YAVP #4: Gnome Monk (Raven)

[sterjs]

EZ game :P. I'm spamming this forum too much, so this will prob. be my last victory post unless I get the urge to do some challenge game or ultra ending(doubt I have the patience...) or something. Did the water dragon cave for the first time(didn't loot it, but it was a sweet locale). Still haven't messed with the Rift, Minotaur Maze or Bug Temple... never seems worth the trouble in the late-midgame.

Game went pretty smoothly aside from turning all my equipment to dust when trying to convert alignments(main loss was a heavy crossbow--I didn't find another until an emperor lich dropped one in the mana temple!). Had to run naked back to the barbarian glade to re-equip. I used spear+shield+heavy armour early (scorched spear in the Assassin's Cave) and switched to the RCT when I got it. The monk DV bonus still applies for two handed weapons, so the raven monk is guaranteed a solid weap. in the mid game.

Had two close calls in this one--dragon turtle hit me 236->93(inexperience--I though ring of the fish protected me) in one round and later I walked into an Emperor Lich vault on the Mana Temple level(!!). used the switch monster power to race through the mana temple and D:50, so those were relatively painless aside from a few confusions from the Naarn guy in the temple.
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PIQUETTE PLANT (http://www.ford-wiki.com/wiki/Piquette_Plant)

[sterjs]

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Screenshot
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Beggar St:52 Le:38 Wi:38 Dx:59 To:50 Ch: 7 Ap: 1 Ma:30 Pe:29 L+
DV/PV:196/70 H:860(860) P:432(432) Exp: 43/13463776 DrCh Sp: 190
Blessed Bloated Coward
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Background Information
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Name: Beggar Race: male Gnome Class: Monk
Eye color: blue Hair color: black Complexion: tanned
Height: 3'2" Weight: 12 pounds
Age: 113 (grown-up)
Star sign: Raven Birthday: 30/Raven (day 30 of the year)

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Inventory
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Total weight: 5698 stones Carrying capacity: 11475 stones

Head : blessed Iron Crown of Havlor (-6, -6) [+12, +12] {Le+4}[65s]
Neck : uncursed amulet of free action [3s]
Body : uncursed robes of resistance (-4, -4) [+3, +12] {To+5}[60s]
Girdle : uncursed girdle of giant strength [+5, +5] {St+12} [30s]
Cloak : blessed cloak of defense [+3, +0] [20s]
Right Hand : blessed rune-covered trident (+6, 3d12+6) [+4, +4] {Dx+12}
Left Hand : -
Right Ring : blessed ring of slaying (+8 melee damage, +6 missile damage)
Left Ring : blessed ring of the master cat [+0, +5] {Dx+16} (+16 spd)
Bracers : uncursed bracers of toughness [+0, +0] {To+4} [10s]
Gauntlets : uncursed archery gloves (+0, +4) [+1, +2] [6s]

^Do those work for melee too? I better check the guidebook...

Boots : uncursed eternium boots [+3, +5] [55s]
Missile weapon: uncursed rustproof heavy crossbow of accuracy (+10, +3)
Missiles : bundle of 23 uncursed quarrels (+1, 2d6) [46s]
Tool : -

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Stuff
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Total weight: 5181 stones Carrying capacity: 11475 stones

Rings ('=')

blessed ring of djinni summoning

^Somehow I can never find a use for wishes.

One-handed weapons ('(')
uncursed scorched spear (+2, 3d8+1) [+2, +0] [50s]
uncursed emerald dagger "Serpent's Bite" (+3, 3d4+3) [+3, +1] [13s]

Two-handed weapons ('(')
uncursed rune-covered halberd "Wyrmlance" (+15, 4d8+10) [-2, +0] [50s]
uncursed mithril halberd of penetration (+7, 2d7+4) [-2, +0] [80s]

^Some smith out there would kill for that!

Missile weapons ('}')
uncursed rune-covered sling "Whirlwind" (+12, +12) [3s]

^My useless precrown...

uncursed potion of cure corruption
blessed potion of cure corruption
heap of 10 blessed scrolls of chaos resistance
heap of 2 uncursed scrolls of chaos resistance

^Left the one in HMV where it lay and no unicorn quest.

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Weapon Skills
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Melee weapon Lvl Hit Dam DV Level Required marks
--------------------- --- --- --- -- ------------- --------------
Pole arms 13 +16 +10 +18 Mastery 1990

Missile weapon Lvl Hit Dam Ra Level Required marks
--------------------- --- --- --- -- ------------- --------------
Slings 8 +16 +12 +2 excellent 356
Bows 8 +16 +12 +2 excellent 274
Crossbows 8 +16 +12 +2 excellent 186

^I used these barely at all despite wasting time improving them.

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Spells
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Acid Ball : 200, 35pp (Effectivity: +3)
Darkness : 1442, 4pp (Effectivity: +1)
Farsight : 525, 17pp (Effectivity: +2)
Ice Ball : 773, 25pp (Effectivity: +0)
Invisibility : 619, 10pp (Effectivity: +0)
Lightning Ball : 845, 30pp (Effectivity: +0)
Teleportation : 774, 21pp (Effectivity: +5)

^My spells didn't do much compared to my wiz with low effectivities. Prob. my Willpower was too low. Darkness was little used, but played decisively in several key battles.

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Effects of Corruption
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You have grown horns (+3 melee damage, Ap: -4).
Your antennae explore the details of your environment (Ap: -4).
You are surrounded by an unholy aura (Ch: -10, DV: +6).
You have grown a total of 12 eyes (Ap: -6, Pe: +6).
You have grown thorns (3d3 melee damage, Dx: -2, Ap: -3).
Your close attunement to corrupted astral space allows teleportation.
You have become very light (1/10 weight, St: -6, Dx: +4, To: -6, Ap: -6, +20
speed).
You exhale sulphur (Ch: -4).
Your skin is covered by tough scales (PV: +8, Dx: -6, Ap: -4).
You have grown a bulging cranium (Le: +6, Wi: +4, Ap: -6, PV: -4, To: -3).
You rage (DV: -9, +6 melee damage)!

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His achievements during his adventures:
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Beggar, the gnomish monk, saved the world with his brave efforts while
saving himself 57 times.
He scored 15122480 points and advanced to level 43.
He survived for 0 years, 131 days, 16 hours, 13 minutes and 54 seconds
(240316 turns).
He made a little water dragon very happy.
He adhered to the principles of the Cat Lord and thus rose to great fame.
He saved Khelavaster from certain death.
He left the Drakalor Chain after completing his quest and became a famous
hero.
6865 monsters perished under his attacks.

The following 27 artifacts were generated during his adventure:
the sapphire amulet "Preserver"

^FACEPALM. I suck at picking up artifacts...

He had the following talents: Alert, Careful, Defensive Fighter, Dodger,
Good Learner, Good Shot, Hardy, Immune to Pain, Iron Skin, Keen Shot, Miser,
Quick, Quick Shot, Steel Skin, Tough Skin, Treasure Hunter, Very Quick.
He had a final speed score of 190 (final base speed: 184).
He was a messiah of Gnarl.
He asked for 16 divine interventions.
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Vaporizer forums (http://vaporizer.org/forum)

[mike]

EZ game :P. I'm spamming this forum too much, so this will prob. be my last victory post unless I get the urge to do some challenge game or ultra ending(doubt I have the patience...) or something.

Personally, I don't mind. It's exciting to see a new player winning so quickly. Also maybe just my personal opinion, but I love the bug temple (and whirlwind). My last winner cleared ToEF with whirlwind and a stack of rocks. Good times.

[sterjs]

Personally, I don't mind. It's exciting to see a new player winning so quickly.

Ah well, maybe i'll keep posting then, haha.


Also maybe just my personal opinion, but I love the bug temple (and whirlwind). My last winner cleared ToEF with whirlwind and a stack of rocks. Good times.

I actually levelled up slings with just that plan in mind, but once I got to the ToEF, it was easier to just kill everything with the RCT. I even meleed the Ancient Chaos Wyrm... okay, a blind, paralyzed, webbed Ancient Chaos Wyrm to be precise.

I'll have to check the bug temple next game if I don't get impatient... I have a carryover habit from Crawl where I'm reluctant to enter the extra branches unless I actually need to do it before Zot: 5. In Crawl, all it takes is floating eye chain paralysis or chain torment/hellfire in the hells/pan to wreck a potential winner. I even magic map/dig past Zot: 1-4. In ADOM, it seems more in the spirit to visit as many branches as possible each game as you're generally not in as much danger when you have the right tools for the situation.
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1937 ford history (http://www.ford-wiki.com/wiki/1937_Ford)

[JellySlayer]

It's honestly pretty unlikely that you will lose in ADOM once you've completed the ToEF unless you do something really stupid. Usually your character should have enough resources to survive just about anything by that point.

The difficulty of the bugcave really depends on your class. With acid/ice balls and a wicked fast character like you had, you should have been able to clear it without really any trouble. A pure melee might have some problems if you aren't careful, but most characters should have something to handle it.

The only "extra branch" that I consistently avoid is the minotaur maze, but even that, it's not somewhere that you're likely to die. But item destruction and stat loss can be bad, so it isn't always a net gain to go there, and the maze in general is really, really annoying. It's worth finishing at least once though, if only for the experience of doing so. A lot of people ignore the Rift with non-wizards as well, although I have never had any trouble there and often take my ultras there for the extra SoCR--certainly for a wizard/priest/necro/druid/paladin, the Rift is a fantastic location to visit.

[sterjs]

It's honestly pretty unlikely that you will lose in ADOM once you've completed the ToEF unless you do something really stupid.

TBH, I haven't had that much trouble with the TOEF so far, tho I know this is generally considered the critical part of the game. With a fireproof blanket(not so hard to obtain) and cursed potions of invisibility, it hasn't seemed too difficult.


The only "extra branch" that I consistently avoid is the minotaur maze... It's worth finishing at least once though, if only for the experience of doing so.

I was thinking it might be a good place to save for a barbarian(monk would have been good too, actually)... dunno how feasible it is to go shieldless w/o the monk DV bonus.


A lot of people ignore the Rift with non-wizards as well, although I have never had any trouble there and often take my ultras there for the extra SoCR--certainly for a wizard/priest/necro/druid/paladin, the Rift is a fantastic location to visit.

I'll def. check it out with my next caster or semi-caster. I might try a necro, but their skill modifiers annoy the hell out of me.
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Tuono (http://www.cyclechaos.com/wiki/Aprilia_Tuono)

[mike]

I'll have to check the bug temple next game if I don't get impatient... I have a carryover habit from Crawl where I'm reluctant to enter the extra branches unless I actually need to do it before Zot: 5. In Crawl, all it takes is floating eye chain paralysis or chain torment/hellfire in the hells/pan to wreck a potential winner. I even magic map/dig past Zot: 1-4. In ADOM, it seems more in the spirit to visit as many branches as possible each game as you're generally not in as much danger when you have the right tools for the situation.

Probably this is the key difference between ADOM and Crawl - Crawl's rng is constantly trying to kill you while ADOM's is somewhat indifferent. I approach the bug temple with pretty much the same mindset as slime. If you prepare properly, you can get a big stack of loot in a small amount of time.

Re: the maze, clearly it's a lot easier if you've done bug temple first, as you'll have 8 scrolls of magic map. If you're talking about doing it with a monk in order to get the axe, though, I wouldn't consider that a great tradeoff.

[JellySlayer]

I was thinking it might be a good place to save for a barbarian(monk would have been good too, actually)... dunno how feasible it is to go shieldless w/o the monk DV bonus.


Monks get the DV bonus while using two-handers. Many people actually use staves with monks instead of, say, spear + shield, because the DV bonuses on staves + monk DV bonus can easily exceed what you'd get with the shield combination--plus if you're lucky, you can get +30 speed from a quicksilver staff.

[Molach]

Staves can beat polearms with 18 DV at most (grand mastery, "normal" skill levels are lot less different)
Monk bonus is max 16 DV. (at level 50)

Since you can get more than 34 from shields (15 shield, 30 skill, 6 talents, for instance) I'd say the shield is generally better.

But staves are cool, thematically correct for a roleplaying monk and underused, and certainly viable.