CIP - Red DrCj - Spell Advice

[mdmota]

Hi all,

After getting my first (4 rune) victory with a melee character recently, I've now managed to get my first promising spellcaster going (they normally don't last long in my hands), and now that I have a decent selection of spellbooks to choose from, was wondering which spells / magic schools are recommended.

Below are my current skill levels, current spells, and available spellbooks:

  Code:

 Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup version 0.11.2 (tiles) character file.

DR the Conjurer (Red Draconian Conjurer)           Turns: 26900, Time: 06:43:02

HP 112/112       AC 15     Str 13      XL: 15   Next: 47%
MP  34/34        EV 26     Int 23      God: Vehumet [******]
Gold 1181        SH 11     Dex 13      Spells:  9 memorised, 11 levels left

Res.Fire  : + . .   See Invis. : .   a - +5,+10 whip "Snakebite" {venom, rPois}
Res.Cold  : . . .   Warding    : .   (armour unavailable)
Life Prot.: . . .   Conserve   : .   C - +3 buckler
Res.Poison: +       Res.Corr.  : .   H - +2 wizard hat
Res.Elec. : +       Clarity    : .   E - +1 cloak
Sust.Abil.: . .     Spirit.Shd : .   d - +0 pair of gauntlets
Res.Mut.  : .       Stasis     : .   w - +0 pair of boots
Res.Rott. : .       Ctrl.Telep.: .   j - amulet of the Air {cFly +Lev rElec EV+3 St
Saprovore : . . .   Levitation : .   x - ring of regeneration
                    Ctrl.Flight: +   S - +5 ring of intelligence
   Skills:
 + Level 6.7 Fighting
 - Level 5.6 Maces & Flails
 + Level 0.9 Throwing
 + Level 13.1 Dodging
 + Level 4.6 Stealth
 - Level 6.1 Stabbing
 - Level 1.3 Shields
 + Level 2.0 Traps & Doors
 + Level 13.2 Spellcasting
 + Level 14.1 Conjurations
 + Level 2.5 Charms
 + Level 0.9 Necromancy
 + Level 0.4 Translocations
 + Level 5.2 Fire Magic
 + Level 11.1 Air Magic
 + Level 6.6 Poison Magic
 + Level 1.8 Evocations


You have 11 spell levels left.
You know the following spells:

 Your Spells              Type           Power        Failure   Level  Hunger
a - Magic Dart            Conj           #####        0%          1    None
b - Mephitic Cloud        Conj/Pois/Air  #######..    1%          3    None
c - Lightning Bolt        Conj/Air       #######...   1%          5    ##.....
d - Repel Missiles        Chrm/Air       ######....   1%          2    None
e - Swiftness             Chrm/Air       ######....   1%          2    None
f - Static Discharge      Conj/Air       #######..    1%          3    None
g - Control Undead        Necr           ####......   30%         4    None
h - Fireball              Conj/Fire      #######...   1%          5    ##.....
i - Control Teleport      Chrm/Tloc      ####......   24%         4    None


Books
 e - a book of Beasts   
   
   Spells                             Type                      Level
   Summon Butterflies                 Summoning                    1
   Sticks to Snakes                   Transmutation                2
   Call Canine Familiar               Summoning                    3
   Ice Form                           Ice/Transmutation            4
   Summon Ice Beast                   Ice/Summoning                4
   Summon Hydra                       Summoning                    7
 i - a book of Clouds   
   
   Spells                             Type                      Level
   Evaporate                          Fire/Transmutation           2
   *Mephitic Cloud                    Conjuration/Poison/Air       3
   Conjure Flame                      Conjuration/Fire             3
   Poisonous Cloud                    Conjuration/Poison/Air       6
   Freezing Cloud                     Conjuration/Ice/Air          6
   Ring of Flames                     Charms/Fire                  7
 m - 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 book of Callings {god gift}   
   
   Spells                             Type                      Level
   Summon Small Mammals               Summoning                    1
   Call Imp                           Summoning                    2
   Call Canine Familiar               Summoning                    3
   Summon Scorpions                   Summoning/Poison             4
   Summon Ice Beast                   Ice/Summoning                4
 z - a book of Power {god gift}   
   
   Spells                             Type                      Level
   Iskenderun's Mystic Blast          Conjuration                  4
   Venom Bolt                         Conjuration/Poison           5
   Bolt of Magma                      Conjuration/Fire/Earth       5
   Poisonous Cloud                    Conjuration/Poison/Air       6
   Iron Shot                          Conjuration/Earth            6
   Orb of Destruction                 Conjuration                  7
 L - a book of Wizardry   
   
   Spells                             Type                      Level
   Summon Elemental                   Summoning                    4
   Agony                              Necromancy                   5
   *Lightning Bolt                    Conjuration/Air              5
   *Fireball                          Conjuration/Fire             5
   Haste                              Charms                       6
   Invisibility                       Hexes                        6
 P - a Grand Grimoire   
   WARNING: If you fail in an attempt to memorise a spell from this book, the
   book will lash out at you.
   
   Spells                             Type                      Level
   Demonic Horde                      Summoning                    6
   Mass Abjuration                    Summoning                    6
   Haunt                              Necromancy/Summoning         7
   Summon Greater Demon               Summoning                    7
   Malign Gateway                     Summoning/Translocation      7
   Summon Horrible Things             Summoning                    8
 V - a book of Conjurations   
   
   Spells                             Type                      Level
   *Magic Dart                        Conjuration                  1
   Throw Frost                        Conjuration/Ice              2
   *Mephitic Cloud                    Conjuration/Poison/Air       3
   *Lightning Bolt                    Conjuration/Air              5
   Bolt of Cold                       Conjuration/Ice              6
   Freezing Cloud                     Conjuration/Ice/Air          6
 W - a book of Air   
   
   Spells                             Type                      Level
   Shock                              Conjuration/Air              1
   *Swiftness                         Charms/Air                   2
   *Repel Missiles                    Charms/Air                   2
   Flight                             Charms/Air                   3
   *Static Discharge                  Conjuration/Air              3
   *Lightning Bolt                    Conjuration/Air              5
 X - a book of Changes   
   
   Spells                             Type                      Level
   Beastly Appendage                  Transmutation                1
   Sticks to Snakes                   Transmutation                2
   Spider Form                        Transmutation/Poison         3
   Ice Form                           Ice/Transmutation            4
   Blade Hands                        Transmutation                5
 Z - a book of Annihilations {god gift}   
   WARNING: If you fail in an attempt to memorise a spell from this book, the
   book will lash out at you.
   
   Spells                             Type                      Level
   Poison Arrow                       Conjuration/Poison           6
   Orb of Destruction                 Conjuration                  7
   Chain Lightning                    Conjuration/Air              8
   Lehudib's Crystal Spear            Conjuration/Earth            8
   Ice Storm                          Conjuration/Ice              9
   Fire Storm                         Conjuration/Fire             9
Magical staves
 o - an uncursed staff of conjuration

So, my questions are:

What spells from my available spellbooks should I look at memorising next?
What spells (and spell skills) should I be looking to use in the endgame?
What current spells should I be looking at forgetting? (Control Undead is probably the first to go, as it is fairly useless as is, and I don't plan to invest exp in Necromancy)
I have a staff of conjuration - is it worth wielding this (I currently use my whip quite a bit on confused enemies)?
Now that I have most of Vehumet's spellbooks, is there any benefit in ditching him for another god?
Anything else I should look out for?

So far, I've been doing ok with Mephitic Cloud to confuse and then either blast them with Lightning Bolt / Fireball, or poisioning them in Melee, but I'm now finding that Mephitic Cloud is not very effective and Lightning Bolt / Fireball is taking longer to take enemies down then I'd like (have reached D:20, but yet to do any of the branches).

Whilst I appreciate that spells are largely a matter of personal preference, given I've had no experience playing mid/late game spellcasters, I'm looking to leverage your collective knowledge.

[Psieye]

Uh... generally a mage benefits more from switching on manual skill training (and managing which skills are trained when) than a melee guy. Anyway given your current skillset and you being at D:20 (Dungeon Overview is missing from this dump and would have been useful):

- Poison Cloud
- Poison Arrow
- Bolt of Fire (when available)
- Orb of Destruction
- Chain Lightning
- Tornado
- Fire Storm

These are the conj spells to choose from. You shouldn't grab every single spell in that list, pick a few. Forget Meph and Control Undead at first opportunity. Once you have some of the Lv 6+ conj spells online, forget Static Discharge and maybe also Lightning Bolt. Once you have Lv 8+ conj spells online, fireball will have become obsolete.

Before getting the uber nukes, it is highly recommended you get some more buff/escape spells. Haste being the big one. You may also want to put some EXP into evo for more mana reload options when you get a CBoE and channeling staff. Sub.Blood is my preferred method to reload mana, though it needs a bit of Necromancy to be effective.

[nago]

I consider fireball obsolete when I get bolt of fire - the latter is better from any point of view, and you can easily manipulate speed 10 monster to get conveniently in line when fighting in open space.

Furthermore, I add blink and control teleport in the list of desired spell - if you rely on them too much you're playing wrong, but they can easily save your char when things go rapidly and unexpectedly bad.
Ah, if you find it, ignite poison is awesome in combination of poison cloud!

[Psieye]

I consider fireball obsolete when I get bolt of fire - the latter is better from any point of view

One exception: fireball never misses. Bolt of Fire is far superior in damage but fireball is still useful for the few occasions where you cannot afford to miss.

And yes, that list was just for offense spells. There is a separate list of non-offense spells that are recommended to grab.

[mdmota]

Thanks for the advice guys, Poison Arrow is working a treat so far, and with my newly found staff of energy it's almost hungerless so I am able to spam away.

However, Fire Storm / Tornado are still at 100% failure rate, despite Spellcasting of 15, Conjurations of 16, Air Magic of 12 and Fire Magic of 10 - guess I'll have to keep on building my skills...

[Sandman25]

However, Fire Storm / Tornado are still at 100% failure rate, despite Spellcasting of 15, Conjurations of 16, Air Magic of 12 and Fire Magic of 10 - guess I'll have to keep on building my skills...

Make sure you are not wearing a shield without Shields skill.

[nago]

You need more fire/air magic to cast either firestorm or tornado.
By the way, I believe you have overtrained a bit spellcasting: it only affects spell success 1/4 as much as average spell skill - so there's no point in raising it, unless you need more spell slots, mp or to reduce a bit spells' hunger rate you want to spam.
Furthermore, you shouldn't aim to get both firestorm and tornado early on: just one of those spells is enough to get a 15 rune game (and clear zig too), so you should focus only on one elemental skill, and use the spare xp to develop other aspect of your character (buff spells, defences and so on). After that, you could think to add another uncessary lv. 9 spell - you should be in extended by that time, and exp then is a problem no more.

Generally speaking, a more appropriate magical skill set could be something like: spellcasting ~10, conjuration ~20, fire magic ~20, air untrained till extended - or just a bit, like 5 to increase spell power of some double school useful spells.