YAVP: Newbie MiFi of Trog, 3 runes

[LIX]

  Code:

 Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup version 0.13.1 (tiles) character file.

DuckThisGame the Shatterer (Minotaur Fighter)      Turns: 96467, Time: 11:42:45

HP 226/226 (231) AC 37     Str 26      XL: 24   Next:  3%
MP  27/27        EV 14     Int 10      God: Trog [******]
Gold 5427        SH 52     Dex 17      Spells:  0 memorised, 23 levels left

Res.Fire  : + + .   See Invis. : .   Z - +4 eveningstar (drain)
Res.Cold  : + . .   Warding    : .   L - +5 dwarf plate armour {rC+}
Life Prot.: + + .   Conserve   : .   A - +0 large shield {rN+}
Res.Poison: +       Res.Corr.  : .   a - +2 wizard hat
Res.Elec. : +       Clarity    : +   G - +0 cloak "Nieh" {+Rage +Inv Int+2}
Sust.Abil.: . .     Spirit.Shd : .   Y - +1 pair of gloves "Ruciuge" {Str+1 Int+1}
Res.Mut.  : .       Stasis     : .   i - +2 pair of boots {run}
Res.Rott. : .       Flight     : .   p - amulet of Thruzow {Clar Int+2 Dam+3}
Saprovore : . . .                    o - ring of Piotsiod {rPois rF++ Dam-1 Curse}
                                     c - ring of Neurosis {rElec rN+ Dex-1}

@: quick, quite resistant to hostile enchantments, extremely unstealthy
A: retaliatory headbutt, horns 2, wild magic 1
a: Burn Spellbooks, Berserk, Trog's Hand, Brothers in Arms, Renounce Religion,
Evoke Berserk Rage, Evoke Invisibility
}: 3/15 runes: serpentine, barnacled, silver


You are on level 1 of the Lair of Beasts.
You worship Trog.
Trog is exalted by your worship.
You are not hungry.

You have visited 8 branches of the dungeon, and seen 56 of its levels.
You have visited the Abyss 1 time.
You have also visited: Labyrinth and Trove.

You have collected 7478 gold pieces.
You have spent 2071 gold pieces at shops.

Inventory:

Hand weapons
 b - the +11,+6 great mace of Beateup {crush, rPois}
   (You bought it in a shop on level 4 of the Orcish Mines)   
   
   It inflicts extra damage upon your enemies.
   
   It protects you from poison.
 e - the +8,+10 flail "Pruikk" {holy, *Rage rF+ SInv}
   (You found it on level 16 of the Dungeon)   
   
   It has been blessed by the Shining One to cause great damage to the undead
   and demons.
   
   It protects you from fire.
   It enhances your eyesight.
   It makes you angry.
 Z - a +4,+4 eveningstar of draining (weapon)
Missiles
 x - 7 javelins (quivered)
Armour
 a - a +2 wizard hat (worn)
 f - a +2 dwarven plate armour of fire resistance
 i - a +2 pair of boots of running (worn)
 n - a +0 fire dragon armour
 A - a +0 large shield of positive energy (worn)
 G - the +0 cloak "Nieh" (worn) {+Rage +Inv Int+2}
   (You bought it in a shop on level 4 of the Orcish Mines)   
   
   It affects your intelligence (+2).
   It lets you turn invisible.
   It lets you go berserk.
 L - a +5 dwarven plate armour of cold resistance (worn)
 Y - the +1 pair of gloves "Ruciuge" (worn) {Str+1 Int+1}
   (You found it on level 8 of the Dungeon)   
   
   It affects your strength (+1).
   It affects your intelligence (+1).
Magical devices
 g - a wand of hasting {zapped: 3}
 q - a wand of digging (2)
 D - a wand of teleportation (5)
Comestibles
 d - 10 bread rations
 K - 4 meat rations
Jewellery
 c - the ring of Neurosis (left hand) {rElec rN+ Dex-1}
   (You found it on level 2 of the Snake Pit)   
   
   [ring of positive energy]
   It affects your dexterity (-1).
   It insulates you from electricity.
 j - an uncursed amulet of resist mutation
 k - an uncursed amulet of conservation
 o - the ring of Piotsiod (right hand) {rPois rF++ Dam-1 Curse}
   (You took it off an orc wizard on level 26 of the Dungeon)   
   
   [ring of poison resistance]
   It affects your damage-dealing abilities (-1).
   It greatly protects you from fire.
   It may recurse itself.
 p - the amulet of Thruzow (around neck) {Clar Int+2 Dam+3}
   (You found it in a labyrinth)   
   
   [amulet of clarity]
   It affects your intelligence (+2).
   It affects your damage-dealing abilities (+3).
 y - an uncursed ring of positive energy
 B - an uncursed ring of protection from cold
 M - a +0,+8 ring of slaying
 N - an uncursed ring of protection from magic
 V - the ring of Fihudgh {Hunger- Str+2}
   (You found it on level 24 of the Dungeon)   
   
   [ring of sustenance]
   It affects your strength (+2).


   Skills:
 + Level 21,9 Fighting
 + Level 25,9 Maces & Flails
   Level 2,4 Bows
 - Level 7,0 Throwing
 + Level 22,3 Armour
 + Level 13,8 Dodging
 + Level 4,3 Stealth
 + Level 24,2 Shields
 + Level 0,4 Unarmed Combat
 - Level 7,4 Evocations


You have 23 spell levels left.
You don't know any spells.

Dungeon Overview and Level Annotations

Branches:
Dungeon (27/27)            Temple (1/1) D:4             Orc (4/4) D:7
    Elf (0/3) Orc:3          Lair (8/8) D:10         Shoals (5/5) Lair:4
  Snake (5/5) Lair:6        Slime (0/6) Lair:8       Vaults (5/5) D:19
  Blade (1/1) Vaults:3      Crypt (0/5) Vaults:3        Zot (0/5) D:27


Hello, citizens. So with lots of luck, about 15 dead bodies and some advice from this forum I was able to get to this point. Actually this is the second time I managed to get 3 runes but last time I overconfidently ventured into Pandemonium with predictable (but not for me at the time) results.

Not aiming for extended or anything, I would be reasonably happy with a successfull 3-4 rune run. Anyway, so far I've cleared Dungeon, Lair, Shoals, Snakes, Orc and Vaults(+Hall of Blades),so where should I go next? I'm assuming not Zot since I'm not even 27 XL yet.
My options seems to be: Crypt, Abyss, Elf, Hell Vestibule. Everyting else is off-limits, I guess.

I also have a couple of cure mutations, 9 enchant armors, around 15 or so enchant weapons of different levels and the standard set of potions, scrolls and wands though I'm missing a healing wand.

Well... any advice is welcome!

[Magipi]

I'm curious, why did you start as a fighter and not berserker?

[LIX]

I've been wondering that myself. I guess I have unexplainable affection for shields.

[Sar]

What I would do: turn off Maces and Flails, Stealth, Shields, Unarmed Combat, wear slaying ring over rElec one, identify hasting wand, possibly recharge digging wand, go win (you need to be somewhat careful though since I see you are lacking consumables).

You shouldn't care about reaching level 27.

[dck]

I don't know why you're carrying the holy flail but you shouldn't use it over the eveningstar btw.

[LIX]

Mostly for SInv and liches. *Rage isn't doing anything since my primary amulet has clarity. But thanks for advice. I guess I better use my enchant scrolls on the eveningstar then?
Oh,I also have a demon whip of flaming, but it's only 0/1 and a scroll of branding.

[dck]

You should use the dwhip since it's vastly superior to the eveningstar with all that slaying (and indeed should wear the +8 slaying ring over rElec, which does nothing for the most part) and use your scrolls on it; regarding ?brand weapon, basically all brands are great on a dwhip except poison (except it's still a dwhip so it still kills things perfectly) so if you want to roll on that then you can do it but as it is it'll murder the rest of the game just fine anyway. The flail is pretty bad since it doesn't have much base damage and doesn't swing particularly fast, you can kill the undead faster with the dwhip.

Regarding consumables you want to ID and recharge that haste wand and carry all of your !haste, !HW, !might, ?fog and ?mmap to zot. When you hit zot just mapping the level and going straight to the stairs is better than exploring the whole thing since that just means more possible fights with oofs and aliches that you get nothing from (and it also means draconians destroy your inventory).

[Sandman25]

I would still suggest clearing Zot4. In my last game I had to use escape hatch in Zot 5 and landed in a very bad location in Zot4. So if you don't want to clear Zot 5, it's a good idea to clear Zot 4 IMHO.

[LIX]

Hehe. First successful run. Feels good.
Thanks for all the advice guys!

Gamble with demonwhip and scroll didn't play out all that well. Demon whip of protection. Someday I'll learn not to take unnecessary risks.
I was lucky to get a gold dragon hide, so I could get fr+++. Zot 5 proved pretty difficult and one zot trap in particular almost became my undoing.
Though I though ascension would be harder. Ah, my boots of running, I love you so.

Any suggestions on the next character? I would like to diversify a bit - probably still a melee guy, but less Trog and more spells, I guess.

  Code:

 Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup version 0.13.1 (tiles) character file.

1364301 DuckThisGame the Conqueror (level 26, 257/257 (267) HPs)
             Began as a Minotaur Fighter on Mar 9, 2014.
             Was a High Priest of Trog.
             Escaped with the Orb
             ... and 3 runes on Mar 13, 2014!
             
             The game lasted 13:38:31 (115356 turns).

FuckThisGame the Conqueror (Minotaur Fighter)     Turns: 115356, Time: 13:38:31

HP 257/257 (267) AC 39     Str 26      XL: 26   Next: 80%
MP  28/28        EV 10     Int  8      God: Trog [*****.]
Gold 4307        SH 50     Dex 17      Spells:  0 memorised, 25 levels left

Res.Fire  : + + +   See Invis. : .   Z - +5,+6 eveningstar (drain)
Res.Cold  : + . .   Warding    : .   r - +5 gold dragon armour
Life Prot.: + + .   Conserve   : .   A - -3 large shield {rN+}
Res.Poison: +       Res.Corr.  : .   a - +1 wizard hat
Res.Elec. : +       Clarity    : .   G - +0 cloak "Nieh" {+Rage +Inv Int+2}
Sust.Abil.: . .     Spirit.Shd : .   Y - +1 pair of gloves "Ruciuge" {Str+1 Int+1}
Res.Mut.  : +       Stasis     : .   i - +0 pair of boots {run}
Res.Rott. : .       Flight     : .   j - amulet of resist mutation
Saprovore : . . .                    o - ring of Piotsiod {rPois rF++ Dam-1 Curse}
                                     c - ring of Neurosis {rElec rN+ Dex-1}

@: very slightly contaminated, quick, quite resistant to hostile enchantments,
extremely unstealthy
A: retaliatory headbutt, horns 2
a: Burn Spellbooks, Berserk, Trog's Hand, Brothers in Arms, Renounce Religion,
Evoke Berserk Rage, Evoke Invisibility
}: 3/15 runes: serpentine, barnacled, silver


You escaped.
You worshipped Trog.
Trog was extremely pleased with you.
You were full.

You visited 9 branches of the dungeon, and saw 61 of its levels.
You visited the Abyss 1 time.
You also visited: Labyrinth and Trove.

You collected 7939 gold pieces.
You spent 3652 gold pieces at shops.

Inventory:

Hand weapons
 Z - a +5,+6 eveningstar of draining (weapon)
Missiles
 x - 4 javelins (quivered)
Armour
 a - a +1 wizard hat (worn)
 i - a +0 pair of boots of running (worn)
 r - a +5 gold dragon armour (worn)
 A - a -3 large shield of positive energy (worn)
 G - the +0 cloak "Nieh" (worn) {+Rage +Inv Int+2}
   (You bought it in a shop on level 4 of the Orcish Mines)   
   
   It affects your intelligence (+2).
   It lets you turn invisible.
   It lets you go berserk.
 Y - the +1 pair of gloves "Ruciuge" (worn) {Str+1 Int+1}
   (You found it on level 8 of the Dungeon)   
   
   It affects your strength (+1).
   It affects your intelligence (+1).
Magical devices
 b - a wand of paralysis (12)
 g - a wand of hasting (5)
 q - a wand of digging (10)
 D - a wand of teleportation (5)
 F - a wand of fire (7)
 I - a wand of invisibility (3)
 O - a wand of cold (4)
 X - a wand of fireball (3)
Comestibles
 d - 8 bread rations
Scrolls
 t - a scroll of blinking
 w - 8 scrolls of teleportation
 C - 2 scrolls of fear
 E - a scroll of holy word
Jewellery
 c - the ring of Neurosis (left hand) {rElec rN+ Dex-1}
   (You found it on level 2 of the Snake Pit)   
   
   [ring of positive energy]
   It affects your dexterity (-1).
   It insulates you from electricity.
 j - an amulet of resist mutation (around neck)
 k - an uncursed amulet of conservation
 o - the ring of Piotsiod (right hand) {rPois rF++ Dam-1 Curse}
   (You took it off an orc wizard on level 26 of the Dungeon)   
   
   [ring of poison resistance]
   It affects your damage-dealing abilities (-1).
   It greatly protects you from fire.
   It may recurse itself.
 p - the amulet of Thruzow {Clar Int+2 Dam+3}
   (You found it in a labyrinth)   
   
   [amulet of clarity]
   It affects your intelligence (+2).
   It affects your damage-dealing abilities (+3).
 y - an uncursed ring of positive energy
 B - an uncursed ring of protection from cold
 L - an uncursed ring of regeneration
 M - a +0,+8 ring of slaying
 N - an uncursed ring of protection from magic
 V - the ring of Fihudgh {Hunger- Str+2}
   (You found it on level 24 of the Dungeon)   
   
   [ring of sustenance]
   It affects your strength (+2).
Potions
 h - 11 potions of restore abilities
 l - a potion of resistance
 m - 2 potions of speed
 s - 5 potions of heal wounds
 u - a potion of might
 v - 19 potions of curing
 H - 3 potions of agility
 W - 2 potions of flight
Orbs of Power
 e - the Orb of Zot


   Skills:
 O Level 27 Fighting
 + Level 26,2 Maces & Flails
   Level 2,4 Bows
 - Level 7,0 Throwing
 + Level 25,5 Armour
 * Level 15,1 Dodging
 - Level 4,3 Stealth
 + Level 25,3 Shields
 - Level 0,4 Unarmed Combat
 - Level 7,4 Evocations


You had 25 spell levels left.
You didn't know any spells.

Dungeon Overview and Level Annotations

Branches:
Dungeon (27/27)            Temple (1/1) D:4             Orc (4/4) D:7
    Elf (0/3) Orc:3          Lair (8/8) D:10         Shoals (5/5) Lair:4
  Snake (5/5) Lair:6        Slime (0/6) Lair:8       Vaults (5/5) D:19
  Blade (1/1) Vaults:3      Crypt (0/5) Vaults:3        Zot (5/5) D:27



[Sandman25]

Congratulations!
I would probably train more Dodging and stay in lighter armour (AC 30+/EV 30+ is easily achievable with Mi).
Ascension is random, sometimes no important events, sometimes a panlord with giant eyeballs and fiends blocks way to upstairs.
You can play MfIE for melee hybrid.

[rchandra]

A +5 GDA seems much worse than a +10 plate of rC for this character. (assuming you made the GDA from a hide, you used 6 scrolls - you could have even used one to fix boots or hat too).

A necromancer and/or Kiku worshipper can be a fun melee guy with spells. I suggest HONe of Kiku for that battleaxe of pain :)

[LIX]

A +5 GDA seems much worse than a +10 plate of rC for this character.

Why is that? Wiki made me think rF+++ is highly desirable for oof.
Yes, switching to GDA costed me 4 AC (10 base AC on plate + 5 modifier to 12 base on GDA and one scroll to enchant hide) but I also gained .05 GDR on that (0.39 on plate vs 0.44 on GDA). If I understand the mechanism of damage reduction correctly the difference in effective guaranteed reduction was marginal. Sure I lost about 2 damage reduction on average in cases when incoming damage is higher than my effective GDR, but I figured another 13% fire damage reduction and a point in rN are worth it. Am I missing something here?
Thanks for the suggestion on necromancer - sounds fun!

[Sar]

You also lost some EV.

[dck]

The wiki is misleading and/or outright wrong in several important fields.
GDR doesn't work on anything but the physical part of melee attacks: that is not the attack flavors many monsters have, no ranged missile whatsoever and definitely not spells.
GDR should never affect your decision making when choosing an armor, and normally the best armor is the one that gives you the best AC/EV balance.
rF+++ is good for oofs sure, but you can also kill them perfectly fine with rF++ (and if you have potions of resistance then you can have the best of both worlds).

I noticed you were wearing rMut when you ascended. I don't know if you used it on the oofs also, but the slaying amulet was better than that. Given how close the player is to winning when he is fighting oofs (unless he explored all of zot I guess), there is normally no possible mutation that can be actually relevant there.

[and into]

A lot of stuff on the wiki is really misleading.

I was going to say what dck just said, so never mind. But also, sometimes people don't realize that AC applies to nearly all attacks, including stuff like fireballs and bolt of fire from OoF.

If you die against an OoF with rF++ and more than 40 AC, you probably did something wrong; also, as dck said, if you got a few potions of resistance you could have completely maximized your defenses against OoF *and* all the other dangerous stuff in Zot.

You could and should have used all those ?enchant armor on your auxiliary armor slots (boots, gloves, etc.) rather than enchanting that GDA, as with +10 plate that would have given you something more like high 40s AC, which would have been *far* better than the additional 13% damage reduction against fire in Zot, probably even against OoFs—which are nasty, but shouldn't be the only thing you focus on or worry about in Zot.

And yeah, you had a bunch [edit: sorry just 2, not a bunch, but still] of cure mut potions anyway and weren't planning to do anything after Zot, so there wasn't much reason to worry too much about picking up a few mutations.

But anyway this is all for future reference, obviously you got most of the important stuff right. Congrats on the win!

[LIX]

Thanks, I'll keep tips on AC and EV in mind from now on. Though I'm not sure 4 points of EV made much difference in this case, assuming monsters have around 50 to hit.
Also, I don't know if you are referring to "amulet of Thruzow {Clar Int+2 Dam+3}" as an amulet of slaying (I had a ring of slaying but that's a different story), but I tried to keep rMut on me during fights with oof mainly because I didn't want to get slowness or teleportitis. I guess I was overcautios there cause I had 2 cure mutation potions anyway.

[and into]

Colloquially, anything that gives +acc/+dam, and especially +dam, is sometimes referred to as slaying. That amulet gave exact same benefit as a +0, +3 ring of slaying, in addition to the small int boost and clarity.

[Sandman25]

I would keep rMut when fighting OoF too, +3 damage is neglectible for a weapon with high base damage. I hated one ascension where I had teleportitis.