CIP - DEIE of Kikubaaqudgha

Friday, 9th December 2016, 11:14 by Dioneo

Chardump:

Code:: Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup version 0.19.1 (tiles) character file. Rioguimi the Thaumaturge (DEIE) Turns: 23997, Time: 00:58:02 Health: 69/69 AC: 8 Str: 5 XL: 12 Next: 43% Magic: 30/30 EV: 16 Int: 26 God: Kikubaaqudgha [*****.] Gold: 710 SH: 5 Dex: 15 Spells: 10 memorised, 2 levels left rFire . . . SeeInvis . M - +2 dagger (flame) rCold . . . Gourm . a - +0 robe rNeg . . . Faith + g - +0 buckler rPois . Spirit . s - +0 helmet rElec . Reflect . O - +1 cloak rCorr + Harm . (no gloves) MR ++... Y - +0 pair of boots Stlth ++........ k - amulet of faith w - ring of protection from magic Q - ring of resist corrosion @: no status effects A: slimy green scales 1 a: Receive Corpses, Torment, Renounce Religion You are on level 3 of the Lair of Beasts. You worship Kikubaaqudgha. Kikubaaqudgha is extremely pleased with you. You are not hungry. You have visited 3 branches of the dungeon, and seen 14 of its levels. You have collected 710 gold pieces. Inventory: Hand Weapons I - a +0 whip of flaming M - a +2 dagger of flaming (weapon) Armour a - a +0 robe (worn) g - a +0 buckler (worn) s - a +0 helmet (worn) O - a +1 cloak (worn) Y - a +0 pair of boots (worn) Jewellery k - an amulet of faith (around neck) l - the ring "Apoef" {-Tele rN+ MP+9 Stlth+} (You found it on level 3 of the Lair of Beasts) [ring of magical power] It protects you from negative energy. It affects your magic capacity (+9). It prevents most forms of teleportation. It makes you more stealthy. o - an uncursed ring of ice w - a ring of protection from magic (right hand) x - an uncursed ring of flight y - a +5 ring of strength z - an uncursed ring of protection from cold Q - a ring of resist corrosion (left hand) R - a ring of protection from magic Wands A - a wand of acid {zapped: 7} B - a wand of digging {zapped: 1} Scrolls d - a scroll of recharging e - a scroll of enchant weapon h - 2 scrolls of fog m - 3 scrolls of blinking n - 2 scrolls of fear q - 6 scrolls of remove curse D - 2 scrolls of teleportation F - 3 scrolls of magic mapping G - a scroll labeled DYOGHOJIOR V - a scroll labeled NAUWECH TAISHO X - a scroll labeled VAANLI VINALI Potions f - 2 potions of agility j - 9 potions of curing t - a potion of brilliance v - 3 potions of haste H - 3 potions of heal wounds J - a potion of flight S - a viscous purple potion U - a potion of might Books b - a book of Frost Spells Type Level a - Freeze Ice 1 b - Throw Frost Conjuration/Ice 2 c - Ozocubu's Armour Charms/Ice 3 d - Throw Icicle Conjuration/Ice 4 e - Summon Ice Beast Ice/Summoning 4 C - Kikubaaqudgha's Volume of Unholy Rites (Kikubaaqudgha gifted it to you on level 8 of the Dungeon) Spells Type Level a - Animate Skeleton Necromancy 1 b - Corpse Rot Necromancy 2 c - Sublimation of Blood Necromancy 2 d - Regeneration Charms/Necromancy 3 e - Control Undead Necromancy 4 K - a book of Callings Spells Type Level a - Summon Small Mammal Summoning 1 b - Call Imp Summoning 2 c - Call Canine Familiar Summoning 3 d - Summon Guardian Golem Hexes/Summoning 3 e - Summon Lightning Spire Summoning/Air 4 f - Summon Ice Beast Ice/Summoning 4 N - Kikubaaqudgha's Compendium of Black Arts (Kikubaaqudgha gifted it to you on level 9 of the Dungeon) Spells Type Level a - Agony Necromancy 5 b - Cigotuvi's Embrace Necromancy 5 c - Dispel Undead Necromancy 5 d - Simulacrum Ice/Necromancy 6 e - Death Channel Necromancy 6 P - a Young Poisoner's Handbook Spells Type Level a - Sting Conjuration/Poison 1 b - Mephitic Cloud Conjuration/Poison/Air 3 c - Olgreb's Toxic Radiance Poison 4 d - Alistair's Intoxication Transmutation/Poison 5 e - Venom Bolt Conjuration/Poison 5 Comestibles c - 6 bread rations p - 12 fruits T - 8 slices of pizza Z - 2 meat rations Skills: + Level 5,8 Fighting + Level 6,4 Dodging - Level 2,4 Stealth - Level 4,0 Shields - Level 12,0 Spellcasting - Level 8,4 Conjurations - Level 5,7 Charms - Level 4,0 Summonings * Level 11,5 Necromancy + Level 9,6 Ice Magic You have 2 spell levels left. You know the following spells: Your Spells Type Power Failure Level Hunger a - Freeze Ice #### 1% 1 None b - Throw Frost Conj/Ice ###### 1% 2 None c - Throw Icicle Conj/Ice ######.. 1% 4 None d - Summon Ice Beast Ice/Summ ######.. 2% 4 None e - Animate Skeleton Necr N/A 1% 1 None f - Corpse Rot Necr N/A 1% 2 None g - Regeneration Chrm/Necr ######.... 1% 3 None h - Agony Necr ######.. 1% 5 ###.... i - Dispel Undead Necr ######.. 1% 5 ###.... j - Simulacrum Ice/Necr ######.... 10% 6 #####.. Dungeon Overview and Level Annotations Branches: Dungeon (10/15) Temple (1/1) D:4 Lair (3/6) D:10 Shoals (0/4) Lair:2 Spider (0/4) Lair:2 Orc (0/2) D:10 Altars: Ashenzari Cheibriados Dithmenos Elyvilon Fedhas Gozag Hepliaklqana Kikubaaqudgha Makhleb Nemelex Xobeh Okawaru Qazlal Ru Sif Muna Trog Uskayaw Vehumet Xom Yredelemnul Zin The Shining One Annotations: Lair:3 exclusion: 2 oklob plants Innate Abilities, Weirdness & Mutations You are partially covered in slimy green scales. (AC +2) Message History Aim: a crocodile (almost dead) The shard of ice hits the crocodile. You kill the crocodile! Kikubaaqudgha accepts your kill. You start resting. You are feeling very hungry. You start resting. Magic restored. You start eating the beef jerky. That beef jerky was delicious! Okay, then. There is a stone staircase leading down here. You hit the plant but do no damage. A spiny frog comes into view. The spiny frog moves out of view. Partly explored, can't reach some places. Move the cursor to view the level map, or type ? for a list of commands. Returning to the game... There is a stone staircase leading down here. Saving game... please wait. ##.#.##...##......#.###.P..## ..........##........# .PP.P# ...?....#..#........# PP...# .......##.........#.#P.P..P# .?...?.##...###..#..#P#P..## .......##...........###...# ...?........#.#.#...# ..........###.......# ###..#......#.....#.# ##....##........#.P.# ##.....##.....@.#...# ..##.P...##.......P.# ............#####.#.# #.P.##.......#..##..# ######..............# #..............# #######.##....####Z.# #P.P#PP.####### #..# ........## ##Z.# ..P...".P# #.Z.# There are no monsters in sight! Vanquished Creatures 2 hydras Pikel (D:8) A manticore (D:10) A siren (Lair:2) 2 elephants (Lair:3) 2 black mambas 2 spiny frogs A gargoyle (D:10) The ghost of Coobruado the Slasher, a novice DsGl (D:5) A komodo dragon (Lair:1) 2 trolls A two-headed ogre (D:10) A hornet (D:10) 4 hippogriffs 2 redbacks (Lair:2) A wraith (D:10) 7 yaks 3 basilisks 2 hungry ghosts 2 wargs (D:10) Duvessa (D:5) 6 water moccasins 5 porcupines 4 slaves 4 orc warriors 2 sky beasts 2 black bears A phantom (D:7) 2 ice beasts 6 ogres 5 wolves (Lair:3) 5 centaurs 7 crocodiles A big kobold (D:8) 10 bullfrogs Dowan (D:5) A scorpion (D:5) 15 killer bees 6 howler monkeys 3 wights (D:7) 4 crimson imps 3 bullfrog zombies A quasit (D:8) 10 orc priests 7 hounds Crazy Yiuf (D:7) A bullfrog skeleton (D:9) 15 orc wizards 2 iguanas 9 worker ants 4 hound skeletons A worker ant zombie (D:7) 4 gnolls (D:3) 13 adders 2 shadow imps 3 oozes An adder zombie (D:5) 2 adder skeletons 3 worms 4 dart slugs 7 leopard geckos 48 orcs A ball python (D:1) 3 giant cockroaches 6 goblins 10 hobgoblins 18 jackals 14 kobolds 11 quokkas 7 bats 2 frilled lizards A giant cockroach zombie (D:5) A jackal skeleton (D:9) 2 leopard gecko skeletons 3 quokka skeletons 15 rats 365 creatures vanquished. Vanquished Creatures (collateral kills) 2 hydras (Lair:2) 3 elephants (Lair:3) 3 spiny frogs A rime drake (Lair:2) 2 komodo dragons A redback (Lair:2) A wyvern (Lair:3) 6 yaks (Lair:3) A basilisk (Lair:3) A warg (D:10) A water moccasin (Lair:2) An orc warrior (D:9) A crocodile (Lair:3) A hound (D:9) 4 fungi 29 creatures vanquished. Vanquished Creatures (others) A worm (D:2) 8 bushes (Lair:3) 7 fungi 2 plants (Lair:3) 18 creatures vanquished. Grand Total: 412 creatures vanquished Notes Turn | Place | Note -------+----------+------------------------------------------- 0 | D:1 | Rioguimi the Deep Elf Ice Elementalist began the quest for the Orb. 0 | D:1 | Reached XP level 1. HP: 10/10 MP: 6/6 29 | D:1 | Reached XP level 2. HP: 8/15 MP: 0/8 227 | D:1 | Learned a level 2 spell: Throw Frost 665 | D:1 | Reached XP level 3. HP: 19/19 MP: 6/10 896 | D:1 | Reached skill level 4 in Spellcasting 1644 | D:2 | Found a sacrificial altar of Ru. 1757 | D:2 | Reached XP level 4. HP: 24/24 MP: 1/12 1843 | D:2 | Learned a level 4 spell: Throw Icicle 2215 | D:2 | Found a radiant altar of Vehumet. 2359 | D:2 | Found a shimmering altar of Xom. 2899 | D:3 | Reached skill level 5 in Spellcasting 2899 | D:3 | Reached XP level 5. HP: 28/28 MP: 5/14 3496 | D:3 | Reached skill level 5 in Ice Magic 3950 | D:4 | Reached XP level 6. HP: 32/32 MP: 1/16 4231 | D:4 | Found a staircase to the Ecumenical Temple. 4243 | Temple | Entered the Ecumenical Temple 5571 | D:5 | Entered Level 5 of the Dungeon 5593 | D:5 | Noticed Dowan 5594 | D:5 | Noticed Duvessa 5608 | D:5 | Reached skill level 6 in Spellcasting 5617 | D:5 | Noticed Coobruado's ghost (novice DsGl) 6732 | D:5 | Reached XP level 7. HP: 36/36 MP: 9/18 6917 | D:5 | Killed Duvessa 7083 | D:5 | Reached skill level 7 in Spellcasting 7315 | D:5 | Reached skill level 5 in Conjurations 7360 | D:5 | Killed Dowan 7576 | D:5 | HP: 1/36 [Coobruado's ghost (9)] 7694 | D:4 | Reached XP level 8. HP: 18/41 MP: 12/21 7976 | D:5 | Noticed a moth of wrath 7981 | D:5 | Found a bloodstained altar of Trog. 8304 | D:5 | Killed Coobruado's ghost 8983 | D:6 | Reached skill level 1 in Shields 9142 | D:6 | Found a shattered altar of Ashenzari. 9213 | D:6 | Learned a level 4 spell: Summon Ice Beast 9462 | D:6 | Reached skill level 1 in Summonings 9771 | D:6 | Found a glowing golden altar of the Shining One. 9773 | D:6 | Found a shattered altar of Ashenzari. 9960 | D:6 | Found an ancient bone altar of Kikubaaqudgha. 9963 | D:6 | Found a basalt altar of Yredelemnul. 9964 | D:6 | Found a shadowy altar of Dithmenos. 10228 | D:7 | Noticed a troll 10230 | D:7 | Killed a troll 10230 | D:7 | Reached XP level 9. HP: 45/45 MP: 13/22 11563 | D:6 | Became a worshipper of Kikubaaqudgha 11901 | D:7 | Reached skill level 1 in Necromancy 12437 | D:7 | Gained mutation: You are partially covered in slimy green scales. (AC +2) [potion of beneficial mutation] 12567 | D:7 | Found a runed door. 12571 | D:7 | Noticed Crazy Yiuf 12572 | D:7 | Killed Crazy Yiuf 12572 | D:7 | Reached skill level 8 in Spellcasting 12842 | D:8 | Reached * piety under Kikubaaqudgha 12842 | D:8 | Identified Kikubaaqudgha's Volume of Unholy Rites (Kikubaaqudgha gifted it to you on level 8 of the Dungeon) 12842 | D:8 | Received a gift from Kikubaaqudgha 12997 | D:7 | Learned a level 1 spell: Animate Skeleton 13000 | D:7 | Learned a level 2 spell: Corpse Rot 13004 | D:7 | Learned a level 3 spell: Regeneration 13316 | D:7 | Reached XP level 10. HP: 50/50 MP: 11/24 13886 | D:8 | Noticed Pikel 13891 | D:8 | Killed Pikel 13891 | D:8 | Reached skill level 1 in Fighting 13990 | D:8 | Reached ** piety under Kikubaaqudgha 14399 | D:8 | Found a glowing silver altar of Zin. 14530 | D:8 | Reached skill level 9 in Spellcasting 15680 | D:9 | Reached skill level 5 in Necromancy 15887 | D:9 | Reached *** piety under Kikubaaqudgha 15887 | D:9 | Identified Kikubaaqudgha's Compendium of Black Arts (Kikubaaqudgha gifted it to you on level 9 of the Dungeon) 15887 | D:9 | Received a gift from Kikubaaqudgha 15923 | D:9 | Learned a level 5 spell: Agony 16772 | D:9 | Learned a level 5 spell: Dispel Undead 16774 | D:10 | Entered Level 10 of the Dungeon 16922 | D:10 | Reached skill level 5 in Charms 17450 | D:10 | Found a staircase to the Orcish Mines. 17478 | D:10 | Noticed a gargoyle 17481 | D:10 | Killed a gargoyle 17481 | D:10 | Reached skill level 10 in Spellcasting 17686 | D:10 | Reached XP level 11. HP: 60/60 MP: 15/27 17694 | D:10 | Reached **** piety under Kikubaaqudgha 17887 | D:10 | Found a staircase to the Lair. 18786 | D:10 | Found a deep blue altar of Sif Muna. 19024 | Lair:1 | Entered Level 1 of the Lair of Beasts 19035 | Lair:1 | Noticed a five-headed hydra 19060 | Lair:1 | Killed a five-headed hydra 19677 | Lair:1 | Found a sparkling altar of Nemelex Xobeh. 20515 | Lair:2 | Reached skill level 11 in Spellcasting 20833 | Lair:2 | Noticed a six-headed hydra 20851 | Lair:2 | Killed a six-headed hydra 21044 | Lair:2 | Found a hole to the Spider Nest. 21415 | Lair:2 | Noticed a six-headed hydra 21419 | Lair:2 | Killed a six-headed hydra 21419 | Lair:2 | Reached skill level 10 in Necromancy 21597 | Lair:2 | Reached skill level 5 in Dodging 21670 | Lair:2 | Reached skill level 5 in Fighting 21733 | Lair:2 | Found a staircase to the Shoals. 21924 | Lair:3 | Noticed an oklob plant 21960 | Lair:3 | Noticed an oklob plant 22088 | Lair:3 | Reached XP level 12. HP: 68/68 MP: 20/29 22612 | Lair:3 | Reached ***** piety under Kikubaaqudgha 23156 | Lair:3 | Noticed a four-headed hydra 23159 | Lair:3 | Killed a four-headed hydra 23270 | Lair:3 | Got a clouded glass ring 23273 | Lair:3 | Identified the ring "Apoef" {-Tele rN+ MP+9 Stlth+} (You found it on level 3 of the Lair of Beasts) 23366 | Lair:3 | Reached skill level 12 in Spellcasting 23572 | Lair:2 | Learned a level 6 spell: Simulacrum Skill XL: | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 | ---------------+-------------------------------------+----- Ice Magic | 4 5 7 8 9 | 9,6 Spellcasting | 4 5 6 7 8 10 11 12 | 12,0 Conjurations | 2 3 4 5 7 8 | 8,4 Shields | 2 4 | 4,0 Summonings | 2 4 | 4,0 Necromancy | 2 6 10 11 | 11,5 Fighting | 3 5 | 5,8 Charms | 5 | 5,7 Dodging | 5 6 | 6,4 Stealth | | 2,4 Action | 1- 3 | 4- 6 | 7- 9 | 10-12 || total -------------------------+-------+-------+-------+-------++------- Melee: Club | 5 | | | || 5 Unarmed | 1 | | | || 1 Whip | 8 | 14 | | 2 || 24 Quarterstaff | | 4 | | || 4 Dagger | | 20 | 23 | 27 || 70 Cast: Freeze | 19 | 35 | 18 | 10 || 82 Throw Frost | 40 | 72 | 27 | 1 || 140 Throw Icicle | | 20 | 150 | 272 || 442 Animate Skeleton | | | | 72 || 72 Regeneration | | | | 8 || 8 Agony | | | | 18 || 18 Summon Ice Beast | | | | 11 || 11 Corpse Rot | | | | 1 || 1 Simulacrum | | | | 3 || 3 Invok: Receive Corpses | | | | 6 || 6 Evoke: Wand | | | 2 | 3 || 5 Use: Scroll | | 11 | 5 | 10 || 26 Potion | | | 4 | 2 || 6 Stab: Sleeping | 1 | 1 | 1 | || 3 Eat: Chunk | 3 | 11 | 17 | 26 || 57 Fruit | | 3 | | || 3 Meat ration | | 1 | 3 | 1 || 5 Pizza | | 1 | | || 1 Beef jerky | | | | 2 || 2 Bread ration | | | | 1 || 1 Royal jelly | | | | 1 || 1 Armor: Robe | 1 | 20 | 18 | 20 || 59 Skin | | | 9 | || 9 Dodge: Dodged | 19 | 85 | 36 | 59 || 199 Block: Buckler | | | 10 | 24 || 34

I'm not too experienced with spellcasters so would appreciate some help with this one going forward. Thought Kikubaaqudgha was a good fit for an Ice Elementalist, I'm halfway through lair, just about got simulacrum online and wondering how to proceed. Which spells should I be looking to get going forward? What kind of defenses should I be shooting for? What should be my skilling strategy? Is it worth it to get into some kind of armour as a Deep Elf? What are my strategies for the endgame, in terms of which runes to get and such?

Thanks.

Friday, 9th December 2016, 14:05 by le_nerd

Simulacrum pretty much can win you game by itself. You definitely want higher defenses than you have now, train a bunch of dodging. Would stop training spellcasting skills for a bit until you have 11-ish dodging and better fighting.

Other spells to look out for reanimate dead to use with corpse drop; death channel is very much worthwhile; something to get your first death monsters to get the undead cycle rolling. Bolt of draining/cold eg.

As for robe vs armour: most chars that cast a lot of spells are better of with robe of archmagi for spellpower boost. However necromancer is one of the exceptions; many good necromancer spells are not depended on spellpower. So if you find a good +3 leather armour of fire resistance or somesuch use that.

Edit: you ask for lategame strategies. It looks like this: go down a level. Use corpse offering 2-3 times, cast animate dead/simulacrum, cast death channel, mop up level. In terms of runes spider is much easier than shoals, but beware of Tarantellas (confuse you) and invisible mana-draining ghost moths (You feel like something is watching you).

Saturday, 10th December 2016, 11:20 by Dioneo

Thanks for the advice; managed to clear lair, but died in Orc when I got swarmed. Not sure what I could have done to avoid it. My simulacra died fairly quickly and I didn't have time to replenish them before getting surrounded by orcs, didn't really have any reliable means of escape, nor any good ways of dealing with several enemies at once. Any ideas for next time?

Saturday, 10th December 2016, 12:10 by Turukano

Dioneo wrote:I'm not too experienced with spellcasters so would appreciate some help with this one going forward. Thought Kikubaaqudgha was a good fit for an Ice Elementalist

In my opinion playing with Kiku and/or starting as necromancer will not lead to a pure spellcaster - in contrast to e.g. a conjurer of Sif or Vehumet. Chars relying on necromancy look for a more hybrid playstyle. Classical hybrid combos are MfIE or HONe due to good ice magic (Mf) or necro (HO) apts.

Saturday, 10th December 2016, 19:41 by severen

Turukano wrote:
Dioneo wrote:I'm not too experienced with spellcasters so would appreciate some help with this one going forward. Thought Kikubaaqudgha was a good fit for an Ice Elementalist

In my opinion playing with Kiku and/or starting as necromancer will not lead to a pure spellcaster - in contrast to e.g. a conjurer of Sif or Vehumet. Chars relying on necromancy look for a more hybrid playstyle. Classical hybrid combos are MfIE or HONe due to good ice magic (Mf) or necro (HO) apts.

I am not sure I agree fully with this for two reasons:

1) he started as IE which provides a solid ST damage ability and a solid damaging summon. While ice beasts start to die fast later on they always do solid damage.
2) kiku lets him summon corpses for tough stuff.

I agree that necro start probably should hybrid but IE with TI only needs to find Battlesphere to make TI + BS able to kill a large number of things single target wise. Additionally he can get Freezing Cloud for AOE and his simulacrum will be immune to the cloud. Freezing Cloud for example can clear most all deep elves in Elf1-3.

Basically he has a high likely hood of finding something to flesh out both AOE and Single target. Even just switching to fireball or iron shot is imminently doable although perhaps not the most XP efficient thing. MP might be a problem but Freezing Cloud and Summons/Necro are also inherently MP efficient so its not so bad.

A hybrid style with say a polearm for reaching is probably the way I would go, but I think its easily possible for a DE to be "pure" and kill lotsa stuff. It is a little trickier though.

But either way developing some melee prowess/toughness is not a bad idea and IE's Ozo armor helps with that too. But I do not believe its necessary, its just a valid option.

Saturday, 10th December 2016, 20:09 by severen

Dioneo wrote:Thanks for the advice; managed to clear lair, but died in Orc when I got swarmed. Not sure what I could have done to avoid it. My simulacra died fairly quickly and I didn't have time to replenish them before getting surrounded by orcs, didn't really have any reliable means of escape, nor any good ways of dealing with several enemies at once. Any ideas for next time?

So this is basically why Turkano was reccomending a hybrid style and following his reccomendation is probably the most straightfoward and reliable way to get farther with this setup at least in the short term. However it is possible to implement your original strategy but you basically have to play in a way that avoids or has an answer for the situation you got into which is basically one of your biggest weaknesses. If your pets start dying fast you have to run. When you are initially setting up your pets you need to do so with the idea that you may need to run. You need to make use of range/positioning and to order your pets into position so you can hang back. Its also good to have other support to help thin out large mobs such using Lightning spire or casting freezing cloud. And if you do not have these then you need to resign yourself a hit and run strategy to thin out mobs.

Sometimes you basically have to recognize the situation and come back later.

Its much more straight forward for say an FE start as "pure" caster on a god with MP regen. Spam fireball from range and then run when they get too close. Necro/summoner is considerably trickier but not really less powerful. It requires a better understanding of waht situations require you to run early. Basically if you are a point where all your summons are gone and you need to replenish them, then you really should have run a number of turns earlier. Pets are kind of a like a battle of armies in that things can be even and then very suddenly your side or their side goes downhill very fast. Three ice beasts on one ogre can kill an ogre incredibly fast, sending one ice beast at time can be completely fruitless as each one gets one shotted by the ogre. The way things play out for pets versus nukes is not nearly as obvious. Each guy lost on a side of the battle accelerates things. Nuking is more like a constant speed, you do an averge of X damage so you generally kill in Y nukes.

Let me put this another way that might be more useful. The word "decimate" in modern terms basically means you got rekt. But its actual origin is from Roman Legions as a punishment. When a century was deemed to have done something truly egregious (like running away when retreat was not called) they would get the punishment of decimation which was to summarily execute 1/10th of the century and then force them to fight in the next battle. Eliminating 1/10th of a century was enough casualties to have them be considered too low on strength to fight effectively. This was a two part punishment not only did 10% die, but the other 90% had to go into the next battle in a state likely to kill far more of them than normal because they were in a state that was considered high disadvantageous in a battle with a larger number of people. This is why it is synonymous with being destroyed. Yet 90% of them were still alive at least at first. This punishment was notorious but extremely rare because it was extremely wasteful. It was generally done for two fold reasons:

a) the century in its current state/reputation was not worthwhile (usually this was because if they were considered cowards no one want to work with them and its was better if they were all just dead than hampering other centuries moral and ability to work together)
b) if the century did survive when the odds were heavily stacked against them then they have basically proven themselves to be brave and hardass MOFOs and it has basically solved (a)

So consider merely losing 10% of your men was considered so disadvantageous such that overcoming it was considered heroic enough to overcome obvious (or at least widely acknowledged) cowardice. And in a fighting cowardice and desertion are a horrible stigma. Tangentially this is why reserve forces and their proper use is considered to be incredibly important in war/battles.

If your pets are getting "decimated" in the original sense of the word then things can often go downhill very very fast because each death of a pet accelerates the speed at which things are going bad. Your job is to control the nature of the battlefield (i.e. prepare it with freezing cloud) such that its the other side that is more likely get decimated and to either reinforce your guys with reserves quick enough that they are not routed or to run immeidately (always prepare a retreat with this in mind in everything you do).

Also in general I would reccomend always trying to get your EV to say 20 or so by the time you clear lair and get to Orc.

Saturday, 10th December 2016, 20:18 by Dioneo

Thanks for the tips! I always figured that IE was a hybrid-oriented background given that it's starting spell is melee range, it has an armour buff (which is only useful if you intend on getting hit since it also slows you down) and a summon. I was hoping that by going with DE and Kiku I could end up with a more casting-oriented character, but perhaps that was misguided. I've been getting fairly consistent with beating fighting-types and was looking to branch out, perhaps I should be looking for another start. I have beaten a DrCj, which ended up casting mostly fire spells, and a GrEE, but those have enough innate defenses that I could basically melee anything that got too close to me.

Sunday, 11th December 2016, 00:58 by severen

Dioneo wrote:Thanks for the tips! I always figured that IE was a hybrid-oriented background given that it's starting spell is melee range, it has an armour buff (which is only useful if you intend on getting hit since it also slows you down) and a summon. I was hoping that by going with DE and Kiku I could end up with a more casting-oriented character, but perhaps that was misguided. I've been getting fairly consistent with beating fighting-types and was looking to branch out, perhaps I should be looking for another start. I have beaten a DrCj, which ended up casting mostly fire spells, and a GrEE, but those have enough innate defenses that I could basically melee anything that got too close to me.

IE is versatile you can be hybrid/melee or pure caster. But for straight up nuking FE and Cj are more the style to go, I prefer Cj but fireball is such a solid spell for the whole game FE is attractive.

But for IE to be an "easy" start I would say you need to leverage the summoning which not everyone likes/is good at. For just straight up nuking things I would try FE or Cj. Throw Icicle is a better nuke than stone arrow so definitely not EE unless you really want petrify for some reason.

Freeze though I don't consider a melee/hybrid spell. Freeze never misses. This is important. Although its not much good against an Ogre neither are most of the other level 1 spells. Freeze just plain kills a lot of things fast enough that if you are level3+ it just works against stuff that does hit hugely hard. By the time you don't want to use freeze, throw icicle or summon ice beast can be online. If you want to kill an adder freeze is one of the best starter spells, yes it has no range but its basically almost guaranteed to kill it in a few rounds and slows it as well. So almost anyone can kill an adder before dying with freeze even on D1. Throw frost sucks and so does Throw flame. Both spells are actually worse than the level 1 spells in the book. Since freeze never misses it really does like twice the damage of throw frost for half the MP. Similar for flame tongue, it can miss but its more accurate and cheaper for similar damage. Freeze is amazing for some of the big early threats. Adders are easy and since freeze can't miss invisible Orc Wizards are quite killable if you know where they are. Most of the other first level spells will miss an invis orc wizard. You can usually burn down a worm before it kills you although I wouldn't do this until you have some HP.

If you are good enough to melee then you probably don't need freeze mostly anyway. It seems like a hybrid spell but its not its more of a guaranteed burn down. Ozo armor though is very nice for melee hybrid. Especially gargoyles.

CIP - DEIE of Kikubaaqudgha

CIP - DEIE of Kikubaaqudgha

Re: CIP - DEIE of Kikubaaqudgha

Re: CIP - DEIE of Kikubaaqudgha

Re:

Re: CIP - DEIE of Kikubaaqudgha

Re: CIP - DEIE of Kikubaaqudgha

Re: CIP - DEIE of Kikubaaqudgha

Who is online