Re: [crawl] mummy necro

In article <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, [EMAIL PROTECTED] 
says...
> Larry Bassel .-- .-. --- - . ---... 
> 
> >> So you finally arrived to conclusion that mummies are fighters/necro with
> >> a little aid of divination. :-)
> > To some extent yes, though probably not as much as you would. My approach 
> > is more necro/divination with a little aid of fighting/wands.
> 
> Well, my best argument against divination is that it doesn't kill. ;-) The
> same with enchantments, translocations etc.(I play Spriggan Enchanter and
> found that a little difficult).

Yes, but I find that these sort of spells help. Knowledge is power.

For that matter spells like Fly (can cross water, better speed, more 
carrying capacity), Swiftness (speed), Oz's Armor (better AC), Repel 
Missiles, etc. are good support/defensive spells. I guess we just have 
different playing styles.

Khuth *has* learned a little fighting, good when the spell points are low 
and the few extra max HP don't hurt either. He has pretty much stayed 
with the staff of death (and is level 3 in Staves now), except of course 
when the crossbow is needed (he's occasionally running into Unseen 
Horrors (I hate those things)). Detect monsters actually gives me advance 
warning (shows the 'x' on the level map) of these (how nice!).

> 
> > I'm looking (have ID'd all the potentially interesting armor and weapons 
> > on levels 1 through 7 so far, nothing better has yet showed up). I'm 
> > hoping for an armor store soon.
> 
> If you manage to go to Elves there should be some nice armor, prefered
> would be Dragon for a Mummy perhaps (then have level of fire resistance and
> zero cold resistance), if doesn't hinder spellcasting too much. I found
> Orcish Mines useless in good stuff aspect.

I found a good store on DL 14, bought a +2 helmet of intelligence (+3 
INT), AC is now 11, which is as good as Xot had when he won (and almost 
as many HP even now (84 vs 100)). Of course he doesn't have Crystal 
Spear, but double enhanced Bolt of Draining (staff of death and level 13 
Mummy) works quite well (and Dispel Undead for most of the monsters 
immune to BoD). I wonder how many XP I'm losing (from draining), though.

I haven't entered the Elven Halls yet (and probably won't for quite a 
while). I've done 3 levels of the Mines and Lair and a little bit of the 
first level of the Hive and have seen the entrance to the Vault. Mummies 
can take their time :-)

> 
> 
> >> I prefer Kikubaaqudgha who gives all (and more) necro books himself plus
> >> Recall slaves and other nice abilities. Messing with Sif Muna is
> >> unnecessary IMO.
> > As mentioned in my earlier post, I realize Sif Muna is an unconventional 
> > choice of god for a Mummy necro. Different strokes for different folks...
> 
> You do pretty well with him. 

Her. And she even gave me a copy of Necronomicon. Unfortunately, Khuth 
doesn't seem to be advanced enough to read it yet.

One of these days I'll try a character who worships another god (Vehumet 
and the god (who?) that lets one summon Executioners sound interesting).

> 
> >> More wizard than Necromancer. How do you expect to kill monsters when out
> >> of zombies (several good monsters could kill them in no time)? With Pain
> >> only? You will detect them perfectly, go to them bypassing the traps,
> >> identify their stuff and animate corpses but the killing part is missing.
> > Yes, I've got a Mummy wizard for all intents and purposes (and maybe this 
> > isn't a character you'd like to play or one that you think has a good 
> > chance to get the Orb, but I'm enjoying it). Also note that if I do want 
> > a Mummy wizard, I've got to develop the character this way (start with 
> > Mummy necro, go heavy on Divinations) since Mummy wizard is *not* one of 
> > the allowed starting character choices.
> > 
> > And I do recognize that I need some better offensive spells, hence the 
> > question in my original post. I do see drawbacks for the most likely 
> > candidates (correct me if I'm wrong):
> > Vampiric Draining: only useful when hitpoints are below max (but 
> > conversely good for some badly needed healing for a Mummy)
> 
> Well, when you melee a powerful monster it drops anyway. So you start
> fighting with melee weapons, when hurt you cast Vampiric Draining to hurt
> it and heal yourself. The problem could be SP which could ran off. Staff of
> Power or Ring which increases SP could be extremely useful.

I guess this is where Sublimation of Blood might be handy. I still wonder 
(would be most useful for a good fighter with good AC and max HP) if 
melee until somewhat injured, then Vampiric Draining until healed or SP 
are low (and many opponents would already be dead probably) backed up by 
SoB on *oneself* to regain SP if SP are low, Vampiric Draining opponents 
to regain the lost HP from SoB would be a viable strategy.

Is it true (seems this way) that Vampiric Draining is only good against 
monsters next to you (i.e. the spell wants a direction, doesn't ask for a 
target)?

> 
> 
> > Agony: won't actually kill, right? I'm not sure what this spell actually 
> > does and have to admit I haven't tried it
> 
> Me too. The problem may be that IIRC it's resisted using Magic Resistance,
> which powerful monsters especially spellcasters have very high. Bolt of
> Draining seem more reliable.

Bolt of Draining also beams. I took out a whole herd of Yaks with 2 casts 
this way.

Larry