer lifespans if you stick to just your weapon of choice until it hits 8-10.  After that you can turn back on whatever the fuck and back-fill support skills.  The first 4 skill levels come really fast at that point anyway.

[Slayerik]

Good advice, and congrats on the win!

[Sky]

Bah.

 Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup version 0.10.0 character file.

1576 Khorne the Ducker (level 8, -9/60 HPs)
             Began as a Demonspawn Abyssal Knight on Mar 28, 2012.
             Was a High Priest of Lugonu.
             Mangled by an orc warrior
             ... wielding a +0,+0 orcish halberd
              (11 damage)
             ... on Level 9 of the Dungeon on Mar 30, 2012.
             The game lasted 01:19:36 (7970 turns).

Reference for my previous post, here's a costly potion:

  6426 | D:7      | Lost mutation: Your muscles are strong (Str +1).
  6426 | D:7      | Lost mutation: Your muscles are flexible, but weak (Str -1, Dex +1).
  6426 | D:7      | Lost mutation: You passively map a small area around you.
  6426 | D:7      | Lost mutation: You have a pair of small horns on your head.
  6426 | D:7      | Lost mutation: You evolve.
  6426 | D:7      | Lost mutation: You have razor-sharp toenails.

I was absolutely wrecking stuff and opened a door on a full room of orcs. Damned priests and halberds!

[Pezzle]

Deep Elves are in for some serious death.  I have been banished to the Abyss TWICE by those bastards in this game.  Have I mentioned how much I hate the Abyss?  Fuck that place, honestly.  You know what saves me there?  STEALTH.  And when I have the right setup you are all invited to a nice elf blood shower.  I am going to kill every one of those elves or die trying.  NO ELVES.

[Teleku]

Somebody needs to mod Bloodbowl to include Deep Elves and Sludge Elves.   

My Mino Fighter first char still remains alive somehow.  Level 12 and going through the Lair currently. 

Identifying weapons is really god damn annoying though.  I'll grab something and bash half a level to death with it and still not get an ID on it.

[ezrast]

I just get overconfident and die to the knights. Sigh. Level 13 and no idea what possessed me to try to do Elf before Lair.

[Sky]

Cursed -4 chainmail artifact that weighs 40 and lets you turn invisible. Cruel game.

Started another game as a Demonblood Abyssal Knight, as the first run was a lot of fun...and found out how much of that fun was due to having the evolution mutation. I had quite the list of mutations, most of them good or balanced (+1str balancing the -1str/+1dex for instance). Overall better mutations this run, but far fewer (powered by death and bone plates)...and I discovered cure mutation potions BEFORE I was all mutated up.

edit: I'm going to stop posting about current crawls. I always seem to die right when I go back to the game. Opened a door with a ton of gnolls armed with halberds and spears + shamans.

587 Komoto the Skirmisher (level 6, -9/47 HPs)
             Began as a Demonspawn Abyssal Knight on Mar 30, 2012.
             Was an Elder of Lugonu.
             Mangled by a gnoll
             ... wielding a +0,+0 halberd
              (11 damage)
             ... on Level 3 of the Dungeon.
             The game lasted 00:50:20 (4761 turns).

[Thrawn]

It's interesting how you can look at the turns and times and figure out who (me) rushes a bit when they play.  My 10k turn game took 44 minutes, wouldn't of died when I did if I was paying better attention too. 

[Slayerik]

Cursed -4 chainmail artifact that weighs 40 and lets you turn invisible. Cruel game.

Started another game as a Demonblood Abyssal Knight, as the first run was a lot of fun...and found out how much of that fun was due to having the evolution mutation. I had quite the list of mutations, most of them good or balanced (+1str balancing the -1str/+1dex for instance). Overall better mutations this run, but far fewer (powered by death and bone plates)...and I discovered cure mutation potions BEFORE I was all mutated up.

edit: I'm going to stop posting about current crawls. I always seem to die right when I go back to the game. Opened a door with a ton of gnolls armed with halberds and spears + shamans.

587 Komoto the Skirmisher (level 6, -9/47 HPs)
             Began as a Demonspawn Abyssal Knight on Mar 30, 2012.
             Was an Elder of Lugonu.
             Mangled by a gnoll
             ... wielding a +0,+0 halberd
              (11 damage)
             ... on Level 3 of the Dungeon.
             The game lasted 00:50:20 (4761 turns).

Your Demonic mutations will never be cured by one. So no worries there!

[Sky]

Yeah, but it cured Evolution, which was the awesomest. I had also chugged several mutation potions.

[Thrawn]

Started playing random/random games and enjoying it.  My first one was a Troll Abyssal Knight, I had no idea how any of the classes work or what most of the deities are yet.  My shortest game to date. 

[Teleku]

Testing out a demonspawn monk, and this is actually pretty fun!  I enjoy the mutations, and so far got some good mutations (+2 AC and SH, minor demon protector, and the ability to eat rotten meat).  Slay, what attributes should I level up?  Is dex more important than Strength for a monk?

[Sky]

This one hurt, seems like the demonspawn/abyssal knight can be lots of fun if you get a good start.

479 Khorne the Skirmisher (level 5, 0/40 HPs)
             Began as a Demonspawn Abyssal Knight on Mar 30, 2012.
             Was an Elder of Lugonu.
             Slain by an ogre
             ... wielding a +0,+0 giant spiked club
              (10 damage)
             ... on Level 4 of the Dungeon.
             The game lasted 00:33:10 (5109 turns).


Had good armor, a start on good weaponry, decent mutations and a nice set of boots. Got cocky thinking I could just zap an ogre with wands after pulling it off on the floor above with my confusion wand. Also had a really nice spellbook with some great spells (fireball, invis, haste, etc), intended to maybe branch into casting once I had melee skills up a bit.

[Arinon]

Player ghosts can be mean.

146234 Arinon the Tortoise (level 17, -1/151 HPs)
             Began as a Minotaur Gladiator on Mar 30, 2012.
             Was the Champion of Okawaru.
             Killed from afar by Arinon's ghost (65 damage)
             ... with a stone arrow
             
             ... on Level 5 of the Vaults on Mar 31, 2012.
             The game lasted 02:56:26 (43017 turns).

The ghost was listed as mightly DsTM so I in no way expected a spell to punch 65 damage through 37 AC.  Ouch!

Is dex more important than Strength for a monk?

My understanding is that it depends on what else you plan on doing.  Straight Unarmed damage is mostly just affected by the skill itself, as well as Fighting, so you are better off stating based on the type of armour you want to use and how much if any spellcasting you want to do.  Light armour means mixing dex and int to manage EV and spell power/hunger, heavier armour needs a shitton of STR or it tanks your attack rate.

Various transmutation spells have really good synergies with Unarmed as well and can really jack up the damage. Sorta what I think I went for on the aforementioned ghost above.  A lot of the Demonspawn mutations still work in other forms so you can have a lot of fun with shit like Spider Form, Ice Form, and Blade Hands.  Easier if you start as Transmuter but would totally work as a Monk once you find the spells.

[ezrast]

Ash likes it when can't I switch weapons, so surely using this chaos brand will be a pretty good idea.

7007 k the Nimble (level 11, -8/64 HPs)
             Began as a Kobold Stalker on Mar 30, 2012.
             Was a Believer of Ashenzari.
             Killed from afar by Jozef the dragon (11 damage)
             ... with a blast of flame
             
             ... on Level 10 of the Dungeon on Mar 31, 2012.
             The game lasted 01:16:30 (13443 turns).

[Rendakor]

Currently wrecking the Lair as a Mino Monk of Makhleb. Level 12 so far, using a +2/+2 Vampiric Scimitar, the unrand +6 Gong Shield, +5 ring of prot, +2 gloves/boots/cloak, an amulet of the gourmand, and a randart wizard hat that's 3 AC, MR, +5 int, +10 MP, and ponderous. The extra mana from the hat works well with the guardian spirit on the shield (since I'm just a melee character). I've also got rings of poison, fire, cold, and magic resist for whatever the situation requires. Chugged a mutation potion and got rPois, Regen 1, and Berserking 1.

This is the furthest I've gotten in a while; I was fucking around as felid for a little while but the game kept dropping awesome randart weapons/armor/etc. and I got frustrated so switched to something that can use gear.

[Raging Turtle]

I just fought a god damn staircase. 

I guess they added some new mimics.

[Thrawn]

Progress, new personal best, was dying to a dire elephant, used a teleport scroll and it landed me someplace worse.  

30262 Mitthrawnuruodo the Stickfighter (level 13, -2/97 (111) HPs)
             Began as a Minotaur Gladiator on Mar 31, 2012.
             Splashed by acid (4 damage)
             ... on Level 8 of the Lair of Beasts.
             The game lasted 00:52:27 (15749 turns).

Of course it helps a bit when I find all of this before I even hit D:5
a +4,+4 quarterstaff of chaos (weapon)
a +2 orcish plate armour (worn)
a +5,+4 ring of slaying (left hand)
a +3 ring of strength (right hand)

[Rendakor]

I just fought a god damn staircase. 

I guess they added some new mimics.

I ran into one of those too; scared the shit out of me.

[Raging Turtle]

I'm guessing that quarterstaff of Chaos was from the Crazy gnoll?  He'll always drop a highly-enchanted one with that brand, sometimes an enchanted cloak as well.  If you're hurting for usable weapons it can be nice, but it's healed/hasted/turned the enemy invisible a few too many times for me to trust it.

[Rendakor]

Up to level 14 on the Mino Monk I mentioned above; just cleared the Orc Mines. Only hairy part was the bottom level which had Azazel, a named efreet and his pack of fire elementals. Had to run back to my stash and grab my fire resist gear; didn't think to drop my scrolls and ended up having a bunch incinerated. Not much of value in the shops at the bottom either; a bunch of unbranded weapons that don't compare to my +3/+4 vamp scimitar. Probably going to do the Snake Pit next.

[Arinon]

Finally got a Mummy Summoner off the ground.  Really weak start but once you can use Sif Muna's channel your summons can be chained together and cast more or less at will.  Have a pack of 5-8 summons with me at all times.  Imps => Dogs => Ice Beasts.  Middle of the Lair now and I'm gonna need something beefier soon.  I just know I'm gonna die to something stupid because managing pets can get tedious.

Up to level 14 on the Mino Monk I mentioned above; just cleared the Orc Mines. Only hairy part was the bottom level which had Azazel, a named efreet and his pack of fire elementals. Had to run back to my stash and grab my fire resist gear; didn't think to drop my scrolls and ended up having a bunch incinerated. Not much of value in the shops at the bottom either; a bunch of unbranded weapons that don't compare to my +3/+4 vamp scimitar. Probably going to do the Snake Pit next.

Be very very careful in Snake Pit as most of the Nagas can constrict you now which does more damage, prevents movement, and will also prevent stair dancing.  Much harder than it has been in the past.

[Sky]

Tried to make an assassiny Necro, failed spectacularly. Twice. Though I did two-shot Jessica, which made me happy after an earlier wipe to her.

Tried a Draco Wizard, got lucky with imp summons, shadow imp going around raising corpses. Died horribly soon after.

It's humbling that my best two games were my first two, and playing the local version at home I get to see my vast morgue of level 1 and 2 characters. A couple 8th level are my best there.

[Slayerik]

Well, if you want a guy that feels way overpowered, try a Draconian Transmuter of Cheibro(whatever). If you can live long enough for the stats from him, Blade Hands gets CRAZY. Dragon Form. Hack the fuck outta stuff.

Staff of Energy was awesome, I just was perm blade hands / dragon form.

This run I really got NO items and no support spells. Got impatient at vault 8, and got dead. The run was a lot of fun, though.