(Very) Basic Naga Guide

[dolphin]

Cons:

• Slow movement - This is the primary drawback of nagas: you can't easily run away. Those stairs are a lot farther away for you than they are with other species. However, it is very important to note that while moving is slow, all other actions, like spellcasting, are at normal speed. You can compensate for slow movement and work around it, but it will be a disadvantage for a good part of the game. What this means for you is that you should be farther away when you start trying to run away, and also that attempting to kill the thing you are running from often works better than running, if you are out of options.
• Unfitting armour (1/2 AC from armour) - This is a significant disadvantage in the early game, before you have innate AC, Armour skill, Shield skill, or gigantic HP. AC is rounded down, so a 3 AC leather armour provides you with 1 AC. You don't really want to wear much more than leather or ringmail in the early game because it just isn't worth it. However, if you wear leather, finding a helmet or gauntlets or a cloak gives you 2 AC ([3+1]/2=2), so secondary armour items can greatly boost survivability

Pros:

• rP - early game, this is huge. It means you only worry about the damage of monsters, not whether they will poison you. You can eat kobold flesh, which translates into more magic because you have more sources of food. Having rP also makes Meph considerably more effective.
• See invisible - this negates one large advantage of orc wizards and elves (and unseen horrors).
• Spit Poison - This may be inaccurate, but it gives a leg up in the very early game, particularly if you have to run away. It does some damage (if it hits) and sometimes poisons the target. It tends to kill goblins, hoblins, kobolds, small snakes outright. Remember that on D:1.
• Apts - Nagas have no crippled apts. If you want to train an apt, you can. The lowest apt is -2. Magic apts are 0, except Poison +3.
• Stealth - Nagas get innate stealth like kobolds and halfings, and a good stealth apt. Even if you aren't a stabber, this is very helpful. You can't run away from battles as easily as other species, so picking which one you engage in is very helpful.
• Shields - Nagas can wear bucklers with no Shield skill, and it will not effect spellcasting, as Nagas are a Large species. This is helpful in every way: You block attacks while still blasting enemies; you have another slot for an artefact; and you are Large, which means you are somewhat bad at Dodging, and shields can compensate.
• Gargantuan HP in mid- and late-game - This is good. Duh. Makes for some powerful Transmutations, especially Spider and Ice, since they don't have awesome defenses.
• Innate AC - every 3 XL, you get another AC point, for 9 AC at XL 27. Again this is a boon for transmutation forms.
• 120 XP - this is somewhat minor, but it does add up
• Bardings - you have the best shoes in the game, since you get all AC from these (barding fit your 'unusually shaped body').

Tips and Reminders:

• Not running away - You are slower than they are. Running away like you normally do WILL kill you. This tends to mean you should kill them before they get to you or after they get to you. Running gives them free hits.
• Do not move while fighting - Once you have started a fight, don't move around unless to have to. If you move, they will close the gap or hit you twice. This makes hydras priority targets, since they are much faster than you, and can attack many, many times. Blink (even random blinking), Swiftness, Flight, Spider Form, and Teleport are very good to have.
• Armour skill - A few points here will give you more AC than with other characters, possibly because of Unfitting Armour. If you are a class that starts with leather armour, like a Warper, before you do anything else, mash 5 and train Armour up to 1.
• rP doesn't protect against damage - Spiny frogs and Wolf spiders are still dangerous. rP does make Poison Cloud better, in most cases, than Bolt of Poison. Use it in corridors.
• Adapt - Though you are good at stabbing, don't restrict yourself to it. Those magic apts give you a lot of flexibility.
• Strength - You start with good strength as a caster (10 Str, 15 Int, 11 Dex), so, again, don't assume to have to be a dexterous dodging stabber.
• Choose your fights and locations - remember that everything is farther away for you.
• Stealth - Very helpful for choosing your fights, and running away. Unless you want every last point to go into X skill, it is a good idea to leave Stealth on. If you are going Oka/TSO, you'll still want some stealth while you're with Oka.

That's all I got. Everything else would be build/god specific. Hope this is helpful to you. If you have tips, clarifications, comments, questions, suggestions, or snide remarks, feel free to add them.

[Gabriellk]

I love Nagas, they are one of my favourite species in the game, although I never managed to win one. I wish there were more slow races in the game.
The slow movement speed is harsh in the early game, but the Spit Poison make up for that in most situations. In D:1 it's incredibly helpful.
Altough the slowness remains an inconvenience in the whole game, it's less of a hassle past the early parts, even more if you have acess to some translocations spells. Although rare, a ring of CTele is incredibly helpful for Nagas.
The excellent hp is always nice, too.
Your guide is very good, although small. Those tips are great, thanks!

[Kate]

Deformed body actually only halves the (base) AC from body armour.

[ohmi]

So +2 chain mail isn't worth it until...? My NaWz has no Armour skill yet, but found that on D:1. Str should be >= 12?

[mrbobbyg]

So +2 chain mail isn't worth it until...? My NaWz has no Armour skill yet, but found that on D:1. Str should be >= 12?

Chain +2 is pretty much *never* going to be worth it on a NaWz. Armor with an EV penalty affects your spellcasting, and chain has a pretty solid penalty.

[mikee]

Do not move while fighting

good advice

If you are a class that starts with leather armour, like a Warper, before you do anything else, mash 5 and train Armour up to 1.

don't do this

You start with good strength as a caster (10 Str, 15 Int, 11 Dex)

this is largely irrelevant

Choose your fights and locations

good advice

Stealth - Very helpful for choosing your fights, and running away. Unless you want every last point to go into X skill, it is a good idea to leave Stealth on. If you are going Oka/TSO, you'll still want some stealth while you're with Oka.

not something I would do but probably okay

[dolphin]

When I originally posted this, I couldn't remember why I said to train Armour up to 1.

I remember now: When playing a crusader or warper or gladiator until Armour 1, your leather armour will occasionally prevent you from hitting the {foo}. Particularly in the very early early game, missing on a regular basis (even if it isn't very often) will kill you quite dead, especially when your fleeing options are limited, though the warper has it better in this regard.

[zaimoni]

When I originally posted this, I couldn't remember why I said to train Armour up to 1.

I remember now: When playing a crusader or warper or gladiator until Armour 1, your leather armour will occasionally prevent you from hitting the {foo}. Particularly in the very early early game, missing on a regular basis (even if it isn't very often) will kill you quite dead, especially when your fleeing options are limited, though the warper has it better in this regard.

Tripping the Out Of Depth monster clock may kill you equally dead. Especially when starting the game.

[Galefury]

Except tripping the ood monster clock is something that never ever happens in normal play.

[Stormfox]

Hunting down ballistomycete infestations has been cited more than once as a reason for triggering the OOD timer.

Long running fights where you lose track of time have the potential. One more good reason to remove the current Hive, at least from my perspective only: when I bring in a spriggan that doesn't have area of effect spells, I can spend a hell of a lot of time on Hive:2. The bees can't make me fear for my life much (if I'm properly prepared), but I can't kill them very quickly either at that stage of the game. If not for taking breaks to move some of the food to Lair, I'm definitely going to trip the OOD timer one of these days doing that.

[Happy Corner]

How timely! I was just beginning to experiment with Nagas myself, and can add a few basic things already.

Naga Wizards are nice. Blink + Repel Missiles + Mephitic Cloud > Slowness.

Naga Air Elementalists are nice. Swiftness + Repel Missiles + Mephitic Cloud > Slowness.

Naga Berserkers are nice. Flipping out and killing things foolish enough to rush you > Slowness.

Naga Venom Mages can also be nice, but sometimes get pawned by oozes before they can find non-poisonous means of blasting them.

I mention specific backgrounds like those because Nagas must choose their path with care. Nagas without magic or godly assistance probably do not live long!


Other tips to prevent the Dungeon from holding its own Simpsons-style Whacking Day:

One-tile corridors are your friend. Your slow movement isn't so bad when you're one-on-one with the monsters, but you can be surrounded easily when you're in the open.

Make heavy use of your wands, potions, scrolls, ranged weapons, and other toys that you find, even more than you would if you were some other race. Since you can't run, you need to do everything you can about the monsters before (or after) they're in your face! Remember also that snakes like you are predators, and sometimes predators need to be patient. So don't rush the monsters, let THEM get spat on and darted and wanded and blasted rushing to YOU!

Poison spit is awesome in the early dungeon! Other races should be jealous that they can't spit poison! Your bile is superior to the darts and other ranged junk you usually find on the ground early on, and you can spit every few turns. That's very appropriate for those protracted battles with foes who have the audacity to NOT roll over and die the first couple times you hit them!

Cheibraidos may be tailor-made for Nagas to worship. Ponderous armor is nice, slouching Nagas hit really hard, and there are a couple invocations for escaping trouble in there, too. But first you have to be good enough at being a Naga that you can survive long enough to get any benefits. So if you're used to playing under some other god with other races, you might try that god first until you've built up your Naga game more! (Case in point, to date my Naga Berserkers have survived longer than my Naga spellcasters of Chei.)

[Yet Another Stupid Noob]

I would also like to speak to how awesome Conjure Flame is for Naga as well. If you use it in a 1-wide corridor you will either get: a. A firey moat that allows you to shoot your foe in safety, or b. crispy monster flame'. The latter option is awesome to use versus early slimes, and I don't think I could have killed the hydras, elephants and death yaks in lair without it.