Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup questions/thread

[desocupado]

Does anyone have a link to the .10 testing build? I can't seem to find it on their website, and I'm interested in seeing what the fuss is about with the new skill system.

The new skill system is present in 0.9, but yes, I'm interested in the .10 too, I like reading the changelogs. If anyone knows the link...

 

[7hm]

0.9 is official.

Tourney has started.

Tourney link is here: http://crawl.akrasiac.org/tourney11/overview.html

Would someone post about this on the front page this time around?

 

[betamin]

Hey I thought the codex had a team, I forgot all about it, next time I guess?

 

[7hm]

Hey I thought the codex had a team, I forgot all about it, next time I guess?

You can still make one. I'd do it but I'm in a goon team.

The tourney just started yesterday. Have another two weeks to go.

I don't think webtiles has .9 yet anyway, so for a lot of people they won't really get started until that goes up.

 

[Wintermute]

Tiles 0.9 version is out, you can get it here:
http://crawl.develz.org/wordpress/downloads

Edit: Oops, you meant the online version, dunno about that one.

 

[Castanova]

Looked at the changelog. Overall, I think the changes were good. I really like how runes are no longer inventory items. Manual skill mode kills victory dancing, which is nice. I don't buy the argument that you can't victory dance with Auto mode, though. You just dance before the fight rather than after.

That being said, I think the changes to the Orb run are beyond retarded. No cTele when you're holding the orb and spawns are more likely to be close to you? So now my three-rune character is forced to fight Pandemonium Lords on the way to the top? Basically, it sounds to me like there's no reason to ever not try for 15 runes now, unless you REALLY get screwed with items/resistances. You're going to have to mess with Pandemonium-level shit anyway, right?

Also, it effectively kills speed-run opportunities since you can't reliably avoid enemies during the run and, since there's no cTele, you can't even teleport away and cross your fingers because most of the levels are probably left partly unexplored.

 

[desocupado]

So bros, I've been playing MuNe lately, and I'm wondering, how do necromancers do damage?

Agony sucks, pain is nice, but won't take me far, and other than those there's only bolt of draining, which some enemies (demons and undead mostly) resist.

Do I have to rely on my abominations? They hit hard, but they die...

I haven't reached very far, though, mummies are tough to play.

 

[Zomg]

Pain + Vampiric drain + turn undead gets a ton of mileage. It's enough to do a fair bit of lair if you save wands for hydras. After that you need to have stuff besides your starting book and you need to branch.

Bolt of Draining is useful for most of the game if you are playing Kiku, with sublimation of blood you have an easy and very fast mana factory in all the branches with living enemies. That's a lot of XP to get to develop some backup way of killing random non-undead but drain immune shit. Necromancy is not that useful in postgame stuff but who cares, it's postgame and you can grind as much XP as you want in Zot getting whatever if you want to bother.

Some people like playing summon herders but I haven't bothered, Kiku-conjuring works fine. Or alternately going for a melee or missile fighter is good if you get something nice like a good weapon early.

 

[desocupado]

Ok, when I finally tackle zot, and find those orbs of fire, do I need to use an amulet of resist mutation?

I mean, mummies don't mutate, but am I going to get rot up the ass if I don't use the amulet?

Also, I got Dispel Undead, and Haunt (and a mummy), am I ready to tackle The Tomb?

 

[Castanova]

Haunt is good enough to get you all 15 runes, especially as a Mummy who can cast it without hunger or sickness repercussions.

What god are you worshipping? If you're using Sif Muna, then just spam Haunt and regen mana using the god channeling ability. If you're using Kiku, as Zomg said, just spam Haunt and regen mana using Sublimation of Blood.

If you're still worried about doing damage without Haunt (the only enemy in the game I'd even remotely worry about would probably be the Serpent of Hell), I would abuse the manual XP mode in the new version (you're playing 0.9, right?) to either pump up a melee skill or to pump up conjurations. If you go with melee, find a sick weapon somewhere. If you pumped up conjurations, get Bolt of XYZ and if you really want to go nuts get Orb of Destruction or Lehusomething's Crystal Spear. You're a Mummy so you should be abusing your lack of hunger costs to the limit.

As for the Tomb, you have all the necessary tools for sure. If I remember correctly, none of the mummies can cast Dispel Undead which means they can't really hurt you (you're torment immune). I guess they could smite you, though. Not sure. Still, just take it VERY slow. Kite a few mummies to a safe area at a time, kill them with Haunt, rinse repeat. The tomb is actually pretty easy for your build.

EDIT: and yes, you need to wear rMut against Orbs of Fire.

 

[desocupado]

I dropped Kiku for Ashenzari.

How do I use sublimation of blood if I got no blood, and there are no corpses on the Tomb?

EDIT: FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

Finished the Tomb, got the rune, went to zot, got the Orb of Zot, then in the way back, got swarmed by a fucking shitload of crap, went up the stairs, a berserkered draconion monk went with me, by my side. Uncontroled blink, ended up with one square empty between me and him, tried the wand of healing, but it was not enough. Motherfucking killed me.

SO FUCKING CLOSE!

 

[Castanova]

Well, in the Tomb, you don't need Haunt that much. I'd just use it if you've attracted the attention of too many Greater Mummies or Sphynxes. Dispel Undead and carefulness should get you through most/all of it.

Why did you switch to Ashenzari? Seems fairly useless for a Mummy Necromancer.

Sucks to die that close to the end. I've never died with the Orb in my possession but I've definitely lost characters on Zot:5 before. Incredibly frustrating. My most recent win was a Sludge Elf Earth Elementalist... got the Orb, pretty uneventful trip back to D:1. I get to D:1 and fast travel to the stairs up. I turn the corner to the room with the stairs and BOOM: I get lit up with hellfire from a Pit Fiend. My adrenaline was pumping and I wasn't thinking so I decided to kill the Pit Fiend with Crystal Spears. I ended up killing him with only like 50 hitpoints left. One more hellfire and I could have died. That would have been embarrassing.

 

[desocupado]

Ashenzari gives me skill boosts. Since mummies suck at everything, that allowed me to have skills a little lower than I would otherwise need them to be. Depending on the skill, the bonus is quite big, 3-5 points, not sure, since the skill table doesn't show the unboosted level.

I could have made an uncontroled teleport when things went bad. I could take everything that attacked me on, I just needed to rest a bit and get mana back, but like yourself, I had adrenaline pumping, so I just hasted myself and ran to the stairs. Sadly, the haste ended too soon, and I got that bastard draconian with me.

 

[Castanova]

Ah, they changed Ashenzari in 0.9. Last time I used that god was in 0.8 and you didn't get skill boosts then.

Did you play the game on the online server or your local machine? If you played it locally, you should post your log file so we can take a look. It's always fun to see how you built your character and whatnot.

 

[desocupado]

Here it is:

Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup version 0.9.0 character file.

693585 Deso will not die the Thanatomancer (level 27, -13/230 HPs)
Began as a Mummy Necromancer on Aug 30, 2011.
Was a High Priest of Ashenzari.
Mangled by a grey draconian monk
... wielding a -1,+0 orcish long sword
(41 damage)
... on Level 4 of the Realm of Zot on Aug 31, 2011.
The game lasted 08:15:38 (226591 turns).

Deso will not die(MuNe) Turns: 226591, Time: 08:15:38

HP -13/230 AC 12 Str 13 XL: 27
MP 31/46 EV 26 Int 30 God: Ashenzari [*****.]
Gold 7974 SH 0 Dex 10 Spells: 16 memorised, 1 level left

Res.Fire : + + + See Invis. : + v - +9,+7 demon whip (pain) (curse)
Res.Cold : + + + Warding : . . P - +3 leather armour of Iwaics {rF++ rC+ MR D
Life Prot.: + + + Conserve : + (no shield)
Res.Acid. : + . . Res.Corr. : + Z - +2 helmet {Int+3} (curse)
Res.Poison: + Clarity : + h - +1 cloak {rCorr, Cons} (curse)
Res.Elec. : . Spirit.Shd : . R - -2 pair of gloves of Treus {rF+ Dam+2}
Sust.Abil.: . . Stasis : . p - +1 pair of boots (curse)
Res.Mut. : + Ctrl.Telep.: x u - cursed amulet of Brilliance {rMut rN+ MR I
Res.Rott. : + Levitation : . T - cursed +6 ring of evasion
Saprovore : . . . Ctrl.Flight: . j - cursed ring "Pofur" {rF+ rC+ Str+2 Int+2 D

@: very slightly glowing, uncannily resistant to hostile enchantments,
fairly stealthy
A: no food or potions, fire vulnerability, strongly in touch with death,
cold resistance 1, life protection 3, poison resistance, torment
resistance, unbreathing
a: Self-Restoration, Scrying, Transfer Knowledge, Renounce Religion
}: 4/15 runes: decaying, serpentine, silver, golden


You were on level 4 of the Realm of Zot.
You worshipped Ashenzari.
Ashenzari was exalted by your worship.
You were not hungry.

You visited 13 branches of the dungeon, and saw 79 of its levels.
You visited 1 bazaar.
You visited 5 portal chambers: ossuary, spiders nest, trove, ice cave, wizlab.

You collected 14122 gold pieces.
You spent 6168 gold pieces at shops.

Inventory:

Hand weapons
v - a cursed +9,+7 demon whip of pain (weapon)
Armour
h - a cursed +1 cloak of preservation (worn)
p - a cursed +1 pair of boots (worn)
P - the cursed +3 leather armour of Iwaics (worn) {rF++ rC+ MR Dex-2}
(You found it on level 3 of the Tomb of the Ancients)


It affects your dexterity (-2).
It greatly protects you from fire.
It protects you from cold.
It increases your resistance to enchantments.
It has a curse placed upon it.
R - the cursed -2 pair of gloves of Treus (worn) {rF+ Dam+2}
(You found it in a treasure trove)


It affects your damage-dealing abilities (+2).
It protects you from fire.
It has a curse placed upon it.
Z - a cursed +2 helmet of intelligence (worn)
Magical devices
d - a wand of digging (4)
e - a wand of fire (8)
f - a wand of draining (8)
s - a wand of disintegration (4)
y - a wand of flame (16)
z - a wand of healing (7)
D - a wand of hasting (3)
O - a wand of cold (6)
S - a wand of teleportation (11)
Scrolls
c - 2 scrolls of remove curse
g - a scroll of silence
i - 7 scrolls of teleportation
k - a scroll of detect curse
l - 2 scrolls of curse weapon
m - a scroll of identify
o - a scroll of fear
q - a scroll of torment
t - 4 scrolls of summoning
x - 3 scrolls of fog
A - a scroll of vulnerability

Jewellery

j - the cursed ring "Pofur" (left hand) {rF+ rC+ Str+2 Int+2 Dam+5}
(You bought it in a shop on level 2 of the Vaults)

[ring of slaying]
It affects your damage-dealing abilities (+5).

It affects your strength (+2).
It affects your intelligence (+2).
It protects you from fire.
It protects you from cold.
It has a curse placed upon it.


u - the cursed amulet of Brilliance (around neck) {rMut rN+ MR Int+2}
(You found it on level 26 of the Dungeon)

[amulet of resist mutation]

It affects your intelligence (+2).
It protects you from negative energy.
It increases your resistance to enchantments.
It has a curse placed upon it.

T - a cursed +6 ring of evasion (right hand)

Skills:
+ Level 22 Fighting
- Level 1 Short Blades
+ Level 16(18) Maces & Flails
- Level 1 Polearms
- Level 1 Armour
+ Level 20(21) Dodging
- Level 2(4) Stealth
- Level 1 Stabbing
- Level 4 Traps & Doors
- Level 1 Unarmed Combat
- Level 21 Spellcasting
- Level 11(14) Conjurations
- Level 10(13) Charms
- Level 9(13) Summonings
- Level 23 Necromancy
- Level 1(2) Translocations
- Level 1(2) Air Magic
- Level 1(2) Evocations


You had one spell level left.
You knew the following spells:

Your Spells Type Power Success Level Hunger
a - Insulation Air/Chrm #######... Excellent 4 N/A
b - Animate Dead Necr N/A Perfect 4 N/A
c - Levitation Air/Chrm #######... Excellent 2 N/A
d - Shadow Creatures Summ N/A Excellent 5 N/A
e - Haunt Summ/Necr #########. Excellent 7 N/A
f - Bolt of Draining Conj/Necr #########. Excellent 6 N/A
g - Recall Tloc/Summ N/A Excellent 3 N/A
h - Blink Tloc N/A Excellent 2 N/A
i - Iskenderun's Mystic Conj ########. Excellent 4 N/A
j - Control Teleport Chrm/Tloc #######... Excellent 4 N/A
k - Sublimation of Blood Necr ########## Perfect 2 N/A
l - Animate Skeleton Necr N/A Perfect 1 N/A
m - Iron Shot Erth/Conj #######... Very Good 6 N/A
q - Haste Chrm ########. Excellent 6 N/A
x - Death Channel Necr ########## Excellent 7 N/A
z - Dispel Undead Necr ######### Perfect 4 N/A

Oh, it shows the skill bonuses there. 4 on summonings, 3 on conjurations and charms. Not too bad. You lose the bonuses when your skill level reach a point. Necromancy wasn't boosted anymore, and dodge had only 1 point.

 

[Castanova]

That ring "Pofur" is sweet. Overall you got some pretty good equipment, actually.

 

[Damned Registrations]

From what I was reading, the skills you get depend on the cursed items you're wearing.

 

[desocupado]

From what I was reading, the skills you get depend on the cursed items you're wearing.

Yes, which skills get boosted depend on what cursed items, but not the amount. That depends on piety and skill levels. I had everything cursed anyway...

 

[Hoodoo]

Mummy Necro w/ Rune of Zot

 

[Castanova]

Hah, gotta love getting banished to the Abyss and finding both the Abyssal rune and the exit out within only a few hundred turns. And then remembering there's a treasure trove on D:10 where the entrance key is the Abyssal rune. Cha ching!

On that note, once ramped up, a tanky plate-mail/shield build is pure domination in 0.9. By the end, my MDFi had 40+ AC, 40+ SH, plus a +6 EV ring, all the necessary resistances, and so on. With my holy wrath eveningstar, I'm two-shotting Ancient Liches and 1-demons. With my (mediocre) piercing morningstar, I'm 3-shotting everything else. I've never had an easier time clearing Zot:5. It was so easy that I actually felt regret when I finished because it seemed like a waste not to get all 15 runes.

 

[desocupado]

Hah, gotta love getting banished to the Abyss and finding both the Abyssal rune and the exit out within only a few hundred turns. And then remembering there's a treasure trove on D:10 where the entrance key is the Abyssal rune. Cha ching!

On that note, once ramped up, a tanky plate-mail/shield build is pure domination in 0.9. By the end, my MDFi had 40+ AC, 40+ SH, plus a +6 EV ring, all the necessary resistances, and so on. With my holy wrath eveningstar, I'm two-shotting Ancient Liches and 1-demons. With my (mediocre) piercing morningstar, I'm 3-shotting everything else. I've never had an easier time clearing Zot:5. It was so easy that I actually felt regret when I finished because it seemed like a waste not to get all 15 runes.

It's funny that you mention it, because my second (and last ) win was with a MDFi, and I was wondering how to kill orbs of fire properly. I mean, if I can't even kill an orb of fire quickly, how can I tackle the extended game content? Isn't it even tougher?

My guy had a Vampiric broad axe highly enchanted, +8 Shield of Ignorance, crystal plate mail (I might have been using a plate mail of fire resistance at the time, though), 27 in fighting, axes, armor and shield, RF+++, and even then, orbs of fire were dangerous.

 

[Zomg]

The non-boss stuff in the extended endgame isn't generally tougher in a conventional sense than Zot stuff (less tough actually, particularly compared to orbs), it's just that it uses a different method to generate danger for the PC than raw power. Like pinning you in with summons and then torment/hellfire-ing the shit out of you.

I have no idea why orbs would be dangerous for that powered-up of a character though, he should have dicked them down pretty easily. Were you using stuff like might and haste?

 

[Castanova]

It's funny that you mention it, because my second (and last ) win was with a MDFi, and I was wondering how to kill orbs of fire properly. I mean, if I can't even kill an orb of fire quickly, how can I tackle the extended game content? Isn't it even tougher?

My guy had a Vampiric broad axe highly enchanted, +8 Shield of Ignorance, crystal plate mail (I might have been using a plate mail of fire resistance at the time, though), 27 in fighting, axes, armor and shield, RF+++, and even then, orbs of fire were dangerous.

That's bizarre. I only had RF++ and I wasn't in any real danger 1-on-1 with an orb of fire. I killed two or three of them each with maybe like 5 swings? The only thing I can think of is the Vampiric brand on your axe was worthless against it? I was using a +8 morningstar (piercing), and I think +3 damage on my armor. Otherwise there's no reason a MDFi with 27 fighting/axes shouldn't cut down an orb rather quickly.

The only end-game content that's really difficult IMO are the four Hells (especially the hell where the Serpent shows up) and, depending on your build and items, the Slime Pits. The Hells are only hard because of the random effects that nail you (including nasty summons) and the fact that teleport control doesn't work. Pandomonium is very easy as long as you have teleport control.

 

[sirfink]

 

[MisterStone]

Is that godawful furry race still in the game? Never mind, I guess I can just ignore it...