On Oct 30, 1:43 pm, reagan <bolla... DeleteThis @gmail.com> wrote:
(I'm assuming below that you're playing a decently recent Stone Soup,
by the way, rather than b26.)
(Executive summary: "short blades.")
> So lately I've been trying to play as a spriggan assassin. I like the
> combination because of the extra ratial speed, making it easier to
> backstab, which is really really satisfying.
(I'm not dead sure, but I think the check for waking up enemies
happens once per actual turn you take, rather than depending on the
any out of the tangle of various internal time systems in Crawl. I'd
be pleased to know for sure, especially if I'm wrong.) Stealth is,
however, the only skill where the benefit per point varies from race
to race, and Spriggans are on top in this department. Their stealth
aptitude itself also helps, of course, as does their tendency to never
wear anything but a robe.
> But lately I've been having problems, and it's the same problems as
> whenever I start playing as hunters/whatever (ranged weapon
> characters) my skills at ranged weapons seem too small.
Attempting to kill everything using ranged weapons, especially without
access to longbows and without a bit of muscle on one's side, is a
challenge game, rather than a recommendable strategy. Missile weapons
are a good supplement to the rest of a Spriggan's arsenal, but not a
good primary attack.
> I never develop 'Throwing', 'Darts', 'Crossbows' etc fast enough to do enough
> damage and progress,
Throwing and Darts are weaker than other missile weapons, so the above
goes double for them.
I always assume that Bows are a better choice for Spriggans than
Crossbows due to the better aptitude (especially now that they are
less extremely strength-dependent), but I don't really know.
Don't forget to enchant up your bow/crossbow.
> weapons ever do. The ranged weapons miss to often, and when they hit
> they don't do enough damage. They're only useful in killing off
> hobgoblins etc.
*That*, however, is not the case, even if we only look as far as the
classic case of downing something like an ogre or an orc warrior with
a blowgun -- which is not very far at all; there are countless other
post-hobgoblin uses for ranged weapons despite the above. Maybe you
expected less need for patience here? Just because missile weapons are
a great supplement to melee doesn't mean they don't need patience.
> I'm finding this is really a problem with my assassins because i would
> think it really important for them to have that kind of auxillary
> skill, in addition to just backstabbing.
Backstabbing's an auxiliary skill, albeit a good one.
> They aren't strong enough to just melee with short blades.
There's your mistake.
They are on the contrary plenty strong (and above all dextrous) enough
for this; short blades are a classic offense for winning spriggans.
Look up [spriggan yavp] on Google Groups and you might find some
inspiration for future shortblade-based spriggan play. Or axe-based (I
think) spriggan play, depending on which YAVP you read.
> Maybe it's better to just try&develop evocations?
Not as a primary form of attack: there aren't enough wand charges out
there for that, and with rods you'll probably run into hunger
problems, at least with a Spriggan. They're an extremely good
secondary attack, though, once you find some rods.
> Also what does an assassin do
Confucius say: There are no classes. There are only starting
directions for races.
But, yeah.
> for monsters that are really fast (ie bees)
When facing bees with a SpAzz who's taken a typical development
direction...
* As a Spriggan, you're almost as fast as them, so pay the extra
couple of stings if need be and reach (or create, then reach) a
hallway for the fight. This both leaves you facing just one bee at a
time and lets you line them up to play Bowling for Bees if you're not
yet ripe to just mow them down with your short blade.
* Poison them (blowgun bowling!), especially if you have room to run
-- they'll only get a token few free stings before panicking.
* If you're caught out in the open, Mephitic Cloud will give a lot of
bang for the buck in terms of bees incapacitated per turn. (You *are*
teaching your Spriggans some magic as soon as possible, right?) If you
resistant poison and/or confusion, then it can be good to cast it on
yourself; the best way to understand why is to try it, methinks.
(Casting Mephitic Cloud at yourself is even more useful when fighting
Unseen Horrors without See Invisible, BTW.)
* If you're caught out in the open and Mephitic Cloud (or fireball) is
unavailable, then run (teleport) ASAP and engage them later in some
better scenario.
* Bees' hitpoints and AC are as bad as their speed and EV are awesome.
Therefore In the times when you can't line bees up for a game of
"missed one but hit the other," Magic Dart is one of the most
effective anti-bee tools. Their magic resistance is also ho-hum, so
they're a good thing to spend your resistible-wand charges on.
> or blink (phantoms etc)?
Phantoms are fairly well-armoured for when they appear; it's that, not
the blinking, that makes them a problem for ranged weapons, as these
tend to fare poorly against anything that is well armoured for its
phase.
But what should you do against them if you're not strong enough to
melee them yet and you don't want to blow wand shots?
*Absolutely nothing.*
You're a Spriggan. Against normal-speed, melee-only monsters, you
never have to do anything, except take a few precautions to ensure
that such monsters don't catch you in a "vise." The simplest technique
here is just to lead them upstairs, dance 1x around a pillar so as to
lead them away from the stairs, and descend again. (Just make sure
that you don't forget about anything you've led upstairs that's really
dangerous up close, though! Travel exclusions can be good here -- to
play around with these, go to the level map, then press "Ctrl-X" and
see what happens.)
e.
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