Monday, 6th June 2011, 23:31 by Zuboki
I am a great champion of Beogh. While I've never won with him, I've gotten a few level 25-27's, most of whom died to stupid deaths (Trying to explore Slime for the first time, or getting my 28 Str switched with 10 Dex at level 27). Going through this topic, there has been plenty said that I agree with, and plenty that I disagree with.
First off- I almost never play HOPr. Hill orcs are a hardy, solid early-game character, and unless the floor god doesn't generate any decent wands or blowgun/curare for you, making it to Orcish Mines really shouldn't be too much of a problem with any build. I instead use my background to try out different leaders. Some of my latest Beoghites have been a Crossbow-wielding armoured wanderer and a shield-using Earth elementalist (LRD is fun, Dig allows more room for your army, and I was really hoping for Statue Form so I could tank for my army). I'm currently discovering that Gladiators can turn into excellent armoured meatshields, especially with the piety bonus that applies to the helmet and buckler that you start with. Crusaders are also good, both for branding and berserking through the early game, and especially if you victory dance Charms, leading to the ability to Haste your Warlords later on. Playing through the early game without relying on Beogh support also gives you a great sense of your survivability without an army, which is important for later situations.
Anyway- once I hit the mines (usually ignoring the lair, unless I'm too weak), I grab the best orcish equipment I can find and go about finding the Beogh altar. Immediately upon converting to him (I could never even fathom Beogh as a she! He's certainly a great father figure, with an avuncular Orcish grin), I backtrack and pray over all of the orcish corpses and skeletons, which gives me a huge jump start on piety. Typically, I start converting minions halfway through Orc:3, unless the Beogh altar was really late or well-hidden.
The buff that Orc:4 got with all the new end vaults is amazing. My HOEE came out of it with 5 High Priest followers. As my spectators joked, I pretty much had Demonic Guardian mutation. Other than that, it's a great place to find weapons and armor to equip your new army (Ctrl-T and allowing them to pick up all is essential!). One of my knights in the most recent game has an orcish morningstar of distortion. The hobgoblin was devoured by a tear in reality!
Another great place is the Bailey vaults. In the best case scenario, you'll come out with a squadron of crossbow orcs and maybe a few with Crystal Plate (I got two suits in my last go!). I tend to pick up a fair amount of extra reaching weapons for my followers, as orc knights with reaching polearms are both helpful in combat and less likely to die in melee. Even in the least useful Baileys, you can get a few returning axes for your shock troops, and there's all that delicious Bailey loot for yourself.
Now, notice how I put the focus on the orcs. Your army is not your only asset, but it is a great asset- One that you want to keep well-equipped at all times. I generally work best as a damage tank for my orcs, thanks to Beogh's boost to armour effectiveness and the ease of retreating by swapping places. Once you have a cadre of 3 to 5 knights, it doesn't really matter if one or two of them dies. I usually end up traveling with no more than a dozen orcs, mostly warriors. Wizards and Priests have a tendency to die pretty fast, but if you give them plate mail or crystal (and possibly a strong/reaching weapon), you'll improve their chances of promoting to an even nicer glass cannon. I typically leave warlords behind if I get any before Vaults.
If you do get a particularly good and reliable follower, he should be getting a lot of boosts from Beogh. This means that, when he dies, you should loot his corpse before your followers can to see if there's anything you can use. The boosts always apply to the weapon and armour (with the exception of healing and priesthood), so if your warlord finally died, you'll probably have a nice set of platemail or better on him. If he drops a weapon you think is useful but you don't have skill in (say, orcish trident of vampirism) or can't use (orcish battleaxe of flaming but you need your awesome shield), keep it with you so you can give it to any converts you come across. If you identified the weapon/armour before wearing it, you can even see the boosts on it. I once gave a knight a Gold Dragon armour that I found at +1; when he died, it was +6, at which point I gave it to a sorcerer. I still wonder if they would have survived Zot, as that was one of my earliest games, in which I died in the Slime Pits.
If you have some nice armour, whether by finding it or looting dead followers, you can use a spare Enchant armour scroll to make Storm, Pearl, or Golden Dragon armour. Let the orcs wear it for resistances and to get Beogh boosts, then take it when they die if you want (Although I prefer sticking with Orcish Plate myself, or Scale if I'm trying a caster). Don't try the same with Troll Leather or the weaker Dragon Armours, as they're likely to get ignored by followers in favour of Plate.
As for body slots, I wear and fully enchant orcish gear if I can find it, unless I run into a randart with either A) more than a +3 bonus, or B) useful resistances and boosts. Sadly, orcish gloves, boots, cloaks, and helmets seem pretty rare (Unless you're playing a dwarf or elf, of course). I kind of cheated on the helmet bit by playing gladiator- One could theoretically do the same with cloaks for stalkers or assassins, too.
I'd like to say Axes are the only weapon you should think about, but two additional notes. If you're not going for heavy armour or melee builds (maybe you want to play a conjurer, blowgunner/javalineer, etc?), keep Polearms in mind, due to the somewhat common reaching brand. My other note is more of an anecdote- I was playing an EE with no weapon skill, and stumbled across an orcish dagger of speed. I had an amulet of rage, and between the two of those, I managed to take quite a few things (including Donald) down, raising Short Blades to 8 in no time. I still did pitiful damage without rage, and ended up dying while slowed to an Orc:2 Knight before finding Beogh. Why do I mention this, then? Because if I had gotten an army, enemies are often "distracted" if being attacked from multiple allies. And HO has a Stabbing aptitude of +2. Combine that with speed and Beogh bonus damage, and that really might have been a playable niche!
I haven't found smite very useful, except perhaps on retreating hydrae or death yaks. Recall is great for saving knights trying to fight a stone giant 1-on-1, and for walking right next to a moderate threat and then summoning the horde in a twisted version of the 'Haunt' spell. Water walking helped save me in Abyss a few times, and makes retreating easier sometimes, as well as being useful in Swamp and Shoals. Reinforcements are usually worthless, but again they might help you in Abyss or any other portal that isolates you from your squad.
As for spells? Debuffs like Corona or Ensorcelled Hibernation are useful if they aren't resisted, since everyone who attacks the debuffed opponent gets a boost. Vorpalise along with Fire Brand or Freezing Aura can enchant your war axe if it doesn't have a brand (Just don't use poison weapon, or really any poison- The last thing you want is that sorcerer to surrender to you and then die of poison damage). Rage is great, as the squad can cover for your slowness sometimes. Haste is awesome if you can cast it, especially if you have a few warlords. Avoid clouds- I'm not sure if this was changed for 0.8, but in my experience, if you make a poison or confusion cloud using evaporate and an orc walks into it and gets damaged, he'll no longer be friendly (I know this directly conflicts with the information above. Was it changed?). I have no experience with polymorphing my orcs. Low level spells are generally better, since using high level ones requires you to not use heavy armour, which is one of Beogh's selling points. Summons and necromancy are mostly redundant. Translocation can help with Portal Projectile for throwers, although blinking isn't as useful (unless semi-controlled).
I don't usually pick up other gods before Beogh. But on my most recent game, getting Xom helped, as his wrath isn't that bad (until he banishes me... still waiting) and he gave my Gl plenty of +AC mutations, some of which he didn't even remove (yet). I'm guessing Sif might be good for a caster, or maybe Elyvilon for a melee orc. Wrath is pretty tough, though, so I'd advise against it if you really really want to live. Speaking of which, don't leave Beogh if you want to live. Even if your squad becomes dead/outclassed, there's still weapon/armour bonuses and reinforcement meatshields. It's better than the multiple squads led by warlords you'll have to deal with as early as xl10!
Okay, wow. That basically turned into a Beogh guide. My summary- Your minions aren't simple summons, and you shouldn't limit yourself to what they can do, but instead work with them. Don't worry about them stealing exp- you'll get plenty anyway. And, um. DROWN THE UNBELIEVERS IN A SEA OF BLOOD!
- For this message the author Zuboki has received thanks: 5
- A Bad Place, cesium, MyOtheHedgeFox, pratamawirya, spurious
Late Game Beogh
