This puts me in such a bad mood.

[Greyr]

The crystal ball is great, until it's not. Then it leaves you high and dry on V:5.

Clearly a panicked dash towards the stairs wasn't the right move.
Farthest I've gotten with a Wz, though it was my first REAL attempt outside of a mummy. This took me SO damn long...

I'm done with fragile casters for awhile.

  Code:

 Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup version 0.14.0-2-gd2dacb9 (tiles) character file.

321822 Greyr the Eclecticist (level 20, -14/144 HPs)
             Began as a High Elf Wizard on Aug 12, 2014.
             Was a High Priest of Vehumet.
             Killed by the air
             ... invoked by a titan
              (17 damage)
             ... on Level 5 of the Vaults.
             The game lasted 06:31:52 (73120 turns).

Greyr the Eclecticist (High Elf Wizard)            Turns: 73120, Time: 06:31:52

HP -14/144       AC 15     Str  6      XL: 20   Next: 60%
MP  12/42        EV 22     Int 35      God: Vehumet [*****.]
Gold 2172        SH 13     Dex 20      Spells:  9 memorised, 11 levels left

rFire  + + +     SeeInvis .     d - staff of air
rCold  + + .     Clarity  .     i - +3 troll leather armour of the First Snow {rC+ MR+}
rNeg   . . .     Conserve .     b - +1 buckler {rPois}
rPois  +         rCorr    .     K - +1 helmet
rElec  +         rRot     .     h - +2 cloak {MR+}
SustAb . .       Spirit   .     J - +1 pair of gloves {Dex+3}
rMut   .         Warding  .     t - +0 pair of boots
Gourm  +         Stasis   .     E - amulet of the gourmand
MR     ++++.                    z - ring "Remoh" {Wiz rF+}
                                w - +6 ring of intelligence

@: repel missiles, very slightly contaminated, hasted, very quick, incredibly
resistant to hostile enchantments, quite stealthy
A: deformed body, fire resistance 1
a: Renounce Religion
}: 2/15 runes: serpentine, barnacled


You were on level 5 of the Vaults.
You worshipped Vehumet.
Vehumet was extremely pleased with you.
You were very full.

You visited 7 branches of the dungeon, and saw 43 of its levels.
You visited 1 bazaar.

You collected 3894 gold pieces.
You spent 1722 gold pieces at shops.

Inventory:

Armour
 a - a +2 cloak of preservation
 b - a +1 buckler of poison resistance (worn)
 h - a +2 cloak of magic resistance (worn)
 i - the +3 troll leather armour of the First Snow (worn) {rC+ MR+}
   (You bought it in a shop on level 4 of the Orcish Mines)   
   
   It protects you from cold.
   It affects your resistance to hostile enchantments.
 t - a +0 pair of boots (worn)
 J - a +1 pair of gloves of dexterity (worn)
 K - a +1 helmet (worn)
Magical devices
 g - a wand of teleportation (1)
 O - a wand of digging (19)
Comestibles
 o - 2 bread rations
 D - 4 apples
 F - 4 pears
 G - an orange
 M - a banana
 S - a slice of pizza
Scrolls
 m - 2 scrolls of identify
 p - 10 scrolls of remove curse
 r - a scroll of amnesia
 s - a scroll of enchant armour
 v - 8 scrolls of teleportation
 H - a scroll of vulnerability
Jewellery
 j - the amulet "Adudwigu" {Clar Dex+2}
   (You bought it in a shop in a bazaar)   
   
   [amulet of clarity]
   It affects your dexterity (+2).
 q - an uncursed amulet of warding
 w - a +6 ring of intelligence (left hand)
 z - the ring "Remoh" (right hand) {Wiz rF+}
   (You found it on level 6 of the Dungeon)   
   
   [ring of wizardry]
   It protects you from fire.
 E - an amulet of the gourmand (around neck)
 N - an uncursed ring of protection from fire
 P - an uncursed amulet of faith
Potions
 c - 2 potions of flight
 e - a potion of haste
 f - 3 potions of resistance
 l - a potion of restore abilities
 C - 3 potions of brilliance
Magical staves
 d - an uncursed staff of air (weapon)
Miscellaneous
 x - a crystal ball of energy
 I - a lamp of fire (inert)


   Skills:
 + Level 14.3 Fighting
   Level 6.1 Long Blades
 + Level 7.8 Staves
 - Level 7.6 Armour
 - Level 13.0 Dodging
 - Level 5.1 Stealth
 - Level 5.1 Shields
 - Level 17.0 Spellcasting
 + Level 13.7 Conjurations
 - Level 8.3 Charms
 - Level 8.0 Summonings
 - Level 2.9 Translocations
 - Level 16.4 Air Magic
 - Level 4.0 Poison Magic
 - Level 15.0 Evocations


You had 11 spell levels left.
You knew the following spells:

 Your Spells              Type           Power        Failure   Level  Hunger
a - Orb of Destruction    Conj           #######...   1%          7    ###....
b - Blink                 Tloc           N/A          1%          2    None
d - Repel Missiles        Chrm/Air       ######       0%          2    None
f - Airstrike             Air            ########..   0%          4    None
g - Summon Elemental      Summ           ######....   1%          4    None
h - Haste                 Chrm           ######..     3%          6    None
i - Poisonous Cloud       Conj/Pois/Air  ########..   1%          6    None
j - Lightning Bolt        Conj/Air       ########..   1%          5    None
k - Conjure Ball Lightni  Conj/Air       ########..   1%          6    None


Dungeon Overview and Level Annotations

Branches:
Dungeon (15/15)            Temple (1/1) D:6             Orc (4/4) D:12
    Elf (0/3) Orc:3          Lair (8/8) D:9          Shoals (5/5) Lair:6
  Snake (5/5) Lair:3        Slime (0/6) Lair:6       Vaults (5/5) D:14
  Blade (0/1) Vaults:4      Crypt (0/5) Vaults:3     Depths (0/5) D:15

Innate Abilities, Weirdness & Mutations

Armour fits poorly on your strangely shaped body.
Your flesh is heat resistant.


Message History

A deep troll and a tengu reaver come into view.
The tengu reaver casts a spell at you.
The bolt of lightning misses you. The battlesphere fires! The barrage of energy hits you!
* * * LOW HITPOINT WARNING * * *
The battlesphere is engulfed in freezing vapours.
Things that are here:
an uncursed long sword; a plate armour
The deep troll shouts!
The battlesphere is engulfed in freezing vapours.
The titan waves its arms in wide circles.
The air twists around and strikes you!
* * * LOW HITPOINT WARNING * * *
The battlesphere is engulfed in freezing vapours.
A phantasmal warrior comes into view.
Items here: )) [[[
a glowing hand axe; a chain mail; a shield; a plate armour; a war axe
The battlesphere is engulfed in freezing vapours.
The titan waves its arms in wide circles.
The air twists around and strikes you!
You die...

       ...
    .#....#..
   ..#....#W..
  ...........
 ###...[[...########
 .....[.[.[.))..D.))
 ....))<<.....(.e.X)
......H..T).........
...C.[[<@.).........
####....).[.########
........)........
.....#...)#......
 ... #*..*#####.
 ..  #.0.0#
     #.0D.#
     #....#
     #.HDD#


You could see a bone dragon, a titan, 2 storm dragons, 2 tengu reavers, a deep
troll and a phantasmal warrior (wandering).


[Aule]

Don't give up so soon! You've got dozens - maybe hundreds - of fruitless games to look forward to, yet! I'm over 150 of 'em, myself. Rock and roll, baby.

I never use the ball; shouldn't need one with Veh, anyway. I also dislike Orb and Ball Lightning; too unpredictable. Airstrike is useful against flying creatures, mostly (and ghosts, too, I think). You didn't seem to have anything other than Lightning Bolt for a consistently reliable hard hitter.

[rchandra]

Something like the Orb of Destruction he had, maybe? Since most things can be damaged with lightning bolt / CBL / P.cloud just fine, using IOOD when needed seems like a reasonable enough choice.

Personally I wouldn't have been in Vaults:5 so early but I'm a coward who prefers having 3 runes to even _enter_ Vaults if feasible.

[Turukano]

The crystal ball is great, until it's not. Then it leaves you high and dry on V:5.

Yes, it's great - but...

And the "but" is the point why I don't like it. There are other means of restoring MP, e.g.

• staff of energy
• potion of magic
• as you worshipped Veh you got MP on kills
• channeling ability of Sif Muna is very nice
• sublimation of blood spell was my favourite, now it has been nerfed but is still useful

[Turukano]

This puts me in such a bad mood.

Have a look at this.

Still in bad mood?

[Aule]

Something like the Orb of Destruction he had, maybe?

You think the Orb is "consistently reliable"? I didn't get that from using it. It seemed real easy for monsters to sidestep it, or to have it wind its way away from where I had cast it.

[Greyr]

Don't give up so soon! You've got dozens - maybe hundreds - of fruitless games to look forward to, yet! I'm over 150 of 'em, myself. Rock and roll, baby.

I never use the ball; shouldn't need one with Veh, anyway. I also dislike Orb and Ball Lightning; too unpredictable. Airstrike is useful against flying creatures, mostly (and ghosts, too, I think). You didn't seem to have anything other than Lightning Bolt for a consistently reliable hard hitter.

I've seen your thread! Horribly depressing, but also very relatable

Normally I wouldnt waste the slots on Ball Lightning, but on this run it just felt right, what with the staff of air and absurd amount of air magic investment. It killed Mara in one cast which was neat, and easily cleared the snake pit for me.

[scorpionwarrior]

Something like the Orb of Destruction he had, maybe?

You think the Orb is "consistently reliable"? I didn't get that from using it. It seemed real easy for monsters to sidestep it, or to have it wind its way away from where I had cast it.

You've either had bad luck with it or were using it in corridors. Sure it misses sometimes, it makes up for that with good damage and ignoring EV.

[tasonir]

I think your branch ordering could be improved: Before vaults:5 I generally clear depths, which should give you time to get more levels, fighting/dodging, and be generally more survivable. I usually also do crypt, and often (if I have the MR) will also run elf first.

Some of those are optional, but you should be doing at least 1 or 2 of them. Vaults:5 shouldn't be entered until around level 23, but 25+ is better if you can manage it, depending on your circumstances, race exp requirements, etc.

[Lyrick]

Well ball also restores extravagant amounts of MP per successful use.

And, even if you are killing things with 1 spellcast each, if they don't stop coming and you find a need to soak some hits,

  Code:

15 AC
22 EV


Is dangerously crappy for taking on Vaults. If I can't manage at least 30 EV i just clean avoid the place. There are safer places to sweep up for EXP, there is no rush.

And, well, magic is nice and all until you don't have any left. You could use a couple of magic-less killing methods for a Plan B when you don't have any more of Plan A left.

Its all fine and dandy when you're blowing up popcorn with OODs left and right, then you turn a corner to a rudely awakened titan and 12 MP in the pool.