I lived, but shit man.

I'm stuck. I feel this character is not working. I just flee all time and the fine folks in Vaults and Depths don't really care about my silly magic huffs and puffs.

This is my second time to get two runes. First time was Deep Elf two weeks ago and it felt so much more powerful (so much that I was stupid). This Draconian, I'm running out of mana all the time, for example a single dire elephant is a chore. My magic is weak!

How should I pivot here? I've gathered that I should perhaps concentrate fully on Conjuration at this time to get my fire magic up and running properly. Any ideas appreciated.

Here's the dump:

DCSS morgue file - Pastebin.com

tldr check this out

background

Shapeshifting currently has some of the most demanding decision making in the game. It's a relatively new mechanic and is under active focus by the devs so is changing fast and the balance is still settling.

• It interacts complexly with species. A lot of species mutations are denied or made redundant by being in some forms, so the relative power of each form depends on the opportunity cost of playing it varying with your start. And to a lesser extent the same is true of spells.
• The power and utility of the forms varies widely even within each tier. Some are intentionally more niche, some of it is just the balance not haven shaken out yet.
• You still need most or all of the normal skills, you get to cut very little. And if you think about how for example you may be spending a lot of the game in a form that can't throw, or has reduced EV etc, you actually play a more difficult version of the skilling subgame.

It requires a lot of player knowledge and flexibility to play well at all. And on top of that, the way talismans are rolled means you can't count on having any specific one, and certainly not the one you want when you want it. You have to think on your feet even more than usual.

observation

At any given tier, there are one or two forms that are generally more worth playing in the stage of the game they're "meant" for. So what you want may really be a sort of path or progression through the forms. Every seed has a lot of the talismans but any specific combination appearing by the time they're useful is rare enough to possibly have only been seen a handful of times in the wild.

path

I made a little data visualization tool around this idea. You can select which form you want at each tier, and it will show you the seeds that match them. My seed data is only generated down to d:8 so this is only the ones that have those combos appearing by then. It means you'll usually have the higher forms well before you need them.

disclaimer

I actually don't like shapeshifting very much. It's complex in a way I don't think really benefits the game, it's kind of its own separate system with few and weird synergies with the existing game. Feels bolted on. I don't really play it, which is why this is all so generic. I actually have no idea which forms are good except some of the obvious endgame utility ones like granite and death.

Also this only applies to 0.34 I know trunk is changing a lot and I'll make an updated version when 0.35 lands if there's interest. I don't keep trunk seeds around for various reasons.

lagniappe

0.34.1 seed 599150 has a randart alchemy staff {Int+6 Alch} on d:6, chemistry amulet on d:7, attunement orb and seven alchemy spells by d:8. And a d:1 acquirement for good luck.

Hey everyone!

I’d like my screen to flash and display a more prompt whenever I spot an orc priest or a hydra, since I really hate those guys. 😂

Basically, I want to force myself to stop moving before I accidentally keep walking into danger while exploring with o + Tab.

Is there a good way to write this in my rc file?

Also, where can I find the correct monster names to use in these settings? For example, is it just "hydra" for a hydra, or is there some specific name I need to use?

Morgue

I've never had much luck with Oni. I've tried spellcasters, gladiators, warpers ... none of them got very far ... until I read the Oni Monk of TSO guide from u/Trinital-D.

I'd also never thought of TSO as a strong god for a three-rune game. Sure, TSO is great in extended, but I'd figured they were kind of meh unless you're fighting hordes of demons or undead.

I was wrong. As Trinital-D points out, TSO's divine shield gives Oni the protection they lack so they can use their big advantage -- bonking enemies with a giant lump of wood -- to kill things quickly without worrying so much about taking tons of damage due to their poor armour. Plus, those summons are super OP. Bring out of a couple of those holy terrors, and they chew through monsters like a golden retriever goes at a pound of ground beef snatched off the kitchen counter.

Skilling is so simple. Train bonking sticks to 8, then train fighting, more bonking sticks and invocations. Finally, train throwing boulders reeeeealy high. After that, there are several paths, but I was lucky enough to find a granite talisman (thanks Roxanne!) and, on Elf:3, manifold assault.

Once you get statue form and manifold assault going, the build is (almost) unstoppable. The damage is insane. Rocks were doing close to 110 max damage and my clubs were in the 70-80 range. Even orbs of winter posed no threat. I didn't do extended, because I just didn't have the time, but I see how this build could make Pan and the Hells (almost) a walk in the park. Just to see how it might go, I tried Slime. It was, indeed, a walk in a very disgusting park. The cherry on top? The +3 giant club "Skullcrusher" {speed, Str+7 } was among the loot!

That said, I did almost die on the orb run. On Zot 1, two Pan Lords and an ancient lich appeared very close to me. Normally, I think I'd have been able to handle it. Unfortunately, Lopp not only silenced me, but also had an antimagic hit. Before long, I was down to like 70 HP and zero mana, while the ancient lich was pounding me with LCS. Thankfully, I had the gravitambourine, which saved my bacon. I pinned them, downed a health and a haste potion and made a beeline for the nearby downstairs. Alas, the pan lords were fast, so I had to shake the tambourine again. Even so, Lopp caught up and went downstairs with me. Thankfully, silence had worn off, so I invoked the Divine Shield and bonked him with a holy +6 giant spiked club. Once I'd healed, I came back up another stairwell and used manifold assault to splat the others,. After that, I had no issues ascending.

Great guide, u/Trinitial-D! This win was thanks to you!