zeteginara
02-22-2010, 07:50 PM
At some point, I read a victory post by someone who beat the game with a Dark Elven merchant, saying that unlike the manual says... it wasn't the hardest class/race combo because of Find Weakness (and I agreed). The fact that the 'biggest advantage' the merchant has is the reduced prices in shops early game could be easily made negligable if the shops you find don't provide much in the way of usefulness. The resulting discovery was that the 'hardest race/class combo' to play would probably be a high elf merchant. I disagree! High elfs start with slightly better toughness and strength. I decided to go Grey Elf!
Things were definitely tough starting off. I had to be very, very careful. I found a white altar in the VD, and was precrowned with... hammerhead. Woo? I used it to mine out the level, making it easier for me to find the generated monsters. I got a second precrowning of... the bracers of war. Now THATS more like it.
I used hammerhead, which isn't bad, as my weapon for a lot of the mid game. However, I decided to take advantage of the merchant ability to carry 2x their carrying capacity, and replaced hammerhead with Big Punch.
The ACW nearly killed me with his stupid energy blasts, took me down to the single digits. A couple potions of ultra healing and a cursed potion of invisibility later, and BAM, Orb of elemental fire.
The cat lord was easy (even though I fought him with only killing ONE stupid cat on accident that was behind a door during one of my routine Dwarftown CoC trips). He hit me once, and I used the wand of webbing/poisoned humanoid slaying ammo strat.
I also encountered like 3 lesser red dragon vaults and one greater red dragon vault... which dropped useless artifacts like the Scorched Spear and Soaker. Ratling food!
Most of the rest of the game was uneventful. Mana temple went down easy, D:50 was me teleporting in the middle of the ghost lords (elves baby), donning the crown and medal, waiting for the chaos gate square to be free, then teleporting on to it.
Oh, and I should mention that I found like 10 potions of learning. :P My learning score was sky high.
In hindsight looking at the flg... this is the first win ever where I actually found all of the artifacts that were generated. Woo!
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Screenshot
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## ##
# ## ### .
#.. # .
....#. ### .
##.....# #
# #...####
# # #jjjjj##.
#j@# #
# #jj##.# ##
#...# #.#.
#....# # .. .#
.j.. ##.. .
#j# ## ... ..
.. .####
... ..##.
.## ... ##
. .#
Taloon St:59 Le:54 Wi:38 Dx:40 To:54 Ch:29 Ap:18 Ma:66 Pe:42 C-
DV/PV: 57/73 H: 900(900) P: 0(985) Exp: 50/26704611 ChAoS M: 207658
Blessed Invisible Satiated Berserk
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Background Information
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Name: Taloon Race: male Gray Elf Class: Merchant
Eye color: blue Hair color: silver Complexion: light
Height: 6'6" Weight: 149 pounds
Age: 330 (grown-up)
Star sign: Candle Birthday: 26/Candle (day 296 of the year)
YOUR HISTORY:
Your mother is a mighty enchantress. She is unmarried. Your father
is living in the vicinity of your mother's tower. He is a humble shepherd.
In your childhood you were fascinated by your environment and the
everchanging wonders of the world. You were a very curious and adventurous
child.
As a kid you often watched the adult adventurers preparing for new
exciting journeys. They sparked your imagination.
As a young adult you were a credit to your family. Your parents
supported your plans and were very understanding. They tried to help you
along your way with all means at their disposal.
You decided to become a Merchant. During your apprenticeship you
specialized on enchanted rings.
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Inventory
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total weight: 26595 stones Carrying capacity: 40725 stones
He: uncursed iron crown [+7, +4] [65s]
Ne: blessed amulet of free action [3s]
Bo: uncursed red dragon scale mail (-1, -4) [+6, +14] [220s]
Gi: uncursed mithril girdle [+6, +4] [20s]
Cl: uncursed cloak of protection [+0, +6] [20s]
RH: blessed Trident of the Red Rooster (+36, 6d12+18) [+12, +12] {Ma+24}
LH: -
RR: blessed ring of slaying (+6 melee damage, +6 missile damage) [1s]
LR: blessed ring of ice [1s]
Br: blessed bracers of war [+8, +4] {Dx+8} [10s]
Ga: uncursed gauntlets of strength (-1, +0) [-1, +1] {St+3} [40s]
Bo: blessed seven league boots [+4, +5] [30s]
MW: -
Mi: blessed ring of regeneration [1s]
Tl: blessed torch (3998 turns of fuel remaining, lit) [10s]
Things were definitely tough starting off. I had to be very, very careful. I found a white altar in the VD, and was precrowned with... hammerhead. Woo? I used it to mine out the level, making it easier for me to find the generated monsters. I got a second precrowning of... the bracers of war. Now THATS more like it.
I used hammerhead, which isn't bad, as my weapon for a lot of the mid game. However, I decided to take advantage of the merchant ability to carry 2x their carrying capacity, and replaced hammerhead with Big Punch.
The ACW nearly killed me with his stupid energy blasts, took me down to the single digits. A couple potions of ultra healing and a cursed potion of invisibility later, and BAM, Orb of elemental fire.
The cat lord was easy (even though I fought him with only killing ONE stupid cat on accident that was behind a door during one of my routine Dwarftown CoC trips). He hit me once, and I used the wand of webbing/poisoned humanoid slaying ammo strat.
I also encountered like 3 lesser red dragon vaults and one greater red dragon vault... which dropped useless artifacts like the Scorched Spear and Soaker. Ratling food!
Most of the rest of the game was uneventful. Mana temple went down easy, D:50 was me teleporting in the middle of the ghost lords (elves baby), donning the crown and medal, waiting for the chaos gate square to be free, then teleporting on to it.
Oh, and I should mention that I found like 10 potions of learning. :P My learning score was sky high.
In hindsight looking at the flg... this is the first win ever where I actually found all of the artifacts that were generated. Woo!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Screenshot
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
## ##
# ## ### .
#.. # .
....#. ### .
##.....# #
# #...####
# # #jjjjj##.
#j@# #
# #jj##.# ##
#...# #.#.
#....# # .. .#
.j.. ##.. .
#j# ## ... ..
.. .####
... ..##.
.## ... ##
. .#
Taloon St:59 Le:54 Wi:38 Dx:40 To:54 Ch:29 Ap:18 Ma:66 Pe:42 C-
DV/PV: 57/73 H: 900(900) P: 0(985) Exp: 50/26704611 ChAoS M: 207658
Blessed Invisible Satiated Berserk
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Background Information
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Name: Taloon Race: male Gray Elf Class: Merchant
Eye color: blue Hair color: silver Complexion: light
Height: 6'6" Weight: 149 pounds
Age: 330 (grown-up)
Star sign: Candle Birthday: 26/Candle (day 296 of the year)
YOUR HISTORY:
Your mother is a mighty enchantress. She is unmarried. Your father
is living in the vicinity of your mother's tower. He is a humble shepherd.
In your childhood you were fascinated by your environment and the
everchanging wonders of the world. You were a very curious and adventurous
child.
As a kid you often watched the adult adventurers preparing for new
exciting journeys. They sparked your imagination.
As a young adult you were a credit to your family. Your parents
supported your plans and were very understanding. They tried to help you
along your way with all means at their disposal.
You decided to become a Merchant. During your apprenticeship you
specialized on enchanted rings.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Inventory
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total weight: 26595 stones Carrying capacity: 40725 stones
He: uncursed iron crown [+7, +4] [65s]
Ne: blessed amulet of free action [3s]
Bo: uncursed red dragon scale mail (-1, -4) [+6, +14] [220s]
Gi: uncursed mithril girdle [+6, +4] [20s]
Cl: uncursed cloak of protection [+0, +6] [20s]
RH: blessed Trident of the Red Rooster (+36, 6d12+18) [+12, +12] {Ma+24}
LH: -
RR: blessed ring of slaying (+6 melee damage, +6 missile damage) [1s]
LR: blessed ring of ice [1s]
Br: blessed bracers of war [+8, +4] {Dx+8} [10s]
Ga: uncursed gauntlets of strength (-1, +0) [-1, +1] {St+3} [40s]
Bo: blessed seven league boots [+4, +5] [30s]
MW: -
Mi: blessed ring of regeneration [1s]
Tl: blessed torch (3998 turns of fuel remaining, lit) [10s]