Returning to Crawl - advice needed.

Darth. wrote:
> I'm returning to Crawl after a very long break. The difficulty I'm
> currently having is working out which weapons are best. I'm playing a
> Minotaur Berserker. A few question below in no particular order:
>
> 1. Is this worth buying?
>
> The +1,+10 battleaxe of If Fyni

> It affects your evasion (+4).

Yes!!!! No really, a solid damage bonus, a plus to EV and no ill
effects. Smone day you might switch this for a highly enchanted vorpal
one, but right now it's great.

> 2. Skills currently as follows:
>
> You have 253 points of unallocated experience.
>
> a + Fighting Skill 7 (
> b + Axes Skill 12 (7)

maybe turn it off to give Fighting a break

> c + Polearms Skill 1 (1)
> d + Throwing Skill 2 (

turn it off.

> e + Armour Skill 5 (2)
> f + Dodging Skill 3 (4)

are you a heavy- or light armour guy? Stick to one to avoid skill
dilution (those passive skills train really slowly IME).

> g + Unarmed Combat Skill 3 (7)

maybe train it a bit.

> What's with the unallocated experience?

As Ichy Lich said, every time you use a skill, you get a chance to
transfer XP from the unallocated skill pool to that skill, eventually
rising it.

> Jack the Cleaver (Minotaur)
> (Level 9 Berserker)
>
> Play time: 01:24:24 Number of turns: 10008
>
> Experience : 9/5239
> Strength 21 Dexterity 11 Intelligence 7
> Hit Points : 47/75 Magic Points : 4
> AC : 15 Evasion : 7 Shield : 0
> GP : 793
>
> Is there anything here I should worry about?

You should decide if you go for heavy or light armour. Minotaurs are
equally good in both skills. Oh, and what are your resistances?

> Also, I have 8 spell
> levels left. Can Minotaur Berserkers use magic?

Yes, even Minotaurs can learn magic in time; but not until you've read
enough scrolls to get at least one level of Spellcating.

> Won't Trog get angry?

Yes. Fireballs, trolls, exhauistion, ....

> 4. Finally, what's the ecumenical temple for? I'm assuming it's just
> there in case I want to convert.

And, as Icy Lich said, as a base camp. No monsters are ever generated
there.

> Do I want to convert or it Trog fine for the time being?

Leaving Trog will also make him quite angry, so only try to convert if
you know you can survive it and the benefit outweighs the risk; with
Trog that means "unless you are Erik".

Lars
 >> Stay informed about: Returning to Crawl - advice needed. 

Lars Kecke wrote:
> are you a heavy- or light armour guy? Stick to one to avoid skill
> dilution (those passive skills train really slowly IME).

I think I'm a heavy armour guy? I have a nice +1 plate mail... Is
there any advantage in being a light armour guy?

> You should decide if you go for heavy or light armour. Minotaurs are
> equally good in both skills. Oh, and what are your resistances?

I've put a character dump below so that you can see resistances.

> Lars

I've got a couple more questions:

1. Went through the Orcish Mines to the Elven Halls, but got beaten
back. Elves are pretty tough so I thought I'd leave them for later.
Is that a good idea?

2. I now have 2 nice axes, but am using If Fyni on the assumption that
it's better (still having difficulty working out how much damage
weapons do).

3. Having trouble working out which rings to wear. Any advice?

Full char dump below:

Dungeon Crawl version 4.0.0 beta 26 character file.

Jack the Cleaver (Minotaur)
(Level 11 Berserker)

Play time: 02:29:08 Number of turns: 15758

Experience : 11/14690
Strength 21 Dexterity 11 Intelligence 7
Hit Points : 63/92 Magic Points : 5
AC : 16 Evasion : 11 Shield : 0
GP : 287

You are on level 10.
You worship Trog.
Trog is exalted by your worship.
You are full.

Inventory:
Hand weapons
d - the +1,+10 battleaxe of If Fyni (weapon)
It affects your evasion (+4).

q - the +4,+0 hand axe "Egg"
It affects your AC (+5).
It insulates you from electricity.

Armour
g - a +1 robe of magic resistance
i - a +0 pair of boots (worn)
n - a +0 pair of elven gloves (worn)
o - a +1 plate mail (worn)
Magical devices
a - a wand of magic darts
f - an iron wand
r - a wand of disintegration
s - a wand of fire
z - a copper wand {tried}
A - a wand of enslavement
D - a wand of lightning
F - a wand of flame
J - a wand of disintegration
K - a tapered iron wand
Comestibles
k - 13 honeycombs
H - 3 meat rations
Scrolls
b - 2 scrolls labeled OJEDUGYSU {tried}
j - 3 scrolls of detect curse
l - 6 scrolls of identify
p - 4 scrolls of remove curse
t - a scroll of blinking
u - a scroll of teleportation
G - 3 scrolls of enchant weapon I
Jewellery
c - a ring of poison resistance (left hand)
e - a +1 ring of evasion
x - a cursed ring of invisibility
B - a ring of fire (right hand)
Potions
h - a potion of speed
m - 3 potions of restore abilities
v - a potion of levitation
w - 3 potions of healing
y - 2 potions of might


You have 36 experience left.

Skills:
+ Level 8 Fighting
+ Level 14 Axes
+ Level 1 Polearms
- Level 2 Throwing
+ Level 8 Armour
+ Level 3 Dodging
+ Level 4 Unarmed Combat


You have 10 spell levels left.
You don't know any spells.

Darth.
 >> Stay informed about: Returning to Crawl - advice needed. 

Actually, ignore that previous post - Jack is no more (killed by a
Yak).

Darth.
 >> Stay informed about: Returning to Crawl - advice needed.