Never beat Crawl? Enter here! :-)

[Anvilfolk]

Apparently the Shining One likes you to specifically kill evil beings. I got a bit into his favour, then was in a tight situation and used a wand of something or other (relating to stealing levels or something), and he hated me for awhile.

The thing is, I found his altar halfway through to the Ecumenical Temple, so I thought I might as well join. Since he doesn't mind me switching over to a couple other ones, I figured I'd do it when I reached the temple. Turned out the other ones weren't so good either - Sif Muna or Zin, if I remember correctly.

You die and you learn

I didn't actually go into the Orcish Mines because of prists and mages, to which I was still rather vulnerable. Those godly smites are nasty.

[Omnivorous]

Finally a promising hybrid-char! Level 7 Ogre Crusader, PerKiller, who just found the temple where he joined Yredenemnul to hopefully get to raise an army of skeletons to aid him in his quest for fame and fortune. Promising in the sense that - he's not dead yet. Not many good items, except for a +3, +1 morningstar.

PerKiller eats ALOT of corpses to be able to keep up with his enchantments which he uses regularely, enchant his sword with fire/ice, regeneration and berserker rage. This leaves ALOT of skeletons, so hopefully these can be put to use. I was thinking about Okawaru as a god, but the spellbook PerKiller entered the dungeon with, contains haste, regeneration, avoid missiles and berserker rage, so I see no reason to join neither Trog or Okawaru.

Most encounters require some carefulness and planning though. He just wiped out a mob of two orc priests, an orc wizard and 2 orcs in a big open area, but right after that a Centaur almoast killed him! Hopefully he will encounter some artifacts (preferrably to help with defense, as all armours I've found so far are made for mini-people, not a big, strong Ogre!).

Be back in alittle while to tell you how it died.

[Anvilfolk]

Be back in alittle while to tell you how it died.

And this, my friends, is the wonder of roguelikes.

[Karzack]

Spoiler Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tm0CtcttgNg

I stumbled upon this browsing youtube.  It is an end game video, so I won't go into detail.  I just thought some here might find interest in it.


As for crawl, I am just getting into this game.  I have tried it before and it didn't have much appeal to me.  After the latest update; it is my flavor of the month.  Or, it could be longer than a month, I'm not sure.  I'm not sure what happened between then and now.  *shrugs*

I did the tutorial with the Mino Zerker and had an ok run with him.  And then like most of my other deaths in pretty much every roguelike I have ever played; I got cocky and something put me in my place.    Well, somethings in this case.
I won't post the whole dump (them are pretty big), but here is the little overview.

Code: [Select]

14406 Karzack the Cleaver (level 11, -14/99 HPs)
             Began as a Minotaur Berserker on Oct 11, 2009.
             Was a High Priest of Trog.
             Demolished by a komodo dragon (21 damage)
             ... on Level 6 of the Lair of Beasts.
             The game lasted 02:11:12 (14191 turns).

[Omnivorous]

And so, he quickly died after I took a break and came back. "1109 PerKiller  OgCr slain by a centaur (D:6)"
Just entered the dungeonfloor below entrance to Temple, and found it was alot harder than the last couple of floors. Snakes felt alot stronger. Orcs too. And I kindof expected the first mob that hit me to be the last for a while after I went into Berserker Rage. That was not the case, a Centaur was waiting just behind the corner and appeared in a doorway several steps behind me, JUST when berserker rage ended. Tried to escape with a scroll of fear, quaffed all my healing potions, got careless and started resting too close, and the Centaur charged me again before I got much rest. Somehow paniced instead of spending the second scroll of fear ;p

A greedy and silly death just because I forgot how much I cared about this char.

Edit: Another char. Going to try a different tactic. Going to try the character that killed me. A Centaur...something! Going to just pick the characters that kill me to see if I find anything that feels good.

Oh, I have no idea if maybe everyone knows this but I didn't always and I think they are both very nice commands. Shift-5 and Alt Gr-2 ('@') atleast those screens become useful as you start reaching level 10 and have to choose what rings to wear, which weaknesses to trade against benefits etc.

[Vanguard]

What's the level cap for Crawl?

I notice that humans level up quite a lot faster than other races, and thematically, they're always my favorite choice.  Do you reach the level cap before the end of the game, meaning that the other races will catch up to and surpass you, or is it high enough that the experience advantage will always be useful?

[Omnivorous]

Well judging from the tables of top players (winners) in last year's Crawl-tournament, the levels vary alot. Most are within 22-25 though.

I think perhaps -skills- max though, and I think I've succeeded in surviving early on with weak characters sometimes by cutting off unneeded skills/taking advantage of the skill(s) my current char can level the fastest.

And with hybrid chars, not pure bashers, I think it's a big difference early on if I put stats in DEX or STR, depending on what weapon I am using. Uggh, Crawl is difficult. Acouple of Rogue-runs was just as unforgiving! I think it's time for some rest.

[Vanguard]

Uggh, Crawl is difficult. Acouple of Rogue-runs was just as unforgiving! I think it's time for some rest.

Don't even joke like that!

Crawl may well be difficult, but it has nothing to Rogue's gleeful, unrelenting malice towards the player.  I don't think most games of Rogue could be won even by a perfect player with perfect knowledge of everything you can know about the game without cheating.

[Anvilfolk]

Ok, so fighting increases the number of HP points that you get at each level up. What I've been doing is blocking off all the skills except fighting until I get it to lvl 5, and then usually allowing armour and the specific weapon skill as well.

Any thoughts on this?

[Rabiat]

I don't think that's a good way to go for too long. Your max HP will increase at level-up if you have higher fighting skill, but massive HP alone won't get you there in the long run. I'm no expert, but I prefer generalising in the early game and specialising in the late game.

For instance, regardless of race, I always put some XP in traps & doors (disarming harmless traps so I won't blunder into nastier traps lateron) and throwing darts (so I stand a chance against NPCs with strong melee attacks, without having to drain all my wands or mana). I find it very helpful, although I guess it depends on playing style.

But who knows, results could be spectacular for races with good fighting aptitude. If you try this, could you keep track of your PC's max HP and fighting skill at each level-up, and post it?

[Omnivorous]

Well I have looked on my skill-list several times, thinking "Well a high <enter skill name here> would be really convenient now! Let me see what I can turn off!" Then I open the skill-list and usually end up deciding "Hey damnit, ALL these skills are useful for me atm.."
If anything I've found that it's smart to focus on those aptitudes with lowest numbers, that level the most with the least practice.

Also I think it's absurd how people consider it "exploitation" to for example cast spells on walls to train them. Clearly since it is possible and remains possible throughout updates, it is not an exploit. Also in a RP game you are supposed to "live out" your character. If I was a wizard that just barely understood the contents of my spellbook, I would most likely be considered a damn fool by other wizards if I attempted to run into battle with such a spell without practicing it some on my own first.. Also, it costs food. Alot of food it seems, when your level with it is low.

I think I've found a decent hybrid now, and a VERY good race in general; Merfolk. I've somehow never bothered to even look at this race, but it has great fighting abilities, is VERY powerful with polearms. It is also good with Enchantments and Transmutations (or was it Translocations?)

Either way this Merfolk Enchanter is atm looking VERY promising.. Sigmund dropped a Scythe of Reaching (0, +3) which goes inunder polearms, and enchantment spells such as Corona, Confuse, Sleep and Invisible is VERY handy combined with this long-reaching weapon! Ohwell, it will be put to the test pretty soon..acouple more levels and we'll see if it really can survive in these dungeons!

Edit: Ugh.. It was all going well. Even found a book-store and aquired book of Changes that dealt with Transmutations, which my char also should be good in. I struggled abit in an encounter where I got poisoned twice early on, and had to fend off two Kobolds and a Big Kobold. I got rid of them and went upstairs to rest. Went back down again, continued exploring into the direction where I encountered the Kobolds.. Discovered another one and let it flee while I regenned some, then I started chasing it. All of a sudden I am standing at the crossroad of two corridors containing 6 Kobolds and 3 Big Kobolds. (Those that I could see atleast) I started fleeing, but as soon as I did that, a Big Frog appeared, that moved faster than me. I got the the nearest up staircase with 3hp. Tried to go up, but on the last turn the Big Frog put me out of my misery.

                                               ,;;';;:;';;',;:,
                                             ,:'                ':,
                                           ,:     PerKiller     ':,
                                          ;:       Merfolk       ;:
                                          ;:     Enchanter     ;:
                                          ;:         Lvl8         ;:
                                          ;;  Died on LVL7    ::
                                          ;:                       ;:
                                          ;:        R.I.P         ::
                                       ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

[Vanguard]

Well I have looked on my skill-list several times, thinking "Well a high <enter skill name here> would be really convenient now! Let me see what I can turn off!" Then I open the skill-list and usually end up deciding "Hey damnit, ALL these skills are useful for me atm.."

This is me as well.

Also I think it's absurd how people consider it "exploitation" to for example cast spells on walls to train them.

Wait, this works?!  What's to stop a vampire or mummy mage from attaining complete mastery of all magic and easily winning this way, besides their player going insane with boredom?

For every other race it doesn't sound all that exploitable.

[Karzack]

What's the level cap for Crawl?

I believe it is 27.  I read it somewhere, but I can't remember.  Maybe it was in the manual...

[Omnivorous]

Also I think it's absurd how people consider it "exploitation" to for example cast spells on walls to train them.

Wait, this works?!  What's to stop a vampire or mummy mage from attaining complete mastery of all magic and easily winning this way, besides their player going insane with boredom?

For every other race it doesn't sound all that exploitable.

Well I am more talking about just casting a spell while exploring, at the wall if possible when MP fills up, and then continue exploring.. Especially if there's some left over XP that hasn't been put to use. This is not possible with all spells either though.

[corremn]

I think I've found a decent hybrid now, and a VERY good race in general; Merfolk. I've somehow never bothered to even look at this race, but it has great fighting abilities, is VERY powerful with polearms. It is also good with Enchantments and Transmutations (or was it Translocations?)

 I started fleeing, but as soon as I did that, a Big Frog appeared, that moved faster than me. I got the the nearest up staircase with 3hp. Tried to go up, but on the last turn the Big Frog put me out of my misery.
                                           

Merfolks are one of my hybrid favorite races being good at combat, transmutations, enchantments and ice magic.   Once you get haste, blade hands, repel missiles they are almost unstoppable. All you need is a god to get you out of the tricky spots.  IIRC Makhleb has eary summons which would of helped you here, if you found the temple that is. 

Casting spells at nothing is part of the game, you have to have exp points anyway.  Plants were left in the game to allow safe learning of weapon skills (at least to level 2).  It seems stupid that you would be able to train blink but not magic missile.  If people think its cheating then dont do it.