Blades Runner
Posts: 536
Joined: Wednesday, 10th August 2011, 01:06
Saturday, 21st April 2012, 19:58
[YAVP] MiFi: 4 Rune First Win
After hundreds of games I finally managed to break through the early game and win with a MiFi 
I'd throw it into (code) but I'd break the max chars allowed. Here's a pastebin link:
http://pastebin.com/3bynLiSQ
So, I guess this is the part where I make posthumous comments on the game! Its a wall of text, I'm sorry, I tend to write a lot
I ended up going MiFi (Of Okawaru, albeit I switched to Makhleb for Zot) due to seeing someone else post a win with their own MiFi of Oka. In fact, this was my first try at replicating his win, and it worked! All I have to say about Mi is that running one is fairly straightforward. I don't honestly think Minotaur should be as strong as it is currently, but mostly I only say that because headbutting things really helps you survive until Lair. After Lair, I dont think my playstyle would of changed with an other heavily-armored race.
Runes
I only escaped with 4 runes mostly due to me being really afraid of Hell. I cleared out the Vestibule, but after venturing a couple levels into Gehenna I realized that I just didn't have the skill to clear it safely. Constantly being summoned upon and gas'd is really harsh when you want to heal up. I think I might have been a lot more comfortable with it if I was with TSO or Makhleb and had sufficient Piety going in. Actually, I think I went into Gehenna without a god at all!
Gods & Gear
Speaking of gods, I made a accident later on where I accidentally became a follower of TSO whilst my main weapon was using the Draining brand. I quickly abandoned him and went for Makhleb. I dont know if you can be under penance from two gods at once, but I was if it was possible. Not only had I abandoned Okawaru for TSO, but I had abandoned TSO for an evil god just a few turns later!
Okawaru gave me a couple good trinkets, but most of my gear came from drops in Lair and from the Labyrinth. I don't honestly feel like he was super helpful, but he did save me a few times with Finesse. I cruised through the early game with a Whip of Electrocution, then cruised through... well, everything else, with a Demon Whip of Draining. There was a lot of times where I was (and still am) confused as to what gear to wear, but I won regardless so I'm happy in my choice. An Eveningstar tempted me, and so did a Executioner Axe, but I kept at it with my demon whip.
Here's a list of the things I thought would be difficult, but actually ended up being easy or at least not a problem:
Dragons, Hydras, Banishment, No Spells, Draconians, Lair Branches, Orb Guardians, lack of Fly/Lev, XP loss from using Draining, and Penance.
Dragons were never a problem. They could deal some damage with their breath attacks, but they honestly felt like one the weakest opponents in Zot/Vaults. Even the first Hydra I encountered died almost immediately, I was never Banished, scrolls + potions make decent psuedo-spells, Draconians were much like Dragons, Lair branches were easy, Orb Guardians were easier then Dragons/Draconians, I made it through the game using 2 levitation potions, and even using a whip of draining all game I managed to end it at XL27.
Penance was just silly, all I had to do is hold down tab every few minutes when Okawaru felt like being annoying. Its probably a big deal early on though.
Some problems with the design that I encountered:
The period from when you clear Lair until you hit Zot or Hell is laughably easy. It actually became a rare occurance to even be damaged. Spells were pretty deadly, but any source of physical damage, ranged or otherwise, was almost ignorable. I couldn't see beating the game without the defenses I had, because most threats were all but ignorable. I could tab through things that I had heard were very dangerous, like Dracs and Dragons. Hell, I held down tab in Zot:5 when I entered the Orb chamber that was flooded with Orb Guardians. They just couldn't damage me.
I think some evening out of the difficulty needs to be done, either making the entire ride as rough as the early game or smoothing it out so the mid-game is harder and the early game is a little easier.
I also think that min delay needs to be either made clear to players without wiki scouring, or it needs to be removed altogether. Its just silly that suddenly your weapon skills are barely effecting your weapon anymore.
Last, I think the Abyss should scale a bit. There is a fine line between when being banished is a terrible thing and when it is just an annoyance. I was lucky enough to only have to go there for the rune and on purpose, but it was just a tabfest. Not really much damaged me, even being surrounded by a bunch of Bone Dragons and Liches and so forth.
Anywho, thanks for reading! I'm very happy to have finally won
I'd throw it into (code) but I'd break the max chars allowed. Here's a pastebin link:http://pastebin.com/3bynLiSQ
So, I guess this is the part where I make posthumous comments on the game! Its a wall of text, I'm sorry, I tend to write a lot
I ended up going MiFi (Of Okawaru, albeit I switched to Makhleb for Zot) due to seeing someone else post a win with their own MiFi of Oka. In fact, this was my first try at replicating his win, and it worked! All I have to say about Mi is that running one is fairly straightforward. I don't honestly think Minotaur should be as strong as it is currently, but mostly I only say that because headbutting things really helps you survive until Lair. After Lair, I dont think my playstyle would of changed with an other heavily-armored race.
Runes
I only escaped with 4 runes mostly due to me being really afraid of Hell. I cleared out the Vestibule, but after venturing a couple levels into Gehenna I realized that I just didn't have the skill to clear it safely. Constantly being summoned upon and gas'd is really harsh when you want to heal up. I think I might have been a lot more comfortable with it if I was with TSO or Makhleb and had sufficient Piety going in. Actually, I think I went into Gehenna without a god at all!
Gods & Gear
Speaking of gods, I made a accident later on where I accidentally became a follower of TSO whilst my main weapon was using the Draining brand. I quickly abandoned him and went for Makhleb. I dont know if you can be under penance from two gods at once, but I was if it was possible. Not only had I abandoned Okawaru for TSO, but I had abandoned TSO for an evil god just a few turns later!
Okawaru gave me a couple good trinkets, but most of my gear came from drops in Lair and from the Labyrinth. I don't honestly feel like he was super helpful, but he did save me a few times with Finesse. I cruised through the early game with a Whip of Electrocution, then cruised through... well, everything else, with a Demon Whip of Draining. There was a lot of times where I was (and still am) confused as to what gear to wear, but I won regardless so I'm happy in my choice. An Eveningstar tempted me, and so did a Executioner Axe, but I kept at it with my demon whip.
Here's a list of the things I thought would be difficult, but actually ended up being easy or at least not a problem:
Dragons, Hydras, Banishment, No Spells, Draconians, Lair Branches, Orb Guardians, lack of Fly/Lev, XP loss from using Draining, and Penance.
Dragons were never a problem. They could deal some damage with their breath attacks, but they honestly felt like one the weakest opponents in Zot/Vaults. Even the first Hydra I encountered died almost immediately, I was never Banished, scrolls + potions make decent psuedo-spells, Draconians were much like Dragons, Lair branches were easy, Orb Guardians were easier then Dragons/Draconians, I made it through the game using 2 levitation potions, and even using a whip of draining all game I managed to end it at XL27.
Penance was just silly, all I had to do is hold down tab every few minutes when Okawaru felt like being annoying. Its probably a big deal early on though.
Some problems with the design that I encountered:
The period from when you clear Lair until you hit Zot or Hell is laughably easy. It actually became a rare occurance to even be damaged. Spells were pretty deadly, but any source of physical damage, ranged or otherwise, was almost ignorable. I couldn't see beating the game without the defenses I had, because most threats were all but ignorable. I could tab through things that I had heard were very dangerous, like Dracs and Dragons. Hell, I held down tab in Zot:5 when I entered the Orb chamber that was flooded with Orb Guardians. They just couldn't damage me.
I think some evening out of the difficulty needs to be done, either making the entire ride as rough as the early game or smoothing it out so the mid-game is harder and the early game is a little easier.
I also think that min delay needs to be either made clear to players without wiki scouring, or it needs to be removed altogether. Its just silly that suddenly your weapon skills are barely effecting your weapon anymore.
Last, I think the Abyss should scale a bit. There is a fine line between when being banished is a terrible thing and when it is just an annoyance. I was lucky enough to only have to go there for the rune and on purpose, but it was just a tabfest. Not really much damaged me, even being surrounded by a bunch of Bone Dragons and Liches and so forth.
Anywho, thanks for reading! I'm very happy to have finally won
