Transmuter love

[joellercoaster]

ObOcTmThing: There are very few cheap shots as satisfying as finding Rupert in the Swamp, then instead of fleeing in terror (the usual response), pelting him with miasma and strong poison from your position swimming safely in deep water, while he rages helplessly in the shallows.

He killed a couple of my SE Transmuters when I was just starting out, so... ha ha.

[edit: I hate Vampire Mosquitoes with a fiery hate, but suddenly playing Tms again I'm actually pleased to see them (see above). Also, I stuck to my guns with alligators and have been giving them the Greater Servant treatment... scary how hard a time they can still give the demons, but it's working.]

[edit 2: Have been leaving Stealth turned on this game and, now at 11, it is helping a lot - seems counterintuitive for a melee character, but choosing the how as well as the what of nearly every battle has helped offset the fragility. Also: Ozocubu's Armour ]

[Jeremiah]

This isn't just relevant to transmuters, but anyone who fights unarmed:

Is there a level at which you should turn off Unarmed Combat and stop training it like you do with weapons? AFAIK it goes on reducing attack delay all the way up to 25, but I wonder if after a point it would be better to spend the points on Fighting or something else instead.

[eharper256]

This isn't just relevant to transmuters, but anyone who fights unarmed:

Is there a level at which you should turn off Unarmed Combat and stop training it like you do with weapons? AFAIK it goes on reducing attack delay all the way up to 25, but I wonder if after a point it would be better to spend the points on Fighting or something else instead.

Well it also adds directly to unarmed damage. This makes it highly important if you're just doing monk-like hand to hand, as this will be your sole source of damage increase; but less so if you have Bladehands, Statue Form or Dragon Form lined up as the forms add their own massive boosts to damage. If you want to turn it off at 20-25 when using forms thats fine.

[speciesxx]

Reading all this makes me want to try a transmuter, off to the game .
Trying a sludge elf first to see how they play, then might try a demigod.

Sludge elf gonna be with the god sif i think, so i do get all the books i need. Bit lower HP, but in forms i hope it is ok. *hope* .

[AtT]

I've never gotten a transmuter too far, maybe to the lair (not that i've gotten anyone hardly past the lair). I was wondering what level transmutation are you able to consistently cast ice form/blade hands.

Also I like the demigod tranny o.o feels much less fragile than the SE. Felid is pretty cool too but should probably turn off stealth for other aptitudes. I do that with demigods too tho hmmm

Seems like w/ a spriggan you might wanna just go skald so you can be stabby and not unarmedey? idk but it seems a better suit to sprigs to me but im not sure.

[pratamawirya]

NaTm is beast. Learn Spider Form, and your slow speed hardly matters anymore. Learn Statue Form, and you are one happy guy/girl.

[minstrel]

I've been finding a use for those water potions lately. I used to seldom bother Evaporating them because usually enemies just walk through a tile of steam and then dance out, taking zilch for damage, but if you manage to kill and skin a steam dragon for armor, you can launch them at point blank and really do some significant damage while they stand there and melee you, almost like a mini flame cloud. Helps the early game against poison resistant enemies, especially if you're going the stabby route and not unarmed/blade hands.

[Yet Another Stupid Noob]

best use for steam clouds is to block LOS. I also used them when I wanted to kill a runner.

[joellercoaster]

best use for steam clouds is to block LOS.

This.

It's super handy for your squishier types caught out in the open by centaurs, orc priests, and assorted other dungeon-dwelling artilliery jerks.

[Hydro]

I go through phases with spriggan transmuters; I love what an awesome little ninja-creature he turns into by level 8 or 9 (blade hands backstabs are hilarious), but I eventually get frustrated trying to carry around piles of clubs and arrows and potions with such a low strength score. Too much hassle for a build that dies too often.

[cerebovssquire]

I go through phases with spriggan transmuters; I love what an awesome little ninja-creature he turns into by level 8 or 9 (blade hands backstabs are hilarious), but I eventually get frustrated trying to carry around piles of clubs and arrows and potions with such a low strength score. Too much hassle for a build that dies too often.

Well, personally I don't think you will need Sticks to Snakes that much later (and it's not like a stack of ~20 arrows weighs much) and with the 0.10 changes, Fulsome Distillation and Evaporate were replaced. So your problems with hassle should be gone (while this change was a severe Tm nerf it also makes them less tedious).

[Hydro]

with the 0.10 changes, Fulsome Distillation and Evaporate were replaced. So your problems with hassle should be gone (while this change was a severe Tm nerf it also makes them less tedious).

Replaced? I'm playing 0.9.1, and they're definitely both still there, though perhaps they work differently in a way I don't understand.

My problems are at least partially my own fault- I was carrying arrows, but I avoided using them because I was holding out for a bow. I'm an item hoarder, so spriggans are a challenge for me even without all the alchemy.

[joellercoaster]

Ah. The replacement is in 0.10.

[ElectricAlbatross]

Replaced? I'm playing 0.9.1

and with the 0.10 changes

[Hydro]

Woops! I think my eye just slid right over the extraneous zero.

So, those are being replaced? Is there somewhere I can read more about that?

[ElectricAlbatross]

This thread will have information on the spell that ended up replacing FD/Evap. Before, the Tm background basically put more emphasis on exploiting FD/Evap than on fighting in forms, so I'm glad to see them go. You can still roll up a Stalker if you want to start with those spells.

I've been playing TrTm (Cheibriados or Okawaru) almost exclusively for the last couple of weeks or so. Once you've experienced the raw power Trolls can get with Ice Form and Blade Hands, it's hard to go back to anything else. Statue Form troll is rumored to be even more epic, but none of my trolls have lived long enough to see the spell.

[Hydro]

Thanks! And I agree- there's some disconnect between the alchemist of low levels and the shapeshifter of high levels, even though they're both transmuters.