YASD: DsMo died on Vault:5

[skyspire]

I thought I'd try a Demonspawn Monk for a change (for my 5th win). I found an early Nemelex altar so I figured I would try a win with this god, for once.

I didn't train weapons too much with this character to try and leave options open if I found an awesome randart. But as it stands now, I still am not sure what weapon to do, or to just focus on magic/evocations. I chose to use the great sword randart I found because it was pain branded and the high to hit meant I didn't have to train swords too much for it to be effective. ( i needed the magic resistance too) .. However I've not been using the 10 levels in necro for anything but regen. I do have animate dead (unlearned in the book of necromancy) but i've not found dispel undead yet. There is vampiric draining in that book too... but not sure how useful it will be for this guy.

My strategy this game was clearing Lair 1-8, then cleared Orc , then Elf 1-2 (and elf:3 but not vault area) ,then cleared down to D-16 (looking for poison resistance), then cleared Swamp 1-4 (got Swamp dragon armour there), Then cleared Snake 1-4, then cleared Elf:3, then Swamp rune, then snake rune.

I did find an unbranded bastard sword (and I have scroll of branding and 3 scrolls of enchant weapon 3, and other enchant weapon scrolls) So I can go bastard sword and buckler, or since I'm playing demonspawn, I could wait for a demon blade ( i already see an enchanted demon trident in the shop). This is a question I have. I heard that bastard swords do more damage than even a eudemon blade. But are demon blades wielded by demonspawn more damaging than a bastard sword because of the demonspawn bonus? Or should I just go with the bastard sword? The other thing to consider is the cool ring of slaying. I'm guessing a faster weapon would make the bonus more effective?

There are some pretty cool demonspawn mutations.. ignite blood feels pretty OP, but I guess it's pretty useless in extended. Demons don't bleed do they? or do they? Also, powered by death 3 is very useful, but again, there are not many corpses dropping in Pan.

Originally I went monk because I thought it likely i would get some kind of extra unarmed attack with ds, but since that never happened, I decided to use some nice spellbook drops. Mephitic Cloud really helped in Lair/Orc/Elf.. Later I got Freezing Cloud online, but I still need to put more points into that so I can use the staff of conjuration or staff of ice.

One of the spell books has tornado, too.. but that might be too challenging to get online. I recently found book of wizardry in Swamp 5 so, I can start training for haste also. Also have bolt of cold, but it is unlearned right now. Also I have OOD, so I definitely plan to train up conjurations for that and wield staff of conjurations.. OOD + ignite blood should create some mayhem.

I know if I focus on magic, vehumet or sif muna is the better god, but nemelex has been quite helpful, and I've not won with him yet.

So right now my dilemma is:

1) should I use the bastard sword or wait for a demon blade? Or maybe axes would be a better match because of ignite blood. If I brand the bastard sword, should I try for a frost brand or is just the standard brand more useful?
2) should I stay with nemelex or switch to vehumet
3) i'm a bit worried about the endgame and extended (mennas and holy wrath wielding foes are pretty scary to ds)
4) I am guessing I should definitely learn OOD, haste and maybe bolt of cold.. and train swords high enough to get to mindelay on bastard sword or whatever weapon I choose. Then put the rest of the points into fighting, maxing out damage on spells, and dodging. Any thoughts?

Lastly, I did find an amulet of rMut in a shop, but didn't buy it yet.

Thanks

  Code:

Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup version 0.14-a0-1650-g1c137f9 (webtiles) character file.

skyspire the Conjurer (Demonspawn Monk)            Turns: 56538, Time: 14:32:38

HP 133/133       AC 42     Str 13      XL: 19   Next:  7%
MP  32/32        EV 18     Int 16      God: Nemelex Xobeh [******]
Gold 1656        SH  0     Dex 19      Spells:  9 memorised,  5 levels left

rFire  + + .     SeeInvis .     j - +8,+2 great sword of Untimely Demise {pain, MR++}
rCold  + . .     Clarity  .     y - +6 swamp dragon armour
rNeg   . . .     Conserve .     (no shield)
rPois  +         rCorr    .     K - +2 hat of the Alchemist {rElec rF+ rC+ MR+}
rElec  +         rRot     .     G - +2 cloak
SustAb . .       Spirit   .     o - +2 pair of gloves {Dex+3}
rMut   .         Warding  .     x - +2 pair of boots of Gluttony {Str-1 Dex+2 Curse}
Gourm  +         Stasis   .     i - amulet of the gourmand
                                I - +5 ring of protection
                                B - +6,+5 ring of slaying

@: extraordinarily resistant to hostile enchantments, unstealthy
A: antennae 2, claws 1, rough black scales 3, conserve scrolls, fire resistance
1, ignite blood, powered by death 3
a: Draw One, Peek at Two, Triple Draw, Deal Four, Stack Five, Renounce Religion
}: 2/15 runes: decaying, serpentine


You are on level 1 of the Lair of Beasts.
You worship Nemelex Xobeh.
Nemelex Xobeh is exalted by your worship.
You are very full.

You have visited 6 branches of the dungeon, and seen 41 of its levels.
You have also visited: Labyrinth, Bailey and Ice Cave.

You have collected 4180 gold pieces.
You have spent 2498 gold pieces at shops.

Inventory:

Hand weapons
 j - the +8,+2 great sword of Untimely Demise (weapon) {pain, MR++}
   (You found it on level 4 of the Dungeon)   
   
   In the hands of one skilled in necromantic magic, it inflicts extra damage
   on living creatures.
   
   It affects your resistance to hostile enchantments.
 S - a +4 blowgun
Missiles
 M - 2 throwing nets (quivered)
 Q - 2 curare-tipped needles
Armour
 o - a +2 pair of gloves of dexterity (worn)
 x - the +2 pair of boots of Gluttony (worn) {Str-1 Dex+2 Curse}
   (You found it on level 3 of the Swamp)   
   
   It affects your strength (-1).
   It affects your dexterity (+2).
   It may recurse itself.
 y - a +6 swamp dragon armour (worn)
 G - a +2 cloak (worn)
 H - a +2 robe of resistance
 K - the +2 hat of the Alchemist (worn) {rElec rF+ rC+ MR+}
   (You bought it in a shop on level 4 of the Orcish Mines)   
   
   It protects you from fire.
   It protects you from cold.
   It insulates you from electricity.
   It affects your resistance to hostile enchantments.
Magical devices
 a - a wand of fire {zapped: 1}
 g - a wand of cold (7)
 h - a wand of digging (14)
 C - a wand of lightning
 L - a wand of hasting (7)
 O - a wand of polymorph (12)
 T - a wand of fire
Comestibles
 b - 13 bread rations
 z - a royal jelly
Scrolls
 f - 3 scrolls of teleportation
 k - 9 scrolls of remove curse
 q - a scroll of blinking
 s - 5 scrolls of identify
 t - 6 scrolls of magic mapping
 A - a scroll of fog
 R - 2 scrolls of fear
Jewellery
 i - an amulet of the gourmand (around neck)
 n - an uncursed amulet of warding
 p - an uncursed ring of protection from fire
 r - a cursed ring of teleportation
 u - the ring of Hymm {Wiz +Rage Str+2 Curse}
   (You took it off a deep elf death mage on level 3 of the Elven Halls)   
   
   [ring of wizardry]
   It affects your strength (+2).
   It lets you go berserk.
   It may recurse itself.
 v - an uncursed amulet of resist corrosion
 B - a +6,+5 ring of slaying (left hand)
 D - an uncursed ring of sustenance
 F - an uncursed ring of poison resistance
 I - a +5 ring of protection (right hand)
 J - an uncursed ring of invisibility
 V - the ring of the Cast Vote {+Rage MR++ SInv}
   (You found it on level 6 of the Lair of Beasts)   
   
   [ring of see invisible]
   It affects your resistance to hostile enchantments.
   It lets you go berserk.
Potions
 c - 2 potions of restore abilities
 d - 2 potions of resistance
 e - 2 potions of magic
 w - a potion of speed
 P - 4 potions of curing
Magical staves
 X - an uncursed staff of wizardry
Miscellaneous
 l - a lamp of fire
 m - a legendary deck of destruction {drawn: 8}
 E - a legendary deck of changes {drawn: 1}
 U - a legendary deck of escape {drawn: 1}
 W - a phial of floods (inert)
 Z - an ornate deck of destruction {drawn: 1}


   Skills:
 - Level 7.5 Fighting
   Level 5.0 Short Blades
 - Level 9.3 Long Blades
 - Level 6.0 Throwing
 - Level 7.0 Armour
 - Level 11.4 Dodging
 - Level 1.7 Stealth
 - Level 6.0 Unarmed Combat
 + Level 7.7 Spellcasting
 + Level 14.0 Conjurations
 - Level 4.3 Charms
 - Level 10.3 Necromancy
 - Level 11.0 Translocations
 - Level 11.6 Ice Magic
 - Level 9.1 Air Magic
 - Level 3.0 Poison Magic
 - Level 10.1 Evocations


You have 5 spell levels left.
You know the following spells:

 Your Spells              Type           Power        Failure   Level  Hunger
a - Mephitic Cloud        Conj/Pois/Air  ####....     1%          3    ##.....
b - Phase Shift           Tloc           #####.....   6%          5    #####..
d - Apportation           Tloc           #####.....   1%          1    None
f - Regeneration          Chrm/Necr      ####......   1%          3    ##.....
g - Animate Skeleton      Necr           N/A          1%          1    None
h - Control Teleport      Chrm/Tloc      ####......   8%          4    ####...
i - Freezing Cloud        Conj/Ice/Air   #####.....   17%         6    #######
j - Flight                Chrm/Air       ####......   2%          3    ##.....
k - Repel Missiles        Chrm/Air       ####......   1%          2    None


Dungeon Overview and Level Annotations

Branches:
Dungeon (16/16)            Temple (0/1) D:5             Orc (4/4) D:9
    Elf (3/3) Orc:3          Lair (8/8) D:9           Swamp (5/5) Lair:4
  Snake (5/5) Lair:3        Slime (0/6) Lair:7       Vaults (0/5) D:15
 Depths (0/6) D:16       

Altars:
Cheibriados
Elyvilon
Kikubaaqudgha
Nemelex Xobeh
Sif Muna
Trog
Vehumet
Xom
Zin
the Shining One

Shops:
D:6 *   D:10 *   D:13 *   D:16 (   Orc:4 (*[=   Elf:1 (   Elf:3 (
Snake:1 =   Snake:5 (

Portals:
Trove: D:14 (give 2 scrolls of acquirement)

Annotations:
D:8 exclusion: silver statue
Swamp:1 exclusion: Roxanne, Roxanne


Innate Abilities, Weirdness & Mutations

You have a pair of antennae on your head.
You are completely covered in rough black scales (AC +10, Dex -3).
You are very good at protecting items from fire.
Your flesh is heat resistant.
Your demonic aura causes spilled blood to erupt in flames.
You can steal the life force of all defeated enemies in sight.
You have sharp fingernails.


Message History

Save game and exit?
Welcome back, skyspire the Demonspawn Monk.
Nemelex Xobeh says: It's all in the cards!
Press ? for a list of commands and other information.
Welcome back, skyspire the Demonspawn Monk.
Nemelex Xobeh says: It's all in the cards!
Press ? for a list of commands and other information.
Char dumped successfully.
Saving game... please wait.
Welcome back, skyspire the Demonspawn Monk.
Nemelex Xobeh says: It's all in the cards!
Press ? for a list of commands and other information.
Put on which piece of jewellery? (? for menu, Esc to quit)
You're wearing all the rings you can. Remove which one?
(? for menu, Esc to cancel)
< or B - a +6,+5 ring of slaying; > or D - a ring of sustenance
You remove your ring of sustenance.
I - a +5 ring of protection (right hand)
Char dumped successfully.
Save game and exit?

                    ### ###
        ### ###   ###.###.##    #
   ######.###.#####..:.....######
   #.........==[%??[.............
####.##.###.=).):<|).............
............|/!??!}?......#..#...
......#####.....@..#......####...
.....#[##.#....?.###...[..##P....
.................................
...................[....######...
......####.......#######.#   #...
.....##  ##......#     ###   #.##
.....#   #.......###        ##.#P
.....#   ###..####.##       #....
.....#    #.........#      ##....


There are no monsters in sight!

Vanquished Creatures
  2 deep elf blademasters
  2 deep elf master archers (Elf:3)
  Rupert (Lair:8)
  Kirke (Snake:4)
  Donald (Snake:4)
  2 deep elf sorcerers (Elf:3)
  Aizul (Snake:5)
  Louise (Swamp:4)
  An orc warlord (Orc:4)
  8 greater nagas
  7 deep elf demonologists
  4 deep elf annihilators (Elf:3)
  Snorg (Elf:1)
  A minotaur (Lab)
  5 deep elf death magi (Elf:3)
  A vault guard (D:15)
  2 deep elf high priests (Elf:3)
  22 hydras
  Nessos (Orc:4)
  A ravenous item mimic (Snake:5)
  Erica (Lair:3)
  6 anacondas
  7 alligators
  A death yak (Lair:7)
  An ogre mage (D:16)
  39 naga warriors
  4 spectral elves (Elf:3)
  3 orc high priests (Orc:4)
  A catoblepas (Lair:6)
  Nergalle (D:12)
  3 centaur warriors
  9 deep elf knights
  3 sea snakes (Snake:3)
  A wizard (D:15)
  12 swamp dragons
  5 hill giants
  2 ice statues (IceCv)
  2 giant amoebae (Swamp:2)
  4 orc knights
  5 griffons
  An orc sorcerer (D:15)
  11 deep elf conjurers


[Siegurt]

There is vampiric draining in that book too... but not sure how useful it will be for this guy.

Not very, you'll probably be better whacking things at melee range most of the time, although vampiric draining is a pretty good spell, maybe mem it and use it for healing when things get hot and heavy?

I did find an unbranded bastard sword (and I have scroll of branding and 3 scrolls of enchant weapon 3, and other enchant weapon scrolls) So I can go bastard sword and buckler, or since I'm playing demonspawn, I could wait for a demon blade ( i already see an enchanted demon trident in the shop). This is a question I have. I heard that bastard swords do more damage than even a eudemon blade. But are demon blades wielded by demonspawn more damaging than a bastard sword because of the demonspawn bonus? Or should I just go with the bastard sword? The other thing to consider is the cool ring of slaying. I'm guessing a faster weapon would make the bonus more effective?

The pain artifact will do more damage than either one, adding a buckler would not increase your defenses significantly for the damage reduction. Ultimately if you were going to go with either a demon blade or bastard sword, the choice is pretty much up in the air, the demonspawn bonus is minimal, the difference between a bastard sword and a demon blade is insignificant (The demon blade swings more often for less damage per hit, but it all averages out the same.) Slaying rings are *slightly* more effective on faster weapons, but not enough that you should choose a faster weapon that's worse just because you have a slaying ring.

I'd stick with the pain weapon, and re-evaluate what you have available to enchant when you get around to doing branches where pain is largely ineffective. (Particularly since when pain becomes less effective so do shields, and you'll probably want to use a great sword or claymore of some variety in those areas anyway)

You'll probably find and be able to pick up some of the more useful Necromancy spells eventually, I wouldn't invest more points into the skill until you have spells to use with it.

Originally I went monk because I thought it likely i would get some kind of extra unarmed attack with ds,

Note that extra body-slot mutation attacks aren't effected by the unarmed combat skill, so there's no real reason to select monk particularly (The exception to this is offhand punch, should you happen to have claws)

1) should I use the bastard sword or wait for a demon blade? Or maybe axes would be a better match because of ignite blood. If I brand the bastard sword, should I try for a frost brand or is just the standard brand more useful?

See above

2) should I stay with nemelex or switch to vehumet

I wouldn't switch Nemelex is *very* powerful, and flexible, vehumet is great if you are solidly concentrated on conjurations, but with your "swiss army knife" style of training, having a focused god isn't as helpful.

3) i'm a bit worried about the endgame and extended (mennas and holy wrath wielding foes are pretty scary to ds)

Mennas is indeed a nasty customer for a demonspawn, should he appear, walk the other way and don't fight him, since there's literally no reward in it for you to do so. Holy wrath wielding foes are very very uncommon, should you somehow manage to end up in the holy pan level, just leave.

4) I am guessing I should definitely learn OOD, haste and maybe bolt of cold.. and train swords high enough to get to mindelay on bastard sword or whatever weapon I choose. Then put the rest of the points into fighting, maxing out damage on spells, and dodging. Any thoughts?

Pick one of "get more conjurations" or "Get sword to min delay" for now spreading your training out like that just makes you weaker, haste is excellent for spellcaster or melee-er, fighting and dodging are good things to train short term, as is stealth (avoiding fights is an excellent way to survive them) "maxing out damage on spells" is not a goal you should shoot for (That's something you do when you've got pretty much nothing else useful to train) Level 6 damage spells at <5% failure are sufficient, particularly when supplanted with good melee damage.

Lastly, I did find an amulet of rMut in a shop, but didn't buy it yet.

Having it on hand is good for Abyss/Pan/Slime if you're going anywhere you might be banished it'd probably be a good thing to have in your inventory.

Thanks

[skyspire]

thanks so much Siegurt. Thinking about it more, I'm tempted to switch to Kiku to get a better chance at dispel undead, and kiku's mummy curse protection would be great for tomb, and guaranteed Necronomicon will assure me getting Necromutation for extended.

[skyspire]

Cleared Vaults 1-4. Found a Necronomicon .. I definitely want to learn Necromutation, not sure how much necro I have to train for that though. The challenge with this build is not having enough xp to do all I want to do with it.

Also I found a lajatang of electrocution, which is probably the best weapon I've found this game. The slight problem is I have no stave training. I know the pain branded great sword is working good against living foes, but I'm painfully aware I will need a different weapon later.. for Crypt (still no dispel undead) and orbs of fire, ancient liches, demons, mummies, undead. I also found a bardiche of chopping but that's way too much skill investment to even consider for this guy.

I now have Robust 1 demonspawn mutation. I'm hoping Robust 2 comes along

1) I need more spell slots (I want haste, OOD, Necromutation)
2) I am considering training staves for the lajatang.. unless a claymore shows up. Is the lajatang worth it? I know mindelay on it is only skill 14. The question is, which is faster to train, staves from 0-14 skill or swords from level 12-18. (mindelay on great sword is 18) I'm assuming the former, but maybe I'm wrong.
3) Regarding what skills are priority right now, I am assuming Spellcasting, wear the randart wiz ring situationally so less magic training is needed, train Charms for haste, train Necro for necromutation + additional pain damage for the sword. Evocations for the decks and evokables. Dodging, fighting.
4) I have both the stave of cold and stave of conjuration -- I am assuming an enchanted lajatang of elec is the more damaging weapon than staff of cold (based on my present cold/evoc skills)
5) I also have Controlled Blink in my stash -- definitely plan to learn that too

I'll probably do Slime next, for the xp and the hope there is cool artifact weapons or armour in the loot there.

  Code:

Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup version 0.14-a0-1650-g1c137f9 (webtiles) character file.

skyspire the Destroyer (Demonspawn Monk)           Turns: 67869, Time: 17:28:50

HP 156/156 (161) AC 38     Str 14      XL: 20   Next: 85%
MP  31/34        EV 25     Int 17      God: Nemelex Xobeh [******]
Gold 1814        SH  0     Dex 17      Spells: 11 memorised,  1 level left

rFire  + + .     SeeInvis .     a - +8,+2 great sword of Untimely Demise {pain, MR++}
rCold  + . .     Clarity  .     y - +7 swamp dragon armour
rNeg   . . .     Conserve .     (no shield)
rPois  +         rCorr    .     K - +2 hat of the Alchemist {rElec rF+ rC+ MR+}
rElec  +         rRot     .     G - +2 cloak
SustAb . .       Spirit   .     o - +2 pair of gloves {Dex+3}
rMut   .         Warding  .     N - +2 pair of boots "Aplalias" {MR++}
Gourm  +         Stasis   .     i - amulet of the gourmand
                                D - ring of sustenance
                                B - +6,+5 ring of slaying

@: repel missiles, phasing, extraordinarily resistant to hostile enchantments,
unstealthy
A: antennae 2, rough black scales 3, conserve scrolls, fire resistance 1, ignite
blood, powered by death 3, robust 1
a: Draw One, Peek at Two, Triple Draw, Deal Four, Stack Five, Renounce Religion
}: 2/15 runes: decaying, serpentine


You are on level 2 of the Vaults.
You worship Nemelex Xobeh.
Nemelex Xobeh is exalted by your worship.
You are very full.

You have visited 7 branches of the dungeon, and seen 45 of its levels.
You have also visited: Labyrinth, Bailey, Ice Cave and Wizlab.

You have collected 4938 gold pieces.
You have spent 3098 gold pieces at shops.

Inventory:

Hand weapons
 a - a +4,+2 bardiche of chopping (weapon)
 j - the +8,+2 great sword of Untimely Demise {pain, MR++}
   (You found it on level 4 of the Dungeon)   
   
   In the hands of one skilled in necromantic magic, it inflicts extra damage
   on living creatures.
   
   It affects your resistance to hostile enchantments.
Armour
 o - a +2 pair of gloves of dexterity (worn)
 y - a +7 swamp dragon armour (worn)
 G - a +2 cloak (worn)
 K - the +2 hat of the Alchemist (worn) {rElec rF+ rC+ MR+}
   (You bought it in a shop on level 4 of the Orcish Mines)   
   
   It protects you from fire.
   It protects you from cold.
   It insulates you from electricity.
   It affects your resistance to hostile enchantments.
 N - the +2 pair of boots "Aplalias" (worn) {MR++}
   (You found it on level 1 of the Vaults)   
   
   It affects your resistance to hostile enchantments.
Magical devices
 g - a wand of cold (5)
 h - a wand of digging (13)
 x - a wand of teleportation {zapped: 1}
 L - a wand of hasting (6)
 O - a wand of polymorph (12)
Comestibles
 b - 12 bread rations
 z - a royal jelly
Scrolls
 k - 6 scrolls of remove curse
 m - a scroll of summoning
 s - 3 scrolls of identify
 t - 5 scrolls of magic mapping
 A - a scroll of fog
 R - 2 scrolls of fear
Jewellery
 i - an amulet of the gourmand (around neck)
 n - an uncursed amulet of warding
 p - an uncursed ring of protection from fire
 r - a cursed ring of teleportation
 u - the ring of Hymm {Wiz +Rage Str+2 Curse}
   (You took it off a deep elf death mage on level 3 of the Elven Halls)   
   
   [ring of wizardry]
   It affects your strength (+2).
   It lets you go berserk.
   It may recurse itself.
 v - an uncursed amulet of resist corrosion
 B - a +6,+5 ring of slaying (left hand)
 D - a ring of sustenance (right hand)
 H - an uncursed amulet of resist mutation
 I - a +5 ring of protection
 J - an uncursed ring of invisibility
 V - the ring of the Cast Vote {+Rage MR++ SInv}
   (You found it on level 6 of the Lair of Beasts)   
   
   [ring of see invisible]
   It affects your resistance to hostile enchantments.
   It lets you go berserk.
Potions
 c - 2 potions of restore abilities
 e - 3 potions of magic
 P - a potion of curing
 U - a potion of agility
 Z - 2 potions of resistance
Magical staves
 M - an uncursed staff of conjuration
Miscellaneous
 d - a legendary deck of summonings {drawn: 10}
 f - a legendary deck of destruction {drawn: 1}
 l - a lamp of fire (inert)
 q - an ornate deck of destruction {drawn: 1}
 w - a phial of floods
 C - an ornate deck of escape {drawn: 1}
 E - a legendary deck of changes {drawn: 2}
 F - a legendary deck of destruction {drawn: 4}
 Q - a disc of storms
 S - a phial of floods
 T - a legendary deck of summonings {drawn: 1}
 W - a phial of floods
 X - an ornate deck of escape {drawn: 1}
 Y - a stone of tremors


   Skills:
 - Level 10.0 Fighting
   Level 5.0 Short Blades
 + Level 11.9 Long Blades
 - Level 6.0 Throwing
 - Level 7.0 Armour
 - Level 11.4 Dodging
 - Level 2.0 Stealth
 - Level 6.0 Unarmed Combat
 - Level 8.0 Spellcasting
 - Level 16.0 Conjurations
 - Level 9.8 Charms
 - Level 10.3 Necromancy
 - Level 11.0 Translocations
 - Level 11.6 Ice Magic
 - Level 9.2 Air Magic
 - Level 3.0 Poison Magic
 - Level 10.1 Evocations


You have one spell level left.
You know the following spells:

 Your Spells              Type           Power        Failure   Level  Hunger
a - Mephitic Cloud        Conj/Pois/Air  #####...     1%          3    ##.....
b - Phase Shift           Tloc           #####.....   3%          5    #####..
c - Animate Dead          Necr           N/A          1%          4    ###....
d - Apportation           Tloc           #####.....   1%          1    None
e - Blink                 Tloc           N/A          1%          2    None
f - Regeneration          Chrm/Necr      #####.....   1%          3    ##.....
g - Animate Skeleton      Necr           N/A          1%          1    None
h - Control Teleport      Chrm/Tloc      #####.....   1%          4    ###....
i - Freezing Cloud        Conj/Ice/Air   #####.....   14%         6    ######.
j - Flight                Chrm/Air       #####.....   1%          3    ##.....
k - Repel Missiles        Chrm/Air       #####.....   1%          2    None


Dungeon Overview and Level Annotations

Branches:
Dungeon (16/16)            Temple (0/1) D:5             Orc (4/4) D:9
    Elf (3/3) Orc:3          Lair (8/8) D:9           Swamp (5/5) Lair:4
  Snake (5/5) Lair:3        Slime (0/6) Lair:7       Vaults (4/5) D:15
  Blade (0/1) Vaults:3      Crypt (0/5) Vaults:3     Depths (0/6) D:16

Altars:
Cheibriados
Elyvilon
Kikubaaqudgha
Nemelex Xobeh
Sif Muna
Trog
Vehumet
Xom
Zin
the Shining One

Shops:
D:6 *   D:10 *   D:13 *   D:16 (   Orc:4 (*[=   Elf:1 (   Elf:3 (
Snake:1 =   Snake:5 (   Vaults:1 }   Vaults:3 (   Vaults:4 /(!

Portals:
Trove: D:14 (give 2 scrolls of acquirement)

Annotations:
D:8 exclusion: silver statue
Swamp:1 exclusion: Roxanne, Roxanne


Innate Abilities, Weirdness & Mutations

You have a pair of antennae on your head.
You are completely covered in rough black scales (AC +10, Dex -3).
You are very good at protecting items from fire.
Your flesh is heat resistant.
Your demonic aura causes spilled blood to erupt in flames.
You can steal the life force of all defeated enemies in sight.
You are robust (+10% HP).


Message History

Things that are here:
a runed bardiche; a plate armour
There are several objects here.
Pick up a runed bardiche? ((y)es/(n)o/(a)ll/(m)enu/*?g,/q)
You can't carry that many items.
Drop what? (_ for help) (? for menu, Esc to quit)
You drop 2 scrolls of immolation.
Things that are here:
a runed bardiche; a plate armour
There are several objects here.
Pick up a runed bardiche? ((y)es/(n)o/(a)ll/(m)enu/*?g,/q)
a - a runed bardiche
Wield which item (- for none, * to show all)? (? for menu, Esc to quit)
a - a +4,+2 bardiche of chopping (weapon)
Save game and exit?
Welcome back, skyspire the Demonspawn Monk.
Nemelex Xobeh says: It's all in the cards!
Press ? for a list of commands and other information.
Char dumped successfully.
Save game and exit?

.......#       #..#        #...##
.......#########..#        ##...#
.......'.......#..#        #..#.#
..<<...#.......#..#        #(...#
.......#.......#..#        #(#..#
########.......+..##########.#..#
       #.......#..#..(.....'(..##
       #.......#..#........##...#
       #.......#@?+........#..#.#
       #.....{.#..#........#..#.#
       #########..#........#....#
               #..#.{......#.#..#
               #..#........#...##
               #..#........##...#
               #..##########....#
################..###############
.................................


There are no monsters in sight!

Vanquished Creatures
  2 deep elf blademasters
  3 thorn hunters (WizLab)
  2 deep elf master archers (Elf:3)
  A lich (Vaults:4)
  A sphinx (Vaults:1)
  Rupert (Lair:8)
  2 tengu reavers (Vaults:4)
  Kirke (Snake:4)
  An ancient champion (Vaults:3)
  Donald (Snake:4)
  3 fire giants
  2 deep elf sorcerers (Elf:3)
  Aizul (Snake:5)
  Louise (Swamp:4)
  An orc warlord (Orc:4)
  5 vault wardens
  A frost giant (Vaults:4)
  8 stone giants
  8 greater nagas
  7 deep elf demonologists
  Azrael (Vaults:3)
  5 deep elf annihilators
  An ettin (Vaults:4)
  A fire dragon (Vaults:3)
  Snorg (Elf:1)
  A minotaur (Lab)
  5 deep elf death magi (Elf:3)
  5 ironheart preservers
  4 vault guards
  A great orb of eyes (Vaults:2)
  2 deep elf high priests (Elf:3)
  23 hydras
  2 ice dragons
  6 yaktaur captains
  Nessos (Orc:4)
  A ravenous item mimic (Snake:5)
  Erica (Lair:3)
  6 anacondas
  3 deep troll earth magi (Vaults:4)
  2 deep troll shamans (Vaults:4)
  7 alligators
  A death yak (Lair:7)
  2 ogre magi
  39 naga warriors
  4 spectral elves (Elf:3)


[Sar]

different weapon later ... orbs of fire

Kind of a weird choice of enemy to consider here - oofs are immune to electricity so a lajatang of elec will perform as good as a greatsword of pain vs. them (except you can enchant lajatang more, I guess).

[dirtywick]

Why not just find another long blade with a different brand? You've got freezing cloud and a bunch of magic skills, you've got decks and other evocables if you're worried about the brand not working all the time.

I wouldn't recommend doing slime without a cloak of preservation because amulet swapping for shining eyes and acid is easy to forget about, I wouldn't recommend doing it at XL20, I wouldn't recommend doing anything but diving it. There are easier places to get xp with less potential of getting badly mutated and/or killed.

[skyspire]

My plan was not to rely on rCorr and just wear loaner gear if the gear is not corrosion proof. Also to use summoning decks when I see shining eye, to further protect against malmutate. I wish I had summon butterflies but I've not found it yet.

[cerebovssquire]

You basically need the rAcid the rCorr amulet provides. Acid blobs are very dangerous at range and the reason people wear rCorr amulets against them is primarily to prevent damage. I wouldn't do Slime yet regardless, early Depths will be easier. Also, you don't want Necromutation for a good while to come i.e. not before extended (and you might not even want it for extended!). Also, Nemelex wrath is kind of annoying, as the deck of punishment is made up of:

  Code:

Cards include: Wraith, Wild Magic, Wrath, Xom, Famine, Curse, Tomb, Damnation, Portal, Minefield, Swine, Torment

So basically it can turn off your spellcasting mid-combat by making you starve, inflict bad miscasts which might just kill you, and drain an exp level each time you draw Wraith, etc. I wouldn't want to switch to Kiku on a character with a pain weapon anyway, but on a Nemelex character it becomes even worse. Just do Tomb much later (like, after hell and pan runes later, if you must).

[skyspire]

YASD --- This was such a promising OP guy.. i had robust 2, and for spells I had OOD and haste at very castable rates. I cleared Depths 1-4 and killed every unique I saw, including Mara, who dropped a nice pain branded demon blade ( I enchanted that up )..


Then.. Vaults:5 was seemingly very easy.. I cleared most of it (so I thought) and just waltzed into the last of the 4 vault areas (I cleared the other 3), expecting no challenge.. and then while I was fighting some deep trolls , in walk 3 shadow dragons, 2 golden dragons, a storm dragon, an iron troll,
3 stone giants, a tengu reaver, 2 yaktaur captains, an alligator" .. I had been having a fairly easy time of it so I figured my repel missiles being up and me being hasted I would be able to retreat if things got bad. My mistake. I should of had my amulet of warding on before - no rN+ was a big mistake.

The lesson I learned here is

1) be cautious no matter how bad ass you think you are, retreat and fight by the stairs in Vault 5., even if you cleared 3/4 of it easily.
2) Repel Missiles is not as good as Deflect Missiles -- I should of learned it.
3) A yaktaur captain can hit for 44 damage, even if you have repel missiles up and an AC of 42 and dragon armour GDR of 31% , and buckler and ev of 16 (phase shift must of just timed out) - I swear this is the luckiest yaktaur damage hit all game.
4) Don't wear amulet of gourmand in vault:5, wear the amulet of warding for rN+ in case of Shadow Dragons, swapping it mid-fight can be too late.
5) playing late at night can screw with your judgement

Really when those dragons showed up I should of did a hasty retreat.. that 200 HP went down much faster than expected.

I have not died in vault:5 for a long time, I figured I had this win in the bag. But damn, that last vault area was crowded.

  Code:

Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup version 0.14-a0-1650-g1c137f9 (webtiles) character file.

484586 skyspire the Destroyer (level 23, -9/191 (198) HPs)
             Began as a Demonspawn Monk on Dec 29, 2013.
             Was the Champion of Nemelex Xobeh.
             Shot with a bolt by a yaktaur captain (44 damage)
             ... on Level 5 of the Vaults on Jan 2, 2014.
             The game lasted 21:29:12 (86464 turns).

skyspire the Destroyer (Demonspawn Monk)           Turns: 86464, Time: 21:29:12

HP  -9/191 (198) AC 40     Str 14      XL: 23   Next: 71%
MP  35/41        EV 16     Int 18      God: Nemelex Xobeh [******]
Gold 3077        SH 11     Dex 17      Spells: 11 memorised,  9 levels left

rFire  + + .     SeeInvis .     G - +7,+5 demon blade (pain)
rCold  + . .     Clarity  .     y - +7 swamp dragon armour
rNeg   + . .     Conserve +     d - +0 buckler
rPois  +         rCorr    +     K - +2 hat of the Alchemist {rElec rF+ rC+ MR+}
rElec  +         rRot     .     v - +0 cloak {rCorr, Cons}
SustAb . .       Spirit   .     o - +2 pair of gloves {Dex+3}
rMut   .         Warding  +     N - +2 pair of boots "Aplalias" {MR++}
Saprov . . .     Stasis   .     n - amulet of warding
                                I - +5 ring of protection
                                B - +6,+5 ring of slaying

@: repel missiles, non-regenerating, studying 2 skills, mildly poisoned, mildly
diseased, very slightly contaminated, hasted, drained, very quick, incredibly
resistant to hostile enchantments, unstealthy
A: antennae 2, rough black scales 3, conserve scrolls, fire resistance 1, ignite
blood, powered by death 3, robust 2
a: Draw One, Peek at Two, Triple Draw, Deal Four, Stack Five, Renounce Religion
}: 2/15 runes: decaying, serpentine


You were on level 5 of the Vaults.
You worshipped Nemelex Xobeh.
Nemelex Xobeh was exalted by your worship.
You were very full.

You visited 10 branches of the dungeon, and saw 54 of its levels.
You also visited: Labyrinth, Bailey (2 times), Ice Cave and Wizlab.

You collected 6201 gold pieces.
You spent 3098 gold pieces at shops.

Inventory:

Hand weapons
 G - a +7,+5 demon blade of pain (weapon)
Armour
 d - a +0 buckler (worn)
 o - a +2 pair of gloves of dexterity (worn)
 v - a +0 cloak of preservation (worn)
 y - a +7 swamp dragon armour (worn)
 K - the +2 hat of the Alchemist (worn) {rElec rF+ rC+ MR+}
   (You bought it in a shop on level 4 of the Orcish Mines)   
   
   It protects you from fire.
   It protects you from cold.
   It insulates you from electricity.
   It affects your resistance to hostile enchantments.
 N - the +2 pair of boots "Aplalias" (worn) {MR++}
   (You found it on level 1 of the Vaults)   
   
   It affects your resistance to hostile enchantments.
Magical devices
 g - a wand of cold (5)
 h - a wand of digging (13)
 x - a wand of teleportation (8)
 L - a wand of hasting (9)
Comestibles
 b - 8 bread rations
Scrolls
 k - 10 scrolls of remove curse
 s - 5 scrolls of identify
 A - 3 scrolls of teleportation
 R - 3 scrolls of fear
 U - a scroll of enchant weapon I
Jewellery
 i - an uncursed amulet of the gourmand
 n - an amulet of warding (around neck)
 p - the ring "Mowoes" {Wiz Str+4}
   (You found it on level 5 of the Vaults)   
   
   [ring of wizardry]
   It affects your strength (+4).
 u - the ring of Hymm {Wiz +Rage Str+2 Curse}
   (You took it off a deep elf death mage on level 3 of the Elven Halls)   
   
   [ring of wizardry]
   It affects your strength (+2).
   It lets you go berserk.
   It may recurse itself.
 B - a +6,+5 ring of slaying (left hand)
 D - an uncursed ring of sustenance
 H - an uncursed amulet of resist mutation
 I - a +5 ring of protection (right hand)
 J - an uncursed ring of invisibility
 O - an uncursed amulet of stasis
 V - the ring of the Cast Vote {+Rage MR++ SInv}
   (You found it on level 6 of the Lair of Beasts)   
   
   [ring of see invisible]
   It affects your resistance to hostile enchantments.
   It lets you go berserk.
Potions
 c - 2 potions of restore abilities
 e - 3 potions of magic
 j - a potion of curing
 Z - 2 potions of resistance
Books
 a - a manual of Spellcasting
 m - a manual of Air Magic
Magical staves
 M - an uncursed staff of conjuration
Miscellaneous
 f - a legendary deck of escape {the Banshee, drawn: 4}
 l - a lamp of fire
 q - an ornate deck of destruction {drawn: 2}
 r - a phial of floods
 w - a phial of floods
 z - a legendary deck of destruction {drawn: 1}
 C - an ornate deck of escape {Warpwright, drawn: 1}
 E - a crystal ball of energy
 F - a legendary deck of destruction {drawn: 1}
 Q - a disc of storms
 S - a phial of floods
 T - a legendary deck of dungeons {Water, left: 3}
 W - a phial of floods
 Y - a stone of tremors


   Skills:
 - Level 10.0(9.0) Fighting
   Level 5.0(4.1) Short Blades
 - Level 14.0(12.9) Long Blades
 - Level 6.0(5.1) Throwing
 - Level 7.0(6.0) Armour
 - Level 11.4(10.3) Dodging
 - Level 2.0(1.2) Stealth
 - Level 5.0(4.1) Shields
 - Level 6.0(5.1) Unarmed Combat
 - Level 14.0(12.9) Spellcasting
 - Level 18.2(17.0) Conjurations
 - Level 13.0(11.9) Charms
 + Level 13.0(11.9) Necromancy
 - Level 11.0(9.9) Translocations
 - Level 12.0(10.9) Ice Magic
 - Level 10.4(9.4) Air Magic
   Level 3.0(2.1) Poison Magic
 - Level 10.1(9.1) Evocations


You had 9 spell levels left.
You knew the following spells:

 Your Spells              Type           Power        Failure   Level  Hunger
a - Orb of Destruction    Conj           ######....   8%          7    #######
b - Phase Shift           Tloc           #####.....   4%          5    ###....
c - Swiftness             Chrm/Air       ######..     1%          2    None
d - Apportation           Tloc           #####.....   1%          1    None
e - Blink                 Tloc           N/A          1%          2    None
f - Regeneration          Chrm/Necr      ######....   1%          3    None
h - Control Teleport      Chrm/Tloc      ######....   1%          4    #......
i - Freezing Cloud        Conj/Ice/Air   ######....   10%         6    ######.
j - Flight                Chrm/Air       ######....   1%          3    None
k - Repel Missiles        Chrm/Air       ######....   1%          2    None
l - Haste                 Chrm           ######..     12%         6    ######.


Dungeon Overview and Level Annotations

Branches:
Dungeon (16/16)            Temple (0/1) D:5             Orc (4/4) D:9
    Elf (3/3) Orc:3          Lair (8/8) D:9           Swamp (5/5) Lair:4
  Snake (5/5) Lair:3        Slime (3/6) Lair:7       Vaults (5/5) D:15
  Blade (0/1) Vaults:3      Crypt (1/5) Vaults:3     Depths (4/6) D:16

Altars:
Cheibriados
Elyvilon
Kikubaaqudgha
Nemelex Xobeh
Sif Muna
Trog
Vehumet
Xom
Zin
the Shining One

Shops:
D:6 *   D:10 *   D:13 *   D:16 (   Orc:4 (*[=   Elf:1 (   Elf:3 (
Snake:1 =   Snake:5 (   Vaults:1 }   Vaults:3 (   Vaults:4 /(!   Vaults:5 %!!

Portals:
Hell: Depths:1 Depths:2 Depths:3 Depths:4
Abyss: Depths:1 Depths:4
Trove: D:14 (give 2 scrolls of acquirement)

Annotations:
D:8 exclusion: silver statue
Swamp:1 exclusion: Roxanne, Roxanne


Innate Abilities, Weirdness & Mutations

You have a pair of antennae on your head.
You are completely covered in rough black scales (AC +10, Dex -3).
You are very good at protecting items from fire.
Your flesh is heat resistant.
Your demonic aura causes spilled blood to erupt in flames.
You can steal the life force of all defeated enemies in sight.
You are very robust (+20% HP).


Message History

The shadow dragon claws you but does no damage.
A stone giant comes into view.
Read which item? (? for menu, Esc to quit)
Okay, then.
Drink which item? (? for menu, Esc to quit)
Okay, then.
Unknown command.
Unknown command.
Drink which item? (? for menu, Esc to quit)
You feel much better.
The storm dragon bites you but does no damage.
The storm dragon claws you but does no damage.
You block the storm dragon's attack. The deep troll closely misses you.
The deep troll claws you.
* * * LOW HITPOINT WARNING * * *
The deep troll claws you.
* * * LOW HITPOINT WARNING * * *
The yaktaur captain shoots a bolt. The bolt hits you!
You die...
Your body glows with a rainbow of weird colours and disappears.

 #####################....
 .........................
 ......................#..
   #.....[.............#..
   #...................#..
.###..........(..%.....#..
.......................#..
........D.D.......%%...#..
 #.CD..§%@§............#..
 '.....cDTH............#..
 '.....CcD§............#..
  ....D................#..
  #.....T..*..(........#..
   Ct..................#..
    ..⌠........  ...   #..
     ..@......         #..
        ...            #..


You could see 3 shadow dragons, 2 golden dragons, a storm dragon, an iron troll,
3 stone giants, a tengu reaver, 2 yaktaur captains, an alligator, a deep troll
and an ironbrand convoker.

Vanquished Creatures
  Mara (Depths:3)
  4 golden dragons
  Jory (Depths:4)
  Frederick (Depths:4)
  2 bone dragons (Vaults:5)
  13 tentacled monstrosities
  2 deep elf blademasters
  3 thorn hunters (WizLab)
  A titan (Vaults:4)
  3 quicksilver dragons
  2 deep elf master archers (Elf:3)
  3 storm dragons
  A lich (Vaults:4)
  3 acid blobs (Lair:7)
  2 sphinxes
  Rupert (Lair:8)
  4 shadow dragons
  8 tengu reavers
  Kirke (Snake:4)
  An ancient champion (Vaults:3)
  Donald (Snake:4)
  5 fire giants
  2 deep elf sorcerers (Elf:3)

full morgue: http://kr.dobrazupa.org/morgue/trunk/skyspire/morgue-skyspire-20140102-190756.txt

[Sar]

GDR does not do shit vs. ranged attacks.

[Sphara]

Perhaps you didn't notice you were fighting this big of a mob diseased? Going from tabbing mobs with Powered by Death 3 to tabbing mobs non-regenerating is a kinda big issue. I wouldn't have fought this mob on an open area even in a full health and all the buffs on.

[diviton]

Did the Ironbrand Convoker summon all of those things?

I won't be too hard on you because it seems you understand that it was a bad idea to try to fight all of those things. That said, I'd like to point out that Deflect Missiles, Amulet of Warding, etc. etc. was the least of your concerns. Honestly, as soon as I saw one Shadow Dragon when I was fighting Deep Trolls, I'd have bailed. Two Stone Giants alone is enough for me to retreat into a hallway and lure them around a corner. Surviving all of that just wasn't going to happen, especially since you had teleport and a means of controlling it. Ultimately, what killed you is that you forgot you were playing Dungeon Crawl.

I've done the same thing though. Die and learn. You'll get it next time.

[skyspire]

Perhaps you didn't notice you were fighting this big of a mob diseased?

Yes, it was late at night and I thought the area was mostly cleared. I am not sure at what point I got the diseased effect, but yes that was a contributing factor.

Hindsight is 20/20 and I should not have battled in the rune room. I was on autopilot and got overwhelmed with no escape . I thought reflect missiles would of protected me more than it did, but literally lost over 100 hp in a single turn. and since I was hasted I assumed I could quaff a potion and blink use a deck of escape. But I undersestimated the situation. I won't make the same mistake twice.

As diviton said, I should of bailed and lured them out one at a time. That's crawl 101. I have a much healthier respect for for vault 5 now. Clearing 3/4 of the floor does not necessarily mean the last 25% will be a cakewalk. As can be seen, the worst mobs were hiding in wait