Advice on final stage for 3/4 rune game

[Seb Holdfast]

Hi. I'm after advice on how to survive the final stage. I'm on Zot:5, close to the central chamber, and I'm hoping to get the rune of Zot and ascend. Been playing for a month or so. What an amazing game!! This is my first post, so be gentle with the advice!

PLB the Conqueror (Minotaur Berserker) Turns: 78657, Time: 07:44:17

HP 273/273 AC 64 Str 31 XL: 27
MP 10/10 EV 28 Int 5 God: Trog [*****.]
Gold 4008 SH 35 Dex 24 Spells: 0 memorised, 26 levels left

rFire + + . SeeInvis . g - +9 eveningstar (protect)
rCold . . . Clarity + T - +8 orange crystal plate armour {Archmagi, Int+3 Clar SustAb}
rNeg . . . rCorr . n - +8 large shield
rPois . rRot . (helmet unavailable)
rElec . Spirit . m - +4 dragonskin cloak
SustAb + Warding . F - +3 pair of gauntlets of War {Slay+5}
rMut + Stasis . H - +2 pair of boots "Croalic" {Str+2 Dex+4}
Gourm . j - amulet of resist mutation
MR ++... q - ring of Robustness {AC+8}
p - ring "Tooliruo" {rF+ Str+3 Dex+1}

@: very resistant to hostile enchantments, extremely unstealthy
A: retaliatory headbutt, hooves 1, horns 3, repulsion field 1, iridescent scales
1, deformed body, dopey 1, fire resistance 1, mutation resistance 1, slow
healing 1
a: Burn Spellbooks, Berserk, Trog's Hand, Brothers in Arms, Renounce Religion
}: 4/15 runes: serpentine, barnacled, slimy, silver


You are on level 5 of the Realm of Zot.
You worship Trog.
Trog is extremely pleased with you.
You are full.

You have visited 11 branches of the dungeon, and seen 62 of its levels.
You have visited the Abyss 1 time.
You have also visited: Trove, Ossuary, Bailey, Ice Cave, Volcano and Wizlab.

You have collected 11774 gold pieces.
You have spent 7766 gold pieces at shops.

Inventory:

Hand weapons
g - a +9 eveningstar of protection (weapon)
A - the +7 hand crossbow "Fonguy" {flame, rC++ Stlth+}
(Trog gifted it to you on level 7 of the Lair of Beasts)

It turns projectiles fired from it into bolts of flame.

It greatly protects you from cold.
It makes you more stealthy.
W - a +6 demon whip of electrocution


Magical devices
s - a wand of digging (10)
z - a wand of hasting (7)
M - a wand of digging {zapped: 5}
S - a wand of teleportation (3)
U - a wand of disintegration (13)
Comestibles
c - 23 bread rations
v - 24 meat rations
Scrolls
e - 24 scrolls of remove curse
f - 6 scrolls of recharging
k - 2 scrolls of summoning
r - 3 scrolls of blinking
t - 16 scrolls of teleportation
u - 8 scrolls of fear
D - 2 scrolls of silence
E - 2 scrolls of magic mapping
O - 11 scrolls of fog
X - 3 scrolls of identify
Jewellery
j - an amulet of resist mutation (around neck)
p - the ring "Tooliruo" (left hand) {rF+ Str+3 Dex+1}
(You found it on level 3 of the Elven Halls)

Thank you in advance.

[daggaz]

Gonna go out on a limb here and say that the demonwhip is going to outdamage your eveningstar, especially if you boost it to +9. Elec is a sweet brand, especially on such a fast weapon, and demon whips are pretty decent base damage for their speed. Your AC is stupid high at any rate, you wont lose anything by rebranding your eveningstar to something with damage at the least, assuming you find a scroll.

[stickyfingers]

Yeah, with elec, slaying and headbutt the dwhip will be much better

[daggaz]

How have the OOFs been so far? Only one pip of rF but I guess you aren't too bothered if you got this far?

[Seb Holdfast]

Thank you for the quick replies. I bit the bullet, grabbed the Orb and then legged it. Ascension much easier than I thought. Just hasted and ran. My first win!
A few observations after playing MiBe a few hundred times:
I love the shield and one handed weapon combo.
I tried axes loads of times, but always ended up getting smashed in Vaults or Depths.
Maces seems best as you have morning star, evening star and demon whip.
Hand crossbow really good for ranged attacks. Great in the slime pits.
Overall, having big AC, EV and SH made it much much easier than previous attempts. No surprise there!!

What should it try next??!!

[Seb Holdfast]

The OOFs were fine. I got them one at a time (about 5-6 in total), and they hardly touched me. rMut helped of course, and just loads of AC, EV and SH kept the damage off.

[nago]

Please note SH does nothing against OoF's attacks, EV is useful only against one of its two damaging attack while lots of AC is useful against both.

[xentronium]

What should it try next??!!

If you want to have fun, play a DsCK! If you want to win, try a Vs or Gr.

[Seb Holdfast]

Ok thanks for the advice. I will try Gr.

What more do I need to do on my 3 rune character to have a chance for the 15 runes?

[MrRokkomies]

Thank you for the quick replies. I bit the bullet, grabbed the Orb and then legged it. Ascension much easier than I thought. Just hasted and ran. My first win!
A few observations after playing MiBe a few hundred times:
I love the shield and one handed weapon combo.
I tried axes loads of times, but always ended up getting smashed in Vaults or Depths.
Maces seems best as you have morning star, evening star and demon whip.
Hand crossbow really good for ranged attacks. Great in the slime pits.
Overall, having big AC, EV and SH made it much much easier than previous attempts. No surprise there!!

What should it try next??!!

How was a Hand Crossbow useful in slime? Slimes consume bolts, so if you do not instantly kill them or miss, they will eat your ammo and heal them selves.

[mopl]

Also use [code] tags next time for your dump, it will be much easier to read

[ololoev]

I tried axes loads of times, but always ended up getting smashed in Vaults or Depths.

I used 2H axes on my 1st 15-rune win: it was DsDK with Yred -> Makhleb switch for late and extended. I was lucky to find vamp battleaxe somewhere in orcs (iirc) and it helped a lot with it's huge healing (becaue of cleaving). Later Makhleb did the same for me and all that hells and pans was just a cakewalk. I was happy when I fight with something cerebov-like and some fiends come to help him because it is a free healing. Makh healed ~20 HP per fiend and a little smaller for tier-2 demons and other trash.