CIP: NaAs, Need advice- D:9

[requerent]

Experienced rogue-liker, but only just now diving into crawl. Need some advice as to where I should be going with my serpentine lass.


I'm really just not sure how I should be leveling my skills. Completely, utterly, clueless. I don't even know what I'm going for or whether or not these skills have diminishing returns. What defensive abilities are meaningful later in the game? Will Stealth + Short Blades carry me to the end? Do I need Fighting? Should I branch into spellcasting, or will it spread me too thin? I like the idea of translocations or charms to make up for her mobility, but I feel like Evo would give me better synergy with Nemelex (WHO IS THE ONLY GOD I SHALL "WORSHIP"- EVER), and I can just rely on wands/cards for panic buttons. And potions- Should I have quaff-tested all these by now or what?


So far, I've been focusing on defense- this seems logical because she is incapable of running. Positioning, Stealth, and Spit Venom covers me for most of the early game, but the gimmick is seeing diminishing returns as I've gotten a hang of things and been able to progress further.



Here's my dump-- hopefully it's formatted properly.

Spoiler: show

  Code:

 Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup version 0.14.0 (tiles) character file.

Lemina the Covert (Naga Assassin)                   Turns: 9915, Time: 00:51:50

HP  80/80        AC 16     Str 14      XL: 10   Next:  7%
MP  10/10        EV 11     Int 11      God: Nemelex Xobeh [***...]
Gold 316         SH 15     Dex 16      Spells:  0 memorised,  9 levels left

rFire  . . .     SeeInvis +     e - +2 short sword (protect)
rCold  . . .     Clarity  .     W - +2 robe
rNeg   . . .     Conserve +     L - +3 buckler
rPois  +         rCorr    .     T - +2 hat
rElec  .         rRot     .     E - +2 cloak
SustAb . .       Spirit   .     (no gloves)
rMut   .         Warding  .     (no barding)
Saprov . . .     Stasis   .     J - amulet of conservation
MR     +....                    (no ring)
                                (no ring)

@: very slow, somewhat resistant to hostile enchantments, extremely stealthy
A: spit poison, see invisible, deformed body, poison resistance, slowness 2, AC +3
a: Spit Poison, Draw One, Peek at Two, Triple Draw, Renounce Religion


You are on level 8 of the Dungeon.
You worship Nemelex Xobeh.
Nemelex Xobeh is most pleased with you.
You are not hungry.

You have visited 1 branch of the dungeon, and seen 9 of its levels.
You have also visited: Ossuary.

You have collected 316 gold pieces.

Inventory:

Hand weapons
 b - a +0 blowgun
 e - a +2,+2 short sword of protection (weapon)
 P - a runed dagger
Missiles
 f - 2 curare-tipped needles
 i - 18 tomahawks
 m - 3 darts of flame
 z - 27 poisoned needles
 D - 13 darts
 G - 4 javelins (quivered)
 H - 2 throwing nets
 V - 2 darts of dispersal
Armour
 E - a +2 cloak (worn)
 L - a +3 buckler (worn)
 T - a +2 hat (worn)
 W - a +2 robe (worn)
Magical devices
 I - a wand of lightning (7)
 Y - a wand of flame (15)
Comestibles
 a - 14 grapes
 c - a beef jerky
 g - 7 bread rations
 h - 2 apples
 v - 2 chokos
 K - 21 strawberries
 M - a meat ration
 O - an orange
Scrolls
 l - 2 scrolls of amnesia
 q - 3 scrolls of identify
 s - 6 scrolls of teleportation
 t - 3 scrolls of remove curse
 u - 5 scrolls of recharging
 A - 2 scrolls of magic mapping
 N - a scroll of blinking
Jewellery
 J - an amulet of conservation (around neck)
 Z - an uncursed amulet of guardian spirit
Potions
 d - an inky potion
 j - a sedimented orange potion
 k - 2 smoky black potions
 n - 3 potions of might
 p - a silvery potion
 r - 10 potions of curing
 w - 2 fuming brown potions
 x - 2 potions of heal wounds
 B - a red potion
 C - 4 viscous red potions
 F - 2 glowing blue potions
 Q - 2 emulsified brown potions
 U - a gluggy inky potion
Magical staves
 o - an uncursed staff of wizardry
Miscellaneous
 y - a plain deck of escape {the Warp}


   Skills:
 - Level 2.0 Fighting
 - Level 9.0 Short Blades
 * Level 5.3 Throwing
 * Level 2.6 Dodging
 + Level 9.6 Stealth
 - Level 6.0 Shields



Innate Abilities, Weirdness & Mutations

You cannot wear boots.
You can spit poison.
Your serpentine skin is tough (AC +3).
You have supernaturally acute eyesight.
Armour fits poorly on your strangely shaped body.
Your system is resistant to poisons.
You cover ground very slowly.

[Sandman25]

I think no one has replied yet because there is too much to write. Do you have time to read some articles on wiki?

Some answers to your questions:
1) Read all scrolls of identify and select potions when prompted
2) No, short blades + stealth does not allow to win with Naga. But Nemelex is one of the strongest gods (there is an article how to play him too) so perhaps it's still possible.
3) Yes, everyone needs Fighting because it increases HP among other things
4) Naga usually goes for Armour because it has high base armour with barding, intrinsic AC bonus and has a penalty to EV from having large size

[requerent]

Yea- I know, tall order. I've looked through some of the guides, but they seem to lack general advice in regards to specifics (lol >_<). Like-- How much AC/SH/EV should I have by which Depth? Similarly with fighting skills? What major threats do all characters need to have a solution for?

What prevents SB+Stlth from a win with Naga? Is it too late to rectify? I was looking to improve needles as well, though should I also round it out with evo?

[Sandman25]

Yea- I know, tall order. I've looked through some of the guides, but they seem to lack general advice in regards to specifics (lol >_<). Like-- How much AC/SH/EV should I have by which Depth? Similarly with fighting skills? What major threats do all characters need to have a solution for?

What prevents SB+Stlth from a win with Naga? Is it too late to rectify? I was looking to improve needles as well, though should I also round it out with evo?

There is no specific target for AC/SH/EV, the more the better. Usually people get their offense first and then train defenses until very end of the game unless there is some way to improve offence like higher level spells.
All characters need a solution for packs of Yaktaurs, Vault Guardians, Draconians, be able to kill Ancient Liches and Orbs of Fire.
Stealth is not reliable late game, you will be noticed very often and then you will have either to fight or escape. Naga is slow so it has problems with escaping, Short Blades is the weakest weapon category so it cannot kill some late game monsters fast unless you will be lucky to find a nice quick blade with lots of slaying.
I am not a Nemelex expert (only 1 win with him) but basically even 10 levels in Evocations in enough, most cards power comes from piety and legendary/ornate decks.

[and into]

Not too late to fix, at all.

Stop training throwing.

Your AC is pretty good for the moment thanks to that short sword of protection.

First, get at least eight levels in evocations, but you can go up to 10 to 12 evocations. This powers up Nemelex and gives some extra MP so that your amulet of guardian spirit is not worthless. At which point wearing it would be a good idea.

Then train some dodging to help out more on defenses. You got 16 dex, that's good (especially for a naga). This will allow you to transition to a better weapon and not have to rely on cards to kill everything that notices you. I'd recommend picking up a good long blade. You'll get crosstraining from short swords, but I'd train some dodging first. Try to get your EV up into the high teens. Put further stat points into Dexterity.

Use cards and curare to ease your transition into a long blade melee naga, with stabbing + card support.

Later on you can probably pick up something with evocable invisibility, which will let you make good use of your investment in stealth and short blades. Stabbing just based on stuff not noticing you, unassisted by hexes or invisibility or needlestabbing *with* Oka/Trog support... It just isn't a viable strategy, for the most part.