YASD - DeWi "Where were all those spellbooks I heard about?"

[Lobber]

This was my favorite character up to this point. Cynthia was a deep elf Wizard, but alas, never found any spell books for any of her ten levels of life. Sif Muna did nothing to help her either. I played her more carefully than any character I've ever played, yet, in the end, a simple duo of centaurs killed her just like that.

  Code:

 Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup version 0.10.2 character file.

6507 Cynthia Depravithia the Thaumaturge (level 10, -7/48 HPs)
             Began as a Deep Elf Wizard on May 30, 2012.
             Was a High Priest of Sif Muna.
             Shot with an arrow of dispersal by a centaur (8 damage)
             ... on Level 11 of the Dungeon on May 31, 2012.
             The game lasted 03:17:26 (15523 turns).

Cynthia Depravithia the Thaumaturge (DEWz)         Turns: 15523, Time: 03:17:26

HP  -7/48        AC  5     Str  7      XL: 10   Next: 67%
MP  31/41        EV 15     Int 24      God: Sif Muna [*****.]
Gold 140         SH  0     Dex 13      Spells:  7 memorised, 20 levels left

Res.Fire  : . . .   See Invis. : .    y - +0,+3 dwarf dagger (venom)
Res.Cold  : . . .   Warding    : . .  a - +0 elf robe
Life Prot.: . . .   Conserve   : .    (no shield)
Res.Acid. : . . .   Res.Corr.  : .    b - +0 elf wizard hat
Res.Poison: .       Clarity    : +    o - +0 cloak
Res.Elec. : .       Spirit.Shd : .    k - +0 pair of gloves
Sust.Abil.: . .     Stasis     : .    F - +0 pair of dwarf boots
Res.Mut.  : .       Ctrl.Telep.: .    x - amulet of clarity
Res.Rott. : .       Levitation : .    t - ring of levitation
Saprovore : . . .   Ctrl.Flight: .    n - ring of magical power

@: repel missiles (expires), somewhat resistant to hostile enchantments,
stealthy
A: no striking features
a: Channel Energy, Forget Spell, Renounce Religion, Evoke Levitation


You were on level 11 of the Dungeon.
You worshipped Sif Muna.
Sif Muna was exalted by your worship.
You were not hungry.

You visited 2 branches of the dungeon, and saw 12 of its levels.

You collected 435 gold pieces.
You spent 315 gold pieces at shops.

Inventory:

Hand weapons
 y - a +0,+3 dwarven dagger of venom (weapon)
 J - a +0 blowgun
Missiles
 h - 18 steel +0 darts (quivered)
 s - 11 poisoned +0 needles
 P - a -5 throwing net
 Q - 19 poisoned +3 needles
Armour
 a - a +0 elven robe (worn)
 b - a +0 elven wizard hat (worn)
 k - a +0 pair of gloves (worn)
 o - a +0 cloak (worn)
 F - a +0 pair of dwarven boots (worn)
Magical devices
 w - a wand of fireball (2)
 S - a wand of polymorph other (4) {unknown}
Comestibles
 d - 8 bread rations
Scrolls
 f - 2 scrolls of curse weapon {unknown}
 g - 2 scrolls of enchant weapon II
 l - 2 scrolls of identify
 m - a scroll of blinking {unknown}
 v - 2 scrolls of magic mapping {unknown}
 A - 5 scrolls of detect curse
 D - 2 scrolls of recharging {unknown}
 E - a scroll of amnesia
 K - a scroll of fear
 L - a scroll of random uselessness {unknown}
 M - 4 scrolls of remove curse {unknown}
 N - a scroll of teleportation
 O - a scroll of acquirement {unknown}
 R - a scroll of curse armour {unknown}
Jewellery
 e - an uncursed amulet of conservation
 n - a ring of magical power (left hand)
 t - a ring of levitation (right hand)
 u - the amulet of Klenudie {unknown, rMut rC+ Dex+2 Int+2}
   (You found it on level 4 of the Dungeon)   
   
   [amulet of resist mutation]
   
   It affects your intelligence (+2).
   It affects your dexterity (+2).
   It protects you from cold.
 x - an amulet of clarity (around neck)
 C - an uncursed ring of protection from fire
Potions
 i - 3 potions of paralysis {unknown}
 j - 2 potions of poison {unknown}
 p - 3 potions of speed
 q - a potion of invisibility
 r - 2 potions of resistance
 H - 4 potions of curing
 I - a potion of heal wounds
 T - a potion of cure mutation
 V - a potion of brilliance
Books
 c - a book of Minor Magic   
   
   Spells                             Type                      Level
   *Magic Dart                        Conjuration                  1
   *Blink                             Translocation                2
   *Call Imp                          Summoning                    2
   *Repel Missiles                    Charms/Air                   2
   *Slow                              Hexes                        2
   *Conjure Flame                     Conjuration/Fire             3
   *Mephitic Cloud                    Conjuration/Poison/Air       3


   Skills:
 + Level 0.4 Fighting
 + Level 0.8 Short Blades
 + Level 1.2 Throwing
 + Level 6.3 Dodging
 + Level 4.2 Stealth
 + Level 0.6 Stabbing
 + Level 2.6 Traps & Doors
 + Level 0.1 Unarmed Combat
 + Level 13.3 Spellcasting
 + Level 8.2 Conjurations
 + Level 4.3 Hexes
 + Level 2.2 Charms
 + Level 2.9 Summonings
 + Level 4.4 Translocations
 + Level 2.0 Fire Magic
 + Level 2.3 Air Magic
 + Level 2.1 Poison Magic
 + Level 0.6 Evocations


You had 20 spell levels left.
You knew the following spells:

 Your Spells              Type           Power        Failure   Level  Hunger
a - Magic Dart            Conj           #####        1%          1    None
b - Blink                 Tloc           N/A          1%          2    None
c - Call Imp              Summ           #####.....   1%          2    None
d - Repel Missiles        Air/Chrm       #####.....   1%          2    None
e - Slow                  Hex            ######...    1%          2    None
f - Conjure Flame         Fire/Conj      ######...    1%          3    None
g - Mephitic Cloud        Pois/Air/Conj  ######...    1%          3    None


Dungeon Overview and Level Annotations

Branches:
Dungeon (11/27)            Temple (1/1) D:5             Orc (0/4) D:8
  Lair: D:8-13     

Altars:
Ashenzari
Cheibriados
Elyvilon
Kikubaaqudgha
Makhleb
Nemelex Xobeh
Okawaru
Sif Muna
The Shining One
Trog
Vehumet
Xom
Yredelemnul
Zin

Shops:
D:7: !  D:9: !

Annotations
D:2 Sigmund
D:8 Marty's ghost, experienced MiBe

Message History

The centaur shoots a runed arrow. The runed arrow hits you! The centaur shoots a runed arrow.
The runed arrow hits you! A centaur opens the door.
You see here 2 runed arrows.
Your repel missiles spell is about to expire...
The centaur shoots a runed arrow. The runed arrow hits you!
You see here a runed arrow.
The centaur shoots a runed arrow. The runed arrow is repelled. The centaur wields a runed bow.
The centaur shoots a runed arrow. The runed arrow misses you.
The centaur shoots an arrow of dispersal.
The arrow of dispersal hits you! You blink.
Aiming: Magic Dart
Press: ? - help, Shift-Dir - straight line, f/p - centaur
Aim: a centaur, wielding a bow (moderately wounded)
The magic dart hits the centaur.
The centaur is severely wounded.
The centaur shoots a runed arrow. The runed arrow hits you!
* * * LOW HITPOINT WARNING * * *
The centaur shoots an arrow of dispersal.
The arrow of dispersal hits you! You blink.
You die...

    #............
    ####.........
     #..!........
     #...........
     #.........).
 #  ##.(......#'#
 #. #............
##.##..(.....##.#
#........#+#..<..
#....@...#(##..).
#.._....##§##...<
#.........(##....
#....(.§.(.c.....
##.##.()(.c#.....
 #. #......######
 #  #.........
    #...........
    #...........


You could see 2 centaurs.

Vanquished Creatures
  Erolcha (D:9)
  A cyclops (D:10)
  2 trolls (D:9)
  3 yaks (D:10)
  2 ice beasts
  2 necrophages
  9 ogres
  3 orc warriors
  A giant goldfish zombie (D:7)
  A sky beast (D:6)
  5 centaurs
  A phantom (D:5)
  A crocodile (D:10)
  3 giant frogs
  A water moccasin (D:10)
  A basilisk skeleton (D:10)
  6 killer bees (D:7)
  10 wights
  A crimson imp (D:5)
  A goliath beetle (D:8)
  A shadow (D:10)
  4 hounds
  4 orc priests
  A hound zombie (D:9)
  2 hound skeletons
  17 orc wizards
  5 worker ants
  A big fish zombie (D:7)
  2 jellies (D:10)
  An adder zombie (D:9)
  11 adders
  A giant mite (D:5)
  3 worms
  A bat zombie (D:5)
  5 giant eyeballs
  3 giant geckos
  An ooze (D:1)
  43 orcs
  12 hobgoblins
  4 jackals
  17 kobolds
  22 bats
  8 giant cockroaches
  4 giant newts
  11 goblins
  3 hobgoblin zombies
  An orc skeleton (D:7)
  2 quokkas
  A quokka zombie (D:8)
  15 rats
  2 rat skeletons (D:4)
  2 rat zombies
  3 toadstools
268 creatures vanquished.

Vanquished Creatures (collateral kills)
  A spriggan (D:7)
  The ghost of Lobber Bowtreader the Slinger, an average HaHu (D:5)
  A phantom (D:9)
  A crimson imp (D:10)
  An iguana (D:2)
  A scorpion (D:5)
  An adder (D:3)
  A worm (D:4)
  An orc (D:6)
  A giant cockroach (D:5)
  A giant newt (D:1)
  2 toadstools (D:9)
13 creatures vanquished.

Vanquished Creatures (others)
  An ogre zombie (D:9)
  10 crimson imps
  An orc skeleton (D:8)
  5 shadow imps
  An adder skeleton (D:9)
  4 white imps
  A jackal (D:6)
  A goblin skeleton (D:9)
  29 toadstools
53 creatures vanquished.

Grand Total: 334 creatures vanquished

Notes
Turn   | Place    | Note
--------------------------------------------------------------
     0 | D:1      | Cynthia Depravithia, the Deep Elf Wizard, began the quest for the Orb.
     0 | D:1      | Reached XP level 1. HP: 8/8 MP: 7/7
  1178 | D:1      | Reached XP level 2. HP: 13/13 MP: 7/10
  1182 | D:1      | Learned a level 2 spell: Blink
  1185 | D:1      | Learned a level 2 spell: Call Imp
  1188 | D:1      | Learned a level 2 spell: Repel Missiles
  1191 | D:1      | Learned a level 2 spell: Slow
  1558 | D:1      | Reached skill level 5 in Spellcasting
  1999 | D:2      | Found a white marble altar of Elyvilon.
  2010 | D:2      | Noticed Sigmund
  2214 | D:2      | Reached XP level 3. HP: 17/17 MP: 13/13
  2240 | D:2      | Found a shattered altar of Ashenzari.
  2714 | D:3      | Reached skill level 6 in Spellcasting
  2990 | D:3      | Reached XP level 4. HP: 16/22 MP: 15/18
  3233 | D:3      | Learned a level 3 spell: Conjure Flame
  3237 | D:3      | Learned a level 3 spell: Mephitic Cloud
  3242 | D:3      | Found an iron altar of Okawaru.
  3363 | D:3      | Found a shimmering altar of Xom.
  3363 | D:3      | Found a deep blue altar of Sif Muna.
  3370 | D:3      | Became a worshipper of Sif Muna the Loreminder
  3512 | D:3      | Reached skill level 1 in Traps & Doors
  3842 | D:4      | Got a glittering golden amulet
  3889 | D:4      | Reached XP level 5. HP: 26/26 MP: 20/20
  4491 | D:4      | Reached skill level 1 in Hexes
  4491 | D:4      | Reached skill level 1 in Poison Magic
  4617 | D:5      | Entered Level 5 of the Dungeon
  4728 | D:5      | Found a staircase to the Ecumenical Temple.
  4734 | Temple   | Entered the Ecumenical Temple
  4829 | D:5      | Reached skill level 7 in Spellcasting
  4829 | D:5      | Reached skill level 1 in Charms
  5092 | D:5      | Acquired Sif Muna's first power
  5161 | D:5      | Noticed Lobber Bowtreader's ghost (average HaHu)
  5199 | D:5      | Killed Lobber Bowtreader's ghost
  5199 | D:5      | Reached skill level 1 in Air Magic
  5199 | D:5      | Reached XP level 6. HP: 29/31 MP: 11/22
  5755 | D:5      | Reached skill level 8 in Spellcasting
  5755 | D:5      | Reached XP level 7. HP: 11/35 MP: 20/25
  6131 | D:5      | Acquired Sif Muna's second power
  6458 | D:6      | Paralysed by a giant eyeball for 2 turns
  6599 | D:6      | Reached skill level 1 in Fire Magic
  7190 | D:6      | Reached XP level 8. HP: 24/40 MP: 27/27
  7969 | D:7      | Reached skill level 9 in Spellcasting
  8214 | D:7      | Found Stauqayvun's Distillery.
  8218 | D:7      | Bought a potion of agility for 27 gold pieces
  8218 | D:7      | Bought a potion of restore abilities for 33 gold pieces
  8218 | D:7      | Bought a potion of curing for 22 gold pieces
  8218 | D:7      | Bought a potion of degeneration for 22 gold pieces
  8218 | D:7      | Bought a potion of slowing for 11 gold pieces
  8269 | D:7      | Paralysed by a giant eyeball for 2 turns
  8400 | D:7      | Found an ancient bone altar of Kikubaaqudgha.
  8737 | D:7      | Reached skill level 5 in Conjurations
  8798 | D:7      | Reached skill level 10 in Spellcasting
  8919 | D:7      | Reached XP level 9. HP: 36/44 MP: 23/29
  9585 | D:8      | Noticed Marty's ghost (experienced MiBe)
  9835 | D:9      | Noticed Erolcha
 10423 | D:8      | Found a sand-covered staircase.
 10586 | D:8      | Found a staircase to the Orcish Mines.
 10610 | D:8      | Reached skill level 11 in Spellcasting
 11739 | D:9      | Killed Erolcha
 11739 | D:9      | Acquired Sif Muna's third power
 11878 | D:9      | Found Izaum's Distillery.
 12002 | D:9      | Reached skill level 5 in Dodging
 12083 | D:9      | Bought a potion of resistance for 112 gold pieces
 12083 | D:9      | Bought a potion of speed for 88 gold pieces
 12225 | D:9      | Reached skill level 12 in Spellcasting
 12370 | D:9      | Reached skill level 1 in Throwing
 12370 | D:9      | Reached XP level 10. HP: 48/48 MP: 22/31
 13081 | D:10     | Entered Level 10 of the Dungeon
 13530 | D:10     | Paralysed by a giant eyeball for 4 turns
 14012 | D:10     | Reached skill level 13 in Spellcasting
 14738 | D:9      | Found a shattered altar of Ashenzari.
 15497 | D:11     | Found an ancient bone altar of Kikubaaqudgha.
 15523 | D:11     | HP: 1/48 [centaur/ runed arrow (17)]
 15523 | D:11     | Shot with an arrow of dispersal by a centaur



[mageykun]

Well, you were close to getting book gifts there- you'd almost hit 6 stars of piety. Generally Oka/Trog/Sif/Veh don't start gifting until you've reached the lair (unless you luck into an amulet of faith, or an early altar).

You had a lot of un-ID-ed scrolls there. ?Blink could have helped (though not if you read ID-ed it), and ?acquirement might have produced something good. More realistically, I'm not sure why you were trying to ping centaurs to death with magic dart. I would have tried to shut them down with meph, then sent in the imps and/or machine gunned magic dart. Alternatively, you could have blown them up with that wand of fireball. Or morphed them into something that can use bows with the wand of poly. Or used ?fear to escape.

[bobross419]

As a new caster, I'd recommend giving Kiku a try. You get your first spell book at * which is very quick. I always had a hard time with casters myself... I could never get Veh or Sif to give me any books. After playing Kiku for a while I got a better handle on things and understanding and now I pretty regularly get book gifts from both of the other gods. Kiku ends up needing another spell school, but Pain, Agony, and Dispel Undead work well with Magic Darts as the bread and butter. Skeletons and undead give you a pretty good buffer as well that can be used as an extra escape option. It does seem to work better as a semi-hybrid, but I've had good success with pure casting too.

The good thing about Kiku is that you should get Agony and Dispel Undead by Lair if you aren't wasting a lot of time. Both are solid spells that can carry you through most of a 3-rune game. You'll be more dependant on floor drops for other spells.

It might not be optimal play for a caster, but going Wi of Kiku has a smoother learning curve to get you comfortable as a caster at mid-game.

[nago]

In my experience, getting Sif Muna's first gift needs significant time, and there's no guarantee the book is going to be useful at all, so I prefer other background (Cj, elementalist) over Wz, if I'm going to worship her for the presence of spells in starting book which can reliably kill things until mid-game. Furthemore, with Sif Muna is guaranteed to get, at same point, the useful defensive spell of Wz (blink, deflect missile)...

Anyway, your skill training seems to be a bit chaotic. Were you using automatic training? With Sif Muna piety increases according progress in magic skills, and as a pure mage, magic skills are invaluably more important than physicals one (including dodge, stealth and fighting). For start, you should have disable fighting, short blade, throwing (!), and so on. Furthermore, there's no reason to train all magic skills at same time: blinking require few points to be castable, all yours spells have only mid-power. It's better to focus your training on your offensive skill (conjuration in this case) and only eventually train some other skill - this is also quite important with Sif Muna, because book's gifting/acquirement is somewhat weighted by spells skills, and your character definitely wants some big offensive spell in his first book!

[KoboldLord]

A wizard has Mephitic Cloud. Why were you not using it? It's one of the most ridiculously overpowered spells in the pre-Lair part of the game. Eventually high-level monsters start being able to resist, but centaurs will be shut down almost every single time and you could have hit them both with a single casting. After you've confused them, it's probably best to retreat to explored territory in case there's a whole pack of centaurs around the corner, but if you used the tool you had you would have survived.

Wizards are a generalist background. They've got a wide variety of tools for a wide variety of situations, but they don't have much in the way of raw power. Each spell in your starting book is useful for a different set of early-game situations, and recognizing which spell to use makes all the difference in survival. Slugging it out with the wrong spell is a bad idea, because as a wizard you don't have much raw power and you aren't going to stay ahead unless you play dirty.

Fixing your lack of item identification and your skill training are good ideas too, but every wizard you will ever play will have Mephitic Cloud in the early game, and every one of them will want to use it frequently up until Lair, gradually tapering off from there.

[That Other Guy]

I've 15 runed a DE mage before, so I feel pretty confident giving advice here. I find that mephitic cloud it the only thing that DEWi really have going for them in the early game, any battle you're in should start with that, and follow up with a hail of magic darts. I didn't see any imps either, they have a lot of killing power for a tiny skill investment. As for God choice, you're probably okay with Sif, she's very supportive of the spammy play-style DEWi has in the early game, I prefer Veh myself, but you'll definitely have all the spellbooks you'll ever need or want if you could just go a bit further with Sif

And, where's your buckler, man? Every primary caster should carry a buckler at least; that extra chance to block arrows is all it takes to stop your healthy DEWi from becoming a pincushion.

And don't give up man, the game has a tough learning curve, your chances of survival skyrocket as you get further into the game.

[bobross419]

Don't forget Conjure flame, TOG. It is a brilliant tactical spell that is awesome when combined with a polearm, sling, or Meph.

[njvack]

I would have tried to shut them down with meph, then sent in the imps

This. Mephitic Cloud shuts down nearly every threat in early D and lots of the threats in Lair, and it is a beast with imps. Centaurs aren't so big when they're confused.

As someone (maybe KoboldLord?) said: never send one imp to do the job when you could send twenty imps.

[XuaXua]

And then the shadow ones raise the dead and you get to keep them afterwards! Granted, the undead can't travel interlevel, but if you are new to a level, don't have raise dead and kill something huge that leaves a corpse, cast the HECK out of summon imps till you get some shadow imps and cross your fingers that they'll raise the dead!