Spider Stomper
Posts: 206
Joined: Thursday, 28th July 2011, 06:11
Monday, 13th August 2018, 21:45
Thinking Challenge: Bad Move in Tomb 3 - What Would You Do?
I'm playing a character who is carrying the "Black Torch". He has turned out to be quite versatile and utilizes many different tools (ways) while progressing through the dungeon. I haven't played for a number of years, and certain things in the game have changed, so sometimes I catch myself in situations where I realize that I have played badly.
So here is a situation which I found to be interesting and, maybe those of you who enjoy playing a thinking type of game, might also find.
So I'm in the Tomb of Ancients area of the dungeon. I have recently battled a few greater mummies in the above levels (reason for some of the stat drains), and after verifying the available amount of blood potions in inventory, decided I had enough to start working on the final level.
I set my god gifted servants on guard duty, and preemptively cast the darkness spell before accessing the chute to level 3.
Picture 1:
I appeared two squares above the position in the above picture. I see no death scarabs about, so decide on moving down and stab the guardian mummy. Nothing else has been revealed and the monster is still asleep, so looks like it's a go, for the stab...
Picture 2:
The resulting noise from the stab was minimal, and I'm confident that it has not alerted anything lurking to the South. Since I'm already close to the Eastern wall, tentatively I step down one square - revealing another guardian mummy - another square down shows nothing more, and then one square down and right, so as to place me within one move of the doorway. The last move reveals the first row of the large corridor mob. I know there are two more rows of monsters a little below them, likely containing some mummy priests, ushabti, and maybe a few greater mummies.
Everything is still asleep but, making any moves towards the Southern mob will likely result in waking a few and I know that things will start spiraling into either a major noisy fight, or in me being forced to withdraw to an exit and leaving a pile of monsters now wandering all over the place. I decide to go for the doorway, to reveal one row below them, and also see what's lurking behind it, and maybe to start establishing a "hold position" for a protracted fight.
Picture 3:
Okay, a mummy priest and a death scarab, both still asleep, are revealed in the room so far. However, a skeletal champion has woken from the South and is starting to move up to my last known position in the doorway. I paused here to contemplate the new information. Every move in the Tomb of Ancients can have potential to result in a spiraling situation whereby I lose the ability to maintain control and manage things effectively.
Stabbing the mummy priest on the very next move is a given, but what I do after that will be consequential...
Picture 4:
I stabbed the mummy priest and decided that the death scarab would also need to go. It is within two moves of the doorway holding position. The skeletal champion, I would handle when he would be a few squares inside the room, in order to minimize the sound being projected to the outside corridor. I also wanted to see what else was lurking "in the black" within the room. So I took a few steps towards the death scarab, revealing some more (all still asleep), and when the skeletal champion arrived in the doorway and saw me, he cast haste - making noise (look at the noise meter in the picture) - and waking the death scarab next to me!
Now I froze - immediately recognizing my bad playing.
I forgot that the skeletal champion had spells (making noise), and now I'm next to an awake death scarab whereby a successful hit with damage will slow me. Also, if you count the squares to the awake death scarab, you can see that the distance also carries to the line of monsters in the outside corridor, likely awakening some (or all) of them also. I'm out of position to hold the doorway, if slowed I'm within one move of getting hit multiple times by the remaining scarabs and two moves of the hasted skeletal champion. There will be noise and I have to consider that there can very well be a couple of liches still unrevealed in the room.
I cursed myself for being so impetuous after stabbing the mummy priest. The correct play would have been to invoke my cloak and gone invisible. The skeletal champion would not have seen me when reaching the doorway and thus not cast the spell to make the noise, etc., etc.
So now you have the background to the situation. My very next move is now crucial. I was faced with three pressing questions:
- Can I somehow regain control of the situation?
- If so, how can I minimize the consumption of consumables?
- if not, how can I make an exit while waking the least amount of monsters?
It's like playing a very tight game of chess, or a very intricate puzzle game. When I was considering all this, it came to me that this would make for a good "What would you do?" question. So I saved the game and extracted the character file at the very point you see in picture 4.
Character Dump:
Things that aren't visible in the dump:
Percentage concerning abilities:
Recall Undead Slaves, Injury Mirror, Animate Dead = 0%
Drain Life = 1%
Enslave Soul = 7%
Evoke Invisibility = 38%
Available Undead Slaves to potentially be recalled:
Profane Servitor (x2), Bone Dragon, Vampire, Spectral Deep Troll Shaman (haste other, might other)
Game Goals:
- All rune the character.
- Explore the viability of Yredelemnul in the extended portion of the game.
For those who find interest in such things, I would very much appreciate your thoughts and explanation behind them, as to the next few turns and what you hope to achieve. What I did is within the spoiler below. Only look after you've thought about it, or if you don't want to bother engaging in the discussion.
Thanks and have fun.
What I Did:
So here is a situation which I found to be interesting and, maybe those of you who enjoy playing a thinking type of game, might also find.
So I'm in the Tomb of Ancients area of the dungeon. I have recently battled a few greater mummies in the above levels (reason for some of the stat drains), and after verifying the available amount of blood potions in inventory, decided I had enough to start working on the final level.
I set my god gifted servants on guard duty, and preemptively cast the darkness spell before accessing the chute to level 3.
Picture 1:
Spoiler: show
I appeared two squares above the position in the above picture. I see no death scarabs about, so decide on moving down and stab the guardian mummy. Nothing else has been revealed and the monster is still asleep, so looks like it's a go, for the stab...
Picture 2:
Spoiler: show
The resulting noise from the stab was minimal, and I'm confident that it has not alerted anything lurking to the South. Since I'm already close to the Eastern wall, tentatively I step down one square - revealing another guardian mummy - another square down shows nothing more, and then one square down and right, so as to place me within one move of the doorway. The last move reveals the first row of the large corridor mob. I know there are two more rows of monsters a little below them, likely containing some mummy priests, ushabti, and maybe a few greater mummies.
Everything is still asleep but, making any moves towards the Southern mob will likely result in waking a few and I know that things will start spiraling into either a major noisy fight, or in me being forced to withdraw to an exit and leaving a pile of monsters now wandering all over the place. I decide to go for the doorway, to reveal one row below them, and also see what's lurking behind it, and maybe to start establishing a "hold position" for a protracted fight.
Picture 3:
Spoiler: show
Okay, a mummy priest and a death scarab, both still asleep, are revealed in the room so far. However, a skeletal champion has woken from the South and is starting to move up to my last known position in the doorway. I paused here to contemplate the new information. Every move in the Tomb of Ancients can have potential to result in a spiraling situation whereby I lose the ability to maintain control and manage things effectively.
Stabbing the mummy priest on the very next move is a given, but what I do after that will be consequential...
Picture 4:
Spoiler: show
I stabbed the mummy priest and decided that the death scarab would also need to go. It is within two moves of the doorway holding position. The skeletal champion, I would handle when he would be a few squares inside the room, in order to minimize the sound being projected to the outside corridor. I also wanted to see what else was lurking "in the black" within the room. So I took a few steps towards the death scarab, revealing some more (all still asleep), and when the skeletal champion arrived in the doorway and saw me, he cast haste - making noise (look at the noise meter in the picture) - and waking the death scarab next to me!
Now I froze - immediately recognizing my bad playing.
I forgot that the skeletal champion had spells (making noise), and now I'm next to an awake death scarab whereby a successful hit with damage will slow me. Also, if you count the squares to the awake death scarab, you can see that the distance also carries to the line of monsters in the outside corridor, likely awakening some (or all) of them also. I'm out of position to hold the doorway, if slowed I'm within one move of getting hit multiple times by the remaining scarabs and two moves of the hasted skeletal champion. There will be noise and I have to consider that there can very well be a couple of liches still unrevealed in the room.
I cursed myself for being so impetuous after stabbing the mummy priest. The correct play would have been to invoke my cloak and gone invisible. The skeletal champion would not have seen me when reaching the doorway and thus not cast the spell to make the noise, etc., etc.
So now you have the background to the situation. My very next move is now crucial. I was faced with three pressing questions:
- Can I somehow regain control of the situation?
- If so, how can I minimize the consumption of consumables?
- if not, how can I make an exit while waking the least amount of monsters?
It's like playing a very tight game of chess, or a very intricate puzzle game. When I was considering all this, it came to me that this would make for a good "What would you do?" question. So I saved the game and extracted the character file at the very point you see in picture 4.
Character Dump:
- Code:
Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup version 0.21.1 (tiles) character file.
Black Blood the Maledictor (Vampire Monk) Turns: 80619, Time: 1 , 10:27:28
Health: 195/195 AC: 40 Str: 18 XL: 25 Next: 61%
Magic: 29/32 EV: 22 Int: 13 (19) God: Yredelemnul [******]
Gold: 6626 SH: 9 Dex: 33 Spells: 6/24 levels left
rFire + . . SeeInvis + a - +9 dagger {pierce, rN+ Dex+3}
rCold + + + Gourm . V - +2 buckler
rNeg + + + Faith + z - +5 storm dragon scales of Idealism {rElec Dex+3}
rPois 8 Spirit . h - +2 hat {Int+3}
rElec + Reflect . l - +2 cloak {+Inv}
rCorr . Harm . i - +2 pair of gloves {archery}
MR ++... N - +2 pair of boots of Focus {Regen+ Dex+6 Stlth+}
Stlth ++++++++.. g - amulet of faith
HPRegen 0.00/turn B - +5 ring of protection
MPRegen 0.23/turn o - ring of Mafobeq {rF+ rC+ rN+ Dex+4}
@: darkness, very slightly contaminated, bloodless, non-regenerating
A: fangs 3, see invisible, unbreathing
}: 3/15 runes: decaying, silver, gossamer
a: Bat Form, Recall Undead Slaves, Injury Mirror, Animate Dead, Drain Life,
Enslave Soul, Renounce Religion, Evoke Invisibility
You are on level 3 of the Tomb of the Ancients.
You worship Yredelemnul.
Yredelemnul is exalted by your worship.
You are bloodless.
You have visited 11 branches of the dungeon, and seen 49 of its levels.
You have visited 1 bazaar.
You have also visited: Labyrinth, Trove and Sewer.
You have collected 9529 gold pieces.
You have spent 2903 gold pieces at shops.
Inventory:
Hand Weapons
a - the +9 dagger of the Big Fish (weapon) {pierce, rN+ Dex+3}
(You found it on level 1 of the Spider Nest)
It inflicts extra damage upon your enemies.
It affects your dexterity (+3).
It protects you from negative energy.
b - the +7 trident "Rozat" {elec, rN+}
(You took it off a deep elf knight on level 3 of the Elven Halls)
Occasionally, upon striking a foe, it will discharge some electrical energy
and cause terrible harm.
It protects you from negative energy.
m - a +4 demon blade of flaming
Missiles
I - 56 tomahawks (quivered)
Armour
h - a +2 hat of intelligence (worn)
i - a +2 pair of gloves of archery (worn)
l - a +2 cloak of invisibility (worn)
y - a +0 troll leather armour
z - the +5 storm dragon scales of Idealism (worn) {rElec Dex+3}
(You found it on level 3 of the Lair of Beasts)
It affects your dexterity (+3).
It insulates you from electricity.
N - the +2 pair of boots of Focus (worn) {Regen+ Dex+6 Stlth+}
(You found it on level 3 of the Elven Halls)
It affects your dexterity (+6).
It increases your rate of regeneration.
It makes you more stealthy.
V - a +2 buckler (worn)
Jewellery
g - an amulet of faith (around neck)
o - the ring of Mafobeq (right hand) {rF+ rC+ rN+ Dex+4}
(You found it on level 3 of the Crypt)
[ring of positive energy]
It affects your dexterity (+4).
It protects you from fire.
It protects you from cold.
It protects you from negative energy.
B - a +5 ring of protection (left hand)
W - an uncursed ring of protection from magic
Wands
v - a wand of digging (46)
F - a wand of clouds (14)
Scrolls
d - 17 scrolls of teleportation
r - 2 scrolls of immolation
t - 9 scrolls of blinking
w - 4 scrolls of silence
x - 31 scrolls of remove curse
C - 9 scrolls of fear
E - 4 scrolls of magic mapping
Q - 6 scrolls of fog
S - 17 scrolls of identify
Potions
e - 6 potions of heal wounds
j - 6 potions of might
k - 22 potions of curing
n - 5 potions of resistance
p - 5 potions of haste
q - 12 potions of blood
s - 4 potions of agility
G - 2 potions of cancellation
K - 7 potions of ambrosia
U - 3 potions of invisibility
Miscellaneous
A - a lamp of fire
X - a lightning rod (4/4)
Skills:
+ Level 15.6 Fighting
- Level 12.0 Short Blades
- Level 14.0 Polearms
- Level 16.1 Armour
- Level 16.0 Dodging
- Level 20.0 Stealth
- Level 4.0 Shields
- Level 8.0 Unarmed Combat
- Level 22.1 Hexes
- Level 6.0 Charms
- Level 6.0 Necromancy
- Level 10.1 Air Magic
- Level 12.0 Invocations
- Level 8.0 Evocations
You have 6 spell levels left.
You know the following spells:
Your Spells Type Power Failure Level Hunger
a - Confusing Touch Hex ###### 1% 1 ##.....
b - Regeneration Chrm/Necr ###....... 43% 3 ####...
c - Confuse Hex ######.. 1% 3 ####...
d - Darkness Hex ######.... 3% 6 #######
e - Silence Hex/Air #####..... 7% 5 ######.
Dungeon Overview and Level Annotations
Branches:
Dungeon (15/15) Temple (1/1) D:7 Lair (6/6) D:9
Swamp (4/4) Lair:2 Spider (4/4) Lair:2 Slime (0/5) Lair:5
Orc (2/2) D:10 Elf (3/3) Orc:2 Vaults (5/5) D:13
Crypt (3/3) Vaults:2 Tomb (3/3) Crypt:3 Depths (3/5) D:15
Altars:
Ashenzari
Cheibriados
Dithmenos
Elyvilon
Fedhas
Gozag
Hepliaklqana
Kikubaaqudgha
Makhleb
Nemelex Xobeh
Okawaru
Qazlal
Ru
Sif Muna
Trog
Uskayaw
Vehumet
Wu Jian
Xom
Yredelemnul
Zin
The Shining One
Beogh
Jiyva
Shops:
D:4 ? D:8 !([% D:9 **} D:13 } Orc:2 ([}( Elf:1 =}} Vaults:1 }