Mid game questions

[115811]

First I basically have the same question as Rokirem, I've cleared the Dungeon, Lair, and Orcish Mines so now what? My options are the depths with Mara (a unique) 5 tiles in front of the entrance looking extremely dangerous. The Shoals, Slime Pits, Vaults? and the dreaded spider pit that always kills me. I was thinking the depths but if I unique has a entire level named after them I now know not to attack them (grinder). Elf Halls sounds like death for no gain.

Second off how do you export your character dump? That would save everyone some scrolling.

Third whats the nitty gritty math behind weapon enchantment. Does it simply add one to the base accuracy and base damage like the wiki leads me believe? Based on the shield penalty math I seriously doubt it's that easy. I'm using the +5 rapier of electrocution which is doing wonders zapping and puncturing poor creatures but would the 10+ dagger of freezing be better? The wiki says, "The electrocution brand gives weapons a 33% chance to inflict 9 + 1d15 HP of electricity damage per hit, Ice does Normal: +0% to +50% cold damage (25% on average). I'm not sure what that 9 + 1d15 HP means. I think the rapier is more effective. Also the Arbalest of Damnation just sounds fun but idk if thats worth training it at -1 *beserkerfirstworldproblems

  Code:

Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup version 0.18.1-6-gd335043 (webtiles) character file.
 
1158511 the Protected (Demonspawn Berserker)       Turns: 23085, Time: 03:20:49
 
Health: 120/120    AC: 28    Str: 20    XL:     15   Next: 56%
Magic:  15/15      EV:  9    Int:  9    God:    Trog [*****.]
Gold:   1755       SH: 14    Dex: 16    Spells: 0 memorised, 14 levels left
 
rFire  + + .      SeeInvis .    w - +5 rapier (elec)
rCold  . . .      Gourm    +    z - +8 plate armour {rF+}
rNeg   + . .      Faith    .    p - +1 shield
rPois  .          Spirit   .    (helmet restricted)
rElec  .          Dismiss  .    (no cloak)
rCorr  .          Reflect  .    v - +0 pair of gloves
SustAt .          Harm     .    (boots unavailable)
MR     +....                    t - amulet of the gourmand
Stlth  ..........               e - ring of positive energy
                                A - ring of protection from fire
 
@: studying Maces & Flails, somewhat resistant to hostile enchantments,
extremely unstealthy
A: antennae 1, hooves 3, molten scales 2, demonic guardian 1, spiny 3
a: Berserk, Trog's Hand, Brothers in Arms, Burn Spellbooks, Renounce Religion
 
 
You are on level 15 of the Dungeon.
You worship Trog.
Trog is extremely pleased with you.
You are full.
 
You have visited 4 branches of the dungeon, and seen 26 of its levels.
 
You have collected 2567 gold pieces.
You have spent 812 gold pieces at shops.
 
Inventory:
 
Hand Weapons
 f - the +6 arbalest "Damnation" {damnation, rF++ rC- MR+}
   (You found it on level 12 of the Dungeon)   
   
   It greatly protects you from fire.
   It makes you vulnerable to cold.
   It affects your resistance to hostile enchantments.
 k - the +1 scythe "Risev" {flame, rN+ MP+9 Dex-3 Stlth+}
   (You found it on level 8 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 (-3).
   It protects you from negative energy.
   It affects your magic capacity (+9).
   It makes you more stealthy.
 o - a +6 antimagic quick blade
 w - a +5 rapier of electrocution (weapon)
 y - a +2 scimitar of flaming
 N - a +7 short sword of freezing
 O - the +6 rapier "Wuegisea" {venom, +Rage rC+ MP+9 Int+4}
   (You found it on level 8 of the Dungeon)   
   
   It poisons the flesh of those it strikes.
   
   It affects your intelligence (+4).
   It protects you from cold.
   It affects your magic capacity (+9).
   It lets you go berserk.
 T - the +10 dagger of the Thirteen Beggars {freeze, Str+2}
   (You found it on level 13 of the Dungeon)   
   
   It has been specially enchanted to freeze those struck by it, causing extra
   injury to most foes and up to half again as much damage against particularly
   susceptible opponents. It can also slow down cold-blooded creatures.
   
   It affects your strength (+2).
Missiles
 n - 3 javelins of penetration
 B - 250 arrows
 J - 3 tomahawks of dispersal
 M - 6 tomahawks of returning (quivered)
 R - 6 silver tomahawks
Armour
 a - a +3 chain mail of positive energy
 p - a +1 shield (worn)
 q - a +2 helmet
 v - a +0 pair of gloves (worn)
 z - a +8 plate armour of fire resistance (worn)
 D - a +1 plate armour of cold resistance
 Z - a +0 buckler
Jewellery
 e - a ring of positive energy (right hand)
 i - an uncursed ring of stealth
 t - an amulet of the gourmand (around neck)
 u - a +6 ring of intelligence
 x - an uncursed amulet of regeneration
 A - a ring of protection from fire (left hand)
Wands
 s - a wand of teleportation
 Y - a wand of lightning
Scrolls
 d - 5 scrolls of fog
 h - 6 scrolls of recharging
 r - 3 scrolls of teleportation
 S - 5 scrolls of remove curse
 V - 6 scrolls of magic mapping
Potions
 b - 5 potions of might
 g - 3 potions of brilliance
 j - 5 potions of curing
 C - 5 potions of invisibility
 F - a potion of mutation
 G - a potion of agility
 K - a potion of heal wounds
 U - 5 potions of haste
 W - a potion of cancellation
 X - a potion of ambrosia
Books
 Q - a manual of Maces & Flails
Miscellaneous
 H - a phial of floods
 I - an ornate deck of cards
Comestibles
 c - 10 bread rations
 l - a fruit
 m - 11 meat rations
 E - 11 royal jellies
 L - 2 beef jerkies
 P - a slice of pizza
 
 
   Skills:
 + Level 11.8 Fighting
 + Level 10.9(11.6) Short Blades
 + Level 6.5(9.6) Long Blades
 + Level 0.8 Polearms
 + Level 2.9 Throwing
 + Level 13.3 Armour
 + Level 8.2 Dodging
 + Level 4.9 Stealth
 * Level 11.9 Shields
 
Dungeon Overview and Level Annotations
 
Branches:
Dungeon (15/15)            Temple (0/1) D:7            Lair (8/8) D:8
 Shoals (0/4) Lair:6       Spider (0/4) Lair:6        Slime (0/6) Lair:7
    Orc (2/2) D:12            Elf (0/3) Orc:2        Vaults (0/5) D:13
 Depths (1/5) D:15       

Shops:
D:3 *   D:6 [   D:12 ?   Orc:2 [([(
 
Annotations:
D:7 exclusion: oklob sapling
D:10 Sonja
D:12 exclusion: ice statue
D:13 exclusion: obsidian statue
D:14 exclusion: Roxanne, Roxanne
Depths:1 Mara
 
Innate Abilities, Weirdness & Mutations
 
You have hooves in place of feet.
You are mostly covered in molten scales (AC +3, EV -1).
A weak demonic guardian rushes to your aid.
You are completely covered in sharp spines.
You have a pair of small antennae on your head.
 
 
Message History
 
You start resting.
HP restored.
There is a staircase to the Depths here.
You climb downwards. Welcome to the Depths!
An iron troll, a deep troll, a stone giant and Mara come into view.
The stone giant shouts!
Found 23 bolts, a scroll of remove curse and a potion of brilliance.
There is a staircase back to the Dungeon here.
Press: ? - help, v - describe, . - travel
A staircase back to the Dungeon.
The stone giant throws a large rock. You block the large rock.
You climb upwards. Welcome back to the Dungeon!
There is a staircase to the Depths here.
(D) Dungeon        (T) Temple         (L) Lair           (A) Shoals         
(N) Spider Nest    (M) Slime Pits     (O) Orcish Mines   (E) Elven Halls   
(V) Vaults         (U) Depths

[115811]

Hey archaeo, how did you add those code tags? I guess thats what I really wanted to know how to do in question 2.

[amaril]

Don't do the depths! It is far more dangerous than any of the places you listed, except for maybe Slime (which you also should not do). You can't enter vaults until you have a rune. Honestly, the Spider Pit is the safest place available to you. Wear a source of rPois if you have one, but it isn't necessary. Don't fight too many spiders at once, call bia if you need to, etc.

The elec rapier is much better than the dagger. As for training arbalests, I'd go for it. You generally want some sort of ranged weapon, and Damnation sounds sweet (although I've never used it myself). Don't worry about the negative aptitude. You could alternately train throwing, which is convenient (don't need to swap weapons) and good w/ Trog (who gives you ammo) and the occurrence of shoals in this game (more ammo there).

[archaeo]

When in the full editor (as opposed to the abbreviated one you get with "Quick Reply"), highlight whatever text you want to appear in the "code" window and then hit the button that says "Code," which will add the tags. Or you can write them in yourself with BBCode. You can see what it looks like by hitting the "edit" button on your OP here.

[Rokirem]

Speaking newbie to newbie I will try and giving you some answers to some of these questions, as most of my answers were being used to help me clear out the Shoals and Snake-Pits less than two hours ago.

"First I basically have the same question as Rokirem, I've cleared the Dungeon, Lair, and Orcish Mines so now what? My options are the depths with Mara (a unique) 5 tiles in front of the entrance looking extremely dangerous. The Shoals, Slime Pits, Vaults? and the dreaded spider pit that always kills me. I was thinking the depths but if I unique has a entire level named after them I now know not to attack them (grinder). Elf Halls sounds like death for no gain."

So to start off with, what I would do is attempt to clear Shoals and Spider Nest level 1, and try and determine which is easier based on your equipment. The Spiders Nest is going to require a lot of patience, because you need to kill a couple mobs, then run away and heal the poison and the rest of your health. Having poison resistance HELPS in Snake Pits/Spider Nest but it is nowhere near a necessity from what some other people told me. I completed Snake Pits without it and the Nagas there literally throw poison at you lol. All it does is reduce the time it takes to clear a floor in my opinion. Generally I found the first two levels of the Shoals easier, so that is the route I would suggest to get some more EXP and loot before Spider's Nest. You can also do the first floor of the Slime Pits for a little bit of EXP but do not go below that. My character almost died from a couple enemies on floor three of the Slime Pits in just a few turns. I barely escaped with my life. You can also do some of Vault:1 and it should be pretty easy. Just take your time and think and you will be fine. That'd what I did. Also the Elf Halls level 1 ain't that bad, you can probably do it.

"Third whats the nitty gritty math behind weapon enchantment. Does it simply add one to the base accuracy and base damage like the wiki leads me believe? Based on the shield penalty math I seriously doubt it's that easy. I'm using the +5 rapier of electrocution which is doing wonders zapping and puncturing poor creatures but would the 10+ dagger of freezing be better? The wiki says, "The electrocution brand gives weapons a 33% chance to inflict 9 + 1d15 HP of electricity damage per hit, Ice does Normal: +0% to +50% cold damage (25% on average). I'm not sure what that 9 + 1d15 HP means. I think the rapier is more effective. Also the Arbalest of Damnation just sounds fun but idk if thats worth training it at -1 *beserkerfirstworldproblems"

I really don't know too too much about this but from what has been told to me, a generally stronger weapon will be better than a weapon that does less damage with a higher enchantment based off some of the roles and stuff. Also Electricity is apparently one of the best brands so good on you for having it on your Rapier, it is what I have on my Great Mace. I do however know how the 9+1d15 works. Basically the variable before the 1D part is damage that will be applied no matter what if your weapon hits, it will always do 9 damage(In your case). The 1D15 part stands for 1 one roll of 15. So you can get anywhere between 1 damage and 15 damage if you hit, plus the 9. So the min damage you can get if you hit is 10, and the max is 24. I hope I explained that okay.

Also from what I have seen picking up a ranged weapon and getting 5-10 levels will let you hit a good majority of your shots, I highly suggest picking it up if you have the time.

[WingedEspeon]

You want to do spider 1-3, then shoals 1-3, then spider 4. You also probably want to train Long blades as they crosstrain with short blades because shortblades suck. Stop training polearms they are a waste of exp are you are not using polearms (not that polearms are bad). Throwing is currently OP so and it is especially nice as you don't have to switch weapons. Damnation is also a good weapon, just only train one ranged weapon skill as they are redundant with each other. Base damage does not work like enchantment. Base damage receives multipliers based on your strength, weapon skill, and fighting skill where as enchantment adds a flat +1dx where x is the enchantment value to your damage. I am not sure about accuracy and it rarely matters on a well enchanted weapon. You should probably stop training shields, ditch the shield, and find a good 2h long blade. Shields generaly suck except for very good randart shield, on Fo characters, and on characters super far into extended so they have a tone of extra skill EXP. Stop training stealth, you will never be stealthy in plate without sinking an unreasonable amount of EXP into it.

[115811]

Thanks for all the fast replies, you guys are great. I'm certainly going to have to pay more attention to my skills and manually control them in the future. I was especially confused about why I had trained polearm until I remembered I used the flaming scythe to kill hydras. Anyways I'm off to get myself killed again in the spiders nest. On the plus side as a melee character I'm sure I'll have much more success (I hope).

[Psieye]

Note: the Damnation is a very rare, 'unique' artifact. You should not expect to see it again so you get pleasantly surprised if you ever do. Up to you if you want to play with it on this character. It's certainly a blast.

But in general, you'll learn as you splat more characters in the Lair branches like Spider. Err on the side of caution and burn through consumables/BiA while you learn to gauge threats.

You can also do the first floor of the Slime Pits for a little bit of EXP but do not go below that.

Too risky. Slime Pits is lategame, after Depths is no longer a threat.

[Rokirem]

You can also do the first floor of the Slime Pits for a little bit of EXP but do not go below that.

Too risky. Slime Pits is lategame, after Depths is no longer a threat.

I did the first three levels of Slime Pits with my Minotaur right after Snake Pits and Shoals.