Gerry Quinn wrote:
> Hi, I just started playing Crawl (tiled version, if that matters - I
> don't do ASCII). As with most games I start with a character type and
> get used to it. In this case I chose a human reaver for some reason,
> and he seems a decent enough monster-basher.
This char is also going to be a powerful magic user if you care to
develop him that way. I would do whatever it takes to survive early
on, and then focus on a powerful long range spell magic to compliment
your early melee skills. Keep raising fighting to toughen your char
and raise HP. There are no huge amounts of experience to be gained in
the early game - only midgame. So, there is nothing wrong with waiting
for midgame when you catch a break (ring of wiz, good spellbooks, staff
of conjurations) to begin training your magic for real.
IMO, if you can survive up to the lair, if you can cast at that point,
you will be in good shape to live and be a good magic user. Train
conjurations first.
>
> My Lvl 6 character just died on dungeon level 4 (almost cleared) after
> my best game so far. I thought I was safe fighting an ogre who was
> nearly dead, but then he hit me with his club for 19. Sigh. Maybe
> that +2 animal skin wasn't the best choice of armour, I had +0 orcish
> splint mail which would have given me much armour but poor evasion.
The splint mail would hurt your ability to cast, so I dont blame you
for what you were wearing. I would have made the same choice. Did you
have any poisoned needles? If so, ogres are very large, with a very
low evasion, so it is surprisingly easy to hit them with 2 poisoned
needles, run away (in circles if necessary), and maybe throw one more.
He will surely die. And if you begin throwing as soon as the ogre
enters your line of site, you will likely be able to get in 2 to 3 hits
in before he ever gets close enough to touch you. Very effective.
Wand of disintegration is a great way to take one out in the early
game, if you can find one. Its always better to use your resources
(wand of fire, cold, etc) than die. Often times, zapping and killing
an early game ogre will give you level up, because they give high exp
for the early game. Better to level up than die
>
> I had an amulet of gourmand and a ring of poison resistance, nothing
> else special. I found the book of cantrips and learned summon small
> mammals - unfortunately it mostly summons stupid bats that fly away and
> get lost. My workhouse spell was throw frost, which did useful damage
> at this level. Next time I'll learn it without delay - I dithered
> until I had about 5 spell levels to use.
>
Gourmand is an awesome item for a spellcaster. Def one of the top 5
most important. Summon small mammals isnt bad, especially if you have
a ring of wiz. You should program this macro
!a+.
This is the 'attack nearest monster' macro to be used when you have
command of monsters.
> I assume a lot of the game is making the best of whatever random stuff
> you find.
This is very true
But assuming I progress a bit further at some stage:
>
> What should I plan to learn out of the book of conjurations?
Most elemental magic spells use a combo of schools.
Stone arrow is Conj/Earth
Many fire spells are Conj/Fire
Throw Frost is Conj/Ice
So, I think it would be wise to bring conjurations up to at least 10,
by killing everything you could with magic dart. You would have been
able to cast that much because you had the gourmand. Without it, you
cant cast as much as you like generally because of food issues.
Then you need to start thinking about your endgame strategy, believe it
or not. You need a way to deal with the fire and cold resistant
monsters quickly, etc. Earth is good for that, and also Iskendrums
Mystic blast (which is basically magic dart on steroids. Very
effective, and never misses. Especially effective when you have
trained Conjurations high, and maybe even wield staff of conj and ring
of wiz.
> What god should I worship?
Prob Vehumet. He is pleased when you kill stuff. So, if you get it
set up right, you go through the entire midgame killing stuff with a
magic school you want to train for endgame, thus training that magic
skill up to the low to mid twenties, or even up to 27, and having an
effective means to win the game. Yet all the while, you need to
remember to pray before 95% of your kills, to make Vehumet happy. The
rewards are huge. So pray and kill stuff with your magic of choice.
Or, if you find a good enough combo that you dont need Vehumets aide,
you could worship Okawaru, and get his benefits, including what could
be a great set of armor and jewellery. Or any god you want. Or none.
> What spell-schools should I go for, if I can (I figured summoning
> couldn't be bad).
>
Summoning is advanced, yet doable. It is an indirect form of attack
magic. It is very useful for creating a few monsters to distract and
ogre for a minute while you run away. It will buy you a few turns,
almost like an indirect way of paralyzing an opponent.
Good luck...
Oh yes, and for any reaver, a ring of magical power is probably the
best early game find you could get, so when it happens, dont die. With
that ring, you can cast 10x as much magic dart that you could without,
if you find it while exp level 1. Use that to your advantage. If you
get a scroll of acquirement, go for the staff; the payoffs are
immediate, and that will assist you in the elemental schools as well as
other stuff. Conjurations touch many schools, so always a good idea...
- thiskid
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