Beginner KoBe advice

[Willy Elektrix]

My dump file is below. I'm doing pretty well with this character and I don't want to blow it so I'm asking for some advice. The next step for me is obviously to go clear the Orcish Mines, or at least I think since I have a weapon with Orc Slaying, but where should I head if I survive that? Should I head deeper into the Lair? What items do I need to be on the look out for before I progress past the Orcish Mines?

  Code:

Buggo the Nimble (Kobold Berserker)                                Turns: 14039, Time: 00:49:45

HP  61/66        AC  8     Str 16      Exp: 10/7391 (197), need: 369
MP   9/9         EV 23     Int  5      God: Trog [*****.]
Gold 461         SH  0     Dex 19      Spells:  0 memorised,  9 levels left

Res.Fire  : + + .   See Invis. : .   I - +6,+2 quick blade of Scheukkee {god gift,
Res.Cold  : . . .   Warding    : .   w - +2 leather armour
Life Prot.: . . .   Conserve   : .   (no shield)
Res.Poison: .       Res.Corr.  : .   (no helmet)
Res.Elec. : .       Clarity    : .   (no cloak)
Spirit.Shd: .       Stasis     : .   (no gloves)
Sust.Abil.: . .     Rnd.Telep. : .   (no boots)
Res.Mut.  : .       Ctrl.Telep.: .   (no amulet)
Res.Rott. : .       Levitation : .   (no ring)
Saprovore : + + .   Ctrl.Flight: .   i - +3 ring of protection

@: somewhat resistant to hostile enchantments, stealthy
A: carnivore 3, saprovore 2
a: Burn Spellbooks, Berserk, Trog's Hand, Brothers in Arms, Renounce Religion


You are on level 1 of the Orcish Mines.
You worship Trog.
Trog is exalted by your worship.
You are very full.

You have visited 3 branches of the dungeon, and seen 10 of its levels.

You have collected 441 gold pieces.

Inventory:

Hand weapons
 h - a +2 orcish blowgun
 s - an uncursed elven dagger of protection
 u - a +4,+4 elven short sword of speed
 I - the +6,+2 quick blade of Scheukkee (weapon) {god gift, slay orc, rF++}
   (Trog gifted it to you on level 1 of the Lair of Beasts)   
   It is especially effective against all of orcish descent.
   It greatly protects you from fire.
Missiles
 j - 4 elven needles of sleeping
 l - 8 poisoned elven needles
 q - 10 poisoned needles
 v - 2 poisoned orcish darts
 y - 4 runed orcish darts
 z - 20 runed darts (quivered)
 B - 24 poisoned orcish needles
Armour
 d - a +2 orcish leather armour
 o - a +1 elven leather armour
 t - a +2 elven robe of positive energy
 w - a +2 leather armour (worn)
Magical devices
 x - a wand of slowing (0)
 F - a wand of disintegration {zapped: 3}
 H - a wand of paralysis {zapped: 1}
Comestibles
 r - a meat ration
Scrolls
 a - 4 scrolls of detect curse
 c - a scroll of enchant armour
 f - 5 scrolls of teleportation
 m - a scroll of remove curse
 n - a scroll of identify
Jewellery
 i - a +3 ring of protection (left hand)
Potions
 e - a murky cyan potion
 g - 4 potions of healing
 k - a potion of heal wounds
 A - 3 fuming brown potions
 D - 3 orange potions
 G - a potion of restore abilities


 You have 197 experience left.

   Skills:
 + Level 9 Fighting
 - Level 9 Short Blades
 - Level 3 Maces & Flails
 - Level 6 Throwing
 + Level 3 Armour
 + Level 10 Dodging
 - Level 3 Stealth
 - Level 2 Stabbing
 + Level 1 Traps & Doors


You have 9 spell levels left.
You don't know any spells.

Dungeon Overview and Level Annotations

Branches:
Dungeon (8/27)             Temple (0/1) D:4             Orc (1/4) D:7
   Lair (1/8) D:8   

[mageykun]

You're a little naked there- lots of empty equipment slots! Hopefully Orc can help you fill those out- or net you something with poison resistance so you can take the hive safely.

Why the heck do you have stealth and stabbing turned off? Kolbolds make excellent sneaks and stabbers! Honestly, the lower levels of the lair might be a little dangerous if you can't surprise hyrdae- berserking with a quick blade might work, but it's riskier.

[gb]

first of all, check this out regarding play order.

your skills look great, stealth and stabbing won't help you in the later game and will just be a waste of XP.
you should wear the robe of positive energy, as it provides a resistance. you can drop the others.
find a helmet, cloak, gloves, and boots! every character should wear these!

[Willy Elektrix]

Why the heck do you have stealth and stabbing turned off? Kolbolds make excellent sneaks and stabbers! Honestly, the lower levels of the lair might be a little dangerous if you can't surprise hyrdae- berserking with a quick blade might work, but it's riskier.

According to something I read, Kobolds have high enough Stealth and Stabbing aptitudes that they'll raise well enough without being activated. In any case, in the past against Hydrae, I summon a Brother in Arms (berserker ally) and then tag team it, which is somewhat effective, although not without its risks.

first of all, check this out regarding play order.

your skills look great, stealth and stabbing won't help you in the later game and will just be a waste of XP.
you should wear the robe of positive energy, as it provides a resistance. you can drop the others.
find a helmet, cloak, gloves, and boots! every character should wear these!

That play order diagram is useful. The farthest I've ever been with any character is a Troll Berserker who made it to the bottom of the Lair, so this gives me some sense of the structure of the game at least.

I'll put on the robe. I was wearing leather armor to raise my Armor skill. Is there no purpose to doing that?

I (obviously) haven't been finding a lot of equippable items. Hopefully Orc Mines will be good for this. Is it just me or do shields, cloaks, helmets, and boots never seem appear? There's no shortage of armor out there, but everything else is scarce.

[joellercoaster]

Is it just me or do shields, cloaks, helmets, and boots never seem appear?

Play a Minotaur, I guarantee you'll see a bunch of helmets straight up :-/

(Or worship Cheibriados, and you'll see fifty pairs of gloves and no helmets, cloaks, boots or hats.)

I think I might need a lie down.

[acvar]

Why the heck do you have stealth and stabbing turned off? Kolbolds make excellent sneaks and stabbers! Honestly, the lower levels of the lair might be a little dangerous if you can't surprise hyrdae- berserking with a quick blade might work, but it's riskier.

Because he is playing a berserker not an assassin. Berserkers don't need stealth or stabbing. They just eat up experience that is better funneled into fighting and dodging. The few things you can't just hold the keys down and kill are easily handled by brothers and/or berserking. Stabbing and stealth are great in the early game, but berserkers have other options to get through the early game, and those options actually do something in the late game also. I play KoBe all the time and even with basic daggers I easily kill hydras by berserking them by the time I encounter them. With a quickblade berserk becomes almost unnecessary.

[asdu]

I (obviously) haven't been finding a lot of equippable items. Hopefully Orc Mines will be good for this. Is it just me or do shields, cloaks, helmets, and boots never seem appear? There's no shortage of armor out there, but everything else is scarce.

Unfortunately monsters, except for the odd unique, don't wear anything other than body armour (I've never even seen them use the pieces that are found on the ground) and the only thing that's found in the mines besides what monsters drop is gold. I typically find tons of helmets/cloaks/gloves/boots in the Lair though.

[Willy Elektrix]

Play a Minotaur, I guarantee you'll see a bunch of helmets straight up :-/

This is a documentable fact. I've played a fair share of MiGl and never have I seen so many helmets. Likewise, the only time I've seen a helmet in the last 5 KoBe games I've played is after I mutated and grew horns.

Unfortunately monsters, except for the odd unique, don't wear anything other than body armour (I've never even seen them use the pieces that are found on the ground) and the only thing that's found in the mines besides what monsters drop is gold. I typically find tons of helmets/cloaks/gloves/boots in the Lair though.

Damn. I cleared out the first Lair level before heading back to Orc Mines and didn't find anything. Here's hoping I don't have to go too deep in Lair before I get some goodies.

[danr]

The nice thing with Lair is that escaping trouble is pretty easy, because all the monsters are pretty much melee-based, so you're not getting smited or fireballed while running away. And the difficulty does not increase that quickly, you could probably venture a little deeper.

[Willy Elektrix]

The nice thing with Lair is that escaping trouble is pretty easy, because all the monsters are pretty much melee-based, so you're not getting smited or fireballed while running away. And the difficulty does not increase that quickly, you could probably venture a little deeper.

I went down to Lair 5, killing a few Hydras along the way. Heading back up to go over to the Orc Mines I encountered a Sea Snake. Thinking, "Oh, just another snake." I meleed it. It proved tougher than I thought so I berserked. Then I got nailed with MASSIVE poison damage. I killed the snake but I was too berserk to drink a healing potion to stop the poison. R. I. P.

I'll know better next time.

[Hobbes]

Okay, Im just wondering, how do you berserk?

[MrMisterMonkey]

letting a moth of wrath hit you, anything that can trigger that Ench miscast, Xom, anything else with evokable berserk (like salamander hide armour)

You probably want the Trog (a)bility, though.

[Hobbes]

Thanks, i didnt even know about the ability menu. lol.

[gb]

I'll put on the robe. I was wearing leather armor to raise my Armor skill. Is there no purpose to doing that?

for future reference, there's no point to doing that if you have a better robe in your inventory :)

[Curio]

I'll put on the robe. I was wearing leather armor to raise my Armor skill. Is there no purpose to doing that?

for future reference, there's no point to doing that if you have a better robe in your inventory

things might change in 0.8. with heavy armor upgrade... I hope.