YASD -- Minotaur Hunter of TSO on Zot 5

[Vivificient]

I wanted to share my recently deceased character. This was my most successful game of Crawl yet, after several years of playing different versions.

  Code:

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

881793 Lurzaomorg the Swordmaster (level 27, -25/251 (275) HPs)
             Began as a Minotaur Hunter on Mar 26, 2013.
             Was the Champion of the Shining One.
             Killed from afar by a Hell Sentinel (33 damage)
             ... with a blast of hellfire
             ... summoned by an ancient lich
             
             ... on Level 5 of the Realm of Zot on Mar 30, 2013.
             The game lasted 13:59:35 (156778 turns).

Lurzaomorg the Swordmaster (Minotaur Hunter)      Turns: 156778, Time: 13:59:36

HP -25/251 (275) AC 39     Str 26      XL: 27
MP  26/40        EV 12     Int 12      God: the Shining One [******]
Gold 5337        SH  0     Dex 27      Spells:  0 memorised, 45 levels left

Res.Fire  : + + .   See Invis. : .   a - +8,+6 Blessed Blade
Res.Cold  : + + .   Warding    : .   z - +8 splint mail of Wrong Decisions {rF+ rC+
Life Prot.: + + +   Conserve   : +   (no shield)
Res.Poison: .       Res.Corr.  : +   k - +2 cap of Prony {rN+}
Res.Elec. : +       Clarity    : .   V - +1 cloak {rCorr, Cons}
Sust.Abil.: . .     Spirit.Shd : .   o - +2 pair of gloves "Huukoil" {rElec MR}
Res.Mut.  : +       Stasis     : .   t - +2 pair of boots of Space {Str+4 Dex+1 Int
Res.Rott. : .       Ctrl.Telep.: x   R - amulet of resist mutation
Saprovore : . . .   Levitation : .   B - ring "Vohuif" {+Blink Str+2 Dex+3 Int+1}
                    Ctrl.Flight: .   E - ring of Vehumet's Delight {rF+ rN+ Dam+4}

@: extremely resistant to hostile enchantments, extremely unstealthy
A: retaliatory headbutt, horns 2, fast metabolism 1, screaming 1, Dex -1
a: Divine Shield, Cleansing Flame, Summon Divine Warrior, Renounce Religion,
Evoke Blink
}: 4/15 runes: decaying, silver, abyssal, gossamer


You were on level 5 of the Realm of Zot.
You worshipped the Shining One.
the Shining One was exalted by your worship.
You were hungry.

You visited 14 branches of the dungeon, and saw 87 of its levels.
You visited the Abyss 4 times.
You visited 2 bazaarss.
You also visited: Labyrinth, Ossuary and Ice Cave.

You collected 10819 gold pieces.
You spent 5502 gold pieces at shops.

Inventory:

Hand weapons
 a - a +8,+6 Blessed Blade (weapon)
 b - a +6,+6 longbow of velocity
Missiles
 g - 68 arrows of frost
 h - 27 arrows of flame
 L - 158 arrows
 X - 26 arrows of dispersal {=f}
Armour
 j - a +2 pair of boots of levitation
 k - the +2 cap of Prony (worn) {rN+}
   (You found it on level 1 of the Elven Halls)   
   
   It protects you from negative energy.
 l - a -1 cloak of poison resistance
 o - the +2 pair of gloves "Huukoil" (worn) {rElec MR}
   (You found it on level 3 of the Elven Halls)   
   
   It insulates you from electricity.
   It increases your resistance to enchantments.
 t - the +2 pair of boots of Space (worn) {Str+4 Dex+1 Int+3}
   (You found it in an ice cave)   
   
   It affects your strength (+4).
   It affects your intelligence (+3).
   It affects your dexterity (+1).
 z - the +8 splint mail of Wrong Decisions (worn) {rF+ rC++ Dex+3 Acc-3}
   (You found it on level 6 of the Dungeon)   
   
   It affects your dexterity (+3).
   It affects your accuracy (-3).
   It protects you from fire.
   It greatly protects you from cold.
 V - a +1 cloak of preservation (worn)
Magical devices
 c - a wand of teleportation (4)
 n - a wand of lightning (1)
 p - a wand of fire (7)
 v - a wand of digging (17)
 w - a wand of teleportation (6)
Comestibles
 m - 2 royal jellies {!e}
 u - 2 meat rations
 x - 9 bread rations
 C - a slice of pizza
 H - a lemon
Scrolls
 e - a scroll of identify
 f - a scroll of silence
Jewellery
 y - an uncursed ring of fire
 A - the ring of Cletaf {rPois Dex+2 Int+3}
   (You found it in a labyrinth)   
   
   [ring of poison resistance]
   
   It affects your intelligence (+3).
   It affects your dexterity (+2).
 B - the ring "Vohuif" (right hand) {+Blink Str+2 Dex+3 Int+1}
   (You found it on level 1 of the Vaults)   
   
   [ring of strength]
   It affects your strength (+2).
   
   It affects your intelligence (+1).
   It affects your dexterity (+3).
   It lets you blink.
 D - an uncursed ring of protection from magic
 E - the ring of Vehumet's Delight (left hand) {rF+ rN+ Dam+4}
   (You found it on level 4 of the Vaults)   
   
   [ring of protection from fire]
   
   It affects your damage-dealing abilities (+4).
   It protects you from negative energy.
 F - an uncursed ring of sustenance
 I - the ring "Eduec" {rC++ rN+ Int-2}
   (You found it in an ice cave)   
   
   [ring of intelligence]
   It affects your intelligence (-2).
   
   It greatly protects you from cold.
   It protects you from negative energy.
 J - the ring of Sihousoi {SustAb Str+4 Int+2}
   (You found it on level 3 of the Vaults)   
   
   [ring of sustain abilities]
   
   It affects your strength (+4).
   It affects your intelligence (+2).
 K - an uncursed ring of protection from magic
 M - an uncursed amulet of conservation
 N - an uncursed amulet of the gourmand
 O - an uncursed amulet of clarity
 P - an uncursed amulet of resist corrosion
 Q - an uncursed amulet of warding
 R - an amulet of resist mutation (around neck)
 S - an uncursed amulet of stasis
 Y - the amulet "Ahenyv" {+Rage Dex+2 Int+1 Acc+5}
   (You took it off a deep elf death mage on level 3 of the Elven Halls)   
   
   [amulet of rage]
   
   It affects your intelligence (+1).
   It affects your dexterity (+2).
   It affects your accuracy (+5).
Potions
 d - a potion of speed
 G - a potion of curing


   Skills:
 O Level 27 Fighting
 O Level 27 Long Blades
 * Level 25.9 Bows
 O Level 27 Armour
 - Level 5.9 Dodging
 - Level 1.1 Stealth
 + Level 17.5 Traps & Doors
 + Level 24.2 Unarmed Combat
 + Level 9.7 Spellcasting
 + Level 20.7 Invocations
 + Level 9.2 Evocations


You had 45 spell levels left.
You didn't know any spells.

Dungeon Overview and Level Annotations

Branches:
Dungeon (27/27)            Temple (1/1) D:4             Orc (4/4) D:9
    Elf (3/3) Orc:4          Lair (8/8) D:11          Swamp (5/5) Lair:4
 Spider (5/5) Lair:5        Slime (0/6) Lair:7       Vaults (8/8) D:15
  Blade (1/1) Vaults:5      Crypt (5/5) Vaults:3       Tomb (0/3) Crypt:2
    Dis (7/7) Hell            Geh (0/7) Hell            Coc (7/7) Hell
    Tar (0/7) Hell            Zot (5/5) D:27       

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

Shops:
D:4: !  D:10: *  D:13: [  D:15: %*/  D:18: (  D:20: *  D:25: ((  Orc:1: [  Orc:2: [  Orc:4: ((!*  Elf:3: %
Vaults:1: !  Abyss: ((((((((((((

Portals:
Dungeon: Abyss****
Hell: D:21 D:22 D:23 D:24 D:25 D:26 D:27
Abyss: D:25
Pandemonium: D:23 D:24 D:25 D:27
Ziggurat: D:15 (5470 gp)
Trove: D:26 (give 2 scrolls of acquirement)

Annotations
D:10 exclusion: downstairs
D:11 Sonja
Lair:7 1 exclusion
Lair:8 brani worms
Swamp:3 exclusion: Roxanne, Roxanne
Spider:5 Mennas
Vaults:3 exclusion: statue
Zot:1 1 exclusion
Zot:3 exclusions: draconian caller, draconian scorcher and 1 more exclusion


Innate Abilities, Weirdness & Mutations

You reflexively headbutt those who attack you in melee.
You have a pair of horns on your head.
You are clumsy (Dex -1).
You have a fast metabolism.
You occasionally shout uncontrollably.


Message History

A moth of wrath comes into view.
Press: ? - help, v - describe, . - travel
Here: a Hell Sentinel (severely wounded, summoned, haloed)
A floor, spattered with blood.
You hit the Hell Sentinel but do no damage.
You headbutt the Hell Sentinel, but do no damage.
The Hell Sentinel is severely wounded.
Your angel dodges the Hell Sentinel's spines.
Your angel hits the Hell Sentinel with a whip of holy wrath.
The Hell Sentinel convulses.
Your angel is struck by the Hell Sentinel's spines.
Your angel hits the Hell Sentinel but does no damage.
The black draconian knight points at you and mumbles some strange words.
The bolt of negative energy hits you! You resist.
* * * LOW HITPOINT WARNING * * *
You feel better.
You are feeling hungry.
The Hell Sentinel gestures at you.
The hellfire explodes! The blast of hellfire engulfs you!
You die...

**    ########[########    ##
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#           #................
#           #..##############
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#############8A##############
..............1[).d..........
#############.@##############
#           #..#
#           #..#
#############..##############
.............................
#############.###############
#           #y#
#           #.#
#           #.#
#############.##########


You could see a Hell Sentinel, a black draconian knight, a moth of wrath and a
friendly angel.

I started as a minotaur hunter, and was lucky enough to find some +8 atifact splint mail in the early dungeon, which kept me alive through the whole game. I also Acquired something like a +11,+3 artifact demon blade pretty early on, but gave it up to convert to TSO around Lair, because I'm a bit of a paladin at heart.

My overall character strategy was a pretty much equal balance of Long Blades and Bows. I built up both of my main two weapons with scrolls over the course of the game; they were both vorpal for a while, but I converted the Great Sword to a Blessed Blade for the later bits of the game. (Although I did use a few other weapons too. One of the highlights of my adventure was killing Rupert with a potion of beserk rage and the Plutonium Sword. Overkill perhaps, but totally worth it.)

I had the late-game misfortune of being quite horribly rotted (about fifty or sixty health gone; I couldn't believe it) in Hell after having all the curing potions I had with me destroyed. I ended up using up all my Heal Wounds potions after that trying to fix it, and farming the abyss for a while too looking for more, but I was still about 25 max hp short going into Zot 5. I succeeded in clearing the way to the Orb and emptying the orb chamber of monsters, but I was running low on health and thought I should go back upstairs and heal before trying to claim it. On the way back to the stairs, I ran into an Ancient Lich, who summoned the Hell Sentinel that killed me.

If I had it to do over again I could probably have survived if I'd summoned a few more angels a little faster, or blasted a bit more cleansing flame at the end. Any suggestions for things I should've done differently though, tactically or strategically?

[defen]

Strategically: do Hell last, except maybe Tomb.

Your exp allocation is quite bad. You should train dodging, especially since your EV penalty isn't that severe and you took dex on levelups. You shouldn't train unarmed combat at all unless it's your primary mode of attack. You shouldn't pump melee weapons past min delay until you have just about everything else at desirable levels. Traps and Doors should stop around 9. Since your permanent armor is only splint mail, it's a good idea to stop training Armour/Fighting at ~20 and pick up swiftness/blink/rMsl/regen/haste with all that tasty Vaults/lower D experience - I think this holds true for any melee (except Troggists, heavily armoured shield users, and CPM/GDA wearers).

[cerebovssquire]

I agree with everything that the above poster said. In regards to tactics, I sadly can't see much from the last messages, but there is a single mistake that probably cost your life: not quaffing the potion of speed in your inventory. It would have made your character much more likely to either kill everyone or successfully flee the situation.
Strategically, swapping to TSO in that situation was a mistake, but if you enjoy playing him more, go ahead.

Note: when you start playing the new version (.12), the Plutonium Sword was upgraded to what is probably the best two-hander in the game. It's not longer the weapon that tempts you with huge damage but turns you into a mutant freak.