Decent gods for mages besides Vehu and Sif

[poot112]

Anybody have any good experiences with other gods in their mage playthroughs that made them good choices on their runs? I pretty much always pick sif because books are not a guaranteed thing, but at the same time going Sif every time is a horrifically boring experience.

[duvessa]

kiku is literally always better than either of these gods

[dowan]

This is gonna sound like a real wise-ass response, but Oka can be a good choice for book starts. If you insist on not using a weapon at all though, he's probably not a great pick.

[Dioneo]

I had great luck with Ashenzari in my only mage win so far, the general skill boost is great for diversifying your magic, since it allows you to get more out of different spell schools with less of an xp-investment. While I never had use for it in my game, I suppse the ability to transfer xp could also allow you to adapt to the books you find in the dungeon.

[MainiacJoe]

Besides the ones mentioned already, Dithmenos gives escape options and mimics either hex or conjuration spells. Fedhas makes the early game easier for most everyone. Gozag was great for me for Sp because I wasn't going to butcher any corpses anyway.

[nago]

kiku is literally always better than either of these gods

To be fair kiku is always better than like 80% of gods.

(percentage may vary a bit depending on how many new gods are added in the last ten commits)

[ThreeInvisibleDucks]

I got my only conjurer win with a spriggan of Dithmenos. For a SpCj Dith was an ok match because extra stealth gave a lot of free sleep stabs, I got the 3rd rune from Abyss without killing a single monster, and the shadow mimic boosts conjurations somewhat. Apart from stabbing, it was a conjurations-heavy win and I cleared Zot:5 with only Battlesphere, Spellforged Servitor, and Iron Shot -- and lots of kiting.

  Code:

Aim: an Orb Guardian (lightly wounded, umbra)
You feel a surge of power! The iron shot hits the Orb Guardian.
The Orb Guardian is heavily wounded.
Your shadow mimicks your spell!
The shadow shard hits the Orb Guardian.
Your battlesphere fires!
The barrage of energy hits the Orb Guardian.
The Orb Guardian is severely wounded.
Your spellforged servitor gestures at the Orb Guardian while chanting.
The iron shot hits the Orb Guardian.
The Orb Guardian dies!
Dithmenos accepts your kill.

[Lasty]

Most gods that don't demand high Invo are good gods for spellcasters, to almost but not precisely the same degree as for melee-only chars. Obviously not trog of course.

[dowan]

I'll second dith, as long as you aren't talking about a FE. Extra stealth, dodging bonus, and shadow attacks? Good stuff.

Sif might give you more spells, and let you cast them more, and veh might give you some spells, and make them easier to use, but Dith will actually make your damage output go up.

[NhorianScum]

Haven't seen him mentioned yet but Makleb is a pretty fun dude on casters in general and is pretty hilarious with Vm. Ru is always a solid pick if he shows up early

Past that most gods are on-par with or are strictly better than sif for casters in a 3 rune, and I'm not entirely certain why veh exists.

[MainiacJoe]

I'm not entirely certain why veh exists.

Because it's natural for people to want to cast level 9 spells, yet not everyone has the skill/patience to play extended (raises hand). Veh lets them scratch this itch. I really enjoyed blowing stuff up with a GrEE^Veh that had both Fire Storm and Shatter in a 3-rune game. It was my second or third win, I forget. Nowadays I would skill differently and recognize that other gods are more useful, but I can't deny that was a fun game.

[MainiacJoe]

Most gods that don't demand high Invo are good gods for spellcasters, to almost but not precisely the same degree as for melee-only chars. Obviously not trog of course.

This suggests that high-Invo gods are intrinsically bad gods, since a hybrid character would be even more XP-squeezed than a blaster or a brute. Am I reading you wrongly?

[Lasty]

High-Invo gods are excellent for characters with low demands on their XP, which mostly means weapon-focused chars.

[MainiacJoe]

High-Invo gods are excellent for characters with low demands on their XP, which mostly means weapon-focused chars.

That makes sense and what I was thinking too, but it seemed to me that you were saying that low-Invo gods were good for melee-only characters two posts above. I think I'm just sleepy.

[VeryAngryFelid]

I'm not entirely certain why veh exists.

To give a new play style and world record?