How do you play casters?

[cosmomancer]

I seem to be just unable to make a successful caster. On the other hand I've found immense success as pure melee characters even getting 15 runes in one game.

Any general advice on casters? (I know it's not much to go on but still)

[1010011010]

What type of caster? there are many ranging from those who use low level buffs to some that rely solely on magic.

I used to do well with melee but not magic, but once I started managing my skills better I became much more proficient with casters.

[battaile]

caster

Hope you like semantic debate.

[Siegurt]

I'm going to go ahead and assume by "caster" you mean "Someone who does most or all of their damage by using spells rather than with a weapon"

Some general advice:

Stay out of melee combat to the degree possible.
Retreat/running around if you run out of mana (typically happens at early levels)
Don't explore until your mana is full
"Pull" creatures that you find into explored areas so you don't attract too many at a time.
Train enough skill to get your offensive spells castable consistently (I usually shoot for <5% failure)
*Don't* skip Fighting or Dodging, since you'll typically be wearing very light armour, extra hps are that much more valuable, and EV is damn good.
Learn relevant buff spells whenever possible, you usually only need one "Kill" spell, but a variety of buffs for different situations is extremely helpful.
Mostly raise Int, but don't feel like you can't put points into Str or Dex if you need to, they each have their uses (Dex for better EV and Str to let you carry things and wear slightly heavier armour)
DE are pretty tempting with their casting bonuses, but they are *fragile* that gives you little room for mistakes, more robust casters have greater survival traits.
Be aware that spells cost more than just mana, bigger spells are noisier, and attract critters from a larger radius, Killing a rat with a lightning bolt may seem like no big deal, but if that brings a horde of critters down on you with less mana to deal with them, you're going to drown.
Don't train to eliminate hunger costs, just eat more.
Don't train to "max" spellpower, get bigger spells instead.
Do train spellcasting to get more spell slots and to get more mana, when you feel short of both.
Get a weapon, preferably low-skill investment, beating up chaff with big spells just exausts your supply and brings things to harass you while you try to rest, a low-skill-investment weapon is a good way to kill non dangerous stuff while keeping your blasts for actual dangerous foes. Enhancer staves of the appropriate element are excellent, short blades aren't bad.
Bucklers are worth 5 skill points, particularly when using a short blade or enhancer staff.
Sometimes you'll encounter something you can't kill because of the element you're using, just walk away.
Get blink, use it.
You *will* ultimately be able to use heavier-than-robes armour, you can use leather right off the bat with no buckler, or with a buckler and shields:5, You'll be able to cast most of your spells in ring mail easily (Probably not your highest-available spell) and you'll be able to cast at high level in scale (or each of the dragon armour equivalents) Robes is for people who can't upgrade to anything else.

More specific advice is probably more suited to individual characters.

[cerebovssquire]

Robes is for people who can't upgrade to anything else.

Some robes are very good (resistances can be useful, Archmagi and resistance are excellent, and you might find a good artefact one). In some games you also don't get a lot of enchant armour scrolls, so the difference in AC between using MDA or something and instead wearing a robe and enchanting your other armour slots might not be significant. You can't generalise this.

[Siegurt]

Well, that's true enough, I really meant "There's no reason not to upgrade to leather armour at the beginning of the game, provided it actually gives you more protection and there's no exceptional brand to consider"

Obviously +2 robes are better than +0 leather. And of course nice brands, artifacts, exceptional enchantments etc. override some AC considerations.

I wouldn't consider changing "Robes of resistance" to plain leather armour an "upgrade" I guess

[some12fat2move]

Look for bucklers and protection-branded weapons, these things are very helpful even if you rarely kill stuff with melee attacks. Of course if a good weapon presents itself you might prefer that since being a melee badass has its advantages.
Ignore hunger costs and eat permafood if you're very hungry without chunks. Try not to eat mid-fight (this is almost like briefly paralyzing yourself); if you see a big battle is about to happen, carb up beforehand.
If you think you don't have enough mana to kill something, this is a sign of danger, consider your consumables and escape options.