Looking for constructive criticism

[variouselite]

As sad as I know this is, I just had one of my must "successful" games yet. I played a VpEn and made it to about D11 before I stupidly handed myself to a group of skeletons. The worst part is that I had SO MANY options and I was just like "hur de dur keep attacking" >.< Someday.. I will learn to RETREAT... But until that time I am hoping that some kind souls here would be bored enough to check out my dump and give me any constructive criticism that springs to mind. I basically know what I did wrong, and I am slowly making it deeper and deeper. I got lucky with some early drops. Doesnt it suck how as soon as you find some nice things you tend to forget youre still squash-able like a bug.. Oh well, live and learn errr die and learn anyway.. Thanks in advance guys.

  Code:

 Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup version 0.13-a0-2910-g7a74111 (tiles) character file.

12012 dusk the Covert (level 11, -1/68 HPs)
             Began as a Vampire Enchanter on Sept 1, 2013.
             Was a Believer of Ashenzari.
             Slain by a skeletal warrior
             ... wielding a +1,+0 elven trident
              (15 damage)
             ... on Level 11 of the Dungeon.
             The game lasted 02:31:59 (14868 turns).

dusk the Covert (Vampire Enchanter)                Turns: 14868, Time: 02:32:00

HP  -1/68        AC 14     Str 13      XL: 11   Next: 48%
MP  23/25        EV 10     Int 20      God: Ashenzari [**....]
Gold 628         SH 11     Dex 14      Spells:  6 memorised,  6 levels left

Res.Fire  : + . .   See Invis. : +   v - +0,+4 dagger (chaos) (curse)
Res.Cold  : . . .   Warding    : +   G - +5 ring mail "Weuroloqu" {Str+3 Int+3}
Life Prot.: + + .   Conserve   : .   H - +0 buckler
Res.Poison: .       Res.Corr.  : .   (no helmet)
Res.Elec. : .       Clarity    : .   (no cloak)
Sust.Abil.: . .     Spirit.Shd : .   z - +1 pair of gauntlets
Res.Mut.  : .       Stasis     : .   h - +0 pair of boots {Stlth+}
Res.Rott. : .       Flight     : .   U - amulet of warding
Saprovore : . . .                    o - cursed ring of wizardry
                                     R - cursed ring of protection from fire

@: invisible (but backlit and visible), slightly contaminated, glowing, somewhat
resistant to hostile enchantments, stealthy
A: bottle blood, fangs 3, see invisible, unbreathing
a: Bat Form, Bottle Blood, Renounce Religion


You were on level 11 of the Dungeon.
You worshipped Ashenzari.
Ashenzari was greatly pleased with you.
You were not thirsty.

You visited 2 branches of the dungeon, and saw 12 of its levels.

You collected 608 gold pieces.

Inventory:

Hand weapons
 v - a cursed +0,+4 dagger of chaos (weapon)
 O - a +2,+0 orcish vampiric dagger
Missiles
 A - 17 darts of flame
 J - 12 darts of frost (quivered)
Armour
 h - a +0 pair of boots of stealth (worn)
 z - a +1 pair of gauntlets (worn)
 G - the cursed +5 ring mail "Weuroloqu" (worn) {Str+3 Int+3}
   (You found it on level 6 of the Dungeon)   
   
   It affects your strength (+3).
   It affects your intelligence (+3).
   It has a curse placed upon it.
 H - a +0 buckler (worn)
Magical devices
 n - a wand of magic darts (15) {unknown}
 x - a wand of flame (6)
 F - a wand of slowing (10) {unknown}
 I - a wand of cold (8)
 K - a wand of disintegration (9)
 Q - a wand of magic darts (11) {unknown}
 S - a wand of enslavement (12) {unknown}
 V - a wand of fire (1) {unknown}
 W - a wand of cold (6)
 X - a wand of slowing (14) {unknown}
 Z - a wand of draining (0)
Scrolls
 f - 2 scrolls of amnesia
 l - a scroll of curse weapon
 p - 3 scrolls of remove curse
 y - 7 scrolls of identify
 C - a scroll of immolation {unknown}
 E - a scroll of recharging
 L - 3 scrolls of noise {unknown}
 T - 3 scrolls of fog
 Y - a scroll of teleportation
Jewellery
 o - a cursed ring of wizardry (right hand)
 s - an uncursed ring of wizardry
 w - an uncursed ring of see invisible
 B - a +2 ring of intelligence
 R - a cursed ring of protection from fire (left hand)
 U - an amulet of warding (around neck)
Potions
 b - a potion of paralysis {unknown}
 d - a potion of resistance {unknown}
 e - 2 potions of slowing {unknown}
 i - a potion of flight
 j - a potion of mutation {unknown}
 k - 5 potions of curing
 m - 2 potions of restore abilities {unknown}
 q - a potion of invisibility {unknown}
 r - 2 potions of heal wounds {unknown}
 u - 3 potions of speed
 D - 2 potions of berserk rage {unknown}
 M - a potion of cure mutation {unknown}
 N - a potion of degeneration {unknown}
 P - 4 potions of confusion {unknown}
Books
 c - a book of Maledictions   
   
   Spells                             Type                      Level
   *Corona                            Hexes                        1
   *Sure Blade                        Hexes/Charms                 2
   *Ensorcelled Hibernation           Hexes/Ice                    2
   *Confuse                           Hexes                        3
   *Enslavement                       Hexes                        4
   *Invisibility                      Hexes                        6
Magical staves
 g - an uncursed staff of energy
Miscellaneous
 a - a box of beasts


   Skills:
 + Level 8.5(10.7) Short Blades
 - Level 0.7 Throwing
 - Level 4.0 Armour
 - Level 4.4 Dodging
 - Level 10.0 Stealth
 - Level 5.6 Shields
 - Level 7.0 Spellcasting
 + Level 9.3(10.7) Hexes
 + Level 8.6(10.0) Ice Magic


You had 6 spell levels left.
You knew the following spells:

 Your Spells              Type           Power        Failure   Level  Hunger
a - Corona                Hex            #####..      1%          1    None
b - Ensorcelled Hibernat  Hex/Ice        #####.       1%          2    None
c - Confuse               Hex            #####...     1%          3    #......
d - Sure Blade            Hex/Chrm       ####......   1%          2    None
e - Enslavement           Hex            #####...     1%          4    ###....
f - Invisibility          Hex            #####...     11%         6    ######.


Dungeon Overview and Level Annotations

Branches:
Dungeon (11/27)            Temple (1/1) D:4             Orc (0/4) D:6
  Lair: D:8-13     

Altars:
Ashenzari
Cheibriados
Fedhas
Kikubaaqudgha
Nemelex Xobeh
Trog
Vehumet
Xom
Yredelemnul

Shops:
D:4 *

Annotations:
D:11 Fannar


Innate Abilities, Weirdness & Mutations

You can bottle blood from corpses.
You have razor-sharp teeth.*
You have supernaturally acute eyesight.
You can survive without breathing.*


Message History

A giant spore comes into view.
Things that are here:
a -1,+0 orcish club; a +0 mottled dragon hide; a -1,+0 orcish long sword; a +0 orcish plate armour
You see here a scroll of identify.
y - 7 scrolls of identify (gained 1)
You barely miss the skeletal warrior.
The skeletal warrior hits you with a glowing elven trident!
Casting: Invisibility
Confirm with . or Enter, or press ? or * to list all spells.
Aiming: Confuse
Press: ? - help, Shift-Dir - straight line, f - skeletal warrior
Aim: a skeletal warrior, wielding a glowing elven trident
The skeletal warrior easily resists.
The skeletal warrior hits you from afar with an elven trident!
The skeletal warrior hits you from afar with a glowing elven trident!
* * * LOW HITPOINT WARNING * * *
The skeletal warrior hits you from afar with an elven trident!
* * * LOW HITPOINT WARNING * * *
The skeletal warrior hits you from afar with an elven trident!
You die...

#!   ........#   #..........#
 ,   ........#   #%..........
  ,  ,#......#   #......#....
    ,* #.....#####......##...
     ,*#.................##.#
  * *#.##..............#.####
  ***#........?........#.#
     ##..#.zz..........)###
      ####.#z......[#.#...#
       * ##........#.#.####
         #..z.@....(..##
       *#.#.#.##....###
        #.##..#..#...#
        # ,#####..###.#
          *    ##.#  ##
                ###


You could see 4 skeletal warriors.

Vanquished Creatures
  A hydra (D:11)
  A centaur warrior (D:11)
  A skeletal warrior (D:11)
  An unseen horror (D:11)
  A cyclops (D:11)
  Psyche (D:9)
  2 two-headed ogres
  A wraith (D:11)
  Eustachio (D:9)
  2 hippogriffs (D:10)
  2 hungry ghosts
  16 yaks
  A hill giant skeleton (D:11)
  A swamp drake (D:6)
  A human (D:7)
  3 sky beasts
  A phantom (D:8)
  A necrophage (D:9)
  6 orc warriors
  2 ice beasts
  2 black bears
  2 centaurs (D:11)
  2 ogres
  12 giant frogs
  A water moccasin (D:6)
  A gnoll sergeant (D:5)
  12 killer bees
  A troll skeleton (D:11)
  5 hounds
  5 crimson imps
  2 big fish
  An electric eel (D:7)
  3 goliath beetles
  A two-headed ogre zombie (D:11)
  6 orc priests
  3 jellies
  6 orc wizards
  2 iguanas
  4 scorpions
  A black bear skeleton (D:7)
  3 sheep (D:7)
  6 worker ants
  An ogre skeleton (D:4)
  A hound zombie (D:9)
  A hound skeleton (D:4)
  6 gnolls
  13 adders
  A giant mite (D:5)
  A worm (D:6)
  An adder skeleton (D:5)
  7 giant geckos
  An ooze (D:1)
  20 orcs
  A ball python (D:2)
  4 giant cockroaches
  13 goblins
  16 hobgoblins
  6 jackals
  3 quokkas
  15 bats
  4 giant newts
  20 kobolds
  14 rats
  2 rat zombies
  A ballistomycete (D:9)
279 creatures vanquished.

Vanquished Creatures (others)
  A mummy (D:7)
  2 giant spores
3 creatures vanquished.

Grand Total: 282 creatures vanquished

Notes
Turn   | Place    | Note
--------------------------------------------------------------
     0 | D:1      | dusk, the Vampire Enchanter, began the quest for the Orb.
     0 | D:1      | Reached XP level 1. HP: 13/13 MP: 4/4
   205 | D:1      | Reached XP level 2. HP: 11/19 MP: 2/5
   426 | D:1      | Learned a level 2 spell: Ensorcelled Hibernation
  1403 | D:1      | Reached XP level 3. HP: 24/24 MP: 4/6
  2608 | D:2      | Reached XP level 4. HP: 30/30 MP: 8/8
  3390 | D:3      | Reached XP level 5. HP: 35/35 MP: 1/9
  3536 | D:3      | Reached skill level 5 in Short Blades
  3767 | D:3      | Learned a level 3 spell: Confuse
  3858 | D:4      | Got a bloodstained leather armour
  3859 | D:4      | Identified the cursed -4 leather armour of Free Will {Dex+3 Int+2} (You found it on level 4 of the Dungeon)
  3878 | D:4      | Found a staircase to the Ecumenical Temple.
  4103 | Temple   | Entered the Ecumenical Temple
  4111 | Temple   | Became a worshipper of Ashenzari the Shackled
  4272 | D:4      | Reached skill level 5 in Stealth
  4304 | D:4      | Reached XP level 6. HP: 41/41 MP: 10/10
  4318 | D:4      | Reached skill level 6 in Short Blades
  4411 | D:4      | Reached skill level 1 in Ice Magic
  4741 | D:5      | Entered Level 5 of the Dungeon
  5191 | D:4      | Reached XP level 7. HP: 37/46 MP: 2/14
  5600 | D:4      | Found Fepham's General Store.
  6031 | D:5      | Found a sparkling altar of Nemelex Xobeh.
  6347 | D:5      | Reached skill level 7 in Stealth
  7138 | D:6      | Got the cursed ring mail "Weuroloqu" {Str+3 Int+3}
  7332 | D:6      | Reached skill level 8 in Stealth
  7400 | D:6      | Reached XP level 8. HP: 44/52 MP: 10/18
  7704 | D:6      | Found a staircase to the Orcish Mines.
  8019 | D:6      | Reached skill level 9 in Stealth
  8692 | D:7      | Reached skill level 5 in Spellcasting
  9021 | D:7      | Reached skill level 5 in Ice Magic
  9083 | D:7      | Reached skill level 10 in Stealth
  9116 | D:7      | Learned a level 2 spell: Sure Blade
  9121 | D:7      | Learned a level 4 spell: Enslavement
  9460 | D:7      | Reached skill level 1 in Shields
  9460 | D:7      | Reached XP level 9. HP: 24/57 MP: 15/21
  9799 | D:7      | Reached skill level 5 in Hexes
 10005 | D:8      | Identified the cursed +5 ring mail "Weuroloqu" {Str+3 Int+3} (You found it on level 6 of the Dungeon)
 10080 | D:8      | Found a blossoming altar of Fedhas.
 10080 | D:8      | Found a basalt altar of Yredelemnul.
 10693 | D:8      | Found an ancient bone altar of Kikubaaqudgha.
 11283 | D:9      | Noticed Eustachio
 11295 | D:9      | Killed Eustachio
 11295 | D:9      | Reached XP level 10. HP: 59/63 MP: 15/23
 11334 | D:9      | Noticed Psyche
 11349 | D:9      | Killed Psyche
 11349 | D:9      | Reached skill level 1 in Armour
 11436 | D:9      | Reached skill level 5 in Shields
 12365 | D:10     | Entered Level 10 of the Dungeon
 12477 | D:10     | Acquired Ashenzari's first power
 13837 | D:11     | Learned a level 6 spell: Invisibility
 13853 | D:11     | Reached XP level 11. HP: 68/68 MP: 18/25
 14380 | D:11     | Noticed a cyclops
 14383 | D:11     | Noticed a six-headed hydra
 14389 | D:11     | Killed a cyclops
 14401 | D:11     | Killed a six-headed hydra
 14497 | D:11     | Noticed Fannar
 14584 | D:11     | Noticed a centaur warrior
 14591 | D:11     | Noticed an unseen horror
 14601 | D:11     | Noticed a skeletal warrior
 14603 | D:11     | Noticed a skeletal warrior
 14604 | D:11     | Noticed a skeletal warrior
 14605 | D:11     | Noticed a skeletal warrior
 14607 | D:11     | Noticed a skeletal warrior
 14616 | D:11     | Killed a skeletal warrior
 14640 | D:11     | Killed a centaur warrior
 14646 | D:11     | Killed an unseen horror
 14868 | D:11     | Slain by a skeletal warrior


Action                   |  1- 3 |  4- 6 |  7- 9 | 10-12 || total
-------------------------+-------+-------+-------+-------++-------
Melee: Dagger            |   130 |   111 |   205 |   158 ||   604
Throw: Dart              |       |       |     9 |       ||     9
 Cast: Corona            |    30 |     2 |     1 |     2 ||    35
       Ensorcelled Hiber |     6 |    37 |   107 |    81 ||   231
       Confuse           |       |    11 |    24 |    16 ||    51
       Invisibility      |       |       |       |     3 ||     3
Evoke: Wand              |       |       |     6 |     5 ||    11
  Use: Scroll            |       |     6 |     9 |    11 ||    26
       Potion            |       |     1 |       |     1 ||     2
 Stab: Sleeping          |    14 |    37 |    82 |    58 ||   191
       Confused          |       |     3 |    16 |     5 ||    24
       Distracted        |       |     1 |     5 |     1 ||     7
       Invisible         |       |       |       |     2 ||     2
       Paralysed         |       |       |       |     2 ||     2



[Bloax]

The first thing that sticks out is that you're using a DAGGER against SKELETAL WARRIORS - who have 15 AC and 56-76 hp.
Which means that even if you do pierce their AC with the miniscule damage your dagger would do, you have a lot of health to dig through. And they hit for up to 25 damage even without counting their weapons.

And they usually come in groups, too. So "fight" is not even an option in a situation like this (only daggers for weapons). 14/10 AC/EV means that they'll hit you very often and their high damage means that your AC means jack.
They'll kill you in a couple of hits and pick their teeth with your bones. "RUN" Should be the only thought here.

[Wahaha]

You have a good amount of crappy wands that might slow you down in bat form, or prevent you from using stairs if overloaded. But you should quickly identify wands with any character anyway.

Confuse doesn't work very well against skeletal warriors, they have a lot of MR.

You should use all of your scrolls of identify on potions and sometimes scrolls, optionally keeping one to identify a new ring or something. You can drop scrolls of recharging, amnesia, and some other scrolls not useful in a fight right where you find them so they don't get burnt.

I wouldn't bother wearing a buckler and training shields to 5 this early, with a VpEn. Well maybe wearing a buckler and not training shields is ok, I'm not sure of the numbers.

[defen]

If you're losing a fight, use an escape mechanism. Scrolls of TP and bat form come to mind.

Don't use weapons of chaos. They can shaft you, among other bad things.

Use your ID scrolls on potions. Read-ID your scrolls. Zap-ID your wands, first on a wall, then on yourself if still unidentified. You had lots of resources and weren't even aware of it.

Don't train ice magic when your only ice spell is Ensorcelled Hibernation.

[variouselite]

Thank you guys. More or less understood already but in the heat of the moment I def got sloppy. Appreciate your quick responses. = )

The original idea with that encounter was: I was invis and none of them had noticed me, I moved in and tried a couple invisi-stabs and all of a sudden they were jumping down my throat + my invis dropped.. And then I panicked.

*Edit* I read a guide that said wait till lair to use-ID scrolls and pots for the safety, thoughts?

[Sandman25]

Put this into your init.txt, it will warn you when you are about to lose invisibility.

  Code:

runrest_stop_message += You flicker for a moment

[Sandman25]

*Edit* I read a guide that said wait till lair to use-ID scrolls and pots for the safety, thoughts?

That's wrong. Well, except maybe for Tr who can reach Lair without any consumables usually.
I usually start reading unknown scrolls at D4. if one of those scrolls happens to be scroll of magic mapping, I have a chance to see entrance to Temple.

[variouselite]

Thanks for that Sandman. = )

[BlackSheep]

You overtrained Ice Magic, given that your only Ice spell was Ensorcelled Hibernation. Had you limited yourself to 3 or 4 levels, and instead trained more Hexes, you might have been able to land Confuse on the skeletal warrior.

I start read-IDing scrolls as soon as I have an unknown potion to target with a scroll of identify.

[Hurkyl]

EN is a class that lets you show a lot of disrespect, as so many things fall to sleep stabs and most of the rest to confuse stabs. This makes it hard to stomach showing respect when you need to; you're just going to have to suck it up and learn to respect those few enemies that don't fall easily to your disables.

Though if you were to insist on killing those Skeletal warriors... probably your best chance by far is enslavement. If you can find a few good melee thugs (casters work sometimes too) to charm to your cause, you can take down many of the monsters you are having trouble sticking your spells to.

[mikee]

If you would like to play with some spoilers, you can look up a monster's stats here: http://crawl.develz.org/wordpress/bots. Those should suggest to you that this character absolutely should not be fighting these skeletal warriors. Just one of them has about the same health as you, better defenses (try wearing a robe and training dodging), and does about twice as much damage as you.

Regarding invisibility, this is what I infer happened to you: You miscast invisibility, which gave you a miscast effect of corona. You cast invisibility again, and it worked, but corona reveals you if you are invisible.

[daggaz]

Skeletal warriors on D:11? Ouch.

As far as the identify mini-game goes, one trick is that ID, remove curse, and teleport scrolls 'tend' to have the highest frequency, with ID and remove curse fighting for first place and teleport usually coming in at third.

So one trick is to wait until you get one or two large stacks of scrolls, and at least one unidentified potion. Then read one of the big stacks and if it prompts you for a target, use it on the potion. Scrolls were 'nothing happens' could be amnesia (if you dont have a spell memorized), curse item (if you dont have that kind of item equipped, usually that is jewelry), or remove curse (if you have no cursed items equipped).

WIth that in mind, try to start ID-ing potions as soon as possible. Prioritize potions, then wands or un-ID'd amulets, then single or double scrolls (if you get multiple uses out of an ID and there are no other targets in your inventory). Wands you can always try to zap-ID, but it sucks if you burn two charges on something nice like healing. Amulets that don't ID are risky because you can have inaccuracy which can gimp you before you realize it and then you are dead. I always wait a good while before ID-ing mystery rings, because many kinds will auto-ID after being exposed to the correct stimulus, and by then you usually pick up some more potions.

[Frelus]

Skeletal warriors on D:11? Ouch.



So one trick is to wait until you get one or two large stacks of scrolls, and at least one unidentified potion. Then read one of the big stacks and if it prompts you for a target, use it on the potion. Scrolls were 'nothing happens' could be amnesia (if you dont have a spell memorized), curse item (if you dont have that kind of item equipped, usually that is jewelry), or remove curse (if you have no cursed items equipped).

Just a quick thing, Amnesia is read-ID'd even if you have no spells memorized.
Says something about you feeling like you just forgot something.
Don't know if that got introduced with trunk, though.

[daggaz]

Must be yet another trunk change. v0.12 its still a generic you dont know what that scroll did message. guess that was too much mystery for crawl..

[variouselite]

Thank you everyone for your time, info, and suggestions = )