-CRAWL- YAFVP: Whelp the HODK
- From: "Lemuel" <lemuel_pitkin@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: 22 Jan 2006 12:58:11 -0800
What a great game! I used to play a lot of Nethack, and it's amazing
how close my dream version of that game is to Crawl. (Except that Crawl
is much better, of course.)
Don't know how many hundreds of games it took me to get a winner, but
it was a lot. Heavily-armored invokers (Okie, Makhleb or Yrdemnul) are
definitely my favorite. Guess if I try for another winner it will have
to be something different -- maybe a stealthy type.
This was a straightforward game -- once this guy got going he never
really stopped. Past level 10 or so, I was never seriously worried
about survival, and only a couple times worried enough to use a
?Teleportation or Haste or even a !HW. I don't believe I ever had to
read a scroll of blinking.
I cleared the major branches backward this game -- Vaults, Elf, Swamp,
and Snake Pit last. Mainly because I found a storm dragon hide early,
while it took me forever to find any source of poison resistance.
Vaults was the only one that gave me any trouble -- I did Elf straight
from the top in one run, and my Hps never dropped below 100 (they were
max 180 or so at that point.) Oddly, I never saw a wand of digging, and
my only wand of disintegration came in Hell.
The first time I stuck my head into Zot -- the first time ever! -- I
got spooked by an Orb of Fire, which managed to take off over half my
Hps and sock me with the "frail" mutation before I hasted up and
finally killed it. So I went back to do the branches I'd skipped --
Hall of Blades, Crypt, Tomb, Slime Pit. The Hall of Blades was easy ,
and netted me a battleaxe of chopping (I never saw a scroll of
vorpalize weapon either). The Crypt was super-easy -- it was the first
point in the game that I was watching my Xps (for the 20k cap) instead
of my Hps. So how bad can the Tomb be, I thought. Pretty bad, it turned
out -- I skedaddled quick and never went back. The Slime Pits were even
worse -- I don't know what kind of character can handle it, but an
armored melee fighter sure can't. Then I decided to try the Hells,
specifically Cocytus. Kept getting banished to the Abyss -- which at
that point was mostly just an inconvenience -- but finally made it to
the bottom, which ended up seeming like more trouble than it was worth.
Never entered any other branch of Hell.
So I quaffed my next-to-last !CM, kitted up, and dove for the orb. Zot
itself was much easier than I expected after that first scare. Helped
that I'd saved all my magic mappings, as I'd seen recommended
somewhere on this board, and had teleport control. The Fire Orbs were
the only things that gave me any trouble -- they hit hard even through
double resistance! I'd been worried about piety going in, but I only
had to use a couple of Drain Lifes once, when I was getting mobbed by
Xs and Ds, with an elf demonologist hanging back and summoning.
Interestingly, my best character before this -- the only other one to
get even two runes -- was also a HODK. Zombies are so-so for killing
things, but they're great for controlling the battlefield, especially
since most ranged attackers won't target them. Vampires -- or rather
their summonings -- are also nice, especially for dealing with the
otherwise super-irritating insubstantial wisps. And Drain Life combines
the best crowd-control ever with decent healing, tho it is a bit
piety-expensive. And yet I can't recall seeing an Yrdy-worshipping
winner posted on this board.
Dump with comments below. Didn't bother going back to my stash, so
this is my Zot kit.
Dungeon Crawl version 4.0.0 beta 26 character file.
Are you sure you want to leave the Dungeon?
[Y]es or [N]o only, please.
Are you sure you want to leave the Dungeon?
You have escaped!
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Whelp the Axe Maniac (Hill Orc)
(Level 27 Death Knight)
Play time: 11:28:47 Number of turns: 142749
Experience : 27/978444
Strength 30 Dexterity 14 Intelligence 8
Hit Points : 259 Magic Points : 39
AC : 46 Evasion : 12 Shield : 0
GP : 585
// Put my last two stat increase into Int. Was that necessary?
You escaped.
You worship Yredelemnul.
Yredelemnul is exalted by your worship.
You are not hungry.
// The other fun thing with Yrdy is finding one of those graveyard
rooms, hitting it with a control undead, and then wandering off while
the inhabitants kill each other. Pointless, but fun.
Inventory:
Hand weapons
a - the +5,+2 battleaxe of Purple Skies (weapon) (1730 gold)
It has been blessed by the Shining One to harm undead and cause
great
damage to the unholy creatures of Hell or Pandemonium.
It affects your AC (+7).
It affects your dexterity (+4).
It makes you much less stealthy.
// Off a very early acquirement -- D:5 or so. Funny weapon for a Death
Knight, but you can't argue with +7 AC. One-shotting Reapers ain't
so bad either. Given how important 1s are in the endgame, Holy Wrath
seems to be one of the better brands.
b - a +7,+7 battleaxe of chopping (2049 gold)
// Subdued as +2 in the Hall of Blades. I had a ton of enchant weapon
scrolls in my stash, and was hoping to find War Chants so I could make
some branded battleaxes, but it never showed up. Nor did an
executioner's axe.
v - the +2,+3 knife "Pefik" (662 gold)
It greatly protects you from fire.
It insulates you from electricity.
It partially protects you from negative energy.
It lets you sense your surroundings.
It causes teleportation.
// Carried as a cheap substitute for magic mapping. And potentially as
an emergency swap for the resistances, but I never needed them.
H - the +1,+11 morningstar "Cuc Diwolicexi" (522 gold)
It affects your AC (+6).
// "It makes hydras go splat."
Armour
d - a +2 cloak (worn) (135 gold)
l - the +0 horned helmet "Kurubahux" (worn) (163 gold)
It affects your evasion (+3).
// Wore this rather than a +3 dwarven one because it seemed like I had
enough AC and needed evasion more. Right or wrong?
o - a +3 storm dragon armour (worn) (2519 gold)
// The earlier HODN finally died because he couldn't handle the
vaults without insulation and decided to try to get his third rune from
Hell instead, where he bit it on his 4th trip to the Abyss. So I was
very glad when I found a storm dragon hide on D:10 or so.
q - a +1 pair of orcish boots of running (116 gold)
G - the +3 pair of boots of Loss (worn) (641 gold)
It protects you from fire.
It protects you from cold.
It protects you from magic.
It makes you much more stealthy.
// Bought the randart boots in a shop for 1200 gold or so after doing
the Orc Mines, and then got the running ones off an acquirement almost
immediately afterwards. Grrr. I ended up sticking with Loss for most of
the game, only used the running ones in the Abyss (where I was glad to
have them) and in branches without major fire/cold attacks -- Swamp,
Snake Pits, etc.
I - a +2 pair of elven gloves (worn) (142 gold)
O - the +1 splint mail of Hide-and-Seek (490 gold)
It greatly protects you from cold.
// Forgot to drop after giving up on Cocytus. I also had a randart -2
banded mail with double (or triple -- is that possible?) fire
resistance, which I never used.
Magical devices
c - a wand of hasting (15) (180 gold)
e - a wand of fire (6) (99 gold)
i - a wand of disintegration (5) (111 gold)
j - a wand of cold (10) (135 gold)
m - a wand of lightning (9) (195 gold)
n - a wand of lightning (9) (195 gold)
u - a wand of draining (7) (144 gold)
B - a wand of teleportation (14) (114 gold)
// After the very early game, wands were my only ranged attack. In
practice I killed almost everything in melee. Bought the hasting in a
shop and it was very helpful -- they should probably cost more. The
teleport wand was also nice. A ton of ?recharging in my stash, only
used two or three.
Comestibles
g - a beef jerky (18 gold)
r - 13 strawberries (13 gold)
L - 3 bread rations (120 gold)
N - 8 apples (64 gold)
V - 5 royal jellies (600 gold)
W - 5 honeycombs (125 gold)
Scrolls
p - a scroll of blinking (30 gold)
A - a scroll of identify (20 gold)
J - a scroll of enchant weapon II (55 gold)
Q - a scroll of teleportation (30 gold)
// Went into Zot with a bunch of blinkings, which were almost all
burned up. Must have picked up the enchant weapon accidentally on the
way out.
Jewellery
f - a ring of poison resistance (210 gold)
h - a ring of sustenance (175 gold)
k - a ring of teleport control (right hand) (294 gold)
s - a ring of protection from fire (210 gold)
t - a ring of see invisible (140 gold)
w - a ring of teleportation (1 gold)
x - a ring of protection from fire (left hand) (210 gold)
y - a ring of protection from cold (210 gold)
z - an amulet of resist mutation (around neck) (210 gold)
C - the ring "Rumil" (434 gold)
This ring increases the hand-to-hand and missile combat skills of
its
wearer.
It affects your accuracy (+0).
It affects your damage-dealing abilities (+5).
It protects you from cold.
It lets you turn invisible.
It prevents most forms of teleportation.
// Much more useful than it looks, since I went through most of the
second half of the game with teleportitis. Didn't want to cure it
since I had no idea how mutated I might get in Zot and !CMs were very
scarce.
D - a +4 ring of strength (350 gold)
E - the ring of Jeq Riretida (560 gold)
This ring increases its wearer's reserves of magical power.
It affects your evasion (+4).
It affects your dexterity (+3).
// Wore this most of the mid-game.
M - a +3,+4 ring of slaying (630 gold)
// Wore this most of the late game. Subbed in teleport control for Zot.
Potions
K - 2 potions of berserk rage (60 gold)
P - 8 potions of heal wounds (240 gold)
U - 6 potions of healing (120 gold)
Orbs of Power
F - the Orb of Zot (250000 gold)
Miscellaneous
R - a silver rune of Zot (10000 gold)
S - a serpentine rune of Zot (10000 gold)
T - a decaying rune of Zot (10000 gold)
You have 19518 experience left.
Skills:
+ Level 22 Fighting
* Level 27 Axes
+ Level 8 Maces & Flails
- Level 3 Darts
+ Level 17 Armour
// Spent a lot of time trying to dump Xps into Armour once Axes maxed
out, but it was very, very slow. Should I have tried to raise Dodging
and/or Unarmed Combat instead?
+ Level 6 Dodging
- Level 2 Stealth
- Level 1 Stabbing
+ Level 2 Spellcasting
+ Level 3 Translocations
// Waste of Xps -- a hill orc just ain't going to be casting spells,
even Blink, in heavy armor.
+ Level 17 Invocations
// Turned off most of the game. Any benefit from having it higher?
+ Level 6 Evocations
You have 28 spell levels left.
You know the following spells:
Your Spells Type Success
Level
a - Blink Translocation Bad 2
// Never used.
Vanquished Creatures
// unique and noteworthy only.
2 orbs of fire
// Deserve their spot at the top, for sure.
An ancient lich (Zot:5)
Geryon (Hell)
A Killer Klown (Zot:5)
// Thought I killed more of these -- hard to tell with the blinking. In
any case they weren't a threat.
Adolf (D:22)
An electric golem (Zot:5)
// Ditto.
A Fiend (Coc:7)
6 golden dragons
// Did Zot without poison resistance. I was worried that might make
these guys a problem, but they really weren't.
A quicksilver dragon (shapeshifter) (Vault:8)
// Glad none of these actually showed up.
22 Orb Guardians (Zot:5)
3 acid blobs (Slime:1)
// Nasty.
Duane (Vault:7)
2 sphinxes
// A crowd of these chased me out of the Tomb -- multiple smiters in an
open area is Bad News.
2 liches
The ghost of Malvolio the Hacker, a mighty DS CK (Vault:7)
Rupert (D:25)
14 storm dragons
// Amazing what a difference shock resistance makes. They still hit
pretty hard in melee tho.
The ghost of Klaxon the Phalangite, a powerful Mi CK (D:17)
An Executioner (Zot:5)
9 Ice Fiends
A Balrug (Swamp:2)
Francis (D:27)
36 stone giants
// When you've got 40 AC, rocks just bounce off. Giants of all kinds
make excellent zombies.
A Pit Fiend (D:12)
11 deep elf annihilators
// Eh. Is there anything they throw that ISN'T blocked by armor?
Louise (Vault:4)
A great orb of eyes (Vault:8)
The ghost of Caliban the Slicer, a powerful DS Fi (D:12)
A minotaur (Lab)
40 yaktaur captains
// A few zombies, and yaktaurs, centaurs, etc. go from quite dangerous
to nearly harmless.
24 vault guards (Vault:8)
// This is where Drain Life really shines.
8 death cobs
// Heh.
8 ogre-magi
// Another place where that storm dragon armor really helped. I've
had very promising characters killed by ogre-mage lightning bolts.
Norbert (Swamp:1)
7 grey snakes
// Definitely the most dangerous thing in the Snake Pits.
A rakshasa (D:17)
// Only one? Huh.
Erica (Vault:2)
Josephine (Elf:5)
21 deep trolls
// Mostly in the Vestibule of Hell. IMHO, monsters should not be
generated there.
15 centaur warriors
// Again, a few zombies make these a non-issue.
An orc high priest (Vault:8)
An iron golem (Vault:5)
2 elephant slugs
// These and their relatives make very good zombies, given that their
primary purpose is as obstructions.
45 skeletal warriors
// Since these guys' schtick is animate dead, why do they mainly
appear in a branch without corpses?
5 hell knights (D:26)
// Nasty -- surprised they're not higher. Good drops tho --
unfortunate for this character there's no demon axe. (Which is as it
should be from a game-design standpoint -- one of the drawbacks of an
otherwise good weapon choice is the relative lack of really good base
types.)
A queen bee (Crypt:5)
// Finding a hive in the otherwise pietyless Crypt was a nice surprise.
Psyche (D:9)
21 blue devils
// Cocytus. I think I accidentally snipped a bunch of other ice-themed
demons. None gave me any trouble -- it was the ice dragons and Fiends
that scared me off the final level.
8 vampires
// Farmed their summons for piety a little. Probably should have farmed
them more, but it got boring.
8 storm dragon zombies
// These are mostly or entirely my zombies. Shouldn't friendly
creatures be distinguished somehow in the kill list?
14 insubstantial wisps
// Hate these. But a friendly vampire deals with them nicely.
4 hell hounds
// All met on the way out. Is that thematic ("Hell hounds on my
trail"), or was it just luck?
Edmund (D:5)
An iron devil (D:12)
// I think this was on the way out also. I expected more drama once I
had the Orb, honestly.
2 dragon zombies
7 griffon zombies
20 ice dragon zombies
2 spiny worm zombies (D:24)
6 very ugly thing zombies
// Again, almost all mine.
A wolf (shapeshifter) (Hell)
// Probably not the smartest choice by this guy.
Sigmund (D:4)
A kobold demonologist (Vault:3)
// First one I'd ever seen.
4237 creatures vanquished.
Lemuel
.
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