YAVP

Hi all.

Another win! Wombat the (29th) Draconian Reaver was started with the
express desire to create a munchkin character. The aim was to get to
Dragon Form ASAP and go and beat up baddies in Pandemonium. As such,
Wombat never used his starting weapon and concentrated from the start on
Unarmed Combat and spellcasting. This is where numbers 1 to 28 all died
:). One of them I abandoned due to its turning out to be the 'wrong'
sort of draconian (green IIRC): this one turned fiery red and I knew I
was on to a winner! The level 7 lottery for draconians is a real PITA.

When Wombat reached the Temple he decided on Zin. For the main game
either Vehumet or Okawaru would have been more munchkinish, but he had
his eye on some demon-bashing goodness and the prospect of Holy Word was
too good to pass up. Zin's easy to please as long as you keep your nose
clean, and since there were vast piles of unusable weapons and
unwearable armour lying around all on levels 4-8 it all got sacrificed.
This and a handy helping of undead scattered around the dungeon soon got
Wombat's piety up to the all-important 'Healing' threshold (not that he
used the ability much, but it's handy to have it there if you need it!).

This was the best game for mutations that I've had in a long long while.
Two potions of mutation found early on gave fire resistance, cold
resistance AND poison resistance (as well as -1 STR and "slowly
deteriorating", but you can't have everything), and then by the time
Wombat was halfway down the Lair he'd found three potions of gain
strength and two of gain dexterity! The resistances plus the natural
fire resistance for being a red draconian made the early- and mid-game
_much_ easier, as Wombat was able to concentrate his armour and ring
choices on offense, EV and AC.

Wombat then got overconfident and started nibbling on shapeshifter
chunks, which blew away all of the gain stat bonuses and the poison
resistance, granting only "breathe flames" in compensation. Since Wombat
already had that and never used it, that wasn't much of a consolation.
He then found an amulet of resist mutation and stuck with it for *ages*
before getting greedy and risking another potion of mutation. This one
gave "you feel healthier", "exceptional clarity of mind" and
"translocate small distances instantaneously" (as well as -1 INT,
blowing away the effect of the one and only gain intelligence potion
found the entire game), at which point the amulet of resist mutation
went back on and was never removed for the rest of the game. The
remaining mutations he ended up with ("digest meat"x2 and "deformed
body", as well as some stat losses) were a result of bouncing around
Pandemonium for too long. The neqoxecs and cacodemons eventually get
through even the amulet's protection :(.

Most of the game followed the usual pattern: half of the Lair, then the
Orcish Mines, then the Snake Pit and Swamp, then the Hive, then the
Elvish Mines. This was the easiest Elvish Mines clearance I've had for a
while: by this stage Wombat had a staff of fire and ring of fire and had
Ring of Flames with a decent failure rate: very very few elves survived
even one hit from Bolt of Fire. The karma was balanced out by the fact
that the treasure vault has absolutely no useful items in it: the only
useful thing was the gold which got spent on two scrolls of acquirement
(staff of conjuration and a spellbook) and a spellbook of Practical
Magic from a shop. I remembered not to bother trying to acquire some
nice armour after one of Wombat's predecessors found a scroll of
acquirement early in the dungeon, asked for armour and got an artifact
chain main which he couldn't wear :(.

Speaking of shops, this game was shop-land. Level 10 of the dungeon had
six shops(!), one of the Elvish Mine levels had five and one of the
Snake Pit levels had another four. Altogether there must have been 25
shops this game. The karma balance was maintained, however: only one of
these was a book shop (and the only useful book was Practical Magic),
only three were jewellery (with the only useful item being a very
expensive randart amulet of resist mutation which Wombat eventually
bought with the loot from the Vaults), a couple were scrolls (two
scrolls of acquirement, can't complain) and the rest were weapons,
armour and food, none of which was even slightly useful because Wombat
was fighting unarmed and draconians can't wear armour. Ptthbt!

Next was the Vaults: again a triple-enhanced Bolt of Fire or two soon
finished critters off, and with the xp all being spent on casting
Evaporate I soon had Transmigrations up to a level where Blade Hands
started working regularly. I love this spell! Hack, chop, slice! The
Crypt provided enough undead to boost Wombat's piety to maximum, and the
Hall of Blades was giving some good xp and fighting practise until a
weapon of distortion sent Wombat off the the Abyss. He was tough enough
to survive reasonably well (although it got a bit close when an
Executioner appeared, and his store of cure wounds potions went from 6
to 0), and in the process came across an Abyssal Rune! It's the first one
I've seen, so straightaway I decided to turn this into a
'collect-the-runes' challenge game. 

Wombat finished off the Hall (getting sent back to the Abyss again in
the process), and since he'd found a ring of teleport control in the
Vaults went back and blasted his way through the Slime Pits.
Unfortunately there were no runes there, so it was only ever going to be
a partial collect-all-the-runes victory :(.

OK: runes still to go: golden (the Tomb), four from Pandemonium and four
from Hell. Hard to know which to start with with this lot. Wombat
cleared the rest of the main dungeon, and spent the xp on Summonings
until Summon Elemental was reasonable. In the process the decond Ice
Dragon was kind enough to leave its hide, which instantly replaced the
steam dragon armour which Wombat had work since the Swamp. It's
Tomb-time! 

The easiest way to tackle the Tomb is as a Summoner, but failing that a
fire elementalist with acceptable Summon Elemental skills is a good
second best. Ring of Flames provides lots of fire to summon from and
stops you getting surrounded, and fire elementals are great mummy-
killers. The only really dangerous bit was on the bottom level when a
Greater Mummy summoned two liches. Wombat Fire Bolted one, but in the
meantime the other had summoned several type '1's. He ran for the stairs
and just made it with the aid of a lucky blink, waited a *long* time for
the '1's to go away, then went back down and finished the job.  Another
Rune down!

After that, Wombat went on a romp through Pandemonium, spending as much
xp as possible on Translocations (via 'Blink') until Controlled Blink
was at 'Good' during Blade Hands. At this point he knew he was
invincible :). Wombat had great fun avenging his many predecessors who
had died in Pandemonium over the years: none of the '&'s and '1's even
got close to surviving their encounters (actually, that's not true: a
couple of '&'s were prolific summoners and it was easier to run away...)
The nice pile of artifact jewellery was accumulated during this period,
as were the four Pandemonium Runes and a decent pile of 'demonic runes'.

Wombat escaped via the Abyss, plundered Hell with no problems (die
Cocytus die!) and then finished Zot. With this character even the last
level of Zot wasn't a problem: storm dragons died with two Bolts of
Fire, a couple of ancient liches lasted a few rounds each, and even the
orbs of fire were finished in a few rounds of (hasted) melee. I didn't
even bother being careful, just waded in and thwapped things, and never
went below 80hp.

Dungeon Crawl version 4.0.0 beta 26 character file.

Wombat the Boxer (Red Draconian)
(Level 27 Reaver)

Play time: 3 days, 08:50:13       Number of turns: 221189
>>> lots of time in Pandemonium :)

Experience : 27/3567207
Strength 16     Dexterity 9     Intelligence 24
>>> my lousiest stats ever for a winner. Casting Fire Storm
>>>  with Int this low really ate up food 

Hit Points : 284          Magic Points : 47/48
>>> my highest hp ever for a winner. Wheeee!

AC : 35          Evasion : 20          Shield : 0
>>> Mind you, these weren't bad for a spellcaster either :)

GP : 5679

You escaped.
You worship Zin.
Zin is exalted by your worship.
You are encumbered.
You are not hungry.

  Inventory:
Hand weapons
 u - the +4,+4 Staff of Dispater (1200 gold)   
   This legendary item can unleash the fury of Hell. 
   
 v - the cursed +6,+6 Sword of Cerebov (2000 gold)   
   Eerie flames cover its twisted blade. 
   It has a curse placed upon it.
 Q - the +7,+7 Sceptre of Asmodeus (1500 gold)   
   It carries some of the powers of the arch-fiend Asmodeus. 

>>>  I carried my original starting hand axe
>>>  with me for the entire game: it ended up being vorpalised and
>>>  enchanted to +9,+8 but was never used for anything but carving
>>>  steaks :).
   
Armour
 d - a +2 wizard's hat of see invisible (272 gold)
 f - a +7 ice dragon armour (worn) (3667 gold)
 F - a +2 wizard's hat of intelligence (worn) (272 gold)
 X - a +2 elven cloak of preservation (worn) (181 gold)

>>> The cloak was worth more than its weight in gold.

Magical devices
 e - a wand of healing (4) (57 gold)
 p - a wand of teleportation (14) (114 gold)
 w - a wand of healing (7) (84 gold)
 x - a wand of digging (8) (78 gold)

>>> lots of wands ditched on the way back up. I found no
>>> fewer than five (!) wands of healing this game. No wands
>>> of hasting, however :(. The two healing wands here have been
>>> recharged multiple times each.

Comestibles
 c - 2 royal jellies (240 gold)

>>> Loadsa food from Pandemonium. I burnt through almost the entire
>>> Hive's worth of food in the Tomb, as I cast Ring of Flames a *lot*,
>>> and with my Int that burnt the food up fast.

Jewellery
 g - the necklace of Bloodlust (308 gold)   
   This amulet enables its wearer to attempt to enter a state of berserk rage, 
   and increases their chance of successfully doing so.  It also partially 
   protects the user from passing out when coming out of that rage. 
   It affects your strength (+2).
   It affects your intelligence (-2).
   It affects your damage-dealing abilities (+3).
   It protects you from magic. 
   It makes you less stealthy. 
   It makes you angry. 
   
 i - the amulet of Ycihageh (497 gold)   
   This amulet protects its wearer from some magically induced forms of 
   slowness, and increases the duration of enchantments which speed his or her 
   actions. 
   It affects your AC (+3).
   It affects your evasion (+4).
   It protects you from cold. 
   
>>> Wouldn't my late lamented Troggite dwarf have loved this!

 k - the amulet of Lu (448 gold)   
   This amulet protects the armour and weaponry of its wearer from
   corrosion caused by acids, although not infallibly so. 
   It affects your evasion (+4).
   It affects your strength (+2).
   
 r - the amulet "Ivihine" (around neck) (560 gold)   
   This amulet protects its wearer from mutations, although not
   infallibly so. 
   It protects you from fire. 
   It insulates you from electricity. 

>>> Bought in a shop. Cost a fortune, worth every bit. I wore this for
    all of the later 2/3 of the game.
   
 y - the ring "G Kiku" (420 gold)   
   This ring allows its wearer to see those things hidden from view by
   magic. 
   It insulates you from electricity. 
   It lets you turn invisible. 
   It glows with mutagenic radiation.
   
 z - the ring "Jygepet" (280 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 (+7).

 B - a ring of sustenance (175 gold)

 C - the ring "Olufirudysuwym" (right hand) (931 gold)   
   This blessed ring protects the life-force of its wearer from negative 
   energy, making them partially immune to the draining effects of
   undead and necromantic magic. 
   It affects your AC (+4).
   It affects your evasion (+6).
   It affects your accuracy (+1).
   It enhances your eyesight. 
   It lets you go berserk. 
   It lets you sense your surroundings. 

>>> Is this good or what!? Found in Pandemonium.
   
 D - the ring "Feg Fre" (679 gold)   
   This blessed ring protects the life-force of its wearer from negative 
   energy, making them partially immune to the draining effects of
   undead and necromantic magic. 
   It affects your damage-dealing abilities (+4).
   It lets you sense your surroundings. 

>>> No less than three artifact rings of life protection this game.
    Never wore this one, though.
   
 K - the ring of the Gate (560 gold)   
   This ring increases or decreases the dexterity of its wearer,
   depending on the degree to which it has been enchanted. 
   It affects your dexterity (+3).
   It affects your evasion (+5).
   It enhances your eyesight. 
   It lets you teleport. 
   
 L - the ring of Cufehogo (560 gold)   
   This ring protects its wearer from the loss of their strength,
   dexterity and intelligence. 
   It greatly protects you from cold. 
   It lets you go berserk. 
   It lets you sense your surroundings. 
   
 N - the ring of W Wywikobuw Wy (798 gold)   
   This ring increases or decreases the mental ability of its wearer, 
   depending on the degree to which it has been enchanted. 
   It affects your intelligence (+3).
   It affects your evasion (+5).
   It affects your strength (-1).
   It insulates you from electricity. 
   It enhances your eyesight. 
   It lets you sense your surroundings. 
   
 P - the ring "B Xusypikixiqe" (469 gold)   
   This ring allows its wearer to see those things hidden from view by
   magic. 
   It affects your AC (+3).
   It greatly protects you from cold. 
   It lets you levitate. 
   
 R - the ring "H C Jefij Ba" (532 gold)   
   This blessed ring protects the life-force of its wearer from negative 
   energy, making them partially immune to the draining effects of
   undead and necromantic magic. 
   It affects your accuracy (+2).
   It makes you much more stealthy. 
   
>>> Wore this until I found "Olufirudysuwym"

 U - a ring of regeneration (525 gold)
 W - a ring of teleport control (294 gold)
 Y - a ring of fire (left hand) (434 gold)

>>> Found early, never removed.
>>> Note that I had no poison resistance. I had PR for most of the
>>> early game (from a ring, then from swamp dragon armour), but found
>>> that in the later game it was entirely unnecessary. I got poisoned
>>> occasionally, but with my hp it was rarely a problem and I had more
>>> healing potions than I knew what to do with.

Potions
 G - 3 potions of heal wounds (90 gold)

>>> I had another 29 of these in a stash, and 40 or so potions of
>>> healing.

 O - 3 potions of mutation (150 gold)
 S - 7 potions of cure mutation (1050 gold)

>>> I stopped collecting potions of mutation after a while. I was sorely
>>> tempted to use some of them, but my extant mutations were too good
>>> to risk :)

 T - 3 potions of healing (60 gold)

Books
 V - a manual of Long Blades (1150 gold)

>>> To burn off some xp on the way up. Once Unarmed Combat, Fighting,
>>> Conjurations and Fire Magic were all at level 27, it was difficult
>>> to dump xp. I burned through manuals of Conjurations and Earth Magic
>>> before getting to this one.

Magical staves
 a - a staff of fire (250 gold)
 E - a staff of conjuration (250 gold)
Orbs of Power
 A - the Orb of Zot (250000 gold)
Miscellaneous
 b - the horn of Geryon (5000 gold)
 h - a dark rune of Zot (10000 gold)
 j - a bone rune of Zot (10000 gold)
 l - a serpentine rune of Zot (10000 gold)
 m - a silver rune of Zot (10000 gold)
 n - an abyssal rune of Zot (10000 gold)
 o - an obsidian rune of Zot (10000 gold)
 q - 9 demonic runes of Zot (90000 gold)
 s - an iron rune of Zot (10000 gold)
 t - an icy rune of Zot (10000 gold)
 H - a fiery rune of Zot (10000 gold)
 I - a magical rune of Zot (10000 gold)
 J - a decaying rune of Zot (10000 gold)
 M - a glowing rune of Zot (10000 gold)
 Z - a golden rune of Zot (10000 gold)

>>> The full collection, barring the slimy rune. Drat!

 You have 6 experience left.

   Skills:
 * Level 27 Fighting
 + Level 4 Long Blades

>>> From the Manual: I never wielded a Long Blade.

 - Level 4 Axes
 - Level 2 Staves
 + Level 12 Armour
 + Level 13 Dodging
 + Level 7 Stealth
 + Level 6 Stabbing
 + Level 2 Shields

>>> I had some nice shields, but liked my staff of fire too much.

 + Level 9 Traps & Doors
 * Level 27 Unarmed Combat

>>> Brent's right: this is overpowered. I was killing moths of wrath in
    one hit, stone giants in 2-3 and gold dragons in 3-4 rounds, and
    once took on 3 Executioners simultaneously in Pandemonium. I didn't even
    bother with Dragon Form in the end as Blade Hands did the trick quickly
    enough while my armour kept me safe.

 + Level 23 Spellcasting

>>> Wanted to get this to 27 as well, but got bored.

 * Level 27 Conjurations
 + Level 10 Enchantments
 + Level 7 Summonings
 + Level 11 Translocations
 + Level 12 Transmigration
 + Level 5 Divinations
 * Level 27 Fire Magic
 + Level 3 Air Magic
 + Level 14 Earth Magic

>>> Started Zot with level 3 Earth Magic and a manual of it. The first
>>> reading gained me three skill levels all at once :)

 + Level 15 Invocations

>>> Holy Word! Die, suckers! Actually, I only really used holy word to
>>> get rid of undead summoned by curse skulls, liches, '&'s and so on.
>>> Anything major got slashed or fire bolted.

 + Level 5 Evocations


You cannot memorise any spells.
You know the following spells:

  Your Spells                       Type                  Success
Level
 a - Detect Creatures             Divination              Excellent   2
 b - Blade Hands                  Transmigration          Excellent   5
 c - Confusing Touch              Enchantment             Excellent   1
 d - Dragon Form                  Fire/Transmigration     Excellent   8
 e - Fireball                     Fire/Conjuration        Perfect     6
 f - Sticky Flame                 Fire/Conjuration        Perfect     4
 g - Fire Storm                   Fire/Conjuration        Excellent   9

>>> Only cast a few times. It used too much food, and bolt of fire
>>> and/or melee served my quite well instead.

 h - Delayed Fireball             Fire/Conjuration        Perfect     7
 i - Bolt of Fire                 Fire/Conjuration        Perfect     5

>>> My workhorse. I must have cast this thousands of times.

 j - Selective Amnesia            Enchantment             Excellent   3
 k - Ring of Flames               Fire/Enchantment        Excellent   8
 l - Berserker Rage               Enchantment             Excellent   3
 m - Abjuration                   Summoning               Excellent   3
 n - Controlled Blink             Translocation           Excellent   4
 o - Levitation                   Air/Enchantment         Excellent   2
 p - Iskenderun's Mystic Blast    Conjuration             Perfect     4

>>> Mostly useful for dumping xp into Conjurations once Fire Magic was
>>> at 27.

 q - Swiftness                    Air/Enchantment         Excellent   2
 r - Repel Missiles               Air/Enchantment         Excellent   2

>>> I never cast Confusing Touch or Berserker Rage, and only bothered
>>> with Abjuration a couple of times. Swiftness and Repel Missiles were
>>> only memorised in Zot because I gained a couple of levels of
>>> Spellcasting and the only book I had handy was Air.

           Mutations & Other Weirdness
Your digestive system is specialised to digest meat.
Your flesh is heat resistant.
Your flesh is cold resistant.

>>> These last two were gained on DL 5 or 6, and stayed the whole way
>>> through.

You are weak (Str -2).
You are clumsy (Dex -1).

>>> I (stupidly) lost +1 Str and +1 Dex by quaffing potions of gain
>>> <stat> in Pandemonium while still wearing my amulet of resist
>>> mutation. Doh!

Armour fits poorly on your deformed body.
You can breathe flames.

>>> I never did, though.

You can translocate small distances instantaneously.
You possess an exceptional clarity of mind.

>>> Time for a rest from Crawl, I think. Deus Ex 2 is out soon!

-- 
Mark Mackey
The Association for the Advancement of Dungeon Crawling
                        Hints, tips and spoilers
                                        http://www.swallowtail.org/crawl/