The Strongest Deep Elf in the World

[Waywinkle]

So I started a DEWz and the first book I found was a book of air, repel missiles and swiftness made the early levels a joke. I devoted myself to Vehumet and before you knew it I'd found flight as well and got a few levels in fighting.

I had cleared the lair, orc mines, hive, swamp, snake pit and just got firestorm to very good when i went and did something silly. I found an ornate deck halfway down the vaults and decided to try it out.

It was a deck of changes and I knew that they contained delicious cards of experience. I foolishly pull a few and then.. pulled the shuffle card... My 38int DE now has 33str instead...

Now I could use some advice on what to do.

My first thoughts were to push on with this amount of strength, I still have 22 int as it switched with my dex and I have some artifacts that give int. My spell power is down a lot though.
I could switch to Jiyva as I've got a altar outside the entrance to the slime pits, this would give my 3 runes and I could try my luck in Zot with a bit of teleporting.
I could try my luck by changing to Nemelex and sacrificing all my wands, potions, scroll and a bunch of food and use the decks of wonders to shuffle again.
I'm pretty scared of getting banished though, also does abjuration work on summoning miscasts?

Ideas?

[szanth]

Hrm. With 33 strength, you -might- be able to pull off some kinds of heavy armor and still use most stuff under firestorm relatively easily. Course you'd have to jack up your armor skill, which would take some grinding. It is possible to adjust, it's just a matter of if you want to.

[mad]

Does anyone know if Ashenzari's reskilling could be useful in this situation? How long would it take to build up enough piety to do it? My first thought on reading this was "Ash!", but I'm not sure if it would actually be a good idea in practice.

[casmith789]

DE of Ash is insanely awesome.

Reskill 13-15 points into fighting & pick up a weapon, demon whip if you can, if not whatever weapon is best in your game (katana, double sword, demon trident etc) and reskill a few points into that weapon skill too so it hits base delay.

With that ridiculous str you could wear CPM/GDA/plate, or go blade hands for the ridiculous base power. Up to you really. If you do go heavy armour, want to reskill all that dodging away.

If you don't want to go Ash I definitely recommend bladehands, and 22 int is fine overall, many a character have that int and win. You still have ridiculous apts so plowing on as before should be fine.

[Sometimes]

Please keep us posted on this one, I've never had a shuffle on that kind of scale and I'd like to see what happens.

[Waywinkle]

Unfortunately I'm playing on 7.1 so Ash isn't an option.

[lucy_ferre]

@Waywinkle

I'd switch to Nemelex. And abjuration works on all hostile summoned monsters.

[Waywinkle]

@lucy I agree but should I stick with Nemelex after I get my Int back? Seems like his abilities wouldn't be that useful, although tomb + vitri + fire storm does sound like fun.
If I was going to change should I switch back to Vehemut or worship Kiki for some necromutation and sublimation?

[starless]

You will be fine with him. Although for spellcasters it's a little tedious I think.

[lucy_ferre]

@lucy I agree but should I stick with Nemelex after I get my Int back? Seems like his abilities wouldn't be that useful, although tomb + vitri + fire storm does sound like fun.
If I was going to change should I switch back to Vehemut or worship Kiki for some necromutation and sublimation?

He's the best god in the game. Full healing, ultimate defense, ridiculously powerful summons, free loot, and experience.

[szanth]

It's just a matter of getting all those things when you need it, and avoiding all the bad cards. :p

[dtsund]

lucy_ferre: Nemelex doesn't give you full healing. But yeah, once you get to know him, he's probably the most powerful god in the game.

[Waywinkle]

Changed to Nemelex, got a bunch of decks of wonders - pulled so many cards of experience - none of shuffle. Got frustrated and then reckless in the elf halls and got myself killed. Lesson well learnt.

[Kate]

Shuffle cards are rarer than everything else in decks of Wonders.

[IndomitableLou]

Changed to Nemelex, got a bunch of decks of wonders - pulled so many cards of experience - none of shuffle. Got frustrated and then reckless in the elf halls and got myself killed. Lesson well learnt.

The second you lose interest in the playstyle of your character he's going to die. It's best to save him and come back to it next week when you get tired of getting killed on D:5 with two rings of fire, and need a morale boost. Or at least collect runes and run him upstairs for the score and to avoid making ghosts!

[Waywinkle]

@IndomitableLou That's exactly how it was, I could have easily saved him many times but just couldn't be bothered/didn't really care about him. Compare that to before I shuffled when I was being extremely cautious. Losing interest is especially deadly for glass cannons. Another entry for my stupid death journal

[ryak]

I had the same thing happen to a very powerful KoSt. Although i can at least partially blame the fact that his weaker stats crippled his damage output.

[RangerC]

Check out this shuffle... 6 int Spriggan (had a +3 wiz hat to get to 9 Int). After about 5 minutes of swearing, I just threw on an amulet of guardian spirit and played pretty much straight melee the rest of the way (with a little bit of Nemelex summoning for a supplement). Surprisingly easy win (had ridiculous gear, though). So, wins after a horrible shuffle are possible.

  Code:

 Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup version 0.6.0-a1-2068-g81ae2f6 character file.

1342337 Eaerth the Intangible (level 27, 171/171 HPs)
             Began as a Spriggan Artificer on Jan 10, 2010.
             Was the Champion of Nemelex Xobeh.
             Escaped with the Orb
             ... and 3 runes (of 3 types) on Apr 6, 2010!
             
             The game lasted 11:56:41 (140964 turns).

Eaerth the Intangible (Spriggan Artificer)                    Turns: 140964, Time: 11:56:42

HP 171/171       AC 12     Str 20      Exp: 27/1694972 (3)
MP  45/45        EV 46     Int  9      God: Nemelex Xobeh [******]
Gold 4501        SH 22     Dex 23      Spells: 10 memorised, 25 levels left

Res.Fire  : + + .   See Invis. : +   a - +10,+8 sabre "Thrad" {elec, rElec}
Res.Cold  : + + .   Warding    : .   r - +5 elf robe {rC+ rF+}
Life Prot.: + . .   Conserve   : .   V - +3 buckler of the Lost Path {+Rage Stlth+}
Res.Poison: +       Res.Corr.  : .   c - +0 wizard hat {Int+3}
Res.Elec. : +       Clarity    : .   o - +1 cloak {darkness}
Spirit.Shd: +                        (gloves unavailable)
Sust.Abil.: .       Rnd.Telep. : +   (boots unavailable)
Res.Mut.  : .       Ctrl.Telep.: .   d - amulet of guardian spirit
Res.Rott. : .       Levitation : .   v - ring "Klof" {*TELE rPois rN+ SInv}
Res.Slow  : .       Ctrl.Flight: .   B - ring "Mytaoj" {rF+ rC+ AC+4 EV+5 Dam+3}
Saprovore : . . .