The Tavern

So I'm working through my first rune branch (Swamp). I'm XL 16 and have Axes skill 16.

Mara just dropped a +2 demon blade of electrocution.

I've heard endlessly on these forums about how wonderful demon blades are. Is it worth the XP loss to train up Long Blades and switch at this point in the game? I'm currently wielding a +6 randart war axe with flame brand and a few minor qualities.

edit: forgot to mention i'm also hanging onto a +2 broad axe of freezing in hopes of replacing the intrinsics on the randart waraxe.

Although a +2 demon blade (elec) is a good weapon I personally wouldn't switch at this (late) point of the game.

You can't alter the intrinsics on a randart (unless something new was added recently), and a war axe is not a great base type for your stage of the game, anyway.

A +2 broad axe of freezing is good (dump enchant weapon scrolls on this, and don't re-brand it via scrolls). I mean, it was good enough to take down Mara in the first place, right? And getting 14 levels in long blades and forgoing your 16 skill levels of axes is significant, even with Minotaur apts. I'd stick with the axe.

Thanks to both of you. I was leaning toward sticking with Axes and it's nice to hear confirmation from folks who are better players than I.

By 'replacing the instrinsics' I meant finding similar qualities on other pieces of gear, thus making me more comfortable in swapping it out. The +Inv +SInv in particular has been super. So far the game has been remarkably stingy on resistance gear and other such intrinsics.

I've made it a bit farther and I think I'll go ahead and swap for the broad axe of freezing, as I have enough scrolls to enchant it to +6. I'll keep the randart around for a swap when I'm worried about invisible enemies (or for hydrae).




EDIT: I did the first 2 levels of Elf fishing for better gear and found a +1 battleaxe of freezing... and a vampiric triple sword. Oh, decisions decisions. Would really like this guy to be my second winner.

Vamp triple sword is crazy, but it would take a lot of investment, and now you are even later in the game. Best to stick with axes still, I think.

It is really up to you regarding the whole broad axe vs. battleaxe. But if the broad axe is already +6, I would be inclined to simply stick with that, and raise shields skill (thus committing more strongly to 1-handed weapon + shield). Once shield skill is high enough (15, or close to it) you can get spells. (Or if you go with battleaxe and drop the shield, but in that case you'd want more axe skill.)

With your int, I wouldn't put much hope in spells that rely a lot on spell power, but many charms spells, summon butterflies, blink, possibly conjure flame if you like that spell, etc. are worthwhile.

Broad axe is a good weapon, the only issue with it is that it is pretty rare, but that isn't a problem since you already have an endgame-quality one.

I wouldn't be sinking more exp into evocations at this stage, though (the amount you have is good for now IMO). Some investment in throwing makes sense but I wouldn't go too crazy there; once you feel that your nets are hitting things reliably enough, I would switch to a different priority.

That's all pretty minor, though. Overall, your dude looks solid. Biggest weakness: Low MR. Be careful about that!

I agree that as cool as the triple sword is, it's a lost cause XP-wise.

I haven't actually used the enchant weapon scrolls yet - so my choice is between a +6 broad axe of freezing OR a +5 battleaxe of freezing. I love the extra defense from shields, although I hear elsewhere on the forum that it's not 'optimal' play. So I think I will jack Shields skill and commit to the broad axe.

Crossing my fingers!

The battleaxe is better overall, perhaps, but (at least for me) the problem with shields is mostly that going 1-handed delays one's discovery of, and investment in, a good weapon. Sticking with a war axe when a battleaxe is available is bad, obviously, and it is pretty common for axe-users to get stuck in that situation when they want to use shields.

But if the choice is between battleaxe or shield + broad axe, I would say the difference in power between the two set ups is not big enough in either direction that one should push back against personal preferences. So go with your heart. (I mean, I'd be pushing hard for the battleaxe if it were speed or vampiric or whatever, of course, but that's not the case here.)

Welcome to crawl.

I really appreciate the useful feedback from everyone so far. I've cleared Zot 1-4 and I'm wondering if I should go for my 2nd winner or not. It's very tempting to try and see some of the game's extended content, but I'm not sure this character is powerful enough to even monkey with it. Seems like this guy's resists/defenses/attacks are all REALLY being put to the test in Zot, and I got the impression extended was Even Harder.

(I've been switching between the +6 randart and the +9 axe of freezing based on whether I need SInv)

YASD. Orbs of fire are very, very serious business and one dot of rF is not enough. Lesson learned.

Yeah, they are tough customers.

The Anti-Magic brand does wonders against them though. I've found that if Im running a melee-centric dude it's become a habit of mine to carry an anti-magic weapon with me wherever I go, but especially in Zot.

They are dangerous, yes.


Well, I often did Zot:5 with rF+. If this is enough depends on circumstances: are you able to support your attacks with (e.g.) a phial of floods, do you have some help (like summons), how strong is your weapon, how many HP do you have, are other ememies around etc.

That being said, if you can get rF++ easily - like switching on a ring - this can be useful. If you don't feel strong enough with rF+ quaff a potion of resistance to get rF++.

Better luck next time!