Hefner High Elf Hunter-turned-Air Elementalist

[Mackerel]

I really intended for this character to be a bow specialist, no shield, switching to a big two-handed sword for melee; then I got the Shield of Resistance and started to rethink that.

My current troll leather armor has me casting Tornado at Great. My development plan is to get Air Magic up to 27, where I think I'll still be able to cast Tornado reliably while wearing the artifact Ring Mail.

There are several cloaks, all with advantages and disadvantages. Two of them are the curse brand.

I like the Eudemon blade, donated by Mennas, though I would be happier if its damage rating were more enchanted. Weapon II scrolls have been scarce. (I used several of them on the fire scimitar; a bad choice, as it turns out.) I like the vampiric demon blade, but it also is the recurse brand.

I'm looking for advice on equipment choices. For example, which is the best cloak? At the moment I'm wearing the one that doesn't recurse; but what's the tradeoff between +2 AC and +2 int? I'm tempted to just drop the bow and arrows, equip the vampiric demon blade, and forget about having any other weapon; but that bow seems pretty tough to me, and after all it was the original plan to be a Hunter.

I'm also looking for advice on where to go next? Crypt? I was getting my ass kicked down there before, and I expect I'll end up getting pretty cursed; and I don't have any spells specific to killing undead. The bottom of Slime? I haven't found mutation resistance yet, and cure mutation potions have been a little rare; I have only one in my stash. Finish the bottom of Cocytus and then do Gehenna? (I've never had this much elemental resistance in this game before.)

I also wonder if Okawaru has taken me about as far as he can; if he's planning to give me a better helmet, that would be OK, but other than that I don't think he'll have any more terrific gifts. Should I switch to Ash, run through Crypt and get all cursed up, and see around corners more effectively?

Thanks for the help!

  Code:

Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup version 0.9.1 character file.



Hefner the Anemomancer (High Elf Hunter)                                                                                                       Turns: 142350, Time: 1, 10:32:10



HP 184/184 (188) AC 25     Str 15      XL: 27

MP  48/48        EV 18     Int 31      God: Okawaru [*****.]

Gold 6697        SH 35     Dex 26      Spells: 17 memorised,  3 levels left



Res.Fire  : + + .   See Invis. : +    d - +2 eudemon blade (holy)

Res.Cold  : + + +   Warding    : . .  m - +4 troll leather armour

Life Prot.: + . .   Conserve   : .    s - +5 shield of Resistance {rF+ rC+ MR}

Res.Acid. : . . .   Res.Corr.  : .    p - +2 helmet {SInv}

Res.Poison: +       Clarity    : .    G - +0 cloak of the Onion {god gift, Str+1 Dex

Res.Elec. : .       Spirit.Shd : .    v - +3 pair of gloves of Jigsaw {god gift, rPo

Sust.Abil.: . .     Stasis     : .    Y - +3 pair of boots "Serhishro" {rC+ Dex+1}

Res.Mut.  : .       Ctrl.Telep.: .    x - amulet of the gourmand

Res.Rott. : .       Levitation : .    t - ring "Rigaoc" {Wiz Str+3 Int+2}

Gourmand  : +       Ctrl.Flight: .    B - +1,+4 ring of slaying



@: extremely resistant to hostile enchantments, very stealthy

A: no striking features

a: Heroism, Finesse, Renounce Religion

}: 3/15 runes: decaying, barnacled, silver





You are on level 1 of the Hive.

You worship Okawaru.

Okawaru is exalted by your worship.

You are full.



You have visited 16 branches of the dungeon, and seen 83 of its levels.

You have visited 1 Labyrinth.

You have visited 2 portal chambers: ice cave, trove.



You have collected 8468 gold pieces.

You have spent 1791 gold pieces at shops.



Inventory:



Hand weapons

 a - a +6,+6 scimitar of flaming

 b - the +10,+5 bow of Prarch {velocity, rC+ MR SInv}

   (You found it on level 2 of the Hive)   

   

   Any arrow fired from it inflicts extra damage.

   

   

   It protects you from cold.

   It increases your resistance to enchantments.

   It enhances your eyesight.

 c - the +13,+4 demon blade "Leech" {vamp, rN+ EV-1 Str-1 Dex-1 Int-1 Curse}

   (You found it on level 6 of the Lair of Beasts)   

   

   It inflicts no extra harm, but heals its wielder somewhat when it strikes a

   living foe.

   

   

   It affects your evasion (-1).

   It affects your strength (-1).

   It affects your intelligence (-1).

   It affects your dexterity (-1).

   It protects you from negative energy.

   It may recurse itself.

 d - a +2,+2 eudemon blade of holy wrath (weapon)

 C - the +0,+5 scimitar of Disgust {god gift, vamp, Int+3 SInv}

   (Okawaru gifted it to you in the Vestibule of Hell)   

   

   It inflicts no extra harm, but heals its wielder somewhat when it strikes a

   living foe.

   

   

   It affects your intelligence (+3).

   It enhances your eyesight.

Missiles

 i - 35 +4 arrows of flame {god gift}

 u - 38 +4 arrows of frost {god gift}

Armour

 j - the +2 cloak of Tereriyr {rF+ Curse}

   (You acquired it in a Labyrinth)   

   

   

   It protects you from fire.

   It may recurse itself.

 k - the +2 cloak of Ystremno {god gift, Dex+4 Dam+3 Curse}

   (Okawaru gifted it to you on level 27 of the Dungeon)   

   

   

   It affects your dexterity (+4).

   It affects your damage-dealing abilities (+3).

   It may recurse itself.

 m - a +4 troll leather armour (worn)

 p - a +2 helmet of see invisible (worn)

 s - the +5 shield of Resistance (worn) {rF+ rC+ MR}

   (You found it on level 8 of the Dungeon)   

   

   

   It protects you from fire.

   It protects you from cold.

   It increases your resistance to enchantments.

 v - the +3 pair of gloves of Jigsaw (worn) {god gift, rPois rF+ rC+ rN+}

   (Okawaru gifted it to you on level 8 of the Lair of Beasts)   

   

   

   It protects you from fire.

   It protects you from cold.

   It protects you from poison.

   It protects you from negative energy.

 w - the +4 ring mail of Eternal Vigilance {rF+ MR Acc+1}

   (You found it on level 7 of the Vaults)   

   

   

   It affects your accuracy (+1).

   It protects you from fire.

   It increases your resistance to enchantments.

 G - the +0 cloak of the Onion (worn) {god gift, Str+1 Dex+5 Int+2}

   (Okawaru gifted it to you on level 6 of Cocytus)   

   

   

   It affects your strength (+1).

   It affects your intelligence (+2).

   It affects your dexterity (+5).

 Y - the +3 pair of boots "Serhishro" (worn) {rC+ Dex+1}

   (You bought it in a shop on level 2 of the Elven Halls)   

   

   

   It affects your dexterity (+1).

   It protects you from cold.

Magical devices

 e - a wand of disintegration (13)

 g - a wand of teleportation (6)

 I - a wand of fire (15)

 W - a wand of cold (15)

Comestibles

 f - 3 meat rations

 o - a royal jelly

Scrolls

 h - a scroll of teleportation

 q - a scroll of detect curse

 r - 2 scrolls of fear

 z - 3 scrolls of fog

Jewellery

 l - an uncursed ring of magical power

 t - the ring "Rigaoc" (right hand) {Wiz Str+3 Int+2}

   (You found it on level 1 of the Elven Halls)   

   

   [ring of wizardry]

   

   It affects your strength (+3).

   It affects your intelligence (+2).

 x - an amulet of the gourmand (around neck)

 y - an uncursed ring of invisibility

 A - an uncursed amulet of stasis

 B - a +1,+4 ring of slaying (left hand)

 E - the ring "Trojobeu" {*TELE +Rage MR Dex+4}

   (You found it on level 7 of the Vaults)   

   

   [ring of teleportation]

   

   It affects your dexterity (+4).

   It increases your resistance to enchantments.

   It lets you go berserk.

 T - an uncursed ring of life protection

 U - an uncursed amulet of clarity

 X - the amulet "Frigiem" {rCorr Dex+3}

   (You found it on level 21 of the Dungeon)   

   

   [amulet of resist corrosion]

   

   It affects your dexterity (+3).

Potions

 L - a potion of healing

Magical staves

 D - a +0 rod of destruction [inacc,magma,cold] (10/10)

   (You found it on level 1 of the Vaults)

Miscellaneous

 n - the horn of Geryon





   Skills:

 - Level 15 Fighting

 - Level 8 Short Blades

 - Level 14 Long Blades

 - Level 10 Bows

 - Level 1 Throwing

 - Level 15 Armour

 - Level 6 Dodging

 - Level 8 Stealth

 - Level 8 Stabbing

 - Level 15 Shields

 - Level 8 Traps & Doors

 - Level 1 Unarmed Combat

 - Level 22 Spellcasting

 - Level 15 Conjurations

 - Level 1 Hexes

 - Level 5 Charms

 - Level 5 Summonings

 - Level 12 Translocations

 - Level 1 Transmutations

 - Level 10 Ice Magic

 + Level 23 Air Magic

 - Level 1 Earth Magic

 - Level 3 Poison Magic

 - Level 8 Invocations

 - Level 10 Evocations





You have 3 spell levels left.

You know the following spells:



 Your Spells              Type           Power        Success   Level  Hunger

a - Magic Dart            Conj           #####        Perfect     1    None

b - Sting                 Pois/Conj      #####        Excellent   1    None

c - Mephitic Cloud        Pois/Air/Conj  ########..   Perfect     3    None

d - Iskenderun's Mystic   Conj           ########.    Excellent   4    None

e - Orb of Destruction    Conj           ########..   Excellent   7    Strawberry

f - Poisonous Cloud       Pois/Air/Conj  ########..   Excellent   5    None

g - Freezing Cloud        Ice/Air/Conj   ########..   Excellent   6    None

h - Tornado               Air            #########.   Great       9    Honeycomb

i - Deflect Missiles      Air/Chrm       ########..   Excellent   6    None

j - Swiftness             Air/Chrm       ########..   Perfect     2    None

k - Flight                Air/Chrm       ########..   Excellent   4    None

l - Controlled Blink      Tloc           N/A          Excellent   7    Strawberry

m - Apportation           Tloc           ########..   Perfect     1    None

n - Cure Poison           Pois           #######...   Excellent   2    None

o - Abjuration            Summ           #######...   Excellent   3    None

q - Slow                  Hex            ######...    Excellent   2    None

r - Dig                   Erth/Trmt      ######...    Excellent   4    None





Dungeon Overview and Level Annotations



Branches:

Dungeon (27/27)            Temple (1/1) D:4             Orc (4/4) D:7

    Elf (5/5) Orc:4          Lair (8/8) D:13          Swamp (5/5) Lair:5

 Shoals (5/5) Lair:4        Slime (5/6) Lair:8         Hive (2/2) D:13

  Vault (8/8) D:18          Blade (1/1) Vault:4       Crypt (2/5) Vault:2

    Dis (1/7) Hell            Geh (1/7) Hell            Coc (7/7) Hell

    Tar (0/7) Hell            Zot (0/5) D:27       

  Tomb: Crypt:2-3   




[hxy]

You have enough Long Blades skill to deal with most things in Crypt with your eudemon blade alone, despite the lowly +2.
I'd choose "the +2 cloak of Ystremno {god gift, Dex+4 Dam+3 Curse}" over your current cloak, for the slaying bonus.

[Mackerel]

Successfully cleared Crypt with the eudemon blade, and found 3 scrolls of enchant weapon 2 along the way, so now it's 2,5. It did kill things pretty fast there.

Got my ass kicked in the bottom of slime. Ran away. Waited a few hundred turns, came down a different staircase, got my ass kicked again. Hmmm. Went back down the first staircase, found Devastation and The Royal Jelly and 3 others, in a loose circle around the staircase, all asleep. Fired up Tornado, kept dodging the hard hitters, and the named guys were dead before the second Tornado faded. After that the mop up was easy.

Tried Zot. Killed some stuff. Ran into an Orb of Fire. 7 mutations. I had found another cure mutation potion, so my stack of two managed to get them cleared up. None left, though. I'll need to save Zot for last, when I won't care if I get mutations, since I'm getting out. In the meantime, where are you, mutation resistance?

At Air Magic 26 I am now casting Tornado at Excellent, wearing the ring mail.

So I thought I would try Gehenna. Cleared a path to the bottom. Killed a few monsters while finding my way to the central room. With rF+++ this seemed like a breeze. I was half way across the third interior room, a vault with gold, when two fiends popped into place, pop pop, at opposite ends of the room. I thought, this could be trouble, and blinked toward the door. They both decided on torment, so zap, 140 hitpoints gone, 45 left. I stepped into the doorway, still in LOS, they do it again, 11 hp left. Ouch! Turned the corner, ran, and somehow, bobbing and weaving, made it to an exit. I can't believe I would be lucky enough to escape that again. Where are you, torment resistance ...

So. Trying to figure out what to do next. I think I'll deliberately go to the Abyss (this is, I think, the first game when I have never been banished to the Abyss), just killing everything, scooping up useful scrolls and potions, and eventually finding the rune. (The Abyss is boring, but the evidence seems to show that I don't have the power to defeat the bottom levels of the hells yet.) The alternative, I guess, would be Pandemonium, not figuring to clear it, but to beat the levels I can and skip past the levels I can't beat.

Once again, thanks in advance for any advice people have.

[rebthor]

Problem with Abyss and Pan is that there are a non-0 number of neqoxecs there. Usually one wouldn't care that much because by now, they're popcorn to you but without mutation resist, it might cause problems for you.