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would you pump strength for the orange crystal plate armour?

PostPosted: Monday, 21st June 2021, 18:56
by petercordia
As a pure caster Djinn Conjurer ^ Makhleb, I spotted the Orange Crystal Plate Armour in a shop.
I've been optimising for Int, so I think I can't realistically use it this run, which is a pity because all my spells are at <1% fail rate (and I can't race for higher level spells because I'm a Djinn).

Anyway, under what circumstances would you think pumping strength for the OCPA would be worth it?
character dump below in case you're interested:
  Code:
Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup version 0.27-a0-1317-gd1140b374c (webtiles) character file.

petercordia2 the Thaumaturge (Djinni Conjurer)     Turns: 23869, Time: 01:47:43

Health: 104/104    AC: 17    Str:  6    XL:     15   Next: 24%
Gold:   1397       EV: 14    Int: 36    God:    Makhleb [******]
                   SH: 11    Dex: 11

rFire    + + .     SeeInvis .   a - staff of conjuration
rCold    . . .     Faith    .   T - +2 buckler {rC+}
rNeg     . . .     Spirit   .   B - +2 acid dragon scales
rPois    ∞         Reflect  +   R - +1 hat {Int+3}
rElec    .         Harm     .   F - +0 cloak
rCorr    +         Rampage  .   X - +0 pair of gloves
Will     +....                  (boots unavailable)
Stlth    ++........             Z - amulet of reflection
HPRegen  0.27/turn              u - +4 ring of protection
MPRegen  0.00/turn              y - +6 ring of intelligence

@: flying
A: sickness immunity, fire resistance 2, cold vulnerability 1, float, innate
caster, hp casting, extra vitality 1
a: Renounce Religion, Minor Destruction, Lesser Servant of Makhleb, Major
Destruction, Greater Servant of Makhleb


You are on level 5 of the Lair of Beasts.
You worship Makhleb.
Makhleb is exalted by your worship.
You have visited 2 branches of the dungeon, and seen 16 of its levels.
You have also visited: Sewer and Ice Cave.

You have collected 1604 gold pieces.
You have spent 207 gold pieces at shops.

Inventory:

Hand Weapons
 b - the +5 dagger of the Reaper {venom, Int+7}
   (You took it off an orc on level 4 of the Dungeon)   
   
   It poisons the flesh of those it strikes.
   
   
   It affects your intelligence (+7).
Missiles
 I - 4 silver boomerangs
 V - 8 boomerangs of dispersal
 W - 4 curare-tipped darts
Armour
 B - +2 acid dragon scales (worn)
 D - the +0 robe of Dogmatism {Str+5 Dex+6 Slay+3}
   (You bought it in a shop on level 4 of the Dungeon)   
   
   
   It affects your strength (+5).
   It affects your dexterity (+6).
   It affects your accuracy and damage with ranged weapons and melee attacks
   (+3).
   
   If you switch to wearing this armour, your AC would decrease by 7 (17 ->
   10).
 F - a +0 cloak (worn)
 R - a +1 hat of intelligence (worn)
 T - a +2 buckler of cold resistance (worn)
 U - a +2 helmet
 X - a +0 pair of gloves (worn)
Magical Staves
 a - a staff of conjuration (weapon)
 t - a staff of fire
 H - a staff of earth
Jewellery
 u - a +4 ring of protection (left hand)
 y - a +6 ring of intelligence (right hand)
 N - a ring of ice
 Z - an amulet of reflection (around neck)
Wands
 c - a wand of iceblast (15)
 e - a wand of acid (17)
 h - a wand of paralysis (8)
 E - a wand of digging (10)
 O - a wand of polymorph (10)
 Q - a wand of flame (44)
 S - a wand of mindburst (15)
Scrolls
 d - 11 scrolls of teleportation
 g - 3 scrolls of enchant weapon
 j - 5 scrolls of immolation
 k - 3 scrolls of fog
 o - 2 scrolls of silence
 q - 2 scrolls of fear
 z - 2 scrolls of noise
 A - 2 scrolls of summoning
 J - 3 scrolls of magic mapping
 M - a scroll of vulnerability
 P - a scroll of brand weapon
Potions
 f - 7 potions of ambrosia
 l - 2 potions of lignification
 m - 2 potions of mutation
 p - 5 potions of cancellation
 r - 2 potions of might
 s - 2 potions of haste
 v - a bubbling blue potion
 w - a cyan potion
 x - 6 potions of heal wounds
 C - 4 potions of curing
 G - 4 potions of attraction
 K - a smoky golden potion
Miscellaneous
 i - a phantom mirror
 n - a condenser vane
 L - a piece from Xom's chessboard (15/15)


   Skills:
 * Level 8.9 Fighting
 - Level 1.2 Short Blades
 * Level 6.2 Armour
 * Level 10.8 Dodging
 + Level 5.5 Stealth
 - Level 4.0 Shields
 + Level 14.3 Spellcasting
 + Level 5.5 Invocations
 * Level 4.5 Evocations


You have 3 spell levels left.
You know the following spells:

 Your Spells              Type           Power      Damage    Failure   Level
a - Magic Dart            Conj           100%       1d8       0%          1
b - Searing Ray           Conj           100%       3d7       0%          2
c - Dazzling Flash        Conj/Hex       100%       N/A       1%          3
d - Fulminant Prism       Conj/Hex       57%        3d25      1%          4
e - Iskenderun's Mystic   Conj/Tloc      100%       2d19      1%          4
f - Shock                 Conj/Air       100%       1d9       0%          1
g - Static Discharge      Conj/Air       100%       N/A       0%          2
h - Gell's Gravitas       Tloc           46%        N/A       1%          3
i - Lesser Beckoning      Tloc           46%        N/A       1%          3
j - Blade Hands           Tmut           46%        N/A       1%          5
k - Summon Forest         Summ/Tloc      46%        N/A       1%          5
s - Shadow Creatures      Summ           N/A        N/A       1%          6

Your spell library is empty.

Dungeon Overview and Level Annotations

Branches:
Dungeon (11/15)            Temple (0/1) D:7            Lair (5/6) D:11
 Shoals (0/4) Lair:2       Spider (0/4) Lair:3          Orc (0/2) D:10
  Sewer (visited)           IceCv (visited)         
 Slime: Lair:5-6   

Re: would you pump strength for the orange crystal plate arm

PostPosted: Thursday, 24th June 2021, 12:45
by Majang
I think it would work with Cheibriados, but frankly, as a Djinn caster I would not abandon Makhleb under any circumstances - certainly not for this armor. And once you have Makhleb at high piety, you don't have any need for strong armour. Find a robe of the archmagi, and that will do.

Re: would you pump strength for the orange crystal plate arm

PostPosted: Sunday, 27th June 2021, 08:01
by svendre
If your STR and INT were roughly equal, using your optimal gear is when I'd consider using it. Highly lopsided casters with tiny STR and huge INT will just have a heck of a time. I also don't find them to be all that effective either for the record. You need to be able to absorb damage in order to deliver damage. It's a rare case when you can endlessly nuke everything instantly on sight.

Basically the orange crystal plate for me is the ultimate item, but really stresses the character to have a lot of stats. If you can get your STR and INT to both 30 (or higher) and you can manage high armour and casting skills, that's the time to make the switch. If I found it early or mid game, I'd use it and build a melee character with the hope that I'd find enough gear to get the setup operational with spells later on.

Also, I don't think you need Makhleb for Djinni, nor do I think it's even the best option. Early/mid game is for establishing your gear which helps you plot how to train skills. Late game heal on kills are better from TSO. Taking Makhleb earlier on might increase your short term survivability, but it's not good for the long term. It's a crappy version of TSO for late game characters that are undead, etc. and have little other choice to deal with Torment, Mummy curses, etc.

TLDR: With 6 str and 36 int, I wouldn't bother thinking about it unless you stumble into new gear that is amazing and boosts your STR way, way up without sacrifice. Forget it. Stick to Ice dragon, quicksilver, or pearl.

Re: would you pump strength for the orange crystal plate arm

PostPosted: Sunday, 27th June 2021, 12:29
by damerell
I used the OCPA on a HuGl^WJC. For a while I was just using it as a +8 CPA, but I did eventually get to use Isk's Battlesphere and Irradiate in it.

http://crawl.montres.org.uk/morgue/dame ... 151535.txt if you're curious.

Re: would you pump strength for the orange crystal plate arm

PostPosted: Saturday, 31st July 2021, 19:07
by tasonir
I generally love the OCPA and would use it whenever I could...but holy hell, you have 6 strength? Like, ouch. You'd need at least +10 str (ideally more like +15) for the OCPA. Chei is likely the only realistic option, unless you're willing to wear two strength rings or find some lucky randarts...

That said, just ignoring the OCPA is probably your simplest option.