Where should I go?

[Neon]

Probably it is necessary to move topic to YASD? But this is, I think, a general questions. Or not?

For the first time my SpEn^Dith reached elf:2. I have already cleared main dungeon, orc and lair (and received swamp and snake in it). What order of branches recommended for such stabby characters?
Dump:

Spoiler: show

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 Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup version 0.16.0 (tiles) character file.

Neon the Imperceptible (Spriggan Enchanter)        Turns: 33931, Time: 02:34:21

Health: 72/72      AC: 12    Str:  8    XL:     16   Next: 26%
Magic:  40/40      EV: 35    Int: 17    God:    Dithmenos [******]
Gold:   1618       SH: 10    Dex: 23    Spells: 12 memorised, 16 levels left

rFire  + . .     SeeInvis +     A - +10 dagger "Broot" {pierce, rF+}
rCold  . . .     Clarity  .     b - +3 steam dragon armour
rNeg   . . .     SustAb   .     X - +1 buckler {AC+3}
rPois  .         Gourm    .     G - +0 hat {MR+}
rElec  +         Spirit   +     Z - +0 cloak
rCorr  .         Warding  .     (gloves unavailable)
rMut   .         Stasis   .     (boots unavailable)
MR     +++..                    k - amulet of guardian spirit
Stlth  ++++++++++               C - +4 ring of strength
                                e - ring "Ghumock" {rElec EV+3 Stlth+}

You are on level 2 of the Elven Halls.

You have visited 5 branches of the dungeon, and seen 30 of its levels.
You have also visited: Ice Cave.

You have collected 3056 gold pieces.
You have spent 1438 gold pieces at shops.

Inventory:

Hand weapons
 p - a +3 dagger of venom
 q - a +1 dagger of electrocution
 t - a +3 short sword of freezing
 u - a +1 dagger of protection
 A - the +10 dagger "Broot" (weapon) {pierce, rF+}
 D - a +2 dagger of holy wrath
 H - a +0 blowgun
Missiles
 w - 90 poisoned needles
 L - 7 throwing nets (quivered)
 N - 5 needles of frenzy
Armour
 b - a +3 steam dragon armour (worn)
 G - a +0 hat of magic resistance (worn)
 I - a +2 buckler of resistance
 M - a +0 robe of resistance
 X - a +1 buckler of protection (worn)
 Z - a +0 cloak (worn)
Jewellery
 e - the ring "Ghumock" (left hand) {rElec EV+3 Stlth+}
   (You found it on level 13 of the Dungeon)   
   
   [ring of evasion]
   
   It affects your evasion (+3).
   It insulates you from electricity.
   It makes you more stealthy.
 i - an uncursed ring of flight
 k - an amulet of guardian spirit (around neck)
 C - a +4 ring of strength (right hand)
 K - an uncursed ring of positive energy
Magical devices
 a - a wand of paralysis
 j - a wand of slowing
 l - a wand of magic darts
 U - a wand of confusion
 W - a wand of digging
Scrolls
 o - 15 scrolls of teleportation
 r - a scroll of identify
 v - a scroll of remove curse
 y - 4 scrolls of magic mapping
 O - 2 scrolls of fear
 Q - 3 scrolls of blinking
 R - 2 scrolls of vulnerability
Potions
 c - 3 potions of haste
 g - 2 potions of restore abilities
 h - 4 potions of curing
 m - 2 potions of lignification
 s - 6 potions of agility
 z - 5 fizzy green potions
 B - 2 potions of ambrosia
 F - a potion of magic
 Y - a potion of cancellation
Comestibles
 P - 29 fruits


   Skills:
 + Level 3.5 Fighting
 * Level 11.3 Short Blades
 + Level 12.2 Dodging
 * Level 25.0 Stealth
 + Level 7.0 Shields
 * Level 15.8 Spellcasting
 + Level 11.8 Hexes
 + Level 0.4 Charms


You have 16 spell levels left.
You know the following spells:

 Your Spells              Type           Power        Failure   Level  Hunger
a - Corona                Hex            ######.      1%          1    None
b - Sure Blade            Hex/Chrm       ####......   1%          2    None
c - Confuse               Hex            ######..     1%          3    None
d - Regeneration          Chrm/Necr      ##........   14%         3    None
e - Abjuration            Summ           ##........   17%         3    None
f - Metabolic Englaciati  Hex/Ice        ####......   14%         5    ####...
g - Ozocubu's Armour      Chrm/Ice       ##......     14%         3    None
h - Slow                  Hex            ######..     1%          2    None
i - Magic Dart            Conj           ##..         6%          1    None
j - Blink                 Tloc           N/A          10%         2    None
k - Repel Missiles        Chrm/Air       ##....       10%         2    None
l - Mephitic Cloud        Conj/Pois/Air  ##......     17%         3    None


Dungeon Overview and Level Annotations

Branches:
Dungeon (15/15)            Temple (1/1) D:7            Lair (8/8) D:8
  Swamp (0/5) Lair:6        Snake (0/5) Lair:3        Slime (0/6) Lair:7
    Orc (4/4) D:11            Elf (2/3) Orc:3        Vaults (0/5) D:13
 Depths (0/5) D:15       

Annotations:
D:5 1 runed door
Orc:2 blade
Elf:2 3 runed doors!, exclusion: 3 doors


Vanquished Creatures
  Rupert (D:14)
  Louise (D:14)
  An orc warlord (Orc:4)
  Gastronok (Lair:3)
  Jorgrun (Elf:2)
  Snorg (Orc:4)
  A vault guard (D:13)
  Josephine (Orc:2)
  Fannar (Orc:2)
  Nessos (Orc:4)
  A catoblepas (D:13)
  4 dancing weapons (Elf:2)
  A death yak (Lair:5)
  Urug (D:10)
  3 orc high priests (Orc:4)
  Nergalle (Orc:2)
  Erolcha (D:10)
  A deep troll (D:15)
  An ice statue (IceCv)
  A necromancer (IceCv)
  2 oklob plants (Lair:5)
  5 elephants (Lair:8)
  Maurice (D:10)
  A torpor snail (Lair:5)
  A gargoyle (D:9)
  Psyche (D:8)
  A fire drake (Lair:3)
  5 kobold demonologists (D:13)
  2 spriggan druids (Lair:8)
  2 tengu conjurers (D:15)
  4 polar bears (Lair:8)
  10 freezing wraiths (IceCv)
  Grinder (D:6)
  A two-headed ogre (D:14)
  A slime creature (Lair:7)
  A raiju (shapeshifter) (D:15)
  A shadow (D:12)
  6 redbacks (Lair:8)
  A tarantella (shapeshifter) (D:15)
  5 wraiths (Orc:2)
  A steam dragon (D:11)
  3 nagas (Lair:3)
  An eye of draining (D:12)
  A boring beetle (Lair:5)
  Blork the orc (Orc:2)
  A brain worm (D:15)
  A wyvern zombie (D:14)
1171 creatures vanquished.


Action                   |  1- 3 |  4- 6 |  7- 9 | 10-12 | 13-15 | 16-18 || total
-------------------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------++-------
Melee: Dagger            |    87 |   242 |   409 |   392 |  1380 |    92 ||  2602
       Short sword       |       |       |       |       |   288 |       ||   288
 Cast: Corona            |     3 |       |       |       |       |       ||     3
       Sure Blade        |     1 |       |       |       |       |       ||     1
       Confuse           |    10 |    20 |    68 |    84 |   208 |    20 ||   410
       Mephitic Cloud    |       |       |       |       |     1 |       ||     1
       Regeneration      |       |       |       |       |     1 |       ||     1
 Abil: Stop Flying       |       |       |       |       |       |     1 ||     1
       Evoke Flight      |       |       |       |       |       |     1 ||     1
  Use: Scroll            |     1 |     4 |     3 |     6 |    18 |       ||    32
 Stab: Sleeping          |     5 |     9 |    25 |    59 |   232 |    14 ||   344
       Confused          |     3 |    11 |    32 |    50 |   106 |     9 ||   211
       Distracted        |       |       |     5 |     2 |    22 |     2 ||    31
       Fleeing           |       |       |       |       |     1 |       ||     1
  Eat: Bread ration      |       |     1 |       |       |     2 |       ||     3
       Fruit             |       |       |     3 |     4 |     7 |     1 ||    15
       Royal jelly       |       |       |     1 |       |     1 |       ||     2
       Pizza             |       |       |       |       |     1 |     1 ||     2

Table legend:
 A = Turns spent in this place as a percentage of turns spent in the
     entire game.
 B = Non-inter-level travel turns spent in this place as a percentage of
     non-inter-level travel turns spent in the entire game.
 C = Inter-level travel turns spent in this place as a percentage of
     turns spent in this place.
 D = Turns resting spent in this place as a percentage of non-inter-level
     travel turns spent in this place.
 E = Turns spent auto-exploring this place as a percentage of
     non-inter-level travel turns spent in this place.
 F = Non-inter-level travel turns spent in this place divided by the
     number of levels of this place that you've seen.

                   A       B       C       D       E               F
               +-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+----------------------
         Total | 100.0 | 100.0 |   1.3 |   1.8 |   9.5 |         325.6
       Dungeon |  46.2 |  46.4 |   0.9 |   2.0 |  10.4 |         312.3
        Temple |   5.6 |   5.6 |   2.1 |   0.7 |   1.2 |         563.0
          Lair |  22.4 |  22.3 |   1.5 |   1.0 |  10.4 |         281.8
  Orcish Mines |  17.0 |  17.0 |   1.7 |   1.3 |   9.6 |         428.0
   Elven Halls |   5.7 |   5.6 |   2.1 |   2.3 |  10.4 |         283.5
      Ice Cave |   3.1 |   3.1 |   0.0 |   7.3 |   2.9 |         313.0
               +-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+----------------------

Table legend:
 A = Kills in this place as a percentage of kills in entire the game.
 B = Kills by you in this place as a percentage of kills by you in
     the entire game.
 C = Kills by friends in this place as a percentage of kills by
     friends in the entire game.
 D = Other kills in this place as a percentage of other kills in the
     entire game.
 E = Experience gained in this place as a percentage of experience
     gained in the entire game.
 F = Experience gained in this place divided by the number of levels of
     this place that you have seen.

                   A       B       C       D       E               F
               +-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+----------------------
         Total | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 100.0 |        5485.3
       Dungeon |  39.2 |  38.6 | 100.0 |  76.5 |  32.7 |        3707.8
          Lair |  26.9 |  27.3 |   0.0 |   5.9 |  33.3 |        7074.1
  Orcish Mines |  24.3 |  24.5 |   0.0 |  11.8 |  15.3 |        6502.8
   Elven Halls |   4.9 |   5.0 |   0.0 |   0.0 |  14.8 |       12605.0
      Ice Cave |   4.6 |   4.6 |   0.0 |   5.9 |   3.9 |        6614.0
               +-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+----------------------



My stash (a lot of trash and items that i think might be useful later)

Spoiler: show

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a stone of tremors

  an enchanted dagger
  a short sword of freezing
  a dagger of speed
  a +2 dagger of holy wrath
  an enchanted dagger
  a +2 dagger of venom
  a +1 vampiric short sword
  a +1 rapier of speed
  a +0 short sword of draining
  a +4 short sword
  a +2 dagger of pain
  a +3 short sword
  a +1 dagger of draining
  a +1 dagger of holy wrath
  a +3 dagger of speed
  a +0 dagger of speed
  a +1 dagger of venom
  a +0 dagger of venom
  a +1 dagger of electrocution
  a +3 short sword
  a +3 short sword

  a troll hide {Snorg}
  a mottled dragon hide

  a scroll of holy word
  a scroll of torment
  3 glowing golden potions
  6 fuming orange potions
  4 metallic ruby potions
  5 scrolls of noise
  a scroll of summoning
  a scroll of silence
  3 inky potions
  4 scrolls of recharging
  3 glowing purple potions
  7 scrolls of fog
  2 scrolls of immolation
  4 scrolls of remove curse
  6 scrolls of amnesia
  3 scrolls of random uselessness
  a scroll of brand weapon
  6 scrolls of enchant weapon

  a +0 robe of resistance
  a +0 hat of intelligence
  the +1 robe of Nor Sky {rF+ Dex+4}
    It affects your dexterity (+4).
    It protects you from fire.
  a robe of cold resistance
  a +2 robe of the Archmagi
  the -6 robe "Brameq" {rPois rN+ Str+4 Dex-5}
    It affects your strength (+4).
    It affects your dexterity (-5).
    It protects you from poison.
    It protects you from negative energy.
  a +1 robe
  the -2 robe of Gluttony {Dex+8 Stlth-}
    It affects your dexterity (+8).
    It makes you less stealthy.
  a book of Minor Magic
  a book of Ice
  a book of Frost
  a book of Necromancy
  a book of Summonings
  a book of Maledictions
  a book of Hinderance
  a wand of draining
  a wand of draining
  a wand of slowing
  a wand of frost
  a wand of paralysis
  a wand of paralysis
  a wand of draining
  a wand of frost
  a wand of frost
  a wand of frost
  a wand of magic darts {zapped: 3}
  a wand of frost
 16 bread rations
  a thick jewelled staff
  a staff of cold
 a +2 ring of evasion


My comments-questions: 0. How awful carriyng so many weapons for hard monsters with vulnerability?
1. Is it normal what I carry robe and buckler of resistance for, uhmm, resistances? I carried two robes for that purpose before I found that one. I think rings would be better, but I do not have.
2. Does steam dragon armour worth scrolls of enchant armour (I wasted all 4 for it), or it's better to hope for a big artefact (hmm, I have some) ?
3. I think what there is something like hall of blades on elf:2 - runed gate guarded by 4 dancing weapons. Should I try to clear it now? Or when?
4. Evocations. I don't want to train them hard, does stone of tremors and wands worth their food cost for Sp?
5. Brand/enchant weapon. When and which?
6. Artefact robes. See 2.
7. Where to go to not die now? I've never been so deep.

Edit: Turned out what I have also +6 dagger of nothing. Is my English terrible enough for not writing such a lot of letters?
Edit 2: I had no idea what to do, so I went downstairs. And there was bazaar in elf:3. Will it disappear if I spending time not in elf:3?

034619 | Elf:3 | HP: 7/74 [deep elf high priest/burst of hellfire (8)]

I stabbed a deep elf sorcerer and 4 deep elf annihilators, so I thought it will be easy. Then

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The deep elf sorcerer shouts! The deep elf mage shouts! The deep elf annihilator shouts! You hear a shout! You hear a shout!
You hear a shout! x2
A deep elf demonologist, a deep elf sorcerer and a deep elf master archer come into view.
A deep elf annihilator and a deep elf death mage come into view.
The deep elf high priest utters a dark prayer and points at you.
A deep elf summoner and a deep elf sorcerer come into view.
A deep elf annihilator comes into view. It is wielding a rapier.
You hear a shout! x2

Thanks to smoke bleeding, I managed to escape. That's my elven story.

[tasonir]

Elf should not come before swamp/snake. I personally also run vaults and depths first, although you could do elf before depths if you wanted to, but absolutely don't do it before the two rune branches and vaults 1-4. Clearing the hall of blades can be done at the same time as elf itself, although you can avoid it if you don't need a new weapon, which you probably shouldn't by this point. It isn't that dangerous of an area, but there's always the possibility of distortion/chaos weapons banishing you, which is annoying. The bazaar will disappear, but it's not safe to go after it now. I'd let it go.

Swamp or snake are both valid choices...You need to work on something to do for monsters that will be difficult to reliably stab. Daggers don't make for good melee weapons, and while you do have an electric one, even that will do poor damage in the late game. A rapier will do more damage, and you have a rapier of speed, so that's decent. Still, a non-short blade will probably be better for non-stabs.

Use manual skill training rather than having everything on at once - get shields to 9 and then stop training it. Both protection and resistance bucklers are very good, I might lean towards resistance, especially if you change your weapon and you don't have the rF anymore. Steam dragon armor is fine, although I think the mottled is a bit better in general, steam isn't terrible.

I think you might be better off doing conjurations for things you can't take down through stabbing, assuming you have appropriate spells. You've already got the 15 spellcasting, you could use robe of archmagi if you want, and then you don't have to get close to dangerous things. Spriggans have some tough weapon restrictions, so if you want to go melee the rapier of speed or if you can find a quick blade would be the simple options. Spells would probably be safer.

[Magipi]

Daggers don't make for good melee weapons, and while you do have an electric one, even that will do poor damage in the late game. A rapier will do more damage, and you have a rapier of speed, so that's decent.

I strongly disagree here. An elec dagger is an awesome weapon, and much-much better than a rapier of speed. They are not even in the same ballpark.

Steam dragon armor is fine, although I think the mottled is a bit better in general, steam isn't terrible.

Disagree again. Steam DA works with Ozo's armour (and this character has it), while MDA does not. Steam is much better here.

As to the question "where to go": I'd learn invisibility (I see the Maledictions book in the stash), and go to the Swamp to butcher them all.
Edit: Scratch that, Invis is not in the book now. Sorry.

Unlucky, that the other branch is not Spider, it would be much easier than Snake. Snake is dangerous, if any naga starts constricting, that can be game over.

Skills: I'd train a lot of fighting. Also, armour.

Gear: I'd enchant up the elec dagger and the Steam DA. Also, I recommend using the buckler of resistance.

[Berder]

Do swamp.
Stay the hell out of hall of blades, because you can't hex flying weapons and you can get swarmed. You need good defenses and good non-elemental damage to go in there.
Just use that +10 dagger of piercing, and save your enchant scrolls for when you find a quickblade.
Train fighting.

[Lyrick]

[quote="NeonMy comments-questions: 0. How awful carriyng so many weapons for hard monsters with vulnerability?[/quote]
Not worth it yet. Whether a monster is vulnerable to your weapon brand is not a huge issue, since
1. You have a +10 dagger with a stabbing level of 18 ((short blade skill + stealth skill)/2). That will kill just about anything that is asleep in one hit.
2. You have the means to make almost any monster stabbable.
I would devote at most one other inventory slot to another melee weapon.

1. Is it normal what I carry robe and buckler of resistance for, uhmm, resistances? I carried two robes for that purpose before I found that one. I think rings would be better, but I do not have.

I would probably wear the buckler of resistance just to get a pip of cold resistance, but probably wouldn't wear both. +3 StDA and +2 robe has a 4 AC swing and 1 pip in rF and rC is sufficient. If you manage to cover cold resistance elsewhere in your setup, you could switch the buckler of resistance out again for the buckler of protection. You could carry both in case you find an ice cave or volcano but its not really necessary.

2. Does steam dragon armour worth scrolls of enchant armour (I wasted all 4 for it), or it's better to hope for a big artefact (hmm, I have some) ?

For one thing, you can't actually enchant artefacts (bummer). There are certainly better options than enchanting steam dragon armor, but its not terrible. 5 base AC with no encumbrance penalty is pretty nice, and since you're still reliant on casting spells that helps you a little in that department. You're also a spriggan with a generally low aptitude for armor and low strength, which does make overcoming encumbrance penalties a little more difficult (but this is easily alleviated lategame when experience is plenty). You might even find some artifact armor later that you'd switch out for anyway. Most people would prefer fire dragon armor just so they can get fire resistance covered for Zot, but for a spriggan I think quicksilver dragon armor or shadow dragon armor are excellent as well.

3. I think what there is something like hall of blades on elf:2 - runed gate guarded by 4 dancing weapons. Should I try to clear it now? Or when?

For one thing that place is anything from a cakewalk to a deathtrap. But since you are very stealthy you can try peeking around to drop some of the weaker dancing weapons and other inhabitants. A distortion weapon could easily ruin your day though.

4. Evocations. I don't want to train them hard, does stone of tremors and wands worth their food cost for Sp?

Evocable items have several benefits.
1. No spell levels required.
2. No mana costs.
3. Generally are area of effect and some can summon friends.
I didn't know they had a food cost, but food should not be a problem by the time you start considering training evocables.
If you don't wanna invest too much into it, get them to level 15; doesn't take too much exp, gets you to a decent degree of reliability on evocables with a success rate, and a reasonable amount of spellpower too.

5. Brand/enchant weapon. When and which?

Quickblade. Probably would like electrocution or pain. Chaos or distortion if you want to have some fun.

6. Artefact robes. See 2.

Robes with their 2 base AC are generally not ideal for late game, but if they have some really compelling attributes (+6 slaying?) it may be worth consideration.

7. Where to go to not die now? I've never been so deep.

General path
D til lair
Lair 1-8 (or whatever you're comfortable to)
Little more of D
Orc 1-3
Lair branch(es) 1-4
More of D (maybe finish)
Orc 4
Maybe finish lair branch(es) 5
Finish vaults and depths and clear the game at your own pace.

[Neon]

Well, I died before I got online (also lost morgue file). I cleared swamp, then snake, then hall of blades - swamp and snake was VERY easy, and I just stabbed all that sleeping weapons - then I forgot about vaults and died in depths - they turned up too tough for me. No quickblades for me, and I was very surprised how easy hydras was - I just cut out alive, and they were unable to grow more than one head until I killed them.
Thank you all very much.

[tasonir]

Steam dragon armor is fine, although I think the mottled is a bit better in general, steam isn't terrible.

Disagree again. Steam DA works with Ozo's armour (and this character has it), while MDA does not. Steam is much better here.

Fair enough, I didn't realize he was casting Ozo's armor, which is definitely a significant boost to steamDA. And it's possible I'm underestimating the dagger of elec as well, but I would have guessed that the speed brand would be enough to turn the rapier into a good weapon. I guess short blades punching through armor is more of an uphill battle than I thought