CIP Monkey Business

[PostmodernBrony]

Hello, again. Got back into playing Demonspawn Monks after reminiscing about the good ol' days - i'm having surprising amounts of success with the build, though i've died a fair amount of times.

As of right now, i just stumbled across a spellbook in the dungeon - the Book of Control. I've heard that Control Teleport is good. REALLY good. I wasn't planning on training spells with this character until after i had maxed out UC (since i'm a primary melee fighter), but...dang.

Do i start trying to level up my spellcasting/charms/translocations to get this beauty, or do i belay it in favor of more UC training? i really like this character, don't want to get 'em killed off if i can help it.

  Code:

Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup version 0.11.0 (tiles) character file.

Nyx the Martial Artist (Demonspawn Monk)            Turns: 8538, Time: 00:32:01

HP  58/58        AC 17     Str 11      XL: 8   Next: 48%
MP  16/16        EV 13     Int 14      God:
Gold 253         SH  0     Dex 16      Spells:  2 memorised,  4 levels left

Res.Fire  : . . .   See Invis. : .     - Unarmed
Res.Cold  : . . .   Warding    : .   x - +0 orc robe
Life Prot.: . . .   Conserve   : .   (no shield)
Res.Poison: .       Res.Corr.  : .   (no helmet)
Res.Elec. : .       Clarity    : .   w - +0 cloak
Sust.Abil.: . .     Spirit.Shd : .   h - +0 pair of gloves
Res.Mut.  : .       Stasis     : .   (no boots)
Res.Rott. : .       Ctrl.Telep.: .   (no amulet)
Saprovore : . . .   Levitation : .   e - ring of magical power
                    Ctrl.Flight: .   p - cursed +5 ring of protection

@: very slightly contaminated, slightly resistant to hostile enchantments,
fairly stealthy
A: powered by pain 1, AC +8
a: no special abilities


You are on level 6 of the Dungeon.
You are near starving.

You have visited 2 branches of the dungeon, and seen 7 of its levels.
You have also visited: Sewer.

You have collected 253 gold pieces.

Inventory:

Missiles
 m - a dart of frost (quivered)
Armour
 h - a +0 pair of gloves (worn)
 i - a shield
 w - a +0 cloak (worn)
 x - a +0 orcish robe (worn)
Comestibles
 b - 3 bread rations
 k - 2 apples
 r - a meat ration
 B - a sausage
Scrolls
 l - a scroll of remove curse
 o - 2 scrolls of teleportation
 z - a scroll of fog
 H - 2 scrolls of blinking
Jewellery
 a - an uncursed glowing brass ring {tried}
 d - an uncursed amulet of stasis
 e - a ring of magical power (right hand)
 p - a cursed +5 ring of protection (left hand)
 s - an uncursed silver ring {tried}
Potions
 c - 3 fizzy purple potions
 f - a lumpy silvery potion
 g - 3 black potions
 j - a cyan potion
 n - a pink potion
 q - a metallic green potion
 t - an emulsified silvery potion
 u - a gluggy white potion
 C - a red potion
Books
 v - a book of Control   
   
   Spells                             Type                      Level
   Control Teleport                   Charms/Translocation         4
   Control Undead                     Necromancy                   4
   Enslavement                        Hexes                        4
   Mass Confusion                     Hexes                        6
   Metabolic Englaciation             Hexes/Ice                    6
 y - a Young Poisoner's Handbook   
   
   Spells                             Type                      Level
   *Sting                             Conjuration/Poison           1
   *Cure Poison                       Poison                       2
   Mephitic Cloud                     Conjuration/Poison/Air       3
   Olgreb's Toxic Radiance            Poison                       4
   Venom Bolt                         Conjuration/Poison           5
Magical staves
 I - an uncursed staff of power


   Skills:
 - Level 3.0 Fighting
 - Level 2.6 Dodging
 - Level 1.7 Stealth
 + Level 10.1 Unarmed Combat


You have 4 spell levels left.
You know the following spells:

 Your Spells              Type           Power        Failure   Level  Hunger
a - Sting                 Conj/Pois      #....        30%         1    ##.....
b - Cure Poison           Pois           #.........   43%         2    ###....


Dungeon Overview and Level Annotations

Branches:
Dungeon (6/27)             Temple (1/1) D:5         
   Orc: D:6-11     

Altars:
Ashenzari
Cheibriados
Elyvilon
Fedhas
Makhleb
Okawaru
Sif Muna
Trog
Vehumet
Xom
Yredelemnul
Zin
the Shining One
Lugonu

Annotations
D:3 Sigmund


Innate Abilities, Weirdness & Mutations

You are completely covered in iridescent scales (AC +8).
You sometimes regain a little magical energy from taking damage.


Message History

You punch the adder!
You kill the adder!
The bat hits you but does no damage.
The bat hits you but does no damage.
The bat hits you but does no damage.
You see here a hardcover book.
You hit the bat.
You kill the bat!
You are near starving!
v - a hardcover book
B - a sausage
You now have 253 gold pieces (gained 8).
You see here a scroll of random uselessness.
D - a scroll of random uselessness
As you read the scroll of random uselessness, it crumbles to dust.
Your hands glow bright indigo for a moment.
As you read the scroll labeled WESSOH PSOT, it crumbles to dust.
Use on which item? (\ to view known items) (? for menu, Esc to quit)
d - an uncursed amulet of stasis
It was a scroll of identify.

#.....###.....
+.....'.'.....
#.....###....#
#.....# #..f)#
#.....# ####)#
#...[.#    #..
#.....#    ###
#.....#
#.....#
#.@...#
#######


There are no monsters in sight!

Vanquished Creatures
  An ice beast (D:6)
  3 ogres
  A centaur (D:6)
  3 giant frogs
  A gnoll sergeant (D:5)
  3 crimson imps
  4 hounds
  A gnoll shaman (D:6)
  An orc wizard (D:5)
  An orc priest (D:5)
  An iguana (D:5)
  A big fish (D:4)
  4 worker ants
  Jessica (D:3)
  2 goliath beetle zombies (D:5)
  7 adders
  11 gnolls
  An adder skeleton (D:5)
  9 giant mites
  An inept feature mimic (D:2)
  2 bat skeletons
  12 giant geckos
  10 orcs
  16 ball pythons
  10 bats
  10 giant cockroaches
  7 goblins
  7 hobgoblins
  5 jackals
  10 kobolds
  4 quokkas
  2 giant gecko skeletons
  A giant gecko zombie (D:6)
  14 giant newts
  A hobgoblin zombie (D:6)
  A jackal skeleton (D:4)
  11 rats
  3 toadstools (D:6)
183 creatures vanquished.

Vanquished Creatures (others)
  A dwarf (D:4)
  5 humans (D:4)
  A giant mite (D:4)
  2 orcs
  5 toadstools
14 creatures vanquished.

Grand Total: 197 creatures vanquished

Notes
Turn   | Place    | Note
--------------------------------------------------------------
     0 | D:1      | Nyx, the Demonspawn Monk, began the quest for the Orb.
     0 | D:1      | Reached XP level 1. HP: 16/16 MP: 0/0
   564 | D:1      | Reached skill level 4 in Unarmed Combat
   703 | D:1      | Gained mutation: You are partially covered in iridescent scales (AC +4). [demonic ancestry]
   703 | D:1      | Reached XP level 2. HP: 19/22 MP: 1/1
  1232 | D:2      | Found a shimmering altar of Xom.
  1452 | D:2      | Found a bloodstained altar of Trog.
  1541 | D:2      | Reached XP level 3. HP: 16/28 MP: 2/2
  1690 | D:2      | Reached skill level 5 in Unarmed Combat
  1833 | D:2      | Found a white marble altar of Elyvilon.
  1890 | D:2      | Gained mutation: You sometimes regain a little magical energy from taking damage. [demonic ancestry]
  1890 | D:2      | Reached XP level 4. HP: 34/34 MP: 3/3
  2577 | D:3      | Noticed Jessica
  2585 | D:3      | Killed Jessica
  2891 | D:3      | Noticed Sigmund
  3747 | D:4      | Found a glowing drain.
  3759 | D:4      | Reached skill level 6 in Unarmed Combat
  3759 | D:4      | Reached XP level 5. HP: 35/39 MP: 4/4
  3777 | Sewer    | Entered a sewer
  4318 | Sewer    | Reached skill level 7 in Unarmed Combat
  4318 | Sewer    | Reached XP level 6. HP: 34/46 MP: 5/5
  4518 | Sewer    | Learned a level 1 spell: Sting
  4521 | Sewer    | Learned a level 2 spell: Cure Poison
  4786 | D:4      | Noticed a human
  4786 | D:4      | Noticed a human
  4789 | D:4      | Found a burning altar of Makhleb.
  4789 | D:4      | Killed a human
  4790 | D:4      | Killed a human
  5583 | D:5      | Entered Level 5 of the Dungeon
  5604 | D:5      | Gained mutation: You are mostly covered in iridescent scales (AC +6). [demonic ancestry]
  5604 | D:5      | Reached XP level 7. HP: 51/51 MP: 6/6
  5896 | D:5      | Reached skill level 8 in Unarmed Combat
  5917 | D:5      | Found a glowing silver altar of Zin.
  5923 | D:5      | Found a burning altar of Makhleb.
  7014 | D:5      | Reached skill level 9 in Unarmed Combat
  7059 | D:5      | Found a staircase to the Ecumenical Temple.
  7077 | Temple   | Entered the Ecumenical Temple
  7509 | D:6      | Found a basalt altar of Yredelemnul.
  7581 | D:6      | Gained mutation: You are completely covered in iridescent scales (AC +8). [demonic ancestry]
  7581 | D:6      | Reached XP level 8. HP: 58/58 MP: 7/7
  7993 | D:6      | Reached skill level 10 in Unarmed Combat
  8204 | D:6      | Found a deep blue altar of Sif Muna.

[njvack]

Note: it's way better to put your dump in [code] tags than [spoiler] ones.

[PostmodernBrony]

sorry about that. fixed it up again.

EDIT: YASD'd against a lucky hit from an orc warrior with a battleaxe.

[tasonir]

Unarmed is something you can't train steadily until min delay because min delay is 27 skill. Fortunately it's already pretty fast even at base delay of 1; how much to train it is as much an art as science. Generally I'd take it to around 10 before training something else if you're pure unarmed (ie, not a transmuter who might want to train spells first, then UC second). Raise a few other things slightly (typically a few levels of invocations, fighting, maybe shields for a buckler) then go back and get UC to around 15-20 before doing any significant branching out. Eventually get 27. Being more specific than that depends a lot on your character.

In your case having 10 UC is a fine point to start working on something else, but you want the something else to be a reasonably quick goal. Getting a dual school level 4 spell online might be a stretch, but it could pay off. Why do you want CT so badly though? Do you have a source of blink? Without blink it probably isn't worth much early on.

[PostmodernBrony]

i didn't have blink, but i know that people stress the importance of control Teleport a *lot*, so i figured it was a Very Important Spell. That being said, you're probably right that it isn't worth much without blink or some other means of continuous translocation.

thanks for the advice on UAC, though. i had a shield; next time after i hit level 10, i'll train that up for a bit, or invocations if my god requires it. (it shouldn't be too hard to find a shield/buckler most games, but it can't hurt.)

Oh, on a related note: what gods are good for monks?

[tasonir]

Okawaru, Makhleb, ashenzari, Trog, Elyvilon, and Cheibriados. Late game switch gods: Jiyva, the shining one.

Chei is pretty controversial because most people consider haste to be more powerful, but I think chei is pretty good even so. Still there are significant downsides you want to understand before picking chei.

Finding a shield or buckler can take a while but generally when I get one I'll train shields with it right away (only up to shields level 5-10, depending) and then go back to whatever else. Using a shield with 0 skill can hurt a bit, but you don't have to remove all of the penalties right away.

[crate]

On a monk you want a god that is going to help you right away. So I disagree with ash (also UC is bad for ash because it makes it hard to gain piety since you can't curse a weapon). Best monk gods are probably trog, fedhas, maybe oka.