Slime Squisher
Posts: 332
Joined: Friday, 4th February 2011, 18:04
Location: The South, US
(Very) Basic Naga Guide
- Slow movement - This is the primary drawback of nagas: you can't easily run away. Those stairs are a lot farther away for you than they are with other species. However, it is very important to note that while moving is slow, all other actions, like spellcasting, are at normal speed. You can compensate for slow movement and work around it, but it will be a disadvantage for a good part of the game. What this means for you is that you should be farther away when you start trying to run away, and also that attempting to kill the thing you are running from often works better than running, if you are out of options.
- Unfitting armour (1/2 AC from armour) - This is a significant disadvantage in the early game, before you have innate AC, Armour skill, Shield skill, or gigantic HP. AC is rounded down, so a 3 AC leather armour provides you with 1 AC. You don't really want to wear much more than leather or ringmail in the early game because it just isn't worth it. However, if you wear leather, finding a helmet or gauntlets or a cloak gives you 2 AC ([3+1]/2=2), so secondary armour items can greatly boost survivability
- rP - early game, this is huge. It means you only worry about the damage of monsters, not whether they will poison you. You can eat kobold flesh, which translates into more magic because you have more sources of food. Having rP also makes Meph considerably more effective.
- See invisible - this negates one large advantage of orc wizards and elves (and unseen horrors).
- Spit Poison - This may be inaccurate, but it gives a leg up in the very early game, particularly if you have to run away. It does some damage (if it hits) and sometimes poisons the target. It tends to kill goblins, hoblins, kobolds, small snakes outright. Remember that on D:1.
- Apts - Nagas have no crippled apts. If you want to train an apt, you can. The lowest apt is -2. Magic apts are 0, except Poison +3.
- Stealth - Nagas get innate stealth like kobolds and halfings, and a good stealth apt. Even if you aren't a stabber, this is very helpful. You can't run away from battles as easily as other species, so picking which one you engage in is very helpful.
- Shields - Nagas can wear bucklers with no Shield skill, and it will not effect spellcasting, as Nagas are a Large species. This is helpful in every way: You block attacks while still blasting enemies; you have another slot for an artefact; and you are Large, which means you are somewhat bad at Dodging, and shields can compensate.
- Gargantuan HP in mid- and late-game - This is good. Duh. Makes for some powerful Transmutations, especially Spider and Ice, since they don't have awesome defenses.
- Innate AC - every 3 XL, you get another AC point, for 9 AC at XL 27. Again this is a boon for transmutation forms.
- 120 XP - this is somewhat minor, but it does add up
- Bardings - you have the best shoes in the game, since you get all AC from these (barding fit your 'unusually shaped body').
Tips and Reminders:
- Not running away - You are slower than they are. Running away like you normally do WILL kill you. This tends to mean you should kill them before they get to you or after they get to you. Running gives them free hits.
- Do not move while fighting - Once you have started a fight, don't move around unless to have to. If you move, they will close the gap or hit you twice. This makes hydras priority targets, since they are much faster than you, and can attack many, many times. Blink (even random blinking), Swiftness, Flight, Spider Form, and Teleport are very good to have.
- Armour skill - A few points here will give you more AC than with other characters, possibly because of Unfitting Armour. If you are a class that starts with leather armour, like a Warper, before you do anything else, mash 5 and train Armour up to 1.
- rP doesn't protect against damage - Spiny frogs and Wolf spiders are still dangerous. rP does make Poison Cloud better, in most cases, than Bolt of Poison. Use it in corridors.
- Adapt - Though you are good at stabbing, don't restrict yourself to it. Those magic apts give you a lot of flexibility.
- Strength - You start with good strength as a caster (10 Str, 15 Int, 11 Dex), so, again, don't assume to have to be a dexterous dodging stabber.
- Choose your fights and locations - remember that everything is farther away for you.
- Stealth - Very helpful for choosing your fights, and running away. Unless you want every last point to go into X skill, it is a good idea to leave Stealth on. If you are going Oka/TSO, you'll still want some stealth while you're with Oka.
That's all I got. Everything else would be build/god specific. Hope this is helpful to you. If you have tips, clarifications, comments, questions, suggestions, or snide remarks, feel free to add them.
TSE
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