How to get across water in ToHK

[PMJ]

Hey all,

I could use some help. I've got an archer who is kicking butt and taking names (crowned with Sun's Messanger - offed Kherab with 3 arrows of slaying, he only managed to take one step before falling), but I can't get across the red water in ToHK.

I've yet to find a wand of ice for the bolts, nor a book of ice bolt, and bridge building seems like a pretty bad option (skill currently at 15 and untrainable on level, and training with carpenter doesn't seem to do anything). None of the shops generated any wands either of ice either.

Would love some advice on what I should do. Should I stair scum looking for a wand?

Thanks for the help!

PMJ

[Dorten]

Go to the level above, and lure an ogre magus to the lake. He will freeze it very fast.

[quik]

That happened to me in a recent game. I solved the problem when I got a ring of Djinni Summoning and wished for wands of cold. I also was considering to go through the Eternal Guardian without the ring, but I finally felt like using the wish. The ogre magus idea was discarded when I spent some reasonable time on the cavernous levels and he didn't show up.

[sylph]

If you're not doing a 'limited turns' game, then it's easy and quick (real-life time) to train bridge building on a wilderness square...

Bring along 50 cooked lizards,
make sure to bring along the bridge building manual with you (can't train without it),
enter a wilderness forest square,
Chop a tree with a hatchet.
Use the hatchet immediately after you collect your log, to try to make a bridge section...
(Since there's no water around, your construction crumples, but the skill still gets trained).
Repeat - by the time you've half-emptied a wilderness square, your bridge building should be at or near 100, which is high enough to carry 4 logs to the TOTHK and be pretty sure you can make a bridge across the red lake with them.

[Al-Khwarizmi]

This is one of the most frustrating things with melee chars IMO. I'd say, if you don't want to scum, and you have or plan to get enough corruption removal so that not having the CoC shortcut to the surface isn't a big problem, and you don't mind losing some alignment, just get past the EG the violent way. It's not a very good solution, but scumming is boring.

Bridge building is also an option, I've done it with fairly low skill levels with many characters when I played unspoiled and I didn't even know frost bolt would do the trick. It's a slow method, but at least you don't have to get bored because in each trip to and from the surface you will have to kill monsters, and the cavernous levels can be a challenge. I personally find that much less boring than just scumming for the wand. You'll spend lots of in-game time, though.

If you're playing a char that starts with healing and herbalism and has some spellcasting capabilities, consider choosing the druid quest and going for "knowledge" next time, to get a guaranteed spellbook of Frost Bolt.

[pblack]

If you're playing a char that starts with healing and herbalism and has some spellcasting capabilities, consider choosing the druid quest and going for "knowledge" next time, to get a guaranteed spellbook of Frost Bolt.

You meant going for 'power'. Power gives wand and spellbook.

[Al-Khwarizmi]

Yeah, that's right, power. Knowledge teaches herbalism or gardening (I wonder if it does something when you have 100 herbalism and 100 gardening?)

[warheart]

Remember that if you have spare hatchets, you get bridge building boosts for giving them to the carpenter. Also, you don't need that high skill to make a bridge.

[Pumpernickel]

Yeah, that's right, power. Knowledge teaches herbalism or gardening (I wonder if it does something when you have 100 herbalism and 100 gardening?)

The choice simply isn't offered when both herbalism and gardening are quite high - you automatically get the wand and book.