WSiP: How does SpEn work anyway...

[battaile]

Got my first win streak going. Only two games and both berserkers so not exactly pushing the envelope difficulty wise, but still pretty stoked.

First was a HOBe that really should've died in Zot. Emergency tp'd out of a bad situation on Zot 5 into one of the other lungs, which had two statues and a bunch of other bad shit around my 3hp having ass, and the RNG somehow allowed me to get another TP off to a safe part of the level. He had another couple of close calls as well, including a near poison death at 27th level that was only staved off via double regen rings and trog's hand.

  Code:

 89069 | Zot:5    | HP: 5/277 [Orb Guardian (20)]
 89070 | Zot:5    | legoman727: Look away for five seconds and
 89070 | Zot:5    | legoman727: welp
 89070 | Zot:5    | legoman727: RIP
 89070 | Zot:5    | kekekela: yep
 89071 | Zot:5    | Noticed an orb of fire
 89071 | Zot:5    | kekekela: awesome
 89072 | Zot:5    | legoman727: welp
 89072 | Zot:5    | Noticed a curse toe
 89073 | Zot:5    | Noticed a Killer Klown
 89075 | Zot:5    | Noticed an orb of fire
 89075 | Zot:5    | legoman727: consider zerking just to stay alive
 89077 | Zot:5    | legoman727: ...
 89077 | Zot:5    | legoman727: wow
 89077 | Zot:5    | kekekela: damn

The second guy on the other hand was a DDBe and pretty diesel:

  Code:

1780096 kekekela the Invulnerable (level 27, 273/301 HPs)
             Began as a Deep Dwarf Berserker on Feb 12, 2013.
             Was an Elder of Trog.
             Escaped with the Orb
             ... and 3 runes on Feb 14, 2013!
             
             The game lasted 12:19:51 (61572 turns).

kekekela the Invulnerable (Deep Dwarf Berserker)   Turns: 61572, Time: 12:19:51

HP 273/301       AC 55     Str 31      XL: 27
MP  26/26        EV 13     Int 12      God: Trog [****..]
Gold 1749        SH  0     Dex 20      Spells:  0 memorised, 26 levels left

Res.Fire  : + + .   See Invis. : +   a - +7 dwarf battleaxe (freeze) {god gift}
Res.Cold  : + + .   Warding    : .   Q - +10 dwarf plate armour {rPois}
Life Prot.: + . .   Conserve   : +   (no shield)
Res.Poison: +       Res.Corr.  : +   v - +5 helmet of Melancholy {rF+ rC++}
Res.Elec. : .       Clarity    : .   h - +4 dragonskin cloak
Sust.Abil.: . .     Spirit.Shd : .   C - +2 pair of gloves of Aroc {Dex+3 Int+3}
Res.Mut.  : .       Stasis     : .   O - +2 pair of boots of Vehumet's Whim {rPois
Res.Rott. : .       Ctrl.Telep.: x   T - amulet "Hughuf" {Cons Str+3 Dam+4}
Saprovore : . . .   Flight     : .   r - ring of protection from fire
                                     p - +3,+4 ring of slaying

I probably would've tried some extended with him if I hadn't been gunning for the streak. Weapon was not the greatest but his defense was just insane with 55AC, solid resists across the board (plus the dragonskin) and evocable Dispel Missiles. The only remotely close call was getting careless and letting Boris get off a few OOD's which dropped me pretty fast. He pretty effortlessly tanked three orbs at once without getting below 75% health and ended up being my quickest ascension by about 20,000 turns.

Think I'm going to go SpEn next to try to keep the streak alive and since I've never won with a Spriggan. I've only ever had even middling success once with a stabby guy though so probably this is going to end in tears.

[Jeremiah]

For the best chance of keeping the streak going, why not another Be, since you are already familiar with that playstyle rather than trying to shift to something completely different?

[battaile]

For the best chance of keeping the streak going, why not another Be, since you are already familiar with that playstyle rather than trying to shift to something completely different?

Just felt like playing something different I guess.

Got stabby guy to 11 last night, will see how it goes this weekend. Last one of these I tried got a rune then starved to death, so I definitely need to monitor the food clock.

[battaile]

And actually going ok so far, got three runes.

  Code:

kekekela the Ninja (Spriggan Enchanter)            Turns: 72600, Time: 17:25:40

HP 119/119       AC 10     Str  9      XL: 24   Next:  9%
MP  46/46        EV 45     Int 20      God: Nemelex Xobeh [******]
Gold 4461        SH 22     Dex 22      Spells: 14 memorised,  6 levels left

Res.Fire  : + + .   See Invis. : +   a - +7,+11 dagger "Gaixared" {slay orc, rF+ MR
Res.Cold  : + . .   Warding    : .   E - +2 orc robe {rN+}
Life Prot.: + . .   Conserve   : .   L - +3 elf buckler {rPois}
Res.Poison: +       Res.Corr.  : .   B - +2 orc wizard hat
Res.Elec. : .       Clarity    : .   y - +2 cloak of the Thief {+Fog Dam-3 SInv Stl
Sust.Abil.: . .     Spirit.Shd : +   (gloves unavailable)
Res.Mut.  : .       Stasis     : .   (boots unavailable)
Res.Rott. : .       Ctrl.Telep.: .   F - amulet of guardian spirit
Saprovore : . . .   Flight     : .   n - ring of the Octopus King {rC+ AC+1 EV+1 St
                                     N - +4 ring of evasion

@: studying Dodging, sage [Dodging], very quick, incredibly resistant to hostile
enchantments, uncannily stealthy
A: unfitting armour, see invisible, fire resistance 1, herbivore 3, speed 3,
slow metabolism 2
a: Draw One, Peek at Two, Triple Draw, Deal Four, Stack Five, Renounce Religion,
Evoke Fog
}: 3/15 runes: decaying, silver, gossamer

[diviton]

Sounds like you don't need our help. Nemelex is a great God for just about any character build, although I prefer Ashenzari on SpEn. He makes stabbing an absolute breeze, especially when combined with controlled blink and passwall. I managed to snag 15 runes using a SpEn of Ashenzari and it was by far my favorite character.

I don't know why you're using Guardian Spirit Amulet though. Do you not use spells often? What spells do you have learned right now? I recommend learning a fairly powerful spell for a single target. Iron Shot is a good choice. This will help a lot in Zot.

[battaile]

Sounds like you don't need our help. Nemelex is a great God for just about any character build, although I prefer Ashenzari on SpEn. He makes stabbing an absolute breeze, especially when combined with controlled blink and passwall. I managed to snag 15 runes using a SpEn of Ashenzari and it was by far my favorite character.

I don't know why you're using Guardian Spirit Amulet though. Do you not use spells often? What spells do you have learned right now? I recommend learning a fairly powerful spell for a single target. Iron Shot is a good choice. This will help a lot in Zot.

I mainly had it because the only other amulet I'd found at that point was, I think, Clarity which I didnt have much use for, and it gave me some cushion for the few times I overstayed my welcome in melee or stumbled into a ranged barrage (at this point didnt have deflect/repel). With the high evasion and other means of avoiding damage it really didnt leave me in a bind for MP more than once or twice. (and those times it probably saved me from a careless death)

I was actually thinking Ash initially but got the Nem altar on D2 so just went with it.

current spell list:

  Code:

 Your Spells              Type           Power        Failure   Level  Hunger
a - Ensorcelled Hibernat  Hex/Ice        ######.      1%          2    None
b - Confuse               Hex            #######..    1%          3    None
c - Invisibility          Hex            #######..    1%          6    ####...
d - Control Teleport      Chrm/Tloc      #######...   1%          4    None
e - Phase Shift           Tloc           #######...   1%          5    None
f - Flight                Chrm/Air       #######...   1%          3    None
g - Blink                 Tloc           N/A          1%          2    None
h - Haste                 Chrm           #######..    1%          6    ####...
i - Summon Butterflies    Summ           ####.....    2%          1    None
j - Apportation           Tloc           #######...   1%          1    None
k - Conjure Flame         Conj/Fire      ####.....    10%         3    None
l - Darkness              Hex            #######...   12%         7    #####..
m - Mass Confusion        Hex            #######...   1%          6    ####...
n - Controlled Blink      Tloc           N/A          38%         7    #####..
o - Deflect Missiles      Chrm/Air       #######...   6%          6    ####...

I'm not sure getting a decent nuke online at this point is going to be possible. I've got a couple of rods of destruction (fire) but obviously those won't help against Orbs, also have a pretty decent stockpile of Legendary Destruction decks but my last Nemelex guy ended up constantly tormenting himself with those on Zot 5 so unless I draw-3 or stack the deck they may not be a very good option either. I'm actually pretty concerned about Zot and thinking some kind of ninja'ing of the orb will be my best bet but I'm not thrilled about that. Full dump is here...
http://dobrazupa.org/morgue/kekekela/kekekela.txt

e: Just came across a short sword of distortion in a shop and am considering using that for Zot.

[battaile]

RIP little spriggan...
kekekela the Ninja (L27 SpEn), worshipper of Nemelex Xobeh, mangled by an Orb Guardian on Zot:5

Died with the orb in his ratty little paws.

[diviton]

Should have learned Iron Shot! lol

Sucks though. My condolences. I think the idea of using a SpEn that doesn't learn any offensive spells is cool and I admire you for trying it, but towards the very end and the post game, it becomes way too tough for me to try.

[crate]

http://crawl.akrasiac.org/rawdata/crate ... 020045.txt

http://crawl.akrasiac.org/rawdata/crate ... 040846.txt

you don't need offensive spells to win spen

Anyway the spen that battaile died with was definitely strong enough to win, but there are a lot of opportunities to play badly in zot:5 and die, especially if you're ninjaing. The only way to really get better at it is to play and probably die a few times.

[byrel]

Now what surprises me about those runs is how low your spellcasting was. Didn't you have trouble with hunger? Or do you just save enough food by winning in ~40k that invisibility, haste, etc. aren't a big deal?

[crate]

Secretly about half the "spell hunger" from invisibility is because simply being invisible speeds your metabolism and that's not reducable. Casting a level 6 spell 100 times isn't a big hit to nutrition either.

Probably I should have raised my spellcasting a bit higher on those games though.

[battaile]

but there are a lot of opportunities to play badly in zot:5 and die

Yeah, and I took advantage of plenty of them

Basically everything went to shit when I went to the disto weapon. Probably should've just stayed the course but I was having so many problems with the tougher packs on d26 that I was thinking it was the best chance I had at ninjaing. Even still, I played very poorly in the orb lungs, but Tiamat's posse being in there kind of threw me.

Spell hunger was never really an issue surprisingly, I had more bread stashed around the lower dungeon and several food shops that I didn't clear out.

If I had it to do over I probably would've tried to get Iron Shot or something online but I didn't really see a way to it with the available xp by the time I was considering it. (although I guess Crypt would've been an option)

Anyway, of my prior splats, this one probably hurt the least as I really didn't make expect to make it that far and the final teleport that landed me on top of the orb, only to get burdened when I picked it up was more comedy than tragedy. (also because I played everything from d27 on horribly so I really didnt deserve to make it out alive)