Race/Class combo

[gut]

> (and with a Charged talent Dark Elf can be considered a mana battery

or just a regular dark elf

> I strongly discourage playing elven magicians or orcish fighters.

You discourage two of the most powerful r/c combos in the game.

I tend to favor our class breakdown into tier system we did for one of
the challenge games we played. Everyone made a case for each class,
and we picked in rounds. I think the results summarized like this:

A PC was usually considered weak if it didn't have high starting to-damage,
or decent PV/toughness. The more a class excelled in one of these areas,
the higher it was ranked, especially for to-damage. The only skills I
remember being valued highly was healing or herbalism.

[Toan]

>
A PC was usually considered weak if it didn't have high starting to-damage,
or decent PV/toughness. The more a class excelled in one of these areas,
the higher it was ranked, especially for to-damage. The only skills I
remember being valued highly was healing or herbalism.

What about really really awesome class powers? Ie; Level 6 ones.

[Silfir]

Name any

[Toan]

Name any

I think Elementalists at 6 is Fire Res, but since that doesn't work, somehow..
Auto-Search on thief?
Healer's 2x hp regen
Archer's 800 EP missile attacks.

I think those count...don't they?

[Dudley]

-Poison of a beastie? it resists even pools, giving an untakable intrinsict which the pool may try to take multiple times instead of precious ones (TPC?)
I think the heir gift is also pretty much determinant. The barbarian's is kinda GOOD. The healers and the fighters have good ones too

[koctyxa]

If there are voices to consider class powers and other skills for choosing race/class combo, I'm for it. If one states "trolls can't read big books", I'll say: pick other talent. If you live long enough, you will be able to read the book.

When I'm stating "don't play GE Wizzies", it's because of survivability. I'm answering the question: which race should should I pick for the class I want to play now (or which class should I pick for the race I want to play with) in order to survive as long as possible. Not "what's the class+race with shortest playing time to close the gate," but rather "how can I preserve my high-score table as short as possible" (this also suggests I want to omit the bug temple entry).

And when I'm stating "don't play orcish fighters" I have in mind the fact that from time to time, even if you fight with the best melee weapon in the game, sometimes it's better to have a means of mass destruction and an ability to boil a potion of longevity or possibility to disappear. All this can be achievable by random findings, but I'd rather not rely on RNG. It's the difference between hazard and certainty. I want to minimize chances of instadeath of medium to high-end character. So here it's not about the length of high-score table, but the ratio of win to YASD's+almost-wins.

[littlebrather]

U R speaking about problem 'starting weak but grow strong' vs 'starting strong and didnt grow so much'
Its not only ADOM problem (if it is a problem at all) Remember DiabloII barb/sorc difference etc. Or just look in the window - one man is 100kg weight and strong as a bull, but since he's left a school its no more consider as a huge advantage, and he has not as rich as his neighbor who was weak at school and always got punches from strong ones, but now he has money and the power.
('Back to the future 2', if U remember it ^_^)

[jamm]

All this can be achievable by random findings, but I'd rather not rely on RNG. It's the difference between hazard and certainty. I want to minimize chances of instadeath of medium to high-end character. So here it's not about the length of high-score table, but the ratio of win to YASD's+almost-wins.

so u should play only wizards ;-)
with herbalism and every possible book from library all they really need is teleport control, easly obtaind in ID

[Silfir]

To maximize sheer earliest game survival, play a druid. Divine Wrath provides offensive superpower, and they have armor and (starting high) Healing and can use animals to help them flee. No spell cost reductions, but if it's early game survival you want druids are your guys.

Which race? I guess dwarves (live long, high To and St, decent enough Le) should be best if it's survival you want, but I'm not sure. There are few things that don't go well with a druid.

[JellySlayer]

If there are voices to consider class powers and other skills for choosing race/class combo, I'm for it. If one states "trolls can't read big books", I'll say: pick other talent. If you live long enough, you will be able to read the book.

So what you're effectively saying is: don't play troll wizards. I agree with you. If you care about surviving, and want to play a troll, you might as well play something that benefits from being a troll (eg. a ranger, assassin, or monk).

When I'm stating "don't play GE Wizzies", it's because of survivability. I'm answering the question: which race should should I pick for the class I want to play now (or which class should I pick for the race I want to play with) in order to survive as long as possible. Not "what's the class+race with shortest playing time to close the gate," but rather "how can I preserve my high-score table as short as possible" (this also suggests I want to omit the bug temple entry).

Well, considering that GE wiz are the class that it is most likely to win, it stands to reason that they will survive longer than R/Cs that are less likely to win.

Easiest way to preserve your high score table is to delete it regularly. Bug temple isn't connected to highscore table (connected to adom.cnt file) which can be changed independently out-of-game.