CIP SpEn--farthest I've ever been

[antibody]

Hey, long time lurker, 0 time winner here.

I'm doing really well with a SpEn of kiku (level 24), best I've done in crawl so far. I've been stabbing everything I can find/get asleep, heavy use of invisibility, with liberal zombie backup. Alistair's Intoxication's been very kind to me, too (found an amulet of the four winds for clarity); I've cleared out Elven Halls and a huge draconian castle in dungeon 26 without much trouble. I've gotten serpentine and barnacled rune, and thinking I should go for vault 8 next, but I think I need something to take on the dragons and archliches. Should I pray for the necronomicon and get haunt next? I have a +4/8 dagger of pain I've been using (along with some other okay branded short weapons [+5 vorpal dagger, +4/2 holy sabre, +4/1 electric sabre], but no quick blade, so not much point in kiku's branding, right?). I want to take this character as far as it can possibly go; what should I plan for after vault? The abyss? Should I try changing gods for the endgame? Ashenzari? Nemelex? What should I be doing next in terms of skills? Abridged chardump is attached [edit: put in code instead]. Any advice at all helps. Thanks!

  Code:

HP 102/102       AC  8     Str  4      XL: 24   Next: 40%
MP  44/44        EV 34     Int 35 (38) God: Kikubaaqudgha [******]
Gold 6154        SH 21     Dex 23      Spells: 18 memorised,  8 levels left

Res.Fire  : + + +   See Invis. : +    K - +4,+8 dagger (pain)
Res.Cold  : . . .   Warding    : . .  M - +2 animal skin {rF+}
Life Prot.: + . .   Conserve   : .    c - +3 orc buckler
Res.Acid. : . . .   Res.Corr.  : .    Q - +2 wizard hat {Int+3}
Res.Poison: .       Clarity    : +    y - +2 cloak "Fomos" {rF+}
Res.Elec. : .       Spirit.Shd : .    (gloves unavailable)
Sust.Abil.: . .     Stasis     : .    (boots unavailable)
Res.Mut.  : .       Ctrl.Telep.: .    k - amulet of the Four Winds {Clar rN+ MR}
Res.Rott. : .       Levitation : +    G - ring "Ster Caf" {Dex+5 Int+3 SInv}
Saprovore : . . .   Ctrl.Flight: +    H - ring "Smaena" {rF+ Int+4}

@: flying, very quick, uncannily resistant to hostile enchantments, extraordinarily stealthy
A: unfitting armour, see invisible, deformed body 1, herbivore 3, speed 3, -10% mp, slow
metabolism 3, Int +2
a: Receive Corpses, Torment, Renounce Religion
}: 2/15 runes: serpentine, barnacled


You are on level 26 of the Dungeon.
You worship Kikubaaqudgha.
Kikubaaqudgha is exalted by your worship.
You are not hungry.

You have visited 11 branches of the dungeon, and seen 66 of its levels.
You have visited 1 Labyrinth.
You have visited 2 bazaars.
You have visited 3 portal chambers: bailey, ice cave, trove.

You have collected 8703 gold pieces.
You have spent 2569 gold pieces at shops.

Inventory:

Hand weapons
 e - a +4,+2 elven sabre of holy wrath
 K - a +4,+8 dagger of pain (weapon)
Armour
 c - a +3 orcish buckler (worn)
 t - a +2 orcish robe of magic resistance
 y - the +2 cloak "Fomos" (worn) {rF+}
   (You bought it in a shop in a bazaar)   
   
   
   It protects you from fire.
 I - a +2 cloak of magic resistance
 M - a +2 animal skin of fire resistance (worn)
 Q - a +2 wizard hat of intelligence (worn)
 U - a +2 robe of cold resistance
Magical devices
 h - a wand of polymorph other {zapped: 2}
 P - a wand of cold (14)
Comestibles
 m - a honeycomb
Jewellery
 a - a +5 ring of strength
 b - the ring of Rumutup {?, rPois MR}
   (You found it in a treasure trove)   
   
   [ring of protection from magic]
   
   It protects you from poison.
 d - an uncursed ring of fire
 f - an uncursed ring of protection from fire
 g - an uncursed wooden ring {tried}
 k - the amulet of the Four Winds (around neck) {Clar rN+ MR}
   (You found it on level 2 of the Snake Pit)   
   
   [amulet of clarity]
   
   It protects you from negative energy.
   It increases your resistance to enchantments.
 l - the brooch of Shielding {Ward AC+4 EV+4}
   (You found it on level 6 of the Lair of Beasts)   
   
   [amulet of warding]
   
   It affects your AC (+4).
   It affects your evasion (+4).
   
   Back in the good old days, every adventurer had one of these handy devices.
   That, and a pony.
 n - an uncursed ring of wizardry
 q - the ring of Hoenur {EV+2 Stlth++}
   (You found it on level 5 of the Elven Halls)   
   
   [ring of evasion]
   It affects your evasion (+2).
   
   It makes you much more stealthy.
 s - an uncursed ring of ice
 v - a +5 ring of dexterity
 z - an uncursed ring of protection from cold
 C - an uncursed ring of teleportation
 E - an uncursed ring of teleport control
 G - the ring "Ster Caf" (right hand) {Dex+5 Int+3 SInv}
   (You found it on level 5 of the Dungeon)   
   
   [ring of see invisible]
   
   It affects your intelligence (+3).
   It affects your dexterity (+5).
 H - the ring "Smaena" (left hand) {rF+ Int+4}
   (You bought it in a shop on level 4 of the Orcish Mines)   
   
   [ring of intelligence]
   It affects your intelligence (+4).
   
   It protects you from fire.
 N - an uncursed ring of life protection
 O - the ring of Robustness {AC+8}
   (You found it on level 2 of the Vaults)   
   
   [ring of protection]
   It affects your AC (+8).
Potions
 A - 8 potions of heal wounds
 B - 2 potions of resistance
 D - 3 potions of speed
 F - 5 potions of healing
 L - 2 potions of might
Books
 J - a manual of Necromancy   
   You are currently studying this manual.


   Skills:
 - Level 2 Fighting
 - Level 6 Short Blades
 - Level 1 Throwing
 + Level 16 Dodging
 + Level 15 Stealth
 - Level 14 Stabbing
 + Level 6 Shields
 + Level 7 Traps & Doors
 O Level 27 Spellcasting
 - Level 1 Conjurations
 + Level 14 Hexes
 - Level 10 Charms
 - Level 3 Summonings
 * Level 16 Necromancy
 - Level 4 Translocations
 - Level 6 Transmutations
 - Level 3 Fire Magic
 - Level 1 Ice Magic
 + Level 12 Air Magic
 - Level 5 Poison Magic
 - Level 5 Evocations


You have 8 spell levels left.
You know the following spells:

 Your Spells              Type           Power        Success   Level  Hunger
a - Pain                  Necr           #####        Perfect     1    None
b - Ensorcelled Hibernat  Ice/Hex        #######      Excellent   2    None
c - Mephitic Cloud        Pois/Air/Conj  #######...   Excellent   3    None
d - Confuse               Hex            ########.    Perfect     3    None
e - Alistair's Intoxicat  Pois/Trmt      N/A          Excellent   4    None
f - Dispel Undead         Necr           #########    Perfect     4    None
g - Animate Dead          Necr           N/A          Perfect     4    None
h - Apportation           Tloc           #######...   Excellent   1    None
i - Blink                 Tloc           N/A          Excellent   2    None
j - Agony                 Necr           #########    Excellent   5    None
k - Airstrike             Air            ########..   Excellent   4    None
l - Invisibility          Hex            ########.    Excellent   6    None
m - Metabolic Englaciati  Ice/Hex        #######...   Good        7    None
o - Recall                Tloc/Summ      N/A          Excellent   3    None
p - Haste                 Chrm           ########.    Excellent   6    None
q - Poisonous Cloud       Pois/Air/Conj  #######...   Excellent   5    None
w - Ignite Poison         Fire/Trmt      #######...   Excellent   5    None
z - Flight                Air/Chrm       ########..   Excellent   4    None



[CommanderC]

Welcome antibody! You have lots of doubts. I'll try answer a few of them.

Should I pray for the necronomicon and get haunt next?

Get the Necronomicon and learn Borgnjor's Revivification. In Zot, Haunt can help you a lot, but Shadow Creatures is much easier to cast and it's very powerful in that branch. I think Shadow Creatures is the easier and faster way to power-up this SpEn.

what should I plan for after vault? The abyss?

Why would you want to go to the abyss? Clear the Crypt, V:8, then go to Zot.

Should I try changing gods for the endgame? Ashenzari? Nemelex?

Forget about that.

What should I be doing next in terms of skills?

Disable everything except summoning, and learn Shadow Creatures.

EDIT: You don't have Sublimation of Blood. Learn that spell ASAP.

[defen]

Train summoning (and fighting, since yours is so low). Your rings should be cTele and either Robustness or rC. No reason to pass extremely cheap gains in survivability.

[greepish]

You also pretty desperately need fighting skill too. Doesn't have to be a lot, but getting one-shotted by an ancient liches' crystal spear should never happen. Get at least 8 fighting immediately, and possibly 12 or so if you have nothing to spend exp on (like cBlink or something)

Edit: whoops, apparently that was already suggested

[njvack]

what should I plan for after vault? The abyss?

Why would you want to go to the abyss? Clear the Crypt, V:8, then go to Zot.

For a spriggan with flight, Abyss is probably easier than Vaults:8. Just run and keep on running. Put on the ring and teleport if you see something scary.

I'm not totally sure that's still true with the revamped Abyss -- the abyssal rune vault I looted yesterday was kind of nasty. Does the rune still generate just laying around on the ground?

[antibody]

Thanks for the advice everyone! I'll tell you how it went:
First, I turned off all skills but fighting and summoning, and learned Shadow Creatures. I had no idea it was so powerful! Sublimation of Blood, too. I don't know why, but I was under the impression that unless you were willing to wield meat it wasn't useful. I stuck with my sweet pain dagger, enchanted it up to 7/9, prayed for the necronomicon, and learned Revivification (though I only had to use it once, it was incredibly valuable). I cleared out the crypt, and then rocked Vault 8 with SC and Intoxication. I then got as far as Zot 4 before realizing how many spells I wasn't using (mephitic cloud, poison cloud, metabolic englaciation...), so I forgot them all and got haunt too, which was a great supplement for SC. I also figured what the hell, and then I went and got the Abyssal rune anyway (thought it'd be easy as a hasted spriggan with warding and wands of healing and teleport. It was). When I got to Zot 5, I found the Orbs of Fire were just unbeatable for me pretty quickly. So I got all my best consumables, put on gear to max fire/neg resistance, sped myself with a potion, turned myself invisible, and teleported on Zot 5 until I got decently close to the Orb. I ran through the OoF blasts, Intoxicated any orb guardians that got too close, and preemptively tele'd myself before snagging the Orb! [stupidity sidenote: didn't realize how heavy the Orb was. Fortunately I was carrying like 12 heal wounds potions, or dropping enough stuff to pick it up would've killed me] And from there it was smooth sailing, tele'd til I got close enough to stairs, ran past/distracted a couple pan lords on the way up, kept myself hasted and flying, and ESCAPED!

My first win! Thanks a million everyone!

  Code:

 Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup version 0.9.1 character file.

1588451 Nobody Nowbody the Archmage (level 27, 138/138 HPs)
             Began as a Spriggan Enchanter on Dec 20, 2011.
             Was the Champion of Kikubaaqudgha.
             Escaped with the Orb
             ... and 4 runes on Dec 22, 2011!
             
             The game lasted 13:26:38 (146391 turns).

Nobody Nowbody the Archmage (Spriggan Enchanter)                  Turns: 146391, Time: 13:26:39

HP 138/138       AC  9     Str  3      XL: 27
MP  40/40        EV 32     Int 37      God: Kikubaaqudgha [******]
Gold 8328        SH 17     Dex 17      Spells: 19 memorised,  0 levels left

Res.Fire  : + + +   See Invis. : +    e - +4,+5 elf sabre (holy)
Res.Cold  : . . .   Warding    : . .  M - +2 animal skin {rF+}
Life Prot.: + + +   Conserve   : .    d - +1 buckler {rN+}
Res.Acid. : . . .   Res.Corr.  : .    Q - +2 wizard hat {Int+3}
Res.Poison: .       Clarity    : +    y - +2 cloak "Fomos" {rF+}
Res.Elec. : .       Spirit.Shd : .    (gloves unavailable)
Sust.Abil.: . .     Stasis     : .    (boots unavailable)
Res.Mut.  : .       Ctrl.Telep.: x    k - amulet of the Four Winds {Clar rN+ MR}
Res.Rott. : .       Levitation : +    H - ring "Smaena" {rF+ Int+4}
Saprovore : . . .   Ctrl.Flight: +    N - ring of life protection

@: flying (expires), very slightly glowing, hasted, very quick, uncannily resistant to hostile
enchantments, extraordinarily stealthy
A: unfitting armour, see invisible, berserk 1, deformed body 1, deterioration 1, herbivore 3,
speed 3, -10% hp, -20% mp, slow metabolism 3, AC +1, Str -1, Int +2, Dex -1
a: Receive Corpses, Torment, Renounce Religion
}: 4/15 runes: serpentine, barnacled, silver, abyssal


You escaped.
You worshipped Kikubaaqudgha.
Kikubaaqudgha was exalted by your worship.
You were very full.

You visited 12 branches of the dungeon, and saw 76 of its levels.
You visited the Abyss 1 time.
You visited 1 Labyrinth.
You visited 2 bazaars.
You visited 3 portal chambers: bailey, ice cave, trove.

You collected 11237 gold pieces.
You spent 2929 gold pieces at shops.

Inventory:

Hand weapons
 e - a +4,+5 elven sabre of holy wrath (weapon)
 K - a +7,+9 dagger of pain (quivered)
Armour
 d - a +1 buckler of positive energy (worn)
 y - the cursed +2 cloak "Fomos" (worn) {rF+}
   (You bought it in a shop in a bazaar)   
   
   
   It protects you from fire.
   It has a curse placed upon it.
 M - a +2 animal skin of fire resistance (worn)
 Q - a +2 wizard hat of intelligence (worn)
 U - a +2 robe of cold resistance
Magical devices
 h - a wand of teleportation (1)
 i - a wand of healing (5)
 j - a wand of teleportation (8)
 o - a wand of healing (5)
Comestibles
 S - 3 royal jellies
Jewellery
 b - the ring of Rumutup {?, rPois MR}
   (You found it in a treasure trove)   
   
   [ring of protection from magic]
   
   It protects you from poison.
 k - the amulet of the Four Winds (around neck) {Clar rN+ MR}
   (You found it on level 2 of the Snake Pit)   
   
   [amulet of clarity]
   
   It protects you from negative energy.
   It increases your resistance to enchantments.
 l - the brooch of Shielding {Ward AC+4 EV+4}
   (You found it on level 6 of the Lair of Beasts)   
   
   [amulet of warding]
   
   It affects your AC (+4).
   It affects your evasion (+4).
   
   Back in the good old days, every adventurer had one of these handy devices.
   That, and a pony.
 v - a cursed +5 ring of dexterity
 z - an uncursed ring of protection from cold
 E - an uncursed ring of teleport control
 G - the ring "Ster Caf" {Dex+5 Int+3 SInv}
   (You found it on level 5 of the Dungeon)   
   
   [ring of see invisible]
   
   It affects your intelligence (+3).
   It affects your dexterity (+5).
 H - the ring "Smaena" (right hand) {rF+ Int+4}
   (You bought it in a shop on level 4 of the Orcish Mines)   
   
   [ring of intelligence]
   It affects your intelligence (+4).
   
   It protects you from fire.
 N - a ring of life protection (left hand)
 O - the ring of Robustness {AC+8}
   (You found it on level 2 of the Vaults)   
   
   [ring of protection]
   It affects your AC (+8).
Potions
 B - a potion of resistance
 D - 3 potions of speed
 L - a potion of might
Orbs of Power
 a - the Orb of Zot


   Skills:
 * Level 19 Fighting
 - Level 6 Short Blades
 - Level 1 Throwing
 - Level 17 Dodging
 - Level 15 Stealth
 - Level 14 Stabbing
 - Level 6 Shields
 - Level 8 Traps & Doors
 O Level 27 Spellcasting
 - Level 1 Conjurations
 - Level 14 Hexes
 - Level 10 Charms
 + Level 14 Summonings
 - Level 16 Necromancy
 - Level 4 Translocations
 - Level 6 Transmutations
 - Level 3 Fire Magic
 - Level 1 Ice Magic
 - Level 13 Air Magic
 - Level 5 Poison Magic
 - Level 5 Evocations


You couldn't memorise any spells.
You knew the following spells:

 Your Spells              Type           Power        Success   Level  Hunger
a - Haunt                 Summ/Necr      #########.   Excellent   7    None
b - Ensorcelled Hibernat  Ice/Hex        #######      Excellent   2    None
d - Confuse               Hex            #########    Perfect     3    None
e - Alistair's Intoxicat  Pois/Trmt      N/A          Excellent   4    None
f - Dispel Undead         Necr           #########    Perfect     4    None
g - Animate Dead          Necr           N/A          Perfect     4    None
h - Apportation           Tloc           #######...   Excellent   1    None
i - Blink                 Tloc           N/A          Excellent   2    None
j - Agony                 Necr           #########    Perfect     5    None
k - Airstrike             Air            ########..   Excellent   4    None
l - Invisibility          Hex            #########    Excellent   6    None
m - Borgnjor's Revivific  Necr           #########.   Excellent   7    None
n - Shadow Creatures      Summ           N/A          Excellent   5    None
o - Recall                Tloc/Summ      N/A          Excellent   3    None
p - Haste                 Chrm           ########.    Excellent   6    None
q - Deflect Missiles      Air/Chrm       ########..   Excellent   6    None
r - Sublimation of Blood  Necr           #########.   Perfect     2    None
w - Ignite Poison         Fire/Trmt      #######...   Excellent   5    None
z - Flight                Air/Chrm       ########..   Excellent   4    None


Dungeon Overview and Level Annotations

Branches:
Dungeon (27/27)            Temple (1/1) D:6             Orc (4/4) D:11
    Elf (5/5) Orc:4          Lair (8/8) D:10         Shoals (5/5) Lair:5
  Slime (0/6) Lair:6        Snake (5/5) Lair:6         Hive (2/2) D:15
  Vault (8/8) D:14          Blade (1/1) Vault:5       Crypt (5/5) Vault:3
    Zot (5/5) D:27       
  Tomb: Crypt:2-3   

Altars:
Ashenzari
Cheibriados
Elyvilon
Fedhas
Kikubaaqudgha
Makhleb
Nemelex Xobeh
Okawaru
Sif Muna
The Shining One
Trog
Vehumet
Xom
Yredelemnul
Zin
Beogh

Shops:
D:20: ?  Orc:3: %%/  Orc:4: (%/=  Elf:1: (  Elf:2: !  Elf:3: =  Shoals:4: *  Vault:7: [

Portals:
Hell: D:21 D:22 D:23 D:24 D:25 D:26 D:27
Abyss: D:22 D:25
Pan: D:23 D:24 D:25 D:27
Ziggurat: D:18 (2760 gp)  D:26 (2700 gp)  Vault:8 (5330 gp)

Annotations
D:18 exclusion: 2 statues
D:27 exclusion: ice statue
Lair:7 exclusion: oklob plant
Shoals:4 exclusion: oklob plant
Crypt:3 exclusion: curse skull


                    Innate Abilities, Weirdness & Mutations

You are tiny and cannot use many weapons and most armour.
You have supernaturally acute eyesight.
You are a herbivore.
You cover ground extremely quickly.
You need consume almost no food.
You are partially covered in colourless scales (AC +1).
You tend to lose your temper in combat.
Your mind is acute (Int +2).
You are clumsy (Dex -1).
Armour fits poorly on your unusually shaped body.
Your body is slowly deteriorating.
You are frail (-10% HP).
Your magical capacity is very low (-20% MP).
You are weak (Str -1).


Message History

You feel yourself speed up.
You are very lightly contaminated with residual magic.
There is a stone staircase leading up here.
You fly upwards.
You sense a powerful magical force warping space.
There is a stone staircase leading down here.
There is a stone staircase leading up here.
You fly upwards.
You sense a powerful magical force warping space.
There is a stone staircase leading down here.
Your extra speed is starting to run out.
You feel as though your hastened speed will last longer.
There is an escape hatch in the ceiling here.
You fly upwards. The hatch slams shut behind you.
You sense a powerful magical force warping space.
You are starting to lose your buoyancy.
There is an open door here.
There is a staircase leading out of the dungeon here.
Are you sure you want to win?
You have escaped!


[njvack]

Dude! Congrats on the win!

[XuaXua]

I love first wins.