Should I try an ultra?

[Dazed]

Quick update...

Splinter has completed the Pyramid and the Dwarven Graveyard. He picked up a bunch of nice-looking equipment from both, including an adamantium girdle [+0, +6] and a ring of slaying (+6 melee, +6 missile), gauntlets of strength as well as the normal artifacts. He dug up Griff's grave and got the Sword of Nonnak. He also shot Keethrax in the face and got the torc as well as a PoCC for handing the body back to Guth'Alak.

Questions and points of interest...

Knowledge or power for Splinter? I note that he didn't start off with Herbalism and he has picked up a wand of cold from someplace already. On the other hand, he's started dabbling in a few spells, having found a Lightning Bolt spellbook (he's got around 150 casts, kept the book in case of bookcasting need).

Clearing out the Dwarven Graveyard and going to the old barbarian resulted in a 'showing some promise' message, so I think I can discount zombies and skeletons from the list of potential first kills. Am worried about coming across vaults/tension rooms of orcs etc though.

I think the next step is to clear out the Puppy Cave and the starter cave, then either go back to finish Thrundarr's quest (I need to do the Arena quest etc) or get the RotHK whilst I'm still on the surface. I'm trying to get Splinter to level 16 so I can get the RCT.

Potential artifacts for the ratling include includes Moon Sickle, the black torc and the Sword of Nonnak so far. Big Punch will also come into play for this once I finish Thrundarr's quests. Might also stick my head into the Ice Queen Domain, as I have the AMW and also a ring of fire.

I'm not entirely sure of the risks of going Chaotic this early - I get the impression from playing Chaotic gate closers that they seemed to get corruptions appearing faster compared to my non-Chaotic wins. Thoughts guys?

[Cactus]

...

Clearing out the Dwarven Graveyard and going to the old barbarian resulted in a 'showing some promise' message, so I think I can discount zombies and skeletons from the list of potential first kills. Am worried about coming across vaults/tension rooms of orcs etc though.

...

Quite the contrary! If you 'show promise', that means you have killed a monster that was your first kill since you last talked to him. If you 'are a bit lazy', that means you did not kill a monster that was your first kill since you last talked to him.

So to make sure: talk to him again, only kill one skeleton and nothing else (molochs and vortices are of course allowed ) and then talk to him again. Look for a necromancer encounter on the road for example. Wearing the black torc increases chances of wilderness encounters

Apart from the first kill, everything looks nice. You have to be chaotic to feed the ratling, and that can happen shortly before darknight. So there's plenty of time to do Ice queen quests, Greater vault, High Kings, Darkforge and Tower.

Once you know your first kill, avoid killing them and don't forget that you can stylishly kick down walls to get past monsters blocking your way.

[Dazed]

This old barbarian thing is really confusing me now. This is what I just did...

1. I chatted with the dude. He says I need to show more promise.

2. I punch an orc in the face just outside the clearing. I go back and chat with the barbarian. He says I need to show more promise. Hrm.

3. I then find a pack of dogs in the wilderness. I kick a wild dog so hard his kidneys fly out of his nose. I tell this to the barbarian. Still more promise.

Am I doing something wrong here? I should say I'm on version 1.2.0 p23 if that helps...

[Dazed]

Update!

Splinter is now level 15 and has completed all of Thrundurr's quests, met the Dwarven Mystic who gave him some PoGA I think, leaving Big Punch at the old barbarian's glade. He's also collected the RotHK, did a quick teleport grab and run with the Phial of Caladriel and decided to learn Herbalism from Guth'Alak, and is now slowly training up Wi and Dex to 25. He completed the top level of Darkforge, but the steel golem guarding the staircase was a bit of a pain to remove, so I won't be taking him to the lower levels until he's a bit stronger.

Still not entirely certain on his first kill, but he's now in the Puppy Cave, which has generated a large book shop on PC: 2, once I get more cash I'll be buying from this place. Also of note, the Black Tome of Crap was generated in this shop, it's priced at over 100k gold but that's another option for demented ratling artifacts if needed.

Issues... I don't have on-demand invisibility yet, unfortunately, just a couple of potions. I'd like to sneak past the ice golems and the battle etc in the Ice Queen Domain, which will be my next trip, just to unlock the Frost Giant Caves. Either that or have a go at the Water Temple. It's currently Day 58.

Also, I'm waiting until I get to 25 in Wi, To and Dex before I dip into the PoGA. Is this worth it, or should I just bless them and drink them as I get them?

[Cactus]

Oops, big sorry - I had my wires crossed there. Turns out, as soon as you get the message about showing promise once, you will always get it when chatting to him. Just tested it. So the abovementioned method of crossing monsters off your list only works if you do it right after getting the quest (while he still calls you 'a bit lazy').

...I'd like to sneak past the ice golems and the battle etc in the Ice Queen Domain, which will be my next trip, just to unlock the Frost Giant Caves...

Since you have a ring of fire and thus don't have to fear equipment destruction, you might as well fight there if you want.

Also, I'm waiting until I get to 25 in Wi, To and Dex before I dip into the PoGA. Is this worth it, or should I just bless them and drink them as I get them?

I usually wait with potions until I hit my potentials. Especially for To it makes a big difference if you reach 25 before PoGAs and the Ice Queen reward because of the PV bonus

[Dazed]

Oops, big sorry - I had my wires crossed there. Turns out, as soon as you get the message about showing promise once, you will always get it when chatting to him. Just tested it. So the abovementioned method of crossing monsters off your list only works if you do it right after getting the quest (while he still calls you 'a bit lazy').

Doh, that's a bummer! Well, I haven't managed to kill 20 of my first kill yet, so I guess that's a bonus? Not really I guess...

On the other hand, Splinter is now level 19 and in the Greater Vault of the Frost Giant Cave. Am in the process of clearing it out flinging the RCT around, it's a greater vault of giants so he's just chilling and slaughtering... picked up 3 artifacts here - Sun's Messenger (HELL YEAH), Aylas' Holy Scarf (well, this looks nice) and Death's Blade (Xmas present for the demented ratling). Bugbiter's doing very solidly as a melee weapon so far. I'm just worried it will lose it's effectiveness the further into the game I go! At least it's better than the scorched spear...

I've maxed out my St potential by eating giant corpses, just trying to get the last point to 25 of Wi before hitting the PoGA and visiting the Ice Queen again. I'm not really looking to work on Le as such as spells aren't really my forte with this character I think... or should I go to Garth and lay down a mass of gold to try and up it a bit?

[mjkittredge]

You can lay down a mass of gold for Garth and still only get one point, if you're lucky.

[Dazed]

You can lay down a mass of gold for Garth and still only get one point, if you're lucky.

With the money I got from clearing out the Frost Giant Cave, I bought out all the books bar the Black Tome of Crap from the book shop in the Puppy Cave, put on my helm of mental stability (+4 Le) and read them all... got 1 point out of that. Probably not worth it! On the other hand, I've got a fair catalogue of offensive spells to throw at people.

State of play at the mo...

Splinter is level 20 and has completed all the tasks of the Ice Queen. He's drunk 5 blessed PoGA, and with the blessing from the Ice Queen and also all those herbs he's been sniffing and nomming, his relevant stats are all above 30 (Learning is at 21, can get to 25 with my helm). Normal speed is at 142 without bracers of speed. Weapon and missiles look like this:

Unarmed = level 9
Polearms = level 11

Shield = level 7

Bows, Crossbows and Thrown Spears = level 8 (really liking Sun's Messenger and the RCT)

I might give Darkforge another try. Would you recommend doing any poolsipping to wish rare items for the ultra? My worry is that I think ratlings have a less-than-human lifespan, so I'm worried about getting aged to death. Teleport control is less worrying as I have a blink dog corpse stashed in the HMV as well as a ring of teleport control. I don't have 7LB but I figure as my movement cost is quite low due to monk powers and my speed is pretty decent anyway, 7LB are less important. I have come across a few boars in the woods outside the Old Barbarian's Glade but no skull dropped yet.

I'm also still showing promise according to him. Hopefully this'll stay that way...

[Joe]

You'll be needing an amulet of life saving if you want an ultra. The most common method to get one is getting a wish in some way; so poolsipping makes sense to me if you have no other places to go anymore. I didn't read through your entire thread though; if there are still unvisited dungeons like for instance the TotHK I'd try that first. You might get lucky and find good stuff =)
There's also some other methods for getting a wish, like dipping rings in potions of exchange. You could also have a look in the underwater cave if there's interesting wands/amulets/rings lying around there.

/edit: just read in your first post that you already got an AoLS. Never mind this post then. Just run in the wilderness doomed until you slaughtered 10 boars. You'll be getting a skull at some points.

[divij]

Also, I'm waiting until I get to 25 in Wi, To and Dex before I dip into the PoGA. Is this worth it, or should I just bless them and drink them as I get them?

i hope you know that you can train stats past 25....for example in order to raise To past 25, eat around 12 morgia when on 24...that will almost guaranteedly get your To to 26 mayb even 27 if you are lucky...also with Wi and Dx. also pro move....if by mistake your To increases to 25 w/o morgia training (athletics etc.) you can abuse it by casting from hp....this will bring it back down to 24 and then you can train it to 26 again! You are welcome