Class Rankings

[Baldurino]

I think it would be cool to get an idea of how people rank playstyles. Anyway list your top and bottom 3 classes and your reason why:

Top 3
Wizard - Strong beginning, mid, and end game. Has the tools to eventually take on ziggurates, the ultimate test of power. For when I want to (try) crush the game
Transmuter - For crushing the game, but having fun with crazy transformations. Runs out of steam at ziggs.
Beserker - So smooth and easy (if crawl can ever be easy). Turn on your favourite music and just have fun

Bottom 3
Priest of Beogh - Managing the orcs is so annoying. They eat up your experience and then die.
Priest of Zin - For me zin just sucks. Just a way to train invoc to eventually switch to TSO. But if I'm going to do that Elyvilon is the better option.
Venom Mage - Sure they are pretty good early on but having to switch away from poisen spells seems like a waste to me.

[XrBob]

I know this isn't an advice thread, but can I ask how ice elementalist works? The difficulty I have is that there is no good form of crowd control or escape. Air can run away with swiftness, otherwise no mephitic or even conjure flame. When I first run into ogres or orc priests who smite me all the time it gets tricky, undead like wights are particularly troublesome.

[KoboldLord]

Ice elementalist crowd control is Throw Icicle. Dead monsters will stop pursuing you. Throw Icicle is also the major nuke early on, the staple popgun later, and the go-to solution for cold-resistant or even cold-immune enemies. Eventually Freezing Cloud can be used to kite everything in the room at once, until that's more cost-effective you just Throw Icicle everything to death.

Back on topic, approximate class rankings go about like so:

Does the background start with a spellbook? If so, +2 points.

Does the background start with a way to kill things without standing next to them? If so, +2 points.

Does the background start with a deity? If Trog, +2 points. If Elyvilon, Yred, Lugonu, or Makhleb, +1 points. No credit for Zin, TSO, or Xom.

Higher point values are better.

The biggest impact on the early game is if you can get rid of early threats like snakes, ogres, or melee uniques without letting them hit you back. Against centaurs, orc priests, or ranged uniques, a ranged background is at no additional disadvantage. Later on, as threats become more versatile, a pre-existing bag of tricks to deal with them becomes progressively more important, and a character who has to train new tricks from scratch is at a huge disadvantage. Spellcasting is the best such bag of tricks because it gets better and better as you find more books, but piety with an early-game deity will work too.

[Baldurino]

What about escape options like meph cloud, swiftness and maybe passwall? Do you get more points for these?

Why do you rank Elyvilon, Yred, Lugonu, and Makhleb the same? Surely Makhleb is better than the rest of those, and lugonu the worst. I thought classical theory dictates that Makhleb>yred=Elyvilon>Lugonu

[KoboldLord]

It's an integer scale, so fractions are dropped. Lugonu might not be quite as good as Makhleb, but she still provides a reliable escape ability and a ranged instakill. Likewise, the presence of Mephitic Cloud in your starting spellbook means it doesn't also have Berserk Rage or Throw Icicle, so while some spellcasters are slightly better than others they all still get to link hands as approximate equals when they're making fun of the fighter and the monk.

[mrbobbyg]

1. crusader- the most powerful class ever imo. Spellbook, and a decent weapon? Berserk Rage at level 5 or so? I have only ascended once, with a crusader, but I have lost many in Zigs and Pan with the orb chamber clear.
2. I do want to give some love to HoPr. Sure, allies are a pain, but once you get 3 warlords and a sorcerer, the game gets pretty smooth. Also, you always have a TON of exp to dance with. Beogh's wrath isn't so bad, so by the time you get a good set of gear, high invocations, and haste castable, you are a prime candidate for The Shining One's crusade against the endgame!

[shock]

Favorite:
1. Conjurer (Ice) - Blasting things is cool. Mephitic Cloud makes your life easy. I always try to get Ozocubu's Refrigeration later, which is silly fun.
2. Crusader - This hybrid class is very flexibile. Charms offer great utility, and Berserk is really powerful. High Fighting means you aren't fragile.
3. Transmuter - Evaporate saves you early on, and Blade Hands lets you bring the pain later.
4. Earth Elementalist - With recent buffs, this is finally viable! It's a great way to rapidly deconstruct some free time.
5. Enchanter - Who would have thought stabbing everything in sight could be so rewarding?

Least favorite:
1. Fighter - Boring. Smashing things is only fun for about an hour.
2. Artificer - I die right away every time.
3. Berserker - Too easy.

[Grimm]

while some spellcasters are slightly better than others they all still get to link hands as approximate equals when they're making fun of the fighter and the monk.

This will be a major scene in Crawl: The Movie (filmed in Machinimavision).

[DemiFiend]

Venom Mage - Sure they are pretty good early on but having to switch away from poisen spells seems like a waste to me.

I used to think this, but VMs make early-game an absolute breeze, which is really convenient. Though poison magic is mostly useless later on, it's still surprisingly powerful in mid game, and Poison Arrow still poisons poison-resistant monsters, and can red-poison enemies. Even undead and demons, which are truly poison-immune, still take a good chunk of damage.

I know this isn't an advice thread, but can I ask how ice elementalist works? The difficulty I have is that there is no good form of crowd control or escape. Air can run away with swiftness, otherwise no mephitic or even conjure flame. When I first run into ogres or orc priests who smite me all the time it gets tricky, undead like wights are particularly troublesome.

IEs lack in crowd control and escape options early, true. However, don't forget about Ozocubo's Armor, Throw Icicle against far foes, and Freeze up close. You have a definite edge against any cold-blooded monsters like snakes, frogs, and such. Freezing Cloud is pretty good crowd control, though. There's also Ozocubo's Refrigeration later on, which damages everything within line of sight.