what would you do?

[Dlightfull]

You might like to try gnome? Their learning, mana and longevity are almost on par with grey elves. But they get faster levelling (nice for a monk), ventriloquism, an extra talent and slightly better toughness. My first win was a gnome monk.


Sure. Make sure it's blessed. The ACW counts as a demon dragon and takes extra damage from blessed weapons, like other demons.

yeah, i know about the blessing, i am a bit nervous about ACW's death ray, which killed one of my previous chars.

Also gnomes get gemology, which might help with their learning, but, do you know about their racial modifier to learn spells? i am pretty sure it should be less than gray elves, but how much less?

[grobblewobble]

Racial modifier to learn spells? :/ Does that even exist?

The ACW does not cast death ray, but an energy ray. It's a special type of ray that cannot be resisted and always deals about 100 damage. Death ray resistance is not needed. The only orb guardian casting death rays is Nuurag-Vaarn in the Mana Temple.

Since you now have 25 toughness, you should have more than enough HP to survive a single ray. The most important defense is speed. As long as you have more speed than him and always heal up immediately when needed, he can't one-shot you. Luckily, monks have a speed bonus. Your monk alertness helps too.

Actually I think the greatest danger is a blind rage melee attack. Shooting (or acid bolt) is still more safe than attacking with Wyrmlance, maybe that's a better idea, now that I think about it.

[Dlightfull]

Racial modifier to learn spells? :/ Does that even exist?

The ACW does not cast death ray, but an energy ray. It's a special type of ray that cannot be resisted and always deals about 100 damage. Death ray resistance is not needed. The only orb guardian casting death rays is Nuurag-Vaarn in the Mana Temple.

Since you now have 25 toughness, you should have more than enough HP to survive a single ray. The most important defense is speed. As long as you have more speed than him and always heal up immediately when needed, he can't one-shot you. Luckily, monks have a speed bonus. Your monk alertness helps too.

Actually I think the greatest danger is a blind rage melee attack. Shooting (or acid bolt) is still more safe than attacking with Wyrmlance, maybe that's a better idea, now that I think about it.

Apparently there isn't a race modifier, except for Trolls, who get a penalty. That's good to know . Thanks again.

[divij]

i absolutely despise elves...they are fragile, weak, lvlup slow and all you get in return is extra Le and Ma...which is useless to all melle classes and redundant to all spellcasters. monks especially need extra strength and survivability especially if you are playing him like a 'true' monk. gnomes are good, yes...my 1st win was with a gnomish wizard. but drakes are absolutely fantastic with their cold blood and high St/To. i will absolutely agree that you need to use ranged combat.....however, you can use a blessed !oCC and it will take abt 5/7th of the hp of ACW...use it as a finisher, else he might decide to fight to the death in a blind rage

[Dlightfull]

i absolutely despise elves...they are fragile, weak, lvlup slow and all you get in return is extra Le and Ma...which is useless to all melle classes and redundant to all spellcasters. monks especially need extra strength and survivability especially if you are playing him like a 'true' monk. gnomes are good, yes...my 1st win was with a gnomish wizard. but drakes are absolutely fantastic with their cold blood and high St/To. i will absolutely agree that you need to use ranged combat.....however, you can use a blessed !oCC and it will take abt 5/7th of the hp of ACW...use it as a finisher, else he might decide to fight to the death in a blind rage

To be honest i usually don't have any problems with ACW. I only died once to his energy ray because i wasn't careful and low on health, but now, with 300+ HP, i think i will just melee him in the face, like a man.

[Blasphemous]

i absolutely despise elves...they are fragile, weak, lvlup slow and all you get in return is extra Le and Ma...which is useless to all melle classes and redundant to all spellcasters. monks especially need extra strength and survivability especially if you are playing him like a 'true' monk. gnomes are good, yes...my 1st win was with a gnomish wizard. but drakes are absolutely fantastic with their cold blood and high St/To. i will absolutely agree that you need to use ranged combat.....however, you can use a blessed !oCC and it will take abt 5/7th of the hp of ACW...use it as a finisher, else he might decide to fight to the death in a blind rage

Funny how polarized some opinions could be.
I almost exclusively play elven races and I despise drakes - their cold blood is annoying in the tower because of the constant damage and their lifespan is sooo short.
A gray elf doesn't mind being hit by ghosts and ghost lords because of several hundred years worth of aging while drakes...
I think elves level a bit too fast, but gnomes are just ridiculous in this department.
I don't like fast leveling races because they restrict my options due to level-dependent locations that seal off when you advance past a certain level.

Elves are amazing for most classes because:
- their high learning score allows 5 or more skill increases per level and learning spells is trivial (terrific assassins and monks and of course wizards/necros)
- their high mana allows an extra talent upon char creation (great bards and rangers)
- their dexterity is usually around 20 and quickly gets to 26 with moss, which translates to extra speed and DV (archers mmm)
- their perception is often at 20 which provides a nice view radius and other bonuses
- their initial willpower isn't high but the potential is very high, hence they work well as mindcrafters
- many classes start with elven chain mails which may very well be +8 PV, don't rust and weigh 10s (duelists)
- they often get crowned with sun's messenger which synergizes nicely with their natural talent for archery
- appearance which helps with shop prices, corruption and offers a nice incentive for drinking potions of exchange
- lifespan
- LIFESPAN, it's invaluable in a GUV

Low strength and toughness including potentials are somewhat annoying but not really a huge problem.
Elves are amazing, with gray elves being the best race out there.

For the ACW, just stay off the direct line, use disablers and dragon slayers or go the cheap route and throw a potion of cure corruption at it then finish it off with 1-2 dragon slayers or wyrmlance.

[Dlightfull]

Funny how polarized some opinions could be.
I almost exclusively play elven races and I despise drakes - their cold blood is annoying in the tower because of the constant damage and their lifespan is sooo short.
A gray elf doesn't mind being hit by ghosts and ghost lords because of several hundred years worth of aging while drakes...
I think elves level a bit too fast, but gnomes are just ridiculous in this department.
I don't like fast leveling races because they restrict my options due to level-dependent locations that seal off when you advance past a certain level.

Elves are amazing for most classes because:
- their high learning score allows 5 or more skill increases per level and learning spells is trivial (terrific assassins and monks and of course wizards/necros)
- their high mana allows an extra talent upon char creation (great bards and rangers)
- their dexterity is usually around 20 and quickly gets to 26 with moss, which translates to extra speed and DV (archers mmm)
- their perception is often at 20 which provides a nice view radius and other bonuses
- their initial willpower isn't high but the potential is very high, hence they work well as mindcrafters
- many classes start with elven chain mails which may very well be +8 PV, don't rust and weigh 10s (duelists)
- they often get crowned with sun's messenger which synergizes nicely with their natural talent for archery
- appearance which helps with shop prices, corruption and offers a nice incentive for drinking potions of exchange
- lifespan
- LIFESPAN, it's invaluable in a GUV

Low strength and toughness including potentials are somewhat annoying but not really a huge problem.
Elves are amazing, with gray elves being the best race out there.

For the ACW, just stay off the direct line, use disablers and dragon slayers or go the cheap route and throw a potion of cure corruption at it then finish it off with 1-2 dragon slayers or wyrmlance.

I agree with you, with only one exception, i like Dark Elves more than Grey Elves .

I killed ACW, without any disablers, with 3 hits with Wyrmlance. It hitted me twice after my first hit, and both connected, while i got a free hit after my second one due to speed/cost (lvl 10 Polearms). I'm at 319 HP from 367, but i got some free hits from fire demons too.

Monks rock! If only i had that SoA spellbook . I would've gone to the rift right away, if not for my low climbing stat. I think i will go to the Bug Cave instead.

P.S. Did i tell you how much i like those quickling raiding parties in the wilderness (especially when i have an eternium spear of hunting)?

Edit: To spoil my happiness, RNG decides to: "The cooked Ancient Chaos Wyrm corpse on the ground is burned by the heat" 2 turns after it got cooked, while i was fightning an elemental.

Edit2: How should i use in the minotaur maze the only 8 scrolls of magic mapping that i found, in order to make things smoother there?

[Blasphemous]

There are varying theories about scrolls of magic mapping in the maze.
You are a monk though so if you get your hands on some magical writing sets, you could easily write many more than just 8 and at no cost too, other than PP.
Monks are the best suited class for writing scrolls.
As for the maze specifically, I usually read one on the first level and then manually explore every odd level.
Another way is to keep the scrolls for levels 5-6 because they are the most dangerous due to mino mages and kings roaming around but also because of higher corruption and significantly higher costs of teleportation spell.
If you're lucky, you will leave the maze with the axe and still have some scrolls left.
If you're not... even 12 might not be enough.

[Dlightfull]

There are varying theories about scrolls of magic mapping in the maze.
You are a monk though so if you get your hands on some magical writing sets, you could easily write many more than just 8 and at no cost too, other than PP.
Monks are the best suited class for writing scrolls.
As for the maze specifically, I usually read one on the first level and then manually explore every odd level.
Another way is to keep the scrolls for levels 5-6 because they are the most dangerous due to mino mages and kings roaming around but also because of higher corruption and significantly higher costs of teleportation spell.
If you're lucky, you will leave the maze with the axe and still have some scrolls left.
If you're not... even 12 might not be enough.

I don't have any magical writing sets . I had 2 on my mage that died.

I don't think anything in the maze is a threat to me at this point. I have about 140 speed and 7LB and an eternium two-handed sword. I can hit and run even greater claw bugs, ACW could not confuse me, so why would a mino mage be able to?

[Blasphemous]

Mino mages have a more powerful confusion attack than ACW. Much more powerful actually.
But the biggest problem is how quickly they drain stats.
Mino kings have massive criticals able to deal well in excess of 100 damage.
Traps can destroy your 7LB and stone blocks or crushing ceilings can take off ~50 hp and severely damage the equipment.

That said, the above situations are rather rare, with the exception of mages that you will inevitably have to face when you reach mino emp.
Wi:25 and two confusion resistances are advised.