List your favourite builds

[Grimm]

mibe

[A spy]

MiBe is not bad...

But KoBe is the beefiest ! (i regret nothing)

[Jeremiah]

Just looking at my stats for my online account, and I've noticed that the combo I've played the most is... KoPr.

Not got anywhere close to winning with one though.

[partial]

Minotaur Berzerker
Kobold/Halfling Assassin

[khalil]

I like Mummies. I don't know why, as they suck at everything.
Classwise, I go for necromancy, as it's the only thing they aren't objectivly bad at.

[arcanist]

NaWz.
You dont die easy - and have the aptitudes of the human in magic.
THe slow movement is easily countered by blink/conjure flame/mephilic cloud (and having rPois makes mephilic even easier to use)

[Draugr]

My favourite combination at the moment is Vampire Necromancer. I used to play Vampire Ice Elementalist and regularly got them to levels above 20 only to die in the final level of the vault or elf halls (or the likes). I played them with early ice spells and then later learned Necromancy. Then I thought "why not start with Necromancy and add other schools later as needed or depending on found books". Turns out that was the key for me. I didn't die at all anymore in early levels and when I got to the bottom of the Vault I already could cast Haunt, which made cleaning a breeze. Recently won the first game with that combination.

Now I'm thinking of trying another combination or instead doing another VaNe with more runes.

[Utis]

MfIE, going the melee route with Ozocubu's and swinging a polearm over my Ice Beast's little heads.

[Schussel]

as i play on 0.12 ... Tengu Conjuror of Ash is my favorite now .. i call it the military build ... because it feels like a fledging airborne army unit with heavy fire support drones (battlesphere) ... killing tier 2 demons with battlesphere out and only tagging the target with magic dart thus let the drone do the work is awesome)

you can imagine alot into the play .. as the battlesphere is behaving like a remote support drone .. and its fun

fragility is a problem yes and typical mistakes lead to death .-. but the new conjuror build rocks and is a good transition to tornado/firestorm/icestorm endgame ...

this is my first build i managed to clear vestibule pre XL 25 so its quite a winner for me

and .. Ashenzari is a blast to play .. sometimes it feel like OP .. but well .. he is the best midgame god
depending of your luck to find scrolls .. (had games with very few remove curse -scrolls .. and this sucks) but even skill transfer rocks in case you find a few good wonder decks and abused them (the occasional sage on stupid skills)

but after all once you manage to find a good staff and curse it + good spells (firebolt/higher clouds/storms) its a great deal .. just keep watching out for deflect/haste early so you can be protected by the swarm of giants in mid to late

[Shagoth]

DsWa, Lets just go with the flow.

[rebthor]

DsWa, Lets just go with the flow.

Then you have to worship Che. "Take it easy..."

[cerebovssquire]

These days I just splat MuWns all day long. Great combo (not for winning obviously). Every time I play a race that has a food clock it just frustrates me now

[Grimm]

DsWn, Lets just go with the flow.

ftfy

[cerebovssquire]

DsWn, Lets just go with the flow.

ftfy

i just want to profess my undying love for you since you started doing this

[Grimm]

What else is a moderator for. Also, the RSS feed of all new Tavern topics helps immensely.

[rebthor]

I'm loving the new recall mechanic & follower XP gain for HOPr. Makes it much less of a chore to play, so thanks for that! And I'm not sure if any of the speech is new or not but I especially enjoy the orc speech when I'm "tactically repositioning." Beogh is still kind of boring but at least he's better than no god now.

[Tristian]

Personally, I like playing a DrCj. Decent enough stats, good passive AC growth. And a little surprise at Lvl 7 that will often times come in handy!

[ddubois]

i'm a sucker for Species/Background combinations that make words

MuSt/Ash

[GlassGo]

VpEn of Oka. Hate food clock.

Edit: of Sif Muna of course.

[the_clanless]

Naga Fighter is my favorite, always with Chei if I have my way. Although supposedly not viable, I have gotten a 15 rune win and am on my way to a second one with this build. Naga are just awesome... whenever I play another race I am like "What the, Invisible? Crap i am posioned! I splash around in the WATER? Why is my Constriction always missing! oh wait..."

[Sandman25]

SpEn of Ash (speedy run on youtube made me download the game). It was first character I tried but it took me 6+ months and 7 other wins before I was finally able to win with the combo. Stabbing is the best thing in Crawl.

[mopl]

Stabbing is the best thing in Crawl.

FTFY : Stabbing was the best thing in Crawl.
I mean the skill, you can always stab monsters !!
+1 for SpEn

[Sandman25]

Stabbing is the best thing in Crawl.

FTFY : Stabbing was the best thing in Crawl.
I mean the skill, you can always stab monsters !!
+1 for SpEn

I meant stabbing as way to kill monsters, not the skill. It's amazing to kill dangerous monsters in a single hit and my heart is beating very often even if I am doing it after Passwall. I lately tend to use stabbing on many characters like KoHu, MfAs, DDEE, ring of Inv is the best item for me early game. 0.13 changes made it possible to even more characters.

[Klown]

MiFi of Ash

[Gamesmaster1965]

DECj of Vehumet cus its my only win, im having fun with MiBe at the moment, really like SpEn too but i cant seem to get them very far.

[Amnesiac]

At first I liked to play DEWz of Vehumet, because I love rpg style pure mages, but you get bored by playing the same build, especially when you win a 15-rune+zig game. I used to like VpEn of Cheibriados, too. Good at stabbing, good at casting, good at wearing armour can get a decent SP on iron shot for annoying stuff, note that I'm talking about old days when you needed to make you stuff ponderous. Obviously it sould be even better now. HaAs of Oka->any other god, possibly ash. It's nice to look for ways to improve your stabbing chances, instead of having them from the beginning. I like to play something like OgFi of Oka sometimes, because it's harder and other easy melee builds are boring for me. Also, throwing large rocks is fun and Pikel(and his weapon) suddenly becomes more important.

edit: I forgot that I liked playing a DgAs, because his stats/hp/aptitudes are awesome for hybrids. I was able to do stabbing, blocking, evading, blowing through the walls with LRD and so on. I mean, you can do that with other charecters, but with Dg you'll have double the Int while choosing to gain only dex for better stabs.

[Igxfl]

I'll often switch weapon types for that early whip{elec}.

[tesudzi]

optm
dgcj/tm
spen ash
vpen kiku

[Gunthar]

My favorite build is a GaFi of Oka.

[rebthor]

Nobody knows what a Ga is.

[Frelus]

I think he means Gr (Gargoyle).

[Gunthar]

I thought Ga = Gargoyle because in the appreviations list is the Gr = Grotesk

[BlackSheep]

Grotesk became gargoyle.

[savageorange]

TeCj of Veh is pretty satisfying. I get the impression that Veh is best for a generalist(Wz) though, because he often gifts spells that are a) based on a spell school that I have no skill in at all, or b) a handful of elemental variations on spells I already have (eg Magic Dart -> Sting -> Shock -> Flame Tongue etc)

[and into]

Octopode Earth Elementalist, worship first god I see that makes sense for OpEE to worship

Naga transmuter (long-standing favorite)

Draconian Air Elementalist, branch into melee / archery hybrid early on (conjurations only used for first few floors of D if possible)

Deep Elf Enchanters
(easy to get whatever magic for an easier game, or I can go more of a hybrid route for a bit more challenge, but the sort of challenge that you get to choose somewhat mid-game and doesn't involve any tedium added)

Demigod ___________
(for when I want my character's religious preference to mirror my own)

Demonspawn ___________
(Ds is awesome and tons of fun even if they are overpowered)

Mummy __________ (when I'm playing Crawl drunk, only, and preferably listening to some good tunes)


Whenever a background is added / changed:
High Elf ____________ or Human _____________ cause I have to test that shit out


Never: Felids

EDIT: For casting backgrounds in general I think the wizard and the four elementalist backgrounds are the best designed, although conjurer has improved *a lot* with the recent changes. Air is probably strongest from a purely survival standpoint, Fire is most straightforward, Ice and Earth are most interesting overall, IMO, with a lot of versatility. Enchanter, Transmuter, and Necromancer (even though it is under "pure caster") feel the most like true hybrids from the get-go, with unique play styles, rather than just a (however intriguing) mash up of two separate things.

[rebthor]

Demigod ___________
(for when I want my character's religious preference to mirror my own)

Which of the pantheon do you believe yourself to have descended from :p

[xalles]

I like Felids. Tried Mo of Ash, Cj of Ash, now playing FE of Sif (no wins yet). Kind of a crapshoot in the beginning with 7 HP, but I like the hit-and-run, pick-your-battles gameplay.

[Frelus]

Wait, Fe of Ash?
Are you fully bound with just 2 rings and an amulet?
Although it still doesn't seem to compensate for playing a Felid

[xalles]

Ash facilitates the stealthy gameplay. I tried Mo with Ash in mind for the piety boost. With Fe, 3 jewellery cursed is only seriously bound. I suppose you'd have to curse something in your mouth to be fully bound, but I never tried. I mostly played with one ring free for resist swaps etc. FYI, whenever I prayed on scrolls they came up curse jewellery.

The magic skill boost was nice too, even as the Mo. I'm liking Sif more for the caster path. Goes well with carnivore 3, and only other channel option is CBall, bleh.

Edit: seems like Jiyva would be very nice of Fe, will try.

Edit: can a felid wield anything that can be cursed? hmm...

[chr1s]

Definitely Gargoyle Berserker, once I got +7/+7 vampiric executioner axe (gift) i just tabbed 95% of combat and managed to win with 3 runes, first win ever, too!

[partial]

Merfolk Gladiator + Nemelex

very strong early game, very versatile, and so far my favorite combo

[pratamawirya]

HuFi, MiBe.

[bryanpeddy]

I'm having a great run with FeBe right now. I thought it'd be nerf city, but the slower metabolism and carnivorous are a good combo for berserking. I've also lucked out on this run and found each of the elemental evokables, so if you try it, throw a few ranks in evocations for that.

I also lucked out by growing horns from eating ugly thing meat.

Edit: not to mention how I really like imagining a cat doing all the things a Crawl Berserker does.

[Hirsch I]

DsMo, because weapons are for pussies, specially if you are a goddamn demon (that sounds right.)
DrCj is fun as well.
"bryanpeddy casts animate thread!"

[Happy Corner]

My tastes have changed in the (now rather considerable) time I've been addicted to this game.

Nowadays, my favorite builds are Demonspawn Fire Elementalist, Spriggan Enchanter (or Stalker back in the day), and Minotaur Fighter. I'm a little biased towards those, having gotten 15-rune victories with them. I also like Octopodes (any caster), Deep Elves (any caster), Vampire Enchanters, and Ogre Arcane Marksmen, but so far a full 15 rune victory eludes me with those.

[vengefulcarrot]

OpEE of chei, best build in crawl no exceptions.

[Lyrick]

Used to be DsMo (cause claws/talons/horns/spines are awesomesauce)

The played DECj for a long long time (cause battlesphere at level 4 kills EVERYTHING)

Now its gotta be VpEn. I love being bloodless, and stabbing everything in sight, while being invisible, and sucking all their blood right back to full HP

[arcanist]

I just cannot stop myself from playing NaWz of Vehumet->Kiku. nice survival early on, extremely tanky later. THe only real challenge is to get that sublimation of blood/regeneration for mid game.

[Magipi]

I just cannot stop myself from playing NaWz of Vehumet->Kiku. nice survival early on, extremely tanky later. THe only real challenge is to get that sublimation of blood/regeneration for mid game.

You go from Vehumet to Kiku? Why?

[arcanist]

You go from Vehumet to Kiku? Why?

after you get the storm of your choice castable without wisardy enhancer with vehumet I dont see why would I favor Vehu over kiku. Kiku gives you so much - infinite mana with sublimation, not having to worry about food, hordes of simulacra and protection from torment/death curses (and possibly mutation immunity in form of necromutation). the only backside is that vehumet sends you to the goddamned abyss which I really really hate - but again with storm spells online this pain is much less.