YASD - MiBe Wants to Improve

[scott9027]

  Code:

 Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup version 0.12.2 (tiles) character file.

57970 Minos the Bludgeoner (level 14, -5/122 HPs)
             Began as a Minotaur Berserker on July 7, 2013.
             Was the Champion of Trog.
             Slain by a slime creature (13 damage)
             ... on Level 16 of the Dungeon.
             The game lasted 01:53:23 (16207 turns).

Minos the Bludgeoner (Minotaur Berserker)          Turns: 16207, Time: 01:53:23

HP  -5/122       AC 25     Str 27      XL: 14   Next: 36%
MP   5/5         EV  7     Int  5      God: Trog [******]
Gold 785         SH  0     Dex 14      Spells:  0 memorised, 13 levels left

Res.Fire  : . . .   See Invis. : .   E - +3,+8 dire flail (antimagic)
Res.Cold  : . . .   Warding    : .   r - +1 dwarf plate armour
Life Prot.: . . .   Conserve   : .   (no shield)
Res.Poison: .       Res.Corr.  : .   (helmet restricted)
Res.Elec. : .       Clarity    : +   i - +0 orc cloak
Sust.Abil.: . .     Spirit.Shd : .   q - +0 pair of gauntlets
Res.Mut.  : .       Stasis     : .   d - +0 pair of boots
Res.Rott. : .       Ctrl.Telep.: .   F - amulet of clarity
Saprovore : . . .   Flight     : .   k - ring of regeneration
                                     e - +5 ring of strength

@: liquid flames, exhausted, mildly poisoned, slowed, glowing, very slow,
somewhat resistant to hostile enchantments, extremely unstealthy
A: retaliatory headbutt, horns 2
a: Burn Spellbooks, Berserk, Trog's Hand, Brothers in Arms, Renounce Religion


You were on level 16 of the Dungeon.
You worshipped Trog.
Trog was exalted by your worship.
You were very hungry.

You visited 1 branch of the dungeon, and saw 19 of its levels.

You collected 765 gold pieces.

Inventory:

Hand weapons
 l - a +1,+1 demon whip of reaching
 E - a +3,+8 anti-magic dire flail (weapon)
 I - a +0,+5 dwarven anti-magic flail
 W - a +0,+6 anti-magic morningstar
 X - the -6,-2 longbow "Trocwed" {velocity, -Cast rElec rF+}
   (Trog gifted it to you on level 11 of the Dungeon)   
   
   Any arrow fired from it inflicts extra damage.
   
   It protects you from fire.
   It insulates you from electricity.
   It prevents spellcasting.
Missiles
 K - 13 arrows
 Z - 12 arrows of frost
Armour
 d - a +0 pair of boots (worn)
 i - a +0 orcish cloak (worn)
 q - a +0 pair of gauntlets (worn)
 r - a +1 dwarven plate armour (worn)
Magical devices
 n - a wand of confusion (2) {unknown}
 y - a wand of digging (6)
 A - a wand of polymorph (24)
 C - a wand of digging (7)
 D - a wand of polymorph (9)
 H - a wand of digging (15)
 N - a wand of polymorph (14)
Comestibles
 a - an apple
 c - 4 bread rations
 f - 2 chunks of orc flesh
 s - 2 chokos
 B - 5 cheeses
 O - 3 meat rations
 V - 2 beef jerkies
Jewellery
 e - a +5 ring of strength (left hand)
 g - an uncursed ring of protection from magic
 h - an uncursed ring of fire
 k - a ring of regeneration (right hand)
 u - an uncursed amulet of guardian spirit
 w - an uncursed amulet of resist corrosion
 z - an uncursed ring of flight
 F - an amulet of clarity (around neck)
 J - an uncursed ring of life protection
 Q - the ring of Burghiso {cTele Str+3 Dex-3}
   (You found it on level 13 of the Dungeon)   
   
   [ring of teleport control]
   It affects your strength (+3).
   It affects your dexterity (-3).
 T - an uncursed ring of fire
Potions
 p - 2 potions of invisibility
 t - 8 potions of curing
 v - 2 potions of restore abilities
 G - 3 potions of speed
 S - a potion of resistance
Miscellaneous
 o - an ornate deck of destruction


   Skills:
 + Level 12.3 Fighting
 - Level 20.0 Maces & Flails
 + Level 17.6 Armour
 - Level 2.1 Dodging
   Level 7.8 Shields
 + Level 6.8 Traps
 - Level 5.4 Evocations


You had 13 spell levels left.
You didn't know any spells.

Dungeon Overview and Level Annotations

Branches:
Dungeon (19/27)            Temple (0/1) D:5             Orc (0/4) D:7
  Lair: D:8-13      Vaults: D:15-20     

Altars:
Elyvilon
Trog
Xom
the Shining One

Shops:
D:9: %

Portals:
Trove: D:16 (give +4,+6 demon whip)

Annotations
D:12 Josephine
D:16 Azrael, Erica, Urug


Innate Abilities, Weirdness & Mutations

You reflexively headbutt those who attack you in melee.
You have a pair of horns on your head.


Message History

Your scroll of identify catches fire!
Your scroll of enchant weapon II catches fire!
* * * LOW HITPOINT WARNING * * *
Azrael zaps a wand. The puff of frost misses your troll. Your troll bites Azrael!
Your troll claws Azrael but does no damage.
Your troll claws Azrael. Your troll barely misses Azrael. Your troll barely misses Azrael. Your troll claws Azrael! The fire elemental hits you.
* * * LOW HITPOINT WARNING * * *
You are engulfed in flames!
* * * LOW HITPOINT WARNING * * *
The fire elemental hits you but does no damage.
You hear some strange, mumbled words.
The bolt of poison hits the very large slime creature.
The bolt of poison hits you!
You are more poisoned.
* * * LOW HITPOINT WARNING * * *
The bolt of poison hits your troll.
Your troll is poisoned.
The yak is engulfed in roaring flames.
The slime creature closely misses you. The slime creature hits you!
You die...

       ..˜.#####.8..##
     ##.#.#.####.>.##
     #..#....##..#####
   .###.......).#.h.h##
  .................#YY##
  ....§§.....§.§§##..#.##
  .§.§§..§....§##§...#..#
 ..§§.§..§...##§§...R.#.##
 ......§.........§..§.#Y.#
 ..§˜§˜˜§.§......##E§..#.##
 §..˜§§.#§.....##.§#§..#..#
...§§˜;J#EY...#..#.#§...#.#
...§§.DJ@RY...#.#.#.#§.h#.#
.§.[.§.JTE...#....#.#.§#..#
 .§...§......#..##..#§.#.##
 .§.#....[...# #....§##h.#
 .. #.§§.#...# ......§.Y##
    #.˜˜###.## ........R##
    .˜˜.   ##  #.....##§§#
    ˜˜˜.        ##..#.§#.##
       ˜        ..#.#.§#..#
                  # #§..#.#
                   #....#.#
                   #§..#..#
                  #.... .##


You could see Azrael, a very large slime creature, 2 slime creatures, 2 yaks, 2
fire elementals, a mottled dragon, a big fish and a friendly troll (berserk).

Vanquished Creatures
  Mara (D:19)
  Rupert (D:15)
  A dragon (D:19)
  3 hydras
  2 ogre magi
  A stone giant zombie (D:19)
  A stone giant skeleton (D:16)
  6 centaur warriors
  4 skeletal warriors (D:16)
  A deep elf knight (D:19)
  An orc knight (D:17)
  2 unseen horrors (D:19)
  A hydra zombie (D:16)
  6 hill giants
  5 harpies (D:18)
  A wolf spider (D:15)
  A griffon (D:18)
  A red wasp zombie (D:15)
  4 cyclopes
  A red wasp (D:19)
  A trapdoor spider zombie (D:14)
  2 griffon zombies
  8 slime creatures
  A hill giant zombie (D:9)
  29 ugly things
  A hill giant skeleton (D:15)
  A redback simulacrum (D:19)
  4 two-headed ogres
  A polar bear (shapeshifter) (D:16)
  7 trolls
  A wraith (D:15)
  A wyvern (D:10)
  5 sharks (D:14)
  26 yaks
  An ettin simulacrum (D:19)
  A fire elemental (D:16)
  A merfolk (shapeshifter) (D:19)
  5 vampire mosquitoes
  A hog (D:10)
  A vampire (D:15)
  3 hippogriffs
  A hungry ghost (D:7)
  A redback (D:19)
  4 mottled dragons
  2 rock worms
  A komodo dragon zombie (D:10)
  5 manticores
  5 orc warriors
  3 hell hounds
  3 soldier ants
  A human (D:10)
  A necrophage (D:6)
  A cyclops zombie (D:10)
  9 ice beasts
  A troll zombie (D:15)
  2 freezing wraiths (D:19)
  3 yellow wasps
  4 sky beasts
  A giant goldfish (D:13)
  11 ogres
  A rock worm zombie (D:14)
  18 centaurs
  8 giant frogs
  A yak skeleton (D:14)
  3 big kobolds
  2 gnoll sergeants
  A giant frog zombie (D:5)
  4 eyes of draining
  10 killer bees
  A jellyfish (D:13)
  A yak simulacrum (D:14)
  6 electric eels
  3 wights (D:15)
  10 crimson imps
  A big kobold skeleton (D:15)
  2 spiders
  A goliath beetle (D:8)
  4 shadows
  Crazy Yiuf (D:7)
  2 big fish (D:14)
  A hound skeleton (D:5)
  An ogre skeleton (D:3)
  4 hounds
  3 iguanas
  7 orc priests
  6 orc wizards
  A gnoll shaman (D:9)
  8 scorpions
  9 worker ants
  2 sheep (D:10)
  7 boggarts
  A jelly (D:6)
  A mummy (D:7)
  13 adders
  14 gnolls
  2 giant mites
  4 worms
  A bat skeleton (D:5)
  2 giant eyeballs
  7 giant geckos
  An ooze (D:2)
  43 orcs
  3 ball pythons
  17 bats
  3 giant cockroaches
  15 goblins
  8 hobgoblins
  5 jackals
  28 kobolds
  7 quokkas
  2 giant newts
  A giant spore (D:13)
  A hobgoblin skeleton (D:4)
  2 orc skeletons
  18 rats
  A rat skeleton (D:5)
  A ballistomycete (D:13)
  2 bushes (D:19)
  2 plants
538 creatures vanquished.

Vanquished Creatures (collateral kills)
  A hill giant (D:15)
  2 wolf spiders (D:15)
  An ice beast (D:13)
  A yellow wasp (D:15)
  3 killer bees (D:15)
  4 worker ants (D:15)
  4 worms (D:15)
16 creatures vanquished.

Vanquished Creatures (others)
  A troll (D:18)
  A giant frog (D:14)
  A gnoll (D:9)
  A hobgoblin (D:10)
  2 kobolds
  2 giant newts
  2 goblins
  3 plants (D:14)
13 creatures vanquished.

Grand Total: 567 creatures vanquished

Notes
Turn   | Place    | Note
--------------------------------------------------------------
     0 | D:1      | Minos, the Minotaur Berserker, began the quest for the Orb.
     0 | D:1      | Reached XP level 1. HP: 19/19 MP: 0/0
   200 | D:1      | Reached skill level 4 in Maces & Flails
   259 | D:1      | Reached XP level 2. HP: 26/26 MP: 0/0
   693 | D:1      | Reached skill level 5 in Maces & Flails
   695 | D:1      | Acquired Trog's second power
   785 | D:2      | Reached XP level 3. HP: 26/33 MP: 1/1
  1365 | D:2      | Reached XP level 4. HP: 15/39 MP: 1/1
  1402 | D:3      | Reached skill level 6 in Maces & Flails
  1687 | D:3      | Found a glowing golden altar of the Shining One.
  1691 | D:3      | Reached XP level 5. HP: 46/46 MP: 1/1
  1773 | D:3      | Reached skill level 7 in Maces & Flails
  2555 | D:4      | Reached skill level 8 in Maces & Flails
  2666 | D:4      | Reached XP level 6. HP: 31/52 MP: 2/2
  2798 | D:4      | Acquired Trog's third power
  2945 | D:4      | Paralysed by a giant eyeball for 3 turns
  2951 | D:4      | Paralysed by a giant eyeball for 2 turns
  3270 | D:5      | Entered Level 5 of the Dungeon
  3389 | D:5      | Reached skill level 9 in Maces & Flails
  3470 | D:5      | Reached XP level 7. HP: 56/59 MP: 2/2
  3638 | D:5      | Found a staircase to the Ecumenical Temple.
  3899 | D:5      | Reached skill level 10 in Maces & Flails
  4295 | D:6      | Got an encrusted ring mail
  4308 | D:6      | Identified the +2 ring mail of Xiru {+Blink SInv Curse} (You found it on level 6 of the Dungeon)
  4369 | D:6      | Reached skill level 11 in Maces & Flails
  4415 | D:6      | Reached XP level 8. HP: 66/66 MP: 2/2
  4998 | D:7      | Found a white marble altar of Elyvilon.
  5148 | D:7      | Reached skill level 12 in Maces & Flails
  5296 | D:7      | Reached skill level 1 in Shields
  5576 | D:7      | Found a staircase to the Orcish Mines.
  5584 | D:7      | Reached XP level 9. HP: 66/73 MP: 3/3
  5614 | D:7      | Found a bloodstained altar of Trog.
  5626 | D:7      | Reached skill level 5 in Fighting
  5783 | D:7      | Noticed Crazy Yiuf
  5788 | D:7      | Killed Crazy Yiuf
  6038 | D:8      | Found a shimmering altar of Xom.
  6809 | D:9      | Paralysed by a giant eyeball for 4 turns
  6969 | D:9      | Reached skill level 5 in Armour
  7091 | D:9      | Reached skill level 13 in Maces & Flails
  7302 | D:9      | Received a gift from Trog
  7449 | D:9      | Found Icvos' Food Shop.
  7466 | D:9      | Reached skill level 5 in Shields
  7623 | D:10     | Entered Level 10 of the Dungeon
  8123 | D:10     | Noticed a hill giant
  8139 | D:10     | Killed a hill giant
  8139 | D:10     | Reached XP level 10. HP: 83/83 MP: 3/3
  8345 | D:10     | Received a gift from Trog
  8546 | D:10     | Noticed a centaur warrior
  8560 | D:10     | Killed a centaur warrior
  8563 | D:10     | Reached skill level 10 in Armour
  8874 | D:11     | Noticed a hill giant
  8884 | D:11     | Killed a hill giant
  9072 | D:11     | Reached XP level 11. HP: 52/90 MP: 0/3
  9308 | D:11     | Received a gift from Trog
  9341 | D:11     | Got a polished longbow {god gift}
  9382 | D:11     | Identified the longbow "Trocwed" {god gift, velocity, -Cast rElec rF+} (Trog gifted it to you on level 11 of the Dungeon)
  9670 | D:12     | Noticed Josephine
  9726 | D:13     | Reached skill level 14 in Maces & Flails
 10011 | D:13     | Reached skill level 15 in Maces & Flails
 10276 | D:13     | Noticed a centaur warrior
 10294 | D:13     | Killed a centaur warrior
 10335 | D:13     | Noticed a hill giant
 10367 | D:13     | Killed a hill giant
 10395 | D:13     | Got a transparent wooden ring
 10398 | D:13     | Identified the ring of Burghiso {cTele Str+3 Dex-3} (You found it on level 13 of the Dungeon)
 10452 | D:14     | Entered Level 14 of the Dungeon
 10472 | D:14     | Reached skill level 16 in Maces & Flails
 10804 | D:14     | Noticed a centaur warrior
 10808 | D:14     | Killed a centaur warrior
 10808 | D:14     | Reached XP level 12. HP: 97/97 MP: 1/4
 10845 | D:14     | Reached skill level 17 in Maces & Flails
 11187 | D:14     | Noticed a four-headed hydra
 11201 | D:14     | Killed a four-headed hydra
 11575 | D:15     | Entered Level 15 of the Dungeon
 11743 | D:15     | Reached skill level 18 in Maces & Flails
 11743 | D:15     | Reached skill level 15 in Armour
 12064 | D:15     | Noticed Rupert
 12064 | D:15     | Noticed a centaur warrior
 12073 | D:15     | Killed a centaur warrior
 12073 | D:15     | Reached skill level 1 in Evocations
 12085 | D:15     | Killed Rupert
 12244 | D:15     | Noticed a four-headed hydra
 12246 | D:15     | Noticed an ogre mage
 12265 | D:15     | Killed a four-headed hydra
 12270 | D:15     | Killed an ogre mage
 12272 | D:15     | Received a gift from Trog
 12897 | D:15     | Noticed a centaur warrior
 12903 | D:15     | Killed a centaur warrior
 12997 | D:15     | Reached XP level 13. HP: 71/106 MP: 4/12
 13000 | D:15     | Reached skill level 19 in Maces & Flails
 13257 | D:16     | Noticed Erica
 13294 | D:16     | Found a portal to a secret trove of treasure.
 13541 | D:16     | Noticed Azrael
 13713 | D:16     | Noticed Urug
 13830 | D:17     | Found a white marble altar of Elyvilon.
 13972 | D:17     | Reached skill level 5 in Evocations
 14245 | D:18     | Noticed an eight-headed hydra
 14255 | D:18     | Killed an eight-headed hydra
 14359 | D:18     | Reached skill level 1 in Traps
 14666 | D:19     | Reached skill level 20 in Maces & Flails
 14697 | D:19     | Noticed Mara
 14771 | D:19     | Received a gift from Trog
 14809 | D:19     | Noticed a shadow dragon
 14823 | D:19     | Reached skill level 10 in Fighting
 14827 | D:19     | Noticed a dragon
 14843 | D:19     | Killed a dragon
 15211 | D:19     | Killed Mara
 15211 | D:19     | Reached skill level 5 in Traps
 15211 | D:19     | Reached XP level 14. HP: 121/121 MP: 5/16
 16191 | D:16     | Paralysed by it for 3 turns
 16205 | D:16     | HP: 5/122 [slime creature (4)]
 16207 | D:16     | Slain by a slime creature


Action                   |  1- 3 |  4- 6 |  7- 9 | 10-12 | 13-15 || total
-------------------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------++-------
Melee: Mace              |    68 |    29 |       |       |       ||    97
       Morningstar       |       |   120 |   212 |       |       ||   332
       Hammer            |       |       |   234 |    68 |       ||   302
       Dire flail        |       |       |       |   635 |   481 ||  1116
 Fire: Sling             |       |    39 |       |       |       ||    39
       Longbow           |       |       |       |    20 |     2 ||    22
Invok: Berserk           |     1 |     2 |     4 |     3 |     5 ||    15
       Burn Spellbooks   |       |       |       |     3 |     2 ||     5
       Brothers in Arms  |       |       |       |     1 |     2 ||     3
       Trog's Hand       |       |       |       |       |     1 ||     1
Evoke: Wand              |       |       |     5 |     7 |     1 ||    13
  Use: Scroll            |       |       |    25 |     9 |     4 ||    38
       Potion            |       |       |    10 |     2 |     2 ||    14



Any links to resources or tips are greatly appreciated. I've tried to read as much as possible, I want to be spoiled heavily and would really like to improve my play. Been playing for a couple weeks, I've had a few other characters get close to this far, but this is my magnum opus up to this point.

Biggest questions include:
- Is it possible for the Lair to not exist? My plan was to enter it but I never found it and before I knew it I was down to D:19 or so. Died when trying to ascend back to the Orcish Mines.
- What items should I bring with me?
- How does a stash work and how can you possibly stash useful items? I can't envision being able to escape a bad situation to go get my supplies and then return, without factoring in the food cost of such a venture. My blink and teleport scrolls got burned by monsters, but if they had been in a pile on a different floor they would have done me the same amount of good it would seem.
- Any use for wands at all? I've tried what seems like dozens and usually end up hoarding them in hopes of using them on difficult monsters and they are utterly useless when I do whip them out.
- How do you decide what weapon to use?

My number one goal would be to be able to get at least this far with something other than a berserker. So far all my attempts at other backgrounds have died between D:1 and D:4, usually in situations where I feel completely helpless. I worry that I must have picked up some bad habits by leaning on berserker, but I honestly am not sure how I could improve. The weapon gifts from Trog and the use for every single corpse are hard to give up, but I'd really like to advance with something that can eventually cast some spells (i.e. Blink!)

Many thanks if anyone actually reads this and has any tips for a complete novice. Hopelessly addicted even if I have to stick with my single class :/

[ackack]

- Is it possible for the Lair to not exist?

No. It will be between levels 8 and 13, so if you haven't seen it by the end of 13, go back and find it.

- What items should I bring with me?
- Any use for wands at all? I've tried what seems like dozens and usually end up hoarding them in hopes of using them on difficult monsters and they are utterly useless when I do whip them out.

Obviously there will be some variation from character to character. Every character is going to want a good weapon, whatever armour they can wear (with maybe one or two swappable pieces, but often not), useful jewellery, scrolls and potions. What exactly those are again varies from character to character, but I almost always find myself carrying

scrolls: fog, fear (although I make sure to always have one stashed for Vaults:5 as I find that a good way to start off there), blinking, teleportation, remove curse, identify
potions: curing, heal wounds, speed, might, agility, berserk rage
rings: good rings of protection and evasion, magic resistance, protection from fire, protection from cold, occasionally regeneration,obviously good randarts if you have them
amulets: conservation, clarity, resist mutation, again randarts. Faith is a good amulet but is not something you carry to swap in.

Which wands are useful changes as the game progresses. Early almost every wand can be useful, as your offensive options are limited. Later on, monsters resist better and your offensive capabilities have caught up to where the straight-up offensive wands aren't as important. Usually until I'm a lot of the way through Lair I'll carry almost every wand I find; then I'll usually only what I have of polymorph, cold, fire, draining, lightning, disintegration, heal wounds, teleportation, hasting, digging. When I find myself not reaching for the first four or want to free up weight or slots I drop the first four. Lightning I'll bring into Shoals as a backup mesmerise buster. Disintegration is a very special purpose wand that you can leave someplace and get when you need it for the most part. Heal wounds, tele, hasting and digging are great utility wands that stay good forever and so I carry them basically always. Recharging scrolls get spent preferentially on those four wands, unless I have a particularly good offensive wand early that I'm really leaning on to survive.

- How does a stash work and how can you possibly stash useful items? I can't envision being able to escape a bad situation to go get my supplies and then return, without factoring in the food cost of such a venture. My blink and teleport scrolls got burned by monsters, but if they had been in a pile on a different floor they would have done me the same amount of good it would seem.

Ctrl-f lets you search for items you've seen. This is the most basic level of stashing. The classic Lair:2 stash is based around the idea that jellies and monsters that can pick things up from your stash won't generate there, so it's a safe place to leave piles of things you don't want used up. Some resources make the most sense to keep on the floor or in a stash pile until you need them: scrolls of magic mapping, recharging, enchant armour, enchant weapon 1/2/3; potions of cure mutation. Other good uses for your stash are if you have items that you know will be useful in a particular branch but otherwise are not really the best thing for you to wear, or if you have something that will be good once you have more skill.

- How do you decide what weapon to use?

The exact decision will depend on what you find in game and is pretty complicated in general. If you're talking about classes of weapons, I think all of the weapon classes can work reasonably well (Short Blades is a possible exception, but people claim you can do just fine with that and for most of the game I'm sure that's true.) Thus, picking a class that you have a strong aptitude in is probably the best thing to do in terms of efficiency and saving xp for skills elsewhere. Trog simplifies things somewhat by making it substantially more likely to end up with weapons at the pinnacle of whatever you decide to train, and gives randarts with strong brands pretty often. Your main interest with your weapon is doing damage, and so you should choose your decision about what is likely to do the most damage.

[Siegurt]

Any links to resources or tips are greatly appreciated. I've tried to read as much as possible, I want to be spoiled heavily and would really like to improve my play. Been playing for a couple weeks, I've had a few other characters get close to this far, but this is my magnum opus up to this point.

Biggest questions include:
- Is it possible for the Lair to not exist? My plan was to enter it but I never found it and before I knew it I was down to D:19 or so. Died when trying to ascend back to the Orcish Mines.

No the lair always exists, you can hit control-O to see the level range of any branches you haven't seen yet. You probably just missed it.

- What items should I bring with me?

Other than weapons and armour, a few wands, some food, you'll want some potions of curing and some scrolls of teleportation Other consumable items are optional, but not harmful to bring

- How does a stash work and how can you possibly stash useful items? I can't envision being able to escape a bad situation to go get my supplies and then return, without factoring in the food cost of such a venture. My blink and teleport scrolls got burned by monsters, but if they had been in a pile on a different floor they would have done me the same amount of good it would seem.

A "stash" is just a place you've dropped stuff. You can find things with control-F it's good to keep a couple things you'll need on you, but if you have.

- Any use for wands at all? I've tried what seems like dozens and usually end up hoarding them in hopes of using them on difficult monsters and they are utterly useless when I do whip them out.

Quite useful, but you have to know what they do to use them appropriately, they are also powered by evocation more makes them more powerful.

- How do you decide what weapon to use?

Generally you want the larger stronger weapon of the type you've trained, I sometimes wait to switch to a more powerful weapon until I can attack with it in a single turn (So subtract 100% from the delay, divide by 10 then multiply by two, for example 160% would be 160-100 = 60/10= 6 * 2 = 12 weapon skill before I would start using a weapon with a speed of 160%) But really you can switch earlier than that and it'll be fine.

My number one goal would be to be able to get at least this far with something other than a berserker. So far all my attempts at other backgrounds have died between D:1 and D:4, usually in situations where I feel completely helpless. I worry that I must have picked up some bad habits by leaning on berserker, but I honestly am not sure how I could improve. The weapon gifts from Trog and the use for every single corpse are hard to give up, but I'd really like to advance with something that can eventually cast some spells (i.e. Blink!)

Many thanks if anyone actually reads this and has any tips for a complete novice. Hopelessly addicted even if I have to stick with my single class :/

Berserkers are pretty powerful. Other classes are differently powerful and require a bit more tactics.
The thing that took me a long time to get used to when I started was noise. Every attack makes noise, and when a monster hears a noise it will come investigate, if that happens too often you get overwhelmed.
Generally speaking, it's a good idea to get creatures to follow you back to an area you've already cleared out and kill them there, that way you can fight one at a time.

[crate]

stop moving toward enemies
this generally prevents situations from becoming hopeless before it happens

[scott9027]

I'm glad to hear I just missed the Lair, there's enough randomness to go around as it is

After a few tries I got my DsWr to level 2 to memorize Blink. I was incredibly disappointed to discover that this spell did not operate in the same manner as the scrolls. All of my casters have been killed at full health in one on one situations by either Terence or adders.

I'm frustrated to know that I will need to get lucky to find a source of cTele to accompany the spell Blink before I could actually use it as an escape tool. I want to get more tactical, and I'm getting better about knowing when to use a scroll of Teleport before shit hits the fan.

Thanks for the tips on what items to keep around, from the reading I've been doing I had a rough idea of what would be useful. Very helpful when you pointed out what type of items would make sense to stash (enchant, recharge, specific odd resistances for a certain branch).

Is there any source of dependable escape besides being a Sp or Fe? I haven't tried Fe yet because the lack of items seemed discouraging, but my few attempts at Sp have been pathetic. I could probably do better with my increased knowledge, but I've seen in a couple threads that it's likely to develop bad habits.

I understand weapon speed and the skill needed to reach minimum delay. I also understand that I should be picking a weapon type early and sticking with it in order to eliminate wasted XP. My question with the weapons was more regarding +x/+y and brands, I've had a very tough time "feeling" which brands were more powerful than others. Fortunately in my good games Trog has given me something that is obviously superior to any of the things I've found and solves the problem for the time being.

OgWz, DEFE, and DsWr (which I played as melee) have all been embarrassing failures, I'm trying to be as careful as possible but eventually something appears that is faster than me and if I get unlucky on the rolls and miss it from range it just kills me. Doesn't feel like there's much I could do.

Any tips on skill progression? My melee has been turning off everything but weapon skill until the current weapon gets to 0 delay then spending a while with armor and fighting turned on. If I find a bigger weapon, I turn the skill back on again to try to reach it again. On that one wonderful run I even leveled traps to 5 as I had read and put some XP into evocations to see if I could make the wands I carried around all game useful. Suffice to say I'm pretty lost when it comes to the skill progression for a different archetype.

[Wark]

I'm frustrated to know that I will need to get lucky to find a source of cTele to accompany the spell Blink before I could actually use it as an escape tool.

It can be used as an escape tool as soon as you get the spell castable.Blink is enough if you, for instance, want to gain some distance between yourself and the enemy to safely use the stairs without being followed. Moreover, depending on the situation, you can position yourself in such a way that even an uncontrolled Blink is guaranteed, or at least much more likely to take you in the desired direction.

Is there any source of dependable escape besides being a Sp or Fe? I haven't tried Fe yet because the lack of items seemed discouraging, but my few attempts at Sp have been pathetic.

Dependable escape as in "running faster than a regular enemy"? Then you can also be a Centaur; Tengu gain bonus to the movement speed when they fly, whether they're using spells, evocables or an innate ability they learn at level 5; Swiftness spell increases your movement speed, and it is in the starting book for Air Elementalists; Haste makes all your actions faster and comes in potion of speed, wand and spell forms.

Any tips on skill progression? My melee has been turning off everything but weapon skill until the current weapon gets to 0 delay then spending a while with armor and fighting turned on. If I find a bigger weapon, I turn the skill back on again to try to reach it again.

Basically, in the beginning you train whatever makes you kill stuff more efficiently, whether it is a weapon skill to get the weapon to comfortable delay, or Conjurations/elemental school/a bit of Spellcasting to be able to use the spells you need from your starting book. After that you switch to defensive skills/Fighting. Also Invo, but it depends on which god you've chosen. Next you either return to increasing your offensive skills (found a bigger weapon/want a more powerful spell), or diversify (e.g. learn support spells on a Gladiator, etc).

On a side note, if you decide to stash everything in one place, you can assign a waypoint by pressing ctrl+w in order to be able to travel to the exact place where you have dropped your stuff in the future.

[Amnesiac]

There are boots of speed, too. The most dependable source of secape is a controlled blink of course or a controlled teleport, a simple teleport usually works ok on levels without dangerous vaults. Rounding a couple of corners, while being out of the enemie's LoS and then running in the opposite dirrection of them usually makes then loose you, too.

[crate]

Instead of focusing on getting a method of escape you should focus on not needing one. This is partly what my post above in hinting at. As you get better at judging enemy strength you will find yourself needing consumables or spells or fast movement to escape less and less often.

[Amnesiac]

I agree. Fast movement can't hurt, though.

[Sandman25]

You can read about brands at http://crawl.chaosforge.org/Brand and other pages referenced in "List of Brands" section.