YAVP - HuPr - Zin FTW

[Rapigel]

I've been playing Crawl for a while, so I tend to set myself stupid challenges and stubbornly stick with them until they are done. This one was about getting an old school D&D style cleric out. So, HuPr of Zin. No magic. Ditch the starting q-staff and robe and get the mace, shield and heavy armour going as soon as possible. Spread the good word.

I found this surprisingly hard. I started in 0.7.2 and had a couple of Zot deaths before deciding that the heavy armour nerf was just too much. Things improved quite a bit on 0.8, but I still had two Zot 5 deaths before eventually I broke through. Both of those related to the Shield of the Gong. In the dungeon it is fine to bong your gong and have the hugest fight before clearing the now empty level. In Zot there are just too many hard hitting bad guys to take all at once. But just can't resist Crawl's double edged fixedarts.

This one was hard to get off the ground (especially with ditching the q-staff in favour of a club), and it generally remained hard all through the midgame. Lots of resting to heal, which just generated OOD stuff, resulting in more resting... My logfiles tell me that I attempted this about 400 times in 0.7.2 for 0 wins and about the same in 0.8 for 1 win. In real life this took me from 17 January to 29 April. Ugh. I haven't looked at the online stats, but I'd bet that 1/800 would be close to the worst win percentage.

I'm pretty used to Zin now. I really like the new recite. In 0.7.2 recite was just a joke that you played on the odd orc. Now it is a useful ability that is good for the whole game. I really, really like how it wipes out packs of ugly things. And it makes for fun choices sometimes: do I want to take out the skeletal warriors or the yaktaur pack that is in LOS? The rest of Zin's abilities are as good as ever. He has two good panic buttons - that win percentage would be a whole lot better if I just remembered to use them.

Now for a few random games before I define my next bout of self abuse.

Anyway, the redacted dump:

  Code:

 Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup version 0.8.0-a1-177-gb68bbd6 character file.

1326581 Jac the Skullcrusher (level 27, 205/205 HPs)
             Began as a Human Priest on Apr 26, 2011.
             Was the Champion of Zin.
             Escaped with the Orb
             ... and 3 runes (of 3 types) on Apr 29, 2011!
             
             The game lasted 07:29:40 (117726 turns).

Jac the Skullcrusher (Human Priest)               Turns: 117726, Time: 07:29:40

HP 205/205       AC 32     Str 28      Exp: 27/1252146 (41868)
MP  33/39        EV 17     Int 13      God: Zin [******]
Gold 3452        SH 34     Dex 18      Spells:  0 memorised, 28 levels left

Res.Fire  : + . .   See Invis. : +    a - +7 flail of Eskah {flame, rElec rN+ Stlth+
Res.Cold  : + . .   Warding    : . .  L - +2 gold dragon armour
Life Prot.: + . .   Conserve   : .    Y - +3 shield {rflct}
Res.Acid. : . . .   Res.Corr.  : .    T - +1 plumed helmet {SInv}
Res.Poison: +       Clarity    : .    o - +3 cloak of Flash {+Lev EV+4}
Res.Elec. : +       Spirit.Shd : +    g - +2 pair of Fencer's gloves {EV+3 Dex+3 Acc
Sust.Abil.: . .     Stasis     : .    c - +0 pair of boots {run}
Res.Mut.  : +       Ctrl.Telep.: .    U - amulet of guardian spirit
Res.Rott. : +       Levitation : .    y - ring "Jelabop" {+Rage MR Dex+2}
Saprovore : . . .   Ctrl.Flight: .    O - ring of the Exiled Seas {Str+4 Acc+5 Dam+6

@: quick, extremely resistant to hostile enchantments, extremely unstealthy
A: no striking features
a: Recite, Vitalisation, Imprison, Sanctuary, Cure All Mutations, Renounce
Religion, Evoke Berserk Rage, Evoke Levitation


You escaped.
You worshipped Zin.
Zin was exalted by your worship.
You were not hungry.

You visited 10 branches of the dungeon, and saw 74 of its levels.
You visited the Abyss 2 times.
You visited 1 Labyrinth.
You visited 1 bazaar.
You visited 3 portal chambers: bailey, trove, wizlab.

You collected 10430 gold pieces.
You spent 6998 gold pieces at shops.

Inventory:

Hand weapons
 a - the +7,+7 flail of Eskah (weapon) {flame, rElec rN+ Stlth++}
   (You took it off a minotaur in a Labyrinth)   
   
   It emits flame when wielded, causing extra injury to most foes and up to
   double damage against particularly susceptible opponents.
     
   It insulates you from electricity.
   It protects you from negative energy.
   It makes you much more stealthy.
 b - the +8,+1 sling of Jac's Disembowelment {venom, rElec rPois rC+ rN+ Stlth+}
   (You found it on level 1 of the Hive)   
   
   It poisons the ammo it fires.
     
   It protects you from cold.
   It insulates you from electricity.
   It protects you from poison.
   It protects you from negative energy.
   It makes you more stealthy.
 h - a +0,+0 knife
 x - a +0 blowgun
Missiles
 r - 10 +0 sling bullets of frost
 s - 12 poisoned +3 sling bullets
 v - 10 curare-tipped +0 needles
 D - 16 steel +0 sling bullets
 E - 5 +4 javelins (quivered)
 F - 13 +3 sling bullets of flame
 V - 91 +3 sling bullets
Armour
 c - a +0 pair of boots of running (worn)
 g - the +2 pair of Fencer's gloves (worn) {EV+3 Dex+3 Acc+5}
   (You bought it in a shop in a bazaar)   
     
   It affects your evasion (+3).
   It affects your dexterity (+3).
   It affects your accuracy (+5).
 o - the +3 cloak of Flash (worn) {+Lev EV+4}
   (You found it on level 24 of the Dungeon)   
     
   It affects your evasion (+4).
   It lets you levitate.
 L - a +2 gold dragon armour (worn)
 T - a +1 plumed helmet of see invisible (worn)
 Y - a +3 shield of reflection (worn)
Magical devices
 d - a wand of enslavement (3)
 n - a wand of cold (4)
 J - a wand of teleportation (8)
 K - a wand of healing (9)
 M - a wand of disintegration (1)
 Z - a wand of digging (1)
Comestibles
 l - an apple
 z - 8 meat rations
 C - a pear
Jewellery
 y - the ring "Jelabop" (right hand) {+Rage MR Dex+2}
   (You found it on level 7 of the Dungeon)   
   
   [ring of protection from magic]
   
   It affects your dexterity (+2).
   It lets you go berserk.
 G - an uncursed ring of regeneration
 H - the amulet of Shoghim {rCorr rC++}
   (You found it on level 1 of the Realm of Zot)   
   
   [amulet of resist corrosion]
   
   It greatly protects you from cold.
 O - the ring of the Exiled Seas (left hand) {Str+4 Acc+5 Dam+6}
   (You bought it in a shop on level 25 of the Dungeon)   
   
   [ring of slaying]
   It affects your accuracy (+5).
   It affects your damage-dealing abilities (+6).
   
   It affects your strength (+4).
 U - an amulet of guardian spirit (around neck)
Potions
 e - 8 potions of healing
 k - 2 potions of resistance
 t - 2 potions of speed
 N - a potion of heal wounds
 R - 2 potions of magic
Magical staves
 I - a +5 rod of venom (14/14)
   (You took it off a yaktaur on level 8 of the Vaults)
Orbs of Power
 f - the Orb of Zot
Miscellaneous
 p - a silver rune of Zot
 A - a decaying rune of Zot
 B - a serpentine rune of Zot

 You had 41868 experience left.

   Skills:
 + Level 15 Fighting
 * Level 27 Maces & Flails
 - Level 3 Staves
 + Level 13 Slings
 + Level 14 Armour
 + Level 15 Dodging
 - Level 7 Stealth
 - Level 6 Stabbing
 + Level 17 Shields
 + Level 4 Traps & Doors
 - Level 1 Spellcasting
 + Level 16 Invocations
 + Level 5 Evocations

You had 28 spell levels left.
You didn't know any spells.


[mageykun]

Congrats! I admire the drive to pick a playstyle or a gimmick then make the game conform to you instead of the other way around. Pulling an old school priest win is pretty cool.

[Rapigel]

It is suboptimal playstyle and sort of against the crawl philosophy I know. Plenty of times I found an awesome glaive or double sword or something and could have taken a whole new path in life. I feel great satisfaction that I resisted and ultimately prevailed.