Amazing Progress - Good Newb Combo

[DeathKnyte]

Hiya,

I've been playing for a few months now, and have been doing so badly with (what I perceived) would be a fun combination of race and class; a High Elf Hunter. Unfortunately, I just couldn't get anywhere with them - no matter how much I tried to learn from the game documentation (and included instructions). Every monster was a challenge to overcome, and when I figured how to do so, the next batch would prove insurmountable. Most battles (no matter how trivial the monster) would seem either epic confrontations, or never ending running (backwards) affairs. I never had enough arrows, and besides bats and rats, couldn't get enough killing power before they'd be on top of me.

I kind of pride myself with how well I (usually) can play games, always enjoyed the strategic and thinking ones, so have approached DCSS like one of chess. But: After so many failures (and dismal deaths), I figured I should perhaps change race (and/or) backgrounds...

I went with something that would hopefully not run out of ammunition - a magic user - namely a Deep Elf Wizard. Now then, these guys showed promise. Once Conjurations got to level 2; I could reliably kill most things encountered on dungeon level 1 - before they closed with me! However, something like triggering a trap (poisoned dart, bolt, etc.) would kill me. Also, if a kobold had any (exploding, frost) darts, or poisoned needles (blowgun), that would be the death of me - not to mention turning a corner and meeting a snake, or the anxiety of going down stairs and winding up next to something. Needed something a little tougher...

So I'm reading in the game instructions about how undead are immune to poison, hardly affected by cold, etc. In particular, Vampires can be alive or dead, depending on how much blood they drink, regenerate fast, can change to bats, etc. When you look at their aptitudes, they had the most +'s of all the undead. Sounded cool - I'll give one a whirl. I wanted a "Hexes" specialist background, but don't know if one exists, due to the vampire's +4 aptitude in it. So I chose Wizard, cause I had tried it a few times already.

Well, my first one (still alive, by the way) has progressed so far in the game, that I am absolutely stunned at the ease of tackling different situations and the versatility of their spell, escape, and tactical options!

The spells; Magic Dart, Call Imp, and Mephitic Cloud - when used in combination with one another - as well as with no starvation issues, are very potent and strong.

I'm character level 15 (a record for me), have reached dungeon level 15, mopped the floor with all the orcs in their mine (discovered they have shops there), discovered there is an entrance to an Elven hall (where I am currently cleaning out - not as easy as the orcs, though), found an elephant building in the lair of beasts, have 20 spell books (!), more loot than I ever had with any character before, etc., etc., etc. I've been in a (minotaur) Labyrinth, an Oriflame portal, a traveling Bazaar, I can cross deep water (in bat form), and have seen 16 different (God) altars.

I have so much loot, I can't identify it all. When I think of all my poor Elven hunter/archers, who never seen a magical bow - let alone a long bow.... <laugh>

I have consumed two - yes a whole two - potions of healing, that's it! My HP's have never gone into the red. I have 17 more sitting on the floor in a small room, because I can't carry them all. If you think this is hard to believe - I also have aquired a mutation where I heal very slowly, on top of, slow to non-existent, undead healing!!

Anyone new to the game, should seriously consider this species/background if you're struggling, like I was. It requires a little thought though, but you can save the game and walk away to think of all the things you can do, if you find yourself in a predicament.

[MyOtheHedgeFox]

Thanks for telling us about your experience. =) I never tried sending Vampires, because of their undead nature and because of their blood hunger.

A Hexes specialist is an Enchanter.
Basically it's a thief who can make his victims fall asleep (if they are not too cold- and magic-resistant), suddenly get confused, get a bit highlightened to "uninvisible" them and make them easier to hit (with a spell called "Corona") and, later on, turn himself invisible.
Some other Hexes spells include mass confusion (Alistair's Intoxification and Mass Confusion), fear-inducing tricks (Cause Fear) and dimming the dungeon lights to carefully avoid being seen and seeing (Darkness).

There is another trickster race who are well-known Enchanters: Spriggans. These cunning creatures are very small and fast, they have very acute eyesight and eat only two or four apples a day, but they cannot eat any meat and are fragile.


I think you might also enjoy reading this forum topic. It's about favourite builds: I guess you might want to try some of these. =)

[brgmahiko]

high elf hunter is actually quite hard... if your're going pure physical RDPS. Maybe easier in 0.9...

VP Wiz is pretty good. Vamps are very flexible either way. You're at that point many similar chars (Necros~ Tms~) are beginning to have a "good time". Youve cleared the first speed bump and that great. Im happy you have now experienced lair and got to the bottom of mine for the first time.

There is a mid game lull in your kind of character so watch out for that!

[absolutego]

minor quip about stashing, and i'll keep it light because i don't know how you feel about spoilers:

I have 17 more sitting on the floor in a small room, because I can't carry them all.

it's a good habit to stash the stuff you can't carry in the temple, where it's perfectly safe, and later in lair, after you've cleared a floor (L:1's fine, L:2 if you want to be extra careful). otherwise humanoid monsters may respawn and take stuff from it, or a jelly may eat all of it, whether it's in a room or not. later on there are equivalent areas.

while it's admirable to just go on and figure it out by yourself, if you'd like to ask for advice you can dump your character progress to a text file with '#', and then look in your morgue folder.

[Nexodas]

I have not tried vamp since my very first character. Started as a Vampire Necromancer. Ended up dying because my only source of damage was Pain and NOTHING dropped any corpses. So when I hit bloodless and my regen stopped...yeah.

I have found Naga Wizards to be pretty nice. They have a LOT of HP, especially for a wizard, and are completely immune to poison. Poison is sometimes a bit of a problem for very weak characters, so that is quite the boon. Nagas are quite slow as far as movement speed goes, but honestly I have problems running away when I am anything besides a spriggin. A Naga's high stealth + Blink keeps me out of trouble while Mephitic, imps, and Dart/Breathe handle most of the early game. Only problems I have are if Vehumet or Sif decide to be stingy with their gifts. In Sif's case a useless book.

I will give Vampires a try though. If I remember right they have a good apt for Necromancy, which is my favorite line of spells. I think I'll start as a Wizard and worship Kiku and see how that rolls.

[eharper256]

In my experience, Vamps are great assassins and enchanters, but ironically not so much with necromancy since Regen isn't going to work and you may not always get away with using Pain loads like more natural characters.

[OdiumTheologicum]

Bows get some bonus damage from strength I believe, unlike crossbows. So starting out as a weak character strength wise means it'll be difficult early on. But, the further you go, the easier it gets. As with most classes that start out weak.

[Nexodas]

I really plan on training it only so far as to throw Haunt around since I can't get sick due to already being undead. Hunger wouldn't be a problem either since I could use Kiku to deliver corpses for me if I needed to regenerate or something.

Also I could take the pain brand instead of Necronomicon, assuming of course I find a shop with either it or the Grand Grimoire. Now I have no idea how effective that would be, since I've yet to get a Vamp past DL 5, but we'll see.

[XuaXua]

Strength is of about the same significance for both crossbows and bows, if I remember correctly. Note that with ranged weapons the most important effect of stats is on attack delay, not damage or accuracy. Also, Int will still do a lot more for you than Str or Dex, so always raise Int unless you're with Trog or with really heavy armour.

Regeneration works fine on vampires, and is actually more useful for them than for most species because it lets them regenerate at a decent rate when near bloodless. It only stops working when they become completely bloodless. Note that they can't cast the two best necromancy spells, Borgnjor's Revivification and Death's Door, so vampires have little reason to train Necromancy skill high.

I'm inspired to play vampires now.
If vampires are completely bloodless, do they starve to... further death?

Also, Necromancy + Kikkubukkukiukasdfedfljf corpses + Twisted Resurrection.

[Happy Corner]

Vampires cannot starve to death. If you're at bloodless, you stop regenerating, but that's it. You can't go "lower" on satiation than that.

[DeathKnyte]

Wow, so many replies (!)...



MyOtheHedgeFox:

My first time playing them too. But since I don't know any better, I thought that they would be cool exactly because of their undead status and associated abilities.

Ah - okay. I'll try an Enchanter next (with a Vampire), when I'm done with this present build. Thanks for telling me which background is a hexes specialist. Those descriptions, you provided, seem to go well with the classical skills of a vampire.

Spriggan? I encountered one of those in the game; she was named, Agnes. She was super wicked!!!



brgmahiko:

Well, I can attest that I have had much difficulty getting anywhere with a High Elf Hunter. I have no idea what you mean by "RDPS". I'm playing whatever version is downloadable from the DCSS main site (I think 0.8.1).

It seems there is never a dull moment for this guy though (except sifting through and carting all my junk around the dungeon) - dunno about that lull or where I will encounter it.



absolutego:

You should (then again, maybe you shouldn't) see all the stuff I have. I'm constantly concerned about monsters picking it up and using it against me. Potions, scrolls, wands, weapons, etc. I wish there was a way of locking doors in the dungeon, or something.

You mean the level with all the altars in one room, which is accessed by only one golden stairs down? And Lair is, Lair of Beasts? I've seen humanoids there, a bounty hunter guy or two any ways. And it has no little rooms, like in the main dungeon area.

I'm not certain yet, I kind of am enjoying all these discoveries with this new character and background. I'll tell you what; I'll ask some specific questions at the end of this post. I'm growing more attached to this guy every day, but likely because he has been so successful for me to date.



Nexodas:

In the game instructions, it says that undead seek the Orb of Zot in the hope that it will restore them to life.

I'm bloodless a lot. But again, I'll go between all the various hunger statuses - depending on what I want/need for a particular situation. If you're playing a vampire, you can see exactly what these are in game by typing "A" (brings you to the Mutations Weirdness, and innate Abilities screen), and then right clicking once there. It displays a whole table of things.

Another thing, I suppose, is that I really - really - try not to get hit at all (unless I want to try a new weapon out on something like a rat). Also I have a mutation that causes me to heal slowly on top of the undead rate...

Vampires are immune to poison unless at full / alive hunger status, by the way. So I have cast Mephitic Cloud on myself many times, walked into the poisonous vapors, no fear of dis-arming poison needle traps, etc.



OdiumTheologicum:

Strength? Wow. Every single game I've played in my life, has always associated bows more with dexterity, than strength. I would have taught that High Elves + bows would make the ultimate archer in DCSS. Maybe I'll try an ogre next time I want to use a bow (?). But I don't think it would feel the same...



minmay:

I have so many free spell slots, and I was looking at Regeneration as a likely "let's try this out and see how it does" spell. Next time I play, I'll memorize it.


----------------------

Okay, some specific questions...

- For this magic "Glow" concept, the game instructions say that vampires never get mutations at; Thirsty, Very Thirsty, Near Bloodless, and Bloodless. Is this correct concerning magic Glow? I've been confused, had energy discharges, and such from it.

- I have weapons with different effects, I've figured some out which would seem obvious (Flaming, Venom, Freezing, and so on). But the differences between Vampiric and Draining, seem not as well defined to me.

- Is there a defense (item, spell, whatnot) against this "Calling down the wrath of Beogh"? That's quite the knock on the head (or I should maybe say "stake in the chest") I get sometimes. Is it because I'm a Vampire and therefore undead?

- I can't believe how great these (various) Imps are (Call Imp spell). In the spell description, there are a number of "#"'s next to Power. Mine is currently at; #######... Am I to understand that the more #'s there are, the more powerful my Imps are? Like tougher, stronger, faster, etc?

- When you are in the 'Dungeon Overview and Level Annotations' screen; next to 'Branches' it says; "use G to reach them and ?/B for more information". So I hit "?", and it brings me to the instructions screen, but then typing in "B" brings me to the "Staring Screen" instructions. It should instead say "D", as that is where the "branches" section is in the "Exploring the Dungeon" instructions.

- If I want to enchant, let's say some darts. Do I have to be wielding them when reading the scroll of Enchant Weapon?

- Can I enchant a cloak, with a scroll of Enchant Armour?


Thank you for your time.





( P.S. By the way; I encountered a 28 headed hydra earlier today. My eyes nearly popped out of my skull on that one! Crazy times with that one... )

[MyOtheHedgeFox]

Spriggan? I encountered one of those in the game; she was named, Agnes. She was super wicked!!!

Oh yeah. Now imagine playing as this Agnes, but without her lajatang (which, by the way, is a rare and powerful weapon and sometimes has nice features, so do try obtaining it if you fight with Staves and can escape). Spriggans are really fast, faster than centaurs, and are natural tricksters. They are also inclined to use daggers and quick blades (blue swords with unusually fast attack rate, very rare: better for regular combat, but not so good for stabbing), usually for stabbing the sleepy, the confused and the distracted (remember: the sleepy, the confused, the distracted).
They are hard to outrun and hard to hit due to their love for dodging attacks, but they cannot use most shields except bucklers, most two-handed weapons, boots and gloves, and a nice trusty giant spiked club will turn one into a menacing ghost with a lucky hit.

Okay, some specific questions...

1) For this magic "Glow" concept, the game instructions say that vampires never get mutations at; Thirsty, Very Thirsty, Near Bloodless, and Bloodless. Is this correct concerning magic Glow? I've been confused, had energy discharges, and such from it.

2) I have weapons with different effects, I've figured some out which would seem obvious (Flaming, Venom, Freezing, and so on). But the differences between Vampiric and Draining, seem not as well defined to me.

3) Is there a defense (item, spell, whatnot) against this "Calling down the wrath of Beogh"? That's quite the knock on the head (or I should maybe say "stake in the chest") I get sometimes. Is it because I'm a Vampire and therefore undead?

1) Glow is dangerous even for the undead (and non-alive vampires are undead). Instead of mutating, you lose your maximum hit points.
Very high glow can make you a walking bomb, and the explosion can be very dangerous.


2) Vampiric weapons restore your health with each successful hit. Non-undead adventurers can wield such weapon only when they are satiated enough (Full, Very Full, Engorged), and wielding it will make them hungry.

Draining weapons will weaken your enemies, making them less dangerous (which is useful against shape shifting opponents), but also making them less difficult to fight against - which means you get less experience for defeating them! When used against you, such weapons will drain your experience, which sometimes will take you back to a lesser Experience Level. If you encounter an opponent with a Draining weapon in the Upper Dungeons (D:1 to D:4), RUN: if you are drained up to XL0, you die immediately, regardless of your health.
Some people usually throw such weapons into deep water or lava (Shift+f, then press a weapon's letter even if it's not visible in your usual list, aim at deep water or lava and press . instead of Enter to throw it right there), since they are quite annoying.

Both of these kinds are disliked by the three good gods (Zin, Elyvilon and The Shining One).


3) There is no direct defense: if an enemy who can call for a wrath of his god (this is called "smiting") can see you, he can smite you, even if there is a wall or a hoarde of enemies between you. Confuse them or move out of their line of sight (by evaporating a potion of water, in example).

[Happy Corner]

Also concerning 3), smiting doesn't care if you're undead either (weapons or blasts of holy wrath do, but they're not the same as "smiting"). Smiting hurts living characters just as easily as undead ones.

[Zicher]

Okay, some specific questions...

- For this magic "Glow" concept, the game instructions say that vampires never get mutations at; Thirsty, Very Thirsty, Near Bloodless, and Bloodless. Is this correct concerning magic Glow? I've been confused, had energy discharges, and such from it.

At these statuses, you can't get mutations - you rot instead, making your maxHP drop. This can laterbe fixed by drinking potions of healing (restores 1 maxHP) or heal wounds (3-4 maxHP) or zapping a wand of healing (3-4 maxHP). This has to be done at full health.

- I have weapons with different effects, I've figured some out which would seem obvious (Flaming, Venom, Freezing, and so on). But the differences between Vampiric and Draining, seem not as well defined to me.

Just one note to the previous post: As a Vampire, you can't worship any of these gods anyway .

- Is there a defense (item, spell, whatnot) against this "Calling down the wrath of Beogh"? That's quite the knock on the head (or I should maybe say "stake in the chest") I get sometimes. Is it because I'm a Vampire and therefore undead?

While there is no direct defense or resistance to smiting, you already have a solution on your hands: Mephitic Cloud. Orc priests nearly never resist it, and when they are confused, they cannot smite (or cast any spells, for that matter).

- I can't believe how great these (various) Imps are (Call Imp spell). In the spell description, there are a number of "#"'s next to Power. Mine is currently at; #######... Am I to understand that the more #'s there are, the more powerful my Imps are? Like tougher, stronger, faster, etc?

At higher spell power, you have a greater chance to summon more dangerous imps instead of regular ones. Also, they last longer before disappearing and are more resistant to Abjuration, which every summoning monster has available.

- If I want to enchant, let's say some darts. Do I have to be wielding them when reading the scroll of Enchant Weapon?

Exactly.
Note that you can't enchant artifacts, and the chance of improving the weapon diminishes with the current level of enchantment.

- Can I enchant a cloak, with a scroll of Enchant Armour?

You can enchant any type of armour, including shields.
Body armour can be enchanted max. to it's base AC (e.g. a robe to +2 and a plate mail to +10), shields to +3 and any other armour to +2.
And again, you can't enchant artifacts.

( P.S. By the way; I encountered a 28 headed hydra earlier today. My eyes nearly popped out of my skull on that one! Crazy times with that one... )

Ah, The Lernaean Hydra - this one means fun times . (I believe that it is 27-headed though)

[absolutego]

You mean the level with all the altars in one room, which is accessed by only one golden stairs down? And Lair is, Lair of Beasts? I've seen humanoids there, a bounty hunter guy or two any ways. And it has no little rooms, like in the main dungeon area.

yes, the level with the altars is the temple. you can stash whatever there, it's safe. locked rooms don't help at all.
lair (short for the lair of beasts) spawns uniques (that's what you call the guys with a name) but does not respawn humanoids, so as soon as you've cleared a level you can stash anything there too. many people wait until lair:2 because sometimes enemies walk down a staircase, but it's rare.

stashing is one of the many emergent charms of crawl. see the stash culture thread. it's worth it for grimm's legendary post alone.

[MyOtheHedgeFox]

4) I can't believe how great these (various) Imps are (Call Imp spell). In the spell description, there are a number of "#"'s next to Power. Mine is currently at; #######... Am I to understand that the more #'s there are, the more powerful my Imps are? Like tougher, stronger, faster, etc?

5) When you are in the 'Dungeon Overview and Level Annotations' screen; next to 'Branches' it says; "use G to reach them and ?/B for more information". So I hit "?", and it brings me to the instructions screen, but then typing in "B" brings me to the "Staring Screen" instructions. It should instead say "D", as that is where the "branches" section is in the "Exploring the Dungeon" instructions.

6) If I want to enchant, let's say some darts. Do I have to be wielding them when reading the scroll of Enchant Weapon?

7) Can I enchant a cloak, with a scroll of Enchant Armour?

4) The others almost explained how it works. =)
There are many other imps.

White Imps are cold resistant and can throw frost, killing most lesser enemies with a single hit.
Iron imps are resistant to almost everything, including electricity.
Shadow imps can cause pain and can raise the corpses of your enemies, and the resulting zombies will not disappear unless destroyed.


5) A capital letter means "Shift+letter".
B == Shift+b.
It's a standard "Unix way" abbreviation. =)

In your case, you should press: ?, then /, then Shift+B.


7) Check the item descriptions (right click on an item in Tiles) before reading your scroll. If an item is maximally enchanted, you cannot enchant it further.

Not quite by the way, sometimes you need to have an item maximally enchanted. Such items are more resistant to the effects of corrosion (they will be less likely to lose their stats and drop to minus after a splash of acid from an oklob bush or a jelly). Same works for weapons, but they are more resistant at +5, and almost immune at +9.
Acid corrodes only the damaging stat of the weapon (the second digit: a +1, +2 dagger; this one is affected by the scrolls of enchant weapon II, which are quite rare).
If an item gets corroded too much (a -2 cloak gets corroded again), it will be destroyed.

Artefacts are immune both to the scrolls of enchant/vorpalise and to the effects of acid. They are fixed, and this makes Xom laugh and makes you both angry and content.

[brgmahiko]

by RDPS i mean physical ranged damage.

barring lucky RNG, the lull i meant was a lull in power levels with such a character combo. tougher monster and sticky situations tend to come by midgame for a combo such as yours, then the typical caster endgame afterwards.

[DeathKnyte]

MyOtheHedgeFox:

I got Agnes' lajatang weapon (and her robe too). Once I got her confused, the imp horde made short work of her. But before she fell under the effects - she was chopping them down like flies. Any ways; concerning her weapon, I tried it a few times, but I'm slow with it, and considering I'm a spell caster, better off concentrating on that aspect (I figure any ways). But, It is good for damage - about 4 times better then my regular staff. I can chop down mushrooms with it, in like 8 hits - but a shortsword will take me like 20 (!).



Zicher:

Yea, I think it was called something like that. Okay, maybe 27, and not 28 heads. But you must understand I was much more concerned with how to kill it before it got near me, and soon after that failed - how I was going to get away from it. Counting each head (individually) was not a priority... < laugh >



absolutego:

Thank you kindly for that stashing concept explanation. It has alleviated much concern, and having all my junk in a central (and singular) area, has eased much of my troubles and organizational/logistics routines. I (re)swept the entire area in Lair 1, 2, and 3, in case - as you said they might use the stairs - and have established a depot in Lair 2. Very, very nice when coupled with the "SHIFT + W" and the "SHIFT + G" commands built into the game.



brgmahiko:

I think I may have just reached that lull point you were talking about. I'm kind of stuck and undecided on how to peruse this character's career, and am having difficulty pushing into (and beyond) certain branches. I'll type out what I've done and where I'm at now, in the next post.



Thank you to everyone who has contributed to answering my previous questions.

[XuaXua]

After Lair, if you have rPois, do hive. If you have dig spell or LRD spell and some map scrolls and rF+, do Orc.

Go down as far into D as you feel safe.

Try Vault 1-4. Don't do Crypt without Dispel Undead.

Try Shoals/Swamp/Snake. Make sure you have levitation for the first two and rPois for the last two. Also Amulet of Clarity is helpful.

Don't go into Tomb or Elf or Hall of Blades or Slime or Zot till all of the above is completed.

[XuaXua]

Don't do Crypt without Dispel Undead.

Dispel Undead is nowhere near needed for Crypt. Except for the last level, the entire branch is laughably easy compared to the first level of Vaults.

When I say "do" I mean "complete". I don't start a branch and then go elsewhere, except for Vaults.

[Roderic]

On my own experience vampires enchanters and stalkers has an early game like a breeze, and if things get rough you transform into a bat and flee through stairs.

[KoboldLord]

When I say "do" I mean "complete". I don't start a branch and then go elsewhere, except for Vaults.

While not technically grammatically incorrect, this is not the typical meaning of the phrase 'do a branch' in this context. If you're going to use an atypical meaning, you should probably clarify that you're doing so in advance rather than blithely allowing newcomers to misunderstand you.

In any case, Dispel Undead is rarely necessary for Crypt 5, either. Regular damage does just fine on all endings, if you didn't feel like investing in necromancy this game, and several allow you to ninja the loot without confronting the nastiest monsters at all.

[slowcar]

ninja the loot without confronting the nastiest monsters at all.

this makes the difference between winning and dying.

[brgmahiko]

Regarding that lull if i were to give advice it would be

Dungeon and Lair until you feel like a certain mob of monsters would wreck you. Bat and GTFO if you see such a mob.

Orc can be done until 3 very very very safely. 4 can get tricky with summons. abjuration if youre iffy, you can return when youre strong enough. Kiting and patience is the trick for orc:4.

Swamp Snake should be easy for you and then shoals. Ignore slime for this game unless you're fit enough for a 15 runer.

Vault 1-7: 8 when youre brave. Do not even peek into 8 unless youre in bat form or hasted.

Remember to manage your thirst so you have rPois in snake and swamp - youll be dead in no time without it.

[Jeremiah]

You can also get ettins on orc 1-3; they aren't generally that dangerous to everyone as they are a melee-only threat and vulnerable to Mephitic, confusion etc.

But if you come down the stairs next to one, in a lucky swing it can do more damage than almost anything up to the endgame.

[DeathKnyte]

My old computer died, so unfortunately this character is lost...

However; he really opened the game for me, where I was able to progress so far to anything compared prior.

From what I remember; he got to character level 20 - all with just the starting spell book. I started encountering difficulties though, when these spell levels were not quite cutting it with the monsters encountered. I had accumulated at least 30 other spell books though, but since I was not familiar, nor knew how any spells worked in game, I decided to put him on hold and explore some specific branches of magic with another vampire. That led to the creation of a vampire enchanter, since the game said they had a big natural attribute (+4), to learning them. His thread can be found here: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=2311&p=26446#p26446

Any ways, some great moments with the wizard were when cleaning out the Orcish mines. I had a horde of imps (all 4 types) engaging the masses of orcs. The red ones were great with slings, popping all over the place and plunking the enemy. The white ones with ranged freezing, the black ones with ranged agonizing attacks, and the grey ones as steadfast tanks. Meanwhile, I would Mephitic Cloud at will, since the imps always resisted, and this confused the already overwhelmed orcs. On top of it all, the black imps would rise orcs from the dead into zombies with weapon and armour! At the end of it all, the mines looked like a veritable battlefield! Weapons, armour, ammunition, corpses - littered entire levels. I have never seen such devastation before...

Another memorable time, was in the Elven Halls, where one elf fighter (or something) was giving me the hardest time. He had a killer magical ranged attack, a magical bow, and a sword which absolutely hurt when it would hit me. So I summoned a little iron imp, gave him a glowing sword, a glowing elven scale mail, a helmet, and my personal buckler of reflection. I told him to wait in a room, while I went out and attracted that elf into it. Once done, I got out of the room and closed the door, and just hit the "." key, until I got the message saying I was a "little more experienced". Soon after the door opened, and it was my little iron imp. I smiled in satisfaction and patted him on the head.

There was an epic battle in the Swamp, where we met a 27 headed hydra (!). Oh wow - I was certain that I'd need more fire power. So I went and summoned about 16 imps, and we we all went to engage it. I was providing artillery support from wands of fire, cold, and lightning. All the imps were able to distract it for long enough, that it was down to nearly no life. You had to squint really hard at the screen, to see the tiniest smidgen of red in the life bar. However, I had run dry in all my wands, and as much as I wanted to finish it off in close combat, decided to pull the plug and flew away...


Any ways; if you're new and having a hard time, go through this thread and you might get some ideas on how to improve your playing, and/or maybe give a vampire wizard a try. For myself, now that I have learned and experienced a few more things, I think that a Vampire Enchanter may be even easier.

[borfstyle]

I just recently found this forum after playing for a while just relying on the wiki. Just wanted to say thanks to everyone in this thread, as I've picked up quite a few interesting pointers. And to the OP, thanks for opening my mind to the awesomeness of Vampires! Currently having a blast with my imp army and shrugging off meph clouds.