RIP: Brainless (Was: CiP: Newbie's MiBe)

[MainiacJoe]

Hello, first post here. I'm new again to Crawl (I dabbled in it a couple years ago with no success) and this time I intend to pick a build and stick with it. I tried three SpEn and then read several posts here suggesting that not approaching monsters that enter LoS might be *the* basic tactic of Crawl. Since stabbing is the exception to that rule I suppose, I switched to MiBe to better learn that general rule and to simplify the learning curve. I intend to stick with this build until I win a 3-rune with it.

I would like to ask for advice on a promising MiBe I am currently playing via Webtiles on akrasiac.org. I am ashamed to say though that I have not figured out how to get the dump for a character in progress to show it to you (I have been able to find the dumps of deceased characters). Might someone please tell me how to do this? Thank you!

[Magipi]

I guess this is it:

http://crawl.akrasiac.org/rawdata/Maini ... iacJoe.txt

[Turukano]

I have not figured out how to get the dump for a character in progress to show it to you (I have been able to find the dumps of deceased characters). Might someone please tell me how to do this? Thank you!

An easy way to learn BBCode - besides having some look at the FAQ - is to just press the quote button of a post and you'll see how we do it.

[MainiacJoe]

Indeed, thanks for the link to "rawdata"! That was what I couldn't find, I knew the "code" tags.

  Code:

 Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup version 0.15.1-3-g1b33baa (webtiles) character file.

MainiacJoe the Warrior (Minotaur Berserker)        Turns: 24229, Time: 03:32:12

HP 143/143       AC 32     Str 22      XL: 15   Next:  8%
MP  20/20        EV 14     Int  4      God: Trog [******]
Gold 1594        SH 15     Dex 16      Spells:  0 memorised, 14 levels left

rFire  . . .     SeeInvis +     a - +11 long sword "Fur Foud" {venom, +Blink +Inv rElec rC+}
rCold  + . .     Clarity  .     t - +7 plate armour {rPois}
rNeg   . . .     rCorr    .     u - +2 shield {AC+3}
rPois  +         rRot     .     L - +2 hat
rElec  +         Spirit   +     y - +0 cloak
SustAb .         Warding  .     K - +1 pair of gloves
rMut   .         Stasis   .     (no boots)
Gourm  .                        U - amulet of guardian spirit
MR     +....                    q - ring of see invisible
                                J - +6 ring of evasion

@: somewhat resistant to hostile enchantments, extremely unstealthy
A: retaliatory headbutt, horns 2
a: Burn Spellbooks, Berserk, Trog's Hand, Brothers in Arms, Renounce Religion,
Evoke Blink, Evoke Invisibility


You are on level 2 of the Lair of Beasts.
You worship Trog.
Trog is exalted by your worship.
You are not hungry.

You have visited 4 branches of the dungeon, and seen 23 of its levels.

You have collected 1594 gold pieces.

Inventory:

Hand weapons
 a - the +11 long sword "Fur Foud" (weapon) {venom, +Blink +Inv rElec rC+}
   (You found it on level 4 of the Dungeon)   
   
   It poisons the flesh of those it strikes.
   
   It protects you from cold.
   It insulates you from electricity.
   It lets you turn invisible.
   It lets you blink.
 b - the +7 greatsling "Qiceab" {velocity, rC+}
   (Trog gifted it to you on level 13 of the Dungeon)   
   
   Any stone fired from it inflicts extra damage.
   
   It protects you from cold.
 e - the +5 great sword "Shupt" {flame, rF++ rC+ Dex+2}
   (Trog gifted it to you on level 11 of the Dungeon)   
   
   It emits flame when wielded, causing extra injury to most foes and up to
   double damage against particularly susceptible opponents. Big, fiery blades
   are also staple armaments of hydra-hunters.
   
   It affects your dexterity (+2).
   It greatly protects you from fire.
   It protects you from cold.
 n - a +5 greatsling of flaming
Missiles
 H - 53 sling bullets
 P - 20 exploding sling bullets
Armour
 t - a +7 plate armour of poison resistance (worn)
 u - a +2 shield of protection (worn)
 y - a +0 cloak (worn)
 K - a +1 pair of gloves (worn)
 L - a +2 hat (worn)
Magical devices
 f - a wand of enslavement {zapped: 1}
 m - a wand of lightning {zapped: 1}
 o - a wand of slowing {zapped: 1}
 s - a wand of digging {zapped: 1}
 A - a wand of frost
 R - a wand of paralysis {zapped: 1}
 T - a wand of fireball {zapped: 1}
 W - a wand of confusion
Comestibles
 c - 7 bread rations
 k - 24 beef jerkies
 r - 8 meat rations
 v - 4 fruits
 V - a slice of pizza
 Z - 7 royal jellies
Scrolls
 p - a scroll of fog
 x - a scroll of identify
 z - 5 scrolls of fear
 G - 7 scrolls of remove curse
 M - 7 scrolls of teleportation
 X - a scroll of enchant weapon
 Y - a scroll of brand weapon
Jewellery
 j - a +1 ring of dexterity
 q - a ring of see invisible (right hand)
 w - an uncursed amulet of clarity
 B - a ring of protection from cold
 D - a ring of ice
 J - a +6 ring of evasion (left hand)
 O - an uncursed amulet of the gourmand
 Q - an uncursed amulet of stasis
 S - a ring of fire
 U - an amulet of guardian spirit (around neck)
Potions
 d - 2 potions of resistance
 g - 5 potions of might
 h - 4 potions of restore abilities
 i - 6 potions of curing
 l - 4 potions of heal wounds
 C - a potion of mutation
 F - 3 potions of agility
Miscellaneous
 E - a box of beasts
 I - a phial of floods
 N - a plain deck of cards


   Skills:
 + Level 15.7 Fighting
 - Level 14.0 Long Blades
   Level 6.9 Polearms
 * Level 7.3 Slings
 - Level 0.2(4.1) Throwing
 + Level 13.3 Armour
 + Level 10.0 Dodging
 - Level 2.3 Stealth
 * Level 11.4 Shields
 + Level 6.7 Evocations


You have 14 spell levels left.
You don't know any spells.

Dungeon Overview and Level Annotations

Branches:
Dungeon (13/15)            Temple (0/1) D:6             Orc (0/4) D:12
   Lair (8/8) D:11          Swamp (1/5) Lair:3       Spider (1/5) Lair:6
  Slime (0/6) Lair:6       Vaults (0/5) D:12 D:13   

Altars:
Dithmenos
Elyvilon
Okawaru
Zin
Jiyva

Shops:
D:9 !   D:10 *}!%

Annotations:
Swamp:1 Frances


Innate Abilities, Weirdness & Mutations

You reflexively headbutt those who attack you in melee.
You have a pair of horns on your head.


Message History

You climb upwards.
There is a stone staircase leading down here.
You open the door.
There is an open door here.
There is a stone staircase leading up here.
You climb upwards.
There is a stone staircase leading down here.
There is a staircase to the Lair here.
You climb downwards. Welcome to the Lair of Beasts!
There is a staircase back to the Dungeon here.
There is a stone staircase leading down here.
There is a stone staircase leading down here.
You climb downwards.
There is a stone staircase leading up, spattered with blood here.
Items here: !!!!!!!!!! (((( ))))) /////// : ==== ??? [
Save game and exit?
Welcome back, MainiacJoe the Minotaur Berserker.
Trog says: Kill them all!
Press ? for a list of commands and other information.
Save game and exit?

....................PPP..........
.#.#.##.##......#.PP≈≈≈≈.P#.#..##
.##.##.###...#..#.≈≈♣P♣≈≈≈P.....#
..#.....##...##...P♣♣♣♣♣≈P.......
.##.....##....#...≈♣  ♣♣≈P.......
................P.P♣♣ ♣P≈P.......
.........#...##.≈≈≈≈♣♣♣PP........
..#.....+....#.#..P≈≈≈≈≈P........
.#..PP.##.......@..≈≈≈P≈.##.##..#
.##.#..###(.....<..PPPP≈...##..##
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###P.####......P+#+.#.........#.#
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.##...###...###..#.##.....##P..#


There are no monsters in sight!

Vanquished Creatures
  The ghost of Eb the Severer, a mighty FoFi of Okawaru (Lair:8)
  2 storm dragons (D:13)
  Snorg (Lair:4)
  Fannar (Lair:7)
  2 hydras
  The ghost of albinofish the Cleaver, a powerful FoFi of Okawaru (Lair:1)
  2 death yaks (Lair:8)
  Urug (D:10)
  A deep elf knight (D:13)
  A skeletal warrior (D:13)
  3 unseen horrors
  An orc knight (D:12)
  4 hill giants
  2 ugly things
  2 cyclopes (D:12)
  13 elephants
  2 manticores (Lair:8)
  5 griffons
  15 spiny frogs
  Maurice (D:8)
  7 black mambas
  2 gargoyles (D:11)
  A torpor snail (Lair:8)
  A fire drake (Lair:2)
  7 komodo dragons
  A kobold demonologist (D:12)
  Grinder (D:3)
  5 trolls
  A giant leech (Swamp:1)
  6 polar bears
  The ghost of Georgie the Cudgeler, an average DsGl (D:4)
  A slime creature (Lair:6)
  12 blink frogs
  2 deep elf magi
  A trapdoor spider (D:12)
  2 basilisks (Lair:5)
  2 two-headed ogres
  A shadow (D:12)
  13 hippogriffs
  A wyvern (Lair:7)
  40 yaks
  31 wolves
  16 humans
  5 vampire mosquitoes (D:13)
  9 hogs (Lair:8)
  5 wargs (Lair:8)
  11 water moccasins
  4 hell hounds (Lair:8)
  6 swamp worms (Lair:3)
  2 tengu skeletons (D:13)
  6 porcupines
  A soldier ant (D:8)
  3 ogres
  9 orc warriors
  2 yellow wasps
  4 ice beasts
  9 black bears
  A sky beast (D:9)
  6 centaurs
  12 spiders
  3 phantoms
  A boring beetle (D:8)
  Duvessa (D:4)
  A brain worm (D:8)
  11 crocodiles
  17 giant frogs
  A cyclops skeleton (D:13)
  4 scorpions
  21 killer bees
  3 electric eels
  25 hounds
  21 wights
  A goliath beetle (D:7)
  Dowan (D:4)
  4 crimson imps
  2 quasits (D:11)
  A giant frog zombie (D:6)
  Crazy Yiuf (D:4)
  A black bear zombie (D:7)
  10 orc priests
  3 jellies
  9 iguanas
  12 orc wizards
  11 worker ants
  12 orange rats (Lair:8)
  13 sheep
  An ogre skeleton (D:8)
  A hound zombie (D:8)
  30 adders
  85 green rats
  4 gnolls (D:4)
  4 shadow imps
  5 giant mites
  An orc zombie (D:11)
  An iguana skeleton (D:9)
  52 orcs
  A bat skeleton (D:6)
  A bat zombie (D:5)
  9 giant cockroaches
  13 hobgoblins
  33 jackals
  21 quokkas
  A ball python (D:4)
  14 bats
  6 giant geckos
  A giant gecko zombie (D:5)
  7 giant newts
  8 goblins
  16 kobolds
  A kobold skeleton (D:7)
  A kobold zombie (D:6)
  4 orc skeletons
  15 rats
  3 ballistomycetes (D:9)
840 creatures vanquished.

Vanquished Creatures (collateral kills)
  Maud (Lair:4)
  A catoblepas (Lair:8)
  The ghost of zahr the Basher, an experienced GrBe of Trog (D:7)
  A cyclops (D:6)
  5 elephants (Lair:6)
  A yak (D:9)
  A porcupine (Lair:1)
  A water moccasin (Lair:4)
  An orc warrior (D:9)
  An ice beast (D:6)
  A cyclops zombie (D:6)
  A giant frog (Lair:4)
  An orc wizard (D:9)
  A worker ant (D:6)
  2 shadow imps (D:6)
  11 orcs
  A hobgoblin (D:9)
  2 kobolds
34 creatures vanquished.

Vanquished Creatures (others)
  A two-headed ogre (D:7)
  An orc wizard (D:9)
  A giant spore (D:9)
  5 fungi
  3 plants (Lair:8)
11 creatures vanquished.

Grand Total: 885 creatures vanquished

Notes
Turn   | Place    | Note
--------------------------------------------------------------
     0 | D:1      | MainiacJoe, the Minotaur Berserker, began the quest for the Orb.
     0 | D:1      | Reached XP level 1. HP: 19/19 MP: 1/1
   291 | D:1      | Reached skill level 4 in Polearms
   292 | D:1      | Reached XP level 2. HP: 27/27 MP: 1/1
   690 | D:1      | Acquired Trog's second power
   829 | D:2      | Reached XP level 3. HP: 30/33 MP: 2/2
  1432 | D:3      | Reached skill level 5 in Polearms
  1432 | D:3      | Reached XP level 4. HP: 40/40 MP: 2/2
  1742 | D:3      | Noticed Grinder
  1753 | D:3      | Killed Grinder
  1753 | D:3      | Reached skill level 6 in Polearms
  1753 | D:3      | Reached XP level 5. HP: 47/47 MP: 2/2
  1753 | D:3      | Reached XP level 6. HP: 53/53 MP: 3/3
  2396 | D:4      | Noticed Georgie's ghost (average DsGl)
  2398 | D:4      | Noticed Dowan
  2431 | D:4      | Reached skill level 5 in Fighting
  2508 | D:4      | Reached XP level 7. HP: 61/61 MP: 3/3
  2510 | D:4      | Acquired Trog's third power
  2512 | D:4      | Got an ichor-stained long sword
  2513 | D:4      | Identified the +11 long sword "Fur Foud" {venom, +Blink +Inv rElec rC+} (You found it on level 4 of the Dungeon)
  2533 | D:4      | Noticed Duvessa
  2538 | D:4      | Killed Georgie's ghost
  2539 | D:4      | Killed Dowan
  2546 | D:4      | Killed Duvessa
  2546 | D:4      | Reached skill level 5 in Long Blades
  2556 | D:5      | Entered Level 5 of the Dungeon
  3085 | D:4      | Reached XP level 8. HP: 64/68 MP: 3/3
  3259 | D:4      | Noticed Crazy Yiuf
  3272 | D:4      | Killed Crazy Yiuf
  3442 | D:5      | Reached skill level 1 in Stealth
  3853 | D:6      | Noticed a cyclops
  3861 | D:6      | Killed a cyclops
  3861 | D:6      | Reached skill level 7 in Long Blades
  3861 | D:6      | Reached skill level 5 in Armour
  3861 | D:6      | Reached skill level 5 in Dodging
  4326 | D:6      | Found a staircase to the Ecumenical Temple.
  4638 | D:6      | Reached skill level 8 in Long Blades
  4638 | D:6      | Reached skill level 1 in Shields
  4638 | D:6      | Reached XP level 9. HP: 73/78 MP: 4/4
  5355 | D:7      | Found a glowing silver altar of Zin.
  5358 | D:7      | Noticed zahr's ghost (experienced GrBe)
  5364 | D:7      | Killed zahr's ghost
  5381 | D:7      | Reached skill level 9 in Long Blades
  5868 | D:7      | Reached skill level 10 in Long Blades
  6065 | D:7      | Found a white marble altar of Elyvilon.
  6153 | D:7      | Received a gift from Trog
  6435 | D:8      | Reached XP level 10. HP: 86/86 MP: 5/5
  6673 | D:8      | Reached skill level 1 in Evocations
  6802 | D:8      | Found an iron altar of Okawaru.
  6805 | D:8      | Noticed Maurice
  6821 | D:8      | Killed Maurice
  6870 | D:8      | Found a shadowy altar of Dithmenos.
  7250 | D:9      | Found Cougiun's Distillery.
  7270 | D:9      | Reached skill level 11 in Long Blades
  7329 | D:9      | Reached skill level 5 in Shields
  7916 | D:10     | Entered Level 10 of the Dungeon
  7916 | D:10     | Found Cliysh's General Store.
  7916 | D:10     | Found Befet's Gadget Boutique.
  7965 | D:10     | Noticed a hill giant
  7967 | D:10     | Noticed a hill giant
  7977 | D:10     | Killed a hill giant
  7977 | D:10     | Reached XP level 11. HP: 70/95 MP: 5/5
  7981 | D:10     | Killed a hill giant
  8260 | D:10     | Noticed an unseen horror
  8264 | D:10     | Killed an unseen horror
  8318 | D:10     | Reached skill level 12 in Long Blades
  8372 | D:10     | Noticed a purple ugly thing
  8382 | D:10     | Killed a purple ugly thing
  8455 | D:10     | Found Bricatir's Food Shoppe.
  8501 | D:10     | Found Faqusch's Distillery.
  8522 | D:10     | Noticed Urug
  8529 | D:10     | Killed Urug
  8935 | D:10     | Reached skill level 13 in Long Blades
  9126 | D:11     | Received a gift from Trog
  9311 | D:11     | Noticed an unseen horror
  9316 | D:11     | Killed an unseen horror
  9648 | D:11     | Reached skill level 10 in Armour
  9796 | D:11     | Found a staircase to the Lair.
  9810 | Lair:1   | Entered Level 1 of the Lair of Beasts
  9818 | Lair:1   | Identified a scroll of acquirement
  9905 | Lair:1   | Reached skill level 10 in Fighting
 10285 | Lair:1   | Noticed albinofish's ghost (powerful FoFi)
 10293 | Lair:1   | Killed albinofish's ghost
 10638 | Lair:1   | Received a gift from Trog
 10831 | Lair:2   | Reached XP level 12. HP: 93/107 MP: 7/7
 11006 | Lair:2   | Reached skill level 14 in Long Blades
 11041 | Lair:2   | Got a twisted chain mail
 11074 | Lair:2   | Identified the +5 chain mail of Zin's Pride {Dex+1 Int-4} (You found it on level 2 of the Lair of Beasts)
 11074 | Lair:2   | Lost intelligence.
 11673 | Lair:2   | Reached skill level 1 in Slings
 11761 | Lair:2   | Received a gift from Trog
 12446 | Lair:3   | Found a staircase to the Swamp.
 12451 | Lair:3   | Received a gift from Trog
 12611 | Swamp:1  | Entered Level 1 of the Swamp
 12611 | Swamp:1  | Noticed Frances
 13261 | Lair:4   | Noticed Maud
 13266 | Lair:4   | Killed Maud
 13353 | Lair:4   | Noticed Snorg
 13386 | Lair:4   | Killed Snorg
 13496 | Lair:4   | Got a silk robe
 13936 | Lair:4   | Identified the cursed +2 robe of Supple Strength {Str-3 Int+1} (You found it on level 4 of the Lair of Beasts)
 14086 | Lair:5   | Reached skill level 5 in Evocations
 14200 | Lair:5   | Received a gift from Trog
 15343 | Lair:6   | Reached XP level 13. HP: 116/116 MP: 16/16
 15365 | Lair:6   | Found a hole to the Spider Nest.
 15373 | Spider:1 | Entered Level 1 of the Spider Nest
 15622 | Lair:6   | Received a gift from Trog
 15705 | Lair:6   | Found a staircase to the Slime Pits.
 15706 | Lair:6   | Found a viscous altar of Jiyva.
 16515 | Lair:6   | Noticed an eight-headed hydra
 16530 | Lair:6   | Killed an eight-headed hydra
 17097 | Lair:7   | Noticed Fannar
 17106 | Lair:7   | Killed Fannar
 17106 | Lair:7   | Received a gift from Trog
 17833 | Lair:8   | Entered Level 8 of the Lair of Beasts
 18028 | Lair:8   | Received a gift from Trog
 18083 | Lair:8   | Reached skill level 10 in Shields
 18120 | Lair:8   | Reached skill level 5 in Slings
 18352 | Lair:8   | Reached XP level 14. HP: 117/127 MP: 19/19
 18793 | Lair:8   | Received a gift from Trog
 19201 | Lair:8   | Received a gift from Trog
 19282 | Lair:8   | Noticed Eb's ghost (mighty FoFi)
 19323 | Lair:8   | Killed Eb's ghost
 20963 | D:11     | Received a gift from Trog
 20964 | D:11     | Got a smoking great sword {god gift}
 20967 | D:11     | Identified the +5 great sword "Shupt" {flame, rF++ rC+ Dex+2} (Trog gifted it to you on level 11 of the Dungeon)
 21654 | D:12     | Found a staircase to the Orcish Mines.
 21824 | D:12     | Reached skill level 15 in Fighting
 22186 | D:13     | Found a gate to the Vaults.
 22408 | D:13     | Received a gift from Trog
 22409 | D:13     | Got a bloodstained greatsling {god gift}
 22482 | D:13     | Identified the +7 greatsling "Qiceab" {velocity, rC+} (Trog gifted it to you on level 13 of the Dungeon)
 22954 | D:13     | Noticed a storm dragon
 22956 | D:13     | Noticed a storm dragon
 22973 | D:13     | Killed a storm dragon
 22988 | D:13     | Killed a storm dragon
 22988 | D:13     | Reached skill level 10 in Dodging
 22988 | D:13     | Reached XP level 15. HP: 64/141 MP: 8/20


Action                   |  1- 3 |  4- 6 |  7- 9 | 10-12 | 13-15 || total
-------------------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------++-------
Melee: Spear             |    92 |   114 |       |       |    78 ||   284
       Mace              |     7 |       |       |       |       ||     7
       Long sword        |       |       |   256 |   707 |   871 ||  1834
       Unarmed           |       |       |     3 |       |       ||     3
       Dagger            |       |       |       |       |    30 ||    30
 Fire: Greatsling        |       |       |       |    15 |   124 ||   139
Throw: Stone             |     1 |     1 |     4 |     2 |       ||     8
Invok: Berserk           |     2 |     2 |     1 |     5 |     6 ||    16
       Brothers in Arms  |       |       |     2 |     3 |     2 ||     7
       Burn Spellbooks   |       |       |       |     1 |     1 ||     2
Evoke: Wand              |       |     1 |     3 |     5 |     1 ||    10
  Use: Scroll            |     7 |     4 |     5 |    18 |     6 ||    40
       Potion            |       |       |     2 |     1 |     1 ||     4
 Stab: Sleeping          |     1 |       |       |       |       ||     1
       Confused          |       |       |     1 |       |       ||     1
       Fleeing           |       |       |       |       |     1 ||     1
  Eat: Chunk             |     3 |     5 |    11 |    18 |    48 ||    85
       Pizza             |       |     1 |       |     1 |       ||     2
       Meat ration       |       |       |     1 |     1 |       ||     2
       Beef jerky        |       |       |       |     1 |     1 ||     2
       Bread ration      |       |       |       |     1 |       ||     1
       Fruit             |       |       |       |     1 |       ||     1


The big break on this character was finding that +11 long sword just lying on the floor in D4. I think this might be good enough for a 3-rune game, do you? In any case, it lets me use a shield.

Closest call was the two storm dragons. Intended to ?tele, and I think I missed the Shift key and got an "Okay, then" I didn't catch, for I never teleported.

?ID have been few and I still haven't identified all my potions.

I have not yet found the Mines. I've done all 8 levels of Lair and the branches are Spider and Swamp, neither of which I've explored. The Polearms skill comes from starting weapon and a brief period when I thought I'd need to use tridents against hydras, before Trog gave me the flaming greatsword. So right now, I'm not having any trouble on offense and am working on defense (including the evocations to blink and invis with my sword).

My question right now is, what next? Find and do the Mines, do Spider, do Swamp, or just go deeper in the Dungeon?

[Sandman25]

For branch order see https://loom.shalott.org/learndb.html#order

[damiac]

That sword isn't bad, for a long sword. Yeah, you could win with it, but still keep an eye out for a demon blade or a bastard sword to use that brand weapon scroll on. You've made a fair investment in shields skill, so I guess it probably makes sense to stick with 1 handers.

I'd stop training slings if I were you, since you're training evocations anyway. 1 ranged option should be enough. (Are greatslings 1 handed?)

Do a ctrl+F for 'boots', since you're not wearing any, maybe there are some laying around the dungeon.

I would recommend clearing the main dungeon down to floor 15, and clearing out the orcish mines, then do spider and swamp. If I were you, I'd be wearing that amulet of clarity all the time with your low mr, but guardian spirit's not bad either. Definitely swap to the clarity amulet in spider at least, as tarantellas will confuse you constantly otherwise.

The evokable invisibility on your sword should help a lot, use it whenever you're fighting something that's not trivially easy, that can't see invisible. It should make most of orc, and almost all of spider and swamp really easy. Just don't use invisibility when you're already contaminated.

[MainiacJoe]

That sword isn't bad, for a long sword. Yeah, you could win with it, but still keep an eye out for a demon blade or a bastard sword to use that brand weapon scroll on. You've made a fair investment in shields skill, so I guess it probably makes sense to stick with 1 handers.

Yeah, Trog doesn't seem to be taking my Shields training into account with his gifts, they've all been 2-handers. If that's the general rule, then in the future I won't bother with shields for Berserkers.

I'd stop training slings if I were you, since you're training evocations anyway. 1 ranged option should be enough. (Are greatslings 1 handed?)

Yes, greatslings are one-handed. To be honest, I don't have a good handle on how much Evocs is enough for wands to be a reliable replacement for ranged weapons, and then too Trog isn't gifting me wands, but nice slings. Maybe I should use status wands instead of damage wands to round out my capabilities?

Do a ctrl+F for 'boots', since you're not wearing any, maybe there are some laying around the dungeon.

Good idea! Update: there haven't been any generated yet!

[MainiacJoe]

Update: cleared Orc 1-4, a second upstair on Orc 4 led me to Sonya, and now I'm in the Abyss! Fun times

[MainiacJoe]

RIP, bone dragon and large abomination in the Abyss while brainless from wretched stars. Should have BiA I think. Incidentally, potions of restore abilities didn't seem to affect the brainlessness [Update: figured out that it was the dopey mutation].

[rchandra]

If you get brainless and immediately deal with it (with !restore abilities etc., with gaining experience in your case) you will still be brainless for a while, so it's important to not let that happen at all.

[Bart]

One of good paranoid habits to possess is to run away from Sonya as soon as you see her. Getting hit by distortion (and being sent to abyss) is no fun at this point of game. There are more dangerous uniques in Crawl that you definitely do not want to fight - at least not the first time you see them. I advise you to check descriptions on wiki or learndb to avoid unpleasant surprises like being paralyzed and then chopped by Rupert or getting banished by a single Louise's spell.

Your abyss encounter was potentially deadly even with BiA and you should have avoided the fight by using a scroll of teleport. It takes a while in abyss for teleportation to kick in, but you could run around in meanwhile to reduce damage from the dragon.

Take into account that brainlessness means halved speed. Temporary mutations clear once you get experience, but you should not want to get this experience from one of the stronger inhabitants of abyss... while at a half of normal speed.

By the way:

  Code:

MainiacJoe the Warrior (Minotaur Berserker)        Turns: 29103, Time: 04:35:32

HP  -3/100       AC 25     Str 22      XL: 15   Next: 73%
MP  17/17        EV 15     Int  0      God: Trog [******]
Gold 544         SH  0     Dex 16      Spells:  0 memorised, 14 levels left


This really makes me chuckle. Maybe MiBe should invest at least two points into intelligence?

[MainiacJoe]

Please confirm that I understand what happened: the INT loss from the wretched star was a malmutation, not a stat drain. The potion of restore abilities didn't work, but a potion of cure mutation might have if it had chosen "dopey" out of all the ones I was saddled with. In any case, with enough XP it would have gone away, similarly to how the Drain status goes away with XP.

I noticed in the log that I'd seen Sonja before. I'd popped up that stair, seen that it was a separate (and crowded!) area in Orc3, and gone right back down. Sonja apparently saw me then, and was waiting for me at the stairs the next time I went up after clearing 4. I never had an action on that floor before Sonja banished me—similar to the "Louise is cheating" thread, except this was my fault. So lesson learned: just because you find the other end of a staircase to be a situation you don't want to stay in, you aren't in any danger to x-v and Ctrl-P before your next keystroke to escape.

I've encountered Sonja one game previously, as a SpEn I stabbed her in her sleep. That's another way that SpEn wasn't teaching me good habits, because I didn't learn how uniques behave. As far as I'm concerned, this was a fun learning experience, and I'm on my next one—without the +11 sword lying around, alas.

I'm thinking that extra INT is a good idea, though perhaps not in the early game. My current character is lucky enough to have a hat of intelligence. Do you think 6 is enough cushion, assuming that you'll not choose to engage malmutators if at all possible until you have RMut?

[Psiweapon]

Your analysis seems sound.

One note: I don't think that +11 sword was just lying around, it must have been a gift from trog you didn't notice at the time.

A bit of advice: If you do no spellcasting, evocations is one of your biggest friends. Not only does it help with wands, but also with any other evokables. Read a scroll of acquirement and choose "staff" for a nearly-guaranteed rod (if you have no spellcasting or school skill levels)

[damiac]

A minor point of clarification: wretched stars inflict a special kind of mutation, it's not the same as malmutate.

Wretched star ability tries to stick 3 temporary (usually bad) mutations to you per cast, and I believe they don't need a line of fire for it to stick. Experience cures these (I've never tried cure mutation on them). Rmut does resist them normally, it seems.

Normal malmutate (Like from shining eyes, nexoqs, orbs of fire, etc) puts 1 usually bad mutation on you, needs a clear line of fire, and is only curable via cure mutations.

EDIT: Apparently I've been misusing LOS a lot, I meant line of fire, as Duvessa pointed out.

[duvessa]

They need LOS. They don't need line-of-fire though.

[Bart]

Safe stat level is discussable and everybody will tell you probably something different. 4 should be enough except Abyss and Tomb (due to high stat drain). 5 is better because it is enough to cover double -2 stat mutation (mutations take/give always two points of stat per level). Anything above 7 is rather unnecessary (-6 stat rings happen, but you should be able to uncurse them anyway). Bear in mind that 'safe' stat level depends on your inventory - do you have an amulet of resist mutation? potions of cure mutation? potions of restore abilities? a ring of sustain abilities? The more of these you have, the lower stat is needed.

A game where I didn't care about int and had no problems:
http://crawl.lantea.net/crawl/morgue/ba ... 151527.txt
A scary game where 4 int would be a death sentence:
http://crawl.develz.org/morgues/0.9/Bar ... 215338.txt

I noticed in the log that I'd seen Sonja before. I'd popped up that stair, seen that it was a separate (and crowded!) area in Orc3, and gone right back down.

At this point you should have excluded this staircase to avoid accidental use of it. You can put an exclusion (IIRC, cannot check right now) by pressing Shift+X, selecting the tile you want to exclude and pressing 'e' twice (third press will clear the exclusion).

[and into]

Unless it was changed, brainlessness also prevents scroll reading, and int drain tends to be the most common. So, although very unlikely, a cursed -int ring that takes you to brainless can be very bad for that reason. Not worth worrying about for the most part, but personally I'd rather just put a few points in intelligence early and be 100% sure I do not have to worry about it, rather than get a bit more EV and/or damage on a combination that is never lacking in AC+EV or damage output.

EDIT: vv Thx, didn't realize that. Good to know that you won't be completely screwed over just by trying on jewelry, so long as you are taking the usual precautions. Personally I still like throwing a few points into int if it is really low, just so I don't have to worry about bad luck with brain worms, a dopey mutation or two, etc.

[duvessa]

Scroll reading with brainless still succeeds 20% of the time.