Re: -CRAWL- Character advice

Thanks for the advice! :-) BTW, the original post is by me, I didn't
have a chance to set my pref's until after I posted it.

--- Sword of Protection/Shield of Resistance.
I know this seems like a weird choice, and I'd normally agree that a
staff would make more sense. However...

I'll be totally honest here and say that I have several staves in my
stash, including a Staff of Wizardry, though not of Conjuration.
Still, the shield, even with 0 Shields skills (no idea how I've managed
to not pick up any, even considering I'm fighting from range much of
the time..) still blocks a semi-decent amount of the time (maybe
because it's +3 fixed artifact? Normal shields only go up to +2),
especially against enemies that have multiple attacks. Given that as a
Deep Elf I have very, VERY low max HPs, I'm doing the best I can to
make it so that those HPs get conserved, even if it comes at the cost
of a bit of offense. I am aware that a Ice/Earth/Conjuration might
give me more offensive kick, but I think if I can find a good randart
dagger/sabre/short sword/quick blade to pair with the shield of
resistance, it will outweigh the benefits of an offensive magical
staff, and in the mean time, +5 AC from the sword of protection is not
to be discounted, as my higher AC has saved me a few times from
ambushes while entering rooms or turning corners.

Since I haven't dumped much into Dodge yet - the ranged fighting thing
again - the shield gives me an extra edge when I just need a moment to
quaff a !oHW and buy some time. Not that I *want* enemies near me, but
sometimes its unavoidable. I've also had it block ranged attacks from
things like Yaktaur Captains and even had it block a large rock thrown
by a Stone Giant. The bonus resistances are great, and let me be a lot
more creative in my choice of jewelry, and coupled with my +8 RoR
(acquired as +2 and burned ~12 ?oEnchantArmor to boost it) gives me a
lot of warm fuzzies when I'm doing things like wandering near lava
pools and get hit by a surprise blast of lava from a Lava Snake.

I might change my mind about this if I come across a Staff of
Conjuration, but right now, the defensive options outweight the
offensive options of a Staff of Wizardry or Staff of Cold (which I do
have). It means that I sometimes have to beat a hasty retreat from a
dungeon level because I'm out of MP and need to recover to explore
further, but there's always Tomb of Doroklohe to get myself out of jams
where I'm facing lots of opposition closing fast that I can't run from.

--- Identify spell

This is another questionable choice. I'll see if I can explain my
reasoning here:

I like this spell. A lot. With high Spellcasting and INT, the hunger
factor is relatively low, and it lets me immediately analyze loot
on-site as I find it, without having to run back to my stash, or
burning the limited number of scrolls I have with me, or worrying about
toting around ?ofRemoveCurse in large quantities in case I test
something and it goes wonky. It also gives me 100% ability to avoid
weapons of Distortion (which have killed several of my more promising
characters in inauspicious random equiptesting).

Now, the drawbacks to learning Identify are thus:
(1) Some investment in Divinations required to cast this even passably
(2) Failure normally dumps a whole swackload of magic contamination on
your character, since it's such a high level spell
(3) Eats up a lot of spell slots which might be put to better use.

I approached this decision like so:

1 - 6 levels of Divination is not, in my eyes, a huge investment
considering that I am no longer dependent on *three* different scrolls:
Detect Curse, Identify, and Remove Curse. While these scrolls are not
exactly rare, there are times when one or all seem to be in short
supply when you most want them, and not needing them (or carrying them)
is a win-win for me, since I get to save that inventory space for more
stuff that I want (remember, DEIE - low, low base STR so I have to
watch what I tote around). I eventually want a Book of Surveyances for
Detect Traps, as I think that's going to be my primary tool to avoid
the increasing chance of blundering into a Zot-trap... more
specfically, I took the position of : "I can either invest XP into an
unreliable Doors and Traps skill, or invest in Divination and learn
Detect Traps and be SURE". I chose the latter.

2 - Sif Muna's second ability completely negates magic contamination
from spell failure. I fail at casting this fairly often, and I never
ever have to worry about random mutations or explosions or other
weirdness. Crawl is random enough as it is, suppressing this extra
factor is a nice perk for me, even though I do have to worry about
things like running out of MP more than, say, a follower of Vehumet.
If I didn't have this ability, though, it would definitely be a major
issue.

3 - Part of my strategy revolving around Sif Muna is spell slot
management. What I did was played very conservatively, and just pumped
up piety every chance I got and prayed a lot until I got all the spells
I wanted, Selective Amnesia in particular. This way, if I find that I
really need those spell slots back, I can burn Identify out of
existence at will without losing piety and gear up with a new set of
spells to tackle the next area. This, of course, requires a large
library of spellbooks in my stash, but I make a point to put every book
I get into the stash (except multiple copies, which get sac'd for piety
at the altar). I think I have almost all the spellbooks in the game
now, minus a handful (Air, Surveyances, Tukima, Beasts, Assasinations,
Mutation, Divinations, War Chants, Changes... I think I have all the
others, would have to check my stash to be sure). This gives me a
huge, customizable arsenal to take into any dungeon area, as long as I
know what to expect and plan accordingly.

--- Ring of Echidna (neg. NRG resist, +4AC, stealth+

I agree that this ring isn't as useful now in mid-game as it was for me
in the early game. While I agree that AC isn't a primary concern for
mages, it's still "a" concern in some crucial situations. There are
times when I have to lure things up stairs, etc. and for that, Evasion
or AC are the way to go, since they get a free attack round as you go
upstairs. Having an offensive staff is great, but doesn't do anything
for you if you're trying to lure a bunch of Vault Guardians upstairs,
for instance... I'm pretty sure I'll pair this with the +5 ring of
protection in my stash when/if I get to Vault:8. I haven't got the
Enchantment skill high enough to pull off Metabolic Englaciation
reliably, so what I think I'll do is wait for a Book of Air from Sif
Muna and learn Swiftness. Bounce downstairs with Ozocubu's Armor,
Swiftness and full AC+ gear and maybe Forescry if I can cast it by that
time, and lead them upstairs, run away and blast them at leisure...

--- The Tomb

Ugh. Smiting I can probably handle... Torment for half HPs is nasty,
but livable. Summoning is bad news, but hopefully Tomb of Doroklohe
can help me wait them out if things get totally out of control.

As for the curses: Stat-Drain on Strength is scary since my base STR is
so low. Going to need some STR boosters if I go to the Tomb I think,
but at least I can make use of my many potions of restore abilities.
Paralysis is scary, is there any way to avoid or resist this? Mutation
I can probably deal with via "oCM, Slowing can be countered with Haste,
rotting I can deal with by making use of my large stockpile of 30+ !oH,
but this ability of turning stacks of potions into decay is not going
to be fun. Would dropping all but 1 !oH at my feet before engaging be
a good way to deal with this? That way I don't get an entire stack
contaminated (but conversely won't have access to them if I have to run
away too... hmm.). Any other nasty surprises I should watch out for?

Jim

.

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