Help a noob Conjurer

[OndePyrat]

I am relatively new to Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup and I've been trying to play a Conjurer since I've watched a few games and they stick out from all the other spellcasters to me, but I've been consistently creating DsCj characters (I'm playing on the git version on my desktop) and I keep dying within the 2nd or 3rd Dungeon level. I've only made it a level or two past the third level. Is there any advice you could give me on how to not keep running out of Spellpoints or at least not die so much?

[mrbobbyg]

This is a very common phenomenon. So don't feel bad at all.

Any reason why you want to play Ds? They're super fun, but there are easier races for a Cj. DECj can be a good start. Super squishy, but with great aptitudes.

Running out of MP can be mitigated by fighting less, resting more, and fighting smarter. You don't NEED to kill that jackal pack on D:1. Chances are you're better off avoiding them until you can be sure of victory.

[Psieye]

Are you playing v0.11, v0.12 or v0.13? If by 'git version' you mean 'trunk' then it's v0.13 and you have the new Cj.

Why DsCj? DECj is the easier (read: twinked) way to get started and DrCj is the sturdier way. Nothing wrong with insisting on DsCj so long as you're aware you're not making it easy on yourself.

See my new sig link for an illustrated guide on how to do tactics, namely how to split up squads and fight fewer enemies at a time.

Way early in D:1, you may have situations where you run out of mp. You should now either run around until you reload some mp (only do this on D:1, D:2 and below you just go upstairs to rest) or you beat on things with any weapon on hand with 0 skill. It comes down to only taking on what you know you can beat. I assume you're doing the common sense thing of resting up your mp before each fight.

[OndePyrat]

I read on the Wiki and saw that it recieved some extra HP and made things more interesting through the Demonspawn Mutations (Which have saved me a few times). I'll try a Deep Elf however, and yes I am 0.13 so I am playing the new Cj. I've tried making my skills focused to Conjuration and Traps with extra in Spellcasting.

[Psieye]

I read on the Wiki and saw that it recieved some extra HP and made things more interesting through the Demonspawn Mutations (Which have saved me a few times). I'll try a Deep Elf however, and yes I am 0.13 so I am playing the new Cj. I've tried making my skills focused to Conjuration and Traps with extra in Spellcasting.

Dr for extra HP, not Ds.

That's not "focussed". Focussed means 100% conj for a while, then 100% spc for a while. Traps can be left out until you have Lv 5 conj spells online (from your book or Veh).

[Schussel]

i think you are playing 0.11 where Conjuring is still a bit .. odd

try 0.12 on s-z (or when it hits release play conjurer on standard then) .. its far more viable there (due to forcelance/battlesphere/FPrism) and a blast to play

else .. just dodge encounters alot and keep track of those jackals or polearmed gnolls early on

[Itholyth]

There are a few different options for Conjurers, but they can be tricky to play due to lack of utility.

If you're certain of going for offensive magic, Vehumet is your bread & butter god of choice.

Deep Elves are a bit frail but lower spell hunger the easiest due to absurd intelligence, and have good aptitudes for magic across the board. But mostly just magic and stealth/dodging.

Another interesting choice could be Tengu due to their flight capabilities and quite high conjuration aptitudes. They do well with fire and air especially, but are somewhat weaker at utility, which may or may not be good for you. Edit: they're also good at fighting, making it possible to have a backup plan, or just to train Fighting to raise health. Also easier to get armour/shield skill if you find a particularily nice light armor/shield that you can reduce casting penalty of.

Try to cover up utility weaknesses with sub-items too. Various wands, potions and the like. Not many can be found early on but do try to identify them when you can. Knowledge is power.

Demonspawn are still viable, but they are pretty random, as are Draconians. Draconians can be a choice for you too, though, given that they get some interesting powers and naturally gain AC. Still random though.

[Schussel]

in addition to my foreposter
TeCj of Ash is quite a powerful build to do .. his boni enable you to have very good support capability and great castability of tier 6+ spells ... and if you add a few str on levelups and keep order in the inventory you are able to flee every bad situation .. throw in swiftness/haste depending in dropluck and you are set
repel missiles or better deflect missiles to top it of


and when you find an ok staff its even easy to quickly top off the rather bad spellcasting

[kenmtraveller]

Are there any demonspawn mutations that help spellcasters? They have terrible aptitudes... I'm looking for a reason to play one.

Ken

[prozacelf]

Powered by Pain is about the only one that's specifically useful, although you only regain MP when you get hurt, so it's not that advantageous. Any of the scales or the one that boosts your EV are also handy. There may be some others that I've either never gotten or am overlooking though. Nightstalker can be useful, but a lost of people dislike it for casters, so your mileage may vary.

Edit: Demonspawn in general make pretty good casters though, since they get nice stats and pretty good HP. Their aptitudes are slightly below avg. but they aren't terrible at anything.