The Tavern

I expected "Slain by a nine-headed hydra".

I wasn't stupid enough to actually swing the sword at it (at least that time), but for some reason the distraction of finding the shiny sword made me think my Deep Elf could stand in melee range with a hydra and use Conjure Flame / Sticky Flame to kill it.

If you are playing as a Deep Dwarf, have no decent potions left, and have just used the last charge of your Heal Wounds wand, make the very next thing you do a recharge of that wand. Even if the Minotaur you are facing has been giving you "nearly dead" messages for a number of turns. His next hit will take you most of the way to 0, and you will not be able to recharge, and then use your wand before becoming angry cow food.

On another note, it was the first time I'd played Deep Dwarf, worshipping Fedhas - wow, that made playing Lair insanely enjoyable :mrgreen:

You know how with easy invisible creatures in safe areas when you don't have SInv, it can be fun to just blunder around or cast weak spells until you kill them by chance?

Doesn't work with an Ancient Lich on Zot 5.

Odds wrote:You know how with easy invisible creatures in safe areas when you don't have SInv, it can be fun to just blunder around or cast weak spells until you kill them by chance?

Doesn't work with an Ancient Lich on Zot 5.

On the subject of invisible creatures:

Sticky Flame makes them visible. I was surprised by this.

Corona does that too. Which I always forget about and die to the first horror I encounter... I also tend to use my read ID'd amnesia on Corona, because I overlook that spell too much.

If you're having trouble with unseen horrors w/o see invis, study bats for a while. Figure out how they move. Try to guess where it will move to after each of your moves and then see if you were right. Once you have it down solid, unseen horrors aren't much danger, since you'll know how to manipulate their movement to ensure they're where you can hit them, or that you can lose them when you want to.

Even if you have AC 45 and EV 24, don't forget to train Invocations for Step from Time, it can save your life.

Code:: 100177 | Zot:5 | HP: 5/232 [orb of fire/bolt of fire (39)

An "all-out noisy" style of gameplay (eg LRD-spammer of Qazlal) isn't as risky as it sounds. Monsters trickled out of unexplored areas for me to engage in manageable doses.

Quiet characters are much more capable of sneaking into crowded rooms and waking everything up at once. By the time my Qaz-worshipper fought his way there, said room would be deserted.

The lesson I learned about playing Qaz is, "Don't move away from the stairs, because you are now playing Zot Defense. But with stairs."

Also, Qaz makes Vaults 5 a blast!

edgefigaro wrote:Also, Qaz makes Vaults 5 a blast!

I'm not sure if the pun was deliberate or not, but either way, I groaned.

(Random thought: Cause Fear + Disaster Area means everybody catches a nuke.)

I'm still trying to get Shield of the Gong with a Qaz-ite.

8% miscast (grey) from Ignite Poison can be fun.

Code:: You miscast Ignite Poison. You are very lightly contaminated with residual magic. You turn into a sentient fungus. Your +4 lajatang of slicing {DON"T ATTACK HYDRA} melds into your body. The cursed +1 pair of gloves of the Prince of Darkness {Str+4} melds into your body. Your +4 naga barding melds into your body. Your +3 fire dragon armour {rF++, rC-} melds into your body. The six-headed hydra is engulfed in roaring flames. The six-headed hydra bites you! The six-headed hydra barely misses you. The six-headed hydra bites you but does no damage. The six-headed hydra barely misses you. The six-headed hydra bites you but does no damage. The six-headed hydra barely misses you. Damage: -6%(-9hp) hp: 94%(129hp) You can't do that in your present form. You're too terrified to move while being watched! Evoke which item? (* to show all) (? for menu, Esc to quit) You have no means to grasp a wand firmly enough. Read which item? (? for menu, Esc to quit) Okay, then. You release spores at the six-headed hydra! The six-headed hydra is almost dead. The six-headed hydra is engulfed in roaring flames. You kill the six-headed hydra!

edgefigaro wrote:Also, Qaz makes Vaults 5 a blast!

Yeah, I don't even need Qaz, the first thing I did the first time I got there was to use a disc of storms ... 10/10 would do it again (to die)

Rod of Shadows and Qazlal don't play well together: "Your orc is consumed in roaring flame!"

XuaXua wrote:I'm still trying to get Shield of the Gong with a Qaz-ite.

Got it on my FoFi^Qaz from Shoals 4-5. It - along with 25 Invocations - made rest of the 3-rune run pretty entertaining, especially Vaults 5.

Likely the last time I want to use it on a melee-centric character though. It was midly annoying how often it interrupted my Tab-fighting through trivial fights.

just descended the first staircase of the game and appeared in d:2 within a few steps of a pack of 4 gnolls, a goblin, and terence. no big deal, i'll just climb back up, duh. but no, i can't, a gnoll threw a net at me and trapped me downstairs! read one of my 3 unidentified scrolls, and it turns out to be teleport. i survive till it activates by chugging 2 unidentified potions that turn out to be curing. lucky! but that could have been a very brutal very unlucky death...

Holy brand is fun vs undead, you can deal 35 damage and kill a monster with 55 HP.

Code:: You climb downwards. Level annotation: exclusion: curse skull, Khufu There is a stone staircase leading up here. You slash the curse skull!(damage 7) The curse skull convulses. The curse skull is moderately damaged. You slash the curse skull!(damage 14) The curse skull convulses!! The curse skull is almost destroyed. The curse skull rattles its jaw. You slash the curse skull!(damage 14) You destroy the curse skull! The wight disappears in a puff of smoke! The flying skull disappears in a puff of smoke! The spectral titan disappears in a puff of smoke! The flayed ghost disappears in a puff of smoke!

VictorG wrote:Shift-G is not the same thing as Shift-X.

I had just barely escaped from the bottom level of the swamp after meeting three hydras and two swamp dragons. So after healing while standing on the stairs down, I pressed "Shift-X" and ">" to find another set of stairs down. Except that I typed "Shift-G" instead of "Shift-X". Which took me back down immediately, where those three hydras were faithfully waiting for me. They were only too happy to kill my poor SETr.

I did almost the same thing. Set up to fight in Elves three. A very difficult map to fight them off but even without entering I knew pretty much what was there and about where they were as there was nothing else set up everything with great care and figured out my escape route with care. Then went to put on my final buffs but hit o instead of i which sent me right into the midst of the elves. Oops...

Tornado-ing TRJ out in the open seemed like such a good idea...

..that was until my tornado ran out when TRJ was almost dead and surrounded by about 20 almost dead spawns that had been liberally sprinkled around the screen. No cTele, no HW, no way to hit TRJ from behind wall of spawns, no HW, no chance.

+10 Falchion of electro is better than +8 Eudemon Blade and +4 Demon Blade of Draining. Not vs Orb of Fire of course.

dornbeast wrote:
edgefigaro wrote:Also, Qaz makes Vaults 5 a blast!

I'm not sure if the pun was deliberate or not, but either way, I groaned.

(Random thought: Cause Fear + Disaster Area means everybody catches a nuke.)

With high enough invocation, there is actually a chance to kill even stuff directly adjacent to you with Disaster Area. The normal 3x3 blasts can't hit ones adjacent to you, but with my 25 invocations many of them splashed further, hitting even the adjacent ones occasionally. Not reliable of course, but possible.

Tested this in vaults:5 and zot:5. In latter I even used it as primary way of dispatching Ancient Liches since I had piety to spare and no interest in losing to random nasty spell.

Zargon wrote:Tornado-ing TRJ out in the open seemed like such a good idea...

..that was until my tornado ran out when TRJ was almost dead and surrounded by about 20 almost dead spawns that had been liberally sprinkled around the screen. No cTele, no HW, no way to hit TRJ from behind wall of spawns, no HW, no chance.

I just Tornadoed TRJ this morning. The first one did get him down to critical, and the 2nd tornado took him out quite nicely. Perhaps it was just a matter of defenses, or me being much closer to TRJ when I started the first tornado, so that I was still close enough for the 2nd.

I do have my own today we learned: I'm exploring the Abyss and come across a scroll of Acquisition! Using it immediately I then take a step to the side like I always do to see what the item looks like on the ground, and of course after that one step got transported to a new region of the Abyss. Clearly I should have just inspected it in place, or waited till I left the Abyss to use it. Luckily I found another one while still roaming the Abyss 15 mins later. It's nice to be a subject of Ash in the Abyss.

Zargon wrote:Tornado-ing TRJ out in the open seemed like such a good idea...

..that was until my tornado ran out when TRJ was almost dead and surrounded by about 20 almost dead spawns that had been liberally sprinkled around the screen. No cTele, no HW, no way to hit TRJ from behind wall of spawns, no HW, no chance.

You have to circle counterclockwise around TRJ, to keep everything on one side of you. Don't bother meleeing; just keep pulling back (but staying close) and angling around to minimize the damage you take.

Combine that with a scroll of immolation after a few turns of tornado to make it an inferno.

LCS is not that great vs Neqoxecs, 58% is low. Iron Shot has even lower accuracy.

Code:: Aiming: Lehudib's Crystal Spear Press: ? - help, Shift-Dir - straight line, f - neqoxec Aim: a neqoxec (chance 58%) The crystal spear hits the neqoxec.(damage 91) You kill the neqoxec!

Sandman25 wrote:LCS is not that great vs Neqoxecs, 58% is low. Iron Shot has even lower accuracy.

Code:
Aiming: Lehudib's Crystal Spear Press: ? - help, Shift-Dir - straight line, f - neqoxec Aim: a neqoxec (chance 58%) The crystal spear hits the neqoxec.(damage 91) You kill the neqoxec!

Using LCS with damage 91 seems a bit overkill on a neqoxec, who die if you blow on them

. They only have 21-47 hp according to wiki.

bel wrote:Using LCS with damage 91 seems a bit overkill on a neqoxec, who die if you blow on them . They only have 21-47 hp according to wiki.

True. I should probably learn Bolt of Magma (I am somewhat low on spell slots).

Edit. Another thing I learned is that Fo of Ash in light armour does not care about most mutations. Berserkitis/Teleportisis are useless, deterioration is fixed by sustain abilities which I am wearing anyway and even Deformed Body is not a big deal (lost 3 AC in faerie DA). Only Frail would be extremely bad.

Going into the Hall of Blades vault on Elf:2 when you mostly rely on Ice magic is a bad idea.

raikaria wrote:Going into the Hall of Blades vault on Elf:2 when you mostly rely on Ice magic is a bad idea.

Throw Icicle should work, though, if you have it.

Apparently Cerebov can follow you to other regions of Pandemonium if you just grabbed his rune and ran.

It can follow you during Orb run too...

Corruption in Tomb 2 ambush (invoked while standing on stairs) can break a wall 12 tiles away (not in LoS of course) so you will not need to visit Tomb 1 corridor.

-18 corrosion does not make +9 executioner's axe of chopping useless. The axe was -9 temporarily.

Code:: You slice the oklob plant!!(damage 24) The oklob plant is almost destroyed. You cut the oklob plant into ribbons!!!(damage 38) The oklob plant is almost destroyed. You slice the oklob plant like a ripe choko!!!(damage 57) You destroy the oklob plant! You carve the oklob plant like a ham!!!(damage 38)

You can click on i-dont-know-what-it-should-represent icon on the left to mark topic/forums read. Yeah I'm a slow learner

what icon?

OpFi is not that bad on D2, killing a worm with 2 attacks of +0 flail. I think I will change my mod to display constriction damage for fun.

Code:: A worm comes into view. You hit the worm.(damage 3); You grab the worm.(damage 0) The worm is lightly wounded. You constrict the worm. You block the worm's attack. You hit the worm.(damage 4); You squeeze the worm!(damage 9) The worm is almost dead. You constrict the worm. You kill the worm!

Edit. Definitely OpFi is not that bad. XL 6, the same +0 flail:

Code:: You barely miss the big kobold zombie. Your grab misses the big kobold zombie. You block the big kobold zombie's attack. You sock the big kobold zombie!(damage 8) You grab the big kobold zombie.(damage 0) You squeeze the big kobold zombie.(damage 6) You constrict the big kobold zombie. (damage 1) You block the big kobold zombie's attack. You completely miss the big kobold zombie. You constrict the big kobold zombie. (damage 5) The big kobold zombie closely misses you. You hit the big kobold zombie.(damage 3) You constrict the big kobold zombie. (damage 4) The big kobold zombie hits you but does no damage. You sock the big kobold zombie!(damage 13) You constrict the big kobold zombie. (damage 5) You sock the big kobold zombie!(damage 13) You destroy the big kobold zombie!

Trying to get Cblink online as a Mu in GDA take a LOT of skill points.

Huge damage with AM weapon does not guarantee monsters will waste a turn (0.46 turn per attack).

Code:: You hammer the orb of fire like a gong!!!(damage 68) The orb of fire's magic leaks into the air. Your bite misses the orb of fire. The orb of fire is moderately damaged. You crush the orb of fire like a grape!!!!(damage 77) The orb of fire's magic leaks into the air. Your bite misses the orb of fire. The orb of fire is severely damaged. You hit the orb of fire but do no damage. The orb of fire is severely damaged. The orb of fire glows red. Strange energies course through your body. You feel odd for a moment.

When you have an additional +9 slaying and are berserk, even a +9 quickblade of protection does a lot of damage.

Even if you are a berserker, it is not necessarily a good idea to switch to that +1 CPA of cold resistance you found in an ice cave.

Spell power is subject to random rounding.

Casting: Bolt of Fire
Confirm with . or Enter, or press ? or * to list all spells.
Aiming: Bolt of Fire
Press: ? - help, Shift-Dir - straight line, f/p - Maud
Aim: Maud, wielding an enchanted demon trident and wearing a plate armour (heavily wounded, chance 80%)
Rolled 22 for 6d8; The bolt of fire hits Maud.(damage 14)
Maud is severely wounded.
Casting: Bolt of Fire
Confirm with . or Enter, or press ? or * to list all spells.
Aiming: Bolt of Fire
Press: ? - help, Shift-Dir - straight line, f/p - Maud
Aim: Maud, wielding an enchanted demon trident and wearing a plate armour (severely wounded, chance 80%)
Rolled 27 for 6d9; The bolt of fire hits Maud.(damage 21)

If you're planning to use Lugonu's Corrupt and then teleport away with a scroll, it's better to read the scroll before corrupting. Not just because you'll be teleported a turn sooner, but you may summon a silent spectre which then prevents you from reading the scroll.

Aquamancers? More like truckmancers because the damage feels they're casting trucks at you! Shoals are not to be messed with.

I have yet to figure how to approach Shoals.

PerverseSuffering wrote:Aquamancers? More like truckmancers because the damage feels they're casting trucks at you! Shoals are not to be messed with.

I have yet to figure how to approach Shoals.

With great luring and noise management basically. An aquamancer solo is usually quite killable. So you need to pull merfolk in ones and twos back about a screenful (9-10 squares?) before dispatching them so the others don't hear the sound of your axe thumping into their worthless carcasses.

Invis is absurdly good there too, if you can find it, or buff with a potion for hard fights. Aquamancers are basically the only thing with SInv in shoals.

Note to self : rod of Shadows + Olgreb Toxic Radiance do not match well together...

'I can walk into this small group of clouds of fire; pick up this artifact ring that spawned there that might be good; then use a blink scroll to get out'

*Forgets he's a Naga so moves too slow and burns to death before he gets to the ring*

If you have memorized Silence (and have it under 50% I guess?) and then draw the Illusion card, your Illusion will happily cast Silence, which may lead to dangerous situations...

(Not-so)-pro tip: vampires in bat form can't open doors.

Jushak wrote:
dornbeast wrote:
edgefigaro wrote:Also, Qaz makes Vaults 5 a blast!

I'm not sure if the pun was deliberate or not, but either way, I groaned.

(Random thought: Cause Fear + Disaster Area means everybody catches a nuke.)

With high enough invocation, there is actually a chance to kill even stuff directly adjacent to you with Disaster Area. The normal 3x3 blasts can't hit ones adjacent to you, but with my 25 invocations many of them splashed further, hitting even the adjacent ones occasionally. Not reliable of course, but possible.

Tested this in vaults:5 and zot:5. In latter I even used it as primary way of dispatching Ancient Liches since I had piety to spare and no interest in losing to random nasty spell.

With 27 invocations, Disaster Area pretty much kills everything. My DsMo^Qaz cleared an entire ziggurat (link warning: extreme YASD gore) before even starting the extended lategame, and wouldn't have stood a ghost of a chance if it weren't for liberal spam of Disaster Area.

Sure, I went down to **** (and even as far as to *** in some cases because of upheaval spam to fix dire situations) piety regularly on the lower floors, but I cleared it! Even my winning characters haven't gotten further than... 17, I think.

Short note from me:

Surprisingly good weapon against iron giants is...Iron shot. I think their size is responsible for IS barely missing them. My recent char looked hopeless in DIS:7 until learned reliable iron shot...Another thing is the rarity of those giants - I really thought i would meet one or two at most but in that very bad layout they were everywhere. I think i counted 8 in total.

The Tavern

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