Lugonu best practices

[mopl]

New to AK, want some tips about some abilities

-bend space : is it just a damaging-blink ?
-banish : I know it checks MR and that banish power is capped at 100 (Invo at 10.5 iirc), what are your favorite targets ? (I use it early on on elec eels)
-Corruption : Can it kill me ? How do you often use it ?

Related question : to brand or not to brand your weapon ?

[Kolbur]

- bend space can also blink adjacent enemies iirc
- banish the royal jelly and use corruption to break into the Slime:6 vault
- I think the neutrals do random melee attacks only, if you are standing next to them
- I also used corruption to convert an altar to Lugonu for her weapon upgrade

[dck]

Pretty much anything that annoys you and can be of relative danger up until you hit depths has MR low enough you can banish it just dandy. Vault guards in all kinds are a notable example, but there's more stuff.
Obviously earlier than that a ton of things that are annoying and or dangerous can be banned too.

Corruption is the power you use when you see things that you don't like the idea of fighting but actually want dead, so yes you do want to use it rather often (not like lucy piety is hard to get anyway). With a decent amount of invo (say around 10-12) it can pretty much wreck any kind of party.

If you can bear to play with a distortion weapon then there is no reason not to do it as it is pretty much the best weapon possible for a lugonu worshiper.

[Lasty]

1) Bend Space also ignores blinking limitations such as -Tele/Stasis, and can be freely used in the Abyss.
2) Banish can be used to remove anything you find troublesome for whatever reason, as long as it doesn't have particularly high MR. You're correct that it reaches max power at 10.5 Invo.
3) The neutrals summoned by Corruption can and will kill you, but they don't try to kill you as long as you don't anger them. They will still melee you if they happen to want to move into your tile, so it's best to get clear of the throng if you can. I rarely remember to use Corruption, but it's very powerful for clearing out a large group of dangerous enemies or destroying troublesome vaults.

[Sprucery]

Can TRJ be actually banished with the ability? Wiki says it has MR 196, so no go. With disto weapon yes, but you'll probably have to hit it 10 times.

[dck]

Of course when people talk about banishing trj they mean with disto weapons.
Could with vulnerability I guess.

[Patashu]

Of course when people talk about banishing trj they mean with disto weapons.
Could with vulnerability I guess.

?Vuln and invo banish should work fine, about 50% odds if the learndb is correct and it caps at 100 spell power vs ~100 MR.

[Sprucery]

Oh yeah, totally forgot about ?vuln.

How many have experience on corrupting Slime:6? Is there a (reasonable) possibility that the rune vault would not be opened (then just LRD I guess)?

[Tedronai]

How many have experience on corrupting Slime:6? Is there a (reasonable) possibility that the rune vault would not be opened (then just LRD I guess)?

Worked for me. However I don't think that can be considered as a good approach on getting the slimy rune. Most characters should be able to kill TRJ without much trouble.

[WalrusMcFishSr]

I've been playing MuAKs lately (including my recorded 6 rune YASD) which has been a blast. No food clock, literally sacrifice every corpse you see for mad piety...but you're probably going to need all that piety because, hey you're a mummy.

So yeah, banish anything that is giving you trouble in the early game, especially if it's part of a group or you're on the verge of death. I like banishing orc priests (and wizards as a mummy), hydras, bees, black mambas, spiny frogs, anything dangerous with lowish MR. You don't want to overdo it of course, but it can be a lifesaver. I train my Invo to 11 or 12, as that maxes out banishment and gets the other Lugonu abilities reasonable. Banishment ability definitely becomes more situational as you get deeper and monster MR goes up--but you can still banish giants and such.

I prefer to wear heavier armour as an AK, but of course that's a preference. You've got blink already basically, plus a suite of other amazing abilities unaffected by armour use. You don't really need Spellcasting for some time, and even then I usually just pick up some charms. As a mummy though I was being particularly stringent with my experience budget.

Distortion weapons are beautiful. I was using the Singing Sword but it became outclassed eventually by a demon blade of distortion. Very useful not only for killing things, but also for "this thing needs to not be here right now"--whether by killing it, banishing it, or teleporting it away, the threat is gone. Great for dealing with swarms of enemies, the blinks and teleports give you some breathing room and you can take them more at your own tempo. And with an AK you don't have to be totally committed to it--you can swap out a blowgun, bow, whatever without worry. So it's just another tool in your arsenal. Which reminds me--make sure you do get some other kind of ranged attack, because distortion blinking can get to be pretty annoying. Banishment is an option but you can't use it all the time. I went heavy Evo in my last game with a lightning rod.

Corrupt is the most nuclear weapon at your disposal. I usually use it at the bottom of branches and usually everybody just dies. Makes Vault 5 an utter delight (especially when you're a mummy and you get a friendly tormentor!!) I also used it on Orc 4, Swamp 5, Elf 3, Tomb 3 to good effect...the Tomb 3 was particularly great as it busted into the treasure wings and also summoned a silent spectre. Great for taking out Saint Roka, the Enchantress, Pan Lords, zig floors, anything really. If I'm going to corrupt slime, I'll usually do it BEFORE attempting to banish/kill TRJ, as you can make sure the loot opens up (of course the jellies can get at it too), and also just probably kill TRJ outright in the carnage.

Of course there are limitations...it costs a ton of piety and can only be used once/level, so don't pop it prematurely. The summons can hurt you although won't actively try, so make sure you can take a couple hits or get to some open space if necessary; it's better to use corrupt preemptively at the beginning of a huge battle rather than when you're already at low health. An amulet of warding will cause them to flinch away, so that can be helpful. Finally, be aware that corrupt creatures CAN BE ABJURED...this was the cause of another YASD in elf 3 before I realized this.

I also like to corrupt the temple ASAP. You'll probably want a Lugonu altar eventually, and besides it's just fun and good luck. Lugonu takes great delight in reclaiming the temple from which she has been shunned

One last thing: keep your piety above ***** if you can, because Enter the Abyss is a "don't die" button. It will save your ass, much like Sanctuary. So don't forget about this as a last resort.

[ackack]

Of course when people talk about banishing trj they mean with disto weapons.
Could with vulnerability I guess.

?Vuln and invo banish should work fine, about 50% odds if the learndb is correct and it caps at 100 spell power vs ~100 MR.

I believe the cap on banish power is at 100 nominal spellpower, so 75 true. For example, try banishing death yaks --- it doesn't really work. In general I don't try to banish things with more than 70 or so MR unless I'm really desperate.

I think a lot of the advice in the thread is good, I have a few other comments:

--- Generally when I play AK I start by skilling both weapon and Invo at 50%. It's probably slightly better to train just weapon until you're at like ** piety and then start training Invo, but it is nice to have banish really working when you get it. The thing about banish is that it eats up piety pretty fast if things resist it, so if you want to use it you don't want to fail often. As you say, turn off Invo at 10.5 for a while. You might turn it on again much later to beef up Corrupt (and I guess Enter the Abyss).

--- As dck says, the vaults dudes make excellent banishment targets. Other good ones include lots of the Orc:4 heavies, deep troll shamans, fast Lair creatures (blink frog, black mamba, spiny frog). It's important to strike the right balance with banishment. You want to use it often, but unless you have an amulet of faith you can't use it too much because it's important to have it when you really need it.

--- You absolutely want a distortion weapon, now that Lugonu worshippers can swap them freely (unless that got removed.) However, you almost certainly want a non-distortion weapon, too. Distortion is often very annoying to use because of the blinking and teleporting, and can be outright dangerous against monsters with ranged attacks, so you will often want to have something else. But it is a very useful tool to have. You can distort a regular whip or dagger and get most of the benefit; I sometimes hold out for something like a demon whip or dire flail but I am aware this doesn't really make much sense.

--- Corrupt is hugely powerful and you are missing out on a big chunk of Lugonu's effectiveness if you're not using it.

EDIT:

One last thing: keep your piety above ***** if you can, because Enter the Abyss is a "don't die" button. It will save your ass, much like Sanctuary. So don't forget about this as a last resort.

It is nowhere near as effective as Sanctuary. The problem is that when you enter the Abyss you get dropped to very low HP, and it's not uncommon to have something nasty very close by. There are still times when it's situationally effective. The best use I ever got out of it was when I was at like 40% HP and a moth of wrath berserked an orb guardian. In that particular spot, there were essentially no other safe escape options and so it was worth rolling the dice. Sometimes you will be in spots where you are a near lock to die if you don't get out; then you enter the Abyss. But it's not like you're guaranteeing yourself an opportunity to pump 5 in peace, and it's important to recognize that.

[Sar]

I'm pretty sure that when you get dumped in the 'byss you start with a clear screen (no monsters in sight), which is already a huge improvement over pretty much any situation you'll want to use self-Abyssing in. Then you can quaff some heal wounds, cast your Regen, maybe try to find a safe spot - do something before abyssal nasties get to you. Still, it's a good ability, as long as you don't try to use it when you have enough HP for it to kill you.

[ackack]

I'm pretty sure that when you get dumped in the 'byss you start with a clear screen (no monsters in sight), which is already a huge improvement over pretty much any situation you'll want to use self-Abyssing in. Then you can quaff some heal wounds, cast your Regen, maybe try to find a safe spot - do something before abyssal nasties get to you. Still, it's a good ability, as long as you don't try to use it when you have enough HP for it to kill you.

I just finished an AK where I self-Abyssed and found myself on screen with a yellow draconian with 5 hp. It's possible that it wasn't on screen and walked on in the next turn, but this distinction doesn't seem very significant to me. In my experience, my self-abyssings have felt threatening way more often than not. Sometimes it's still an improvement over the old situation. But I feel a lot of people discuss it as some sort of awesome get out of jail free card. Continuing the analogy, I would say it is more like paying $50 to get out of jail.

[nilsbloodaxe]

Yeah, I self-Abyssed into an ancient lich and some other nasties with an AK once. Thankfully, I survived.

[Sar]

It seems like I am wrong then, sorry.

[WalkerBoh]

I just wanted to point out that using Corruption and then instantly using bend space to get away from the neutral enemies is a pretty good combo (assuming your positioning is such that the random blink won't potentially screw you).

[Lasty]

Is there any chance that Bend Space will injure the neighboring Corruption monsters, potentially causing them to go hostile?

[rockygargoyle]

Is there any chance that Bend Space will injure the neighboring Corruption monsters, potentially causing them to go hostile?

Just tried it on Wiz Mode, yes, if it damages neutrals created by corruption they will turn hostile.

[dck]

(and they will be immediately destroyed by their old neutral buddies)

[and into]

You can almost always get out of your post-corruption area without much harm. At worst, you'll have to kill a (once-)neutral demon or two in order to make your way to safety, or maybe use a consumable. But usually you can just hit ... and walk away, taking a few incidental hits as the neutrals stagger into you. Once you are away you hit 5 a few times and like three-fourths of the enemies on that whole side of the level are gone.