Advice and questions (p22)

[Booster]

After my last ME Wizard got blasted by the Chaos Archmage, I have another one going and is doing very well. Basic rundown of how things are so far:

• Found a 6x4 ring shop on PC1 (currently has ~40 rings) and another ring shop on D:2 or S:2 (currently has ~80 rings). I have another 40 rings or so stashed away., majority below DL:8. Can't wait to try a wish engine
• Artifact vault (separated room) in PC3 which had me so excited... until I found it was shining long spear Soaker. Also found Hammer of the Gods somewhere (not using, but stashed).
• Currently lvl 25 and have reached the Cat Level to get the ring. I actually found the cat lord at half health (!!) from fighting random mobs. Killed a titan in there and already killed ~6 Molochs. Took out Minotaur Maze and was rewarded with Iron Crown of Halvor and 6 PoGA - currently using that with his Axe.
• After reaching the DF shortcut I decided to do some pool sipping for resistances, and got -See Invis, -Petr, -Sleep, -Death (sadly no -para). I just got Immune to Pain but still no amulet of free action other than the casino.
• Have a spare RoDS at home, and used up my wand of wishing (3 charges) earlier in the game for AoLS, red dragon scale mails, Find Weakness, and SLB. Was thinking of saving for potions of exchange (have 4 or 5 so far). Or perhaps a skill (no idea what though - nothing I really need)
• Have an iron 2hander of penetration, but haven't had much luck finding weapons with good suffixes for 1 handers.

I saved Khelly and have the amulet (waiting for day 90 for crown), as well as the mana battery corruption so have been sucking all the wands I have dry (~70 so far). Once I hit lvl 32 I'll be able to recharge them, and have been picking up every armor piece I can to see if any are of power. Maybe, just maybe I'll be able to pull off an archmage if I can survive long enough. Casino had absolute crap even with 1/4th of it restocking. So many monsters running around there too it's almost out of place .

For my questions/advice:

1. I currently have around 55/55 DV/PV and want to head to the Ice Queen's domain to see what it is. Is it feasible at my level? Do I need a ring of fire and/or should I leave anything home so it won't get destroyed by the environment (do Waterproof blankets help here?).
2. I've been fighting quite a bit in the wilderness and after reading a scroll of danger find I am getting ~200 gold instead of the normal 30. Is it worth writing a few more scrolls of danger and hunting a bit here? I have 7 writing charges and gnoll war party/ogre army comes to mind. Hell, I've even found some good stuff fighting jackals after reading my extra scroll.
3. Summon Monsters spell - do you summon more powerful beings with better spell proficiency? They are fun to grind when training Mana in the wilderness.
4. Shop restocking - what are mechanics behind this? I've left the D:2/S:2 shops many times and come back to find that he has restocked 9 more rings or so, yet a potion shop hasn't restocked once. Neither has Black Market, HMV or Dwarftown shop. Is there any way to encourage them to restock? I've spent time on the level reading books but it hasn't made any difference. Buying them out is not an option as they overcharge me as a Mist Elf. I'll kill them all later, but want to milk them first.
5. Rift - I need to secure a spellbook of Wish and am badly in need of some sort of curative and frost spells. With the current prerelease is it silly to go in there now? Keep in mind I don't have monster detection due to my corruption.. I wouldn't mind killing a wand for the final use, but only after I've recharged (need to hit 32 for this).
6. If I pickup a wand at the casino will they force me to pay for the wasted charges? No way I can afford anything there... how tough are they?
7. How does the +Crit effect of Mino Axe + Cat Ring + Find Weakness 100 work? I recall reading that Find Weakness at 100 gives a 20% chance to crit with melee; what about the others? Do they stack?

I'll probably be posting this character in YASD at some point, but I hope I've learned enough lessons to keep this guy alive.

[JellySlayer]

1. I think a ring of fire will be beneficial if you want to bring things like scrolls or books (potions?). Most other items are resistant to cold.
2. You can do this in theory, yes, though you'd need a lot of scrolls of danger to get decent items, and, by the point in the game you're at, you certainly shouldn't be lacking in gear.
3. I think this is mostly based on DL of the area you're at.
4. Shops will only restock if there is below a certain number of items in their inventory. This number is slightly larger (maybe 50% or so) than the floor area of the shop. If you buy everything out, it should restock.
5. If you can handle the high DL areas below the Casino, the Rift should be about the same.
6. Yes, if you have mana battery, you well get charged by the merchants' guild for the lost wand charges. The Casino shopkeeper is very, very strong, but can be killed in the usual ways. The Casino guards are fairly strong as well, and have paralysing melee attacks. The Big Casino Guard by the stairs is fairly formidable now, but he can be lured down to the next level sometimes and killed alone.
7. They all stack. Mino axe is 30% IIRC, Cat ring is something like 10%.

Note that even with the large amount of rings you have, a ring-based wish engine is nearly impossible in the current versions. You may be able to get yourself a couple of extra wishes, but not unlimited wishes like you could in 1.1.1.

[Booster]

Thanks for the input. A few comments

2. I have my stash in hole in the wall so find myself fighting quite a bit outdoors - I also like to Doom myself whenever walking outdoors, so the extra gear from encounters may add up. I can't forsee any real use for my writing sets either - corruption isn't really a problem in p22, and I have 5 or 6 scrolls + 5 or 6 PoCC + 4 Chaos corpses at Terinyo. Education scrolls also aren't too attractive as I have what I need (aside from maybe detect item status, but just a perk).
4. I always stack everything they have in a single space, but doesn't seem to be helping with the aforementioned shops. Ring shops have restocked many times (PC shop ~5 times, D:2/S:2 shop maybe 10 times)
5. Haven't ventured much below the Casino, but seemed to do OK aside from occasional Titans and scary paralyzing mobs. Can I teleport in the Rift?
6. Good to know - hopefully one YASD prevented. I've killed them in the past (p16 or 17) but no sure how buffed they are now.

I realize making a ring engine is near impossible, but with two ring shops I may as well give it a shot, even if it is only get a few more wishes. I hope to use the ring engine to boost me enough to become an archmage.

[BenMathiesen]

I confirm that the Ice Queen's domain can freeze potions. Aside from scroll and potion damage there is nothing in there you can't handle, but be careful not to get surrounded by ice statues. I'm not sure whether or not you need ice immunity to avoid the environmental damage--let us know!

Shops can restock even if you sell them tons of stuff, but not as often as if you buy them out. I usually see Walden restock once or twice per game even though I sell him everything I come across in D1-D20.

I did the rift recently and it was not a problem... monster density slightly higher than usual in the dungeon and in the library, and some challenging fights, but it was a good run for my ~L24 character.

The only use I've found for Summon Monsters is to serve as mine detectors in heavily trapped areas. I've never cast it often enough to have a good idea of how it works.

[Al-Khwarizmi]

In my current game with a dwarf priest I successfully did the Ice Queen domain at level 17 (starting at that level I mean). Ignorance is bliss...

[YourMum]

I lost wands too in the ice queen domain :-(

[Booster]

Did the Ice Queen Domain and found it to be a really cool level! At this point I've just cleared the GV at the FJC (haven't dove to the bottom) - a red dragon/wyrm vault that had ~10 Greater Wyrms. I gained ~10 levels that run, as well as robes of resistance, silvery arrow, executor, and crown of leadership (I assume one or possibly two of the artifacts dropped as loot, as there was at least one massive pile of gold ~30k). Unfortunately nothing is really all that appealing to me as I have the Iron Crown of Halvor, am not an archer, and use either red/white dragon scale mail for immunity when needed. Does stacking enough resistances equal immunity? The extra toughness would be nice

Also, I wrote 6 scrolls of danger, cursed them, and read them in the wilderness. I've been finding some great loot from guys (eternium gear from hobogoblins) and even used the create item spell to make a PoCC, but it seems I have turned the wilderness into a corrupting area now which I didn't think was possible. This was pre-90 - I have just now hit day 90 and killed Keriax.

Now I face a dilemma - do I switch to Executor (Weapon skill 1) + Shield or stay with Mino axe (Weapon skill 11)? I have a high crit rate at the moment (Find Weakness 100, Cat ring, + Mino axe) so not sure how necessary the slayer perks are.. I also have an eternium tower shield (from that nice hobogoblin!) sitting in my stash which is [+13,+5]... on the other hand I have my iron 2 hander of penetration for the enemies with high PV... tough decision here!

Having never been to the Water Dragon Cave, how difficult is killing Blup's mom? I never attempted this with a non-scummed character and don't want to lose this one over something stupid - would I need several sources of water breathing to survive the breath attack?

[YourMum]

Don't think water breathing helps against the water breath attack. It's kinetic as opposed to magical. Bring able to breath water is not gunna help when you're being hit in the face by a ton of it.

[JellySlayer]

Robes of resistance are better than dragon scales. A couple stacked resistances is as good as immunities for all practical purposes. Take the extra To instead.

You'll do a lot more damage with the minotaur axe than with Executor on average. If you have high PV/DV already, you're probably better off with that I'd expect. Keep the two-hander of penetration on hand, I guess, though honestly the minotaur axe does enough damage that you can probably punch through all but the strongest monster's PV just fine.

I'd be cautious about doing water dragon with a mist elf. Her attacks deal an awful lot of damage. Unless you have a really compelling reason to kill her, I'd say it's better to just take a pass at this point.

[SirTheta]

Having never been to the Water Dragon Cave, how difficult is killing Blup's mom? I never attempted this with a non-scummed character and don't want to lose this one over something stupid - would I need several sources of water breathing to survive the breath attack?

She's arguably the strongest monster in the game. If you attack her, you will die - stupidly.