Question about which armor is best

[mdonais]

I am looking for advice on my merfolk's armor.

I have 4 good suits of armor
k - a +1 swamp dragon armour {god gift}
p - a +2 orcish robe of resistance (worn)
q - a +2 fire dragon armour
X - the +7 splint mail "Voicsu Nora" {god gift, Str+4 Int+1}

I have poison resist already so the swamp dragon seems wrong, I have no fire or ice so the robe is tempting but has the worst physical damage reduction, the fire dragon seems great but it makes me take extra cold damage.
I have 2 scrolls of enchant armor spare, all my other armor is max already so I have good dodge and armor.

I don't know how much guaranteed damage reduction these items give, I wish it was listed on the items and the character, not sure why its hidden.

What armor skill should I go to if I have -2 evasion armor? What about -3? I have 7 armor skill now. It is a -3 skill for merfolk.

I am using a trident and a shield, I went to 14 polearms skill which gives -7 delay on the trident taking it from 13 to 6 which is min delay, is that correct?
Is trident good enough for an end game weapon?

I found a +3 medium shield of protection, how much shield skill do you think is good for that? I have 12 now. I read 5 skill for a buckler, 10 for a medium 15 for a large, is that right?

I don't know any spells except apportation. But I have a bunch of spell books stored in my stash. What do you think would be worth learning? Some ice armor maybe since merfolk are good at that?

Thanks for any other advice you have also.

Spoiler: show

Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup version 0.12-a0-740-g09fba8b (tiles) character file.

curse the Impaler (Merfolk Gladiator) Turns: 31131, Time: 04:30:14

HP 122/122 AC 25 Str 22 (23) XL: 15 Next: 15%
MP 23/23 EV 27 Int 6 (8) God: Okawaru [*****.]
Gold 2287 SH 31 Dex 21 Spells: 1 memorised, 17 levels left

Res.Fire : + . . See Invis. : . i - +3,+5 trident (protect) {god gift}
Res.Cold : + . . Warding : . p - +2 orc robe {rC+ rF+}
Life Prot.: . . . Conserve : . M - +3 shield {AC+3}
Res.Poison: + Res.Corr. : . c - +2 helmet
Res.Elec. : . Clarity : . z - +2 cloak {rPois}
Sust.Abil.: . . Spirit.Shd : . V - +2 pair of dwarf gauntlets {Str+3}
Res.Mut. : . Stasis : . S - +2 pair of boots {Stlth+} {god gift}
Res.Rott. : . Ctrl.Telep.: . r - amulet of rage
Saprovore : . . . Levitation : . u - +5 ring of strength
Ctrl.Flight: . E - +4,+5 ring of slaying

@: somewhat resistant to hostile enchantments, very stealthy
A: change form in water, swift swim
a: Heroism, Finesse, Renounce Religion, Evoke Berserk Rage


You are on level 1 of the Lair of Beasts.
You worship Okawaru.
Okawaru is exalted by your worship.
You are near starving.

You have visited 5 branches of the dungeon, and seen 28 of its levels.
You have also visited: Labyrinth, Sewer and Ossuary.

You have collected 2267 gold pieces.

Inventory:

Hand weapons
i - a +3,+5 trident of protection (weapon) {god gift}
w - the hand axe of Bauned {freeze, Dex-2}
(You found it on level 2 of the Lair of Beasts)

It has been specially enchanted to freeze those struck by it, causing extra
injury to most foes and up to double damage against particularly susceptible
opponents. It can also slow down cold-blooded creatures.

It affects your dexterity (-2).
H - a +1,+1 orcish hand axe
Missiles
d - 6 throwing nets
f - 3 javelins (quivered)
Armour
c - a +2 helmet (worn)
k - a +1 swamp dragon armour {god gift}
p - a +2 orcish robe of resistance (worn)
q - a +2 fire dragon armour
z - a +2 cloak of poison resistance (worn)
M - a +3 shield of protection (worn)
S - a +2 pair of boots of stealth (worn) {god gift}
V - a +2 pair of dwarven gauntlets of strength (worn)
X - the +7 splint mail "Voicsu Nora" {god gift, Str+4 Int+1}
(Okawaru gifted it to you on level 2 of the Spider Nest)

It affects your strength (+4).
It affects your intelligence (+1).
Magical devices
n - a wand of enslavement {zapped: 5}
y - a wand of flame
T - a wand of teleportation {zapped: 2}
Comestibles
j - 8 honeycombs
Scrolls
g - 2 scrolls of blinking
h - 2 scrolls of remove curse
m - 4 scrolls of identify
x - 2 scrolls of enchant armour
F - 2 scrolls of fear
L - 3 scrolls of teleportation
W - a scroll of fog
Jewellery
a - a ring of ice
o - an uncursed ring of protection from fire
r - an amulet of rage (around neck)
u - a +5 ring of strength (right hand)
v - an uncursed ring of see invisible
D - an uncursed ring of regeneration
E - a +4,+5 ring of slaying (left hand)
R - an uncursed ring of levitation
U - a cursed amulet of stasis
Potions
b - 6 potions of heal wounds
l - 3 potions of agility
t - 6 potions of curing
N - a potion of speed
Y - 2 potions of might
Miscellaneous
P - a legendary deck of cards
Z - a lantern of shadows


Skills:
- Level 15.0 Fighting
- Level 16.0 Polearms
- Level 3.0 Throwing
- Level 7.0 Armour
+ Level 15.7 Dodging
- Level 5.2 Stealth
- Level 3.6 Stabbing
- Level 12.1 Shields
- Level 5.0 Traps
- Level 3.1 Unarmed Combat
- Level 2.1 Spellcasting
- Level 1.0 Translocations
- Level 5.3 Invocations
- Level 5.0 Evocations


You have 17 spell levels left.
You know the following spells:

Your Spells Type Power Failure Level Hunger
a - Apportation Tloc #......... 28% 1 ##.....


Dungeon Overview and Level Annotations

Branches:
Dungeon (15/27) Temple (1/1) D:5 Orc (3/4) D:9
Elf (0/3) Orc:3 Lair (6/8) D:9 Swamp (0/5) Lair:5
Spider (3/5) Lair:5 Slime (0/6) Lair:6
Vaults: D:15-20

[Kate]

A robe of resistance is one of the best armours in the game. Wear that and pick up some spells (blink, haste, repel missiles, etc) and you'll be in pretty good shape. Maybe late it's worth swapping for a dragon armour of some sort but the important thing here is to pick up spells, so the robe will be great for a while.

[eeviac]

In your position, I would:

- use the robe of resistance and train dodging, keeping the FDA and enchant armor scrolls on standby depending on what other gear I find as the game progresses. Robes of resistance are great all game long, you don't necessarily need anything better.

- armor skill doesn't have a strong correlation with evasion penalty, like shield skill or weapon delay do. It's simply 'more is better', but if you're using low base AC gear like robes/leather, training armor isn't as efficient as training dodge.

- drop the shield and trident for a bardiche ASAP.

- Ditch the strength ring for the regen ring.

It's hard to say what spells you should learn when we don't know what spellbooks you have, but yes, ozo's armor is good. Many of the charms spells are very good on every character - regeneration, swiftness, haste, repel missiles, etc.. You could focus on ice magic more and go for freezing cloud and bolt of cold. Mf are flexible like this.

[BlackSheep]

I am using a trident and a shield, I went to 14 polearms skill which gives -7 delay on the trident taking it from 13 to 6 which is min delay, is that correct? Is trident good enough for an end game weapon?

That's correct, and no, that trident is not an end game weapon. You'll want the biggest polearm you can find if you want to do the most damage. (i.e. a bardiche) If you want to keep your shield, then your best best will be a demon trident.

I found a +3 medium shield of protection, how much shield skill do you think is good for that? I have 12 now. I read 5 skill for a buckler, 10 for a medium 15 for a large, is that right?

You'd need 5, 15 and 25 Shields skill for a buckler, shield and large shield, respectively. (On a human-sized race like merfolk. On larger races, you need less. Smaller races need more.) If you're wearing armor with 0 EV penalty, you can get away with a little less Shields. (1/11/21 for human-sized races, I believe)

Some ice armor maybe since merfolk are good at that?

Ozocubu's Armour is a very good spell. It's worth noting that it only works when wearing armor with an EV penalty of 0 or -1.

[mdonais]

Thanks for the very specific answers so fast.

I am sad that shield is not correct even though I found such a good one (+3 medium shield of protection).
I will look for a bardiche, or get one from my god if I am lucky.

- I am only going to skill up fighting and dodging from now on it sounds like. (And eventually spells if I see some buffs that I like).

It sounds like I shouldn't worry about having 0 guaranteed damage reduction from armor, and just embrace the robe and bardiche build which will actually make me a good spellcaster and dodger.

Mike.

[eeviac]

Shields and GDR tend to be heavily overvalued. My thoughts on shields: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=5321.

GDR has been discussed to death on this forum, I don't want to open that can of worms again, just know that while GDR is nice to have, it only applies to certain forms of damage, and there is no character build or situation where GDR is actually needed.

Do you know about ctrl+f? Makes it a snap to find any item seen in your game so far. Also, keep an eye out for orc knights. They have a decent chance of generating with bardiches.

[mdonais]

ok, I am going to do orc 4 now, I was saving it for a rainy day. Hopefully I get a nice bardiche that doesn't kill me

Mike.