Mara, Lord of Being a Jerk-Face


Ask fellow adventurers how to stay alive in the deep, dark, dangerous dungeon below, or share your own accumulated wisdom.

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Barkeep

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Post Sunday, 30th January 2011, 19:12

Mara, Lord of Being a Jerk-Face

I'm playing a DEWz, currently level 18, and just took the stairs down to Vaults. Surprise! It's Mara, camped right there. I sent a fireball his way, and he responded by cloning me. Fortunately, I'm a fire caster, and didn't have all my rF gear on, so I should be able to take myself down later.

Made it back upstairs, and now I'm wondering... any advice for a caster taking this guy down? I'd run away, but plunging blindly through Vaults:1 with no reliable way upstairs seems awfully risky.

Also, is that spectral copy of myself permanent? Can he make as many of them as he pleases?
I am not a very good player. My mouth is a foul pit of LIES. KNOW THIS.

Ziggurat Zagger

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Post Sunday, 30th January 2011, 19:34

Re: Mara, Lord of Being a Jerk-Face

The player ghost will eventually time out, but Mara can make another one once it does. I have never seen her make two at once, though.

Killing Mara with a caster is basically a matter of buffing up and spraying as much direct damage as possible before she can respond. She doesn't always create the player ghost promptly, and her other spells are much less threatening. If you've crippled her before you get cloned, you can finish her off and teleport out, but if she does it right away teleport out immediately and try again some other time. Beware the fact that Mara's illusions can follow you from level to level. They are not like normal player ghosts in that respect. Since you are a fire caster, don't depend on scrolls to evacuate.

The best plan is to simply avoid Mara, though. Clear what you can that doesn't pass through her territory, and when you feel the need to explore the area she's blocked off spend as little time as possible on her level. If you can find Teleport Self and Teleport Control, there's no reason to spend more than five ticks on her level.
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Slime Squisher

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Post Sunday, 30th January 2011, 19:44

Re: Mara, Lord of Being a Jerk-Face

KoboldLord wrote:The player ghost will eventually time out, but Mara can make another one once it does. I have never seen her make two at once, though.


Mara is a he :>
Mangled by Mennas
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Vestibule Violator

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Post Sunday, 30th January 2011, 22:36

Re: Mara, Lord of Being a Jerk-Face

Personally? I advocate avoiding Mara at all costs. Give up on the silver rune- get the two from swamp/snake/shoals and then get the abyssal rune. It's safer.

Or if you don't want to embrace my cowardice, leave for now and come back when sufficiently overpowered. Pretty sure most characters are not prepared to take Mara down when they first enter the vaults.

Snake Sneak

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Post Monday, 31st January 2011, 17:53

Re: Mara, Lord of Being a Jerk-Face

Note that you might want to buff yourself up AFTER he creates your clone. All the buffs you have on while he clones you transfer to your clone. AFAIK they don't disappear in time like your buffs so you might meet a permamently berserked/hasted clone of yourself. The safest way I know of killing him is using allies via BIA or summons.

Snake Sneak

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Post Monday, 31st January 2011, 21:04

Re: Mara, Lord of Being a Jerk-Face

Don't Rings of Ice reduce fire spellpower? Maybe you would want to equip one until he makes the illusion then put on your rF+ buffs.
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Slime Squisher

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Post Monday, 31st January 2011, 21:40

Re: Mara, Lord of Being a Jerk-Face

Well, I just faced Mara with my current character: level 19 HEAI.

It took 3 lightning bolts to take him out without buffing myself at all. I don't think he is that dangerous as long as you can take him out quickly.
Then 3 more bolts to take out the ghost.
Mangled by Mennas

gb

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Halls Hopper

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Post Monday, 31st January 2011, 21:53

Re: Mara, Lord of Being a Jerk-Face

starless wrote:Well, I just faced Mara with my current character: level 19 HEAI.

It took 3 lightning bolts to take him out without buffing myself at all. I don't think he is that dangerous as long as you can take him out quickly.
Then 3 more bolts to take out the ghost.


i think that's the key. don't hold back at all against mara and use everything at your disposal to get rid of him quickly

Vaults Vanquisher

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Post Monday, 31st January 2011, 21:56

Re: Mara, Lord of Being a Jerk-Face

Yeah my KoBe berserked and killed Mara and the ghost pretty easily.

Slime Squisher

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Post Monday, 31st January 2011, 23:06

Re: Mara, Lord of Being a Jerk-Face

On a NaVM once I used slouch about 4 times for an easy kill in the Swamp.
TrCK:
Xom grants you an implement of some kind.
_Something appears at your feet!
4790 gold pieces {god gift}.

DsAr:
You blink. You feel slightly more hungry. Prince Ribbit hits you. You die...
"Hey, that's my toy!"
Xom revives you!

Halls Hopper

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Post Tuesday, 1st February 2011, 08:23

Re: Mara, Lord of Being a Jerk-Face

Just note that if you're a high-level caster, with Storm magic or something similarly nasty at your disposal, you may want to forget it before fighting Mara. I've had an illusion hit me for more than my max HP with an Ice Storm.
Just a well-spoken spambot.
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Vestibule Violator

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Post Tuesday, 1st February 2011, 16:33

Re: Mara, Lord of Being a Jerk-Face

I would just like to note that I appreciate the use of the word "jerks" in relation to Crawl monsters. This and another thread about "Hydras are jerks" made me smile.
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Swamp Slogger

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Post Tuesday, 1st February 2011, 19:16

Re: Mara, Lord of Being a Jerk-Face

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Zot Zealot

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Post Tuesday, 1st February 2011, 19:18

Re: Mara, Lord of Being a Jerk-Face

More reasons Mara is a jerk-face: every time I run into a Rakshasa in the dungeon, I nearly wet myself.
I am sure I played flawflessly. This was an utmost unfair death. -- gorbeh
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Barkeep

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Post Tuesday, 1st February 2011, 21:35

Re: Mara, Lord of Being a Jerk-Face

Got 'im.

My assault was hindered by the fact that the upstairs were also surrounded by centaurs, yaktaurs, and ogres. Got away from them all, killed Mara with Mystic Blast. Simple, effective.

In other news, Poisonous Cloud really makes killing most of the monsters in the dungeon really easy.
I am not a very good player. My mouth is a foul pit of LIES. KNOW THIS.

Snake Sneak

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Post Wednesday, 2nd February 2011, 16:35

Re: Mara, Lord of Being a Jerk-Face

szanth wrote:Yeah my KoBe berserked and killed Mara and the ghost pretty easily.


My HoBe berserked, Mara cloned him. Berserk ran out and my 2 scrolls of blinking weren't enough to get to the stairs before my 4x speed ghost kindly showed me the exit.
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Barkeep

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Post Wednesday, 2nd February 2011, 21:18

Re: Mara, Lord of Being a Jerk-Face

Ugh. Being exhausted around Mara and your clone... bad news. Saving the 'zerk for escape might be a good plan -- Mara seems like a good target for that Wand of Cold you've been saving.

Thinking about him more, I realized: you want to be able to kill Mara, but since the ghost isn't permanent, you just need to escape the ghost. So piling on the rF if you're a fire caster is just fine -- you won't be able to kill your clone, but it probably won't kill you either.
I am not a very good player. My mouth is a foul pit of LIES. KNOW THIS.

Vaults Vanquisher

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Post Friday, 4th February 2011, 17:21

Re: Mara, Lord of Being a Jerk-Face

Well I thought it went without saying that you'd wait till the ghost was already out and -THEN- berserk. That way the ghost copy doesn't have the speed/might advantage.

Mines Malingerer

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Post Saturday, 5th February 2011, 03:10

Re: Mara, Lord of Being a Jerk-Face

Tips for Mara:

*Ignore your ghost. Seriously. It's not permanent. Your priority is killing Mara as fast as possible. You can run away from your ghost later.
*If you are melee fighter, equip something useless in your hand. Such as bread rations. Switch weapons and attack Mara after he summons your illusion. This is a cheesy trick but hey you are against Mara.
* Abjuration takes care of his illusions AND your ghost. Very useful. You might also want Clarity for his annoying Mislead spell.

So in another words haste & buff yourself after he summons your ghost and unleash everything you have at Mara and then blink & teleport away. He's not that dangerous. You can do it!
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Vestibule Violator

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Post Saturday, 5th February 2011, 04:20

Re: Mara, Lord of Being a Jerk-Face

That's good to know about abjuration. I didn't know it was possible to do anything about those illusions.
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Mines Malingerer

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Post Saturday, 5th February 2011, 04:38

Re: Mara, Lord of Being a Jerk-Face

After a few tries, I banished the SoB to the abyss with my DSCk of Lugonu. It was incredibly satisfying. I then corrupted the level to rub it in a little, you know, to show everybody that it's my turf now...because I'm vindictive.
Arsenal FC...I'm a gooner.
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Zot Zealot

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Post Monday, 7th February 2011, 21:12

Re: Mara, Lord of Being a Jerk-Face

I can now say, having done it for the first time, that there has been no feeling in Crawl so far so satisfying as waiting for Mara to clone me, then turning into a Statue and stomping him flat while my double gently rubs me with a baguette.
I am sure I played flawflessly. This was an utmost unfair death. -- gorbeh

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szanth, vintermann

Ziggurat Zagger

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Post Tuesday, 8th February 2011, 01:17

Re: Mara, Lord of Being a Jerk-Face

hahaha

Blades Runner

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Post Tuesday, 8th February 2011, 04:33

Re: Mara, Lord of Being a Jerk-Face

I swear I just got mutated by an illusion!

As I was approaching a zombie (stone giant?), I saw Mara in the distance, was quickly misled, and ran away from her and toward the nearest staircase. As I'm running, a Giant Orange Brain appears behind me, where I would have been expecting a zombie, had I not be being misled. Not a bit deal, I think. I'm faster than it, it can't hurt me, it's not a real Orange Brain. And then -- bam! -- it mutates me. (This despite an rMut amulet and "incredible" MR; I'm now frail.) What? So, I now am thinking that it must have been a real Orange Brain (given the layout it would have been really unlikely for anything besides the zombie to be near me.) I reach the staircase, regroup, slay Mara easily, kill the zombie, and search for that Orange Brain. It's no where to be found! Hm.

Are Mara's illusions so powerful that they can give permanent mutations? Or should I make this a bug report?

What a Jerk-Face.

Blades Runner

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Post Tuesday, 8th February 2011, 08:55

Re: Mara, Lord of Being a Jerk-Face

smock wrote:I swear I just got mutated by an illusion!

Are Mara's illusions so powerful that they can give permanent mutations? Or should I make this a bug report?

What a Jerk-Face.


I assume that the monster, disguised as that giant orange brain, was in fact something that can mutate you as well.
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Blades Runner

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Post Tuesday, 8th February 2011, 14:17

Re: Mara, Lord of Being a Jerk-Face

It could be, but I cleared the level later on and it was totally danger-free. Most likely, Mara's code just switches tiles and I'm very confused. But it was just L18 so I hope there's not a mutagentic monster around every corner.
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Barkeep

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Post Tuesday, 8th February 2011, 14:18

Re: Mara, Lord of Being a Jerk-Face

I was under the impression that Mislead is purely cosmetic.
I am not a very good player. My mouth is a foul pit of LIES. KNOW THIS.
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Shoals Surfer

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Post Tuesday, 8th February 2011, 15:04

Re: Mara, Lord of Being a Jerk-Face

njvack wrote:I was under the impression that Mislead is purely cosmetic.


It is.

Blades Runner

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Post Tuesday, 8th February 2011, 15:31

Re: Mara, Lord of Being a Jerk-Face

Just checked my log: There was a glowing shapeshifter on that level. So the zombie must have been a glowing shapeshifter who must have shifted into GOB or something else mutagenic. Sneaky! Mara's still a jerk-face.

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