Ultra Questions

[FantomFang]

I just have a few quick questions before I start attempting to achieve an Ultra Ending:

1) Can all of the items you need for Gaab'baay's quest line be wished for? If not, which ones can't?
2) About when should I start focusing on the achieving the requirements for the chaos artifacts, as in, what is a good level to be able to beat Keriax, and when does your level become problematic in changing your alignment? Is their an optimal level range I should attempt to finish it by (realizing that once i give him all the items, i can change alignment freely without worry)?

3) What type of speed should i shoot for by the end of the game? Is 200/400 really a possibility like the Guidebook recommends?
4) Anything I should know about the Rift that the guidebook skips?
5) Anything else I should know about the Ultra-specific areas and monsters (Scintillating Cave/Emperor Moloch/Filk)?

That should be it! Thanks in advance for any advice.

[Baranor]

1. Yes.

2. I do Baba Yaga's stuff earlier than other people. It allows me to change alignment earlier in the game. I have had some trouble with Keriax, but I do know that he's much easier with dragon slaying ammo. I would save him until later in the game, but that is just me. I find there to be no reason to risk it.

3. The 200-400 in my experience is from potions of boost speed taken when needed.

4. Don't bring any really good stuff down there. Bring a bunch of crap that can get destroyed without you caring.

5. I found that they were pretty much like every other high level monster. Filk is super, super fast. The Emperor Moloch is super hard to kill.

[Silfir]

I guess training in arrows and quarrels *heavily* is a good idea for any ultra ending. I'd wager that slaying ammunition is the best way to kill Keriax, the emperor moloch and Andor Drakon without getting ravaged yourself. So with weapon skill of, say, 9, okay Dexterity, and appropriate slaying ammo Keriax is doable. Only, can't you delay Keriax for practically forever? You need to be chaotic to get the location of the ancient stone circle, but aren't you supposed to be able to enter it regardless of alignment?

I think we're going to make this a race, FantomFang... It's about time I get off my ass and get an ultra ending of my own.

[Molach]

1) Probably better to just spend some more time finding them. Save wishes for final-fight speed.
3) I think all my successful ultras took a trip to a certain overgrown temple and had a barbecue on its denizens. Mabye you can even get the speed increase by casting slow monster on yourself while eating.
4) Be light! Do _not_ bring a bunch of *heavy* crap because I think it will make you fall faster and damage more stuff anyway. (No, I can not back this fact up with code-dived facts. And I'm glad for it). My last trip down the rift I only brought my (mithril+) equipment, some holy water and a pack of stoma, along with 10 different kinds of useless arrows/quarrels, and some of the bad scrolls. Only smashed 1-2 things, and nothing useful.
5) Filk is non-aggro, so you can stand next to him and kill him with one (ball?) spell. Or burning hands. For emperor moloch, either demon slaying (you should have the runed trident) or penetration will work fine. Don't let him get an attack on you. If you want to lure him off the super-corrupting level he is found on, you open yourself to one round of attacks. Hm. But you should be able to survive this, considering that you want to fight with the Chaos God Himself.

[Grey]

1. Not a farmer corpse, but that's an easy enough find (though can require tactics to attain). I've not personally ever had trouble finding all of the ingredients naturally.

2. I normally complete them in my 20s. After level 30 amulets of order don't work as well, but before that it's still very easy to get up to L+ if needs be. Keriax can be trouble at low level - got pretty badly bruised by him recently with a L20 char, but I could have taken him down if I had enough dragon slaying ammo. Be sure to be well-prepared for that fight, with mega confusion resistance and well trained missiles.

3. I always chew through the quickling tree when going for ultras (the time lost doesn't normally matter in a long game). Normally gets speed up to around 180. I find the claw bugs don't help much beyond that, and I don't like the Wi abuse, so I never bother with them. Blessed potions of boost speed and a wish for speed before entering the gate can easily get your speed well over 400 for the final fight.

4. Bring lots of junk (worthless gems are great, and all those crappy wands you've been hoarding) and minimal good stuff and wear only indestructables. Bring two climbing sets, one blessed and one uncursed (if stacked together there's a chance both will be destroyed at once). Don't spend too long on the bottom two levels of the Rift. Be careful of the librarian getting killed by other monsters.

5. Blessed humanoid/demon slaying ammo will take down several of the big baddies quickly - and you want damn quickly, because they're in such corrupting places. Wand of fireballs makes very short work of Filk (or crystal of fire or any ball spell).

Best of luck - ultras are very exciting when you finally achieve them.

[Baranor]

I've never done it, but I'm pretty sure that you can wish for a farmer which would then provide a corpse.

[FantomFang]

Awesome, thanks for all of the advice. You very well may beat me Silfir, it would not surprise me at all. I'll get in what playing time I feel like, but over the next couple of days i have to finish watching Yu Yu Hakusho, try out D&D 4th Edition, do chores, and other various things. I got a busy two days ahead of me!

[DeSt]

try out D&D 4th Edition

Sooo boooring...
Second battle taken almost 4 hrs 'cause of incredibly bad rolls(7 or 8 nat. 1).
More movement -> more battlemap changes -> much more time needed.
We'll finish one short module and forget it untill some splatbooks with above average powers.

And mainly - no focus on roleplaying, game feels like tabletop MMORPG...

[FantomFang]

DeSt - The focus on roleplaying is all up to the group really. Most of the time when I play PnP games with my friends this and plot takes center stage over combat, regardless of the specific game.

Another question: I have heard that if you remain some flavor of neutral alignment for 2000 (?) turns while in Dwarftown, the Dwarven Mystic will give you SoCR instead of the axe (which i've always gotten). Does this seem to be true?

[DeSt]

FantomFang:
I wasn't talked about roleplaying. D&D 4ed contains nothing about social interactions, no viable economical system. Only combat system, like some wargame. Well you can roleplay in wargame, and even in tetris