About to do my final dive with an ULE, looking for advice

[Dogbreath]

So, after going more than a year without playing ADOM, I heard about the crowdfund thing and decided to start a character. I rolled a Dwarf Paladin since I wanted a character that wouldn't die easily... and wouldn't you know it, he's about to make an attempt at becoming the Avatar of Law! Anyway, I wanted to talk about the character and ask for some advice about this character before I make the final plunge:

First, look at those stats! Entirely unscummed! Actually, they were a good deal higher before fighting Minotaur Emperor (nasty mages) and the Chaos Dragon, and casting Divine Intervention twice. (just drained my PE and LE, though, which is pretty lucky)

Which leads me to, I played this game as pure melee as I could (using spells for wishing, teleporting, Atlasing and other practical things only) and melee characters get the shaft in ADOM. You'll notice I didn't even bother smithing my body armor. That's because I've had a good 7 or 8 armors destroyed in the late game alone. Stat drainers are really frikking nasty, armor damage is absurd, and most monsters has disproportionately high DV/PV (and it goes up dramatically, thanks to the uberjackal effect), making them very difficult to damage without *foo* slaying weapons. For most of the later bosses, I had to resort to various slaying ammo, which leads me to:

Archery is way, way, waaay overpowered (almost as much as magic). I took Barny out with 5 blessed arrows of dragon slaying. He didn't even see me coming. (thank you, farsight) I took the Emperor Moloch out with a handful of blessed humanoid slaying ammo. I missed all my shots on the Chaos Dragon, though, and lost like 30 pts in stats meleeing him. If I had decided to scum at all in this game, I could've just gotten a barbarian wilderness encounter, scummed up 1000 or so arrows, and breezed through.

These are both game elements that need to be balanced in ADOM 1.2.0 IMO.

OTOH, my little guy survived just fine, while most of my spellcasters die at some point. I attribute his huge HP score - emperor moloch critical hit for 940 points and he still had 3 digit HP! (still the scariest part of the game - it was the only turn he was close enough for melee) It also let me cast wish from HP twice - I could've done it more if I wasn't worried about getting St or To drained.

Mana is so low from writing many, many SoCR.

He's beaten every possible area of the game (save D:49 and D:50), and just got the White Unicorn to remove all corruption, about to pick up the amulet and crown from their hiding spot in the HMV.

Anyway, questions:

You see I have a wand of wishing with 5 charges. Is there anything in particular my character might need before the final plunge? I intend to use all the wishes for speed if possible, might blow one on a potion of uselessness. (none have been generated so far)

Is 15 SoCR enough to deal with D:50 + Andor? or should I wish for more writing sets?

Is it better to wear the scarf for the +10 +10, or the Ankh for the enhanced luck? (what exactly is the effect of enhancing luck? It's a game mechanic I don't understand)

Do I realistically have enough slaying ammo to significantly damage AD? (I anticipate having a speed of at least 1000 at that point, so I'll move in to melee after I spend all my arrows)

Anything I'm missing?

Thanks!

[Dogbreath]

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                            Character Information
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Harry    St:67  Le:23  Wi:39  Dx:38  To:63  Ch:25  Ap:24  Ma:28  Pe:34  L+
DV/PV: 157/99   H: 1103(1103)   P: 631(631)   Exp: 50/28181510   M: 525288



----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                            Background Information
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Name: Harry               Race: male Dwarf          Class: Paladin
Eye color: brown          Hair color: black         Complexion: tanned
Height: 4'1"              Weight: 176 pounds        Scars: 1
Age: 79 (grown-up, 15 years of unnatural aging added in)
Star sign: Cup            Birthday: 20/Cup (day 260 of the year)


----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                  Inventory
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total weight: 4769 stones                Carrying capacity: 48372 stones

He: uncursed eternium cap [+7, +8]                                    [28s]
Ne: blessed Aylas Holy Scarf [+10, +10] {Ch+6}                         [5s]
Bo: blessed red dragon scale mail (-1, -4) [-1, +13]                 [220s]
Gi: uncursed girdle of giant strength [+0, +0] {St+12}                [30s]
Cl: blessed waterproof cloak of invisibility (-1, +0) [+6, +4]        [30s]
RH: blessed Trident of the Red Rooster (+36, 6d12+18) [+12, +12] {Ma+24}
LH: -
RR: uncursed ring of slaying (+8 melee damage, +6 missile damage)      [1s]
LR: uncursed ring of slaying (+6 melee damage, +6 missile damage)      [1s]
Br: blessed rustproof bracers of regeneration [+22, +12]              [18s]
Ga: uncursed rustproof gauntlets (-1, +0) [+11, +12]                  [10s]
Bo: blessed seven league boots [+1, +0]                               [30s]
MW: uncursed long bow (+5, +2)                                        [30s]
Mi: bundle of 53 blessed arrows (+0, 1d6)                            [106s]
Tl: uncursed Chaos Orb of Elemental Fire {St+10}                     [100s]


----------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                    Stuff
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Total weight: 4010 stones   Carrying capacity: 48372 stones

Helmets ('[')
   uncursed crown of leadership [+2, +7] {Ch+18}                      [65s]
Armor ('[')
   uncursed leather apron (-1, -1) [+0, +5]                           [75s]
   uncursed eternium plate mail (-1, -2) [-1, +13]                   [240s]
Shields ('[')
   uncursed tower eternium shield [+20, +10]                          [70s]
Gauntlets ('[')
   blessed thick gauntlets (-1, -2) [+0, +1]                          [15s]
   uncursed elemental gauntlets (-1, +0) [+0, +3]                     [10s]
Cloaks ('[')
   uncursed cloak of invisibility (-1, +0) [+1, +0]                   [30s]
Boots ('[')
   uncursed seven league boots [+1, +0]                               [30s]
Necklaces (''')
   blessed ankh                                                        [3s]
One-handed weapons ('(')
   blessed jet-black battle axe "Executor" (+2, 5d6+6) [-4, +1] {St+3} (+3 spd)
   uncursed rune-covered club "Skullcrusher" (+12, 3d6+2) [-3, +0] {St+4}
   blessed black rune-covered dagger "Needle" (+8, 3d4) [+4, +1]      [10s]
   blessed black rune-covered dagger "Sting" (+8, 3d4) [+4, +1]       [10s]
Missile weapons ('}')
   blessed long bow (+2, +3)                                          [30s]
   uncursed rune-covered sling "Whirlwind" (+12, +12)                  [3s]
Missiles ('/')
   bundle of 2 blessed arrows of humanoid slaying (+4, 1d6+6)          [4s]
   bundle of 22 uncursed penetrating arrows (+0, 1d6)                 [44s]
   bundle of 20 uncursed arrows of darkness (+1, 1d6)                 [40s]
   blessed unerring arrow (+1, 1d6)                                    [2s]
   bundle of 6 blessed arrows of slaying (+0, 1d6)                    [12s]
   uncursed arrow of slaying (+2, 1d6)                                 [2s]
   blessed arrow of slaying (+0, 1d6+1)                                [2s]
   bundle of 5 uncursed unerring arrows (+0, 1d6)                     [10s]
   uncursed arrow of slaying (+3, 1d6+2)                               [2s]
   uncursed weighted arrow of slaying (+0, 1d6+4)                      [2s]
   blessed penetrating arrow (+0, 1d6)                                 [2s]
   uncursed arrow of slaying (+0, 1d6+3)                               [2s]
   bundle of 21 uncursed arrows of darkness (+1, 1d6+3)               [42s]
Tools (']')
   heap of 2 blessed fireproof blankets                               [20s]
   uncursed climbing set                                             [180s]
   uncursed Chaos Orb of Elemental Water {Wi+10}                     [100s]
   heap of 2 uncursed everburning torches [+1, +0]                    [20s]
   uncursed Chaos Orb of Elemental Air {Dx+10}                       [100s]
   uncursed Chaos Orb of Elemental Earth {To+10}                     [100s]
   heap of 2 uncursed small keys                                       [2s]
   blessed thieves picks                                               [5s]
   blessed round key                                                   [1s]
   uncursed Chaos Orb of Elemental Mana {Ma+10}                      [100s]
Rings ('=')
   blessed ring of teleport control                                    [1s]
   blessed ring of the High Kings [+2, +3]                             [1s]
   uncursed ring of immunity                                           [1s]
Wands ('\')
   uncursed wand of poison (8 charges)                                 [3s]
   blessed wand of knocking (9 charges)                                [3s]
   uncursed wand of paralyzation (5 charges)                           [3s]
   uncursed wand of monster creation (7 charges)                       [3s]
   uncursed wand of wishing (5 charges)                                [3s]
   uncursed wand of trap detection (4 charges)                         [3s]
   uncursed wand of monster detection (1 charge)                       [3s]
   uncursed wand of monster detection (3 charges)                      [3s]
   uncursed wand of digging (5 charges)                                [3s]
Potions ('!')
   heap of 2 uncursed potions of boost dexterity                       [4s]
   heap of 5 blessed potions of extra healing                         [10s]
   uncursed potion of boost speed                                      [2s]
   heap of 8 blessed potions of ultra healing                         [16s]
   heap of 6 uncursed potions of boost willpower                      [12s]
   heap of 3 uncursed potions of boost mana                            [6s]
   heap of 2 blessed potions of boost speed                            [4s]
   blessed potion of boost mana                                        [2s]
   blessed potion of poison                                            [4s]
   heap of 2 uncursed potions of boost toughness                       [4s]
   heap of 2 potions of holy water                                     [8s]
   blessed potion of boost perception                                  [2s]
   heap of 2 uncursed potions of cure poison                           [4s]
Scrolls ('?')
   uncursed scroll of information                                      [2s]
   blessed scroll of warning                                           [2s]
   uncursed papyrus scroll                                             [2s]
   uncursed strange message                                            [2s]
   heap of 11 blessed scrolls of identify                             [22s]
   heap of 3 blessed scrolls of uncursing                              [6s]
   heap of 26 uncursed scrolls of uncursing                           [52s]
   heap of 8 uncursed blank scrolls                                   [16s]
   heap of 5 blessed scrolls of charging                              [10s]
   heap of 15 blessed scrolls of chaos resistance                     [30s]
   blessed scroll of magic mapping                                     [2s]
   heap of 19 blessed scrolls of power                                [38s]
Books ('"')
   blessed spellbook of Divine Intervention                          [100s]
   blessed spellbook of Ethereal Bridge                              [100s]
   uncursed spellbook of Lordly Might                                [100s]
Food ('%')
   heap of 161 uncursed stomafillia herbs                            [322s]
   heap of 174 uncursed cooked lizards                               [522s]
   heap of 90 blessed stomafillia herbs                              [180s]
Valuables ('$')
   78510 gold pieces                                                 [785s]
Gems ('*')
   heap of 14 blessed crystals of health                              [14s]

[JellySlayer]

Your character is WAY overpowered for the Andor fight, especially if you have a couple speed wishes to burn through. Make sure you have paralysis resistance, it will be a breeze. Just thump him with the ToTRR on berserk. You will probably not need more than 2 or 3 of those SoCRs. He has a tonne of HP, but don't worry, just keep at it. All he can really do to a character as strong as you is drain your stats. If you really want, charge up that wand of paralysis and hit him with that before you engage.

Melee does get the shaft a bit in this game, I agree. For most of the endgame bosses, the trick to beating them safely in melee is not to fight fair. A couple of potions of blindness or potions of confusion will make the Chaos Wyrm or the Archmage as easy in melee as they are for archers/wizards.

[edit]I don't normally bother using missiles on him unless I'm fairly underpowered or playing a beastfighter. The walls in his lair move around and he summons a lot, so it's hard to get a good bead on him (unless you paralyze first). He's enough of a pushover that it doesn't really matter. Alternatively, you can wish for spellbooks of rain of sorrows and spam acid ball.

[grobblewobble]

Is it better to wear the scarf for the +10 +10, or the Ankh for the enhanced luck? (what exactly is the effect of enhancing luck? It's a game mechanic I don't understand)

I don't fully understand what luck does either, but in any case (as Jelly said) you'd best use this slot for -para, unless you got that from pools. If you do, I know that one effect of the Ankh is to increase your resistance to confusion and that would be useful.

[Dogbreath]

Your character is WAY overpowered for the Andor fight, especially if you have a couple speed wishes to burn through. Make sure you have paralysis resistance, it will be a breeze. Just thump him with the ToTRR on berserk. You will probably not need more than 2 or 3 of those SoCRs. He has a tonne of HP, but don't worry, just keep at it. All he can really do to a character as strong as you is drain your stats. If you really want, charge up that wand of paralysis and hit him with that before you engage.

Got intrinsic -para (drained darkforge for a wish in the early game), it's weird for me to think that my character is overpowered... I only played him for 5, maybe 6 hours. And an hour of that was smithing. I remember a lot of the ultra ending yavps back on rgra had chars with 2000+ speed and all attributes boosted to 99, so I kind of thought Andor would be more BAMF. Anyway, going to ascend during lunch this afternoon, thanks for the advice!

Melee does get the shaft a bit in this game, I agree. For most of the endgame bosses, the trick to beating them safely in melee is not to fight fair. A couple of potions of blindness or potions of confusion will make the Chaos Wyrm or the Archmage as easy in melee as they are for archers/wizards.

Actually, I just whacked on the archmage with ToTRR and he died. Getting to him, otoh, was pure hell. Hundreds of overpowered, super powered (greater) chaos servents, tearing my armor apart, hard as hell to kill, and surrounding me so quickly I got trapped even with 7LBs. I had 1100 hp, and still came close to dying several times. The Mana temple is insanely difficult for melee only characters. (D:50 is better because it lets you teleport next to the chaos wizards/away from being surrounded)

[anon123]

(what exactly is the effect of enhancing luck? It's a game mechanic I don't understand)

Luck affects many things. Some are item destruction (decreasing it, of course), chances of dishing critical hits, chances of avoiding traps, confusion resistance, getting a last-chance 1 HP when a critical hit would have otherwise killed you, resisting spells from monsters. I like having as much Luck as possible, maxing it via altars as soon as feasible and wearing the ankh throughout the entire game.

Have fun with Andy

[Dogbreath]

Just won the game!

Considering the large number of SoCR I had, I threw on the elemental gauntlets, 'u'sed the mana orb about 12 times (and boosted my Mana from 4 to up to around 30), then read my excess scrolls. Decided to wish for potions of uselessness, and wasn't disappointed by the result - got the Robes of Resistance, which is the best artifact armor in the game if you already have ToTRR, finally let me drop the extra armor I was lugging around and stop worrying about my gear getting damaged. Lured all the balors away and killed them, closed the gate, teleported into the center and acid balled all the wizards, then went beserk and wreaked holy havoc on the denizens of chaos for like 10 minutes straight. It was very cathartic.

Opened the gate, drank all my boosting potions, wished for speed 5 times, then went through. Andy didn't even get a single attack off - I ran up to him, paralyzed him (emptied the wand for good measure), then whomped on him with the ToTRR for a while. I imagine he might have been slightly more challenging if my speed was under 1500. Also, read off all my SoCR right before killing him, just for good measure. (I still had way too many somehow)

Anyway, this was my first ULE, so except a long and detailed YaVP this evening!