So, the interdimensional caravan is in town...

[HANFGEIST]

...and I have only 800 gold to spend.

  Code:

HANFGEIST the Protected (Demonspawn Gladiator)     Turns: 24335, Time: 02:12:20

Health: 140/140    AC: 46    Str: 26    XL:     17   Next: 25%
Magic:  15/24      EV: 19    Int: 17    God:    Pakellas [******]
Gold:   793        SH:  0    Dex: 27    Spells: 3 memorised, 5 levels left

rFire  + . .      SeeInvis +    M - +8 scimitar "Wuwiucet" {flame, rF+ Dex+2 SInv}
rCold  . . .      Gourm    .    v - +8 orange crystal plate armour {Archmagi, Int+3 Clar SustAt}
rNeg   + + +      Faith    .    (no shield)
rPois  +          Spirit   .    (helmet unavailable)
rElec  .          Dismiss  .    r - +2 cloak
rCorr  .          Reflect  .    (no gloves)
SustAt +          Harm     .    I - +2 pair of boots of Temperance {-Cast Int+4 Dex+5}
MR     +....      Clarity  +    p - amulet of regeneration
Stlth  .......... NoCast   +    T - ring of the Coward {Fragile rN+++ Str+8 Stlth-}
                                O - +3 ring of evasion

@: somewhat resistant to hostile enchantments, extremely unstealthy
A: beak, horns 3, iridescent scales 3, blink, low mp 1, poison resistance,
powered by death 3, screaming 1, spiny 3, strong 1, MP-powered wands
a: Blink, Quick Charge, Device Surge, Supercharge, Renounce Religion


You are in a bazaar.
You worship Pakellas.
Pakellas is exalted by your worship.
You are not hungry.

You have visited 4 branches of the dungeon, and seen 29 of its levels.
You have visited 1 bazaar.
You have also visited: Sewer and Ice Cave.

You have collected 5145 gold pieces.
You have spent 4352 gold pieces at shops.

Inventory:

Hand Weapons
 g - a +4 longbow of flaming
 M - the +8 scimitar "Wuwiucet" (weapon) {flame, rF+ Dex+2 SInv}
   (You found it on level 11 of the Dungeon)   
   
   It has been specially enchanted to burn those struck by it, causing extra
   injury to most foes and up to half again as much damage against particularly
   susceptible opponents. Big, fiery blades are also staple armaments of
   hydra-hunters.
   
   It affects your dexterity (+2).
   It protects you from fire.
   It lets you see invisible.
Missiles
 d - 6 throwing nets
 G - 13 poisoned arrows
 R - 10 javelins (quivered)
Armour
 o - the +5 shield "Exoprec" {*Confuse +Fly rF+ Int+4}
   (You took it off Donald on level 2 of the Snake Pit)   
   
   It affects your intelligence (+4).
   It protects you from fire.
   It lets you fly.
   It may confuse you when you take damage.
 r - a +2 cloak (worn)
 v - the +8 orange crystal plate armour (worn) {Archmagi, Int+3 Clar SustAt}
   (You bought it in a shop on level 2 of the Orcish Mines)   
   
   It affects your intelligence (+3).
   It sustains your strength, intelligence and dexterity.
   It protects you against confusion.
 I - the +2 pair of boots of Temperance (worn) {-Cast Int+4 Dex+5}
   (You acquired it on level 1 of the Snake Pit)   
   
   It affects your intelligence (+4).
   It affects your dexterity (+5).
   It prevents spellcasting.
Rods
 i - a +4 rod of clouds (13/13)
   (Pakellas gifted it to you in an ice cave)
 J - a +3 lightning rod (10/10)
   (Pakellas gifted it to you on level 9 of the Dungeon)
 Z - a +3 rod of clouds (14/14)
   (Pakellas gifted it to you on level 8 of the Lair of Beasts)
Jewellery
 p - an amulet of regeneration (around neck)
 O - a +3 ring of evasion (left hand)
 T - the ring of the Coward (right hand) {Fragile rN+++ Str+8 Stlth-}
   (You found it on level 13 of the Dungeon)   
   
   [ring of loudness]
   
   It affects your strength (+8).
   It renders you almost immune to negative energy.
   It will be destroyed if unequipped.
   It makes you less stealthy.
Wands
 l - a wand of confusion (24/48)
 w - a wand of slowing (28/48)
 y - a wand of hasting (8/9)
 z - a wand of acid (3/15)
 B - a wand of disintegration (11/24)
 L - a wand of digging (16/24)
 U - a wand of iceblast (12/15)
Scrolls
 c - 8 scrolls of blinking
 j - 5 scrolls of remove curse
 s - 15 scrolls of teleportation
 A - 4 scrolls of identify
 N - a scroll of magic mapping
Potions
 b - 3 potions of might
 e - 2 potions of haste
 f - 11 potions of magic
 m - 9 potions of curing
 q - a potion of resistance
 t - a potion of invisibility
 C - 4 potions of heal wounds
 F - 2 potions of berserk rage
 Q - 2 potions of agility
Miscellaneous
 K - a lamp of fire
Comestibles
 a - 2 chunks of flesh
 u - 17 fruits
 x - 18 bread rations
 H - 6 meat rations


   Skills:
 + Level 14.4 Fighting
 - Level 9.8 Long Blades
 - Level 5.9 Maces & Flails
 - Level 1.7 Throwing
 + Level 14.7 Armour
 + Level 12.9 Dodging
 * Level 0.0 Shields
 + Level 14.0 Evocations


You have 5 spell levels left.
You know the following spells:

 Your Spells              Type           Power        Failure   Level  Hunger
a - Regeneration          Chrm/Necr      #.........   100%        3    ####...
b - Shroud of Golubria    Chrm/Tloc      #.........   100%        2    ###....
c - Statue Form           Trmt/Erth      #........    100%        6    #######

Innate Abilities, Weirdness & Mutations

You have a pair of large horns on your head.
You are completely covered in iridescent scales (AC +8).
You regenerate a lot of health from kills.
You are completely covered in sharp spines.
You have a beak for a mouth.
You can translocate small distances at will.
Your magical capacity is low (-10% MP).
Your system is resistant to poisons.
You occasionally shout uncontrollably at your foes.
Your muscles are strong. (Str +2)
You expend magic power (3 MP) to strengthen your wands.


Only 2 cool shops in this bazaar, one has a brightly glowing spear for 160 gold and a transparent arbalest for 190.
The other has the +0 gloves "Eqivehipt" (SInv Dex +2) for 318 gold and the +0 Cloak of the Queen (Dex+7) for 409 gold as well as the +6 scale mail "Suhuiral" (-Cast, +Inv, Regen+, +9MP) for 656 gold.
Now I'm regenerating a lot as is due to my mutations and amulet and even though everyone likes pushing Regen as far as possible I think I'm gonna stick to my orange crystal plate, thank you very much. Had to spent a scroll of acquirement to pay the 3659 gold for it.
I am however torn about the armour and weapons. I need a pair of gloves, but I'm bound to find something better anyways, right? So far I only came across a -1 pair. And the cloak seems very enticing, but is it worth giving up 2 AC for Dex +7 ?
What would you buy?

[Bart]

Dexterity above 25 provides diminishing gains to evasion, so it's rarely a good idea to increase it above that threshold. Furthermore your armour is very heavy, which limits evasion (gains) even further. I am pretty sure that the cloak would give you 2 to 3 EV and isn't better than your current one. Eventually you want +2 cloak with some ego (MR+ for example).

It is unlikely you won't find any gloves, but you might want to buy some right now for additional 1-2 AC if you do not feel very confident about your survivability.

Spear is a very poor weapon type, so forget about it. Personally I'd also skip arbalest because you already have a decent melee weapon and wands as ranged backup - not to forget that respecing to crossbows would sink a lot of experience.

[daggaz]

I'd go for the gloves. Its nice to get sInv on an offslot (you will want to upgrade from the scimitar at some point, and horns3 means you cant even wear a wizard hat), and your AC is already pretty high so missing the 2 from enchantable gloves isnt going to kill you. Besides you dont even have gloves atm. Everything else is pretty much crap.

Also, never save gold in case you find something better later. There is infinite gold in Crawl and finite shops, and death is always around the next corner. With one exception: If you find a random shop early in a level and it doesnt have something you absolutely can use immediately to great benefit, and you arent falling under the power curve so exploration is still fairly safe, you should quickly look around to see if the level spawned multiple shops (it happens quite often) before spending any money. But then buy out whatever is even moderately useful, like small equipment upgrades and any consumables.

[amaril]

Moral of the story: always carry a distortion weapon so you can banish yourself to the abyss and farm gold if you stumble upon a really sweet caravan. (sarcasm, probably--idea taken from njvack)

[Piginabag]

Moral of the story: always carry a distortion weapon so you can banish yourself to the abyss and farm gold if you stumble upon a really sweet caravan. (sarcasm, probably--idea taken from njvack)

Brilliant

[HANFGEIST]

That distortion trick, priceless!
Thanks for all your replies!

Since I skipped on the cloak, I bought the two ran dart weapons:

  Code:

k - the +5 spear of the Lesser Evil {pierce, Str+3 Int+6}
   (You bought it in a shop in a bazaar)   
   
   It inflicts extra damage upon your enemies.
   
   It affects your strength (+3).
   It affects your intelligence (+6).
 n - the cursed +2 arbalest "Qyeneuze" (weapon) {flame, rF- rC+ MR++}
   (You bought it in a shop in a bazaar)   
   
   It causes projectiles fired from it to burn those they strike, causing extra
   injury to most foes and up to half again as much damage against particularly
   susceptible opponents.
   
   It makes you vulnerable to fire.
   It protects you from cold.
   It affects your resistance to hostile enchantments.
   It has a curse placed upon it.

[njvack]

idea taken from njvack

what have I done

[bcadren]

idea taken from njvack

what have I done

It's not a terrible idea actually...worst case scenario for distortion unwield in a place where the damage is trivial...is glow...so? Some risk, but not horrible?

[Eyesburn]

What would you buy?

Just gloves.

I bought the two ran dart weapons

And then you find another one bazaar on a next dungeon level. ^^

[njvack]

I know, and it's not as though inventory slots are super valuable. It's still pretty silly. I think I got this idea after entering a bazaar with a troll and being something like 20 gold short for a crazy good armour.

Really, carry distortion because DISTORTION IS THE ONE TRUE BRAND AND ALL OTHER BRANDS MUST BOW DOWN TO DISTORTION