CIP huge mess I got myself into

[ddubois]

http://crawl.berotato.org/crawl/morgue/ ... dubois.txt

I'm adjacent to a tentacled starspawn that has me constricted and the world's luckiest apocalypse crab, who managed to chain paralyze and petrify on me before I could quaff cancellation. (This is my fault. I was tabbing through some other stuff, and didn't make getting out of the clouds high enough priority.) I was lucky to wake up with 4HP.

• As I see it, I could Sanctuary, which the wiki says will break Constriction, but that has a 14% failure chance.
• I could try something with fan of gales or blink to get the monsters away from me. One turn is probably all I need to get a heal off; these are usually very easy monsters to tab through, so one heal is probably enough. I'm worried I'll Blink and the crab will immediately shoot a cloud that kills me. I'm not sure if his cloud shooting actually does damage though, or if it just makes debilitating clouds? I.e., I don't know if moving away from the monsters gives me a guaranteed chance to quaff a heal.
• I don't think merely quaffing healing right now is sufficient, because constriction ramps over time, right? So I'd probably heal and be back in the same place next turn?

As an aside, going forward, I need a cheat sheet to tell me when to use Recite, Vitalisation, or Imprison. I pretty much never use them.

[Airwolf]

I think Sanctuary is your best bet, but you die from constriction if it fails. Fan of gales might work: I don't use evokables enough, so hopefully someone else will weigh in.

Sanctuary is amazing. In my opinion, it was a strategic error to not have trained enough Invocations to have Sanctuary at 0–1% failure at this point in the game.

Recite is fantastic. Use it when there is a susceptible monster in LOS and you have breath. In practice, I use it when there are several susceptible monsters in LOS. Train Invocations all the way to 27 for maximum effect.

Use Vitalization when those annoying guys that give you sickness in the Abyss show up, and when fighting several high-level mummies in Tomb. If you don't have rPois, use Vitalization when poisoners show up. Etc.

Imprison I don't use enough.

[ddubois]

IRC said blink and fan could both fail, so I went straight for Sanctuary. I also found our Summon Monstrous Menagerie can/did break Sanctuary, but Summon Servitor didn't. I ended up having to blow a teleport, but made it out alive, and am training Invocations.

I have some interesting item choices:

b - the +5 ring mail of Vazuidih (worn) {rN+ Regen+ Str+4 SInv}
f - a +2 pair of boots (worn)
k - a +2 cloak of magic resistance (worn)
n - a +2 pair of gloves of dexterity (worn)
y - the +2 shield of Resistance (worn) {rF+ rC+ MR+}
E - the +1 hat of Words of Power (worn) {rElec rPois rF- MP+9}
q - +8 fire dragon scales {Xtahua}

Jewellery
z - the ring of Scepticism (right hand) {*Corrode rElec rPois rN+ Dex+5}
A - the amulet "Zeabemi" (around neck) {rF- MR+++ Regen+}
Q - a +4 ring of slaying (left hand)
j - an uncursed ring of wizardry
s - the ring of Oschiosus {rF+ Str+2 Dex+3}
v - the amulet of Abstinence {Regen+ Dex+4}
F - the ring of Jeamick {+Fly rN+ Str+4}

Lots of downsides to navigate.

[Cimanyd]

Use Vitalization when those annoying guys that give you sickness in the Abyss show up, and when fighting several high-level mummies in Tomb. If you don't have rPois, use Vitalization when poisoners show up. Etc.

Protects you from sickness, poison, confusion, petrification, rot and stat drain while active, and boosts your stats (up to +9 each, depending on Invoc skill).

With enough Invocations, Vitalization is like quaffing a potion of might, agility, and brilliance, but as spammable as Oka's Heroism. With 27 Invo it's a lot better than the potions. You should probably use it before every fight that matters just for the stat boosts. The rest is just a bonus: even if you have rPois, immunity > resistance; confusion immunity is always nice; petrification immunity might have been somewhat useful in OP's situation...

I agree with everything else you said.

OP, consider trying Zin out from the start of a game to learn. He's fun, and not actually bad in a 3-rune game despite his reputation as an extended god. Hill Orc is good for the Invo apt, as is Formicid if you want to play a Formicid. Recite at everything; train as much Invo as your weapon skill; maybe do Orc before Lair.

[Siegurt]

Use Vitalization when those annoying guys that give you sickness in the Abyss show up, and when fighting several high-level mummies in Tomb. If you don't have rPois, use Vitalization when poisoners show up. Etc.

Protects you from sickness, poison, confusion, petrification, rot and stat drain while active, and boosts your stats (up to +9 each, depending on Invoc skill).

With enough Invocations, Vitalization is like quaffing a potion of might, agility, and brilliance, but as spammable as Oka's Heroism. With 27 Invo it's a lot better than the potions. You should probably use it before every fight that matters just for the stat boosts. The rest is just a bonus: even if you have rPois, immunity > resistance; confusion immunity is always nice; petrification immunity might have been somewhat useful in OP's situation...

I agree with everything else you said.

OP, consider trying Zin out from the start of a game to learn. He's fun, and not actually bad in a 3-rune game despite his reputation as an extended god. Hill Orc is good for the Invo apt, as is Formicid if you want to play a Formicid. Recite at everything; train as much Invo as your weapon skill; maybe do Orc before Lair.

The smallest part of the potions is the stat bonus, but vitalization is pretty damn nice.

[Cimanyd]

The smallest part of the potions is the stat bonus,

Wow, I've spent months thinking all they did was +5 [stat].

might: +1d10 melee damage and 5 Strength.
agility: Provides temporary Dex, EV, and stealth bonuses.
brilliance: Temporarily increases intelligence and spell power, and provides a wizardry bonus.

I guess I should use them more often.