CiP: MuCj background

[Flelmo]

I hate this game sometimes. What do I do with this character? Started as a MuCj, but I have:

4/4 chaos quarterstaff
+27 Lear's hauberk
Ring of Wizardry
Ring of Magical Power
Books of Conjuration/Air/Control

What do I do? Do I go Oka and try to hybridize a bit? Would I be dumb to go Chei? Do I just ignore the hauberk and stick with Conjurer? So torn.

  Code:

 Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup version 0.15-a0-963-gb693d2a (console) character file.

Tenda the Ruinous (Mummy Conjurer)                  Turns: 6993, Time: 00:30:25

HP  54/54        AC 35     Str 11      XL: 8   Next: 32%
MP  22/22        EV  4     Int 16      God:
Gold 340         SH  0     Dex 12      Spells:  4 memorised,  1 level left

rFire  x . .     SeeInvis .     r - +4 quarterstaff (chaos)
rCold  + . .     Clarity  .     g - +27 Lear's hauberk
rNeg   + + +     Conserve .     (no shield)
rPois  +         rCorr    .     (no helmet)
rElec  .         rRot     +     (no cloak)
SustAb .         Spirit   .     (no gloves)
rMut   .         Warding  .     (no boots)
Gourm  .         Stasis   .     (no amulet)
MR     +....                    s - ring of wizardry
                                k - ring of magical power

@: repel missiles, somewhat resistant to hostile enchantments, extremely
unstealthy
A: no food or potions, fire vulnerability, restore body, cold resistance 1, life
protection 3, poison resistance, torment resistance, unbreathing
a: no special abilities


You are on level 6 of the Dungeon.
You are not hungry.

You have visited 1 branch of the dungeon, and seen 6 of its levels.
You have also visited: Sewer.

You have collected 340 gold pieces.

Inventory:

Hand weapons
 r - a +4,+4 quarterstaff of chaos (weapon)
Armour
 f - a +1 leather armour of magic resistance
 g - the +27 Lear's hauberk (worn)
   (You found it on level 5 of the Dungeon)
 i - a +0 cloak
 t - a +2 pair of boots
Magical devices
 l - a wand of draining {zapped: 1}
 u - a wand of polymorph {zapped: 1}
Scrolls
 a - 2 scrolls of remove curse
 b - a scroll labeled PRISAOZ OTILA
 e - 2 scrolls labeled GHOECU SKYE
 h - a scroll labeled WUIGY CREICUPO
 j - a scroll labeled YQACZY KYALU
 m - 7 scrolls labeled TARIHIA RYMA
 o - 13 scrolls labeled ZOALLI ROEBEI
 p - a scroll labeled OFERPH AZXUZAR
 q - 3 scrolls labeled XEADEF TAJOA
 v - a scroll labeled GOIRCH RIOHO
Jewellery
 k - a ring of magical power (left hand)
 s - a ring of wizardry (right hand)
Books
 c - a book of Conjurations   
   
   Spells                             Type                      Level
   *Magic Dart                        Conjuration                  1
   *Searing Ray                       Conjuration                  2
   Dazzling Spray                     Conjuration/Hexes            3
   Fulminant Prism                    Conjuration/Hexes            4
   Iskenderun's Mystic Blast          Conjuration                  4
   *Iskenderun's Battlesphere         Conjuration/Charms           5
 d - 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
 n - a book of Control   
   
   Spells                             Type                      Level
   Control Teleport                   Charms/Translocation         4
   Control Undead                     Necromancy                   4
   Enslavement                        Hexes                        4
   Metabolic Englaciation             Hexes/Ice                    5
   Mass Confusion                     Hexes                        6


   Skills:
 + Level 1.2 Fighting
 * Level 1.6 Staves
 * Level 1.8 Armour
 - Level 1.5 Dodging
 - Level 1.5 Stealth
 - Level 2.0 Spellcasting
 - Level 7.8 Conjurations
 - Level 3.1 Charms


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

 Your Spells              Type           Power        Failure   Level  Hunger
a - Magic Dart            Conj           ####         52%         1    N/A
b - Searing Ray           Conj           ####..       71%         2    N/A
c - Iskenderun's Battles  Conj/Chrm      ###.....     100%        5    N/A
d - Repel Missiles        Chrm/Air       #.....       100%        2    N/A


Dungeon Overview and Level Annotations

Branches:
Dungeon (6/15)           
Temple: D:4-7       

Altars:
Dithmenos
Gozag
The Shining One


Innate Abilities, Weirdness & Mutations

You do not eat or drink.
Your flesh is vulnerable to fire.
Your flesh is cold resistant.
You are immune to negative energy.
Your system is resistant to poisons.
You are immune to unholy pain and torment.
You can survive without breathing.


Message History

You see here an orange potion.
You see here 28 darts.
You open the door.
There is an open door here.
s - a glowing iron ring
Put on which piece of jewellery? (? for menu, Esc to quit)
s - a ring of wizardry (right hand)
A giant gecko comes into view.
Found 20 gold pieces.
You closely miss the giant gecko.
The giant gecko bites you but does no damage. x2
You closely miss the giant gecko.
The giant gecko bites you but does no damage.
You hit the giant gecko. You drain the giant gecko!
You kill the giant gecko!
No target in view!
Char dumped successfully.
Read which item? (? for menu, Esc to quit)
Read which item? (? for menu, Esc to quit)
Save game and exit?

..............
#####....####
    #....#     #.$
    #....#     #.....
    #....#     #......
    #....#     #.......
    #....#     #.......#
    #....#######.......#
    #..................#
#####............%.....#
................@......#
.......................#
.......................#
..######...#+#######...#
#.#....#...#         ..#
#.#....#...#          .
#.#....#...#
#.#....#...#
#.'....#. .
#.#....#
#.'....#


There are no monsters in sight!

Vanquished Creatures
  Menkaure (D:5)
  An ice beast (D:5)
  2 ogres
  A giant frog (D:6)
  A scorpion (D:6)
  2 crimson imps
  A giant frog skeleton (D:6)
  3 hounds
  An orc wizard (D:6)
  Crazy Yiuf (D:2)
  5 worker ants
  A jelly (D:6)
  2 big fish (Sewer)
  Ijyb (D:5)
  Jessica (D:2)
  2 green rats (D:3)
  9 adders
  8 gnolls
  3 giant mites (Sewer)
  4 worms
  An adder skeleton (D:4)
  An iguana skeleton (D:6)
  2 giant geckos
  5 oozes
  4 orcs
  6 ball pythons
  A bat skeleton (D:4)
  5 giant cockroaches
  9 hobgoblins
  4 jackals (Sewer)
  9 kobolds
  A quokka (D:5)
  13 bats
  6 giant newts
  12 goblins
  15 rats
  8 ballistomycetes (D:6)
152 creatures vanquished.

Vanquished Creatures (others)
  A giant spore (D:6)
1 creature vanquished.

Grand Total: 153 creatures vanquished

Notes
Turn   | Place    | Note
--------------------------------------------------------------
     0 | D:1      | Tenda, the Mummy Conjurer, began the quest for the Orb.
     0 | D:1      | Reached XP level 1. HP: 13/13 MP: 3/3
   403 | D:1      | Reached XP level 2. HP: 17/19 MP: 0/4
   748 | D:1      | Learned a level 2 spell: Searing Ray
  1065 | D:2      | Reached skill level 4 in Conjurations
  1258 | D:2      | Found a shadowy altar of Dithmenos.
  1486 | D:2      | Reached XP level 3. HP: 24/24 MP: 6/6
  1764 | D:2      | Noticed Crazy Yiuf
  1769 | D:2      | Killed Crazy Yiuf
  1769 | D:2      | Reached XP level 4. HP: 30/30 MP: 7/7
  2141 | D:2      | Noticed Jessica
  2145 | D:2      | Killed Jessica
  2293 | D:3      | Reached skill level 5 in Conjurations
  2450 | D:3      | Found a glowing golden altar of the Shining One.
  2621 | D:3      | Reached XP level 5. HP: 35/35 MP: 9/9
  2778 | D:3      | Found a glowing drain.
  2782 | Sewer    | Entered a sewer
  3144 | Sewer    | Reached skill level 6 in Conjurations
  3162 | Sewer    | Learned a level 5 spell: Iskenderun's Battlesphere
  3187 | Sewer    | Reached XP level 6. HP: 41/41 MP: 10/10
  4505 | D:5      | Entered Level 5 of the Dungeon
  4506 | D:5      | Noticed Ijyb
  4535 | D:5      | Reached skill level 1 in Charms
  4536 | D:5      | Killed Ijyb
  4963 | D:4      | Reached XP level 7. HP: 46/46 MP: 11/12
  5054 | D:4      | Reached skill level 7 in Conjurations
  5943 | D:5      | Noticed Menkaure
  5947 | D:5      | Killed Menkaure
  6422 | D:5      | Reached XP level 8. HP: 52/52 MP: 13/13
  6522 | D:6      | Learned a level 2 spell: Repel Missiles
  6618 | D:6      | Reached skill level 1 in Staves
  6618 | D:6      | Reached skill level 1 in Armour
  6627 | D:6      | Found an opulent altar of Gozag.
  6766 | D:6      | Reached skill level 1 in Fighting


Action                   |  1- 3 |  4- 6 |  7- 9 || total
-------------------------+-------+-------+-------++-------
Melee: Unarmed           |     6 |       |       ||     6
       Mace              |    11 |       |       ||    11
       Quarterstaff      |       |    11 |    92 ||   103
 Cast: Magic Dart        |    63 |   132 |    29 ||   224
       Searing Ray       |     5 |    31 |    16 ||    52
       Repel Missiles    |       |       |     1 ||     1
Evoke: Wand              |       |     1 |     1 ||     2
  Use: Scroll            |       |       |     2 ||     2


[damiac]

My take is that you should throw away that quarterstaff, because chaos is awesome until it kills you, but aside from that I'd say go vehumet. Once you get his wizardry online, on top of your ring of wizardry, it shouldn't be too bad casting in armor. Lear's isn't necessarily the best armor, since it locks up all your aux slots, but it's great until you find better stuff for those slots. That'll put you down a good path for being an armored caster.

I would hybridize a lot earlier than usual with this character, which of course is extra hard as a mummy, but with that armor to carry you through the toughest part should be manageable. I wouldn't rush training armor though, it's not like lear's has exceptionally high base AC.

[Sandman25]

I found +27 Lear's hauberk with my MuCj too and decided to ignore it (I had rF+ on some armour).
Play it as usual Cj IMHO.

[Magipi]

Do I go Oka and try to hybridize a bit? Would I be dumb to go Chei?

I'm totally baffled by this comment.
If you want to hybridize, yeah, sure, do it. But what do you want from Oka? Or Chei?

[Sandman25]

I think hybridization requires some good AC/EV and is risky for Mu who is not that good even with main tools (magic for this character). That's why Oka and Chei are good, they help with hybridization.

[Magipi]

I think hybridization requires some good AC/EV and is risky for Mu who is not that good even with main tools (magic for this character). That's why Oka and Chei are good, they help with hybridization.

Veh also helps in hybridization with his wizardry bonus, Makhleb with heal-on-kills, Ash with skill boost, and Trog... okay, Trog does not support hybrid characters at all, but all the other gods do.

[duvessa]

I think hybridization requires some good AC/EV

yeah a fucking +27 chain mail doesn't give you good AC, definitely agree

[Sandman25]

I think hybridization requires some good AC/EV

yeah a fucking +27 chain mail doesn't give you good AC, definitely agree

Yes, I didn't mention obvious fact that hybridization should not kill character, it should not make the character unable to kill anything.

  Code:

 + Level 1.2 Fighting
 * Level 1.6 Staves
 * Level 1.8 Armour
 - Level 1.5 Dodging
 - Level 1.5 Stealth
 - Level 2.0 Spellcasting
 - Level 7.8 Conjurations
 - Level 3.1 Charms

Your Spells              Type           Power        Failure   Level  Hunger
a - Magic Dart            Conj           ####         52%         1    N/A
b - Searing Ray           Conj           ####..       71%         2    N/A
c - Iskenderun's Battles  Conj/Chrm      ###.....     100%        5    N/A
d - Repel Missiles        Chrm/Air       #.....       100%        2    N/A

[NessOnett]

I hate the Hauberk. Monopolizing all the slots makes it look a lot better than it actually is, and you want more than just AC/EV out of your armors(like resists and stats( you end up screwed. As for the staff, you get a staff like that of Yuif in almost every game, and while it may be slightly above his average, not by much, not worth changing your character for.

Just stick to being a conjurer. It will serve you better. Hauberk not worth it.

[duvessa]

you want more than just AC/EV out of your armors(like resists and stats

I don't. I have found Lear's hauberk in 4 games. For 2 of them I was wearing it until the end; one of those won, and the other died to a crystal spear on zot:5 due to extreme inattentiveness (notice that resistances would have done absolutely nothing there).

I didn't wear it in the other 2 games, yes. But this was not because I massively overvalue resistances like a lot of new players. Rather, it was because it was in a shop in those two games, and Lear's hauberk has a ridiculously high price.

[rchandra]

Lear's does seem suicidal for Merfolk, though.

Flelmo: this character seems suited for Ashenzari, like many mummies do - finding the books and the hauberk make that look even better.

[NessOnett]

you want more than just AC/EV out of your armors(like resists and stats

I don't. I have found Lear's hauberk in 4 games. For 2 of them I was wearing it until the end; one of those won, and the other died to a crystal spear on zot:5 due to extreme inattentiveness (notice that resistances would have done absolutely nothing there).

I didn't wear it in the other 2 games, yes. But this was not because I massively overvalue resistances like a lot of new players. Rather, it was because it was in a shop in those two games, and Lear's hauberk has a ridiculously high price.

Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot that a single piece of anecdotal evidence from a single game was more compelling than fact, my apologies. It's not like people complete challenges in this game as a common practice where they are able to win with even the most suboptimal play decisions.

Ignoring the fact that intrinsics can range anywhere from resists(which are very relevant despite your assertion that they are not, which is why even the most veteran players are worried if they fail to find the basic rF and rC rings(, to modifiers like Wiz which are extremely helpful to Cjs, to Stats which are helpful to everyone, to evocables and more...you can get more AC/EV in the long run out of actually filling those slots with good things than by settling for the Hauberk...Fact. So even if AC/EV is all you care about(which shouldnt be the case for a Cj(, it's still a poor choice outside of the early game when you dont have good things to fill those slots. And therefore not a smart idea to change your whole build to accommodate.

[duvessa]

Wow you can see the exact moment where he stops trying

[KoboldLord]

Lear's Hauberk isn't just AC, it's a ton of AC. Resistances are nice, but the reduction in incoming damage is based on the size of the attack, and most elemental attacks in this game come from little guys like orc wizards and centaurs with elemental bows. AC is more than capable of reducing this damage to 0, but resistances will never be able to do that without help. Then there's the factor where AC works on almost everything, but a pip of resistance only works on a small subset of monsters. There are some monsters with big, predictable elemental attacks that resistance pips are better for dealing with, but you almost invariably can jewelry swap when you see one of those and get the best of both worlds.

Yeah, if you get a lucky armor trove or something Lear as have a plethora of awesome auxiliary slot equipment to choose from, Lear might not be as good comparatively. But you know what? You can take Lear off when that actually happens, and enjoy its benefits until then.

[damiac]

Lear's is a great find, especially early on. Whether or not to change your game around to suit it is up to the finder, but I think the OP isn't crazy to consider it. I feel the extra AC will allow him to get some form of melee online, to carry him through to getting veh wizardry online, so he can cast in the armor. 35 AC is plenty for getting through D and lair, even with semi-poor offense.

Whether lear's is endgame material depends on what else you find. I've ended a few games with vanilla aux equipment before, it's hardly unheard of. And it doesn't block cloaks, so at least there's that. And if I found +10 chain mail, +2 boots, +2 gloves, and +2 helm, I'd be pretty happy. That's the same AC as from lear's.

So the question of whether to use lear's or not is best left until you have better stuff to replace it. It's not as if good randart aux armor is common or guaranteed. And you'd be stupid to leave something behind because it might be outclassed later on in the game.

The chaos weapon isn't anything incredible, I wouldn't change my game over it. But if it's the only decent weapon, and the armor will kill your spellcasting for the time being, I guess it might tide you over until you find something a little more reliable.

(DAMN NINJAS!)

[duvessa]

And if I found +10 chain mail, +2 boots, +2 gloves, and +2 helm, I'd be pretty happy. That's the same AC as from lear's.

It's between 4 and 8 less AC than you'd get from Lear's.

[damiac]

Huh? I thought lears was base 8 ac + 27 = 35 total without armor skill. Chain is 8, + 10 is 18, boots are 1, +2 is 3, same for gloves and helm, giving 9 total AC for aux slots, and 18 for body armor, meaning a total of 27.

Ah, well, I see my error.

I should have said And if I found +18 chain mail , +2 boots, +2 gloves, and +2 helm, I'd be pretty happy. That's the same AC as from lear's.

[zardo]

Ignoring the fact that intrinsics can range... to modifiers like Wiz which are extremely helpful to Cjs

this is not actually a thing, right?

[rchandra]

you can get -Wiz on hat of the High Council, that's as close as you get there.