Need weapon advice (Hill Orc Berserker)

Saturday, 25th November 2017, 06:58 by right hand

This is my chardump-

Code:: Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup version 0.20.1 (tiles) character file. Peutz the Severer (Hill Orc Berserker) Turns: 14720, Time: 00:22:22 Health: 122/122 AC: 19 Str: 25 XL: 13 Next: 11% Magic: 13/13 EV: 9 Int: 7 God: Trog [*****.] Gold: 596 SH: 4 Dex: 12 Spells: 12/12 levels left rFire . . . SeeInvis . R - +8 war axe (chop) rCold + . . Gourm . (no shield) rNeg + . . Faith . H - +0 plate armour rPois + Spirit . (no helmet) rElec . Reflect + G - +1 cloak rCorr . Harm . (no gloves) MR +.... (no boots) Stlth .......... w - +4 amulet of reflection Regen 0.3/turn p - ring of positive energy MPRegen 0.2/turn (no ring) @: no status effects A: talons 1, cold resistance 1, magic resistance 1, poison resistance, shaggy fur 1, strong 1, wild magic 1, MP-powered wands a: Berserk, Trog's Hand, Brothers in Arms, Burn Spellbooks, Renounce Religion You are on level 4 of the Lair of Beasts. You worship Trog. Trog is extremely pleased with you. You are not hungry. You have visited 2 branches of the dungeon, and seen 13 of its levels. You have collected 596 gold pieces. Inventory: Hand Weapons E - a +0 battleaxe J - a +1 antimagic executioner's axe L - a +2 war axe of freezing R - a +8 war axe of chopping (weapon) Armour G - a +1 cloak (worn) H - a +0 plate armour (worn) Jewellery p - a ring of positive energy (left hand) r - an uncursed ring of flight w - a +4 amulet of reflection (around neck) O - a ring of ice Wands x - a wand of clouds (?/9) A - a wand of disintegration (?/24) D - a wand of flame (?/48) I - a wand of random effects (?/48) M - a wand of digging (?/24) S - a wand of paralysis (?/24) Y - a wand of random effects (?/48) Scrolls d - 3 scrolls labeled IFUULUIMOA g - 2 scrolls labeled YRRIKO MOASS h - 4 scrolls of remove curse k - 12 scrolls labeled XUYSIGU WAUN m - 4 scrolls labeled QIM WELUSKAWK o - 11 scrolls labeled PICHON KYMEY s - a scroll labeled KUMESE GIXI v - a scroll labeled UQEVAO USTROS y - 5 scrolls labeled VAREM KOCWIA C - 3 scrolls labeled UMEPRA FEFAJ K - 3 scrolls labeled OTUSHAD OVIF Q - a scroll labeled XYFAMA WYUR W - a scroll labeled GEVIJO MAIZO Potions e - a potion of lignification j - 5 potions of curing l - a pink potion n - 2 potions of haste q - a sedimented black potion t - 2 potions of heal wounds z - a purple potion F - 3 potions of resistance N - a cyan potion T - a potion of berserk rage U - a potion of agility Books b - a book of Maledictions Spells Type Level a - Corona Hexes 1 b - Ensorcelled Hibernation Hexes/Ice 2 c - Confuse Hexes 3 d - Tukima's Dance Hexes 3 e - Dazzling Spray Conjuration/Hexes 3 Trog disapproves of the use of such an item. f - a book of Geomancy Spells Type Level a - Sandblast Earth 1 b - Passwall Transmutation/Earth 2 c - Stone Arrow Conjuration/Earth 3 d - Petrify Transmutation/Earth 4 e - Lee's Rapid Deconstruction Earth 5 Trog disapproves of the use of such an item. B - a book of Flames Spells Type Level a - Flame Tongue Conjuration/Fire 1 b - Throw Flame Conjuration/Fire 2 c - Conjure Flame Conjuration/Fire 3 d - Inner Flame Hexes/Fire 3 e - Sticky Flame Conjuration/Fire 4 f - Fireball Conjuration/Fire 5 Trog disapproves of the use of such an item. P - a book of Changes Spells Type Level a - Beastly Appendage Transmutation 1 b - Sticks to Snakes Transmutation 2 c - Spider Form Transmutation/Poison 3 d - Ice Form Ice/Transmutation 4 e - Blade Hands Transmutation 5 Trog disapproves of the use of such an item. X - a book of Geomancy Spells Type Level a - Sandblast Earth 1 b - Passwall Transmutation/Earth 2 c - Stone Arrow Conjuration/Earth 3 d - Petrify Transmutation/Earth 4 e - Lee's Rapid Deconstruction Earth 5 Trog disapproves of the use of such an item. Comestibles a - 3 fruits c - 6 bread rations i - 9 royal jellies u - 3 meat rations V - 7 chunks of flesh Skills: + Level 13.0 Fighting + Level 17.0 Axes + Level 13.1 Armour + Level 4.3 Dodging You have 12 spell levels left. You don't know any spells. Dungeon Overview and Level Annotations Branches: Dungeon (9/15) Temple (0/1) D:6 Lair (4/6) D:9 Shoals (0/4) Lair:2 Spider (0/4) Lair:2 Orc: D:9-12 Altars: Cheibriados Dithmenos Fedhas Makhleb Nemelex Xobeh Qazlal Sif Muna Uskayaw Yredelemnul Shops: D:4 ? D:6 ( D:8 ( Innate Abilities, Weirdness & Mutations You have sharp toenails. Your flesh is cold resistant. (rC+) You are resistant to hostile enchantments. (MR+) Your system is resistant to poisons. (rPois) You are covered in fur. (AC +1) Your muscles are strong. (Str +2) Your spells are a little harder to cast, but a little more powerful. You expend magic power (3 MP) to strengthen your wands. Message History No target in view! No target in view! No target in view! No target in view! No target in view! No target in view! No target in view! No target in view! No target in view! You see here a blink frog corpse. You butcher the blink frog corpse. V - 5 chunks of flesh (gained 3) You see here a blink frog skeleton. You start resting. HP restored. You see here a blink frog corpse. You butcher the blink frog corpse. V - 7 chunks of flesh (gained 2) You see here a blink frog skeleton. Saving game... please wait. # ##.. ... #... ... #...## ..## ##..P#######..P## #................ ##.........P..... #.......÷..PPPP.. #........@.P.##. #P............... ###...........(.... #......#####..###. ##....######..# .##. ##..####.#...##.#.#. #..........>....... ##................ #.....##..P.#..# ## #..#.###.P.##..##.#P There are no monsters in sight! Vanquished Creatures Fannar (Lair:1) 4 hydras 5 two-headed ogres Pikel (D:7) Joseph (D:7) Maurice (D:8) 2 black mambas (Lair:2) 6 spiny frogs 2 komodo dragons A troll (D:9) A polar bear (Lair:4) A hippogriff (Lair:2) Grinder (D:6) 4 blink frogs (Lair:4) 7 dream sheep (Lair:4) Sigmund (D:6) A tarantella (Lair:2) Eustachio (D:6) A basilisk (Lair:3) 12 yaks Grum (Lair:1) A wyvern (Lair:1) A hungry ghost (D:3) Duvessa (D:7) 3 water moccasins 6 porcupines 7 orc warriors 3 sky beasts (D:5) 6 ice beasts A necrophage (D:4) 4 phantoms 4 wolves (Lair:1) 7 centaurs 4 ogres 8 crocodiles A big kobold (D:9) 16 bullfrogs 2 water moccasin zombies 6 killer bees (D:8) A scorpion (D:7) 5 wights (D:6) An electric eel (Lair:2) 7 crimson imps 2 howler monkeys (D:9) 7 orc priests A centaur skeleton (D:8) A jelly (D:5) 5 hounds 12 orc wizards 4 bullfrog skeletons 3 iguanas 7 worker ants A hound zombie (D:7) A hound skeleton (D:6) 4 gnolls (D:5) A howler monkey skeleton (D:7) A river rat (Lair:4) 12 adders 2 shadow imps An ooze (D:2) 2 adder skeletons 5 worms 3 dart slugs 2 leopard geckos 38 orcs 6 bats 2 bat zombies (D:1) 3 giant cockroaches 11 goblins 8 hobgoblins 8 jackals 8 kobolds 4 quokkas 6 frilled lizards A leopard gecko skeleton (D:5) 8 rats 2 fungi (Lair:2) 332 creatures vanquished. Vanquished Creatures (others) A slave (D:7) A necrophage (D:7) Dowan (D:7) A howler monkey zombie (D:7) A kobold (D:9) 5 creatures vanquished. Grand Total: 337 creatures vanquished Notes Turn | Place | Note -------+----------+------------------------------------------- 0 | D:1 | Peutz the Hill Orc Berserker began the quest for the Orb. 0 | D:1 | Reached XP level 1. HP: 19/19 MP: 1/1 247 | D:1 | Reached XP level 2. HP: 9/27 MP: 2/2 755 | D:1 | Reached XP level 3. HP: 33/33 MP: 3/3 1310 | D:2 | Reached ** piety under Trog 1669 | D:2 | Reached XP level 4. HP: 31/41 MP: 4/4 1833 | D:2 | Found a sparkling altar of Nemelex Xobeh. 2268 | D:3 | Reached skill level 5 in Fighting 2284 | D:3 | Reached skill level 5 in Axes 2312 | D:3 | Reached XP level 5. HP: 22/48 MP: 5/5 2504 | D:3 | Noticed a hungry ghost 2544 | D:3 | Paralysed by fainting for 12 turns 2569 | D:3 | Killed a hungry ghost 2569 | D:3 | Reached XP level 6. HP: 10/56 MP: 6/6 3032 | D:3 | Reached *** piety under Trog 3640 | D:4 | Found a blossoming altar of Fedhas. 3654 | D:4 | Found Ocion's Magic Scroll Boutique. 3834 | D:4 | Noticed a phantom 3849 | D:4 | Reached skill level 6 in Axes 3867 | D:4 | Killed a phantom 3867 | D:4 | Reached XP level 7. HP: 46/62 MP: 7/7 4027 | D:4 | Reached skill level 7 in Axes 4325 | D:4 | Reached skill level 5 in Armour 4626 | D:4 | Found a burning altar of Makhleb. 4626 | D:4 | Found a stormy altar of Qazlal. 4626 | D:4 | Found a shadowy altar of Dithmenos. 4645 | D:4 | Found a blossoming altar of Fedhas. 4648 | D:4 | Found a snail-covered altar of Cheibriados. 4688 | D:5 | Entered Level 5 of the Dungeon 4697 | D:5 | Reached skill level 8 in Axes 4853 | D:5 | Reached XP level 8. HP: 51/70 MP: 8/8 4876 | D:5 | Gained mutation: You are resistant to hostile enchantments. (MR+) [mutagenic meat] 4877 | D:5 | Gained mutation: You expend magic power (3 MP) to strengthen your wands. [mutagenic meat] 4878 | D:5 | Gained mutation: You are frail. (-10% HP) [mutagenic meat] 4880 | D:5 | Gained mutation: You are weak. (Str -2) [mutagenic meat] 5037 | D:5 | Lost mutation: You are weak. (Str -2) [potion of mutation] 5037 | D:5 | Lost mutation: You are frail. (-10% HP) [potion of mutation] 5037 | D:5 | Lost mutation: You expend magic power (3 MP) to strengthen your wands. [potion of mutation] 5037 | D:5 | Gained mutation: You expend magic power (3 MP) to strengthen your wands. [potion of mutation] 5037 | D:5 | Gained mutation: You are frail. (-10% HP) [potion of mutation] 5037 | D:5 | Gained mutation: Your flesh is cold resistant. (rC+) [potion of mutation] 5037 | D:5 | Gained mutation: You are covered in fur. (AC +1) [potion of mutation] 5260 | D:5 | Reached skill level 9 in Axes 5515 | D:5 | Reached skill level 10 in Axes 5519 | D:5 | Lost mutation: You are frail. (-10% HP) [mutagenic meat] 5520 | D:5 | Gained mutation: Your spells are a little harder to cast, but a little more powerful. [mutagenic meat] 5521 | D:5 | Gained mutation: Your system is resistant to poisons. (rPois) [mutagenic meat] 5522 | D:5 | Gained mutation: You have sharp toenails. [mutagenic meat] 5807 | D:5 | Gained mutation: Your muscles are strong. (Str +2) [mutagenic meat] 5913 | D:6 | Reached XP level 9. HP: 77/79 MP: 9/9 5919 | D:6 | Reached **** piety under Trog 5993 | D:6 | Noticed Eustachio 6008 | D:6 | Killed Eustachio 6044 | D:6 | Reached skill level 11 in Axes 6141 | D:6 | Found Ejiuhob's Antique Weapon Boutique. 6448 | D:6 | Found a staircase to the Ecumenical Temple. 6471 | D:6 | Noticed Grinder 6483 | D:6 | Killed Grinder 6555 | D:6 | Noticed Sigmund 6568 | D:6 | Killed Sigmund 6896 | D:6 | Reached skill level 12 in Axes 7443 | D:7 | Found a hide-covered altar of Uskayaw. 7487 | D:7 | Noticed Pikel 7497 | D:7 | Noticed Duvessa 7500 | D:7 | Killed Pikel 7500 | D:7 | Reached XP level 10. HP: 91/91 MP: 10/10 7509 | D:7 | Killed Duvessa 7514 | D:7 | Noticed Dowan 7521 | D:7 | Killed Dowan 7640 | D:7 | Noticed Joseph 7655 | D:7 | Killed Joseph 7798 | D:7 | Reached skill level 13 in Axes 8333 | D:7 | Reached ***** piety under Trog 8412 | D:8 | Noticed a two-headed ogre 8417 | D:8 | Killed a two-headed ogre 8516 | D:8 | Noticed a two-headed ogre 8525 | D:8 | Killed a two-headed ogre 8647 | D:8 | Noticed a two-headed ogre 8654 | D:8 | Killed a two-headed ogre 8654 | D:8 | Reached skill level 14 in Axes 8654 | D:8 | Reached XP level 11. HP: 99/99 MP: 11/11 8757 | D:8 | Found Ixkoceqa's Antique Weapon Boutique. 8765 | D:8 | Noticed Maurice 8793 | D:8 | Killed Maurice 8793 | D:8 | Reached skill level 10 in Fighting 9038 | D:8 | Found a basalt altar of Yredelemnul. 9380 | D:9 | Reached skill level 10 in Armour 9882 | D:9 | Noticed a two-headed ogre 9897 | D:9 | Killed a two-headed ogre 9930 | D:9 | Found a staircase to the Lair. 9952 | D:9 | Noticed a two-headed ogre 9957 | D:9 | Killed a two-headed ogre 9957 | D:9 | Reached skill level 15 in Axes 9986 | D:9 | Reached ****** piety under Trog 9986 | D:9 | Received a gift from Trog 10570 | D:9 | Got a scorched ring mail 10581 | D:9 | Identified the +0 ring mail of Suck {+Fly rPois rF+} (You found it on level 9 of the Dungeon) 10638 | Lair:1 | Entered Level 1 of the Lair of Beasts 10638 | Lair:1 | Noticed Grum 10656 | Lair:1 | Killed Grum 10781 | Lair:1 | Noticed Fannar 10814 | Lair:1 | Killed Fannar 11144 | Lair:1 | Noticed a six-headed hydra 11156 | Lair:1 | Killed an eight-headed hydra 11156 | Lair:1 | Reached XP level 12. HP: 24/110 MP: 12/12 11552 | Lair:1 | Reached skill level 16 in Axes 12055 | Lair:1 | Received a gift from Trog 12102 | Lair:2 | Found a staircase to the Shoals. 12194 | Lair:2 | Found a deep blue altar of Sif Muna. 12511 | Lair:2 | Noticed a four-headed hydra 12517 | Lair:2 | Killed a seven-headed hydra 12683 | Lair:2 | Found a hole to the Spider Nest. 13310 | Lair:3 | Noticed a five-headed hydra 13311 | Lair:3 | Noticed an eight-headed hydra 13318 | Lair:3 | Killed a ten-headed hydra 13321 | Lair:3 | Killed a 15-headed hydra 14352 | Lair:4 | Reached XP level 13. HP: 81/119 MP: 13/13 14547 | Lair:4 | Reached skill level 17 in Axes Skill XL: | 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 | ---------------+----------------------------------------+----- Fighting | 4 5 6 7 9 11 12 13 | 13.0 Axes | 5 6 8 10 12 14 15 16 17 | 17.0 Armour | 4 5 6 8 9 11 12 13 | 13.1 Dodging | 2 3 4 | 4.3 Action | 1- 3 | 4- 6 | 7- 9 | 10-12 | 13-15 || total -------------------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------++------- Melee: Hand axe | 118 | 214 | 389 | 299 | || 1020 Kick | | | 53 | 159 | 16 || 228 War axe | | | | 177 | 35 || 212 Battleaxe | | | | 33 | || 33 Executioner's axe | | | | 26 | || 26 Invok: Berserk | | 2 | 2 | 5 | || 9 Burn Spellbooks | | | | 1 | || 1 Use: Potion | | 1 | 9 | | || 10 Scroll | | 2 | | 1 | || 3 Eat: Chunk | 2 | 12 | 22 | 20 | 1 || 57 Meat ration | | 2 | | | || 2 Fruit | | 1 | | | || 1 Bread ration | | | | 2 | || 2 Armor: Animal skin | 15 | | | | || 15 Ring mail | 18 | 41 | | | || 59 Scale mail | | 16 | | | || 16 Chain mail | | | 166 | 60 | || 226 Plate armour | | | | 222 | 13 || 235 Dodge: Dodged | 75 | 76 | 89 | 202 | 9 || 451 Block: Other | 6 | 32 | 43 | 61 | 4 || 146 Reflection | | | 1 | 7 | || 8

I have 16 skill in axes.
I have a +8 war axe of chopping and a +1 Antimagic Executioner's axe (Both gifted by Trog)
I am not using a shield.
I am in the lair. I am strong enough to fight 2 hydras at once with my chopping axe.

Should I take the Exec's axe when I get enough skill for minimum delay? Should I enchant it to a respectable level first? Should I use a scroll of brand weapon (If I find one) on it?
Is the war axe the best thing I can expect from Trog?
Should I stop dumping points into Str?
What affects my cleaving damage?
Any other general advice I should be following but am not?

Saturday, 25th November 2017, 09:13 by Siegurt

Should I take the Exec's axe when I get enough skill for minimum delay?
-- You should use exec axe(s) when you have enough skill, however you shouldn't make getting enough skill a priority, the amount of XP it takes to go from 20 to 26 is huge, and you can do a lot of productive things with that XP before that last stretch becomes the best thing to spend your XP on, you should expect to use an exec axe of some sort (maybe that one) at the very late parts of the game.

Should I enchant it to a respectable level first?
-- Ideally, yes, but as I said, this should be a long time from now, so you may get a better replacement between now and then.

Should I use a scroll of brand weapon (If I find one) on it?
-- Antimagic is *really* powerful against some of the nastier critters late in the game, who tend to kill you with magic, basically antimagic gives monster's spells an increasing chance of failure, so magic-using critters can really get shut down by it, again it's a late game useful brand, but it's a late-game useful weapon, so I'd say "probably not"

Is the war axe the best thing I can expect from Trog?
-- No, Trog will continue to grant you random weapons, tending towards axes as long as you keep killing stuff faster than you use up your piety. They can be enchanted from +0 up to +9, or possibly more if they're artifacts, and you can get stronger base weapons than war axes (broad axes, then battle axes are the next two steps up, exec axes being the heaviest, slowest, and most damaging type of axe in the game, requiring the most skill)

Should I stop dumping points into Str?
-- Str effects your melee and ranged weapon damage, and reduces the negative impact of heavy armour, it's probably going to continue to be useful for the rest of the game. Dex is going to be slightly less useful than strength (It helps with attack accuracy, and increases your evasion, but it's evasion effects are muted by wearing heavier armour), and Int will not help you at all. So [Edit] No.

What affects my cleaving damage?
-- Same things that effect your normal damage, cleaving is just a bonus attack with your normal weapon, at a percentage of your normal damage. Specifically (and in no particular order) you have: weapon base damage, weapon enchantment, weapon brand, slaying bonuses, strength, weapon skill, and fighting, if you expand the notion of damage to include your odds of hitting, then Dex will help as well.

Some notes on damage: Fighting, strength, and weapon skill increase the weapon base damage by a percentage, weapon enchantment and slaying add to that *after the multipying is done* so those bonuses are not as valuable point per point as the weapon's base damage once you've invested some in fighting and weapon skill (for example, once you have 26 skill, a base damage 18 exec axe with +1 damage will do significantly more damage than an 11 damage war axe with +8 damage). Some brands add a specific amount of damage, some do a percentage of the pre-brand damage (in effect giving a multiplier to the entire damage of the weapon) and some brands don't add damage at all, but provide some other useful effect.

Saturday, 25th November 2017, 09:29 by Majang

Very helpful post, Siegurt! Though I think you mean the last word of your response to "Should I stop dumping points into STR" to be "no".

Saturday, 25th November 2017, 12:09 by bel

right hand wrote:Any other general advice I should be following but am not?

Siegurt has already given good advice on the other stuff, so I'll just mention a few tips here of general advice:

Read one of each type of scroll of which you have multiples. If you get into trouble, 10 of <unknown scroll> will likely not help you, but 9 scrolls of teleportation will.
Once you figure out the identify scrolls, use all of them on your potions.
Your core skills (Fighting, Axes, Armour) seem fine -- dodging could be a bit higher, but it's ok.
You don't have any ranged weapon skills. If you're not planning on using shields, you can look for a longbow or arbalest and start training bows/crossbows. Trog will gift you bows/crossbows and arrows/bolts as well.
You can also train a few levels of evocations for wands. Hex wands like paralysis are sometimes useful.

Saturday, 25th November 2017, 12:36 by Majang

bel wrote:[*] Once you figure out the identify scrolls, use all of them on your potions.

I have done this in the old days, with good reasons, but I have stopped doing so some time ago. As long as nobody is around while you are drinking, none of the current potions can actually harm you significantly. You will want to scroll-identify your biggest stacks, so that you are not wasting any potions of healing and curing, but all smaller stacks I nowadays just quaff and see what happens. That gives you more scrolls of identification for wands, weapons, armour and jewellery, when you need them. Although, trunk now takes care of wand identification.

Saturday, 25th November 2017, 15:47 by right hand

Thanks!
I will keep this advice in mind whenever I try to play with an Axing Orcserker next.

Saturday, 25th November 2017, 17:09 by Siegurt

Majang wrote:Very helpful post, Siegurt! Though I think you mean the last word of your response to "Should I stop dumping points into STR" to be "no".

Yes, that is what meant.

Saturday, 25th November 2017, 19:12 by stoneychips

I guess you may have finished that run already but oh well, for reference.

Trog's weapon drops are biased a little toward anti-magic, so don't be surprised if you end up with a few anti-magic weapons gifted to you pretty soon. (On ogres, I have seen Trog drop enchanted giant clubs with higher than +9 anti-magic branded and no artifact properties; I can't recall if this happened for other weapon types also.) You'll get some other brands sooner or later, too. Although if you see a weapon with a good plus and high base damage that you can use, you might want to randomly re-brand (with scroll) that one. If you rebrand, do take the weapon in question off first because there is a slim chance you'll end up with distortion in the process and you might not want to deal with handling that (unless you're feeling lucky).

You're close to the minimum delay for broad axes (18 Axes), for example. So while a war axe is not too bad for now with a strong brand (chopping is at least generally effective given enough time), you can probably do better pretty soon with a broad axe blue (ideally) or plain (still good due to higher base damage). Or a battle axe when you reach 18ish but really better 20 Axes for min delay. (I wouldn't worry about being just a point or two below min delay if your choice is between a war axe and a battle axe. Broad axes don't always appear early. The battle axe will be slower, but unless the war axe is electrocution or something the particular enemy is vulnerable to, the battle axe will just hit so much harder once you connect.) If you find a hand crossbow, it only takes 10 Crossbows to use them at min delay and they hit fairly hard, for example. But even a few points in Throwing would help tomahawks and javelins (when available) gain a little oomph for a couple rounds of softening up a rushing enemy.

Sooner or later, you might want to get like 1-2 levels of Axes beyond minimum delay's requirement in case you get temporarily drained by monsters but it should mostly only matter in the hardest fights or with red drain. I'd recommend picking up a broad axe if you see one asap or maybe going to 20 and switching to the battle axe, but I would go with some missile weapon for at least a few points soon, and worry about the extra point in melee skills after that. Be aware that sorcerers in Orc (especially around the vaults in Orc 2) may drain you a little with magic bolt spells... But you have a whole lot of Dungeon you could explore to raise XP/get more good items before going there.

Quaffing random potions is not usually too bad but... It is possible for a Potion of Mutation to give you nasty things like Teleportitis (periodically sending you somewhere else on the floor with monsters nearby) or Blurry Vision (slowing down your reading of scrolls to escape in a pinch). A second potion of mutation (or eating mutagenic chunks from a sky beast or ugly thing slain when you're hungry anyway) has a good but not perfect chance of removing the bad mutation(s), but there's always a chance that your last spin of the mutation roulette will leave you with a mean one/some until you can find some more. A potion of Degeneration would lower your stats temporarily for some time, which is a bad combination with drain if you run into that as well. On the other hand, if you find only one of a given color of potion by the end of Lair or around D:12, it starts to get kinda tempting because there's some chance that is a Potion of Experience too... Occasionally you can have multiple early pots of experience, but it's not very common.

Sunday, 26th November 2017, 07:57 by Majang

stoneychips wrote:Occasionally you can have multiple early pots of experience, but it's not very common.

Just happened to me in my current game, on D7 - blindly quaffed a stack of two, and they turned out to be experience! That's an amazing boost to the game. But, as Stoneychips says, that is not very common. Then again, in the same game, I quaffed a stack of 4, and got some horribly bad mutations. I had to drink all four to get to a reasonable set again, losing my previous meat-induced robustness. So hereby I retract my earlier claim that nothing really bad can happen to you from blind quaffing.

Sunday, 26th November 2017, 09:06 by crawlnoob

You dont want to blind quaff potions, not because of mutation (which is probably going to be good for you), but because you really could have used that might or heal wounds potion at a different time. Same goes for blink and fear scrolls, etc.. Use ID exclusively on potions and scrolls and only blind test if you have a large stack (if you even need to). I will typically not ID my largest stack of potions because its usually cure (but not always!). With scrolls that is usually ID (so you blind read the biggest stack), and the second largest stack is usually teleport. These are valuable enough to want to use an ID scroll to be absolutely sure.

As for the OP: If you arent used to how weapon delay works, I would advise waiting for a decent battle axe (elec, freezing, antimagic, vamp) and putting your enchant scrolls on that. You can also take another brand (flaming and drain are fine but lose effectivity later in the game) especially if it comes pre-enchanted with a strong bonus. Executioner axes are very powerful, but the delay is considerable if you dont have the required weapon skill, and as mentioned in this thread, that is XP that really needs to be put elsewhere first. Dont wait around for a broad axe : it's not as strong, it's not as common, and you aren't going for shields anyhow, apparently (its the best axe for use with a shield).

You are probably gonna die anyhow, so just focus on staying alive and making good decisions for the now, rather than planning ahead (usually a very bad strategy anyhow). Keep your fighting and axes skill high, armour high, and dont forget some dodging because you can get some cheap EV points before it starts falling off.

Sunday, 26th November 2017, 09:24 by Majang

crawlnoob wrote:Use ID exclusively on potions and scrolls

That seems unreasonable to me. Wielding the wrong randart weapon, armour or even non-randart jewellery can get you into serious trouble, over and over again with each new item you find. It stands to reason that having a good stack of id-scrolls is very useful in these situations. Or do you want to forgo all the juicy randart drops on the floor, because you can't safely identify them? Even Trog's gifts can have the distortion brand, and I would not simply pick them up just like that.
Fine, if you have an unusually large stack of id-scrolls, you can identify potions and even other scrolls, but from a safety point-of-view, this usually smells like waste to me.

Sunday, 26th November 2017, 14:15 by crawlnoob

How often do you need to use a consumable vs how often does a randart kill you? I ID randarts as a second priority, though if I dont have a weapon and it is early game and I dont have remove curse scrolls IDd yet, then I will sometimes burn an ID on a randart item first. Again, depending on how many consumables I have IDd and how many ID scrolls I have found.

EDIT: Didnt mean to write exclusively.. brain fart. I meant to say almost all of the time.

Tuesday, 5th December 2017, 23:25 by tasonir

stoneychips wrote:I guess you may have finished that run already but oh well, for reference.

Trog's weapon drops are biased a little toward anti-magic, so don't be surprised if you end up with a few anti-magic weapons gifted to you pretty soon. (On ogres, I have seen Trog drop enchanted giant clubs with higher than +9 anti-magic branded and no artifact properties; I can't recall if this happened for other weapon types also.)

It's been at least a year since I checked but last I knew, if trog gifts you a weapon which is either a giant club or giant spiked club, then it is an artifact weapon 24 out of 25 times (96%). So while it's possible you got a non-artifact club, it'd be quite rare to get more than one.

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