List your favourite builds


Ask fellow adventurers how to stay alive in the deep, dark, dangerous dungeon below, or share your own accumulated wisdom.

Snake Sneak

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Post Saturday, 3rd March 2012, 19:40

Re: List your favourite builds

Alright the most fun I have EVER had in crawl is the following start:

OgAM.

This is a VERY powerful but high-maintanence start if you play it optimally -- and the optimal strategy is not very obvious. I think this may be the third most realiable ogre start behind Berserker or Wizard, or obviously any melee start that instantly picks trog when they find an altar.

The strong play I describe involves full hexes + throwing all the way through lair. Hint: Inner got-damn Flame is a massively godly skill.

Shoals Surfer

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Post Tuesday, 6th March 2012, 15:49

Re: List your favourite builds

Night2o1 wrote:Alright the most fun I have EVER had in crawl is the following start:

OgAM.

This is a VERY powerful but high-maintanence start if you play it optimally -- and the optimal strategy is not very obvious. I think this may be the third most realiable ogre start behind Berserker or Wizard, or obviously any melee start that instantly picks trog when they find an altar.

The strong play I describe involves full hexes + throwing all the way through lair. Hint: Inner got-damn Flame is a massively godly skill.

....so what do you do when an innerflamed mob is right next to you?
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Spider Stomper

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Post Thursday, 8th March 2012, 04:15

Re: List your favourite builds

Yet Another Stupid Noob wrote:....so what do you do when an innerflamed mob is right next to you?

You die...

NaWz or MuWz of Ashenzari depends a lot on luck, but it effectively allows you to ignore a lot of the game (invisible/poison or poison/torment, plus the fact that you don't have to ID anything).
"It's lucky to be smart, but smarter to be lucky."
- sirlaser the Eclecticist (Human Wanderer), worshipper of Ashenzari

Ziggurat Zagger

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Post Sunday, 11th March 2012, 19:38

Re: List your favourite builds

....so what do you do when an innerflamed mob is right next to you?


1) Enslave and then ta/tw.
2) Slow and move back.
3) Blink
4) Teleport


Options 1) and 2) are available early and don't consume anything, 3) works well once you have the spell, and 4) is better than dying in emergencies.

Ziggurat Zagger

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Post Sunday, 11th March 2012, 20:02

Re: List your favourite builds

Cause fear (which is the best spell in the AM book anyway)

Temple Termagant

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Post Thursday, 22nd March 2012, 11:31

Re: List your favourite builds

I'm just testing a Merfolk Transmuter of Okawaru.

Blade Hands or even just Beastly Appendage coupled with Heroism is something like "omfg killing slicing war machine god mod" so far. :mrgreen:
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Halls Hopper

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Post Saturday, 24th March 2012, 19:01

Re: List your favourite builds

VpHu, chucking javelins.

I dunno, I'm liking em so far.

Vaults Vanquisher

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Post Tuesday, 3rd April 2012, 10:59

Re: List your favourite builds

High Elf Conjurer, baby! Melee and Spellcaster hybrid as close to 50-50 as I can manage.

And I think up stories and roleplays for my characters as I play them, too, so I have this image of a spunky, tomboyish, cheerful elf girl ducking out of the way of attacks and sending off massive fireballs and Destructo-Orbs at her attackers, or trading sword blows against them, or engaged in heated combat against Nikola or Nessos or Sonja or Rupert or Maud or Erica or Louise as they trade blows and spells, or occasionally warping in a battalion of Ugly Things as she and her new friends decimate an army of Orcs ala Pikmin Meets 300, finally settling down as she affectionately pats the deformed head of one of them and congratulates it and it gargles happily in returned appreciation. ^_^

So I guess HECj is my favorite just because I've mentally evolved an entire personality and backstory for my character. :) Has anyone heard of the Diary Of A Crawler project on the wiki? This is my kind of thing. I TOTALLY wish to do one for my elf girlie here. :3 But I want to win a game first, and although I've gone ALL the way to Zot:5 before dying, I have yet to score a win. It'll happen, though! It will!

EDIT: Oh I forgot to mention my preferred deity. HECj of Ashenzari, SOMETIMES Nemelex or Jivya.
--Schwa, your local muse forever and long-time High Elf fangirl ^_~
(also the master of Quadri-Birds)

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cjo

Spider Stomper

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Post Saturday, 7th April 2012, 02:57

Re: List your favourite builds

My go-to combo when I am feeling discouraged is vampire stalker of kiku.

These guys initially can't sneak up on too much, but it's fun when they can. So I one-shot stab things when it's possible, muddle through most of the "regular" fights with dagger or short blade, and use evaporate to swing the tough fights. Bat form provides a powerful escape method, especially if you don't try to distill and lug around every single possible potion. Because a lot of the "regular" fights go slowly, this combo does't FEEL hugely powerful at low levels, but with evaporate and bat form, it's really really hard to kill. Being a vampire gives a nice bonus to the evaporate spell in that you can use it on your bottles of blood in a pinch.

Then when I get Kiku, I blow off the rest of my starting spell book in favor of necromancy. I may or may not go back to it depending on what other spell books I find. I raise necromancy, short blades, stealth, stabbing, and do a little of everything. When I use Kiku's delivery service, I raise the tough stuff and distill or drink the weak ones. I like to take raise skeleton as well as animate dead because I can raise the skeletons of corpses which I drain.

My backup deity is Ash, if for some reason I can't get Kiku or want a change.

I don't know if it's optimal, but it's fun. If all else fails, at least I know I haven't left a nasty ghost!

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Temple Termagant

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Post Wednesday, 11th April 2012, 19:29

Re: List your favourite builds

My current favorite build is Minotaur Berserker. I consider myself a casual Crawler and I don't like micromanagement all that much so I'm mostly TAB-bing my characters down the levels. Minotaurs like heavy armours and big weapons and Trogs gifts help very much with the latter. Last game took me to XL 17 which is the farthest I've made it so far and I really like the retaliation attack that I think is new since v0.10.0 but I could be wrong. Among the first weapons I got from Trog was a +0/+9 Glaive of Venom and another highly enchanted polearm of antimagic which I can't recall exactly. Being surprised by the success of that character I didn't know where to go next and died by some ranged attacks of a centaur warrior on DL 22 without having explored much of the side branches except of Lair which I cleared (if one can call levels cleared when there is a mechanic called random monster spawning). I didn't have to use Berserker much and my only issues I had were when I got hungry to nearly starving and had to wait out Nausea to be able to eat again while having to care about rotting corpses in my inventory.

Ziggurat Zagger

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Post Wednesday, 11th April 2012, 19:46

Re: List your favourite builds

Hint: once you hit Nearly Starving, you can eat even with Nausea.

Ziggurat Zagger

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Post Wednesday, 11th April 2012, 20:23

Re: List your favourite builds

Yes but that usually makes you Sick, which begins to be dangerous.
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Lair Larrikin

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Post Saturday, 4th August 2012, 20:38

Re: List your favourite builds

I agree with many of the favorites listed here. Certainly you can't go wrong with Naga worshipping Cheiro (Chiro?).

My faves are :
Spriggan Assassin worshiping Ashenzari or Okarawu
Spriggan Assassins--or almost any race and any warrior class--worshiping Nemelex Xobeh, who is the most powerful god in the game
Tengu Air Elementalist worshiping Vehumet
Ogre Death Knight or else a Hunter worshiping Yrel
Troll Hunter or Beserker, always Trog
Mummy Necromancer worshiping Ashenzari or Kiku
Deep Elf spellcaster (practically any) worshiping Vehumet
Demonspawn Necromancer, Artificer, Fighter, Gladiator, Beserker, Warrior-Mage or Summoner worshiping Mahkleb, Trog, Ashenzari, or Yrel

In Crawl, worship should be spelled war ship, since religion is based purely upon military effectiveness.
I have such good outcomes with Nemelex Xobeh that I am convinced he is overpowered, and I no longer worship him because such games are easy and trifling to win with just about any race with moderate to superior Evocations ability. Deep Dwarves should try NX out for size, no pun intended. His wonderful cards require some care, as there are tricks and traps for the unwary, but with experience one learns how to use them as a more powerful and easily replenished alternative to spells. Nemelex is easy to satisfy and lavish with gifts of very great power.
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Pandemonium Purger

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Post Saturday, 4th August 2012, 21:16

Re: List your favourite builds

Troll Transmuter of Cheibriados was a pretty fun combo, dunno about others. (Ogres are pretty fun with the exact same combo too.)
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Swamp Slogger

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Post Monday, 6th August 2012, 07:32

Re: List your favourite builds

I think a Hill Orc Gladiator is a relatively newb friendly start. Hill orcs have excellent god choice, Okawaru, Yredemnul, or Mahkleb are strong ones. And the gladiator itself has throwing nets which are a strong escape item. Ideally you'd take axes at the start and just beat everything to death and netting whenever you need to run.

There's also Hill Orc Priest if you wanna be predictable, though I think Mahkleb is better than Beogh.


With respect to Felids, I think two things should be kept in mind. The fact that ranged enemies will regularily kill you and they have a -40% hp penalty. I personally would rather stay outta melee, so a caster build (Wizard, Air elementalist, Fire Elementalist, etc.) Would be a good choice. Follow vehumet, decide at the start what element you'll specialize in, and with some luck youll make it to midgame. And cast deflect missiles and haste before going downstairs.
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Dungeon Dilettante

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Post Sunday, 19th August 2012, 16:34

Re: List your favourite builds

Relatively new to the game (only crawled a few times before .10), and my first win came with a Deep Dwarf Healer (DDHe?). Put on the heaviest armor and the biggest shield you can find, sling, axe, or wand the beasties you can't pacify, and let Elyvilon take care of whatever disasters you land yourself in and can't quite run away from. I don't know if this build has any potential for high rune wins, since spamming greater self-heal in the Hells can drain your piety pretty quickly and there aren't as many yaks to replenish it with. I've considered trying for more runes by switching to the Shining One at that point, saying to hell with my magic pool and just perpetually recharging my healing wand. Usually by that point I have a pretty sweet axe and maybe even +Rage. Any thoughts?

Ziggurat Zagger

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Post Sunday, 19th August 2012, 17:36

Re: List your favourite builds

DDHe is exceptionally easy and yes you probably want to switch to TSO for extended.
HOHe is pretty similarly easy, slightly worse for really low turncounts (no recharging) but dramatically less annoying and similar in gameplay.

Spider Stomper

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Post Friday, 12th October 2012, 07:02

Re: List your favourite builds

Switching favorites every feew weeks, but these are my current ones (playing mostly Trunk and sometimes 0.11)
1. KoBe (switchin from SB to LB or start as KoFi for Shield/Armour/Weapon choice)
2. MfBe/MfDK (Polearms)
3. SpEn/SpAs of Ashenzari
4. VpWz (going VpSu of Sif Muna)
5. HOPr (still waiting for the max # of followers reform, else HoPr woulda been #1)

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Dungeon Dilettante

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Post Thursday, 18th October 2012, 02:03

Re: List your favourite builds

My favorite builds:

Minotuar Fighter of Okawaru
Kobold Berserker
Halfling Berserker
Merfolk Gladiator of Okawaru
Draconian Monk of Makhleb
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Eringya's Employee

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Post Thursday, 18th October 2012, 06:02

Re: List your favourite builds

I've already posted here when I was a new player and um... Some people (namely, Konebred and I guess Herode2) made fun of me for putting up a list with too many combos (it's on page two), which I found (and still find) quite uncalled for... Definitely not a good example for the community. After all the title of this thread is "builds", not "build".

Anyway. After having played for a year and a month or so and having 11 wins under my belt, I can still say I pretty much enjoy trying all the different combos, with a preference to melee and archers (most of the times no spells, although I've played a hybrid HEWz once who was blowing stuff up with Mystic Blast AND hacking them apart with a long sword, which was very fun to be honest. I ought to win a character like that, Like SchwaWarrior's Cj of Ash, perhaps, I love Ash).

Here's a new list; Not very specific but you get the point.

When I want to steamroll shit and have high chances of winning the run, I try the Tr/Mf/Mi/HO spell-less tabfest.
When I want to have a fun challenge and extra points for coolness in case of a win, I play CKs (and sometimes even join Xom on other starting backgrounds... :P ).
When I want to try something unusual for my taste, I play casters.
When I want to lose an otherwise great character, I worship Chei. :P
When I feel masochistic I guess, I play Mummy Fighters. I love their lack of a food clock (but to be honest, I've never ever ran out of rations in all my runs, extended or not, so I really doubt if the lack of a food clock is really worth having all those crappy aptitudes...), but since playing casters isn't really my thing I don't have a win with a Mummy yet. They're rough in the early game and can die in a heartbeat if you're reckless.

Spriggans and Felids are way too fragile for my tastes and I end up dying around Vaults depth in most cases with them. I've only really gotten that far with them as a Berserker though, tbh. I'm sure they're much better as something more spell-inclined.
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Slime Squisher

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Post Friday, 19th October 2012, 00:51

Re: List your favourite builds

Hey TehDruid, sorry for the misunderstanding. I wasn't sure what you were talking about and went back to re-read my posts and saw how my nooby noob post could be misconstrued. I was referring to myself as the noob. Sorry about that! I have tons of favorite combos too and I post silly stuff all the time. I like this community a lot so I hope there are no hard feelings. Have a great weekend!
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Swamp Slogger

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Post Monday, 22nd October 2012, 02:11

Re: List your favourite builds

Kobold Stalkers where my favorite start before Trunk removed them.

And Surprisingly I did very well with a Felid Warper if I played it like a stabber with early escape options via Blink and Teleport Other.

I'm also a big fan of Tengu and Draconian Monks.
"Crawl is cruel. But we keep coming back to it like an abusive boyfriend. It keeps telling us how it will be different this time by giving us early robes of the archmagi and staves of fire. Then it backhands you with a Centaur on D4." ~Me

Vaults Vanquisher

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Post Monday, 29th October 2012, 03:35

Re: List your favourite builds

I have a new-ish favorite that I enjoy just as much as HECj. Tengu Monks, preferably of Yredumul, my favorite is with Lungou but I hardly ever get to, and occasionally I go with Okawaru or even Xom seldomly (if I get a Xom altar early as well as useful loot, like a Ring of Regeneration).

Tengu are pretty frail for a melee class, yes, but I like their aptitudes and I really like their flight ability and their claws. Everything about them is just cozy, aside from their frailness; as long as I'm cautious when fighting beefy foes in melee like Hill Giants, I'm usually okay.

My favorite TeMo games have been the ones where I get good Javelins or Slings and can three-shot Hill Giants or Hydras from across the screen with them. :D I had one where I had a +4+7 Great Mace of Protection and I one-shotted over one-hundred Orcs in the Mines one after another, which was WILD for me; I now know why people are so drawn to Minotaurs or Trolls. That character died in the Abyss though when a Lich popped out of nowhere and summoned a Brimstone Fiend and a Blizzard Demon on either side of me; couldn't outlast 'em while I was waiting for Teleport to kick in. :cry:

I honestly prefer one-handed weapons and shields as opposed to two-handed weapons; the thought of having nothing between me and attacks is scary, which is why I like Yredumul more than Okawaru when I play this build, hiding behind zombies or fighting alongside them.

There are still things I'm getting used to though. Having +1 in every weapon aptitude ever makes it daunting to pick just one. Do I go Staves and try for a Latajang later? Or go with this excellent randart Dire Flail and train up M&F? Or settle for this War Axe of Pain and this good shield for the whole game without switching to a bigger, two-handed axe? Ahhh why can't I have a whole harem of weapons to love!? :lol:

Anyway it's good stuff. ^^ That and as a Tengu with +3 Air Magic, I can sometimes get Mephitic Cloud, Repel Missiles, Swiftness and possibly Airstrike for spell support along with my melee fighting, which is nice.
--Schwa, your local muse forever and long-time High Elf fangirl ^_~
(also the master of Quadri-Birds)

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Cocytus Succeeder

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Post Monday, 29th October 2012, 13:51

Re: List your favourite builds

SchwaWarrior wrote:the thought of having nothing between me and attacks is scary, which is why I like Yredumul more than Okawaru when I play this build, hiding behind zombies or fighting alongside them.
Melee characters agree with that thought: they put golden dragon or crystal plate between themselves and attacks. I once ate Cerebov's fire storm and took... 1 damage. Exhilaration was swimming in my blood when I noticed that.

SchwaWarrior wrote:Ahhh why can't I have a whole harem of weapons to love!? :lol:
But you can! Just... not early on - by extended and certainly by Zig you'll have all the weapons to love!


I have boiled down the various DCSS solutions into 7 playstyles: melee, (missile) ranged, stabber, debuffer (hexes, needles and nets), blaster, commander (summons and necromancy) and psychic mind reformatter (healer). No seriously, 'pacify' is really 'reformat a monster to be neutral alliegance, suddenly making it hostile to all its former comrades'. "Tactical pacifism" is great fun. Anyway, most lategame characters master more than one style, e.g. En is mainly a stabber/debuffer.

Setting foot in the 0.11 tournament with minimal experience of console and not a lot of time to invest, I found myself gravitating towards ye olde Bread & Butter: MiBe. It's deceptive that a Be can easily do 3 styles (melee/ranged/commander) with wands/rods giving easy access to 'faking a blaster'. The melee/ranged dual style also makes me appreciate the randart loot I find in the dungeon a lot more than casters (loving the removal of ammo enchantments in 0.11).

Mind, once this MiBe run ends (by death or win) I'm going to tap my other Bread & Butters: DEWz, MfGl and SETm.

Vaults Vanquisher

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Post Tuesday, 30th October 2012, 00:10

Re: List your favourite builds

Psieye wrote:Melee characters agree with that thought: they put golden dragon or crystal plate between themselves and attacks. I once ate Cerebov's fire storm and took... 1 damage. Exhilaration was swimming in my blood when I noticed that.

._. Geez. I'll probably begin to revere you when I have my first encounter ever with Cerebov and discover for myself what treachery I'm in for.

On the subject of heavier armor, I've noticed that ever since my Tengu Monks have started using Chain Mail early-game and put as many points into STR as possible, I've died pre-Lair less often. Sad thing is I want to be able to cast Repel Missiles and Swiftness when I find them... Maybe I'll have to save training for that for the late game and make do without a hybrid style of play earlier.

Psieye wrote:But you can! Just... not early on - by extended and certainly by Zig you'll have all the weapons to love!

Unless I be facetious and spam Tukima's Dance just to complete the metaphor... :P

Psieye wrote:I have boiled down the various DCSS solutions into 7 playstyles: melee, (missile) ranged, stabber, debuffer (hexes, needles and nets), blaster, commander (summons and necromancy) and psychic mind reformatter (healer). No seriously, 'pacify' is really 'reformat a monster to be neutral alliegance, suddenly making it hostile to all its former comrades'. "Tactical pacifism" is great fun. Anyway, most lategame characters master more than one style, e.g. En is mainly a stabber/debuffer.

Out of these I think the Commander is the most fun, while the Blaster (mage) is the one I'm best at. Sometimes I play Hill Orc Priest just for a change of pace, because I enjoy leading an army into the heart of Mordor to slay the evil jabberwocky and then afterward we all party get drunk on mead and pass out :D

Psieye wrote:Mind, once this MiBe run ends (by death or win) I'm going to tap my other Bread & Butters: DEWz, MfGl and SETm.

Then after those you should totally do High Elf Conjurer! :mrgreen: I'd be kinda curious to hear about how it went and how it'd be different from my past games.
--Schwa, your local muse forever and long-time High Elf fangirl ^_~
(also the master of Quadri-Birds)

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Post Tuesday, 30th October 2012, 02:58

Re: List your favourite builds

SchwaWarrior wrote: to slay the evil jabberwocky

I'm rather offended by that statement. Besides, Mordor isn't even footpath accessible.
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Post Tuesday, 30th October 2012, 09:34

Re: List your favourite builds

SchwaWarrior wrote:On the subject of heavier armor, I've noticed that ever since my Tengu Monks have started using Chain Mail early-game and put as many points into STR as possible, I've died pre-Lair less often. Sad thing is I want to be able to cast Repel Missiles and Swiftness when I find them... Maybe I'll have to save training for that for the late game and make do without a hybrid style of play earlier.
Only if you don't find a steam/mottled dragon hide. They are the go-to caster armour if you actually want AC.

SchwaWarrior wrote:
Psieye wrote:But you can! Just... not early on - by extended and certainly by Zig you'll have all the weapons to love!

Unless I be facetious and spam Tukima's Dance just to complete the metaphor... :P
Aye, it's annoying that it's not possible with both Okawaru and Trog. Okawaru even counts living weapons as allies. I guess that's what Ash is for: so you know what all the good weapons are in advance (I love the new weapon ID-by-skill mechanic, I just need Ash to tell me the weapon is uncursed to ID it without cursing my own weapon).

SchwaWarrior wrote:
Psieye wrote:Mind, once this MiBe run ends (by death or win) I'm going to tap my other Bread & Butters: DEWz, MfGl and SETm.

Then after those you should totally do High Elf Conjurer! :mrgreen: I'd be kinda curious to hear about how it went and how it'd be different from my past games.
In offline trunk tiles, i.e. I'm not doing that under tournament pressure. I'll be too short on time to go through all my Bread & Butters anyway.

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Post Thursday, 1st November 2012, 09:09

Re: List your favourite builds

Jabberwocky wrote:I'm rather offended by that statement.

what what oh my god I'm so sorry I'm sorry ah ah I didn't aaggghhh ;__;

Psieye wrote:Only if you don't find a steam/mottled dragon hide. They are the go-to caster armour if you actually want AC.

I prefer Trollhide, especially when I can pair it with a Ring of Regeneration or a fast-healing mutation or both. :) Watching my HP recover faster than my MP is kinda funny and satisfying.

Psieye wrote:Aye, it's annoying that it's not possible with both Okawaru and Trog. Okawaru even counts living weapons as allies. I guess that's what Ash is for: so you know what all the good weapons are in advance.

Even if the only ability Ash gave was to see enemies through walls, I'd still play him. I still feel so lost and afraid when I play melee Okawaru characters now and I don't know what's behind the door ;.;

Psieye wrote:In offline trunk tiles, i.e. I'm not doing that under tournament pressure. I'll be too short on time to go through all my Bread & Butters anyway.

Well then I wish you luck in the rest of the tournament! :)

An hour ago I finally beat the game with Tengu Monk. 10 Runes. Two in the Hells, three in Pandemonium, 18 floors of a Ziggaurat included for extra Great Justice! I was worried too because I had never used The Shining One before, but thankfully he's actually pretty easy to play-- since he limits a lot of stuff you can do, it's more clear what methods you'll be sticking with. For example, after switching I could put down all my Curare needles and all my Poisoned Javelins and break out the Silver ones I had. Made things simpler. ^^ Being unable to turn Invisible was the most annoying thing. Anyway I'll have the story written up in a couple days. My poor brain is fried from such a long and eventful game that was and I need time to rest it x.x
--Schwa, your local muse forever and long-time High Elf fangirl ^_~
(also the master of Quadri-Birds)

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Post Sunday, 4th November 2012, 17:02

Re: List your favourite builds

Konebred wrote:Hey TehDruid, sorry for the misunderstanding. I wasn't sure what you were talking about and went back to re-read my posts and saw how my nooby noob post could be misconstrued. I was referring to myself as the noob. Sorry about that! I have tons of favorite combos too and I post silly stuff all the time. I like this community a lot so I hope there are no hard feelings. Have a great weekend!

A misunderstanding, it's fine. :) You have a great time too!
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Post Tuesday, 6th November 2012, 18:39

Re: List your favourite builds

I really do love playing as High Elf Arcane Marksman of Okawaru or Makleb. IMO it's an easy and good build.
"Well excuse me, princess..."

Abyss Ambulator

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Post Thursday, 8th November 2012, 21:11

Re: List your favourite builds

I cant stop playing kobold assassins. Sneak around darting uniques with curare in the beginning, evolve into a spell slinging melee nightmare who doesn't afraid of much anything by the end game. And food clock be damned. Kind of tricky to find a good brand sometimes tho, that can be a real drag.
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Halls Hopper

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Post Tuesday, 20th November 2012, 20:46

Re: List your favourite builds

TehDruid wrote:I've already posted here when I was a new player and um... Some people (namely, *** and I guess Herode2) made fun of me for putting up a list with too many combos (it's on page two), [snip]

It's been a long time since I've been reading this thread, so I'm answering with some delay. The post you're talking about is a year old or so. I was playing my very first games on Crawl, and reading my very first posts on the forum, so I didn't even imagine what cryptic words like "MiFi" or "KoBe" could mean. My post only meant : "hey guys, I'm a noob and I don't understand a single world here. What the hell are you talking about ?". No offense intended against anybody, of course. ;)

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Swamp Slogger

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Post Thursday, 20th December 2012, 08:44

Re: List your favourite builds

2 and a half years ago, when I first found this game I read through all of the Race and class summaries before actually playing a single game.
I remember really liking the idea of Transmuters.

I'm not very good at the game as I only have 2 wins, but one of them was a NaMk of Chei. Played it like a Transmuter though.
It was a lot of fun. Having 30+ in each stat and utilizing every single one of those points is awesome.

Swamp Slogger

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Post Friday, 21st December 2012, 17:26

Re: List your favourite builds

Spriggan Assassin - I've never won (becuase I suck and Crawl hates me) but I've gone the farthest with this build
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Vestibule Violator

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Post Saturday, 22nd December 2012, 19:18

Re: List your favourite builds

Ogre Necromancer of Ashenzari. I play as a mostly melee character with spells added as I find them. Animate skeleton lets you eat, you can curse your endgame weapon early (for both hand slots), and the magic skill boosts compensate your aptitudes very nicely to let you grab whatever useful spells you find (Conjurations/Transmutations less advised). Vampiric Draining is excellent since it cannot miss and Ogres are usually missing HP in fights.
Won all race/bg, unwon (online): Nem* Hep Uka
Favourites: 15-rune Trog, OgNe/OgIE/OgSu (usually Ash), Ds, Ru, SpEn, Ce of Chei, Qaz

Ziggurat Zagger

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Post Saturday, 22nd December 2012, 22:13

Re: List your favourite builds

I splatted so many of those before giving up and going with hunters for a while.
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Dungeon Dilettante

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Post Wednesday, 26th December 2012, 07:31

Re: List your favourite builds

MfAK. Find some deep water in the abyss, lure a few abominations close enough to skewer, enter the dungeon at level 9. Of course, 6/10 times a smoke demon will wreck your shit before you can even find any deep water. But goddamn it feels good to be so hilariously overleveled.

Lair Larrikin

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Post Friday, 11th January 2013, 19:34

Re: List your favourite builds

My favorite combination is definitely one I recently discovered.

Hill Orc Fire Elementalist of Okawaru -> TSO

I had been looking for a hybrid I liked. The two standards I always heard about were ice elementalists or necromancers which I just couldn't get into. However, Fire Elementalist I've discovered is actually great for a heavy armor meleer. The damage output is huge.

You start off as a pure caster Fire Elementalist until about the lair. This works great because the reality is, Hill Orcs have comparable aptitudes for fire magic as Deep Elves (+1 fire, +0 conjuration for HO, +1 +1 for DE). You also start with plenty of int, so you can spend most of your stat gains on strength. By the time you've reached the lair, you should have enough Fire/Conjurations/Spellcasting skill to cast Sticky Flame at a high success rate even while wearing heavy armor. So at this point you can switch to heavy armor and whatever weapon you like. I find polearms work best because of Conjure Flame. Conjure Flame is an amazing hybrid spell, especially for a polearm user. If you are fighting in a hallway and cast conjure flame, many monsters just won't walk over it so you can deal free damage over the flame. Stronger monsters will walk across it and stand in the flame. Against these monsters you get a huge amount of damage by

1. They're standing in Conjure Flame*
2. You cast Sticky Flame on them.
3. You're hammering away at them with a heavy weapon while the other two spells tick away

*Even in open field, enemies that ignore Conjure Flame will always take the shortest path to you. So even in a big open space, casting Conjure Flame between you and the target will cause the enemy to just walk right onto it.

So, HOFE has a huge amount of direct damage. But there are other benefits too. You also have great ranged options in Flame Tongue and Fireball that you'll be able to cast in heavy armor as well. This makes hydras effortless because you can take them out from afar, and it also softens up any enemy or groups of enemies that you find like Slime Creatures, orc groups, ugly things, yaktaurs, etc.

HOFE can also transition into late game spells pretty smoothely as well because of all the spellcasting skill you acquire in the early game and all the int you already have. So getting Haste and such online really quickly is no problem.

Love this combination. It's just a heavy meleer with more damage and strong ranged. Definitely one of the strongest/most fun I've found.
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Snake Sneak

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Post Wednesday, 16th January 2013, 16:05

Re: List your favourite builds

I will definitely try this asap!

For the moment here are my favorite builds:

MiMo of Oka -> Ash: I choose monk for the piety boost. Midgame (vaults), when oka have gifted good weapon (vampiric) and I found FDA, I switch to Ash for magic skill boost and learn Haste and other utility spells.
It's my best run ever, I picked the orb but was killed by Panlord in the orb chamber.

DEWz of Vehumet: the classic build, I spam Fireball and wait for Firestorm. The difficulty is to find good spellbooks (or spellbooks at all!) before Vehu starts gifting. I've never been very far with this build, but I like it.

MuWz of Sif: Spam summon ugly thing, channel, spam OrbOf Destruction, channel. I had some runes with it, but never passed vaults
DCSS wins: MiFi3; GrFi3; GrFi5; MiFi15; DECj3; CeHu15; VSFi15; HOBe15; MiBe15; DgFE3; DsBe; HEMo3; NaMo15; FoFi3; GrWn15; DDFi3; MuGl3; DEFE15

Slime Squisher

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Post Thursday, 17th January 2013, 09:24

Re: List your favourite builds

As a newbie I should know better and stick to easy archetypes, but I just love playing weird stuff.

My favourite so far is Octopode Stalker. Fragile as hell, but I find the Octopode's high stealth abilities make it less necessary to resort to Evaporate spam, which means I have more potions to spend in the hard encounters. Also, it's a lot of fun to play a poison-brewing, dagger-wielding octopus.

If all of this nonsense wasn't enough, I try to go for Cheibriados whenever I can. Which leads me to a tangentially related mechanics question: Does being slow hurt your chances at stealth? In other words, when are stealth checks made? Once per action or after a certain number of time units?

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Post Thursday, 17th January 2013, 10:43

Re: List your favourite builds

Steel Neuron wrote:Does being slow hurt your chances at stealth?
No. It's based on number of actions, which is why you don't want to be messing around with swapping weapons or picking things up when you're trying to sneak up on something.

Incidentally, if you want to go Chei, the traditional route is to pick a Na for him.
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Abyss Ambulator

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Post Thursday, 17th January 2013, 13:38

Re: List your favourite builds

Psieye wrote:Incidentally, if you want to go Chei, the traditional route is to pick a Na for him.

traditional != best

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Post Thursday, 17th January 2013, 13:40

Re: List your favourite builds

Blade wrote:
Psieye wrote:Incidentally, if you want to go Chei, the traditional route is to pick a Na for him.

traditional != best

Completely agreed there.
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Tomb Titivator

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Post Friday, 18th January 2013, 02:28

Re: List your favourite builds

spee

iron shot all the dudes, then die from not paying attention :D

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Mines Malingerer

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Post Wednesday, 23rd January 2013, 19:53

Re: List your favourite builds

NaTm!!

Necromut/blade hands depending on what you need for absolute god mode w/ hilariously ridiculous defense numbers (easily reaches between 60-70 AC depending on gear luck and 60 SH) at endgame. Pick Chei, Nemelex, or Kiku first if you can't find a Necronomicon.
TeHe of Jivya - 6 rune
MiFi of TSO - 3 rune
NaTm of Chei - 15 rune

Slime Squisher

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Post Friday, 1st February 2013, 17:39

Re: List your favourite builds

I've been enjoying VpHu lately, mostly because I find the name amusing.

The gameplay is cool too. I like it with Crossbows, high stabbing and stealth, and Evocations or Invocations depending on what god I feel like getting. Hexes of course if I get the right books. I know it's probably a bad combo, but I find it flavourful. I stab what I can, and what I can't, I kite with Bat Form and shower with bolts.

Halls Hopper

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Post Wednesday, 6th February 2013, 19:22

Re: List your favourite builds

I haven't played the game all that much - well, haven't played it well. That being said...

-DeMo of Mak. Besides the name just being silly (Demo...heh. i'm a sucker for Species/Background combinations that make words), This build seems really fun if i can survive to the lair (though i've only made it that far once). Mutations feel really cool; Mak gives ranged attacks (which means options), summons (which means more options) and HP (which means NOT DYING). and once UC gets high enough, i can imagine this combo being a goddamned wrecking ball. If anyone else has played this combo and done well, or has advice on it, let me know, okay?

-HaAK of Lucy. Lucy's once of my favorite gods, even though i'm not sure she's actually that good. She has so many panic buttons. SO MANY. all of which are useful when i invariably find an enemy my short-sword bravo can't handle (and, as a plus - great for clearing out player ghosts with banishment to the abyss!)

-HuPr of Zin. This is...weird, i guess? i've never had much luck with zin; he's too random, drains your gold and is finicky about corpses. But humans let me play the game without having to worry about a niche too much, and zin doesn't care about any skill besides invocations. I think this build is my equivalent of other people's wanderers or chaos knights - RNG for babies.

-SpSt of Kiku. Spriggans are easy, i guess, but this build makes them feel just plain fun. Fulsome distillation and evaporation? anachronistic grenades! +2 dagger and plenty of confused targets? Trench warfare! good sneaking attributes and "subtler" magic? I'M THE GODDAMN BATMAN. This is the build i play whenever i want to get to AT LEAST the lair, while at the same time derping around without a care in the world. I suppose a late-game build for this is to eventually pick up lots of necromancy and go for necromutation, but i've never gotten that far. who cares? GRENADES! BATMAN! WHEEE! definitely the build i have the most fun with.

-TeWz of Vehumet. Of course, some times i just feel like blowing things to pieces, and this lets me do just that. I grab Wizard over Conjurer because A. Vehumet gives the book of conjurations already, and B. the spells in the book of minor magic give me better early-game surviveability while still letting me play a blaster later on in the game. I've heard that new Vehumet is loads of fun - can't wait to try this combination with him. Maybe i'll even switch to TeCj, who knows?
Cheers, luv! The CeFi's here!

Wins: MiFi of Qaz (6 runes)
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Blades Runner

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Post Wednesday, 6th February 2013, 19:32

Re: List your favourite builds

-DeMo of Mak. Besides the name just being silly (Demo...heh. i'm a sucker for Species/Background combinations that make words), This build seems really fun if i can survive to the lair (though i've only made it that far once). Mutations feel really cool; Mak gives ranged attacks (which means options), summons (which means more options) and HP (which means NOT DYING). and once UC gets high enough, i can imagine this combo being a goddamned wrecking ball. If anyone else has played this combo and done well, or has advice on it, let me know, okay?


i think you mean dsmo (ds->demonspawn), which isn't a word in any language i now.

if you want to play words you have demo though! demo is pretty good, just about as good as dewn, only more reliable and almost as stylish! i encourage you to play demo. makhleb is actually a good demo god, as are trog (check out mikee's high-score for pro tips!), kiku, and probably new vehumet.

the best combo is muck though.
Wins: DDBe (3 runes, morgue file)

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Halls Hopper

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Post Wednesday, 6th February 2013, 20:10

Re: List your favourite builds

damn it, you're right. forgot that DE is actually deep elf, which would be...pretty much crap, actually.

man, there's got to be *some* way to get a species/background combination that actually works pretty well together. I'll look into it.
Cheers, luv! The CeFi's here!

Wins: MiFi of Qaz (6 runes)
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