CIP - DDEE - Just Entered Lair, what to train?

[Southpaw]

I've had a reasonably good start on this DDEE so far but I am looking for some skilling advice as I progress through the Lair. I have a few options available to me I think, but I'm not exactly certain how I should continue as I move deeper.

• Raise spellcasting to reduce hunger on LRD until I don't have to eat a whole yak every other casting
• Bring Invocations higher and rely on god powers to get me out of tougher situations
• Find a melee option and begin training a weapon skill
• Train Fighting and/or Armor/Dodging to round out my defenses, perhaps also bring Shields up to mitigate the buckler (which I believe the =wiz is more than handling right now)
• Focus on Earth Magic or Conjurations to increase the power of Stone Arrow and LRD
• Train Transmutations to bring Statue Form online
• Do something completely different that a better player will see that I do not.

My goal, as with all my games, is a 15 rune game. My general strategy when facing enemies is Swiftness + Stone Arrow to kill them while keeping my distance to minimize damage taken. Dealing with Elephants and Yaks has been somewhat annoying simply because I still don't have all that many castings of these spells available to me before running out of mana.

  Code:

 Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup version 0.12-a0-2841-ge7658ce (webtiles) character file.

Southpaw the Geomancer (DDEE)                      Turns: 11997, Time: 01:40:11

HP  81/81        AC  6     Str 11      XL: 11   Next: 21%
MP  26/26        EV 11     Int 23      God: Makhleb [*****.]
Gold 436         SH  7     Dex 13      Spells:  6 memorised, 14 levels left

Res.Fire  : . . .   See Invis. : .   r - orc dagger (venom)
Res.Cold  : . . .   Warding    : +   b - +0 robe (curse)
Life Prot.: + . .   Conserve   : .   H - +0 buckler
Res.Poison: .       Res.Corr.  : .   A - +1 helmet {Int+3}
Res.Elec. : .       Clarity    : .   (no cloak)
Sust.Abil.: . .     Spirit.Shd : .   (no gloves)
Res.Mut.  : .       Stasis     : .   G - +0 pair of elf boots
Res.Rott. : .       Ctrl.Telep.: .   p - amulet of warding
Saprovore : . . .   Flight     : .   x - ring of wizardry
                                     y - +1 ring of protection

@: non-regenerating, quite resistant to hostile enchantments, stealthy
A: damage resistance, recharge devices, sense surroundings 2, slow healing 3
a: Device Recharging, Minor Destruction, Lesser Servant of Makhleb, Major
Destruction, Greater Servant of Makhleb, Renounce Religion


You are on level 1 of the Lair of Beasts.
You worship Makhleb.
Makhleb is extremely pleased with you.
You are not hungry.

You have visited 3 branches of the dungeon, and seen 12 of its levels.

You have collected 416 gold pieces.

Inventory:

Hand weapons
 h - a +0,+2 sling
 m - a +0,+2 dwarven dagger
 r - an uncursed orcish dagger of venom (weapon)
Missiles
 i - 54 darts (quivered)
 u - 3 darts of flame
Armour
 b - a cursed +0 robe (worn)
 c - a +0 robe
 A - a +1 helmet of intelligence (worn)
 G - a +0 pair of elven boots (worn)
 H - a +0 buckler (worn)
Magical devices
 d - a wand of heal wounds (5)
 C - a wand of polymorph {zapped: 4}
 E - a wand of teleportation {zapped: 1}
Comestibles
 f - 5 bread rations
 g - 2 pears
 D - 3 chunks of yak flesh
Scrolls
 e - 2 scrolls of identify
 n - 2 scrolls of remove curse
Jewellery
 p - an amulet of warding (around neck)
 s - an uncursed ring of flight
 x - a ring of wizardry (right hand)
 y - a +1 ring of protection (left hand)
 F - an uncursed amulet of guardian spirit
Potions
 k - 4 potions of curing
 l - a potion of might
 o - 3 potions of speed
 q - 2 potions of restore abilities
 t - 2 potions of flight
 w - 2 potions of invisibility
 z - a potion of brilliance
 B - a potion of mutation
Books
 a - a book of Geomancy   
   
   Spells                             Type                      Level
   *Sandblast                         Earth                        1
   *Stoneskin                         Transmutation/Earth          2
   Passwall                           Transmutation/Earth          3
   *Stone Arrow                       Conjuration/Earth            3
   Petrify                            Transmutation/Earth          4
   *Lee's Rapid Deconstruction        Earth                        5
 j - a book of Air   
   
   Spells                             Type                      Level
   Shock                              Conjuration/Air              1
   *Swiftness                         Charms/Air                   2
   *Repel Missiles                    Charms/Air                   2
   Flight                             Charms/Air                   3
   Static Discharge                   Conjuration/Air              3
   Lightning Bolt                     Conjuration/Air              5
 v - a book of Transfigurations   
   
   Spells                             Type                      Level
   *Stoneskin                         Transmutation/Earth          2
   Polymorph                          Hexes/Transmutation          4
   Ice Form                           Ice/Transmutation            4
   Statue Form                        Transmutation/Earth          6
   Dragon Form                        Fire/Transmutation           7


   Skills:
 - Level 2.1 Dodging
 - Level 2.4 Stealth
 + Level 9.9 Spellcasting
 - Level 0.8 Transmutations
 - Level 14.7 Earth Magic
 - Level 8.7 Invocations


You have 14 spell levels left.
You know the following spells:

 Your Spells              Type           Power        Failure   Level  Hunger
a - Stone Arrow           Conj/Erth      ######.      1%          3    None
b - Sandblast             Erth           #######      0%          1    None
c - Stoneskin             Trmt/Erth      ######....   1%          2    None
d - Lee's Rapid Deconstr  Erth           #######...   1%          5    ####...
e - Swiftness             Chrm/Air       ###.......   5%          2    None
f - Repel Missiles        Chrm/Air       ###.......   5%          2    None


Dungeon Overview and Level Annotations

Branches:
Dungeon (10/27)            Temple (1/1) D:5             Orc (0/4) D:8
   Lair (1/8) D:9         

Altars:
Ashenzari
Cheibriados
Elyvilon
Fedhas
Kikubaaqudgha
Makhleb
Nemelex Xobeh
Okawaru
Sif Muna
Trog
Vehumet
Xom
Yredelemnul
Zin
the Shining One

Shops:
D:6: *

Annotations
D:8 Psyche


Innate Abilities, Weirdness & Mutations

You are resistant to damage.
You can recharge devices by infusing magical energy.
You passively map the area around you.
You do not heal naturally.


Message History

You kill the yak!
Makhleb accepts your kill.
You feel a little better.
You see here a yak corpse.
You offer a prayer to Makhleb.
Makhleb is extremely pleased with you.
You see here a yak corpse.
You offer a prayer to Makhleb.
The yak corpse flares red and disappears.
Makhleb is extremely pleased with you.
There is a staircase to the Lair here.
You start resting.
Magic restored.
You climb downwards. Welcome to the Lair of Beasts!
There is a staircase back to the Dungeon here.
Casting: Stone Arrow
Confirm with . or Enter, or press ? or * to list all spells.
Okay, then.
Char dumped successfully.
Saving game... please wait.

*        * *  ###
              ..###
           * ##.#. #
      *       ... .#
   ,   , *   ##.#.##
  ,, ,  ,,   #.@...#
     ,,.......#.#.##
    **  ..... ... .#
        ..#P,.#.#.*#
       *# # .......
           #.,#.# ##
           #. ...
           .  #.#,
        , ,   ...  *


There are no monsters in sight!

Notes
Turn   | Place    | Note
--------------------------------------------------------------
     0 | D:1      | Southpaw, the Deep Dwarf Earth Elementalist, began the quest for the Orb.
     0 | D:1      | Reached XP level 1. HP: 15/15 MP: 3/3
   736 | D:2      | Reached XP level 2. HP: 13/22 MP: 2/4
   930 | D:2      | Reached skill level 5 in Earth Magic
  1141 | D:2      | Reached XP level 3. HP: 28/28 MP: 6/6
  1146 | D:2      | Learned a level 3 spell: Stone Arrow
  1633 | D:3      | Found a blossoming altar of Fedhas.
  1675 | D:3      | Noticed an ogre
  1695 | D:3      | Killed an ogre
  1695 | D:3      | Reached skill level 7 in Earth Magic
  1695 | D:3      | Reached XP level 4. HP: 23/36 MP: 3/7
  1780 | D:3      | Noticed Grinder
  1787 | D:3      | Killed Grinder
  1787 | D:3      | Reached skill level 9 in Earth Magic
  1787 | D:3      | Reached XP level 5. HP: 17/42 MP: 3/8
  1787 | D:3      | Reached XP level 6. HP: 19/49 MP: 3/10
  1791 | D:3      | Learned a level 2 spell: Stoneskin
  1961 | D:3      | Noticed Jessica
  1965 | D:3      | Killed Jessica
  2451 | D:3      | Noticed Sigmund
  2516 | D:3      | Killed Sigmund
  2733 | D:3      | Reached XP level 7. HP: 44/55 MP: 9/13
  2889 | D:4      | Reached skill level 10 in Earth Magic
  3079 | D:4      | Upgraded the game from 0.12-a0-2818-g3f3e58e to 0.12-a0-2841-ge7658ce
  3350 | D:4      | Found a bloodstained altar of Trog.
  3378 | D:4      | Learned a level 5 spell: Lee's Rapid Deconstruction
  3580 | D:4      | Reached skill level 11 in Earth Magic
  4155 | D:5      | Entered Level 5 of the Dungeon
  4396 | D:5      | Reached XP level 8. HP: 25/62 MP: 3/16
  4489 | D:5      | Learned a level 2 spell: Swiftness
  4587 | D:5      | Found a staircase to the Ecumenical Temple.
  4684 | D:5      | Crayth: uh oh
  4686 | D:5      | Southpaw: what a jerk...
  4692 | D:5      | Crayth: already got swiftness to 10% nice
  4693 | D:5      | Southpaw: =wiz helps
  4693 | D:5      | Crayth: indeed
  4745 | D:5      | Southpaw: -_-
  5182 | D:5      | Found a basalt altar of Yredelemnul.
  5185 | D:5      | Reached skill level 12 in Earth Magic
  5392 | Temple   | Entered the Ecumenical Temple
  5604 | Temple   | Became a worshipper of Makhleb the Destroyer
  5742 | D:6      | Noticed Prince Ribbit
  5742 | D:6      | Noticed Edmund
  5754 | D:6      | Killed Edmund
  5780 | D:6      | Killed Prince Ribbit
  5780 | D:6      | Reached skill level 13 in Earth Magic
  6004 | D:6      | Gained mutation: You passively map the area around you. [level up]
  6004 | D:6      | Reached XP level 9. HP: 55/68 MP: 15/17
  6148 | D:6      | Acquired Makhleb's first power
  6171 | D:6      | Found Ofitacar's General Store.
  6282 | D:7      | Paralysed by a giant eyeball for 2 turns
  6293 | D:7      | Found a shimmering altar of Xom.
  6615 | D:7      | Found a white marble altar of Elyvilon.
  6741 | D:7      | Reached skill level 14 in Earth Magic
  6773 | D:7      | Found a deep blue altar of Sif Muna.
  6859 | D:8      | Acquired Makhleb's second power
  6859 | D:8      | Reached skill level 5 in Spellcasting
  7295 | D:8      | Found an ancient bone altar of Kikubaaqudgha.
  7383 | D:8      | Noticed Psyche
  7502 | D:8      | Noticed Blork the orc
  7509 | D:8      | Killed Blork the orc
  7533 | D:8      | Reached XP level 10. HP: 46/75 MP: 11/23
  7715 | D:8      | Acquired Makhleb's third power
  8081 | D:8      | Found a staircase to the Orcish Mines.
  8591 | D:8      | Reached skill level 1 in Invocations
  8817 | D:9      | Found a staircase to the Lair.
  9214 | D:9      | Reached skill level 5 in Invocations
  9652 | D:9      | Acquired Makhleb's fourth power
 10091 | D:9      | Found a glowing silver altar of Zin.
 10483 | D:9      | Reached XP level 11. HP: 81/81 MP: 15/25
 10818 | D:9      | Learned a level 2 spell: Repel Missiles
 11363 | D:9      | Found a shimmering altar of Xom.
 11730 | D:10     | Entered Level 10 of the Dungeon
 11911 | D:9      | Acquired Makhleb's fifth power
 11996 | Lair:1   | Entered Level 1 of the Lair of Beasts


Action                   |  1- 3 |  4- 6 |  7- 9 | 10-12 || total
-------------------------+-------+-------+-------+-------++-------
Melee: Dagger            |     7 |       |    32 |   137 ||   176
 Fire: Sling             |    10 |       |       |       ||    10
Throw: Dart              |    53 |    16 |    27 |       ||    96
 Cast: Sandblast         |    44 |    56 |   252 |    36 ||   388
       Stone Arrow       |       |       |    20 |   186 ||   206
       Stoneskin         |       |       |     6 |     1 ||     7
       Lee's Rapid Decon |       |       |     4 |    10 ||    14
       Swiftness         |       |       |     4 |     6 ||    10
Invok: Minor Destruction |       |       |       |     3 ||     3
 Abil: Device Recharging |       |       |       |     2 ||     2
Evoke: Wand              |     1 |     1 |     9 |     9 ||    20
  Use: Scroll            |     8 |     2 |    13 |     4 ||    27
       Potion            |       |     1 |     4 |     2 ||     7


[BlackSheep]

Since you're wearing a robe, you can remove the buckler's spellcasting penalty with only 1 level of Shields. (Or feel free to ignore it, as it's pretty negligible. So is the cost of 1 level of Shields in Lair, though.)

You should take a break from training Earth for a while. It's quite high already, as is Spellcasting. (You should round out Spellcasting to 10 for the extra MP.) Stone Arrow and LRD should get you through the majority of Lair. If you want to up Stone Arrow's power, you can do so much quicker by getting a handful of Conjurations levels. So yeah, defenses are probably next on the list.

You need to be efficient with your spells, so Yak packs should die to LRD, and the hunger shouldn't be a problem since a single Yak corpse should be enough to feed you back to satiated. If you want to use Greater Servant, 12-15 Invocations should be your target.

You might as well drop the amulet of guardian spirit anyplace. It's completely useless for a deep dwarf.

Edit: Don't ignore Petrify. It can be a very handy escape tool from things that are faster than you, or to block up a hallway with a monster. As a side benefit, you can cast LRD on a petrified monster for decent damage and a huge explosion.

[rebthor]

As Blacksheep said, you should stop training spellcasting. There's no real need to worry about feeding yourself in Lair since there are so many mobs that are made of food.

Train up some defenses and some invocations.

I would also pick up some weapon skill. Staves are pretty good so you can hope for a staff of earth / lajatang. Otherwise DD apts for axes are pretty good too.