Wednesday, 29th January 2014, 06:07 by and into
Oh yeah—mana vipers (I think that's what they were called).
Didn't find them that bad, they are fast and seem to have high EV. Or else it seems like magic doesn't hurt them as much—no idea if that's just in my head. Not too bad though, they hit you and drain mana, but don't do much damage. If you have a decent melee attack to resort to (and obviously you should by Snake, always, anyway), you should be fine. I killed 6 or 7, generally amongst some other enemies; I think one time they forced me into a retreat rather early in an encounter that I otherwise might have stayed and fought, but I was not in any real danger (granted, that's because I fled early).
For reference, my Dg started Snake at level 15 (almost 16), finished at level 17 with one-third of the way to 18.
Currently 150 health, 36 Magic, AC 19, EV 24, SH 12. Using a really nifty +7, +4 artifact falchion of electrocution with a couple of resistances on it, and a ring that has neg intelligence and rC-, but +9 damage (couldn't pass it up). Slightly lower HP, and only 18 AC, when I entered Snake.
Got a ring of wizardry, so I didn't get as much in spell levels as I otherwise would have—only 7 levels in conjuration, 5 in hexes. Nonetheless that was sufficient to dazzle greater nagas—or really, everything but mana vipers who seem to resist all sorts of magic attacks—very effectively. Dazzling spray is dope.
I had very good MR throughout, too, just so you know. Not sure whether, or how much, that helped. I did have haste castable, I used it more than I needed to (obviously, as that's the point of getting the spell), but there were three times when being fast felt pretty critical, four counting Wiglaf.
Good luck!
Last edited by
and into on Wednesday, 29th January 2014, 06:19, edited 2 times in total.