petercordia wrote:The challenge lies in getting lv 9 spells online. I suppose I could drop down to archmagi robes + medium shield (instead of my current +8 Firedragon scales + large shield), but I'd feel safer if that could be avoided.
How do you deal with mana with Makleb + necromutation? Sublimation of blood wouldn't work anymore...
Also, if I'm using Necromutation I can play mutation roulette until I get a good enough mutation set right? I've currently settled for {clumsy 1, sense surroundings 1, robust 1, no potion heal 1}, but I've got 10 or so more !mut I could play around with, if that'd be helpful.
Here are some tips:
Don't drop to robes, you'd be better off with steam dragon or other lightish dragon scales
Use the medium shield, don't worry about large shield if it affects your casting ability, just wait until your skills are all higher
Drop your initial expectation of firestorm down to ignition, it's almost as good and even better in some cases
Quaff brilliance potions strategically if you need to get tornado and/or necromutation launched
Mana comes primarily from either sublimate if you're on a non-tormenting level and you stay alive, OR it comes from channelling a staff of energy at opportune moments
Channel mana and sublimate especially during spells like tornado that kill over several turns
Do not worry about mutations if you're planning to Zig, you'll get a lot of mutation potions, gaining XP to push you into decent armour + critical spells is more important
If you finish a zig all the way and get a token, you'll likely be strong enough to finish several more with much less risk, so quaff mut potions until you're happy with a set
Timing is very important, don't unload all your firepower every second just because you can, keep topping off your mana and unload when you stand to benefit from it most
For your first zig, use liberal amounts of potions in-advance of the encounters because you pick up lots of potions, and you need room for all the gear you find
After you're pretty strong from doing an entire zig, potions won't be quite as critical to survival (you'll stabilize by being much stronger and having better gear overall)
Balance all your resists, don't leave holes if possible, beyond that items with big +Int and +Str are the most valuable.
Consider swapping between an elemental staff and staff of energy for quick bursts to your spell power before unloading at key moments.
If you encounter a level you don't think you can handle, use liberal fog/teleport/blink scrolls to get out ASAP. A last ditch effort is intentionally unwielding distortion brand to get yourself banished.
Evocable items that summon stuff like spiders, beasts, etc. can serve as good distractions if you get into trouble and need to try and buy time to escape/recharge.
Keep a couple good evocable items for dealing with situations where you might find yourself silenced.
Dragon Form + UC is a very good last line of defense if you're in big trouble (smash anything without needing mana or spells)
Good luck!