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[EnigmaticHat]

Finally got a Naga Warper of Makhleb running and I can finally see why the race is only "medium" difficulty on the wiki.  The armor aversion + high stealth aptitude means you can effortlessly splash into stealth and still have middling AC.  Makhleb fits so perfectly with what a Naga wants its just crazy.  He gives you a ranged attack and the ability to prep fights beforehand if you see a stealthed enemy and then retreat.  He also leaves spell slots open for utility spells and his healing works well with the Naga's "never retreat" mindset.  All in all, this setup has allowed me to hybridize into stealth and a variety of magic abilities without actually spending that much experience on much besides core skills.

I've never actually cast blink or passage of golubria.  But I've got a ton of mileage out of shroud of golubria and teleport other.  Portal projectile is good enough that it made throwing things useful with no training at all but I'm going to amnesia it.  Stealth is super important to how Naga play, you've got to retreat from bad situations before enemies notice you at all.  Picking any fight you're pretty much committing to seeing it out or burning consumables.  I went with longswords because they have a low strength rate, they're good one handed, and they get a little bonus damage with stabbing.

[Arcvasti]

-snop-

Welp. That's literally the opposite of how I play Naga. No Stealth whatsoever. Usually I go either Transmuter + Chei or Fire/Ice Elementalist with a mage god. Then go ham and emerge victorious[Or I guess burn consumables and abscond]. Essentially, being a literal tank[Slow to maneuver, but robust and packing a huge punch]. Notably, Transmuter gives you Spider Form, which gives you normal movement speed. Summon Ice Beast and Conjure Flame are also both good tools for running away from things, although the former comes online later. And as far as I can tell, there's really no build that Makh doesn't work well with. Healz + ranged damage + good summons = ❤

[heydude6]

Well hello guys, in honor of the death of my third best crawl character Vileblood the vampire enchanter, I want to give some tips about dealing with enemies your enchantments might not work on. More specifically, spellcasters with high magic resistance, and see invisible.


Rule number 1: If you are going to try to stab the bastard, only attempt it while it is asleep (or as crawl likes to call it, dormant), not while it is wandering and hasn't noticed you (confusion is fine). If you try the latter, it is likely that you will just tap it with a regular attack and now you have a horrifying foe at melee range

Rule number 2: Try methods that don't rely on magic resist. Although your traditional hexes may not work on these guys, there are several ways to get around this. If your enemy doesn't have poison resistance, then use Alistair's intoxication (make sure you have poison resist yourself) or mephitic cloud (if the monster's hit dice is low enough). Another pair of options if your throwing skill is high enough is to either use a throwing net or one of the rare needles such as sleeping or paralysis. Both of these automatically disable the monster regardless of magic resist allowing you to move in for the stab. This last method can even work against certain tier 1 demons if your throwing skill is high enough. 

Rule number 3: If you have to melee, try to stack the odds in your favour. If neither of those work, then you might have to get into a melee battle of with these characters. Thankfully, there are several ways to stack the odds in your favor. For natural spellcasters, you can cast silence rendering them incapable of casting spells. Most casters are rather incompetent in melee and since you trained your shortblades skill to minimum delay, you should have a fighting chance. With demons though, silence doesn't work, but thankfully there is a solution, antimagic. Antimagic will mess up demon spell casting and there are a few ways of acquiring it. First is an antimagic weapon, second is to be a vine stalker, third is the hexes spell, summon mana viper (That last one is probably the most accessible for enchanters). Also, you can use potions such as might and haste if things ever get that bad.

Rule number 4: If you are struggling with something like a Balrug, perhaps it might be best to run away. Crawl and especially stealth characters are not about getting every single kill. Sometimes you will have to have cut your losses and come back later.

Rule number 5: All of the rules of playing stealth characters still apply here, I don't feel like listings things that I believe to be common sense and there is undoubtedly some things that I have missed so I am ending my mini guide here.


I'm writing this while sleep deprived so expect typos tell me what you think. For further reading, try this guide. It's a bit old and it references outdated mechanics, but many of the principles are still very solid (especially the part about how to deal with hydras)

[EnigmaticHat]

My own rule for stealth characters: if you couldn't beat it while its awake, don't try to stab it.  Just walk away.  If you still want to explore the level you can use x+e to make every tile in LoS of the creature auto-explore excluded.

[Arcvasti]

My own rule for stealth characters: if you couldn't beat it while its awake, don't try to stab it.

If you lack any escape mechanisms or Shadowstep, by all means do just that. But ambient noise will wake them up eventually and you'll lose your best chance at one-shotting them. And if you have Bat Form, Blink or even Swiftness, you can usually just sort of abscond after a failed stabbing.

[frostshotgg]

Tried something different for a bit, OpBe. Turns out playing one of the squishiest races on the squishiest melee class is really good at going through characters like a fucker, but after enough tries I finally got one off the ground and it was going surprisingly well. 6/10 would recommend

[Arcvasti]

I noticed the talk about Merfolk being weak and thought 'What? That's not how I remember it', so I rolled up a MerGlad hoping for a simple win. I was confident, so I even went with Ru, who I haven't taken before (not very impressed with him TBH). But god, I did absolutely no damage, even after getting a demon trident. Were polearms specifically nerfed? Is it the removal of Str/Dex weighting?

Ended up dying in the Vaults after getting a bit careless (taking 30 minutes to kill every enemy will do that for you). I'll give it another crack, but this time, fuck polearms, +4 aptitude or not.

Yep, that's been my experience with Merfolk, assuming I don't get wrecked by a hydra or somesuch long before then. Isn't the weighting thing, since I've had the same experience in 0.17/0.16. Have to disagree with you about Ru though. Aura of power is really really good[It can block/reflect even stuff like hellfire or torment] and Apocalypse is simply amazing. Even in Extended, it clears the screen of almost everything and does stuff like paralyze Cerebov or other Pan/Hell lords. Power Leap doesn't drain you and is a fairly robust mobility tool. Draw Out Power's MP/HP restoration is neat, but the real draw is in the status effect removal. Ru is my favourite god, hands down, for melee characters.

[Xgamer4]

There's been a recent dev blog update:

https://crawl.develz.org/wordpress/trunk-updates-6-march-2016

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Hi, crawlers! Here’s the latest changes from trunk:

    Beogh no longer gives piety for sacrificing dead orcs’ bodies. Instead, they can be brought back from the dead with a new 6* ability, Resurrection. Hostile orcs will be converted by the experience. Saint Roka may be tough to persuade to your side, but he’s considerably less so once he’s dead…
    Also, orcs will no longer drop items that you’ve gifted them, even if they preferred whatever weapon/armour they had before.
    Monster changes:
        New monster: Dart Slug, a slow D:1 monster with a ranged attack. It probably won’t kill you, but it’ll be very funny if it does.
        New monster: Howler Monkey, an early D monster that’s fairly weak, but makes a heck of a lot of noise. On later levels, they spawn in packs.
        New monster: Rime Drake, replacing fire drakes. Very similar, but instead of fire, they breathe Flash Freeze, a single-target cold-damage spell that slows victims’ movements for a few turns after they’re hit.
        Flash Freeze can sometimes miss, though if Antaeus is casting it, it probably won’t.
        Pandemonium lord generation has been considerably reworked, hopefully resulting in more distinctive foes.
        Nymphs will flood any type of adjacent walkable terrain, including shops and stairs. They’re also significantly more fragile.
        Shock serpents’ discharge now only strikes whatever hit it, rather than all enemies (but not any of the serpent’s allies!) in a wide area.
        Deep Elf High Priests and Sorcerers no longer cast Summon Demon.
    New command: “?#” lets you browse your character dump in-game.
    Qazlal’s wrath can now summon a range of elemental-themed creatures, rather than just elementals of subtly-varying HD.
    Gozag no longer demands any service fee in sprint, rather than demanding a significant fraction of all gold on the entire map to join.
    Covering a ziggurat in gold with Gozag no longer causes enemies to be completely paralyzed.
    “Megazigs” (ziggurats entered after fully clearing previous ziggurat(s)) are now considerably nastier, and should give a bit more of a challenge to players & characters who are capable of fully clearing multiple ziggurats.
    Ziggurats no longer all have the same layout in a given game.
    The rMut artefact property now works the same as the mutation: a 2/3rd chance of preventing mutations, down from 9/10.
    Mass Confusion is no longer a player-castable spell.
    Passwall’s range is now fixed for a given spellpower (& displayed on the spell screen), rather than being random per-cast.
    Needles of slowing have been removed.
    Blowguns no longer have extra power when ‘stabbing’ unaware targets.
    Monsters can no longer pick up items from stacks you’ve seen, even if you haven’t seen the specific items that they’re trying to pick up.
    However, Maurice can now pick things up from the floor. Even things you’ve seen! Is he cheating…?
    It’s no longer possible to evolve a permanently petrified plant into a permanently petrified oklob.
    Spectral shapeshifters can now once again turn into something other than spectral ghost crabs.
    Vampires can no longer drink ghosts’ blood.
    Bribed demons can no longer escape Hell.
    Dumb monsters can no longer shout.
    Dead monsters can no longer shout.

Thanks to chequers for helping to compile this post.

Happy crawling!

[Arcvasti]

I noticed the talk about Merfolk being weak and thought 'What? That's not how I remember it', so I rolled up a MerGlad hoping for a simple win. I was confident, so I even went with Ru, who I haven't taken before (not very impressed with him TBH). But god, I did absolutely no damage, even after getting a demon trident. Were polearms specifically nerfed? Is it the removal of Str/Dex weighting?

Ended up dying in the Vaults after getting a bit careless (taking 30 minutes to kill every enemy will do that for you). I'll give it another crack, but this time, fuck polearms, +4 aptitude or not.

Yep, that's been my experience with Merfolk, assuming I don't get wrecked by a hydra or somesuch long before then. Isn't the weighting thing, since I've had the same experience in 0.17/0.16. Have to disagree with you about Ru though. Aura of power is really really good[It can block/reflect even stuff like hellfire or torment] and Apocalypse is simply amazing. Even in Extended, it clears the screen of almost everything and does stuff like paralyze Cerebov or other Pan/Hell lords. Power Leap doesn't drain you and is a fairly robust mobility tool. Draw Out Power's MP/HP restoration is neat, but the real draw is in the status effect removal. Ru is my favourite god, hands down, for melee characters.

I think it's polearms as opposed to Mers specifically. I'm trying with an unarmed one right now, and no problems so far. I don't pay close attention to the changelogs, but I definitely don't remember them being so weak. Hell, I remember a time when demon tridents were one of the best weapons in the game, and when regular tridents were powerful enough to get you through your first Lair subbranch with barely any problems.

I'll give Ru another go I guess, but my main problem was that I felt like I wasn't getting enough piety per sacrifice. Admittedly I didn't sacrifice anything crazy like an Eye (would that ever be a good idea, really?), but between sacrificing Love, Armour skill, 10% of HP/MP, and the reduced healing mutation, I didn't even get up to Power Leap. Aura of Power was helpful, but compared to what I'd get from another god while having to invest much less into it...

Yeah, Ru has hugely variable piety per sacrifice. Sacrificing Evocations gives you three stars and sacrificing Purity or Essence or whatnot barely gives you any. And sacrificing an Eye or a Hand is a Big Deal, although the latter might not matter as much for a caster[Not that Ru is the best god for a caster, anyways]. I usually end up sacrificing Love, Skill and either Drink or Words and then doing small ones until piety is at max. Skill could be problematic if you're a Demonspawn or something, but its usually relatively minor for meleers. The Aura of Power's effectiveness rises with piety too. According to the wiki, it eventually gets to a 15% change of negating/redirecting.

[frostshotgg]

What happens if an octopode sacrifices a hand? Do they lose 1 ring? 4? 7? Do they just gain crap piety?

[Arcvasti]

What happens if an octopode sacrifices a hand? Do they lose 1 ring? 4? 7? Do they just gain crap piety?

Testing in Ziggurat Sprint with an Octopode Monk reveals that they only sacrifice one tentacle and thus ring slot, but still lose the ability to use shields or two-handed weapons.

[frostshotgg]

Do they gain full piety for it, and can they sacrifice another tentacle? Does it affect their constriction and/or the 8 constrictions at once thing?

[Arcvasti]

Do they gain full piety for it, and can they sacrifice another tentacle? Does it affect their constriction and/or the 8 constrictions at once thing?

It listed it as an "incredible" sacrifice and I got three stars of piety. I'm pretty sure you can only sacrifice the one tentacle, but haven't tested. It seems to be calculated like this:

-One weapon/unarmed tentacle that can wear a ring
-One off-hand tentacle that can wear a ring
-Six other ones that just let you wear rings

Sacrificing a hand removes the second tentacle. Sacrificing another hand wouldn't have nearly the same effect and I doubt that somebody would go to the trouble of coding a special "Sacrifice ring tentacle" thing. Octopodes have ring slots where other races would have armour, and there's no sacrificing of armour slots for other races. I'm not sure how it interacts with constriction. It seems plausible that it'd go from eight to seven, since that's a relatively trivial change.

EDIT:

Decided to play a DEFE of Gozag for shits and giggles. Gozag actually works decently for pure blasters. You can sorta get spells by setting up book shops, although its kinda dicey to rely on it. Honestly, Gozag's Summon Merchant thing is kinda like Okawaru's gifts, but it works on jewellry and books too. Potion Petition is neat, although I've only ever needed to use it twice. If I decide to go Lichform[Haven't found a Necronomicon though], then that's definitely going to come in handy. I've never felt like splurging 3k on Bribe Branch, but it might be usefulish for the Hells, I guess. But where Gozag really shines is the gold distraction. For someone who can kill as many things as quickly as I can, its almost more effective then Ru's Aura of Power. Vaults:5 was a complete joke because of that alone. I'm also the glassiest cannon ever, with a whopping 11 AC and below-average MR. I've been using a Robe of the Archmagi I picked up on D:5 and it is just beautiful. All the spellpower. All of it. That plus a ring of fire randart and Ring of Flames = HELLA PYROMANIA. Still haven't found a non-wizardry staff that isn't poison, despite burning two acquirements on it, so I'm completely ineffectual in melee.

[DFNewb]

Code: [Select]

Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup version 0.18-a0-1522-g37626c5 (tiles) character file.

Kisuxac the Fencer (Minotaur Fighter)              Turns: 26537, Time: 00:59:13

Health: 147/147    AC: 31    Str: 38    XL:     16   Next: 33%
Magic:  21/21      EV: 16    Int: 14    God:    Trog [******]
Gold:   1177       SH: 23    Dex: 13    Spells: 0 memorised, 15 levels left

rFire  + . .      SeeInvis .    S - +3 double sword (elec)
rCold  + + +      Gourm    .    K - +7 plate armour of the Snake Pit {rN+ Int+6}
rNeg   + + .      Faith    .    v - +1 large shield {rC+}
rPois  +          Spirit   .    Z - +0 hat {Int+3}
rElec  +          Dismiss  .    r - +2 cloak of Starlight {rElec rC+ EV+4 Stlth--}
rCorr  .          Reflect  .    c - +2 pair of gloves {Dex+3}
SustAt +          Harm     .    F - +0 pair of boots
MR     ++++.      Clarity  +    l - amulet of the Four Winds {rN+ MR+++ Clar}
Stlth  ..........               x - +5 ring of strength
                                H - ring of Timoch {SustAt Str+5 Stlth-}

@: incredibly resistant to hostile enchantments, extremely unstealthy
A: retaliatory headbutt, horns 2, cold resistance 1, fire resistance 1, poison
resistance, regeneration 1
a: Berserk, Trog's Hand, Brothers in Arms, Burn Spellbooks, Renounce Religion


You are on level 15 of the Dungeon.
You worship Trog.
Trog is exalted by your worship.
You are hungry.

You have visited 4 branches of the dungeon, and seen 26 of its levels.
You have visited 1 bazaar.
You have also visited: Labyrinth, Ossuary and Ice Cave.

You have collected 2608 gold pieces.
You have spent 1431 gold pieces at shops.

Inventory:

Hand Weapons
 y - a +2 triple sword of holy wrath
 O - a +3 antimagic rapier
 S - a +3 double sword of electrocution (weapon)
 W - a +2 scimitar of flaming
Armour
 c - a +2 pair of gloves of dexterity (worn)
 r - the +2 cloak of Starlight (worn) {rElec rC+ EV+4 Stlth--}
   (You bought it in a shop on level 2 of the Orcish Mines)   
   
   It affects your evasion (+4).
   It protects you from cold.
   It insulates you from electricity.
   It makes you much less stealthy.
 v - a +1 large shield of cold resistance (worn)
 A - a +3 chain mail of fire resistance
 F - a +0 pair of boots (worn)
 K - the +7 plate armour of the Snake Pit (worn) {rN+ Int+6}
   (You found it on level 15 of the Dungeon)   
   
   It affects your intelligence (+6).
   It protects you from negative energy.
 Z - a +0 hat of intelligence (worn)
Jewellery
 l - the amulet of the Four Winds (around neck) {rN+ MR+++ Clar}
   (You bought it in a shop in a bazaar)   
   
   [amulet of nothing]
   
   It protects you from negative energy.
   It affects your resistance to hostile enchantments.
   It protects you against confusion.
 m - an uncursed ring of flight
 p - the amulet "Mypn" {RegenMP Dex+4 Slay+3}
   (You found it on level 1 of the Lair of Beasts)   
   
   [amulet of magic regeneration]
   
   It increases your magic regeneration.
   It affects your dexterity (+4).
   It affects your accuracy and damage with ranged weapons and melee attacks
   (+3).
 w - a +2 ring of slaying
 x - a +5 ring of strength (right hand)
 H - the ring of Timoch (left hand) {SustAt Str+5 Stlth-}
   (You found it on level 6 of the Lair of Beasts)   
   
   [ring of sustain attributes]
   
   It sustains your strength, intelligence and dexterity.
   It affects your strength (+5).
   It makes you less stealthy.
 L - an uncursed ring of see invisible
Scrolls
 b - 2 scrolls of recharging
 i - 3 scrolls of magic mapping
 j - 6 scrolls of blinking
 k - 6 scrolls of teleportation
 u - 17 scrolls of identify
 B - 2 scrolls of fear
 C - 5 scrolls of enchant armour
 E - 15 scrolls of remove curse
Potions
 a - 2 potions of brilliance
 e - 3 potions of agility
 n - 3 potions of berserk rage
 o - 4 potions of lignification
 q - 15 potions of curing
 s - 4 potions of might
 t - 3 potions of cancellation
 z - 5 potions of resistance
 J - a potion of cure mutation
 R - 5 potions of heal wounds
Comestibles
 d - 18 royal jellies
 f - 11 bread rations
 g - 5 beef jerkies
 h - 25 fruits
 I - 17 meat rations
 V - 3 slices of pizza


   Skills:
 + Level 14.7 Fighting
 - Level 7.3(13.6) Short Blades
 * Level 18.9(19.4) Long Blades
   Level 2.6 Maces & Flails
 - Level 2.3 Throwing
 + Level 12.7 Armour
 + Level 11.1 Dodging
 - Level 1.7 Stealth
 * Level 11.9 Shields
 + Level 3.1 Unarmed Combat
 - Level 0.2 Spellcasting
 + Level 3.4 Invocations
 + Level 8.2 Evocations


You have 15 spell levels left.
You don't know any spells.

Dungeon Overview and Level Annotations

Branches:
Dungeon (15/15)            Temple (1/1) D:7            Lair (8/8) D:11
  Swamp (0/4) Lair:4        Snake (0/4) Lair:4        Slime (0/6) Lair:7
    Orc (2/2) D:9             Elf (0/3) Orc:2        Vaults (0/5) D:12 D:13
 Depths (0/5) D:15       

Altars:
Ashenzari
Cheibriados
Dithmenos
Elyvilon
Fedhas
Gozag
Kikubaaqudgha
Makhleb
Nemelex Xobeh
Okawaru
Pakellas
Qazlal
Ru
Sif Muna
Trog
Vehumet
Xom
Yredelemnul
Zin
The Shining One

Shops:
D:13 :   Orc:2 [*%%


Innate Abilities, Weirdness & Mutations

You reflexively headbutt those who attack you in melee.
You have a pair of horns on your head.
Your flesh is cold resistant.
Your flesh is heat resistant.
Your system is resistant to poisons.
Your natural rate of healing is unusually fast.


Message History

Done exploring.
Done exploring.
(D) Dungeon        (T) Temple         (L) Lair           (S) Swamp         
(P) Snake Pit      (M) Slime Pits     (O) Orcish Mines   (E) Elven Halls   
(V) Vaults         (U) Depths         
Where to? (Enter - D:15, ? - help)
You're already here!
(D) Dungeon        (T) Temple         (L) Lair           (S) Swamp         
(P) Snake Pit      (M) Slime Pits     (O) Orcish Mines   (E) Elven Halls   
(V) Vaults         (U) Depths         
Where to? (Enter - D:15, ? - help)
Okay, then.
Save game and exit?
Welcome back, Kisuxac the Minotaur Fighter.
Trog says: Kill them all!
Press ? for a list of commands and other information.
Unknown command.
Char dumped to 'morgue/Kisuxac.txt'.
You don't know any spells.
Save game and exit?

..........#...............#˜P˜#
..........#...^.#˜PPPP##...P˜??##
.(...............˜P˜P˜P#...P˜˜P˜#
.).............PPP†˜˜PP#...P˜˜˜?#
.......8...####PP˜˜??˜˜#....P˜˜˜#
.....P(.P.## ##.P?˜??˜˜˜....˜??##
.........8#  #P.˜˜??˜˜˜..##?P˜#
.P........# ##P˜˜˜?P??˜PP##...#
8.8.....8.# #.P?˜˜PPPP?PP##.#.#
....P8....###.P??PPP˜P˜?PP#.#.#
...>..)....##˜P˜˜@˜P#˜˜˜P˜#.#.#
...........##P˜˜.P###PP˜˜˜..#.#
....8..8.....PP˜˜.# ##˜˜?P˜.#.#
.............˜?˜˜.#  #.P˜PP˜#.#
.8P...........˜˜P.#  #PP˜PP...#
....8...8.....˜PP.#  ##..˜˜˜.##
.8.....P......PP..#   ##˜˜PP.#
....###..........###########.#
##### #.............))(......#
#     #.........##########.###
###   ####################.#


There are no monsters in sight!

Vanquished Creatures
  Norris (D:12)
  Rupert (D:12)
  Kirke (Lair:5)
  Frances (D:12)
  Gastronok (Lair:3)
  A frost giant (IceCv)
  Donald (D:12)
  A juggernaut zombie (D:15)
  The ghost of Cuiraom the Fencer, a journeyman MiFi of Trog (D:14)
  A minotaur (Lab)
  A fire dragon (Lair:8)
  Josephine (Lair:6)
  5 hydras
  Erica (D:9)
  5 ogre magi
  2 centaur warriors
  4 death yaks
  A death knight (D:12)
  A flayed ghost (D:15)
  5 skeletal warriors
  5 unseen horrors
  Pikel (D:7)
  The ghost of Jykalael the Slasher, a novice DrFi of Trog (D:7)
  2 lindwurms (Lair:8)
  3 hill giants
  A necromancer (D:15)
  An orc sorcerer (Orc:2)
  17 ugly things
  An oklob plant (Lair:8)
  A griffon (Lair:4)
  A deep elf mage (D:12)
  7 black mambas
  11 elephants
  3 cyclopes
  Joseph (D:8)
  An ice statue (IceCv)
  24 spiny frogs
  Psyche (D:12)
  A torpor snail (Lair:8)
  4 gargoyles
  3 kobold demonologists
  6 rime drakes
  6 komodo dragons
  An efreet (D:14)
  3 freezing wraiths (D:11)
  A troll (shapeshifter) (D:15)
  A queen bee (Lair:6)
  A giant leech (Lair:8)
  5 trolls
  An entropy weaver zombie (D:15)
  14 polar bears (IceCv)
  9 blink frogs
  A deep troll zombie (D:15)
  8 slime creatures
  14 two-headed ogres
  2 boulder beetles (Lair:8)
  3 water elementals (D:15)
  A shadow (D:12)
  A vampire (D:12)
  7 basilisks
  6 wyverns
  Sigmund (D:6)
  6 wraiths
  2 hogs (Lair:5)
  3 hungry ghosts
  58 yaks
  16 humans (D:12)
  12 hippogriffs
  A mottled dragon (D:13)
  2 nagas (Lair:4)
  3 wargs
  19 wolves
  2 soldier ants
  17 water moccasins
  12 orc warriors
  13 porcupines
  2 black bears
  4 swamp drakes (Lair:8)
  7 ice beasts
  3 slaves
  A wasp (D:13)
  2 sky beasts
  An eye of draining (shapeshifter) (D:15)
  2 phantoms
  35 ogres
  2 eyes of draining
  24 centaurs
  23 crocodiles
  4 big kobolds
  A yaktaur zombie (D:15)
  19 giant frogs
  Blork the orc (D:5)
  A water moccasin zombie (Ossuary)
  A wyvern zombie (D:14)
  2 scorpions
  33 killer bees
  24 wights
  10 howler monkeys
  2 spriggan skeletons (D:9)
  6 crimson imps
  A giant frog zombie (D:9)
  A quasit (D:10)
  4 centaur zombies
  Crazy Yiuf (D:7)
  7 jellies
  17 orc priests
  2 giant frog skeletons
  8 hounds
  30 orc wizards
  Jessica (D:3)
  6 centaur skeletons
  15 iguanas
  7 hell rats (Lair:5)
  7 worker ants
  2 big kobold zombies (Ossuary)
  13 sheep
  2 hound zombies
  A hound skeleton (D:5)
  2 mummies (Ossuary)
  3 worker ant zombies
  A howler monkey zombie (D:7)
  Robin (D:2)
  5 gnolls
  15 adders
  32 river rats
  7 shadow imps
  5 adder zombies (Ossuary)
  2 adder skeletons
  7 worms
  A dart slug (D:1)
  2 giant geckos
  94 orcs
  3 giant cockroaches
  15 goblins
  12 hobgoblins
  17 jackals
  6 quokkas
  6 bats
  2 giant newts
  3 gnoll zombies (Ossuary)
  3 hobgoblin zombies (Ossuary)
  22 kobolds
  3 kobold zombies (Ossuary)
  7 orc zombies (Ossuary)
  A quokka zombie (D:6)
  10 rats
  A bush (Lair:8)
1007 creatures vanquished.

Vanquished Creatures (collateral kills)
  A yak (IceCv)
  An orc warrior (D:11)
  A centaur (D:11)
  An orc wizard (D:11)
  An orc (D:11)
5 creatures vanquished.

Vanquished Creatures (others)
  A spiny frog (Lair:8)
  2 orcs (D:7)
  A fungus (Lair:6)
  4 plants
  2 withered plants (D:15)
10 creatures vanquished.

Grand Total: 1022 creatures vanquished

Notes
Turn   | Place    | Note
--------------------------------------------------------------
     0 | D:1      | Kisuxac the Minotaur Fighter began the quest for the Orb.
     0 | D:1      | Reached XP level 1. HP: 19/19 MP: 0/0
   162 | D:1      | Reached XP level 2. HP: 27/27 MP: 1/1
   587 | D:2      | Noticed Robin
   594 | D:2      | Reached skill level 1 in Dodging
   598 | D:2      | Reached XP level 3. HP: 31/33 MP: 2/2
   608 | D:2      | Killed Robin
   611 | D:2      | Reached skill level 3 in Long Blades
   987 | D:2      | Reached XP level 4. HP: 38/41 MP: 3/3
  1647 | D:3      | Reached XP level 5. HP: 4/47 MP: 4/4
  2043 | D:3      | Noticed Jessica
  2047 | D:3      | Killed Jessica
  2047 | D:3      | Reached skill level 5 in Fighting
  2047 | D:3      | Reached skill level 4 in Long Blades
  2466 | D:3      | Reached XP level 6. HP: 39/56 MP: 5/5
  2536 | D:3      | Found a snail-covered altar of Cheibriados.
  2686 | D:3      | Found a bloodstained altar of Trog.
  2757 | D:3      | Became a worshipper of Trog the Wrathful
  3212 | D:4      | Found a white marble altar of Elyvilon.
  3265 | D:4      | Reached skill level 5 in Long Blades
  3388 | D:4      | Reached skill level 5 in Armour
  3552 | D:4      | Reached * piety under Trog
  3780 | D:5      | Entered Level 5 of the Dungeon
  3799 | D:5      | Reached XP level 7. HP: 41/62 MP: 6/6
  3871 | D:5      | Reached skill level 6 in Long Blades
  4441 | D:5      | Reached skill level 7 in Long Blades
  4441 | D:5      | Reached XP level 8. HP: 35/71 MP: 7/7
  4642 | D:5      | Noticed Blork the orc
  4647 | D:5      | Killed Blork the orc
  5194 | D:6      | Found an iron altar of Okawaru.
  5283 | D:6      | Found a sand-covered staircase.
  5288 | Ossuary  | Entered an ossuary
  5603 | D:6      | Reached skill level 8 in Long Blades
  5603 | D:6      | Reached skill level 5 in Dodging
  5849 | D:6      | Reached ** piety under Trog
  5885 | D:6      | Noticed Sigmund
  5890 | D:6      | Killed Sigmund
  6221 | D:7      | Found a staircase to the Ecumenical Temple.
  6227 | Temple   | Entered the Ecumenical Temple
  6693 | D:7      | Noticed Jykalael's ghost (novice DrFi)
  6746 | D:7      | Killed Jykalael's ghost
  6746 | D:7      | Reached skill level 9 in Long Blades
  6746 | D:7      | Reached XP level 9. HP: 45/79 MP: 8/8
  6857 | D:7      | Noticed Pikel
  7040 | D:7      | Killed Pikel
  7040 | D:7      | Reached skill level 10 in Long Blades
  7156 | D:7      | Got a jewelled mace
  7171 | D:7      | Noticed Crazy Yiuf
  7176 | D:7      | Killed Crazy Yiuf
  7181 | D:7      | Got an iridescent mace
  7183 | D:7      | Got a shimmering mace
  7184 | D:7      | Identified the +8 mace of the Bear {crush, Fragile rElec Dex+5} (You found it on level 7 of the Dungeon)
  7234 | D:7      | Identified the +7 mace "Rummage" {crush, rF+ rC+} (You found it on level 7 of the Dungeon)
  7235 | D:7      | Identified the +6 mace of the Ghost {drain, rElec rN+ Str-4} (You found it on level 7 of the Dungeon)
  7637 | D:7      | Reached *** piety under Trog
  7850 | D:8      | Found a shimmering altar of Xom.
  7864 | D:8      | Reached XP level 10. HP: 48/90 MP: 1/9
  8220 | D:8      | Reached skill level 11 in Long Blades
  8386 | D:8      | Found a blossoming altar of Fedhas.
  8394 | D:8      | Found an ancient bone altar of Kikubaaqudgha.
  8615 | D:8      | Noticed Joseph
  8628 | D:8      | Killed Joseph
  8844 | D:8      | Reached **** piety under Trog
  8990 | D:9      | Found a staircase to the Orcish Mines.
  9038 | D:9      | Noticed Erica
  9045 | D:9      | Killed Erica
  9055 | D:9      | Reached skill level 12 in Long Blades
  9474 | D:9      | Found a glowing silver altar of Zin.
  9596 | Temple   | Gained mutation: Your flesh is heat resistant. [potion of mutation]
  9596 | Temple   | Gained mutation: Your flesh is cold resistant. [potion of mutation]
  9596 | Temple   | Gained mutation: Your natural rate of healing is unusually fast. [potion of mutation]
  9636 | Temple   | Gained mutation: Your system is resistant to poisons. [potion of beneficial mutation]
  9966 | D:9      | Got an encrusted dagger
  9967 | D:9      | Identified the +7 dagger "Huyn" {speed, *Confuse Dex+4 Stlth+} (You found it on level 9 of the Dungeon)
  9982 | D:9      | Noticed an unseen horror
 10018 | D:9      | Killed an unseen horror
 10229 | D:9      | Found a shattered altar of Ashenzari.
 10229 | D:9      | Found an oddly glowing altar of Pakellas.
 10484 | D:10     | Entered Level 10 of the Dungeon
 10488 | D:10     | Reached XP level 11. HP: 99/99 MP: 10/10
 10517 | D:10     | Reached skill level 10 in Armour
 10586 | D:10     | Reached skill level 10 in Fighting
 10868 | D:10     | Reached ***** piety under Trog
 11366 | D:11     | Found a staircase to the Lair.
 11403 | D:11     | Reached skill level 1 in Maces & Flails
 11407 | D:11     | Reached skill level 1 in Short Blades
 11512 | D:11     | Reached skill level 1 in Throwing
 11530 | D:11     | Found an iron altar of Okawaru.
 11579 | D:11     | Reached skill level 1 in Stealth
 11998 | D:11     | Found a flickering gateway to a bazaar.
 12085 | Bazaar   | Entered a bazaar
 12098 | Bazaar   | Found Iseac's Jewellery Emporium.
 12168 | Bazaar   | Found Veph's Gadget Emporium.
 12215 | Bazaar   | Found Tubbor's Jewellery Boutique.
 12223 | Bazaar   | Bought the amulet of the Four Winds {rN+ MR+++ Clar} for 269 gold pieces
 12252 | Bazaar   | Found Nicwaed's Jewellery Emporium.
 12260 | Bazaar   | Bought a +2 ring of slaying for 168 gold pieces
 12432 | D:11     | Reached skill level 1 in Unarmed Combat
 12699 | D:12     | Noticed a skeletal warrior
 12705 | D:12     | Noticed a skeletal warrior
 12705 | D:12     | Killed a skeletal warrior
 12705 | D:12     | Reached skill level 13 in Long Blades
 12705 | D:12     | Reached skill level 1 in Invocations
 12707 | D:12     | Noticed a skeletal warrior
 12733 | D:11     | Killed a skeletal warrior
 12868 | D:11     | Noticed a hill giant
 12875 | D:11     | Killed a hill giant
 12875 | D:11     | Reached skill level 1 in Evocations
 13022 | D:12     | Killed a skeletal warrior
 13066 | D:12     | Received a gift from Trog
 13095 | D:12     | Noticed Frances
 13106 | D:12     | Killed Frances
 13106 | D:12     | Reached skill level 5 in Shields
 13106 | D:12     | Reached XP level 12. HP: 75/108 MP: 12/12
 13343 | D:12     | Noticed a death knight
 13745 | D:12     | Killed a death knight
 14049 | D:12     | Reached skill level 10 in Dodging
 14274 | D:12     | Noticed Psyche
 14279 | D:12     | Killed Psyche
 14384 | Lair:1   | Entered Level 1 of the Lair of Beasts
 14492 | Lair:1   | Found a frozen archway.
 14523 | IceCv    | Entered an ice cave
 14546 | IceCv    | Reached skill level 14 in Long Blades
 14935 | IceCv    | Noticed a frost giant
 14949 | IceCv    | Killed a frost giant
 14955 | IceCv    | Reached XP level 13. HP: 26/117 MP: 13/13
 15033 | IceCv    | Got a crude glaive
 15457 | Lair:1   | Got a clouded garnet amulet
 15486 | Lair:1   | Identified the amulet "Mypn" {RegenMP Dex+4 Slay+3} (You found it on level 1 of the Lair of Beasts)
 16288 | Lair:2   | Received a gift from Trog
 16289 | Lair:2   | Found a labyrinth entrance.
 16301 | Lab      | Entered a labyrinth
 16503 | Lab      | Noticed a minotaur
 16510 | Lab      | Killed a minotaur
 16538 | Lab      | Got a scorched ivory ring
 16541 | Lab      | Identified Sif Muna's Reference Book on Supportive Necromancy
 16548 | Lair:2   | Identified the ring of Gozag's Wrath {rElec rF+ Str+4 Dex-5} (You found it in a labyrinth)
 16858 | Lair:2   | Reached skill level 15 in Long Blades
 17316 | Lair:3   | Noticed Gastronok
 17338 | Lair:3   | Killed Gastronok
 17557 | Lair:3   | Found a basalt altar of Yredelemnul.
 17893 | Lair:3   | Reached skill level 5 in Short Blades
 18194 | Lair:4   | Found a staircase to the Snake Pit.
 18232 | Lair:4   | Reached XP level 14. HP: 74/127 MP: 16/16
 18241 | Lair:4   | Reached skill level 5 in Evocations
 18266 | Lair:4   | Reached ****** piety under Trog
 18562 | Lair:4   | Found a staircase to the Swamp.
 19199 | Lair:5   | Reached skill level 16 in Long Blades
 19245 | Lair:5   | Received a gift from Trog
 19312 | Lair:5   | Noticed Kirke
 19323 | Lair:5   | Killed Kirke
 19725 | Lair:6   | Noticed Josephine
 19747 | Lair:6   | Killed Josephine
 19870 | Lair:6   | Got a translucent platinum ring
 19884 | Lair:6   | Identified the ring of Timoch {SustAt Str+5 Stlth-} (You found it on level 6 of the Lair of Beasts)
 19919 | Lair:6   | You fall through a shaft for 2 floors!
 19919 | Lair:8   | Entered Level 8 of the Lair of Beasts
 20698 | Lair:8   | Reached skill level 17 in Long Blades
 20757 | Lair:8   | Received a gift from Trog
 20815 | Lair:8   | HP: 9/195 [komodo dragon (15)]
 20819 | Lair:8   | HP: 3/195 [komodo dragon (6)]
 20824 | Lair:8   | HP: 3/195 [poisoned by a spiny frog]
 20829 | Lair:8   | HP: 2/130 [poisoned by a spiny frog]
 20834 | Lair:8   | HP: 4/130 [poisoned by a spiny frog]
 21406 | Lair:7   | Reached XP level 15. HP: 137/137 MP: 18/18
 21630 | Lair:7   | Found a staircase to the Slime Pits.
 22512 | Orc:1    | Entered Level 1 of the Orcish Mines
 22981 | Orc:2    | Entered Level 2 of the Orcish Mines
 22994 | Orc:2    | Received a gift from Trog
 23026 | Orc:2    | Found a staircase to the Elven Halls.
 23209 | Orc:2    | Reached skill level 10 in Shields
 23227 | Orc:2    | Received a gift from Trog
 23322 | Orc:2    | Found Laadgh's General Store.
 23322 | Orc:2    | Found Zasaoclu's Food Shoppe.
 23322 | Orc:2    | Found Lutoinenk's Armour Emporium.
 23322 | Orc:2    | Found Laseos's Food Shop.
 23329 | Orc:2    | Bought a +2 pair of gloves of dexterity for 301 gold pieces
 23329 | Orc:2    | Bought the +2 cloak of Starlight {rElec rC+ EV+4 Stlth--} for 693 gold pieces
 23692 | D:13     | Found a gate to the Vaults.
 23692 | D:13     | Noticed Donald
 23692 | D:13     | Noticed Norris
 23692 | D:13     | Noticed Rupert
 23701 | D:12     | Killed Rupert
 23701 | D:12     | Reached skill level 18 in Long Blades
 23824 | D:12     | Killed Donald
 24061 | D:12     | Killed Norris
 24180 | D:13     | Found Qomopreu's Book Boutique.
 24846 | D:13     | Received a gift from Trog
 25192 | D:14     | Noticed Cuiraom's ghost (journeyman MiFi)
 25206 | D:14     | Killed Cuiraom's ghost
 25361 | D:14     | Reached XP level 16. HP: 147/147 MP: 20/20
 25738 | D:15     | Entered Level 15 of the Dungeon
 25994 | D:15     | Found a staircase to the Depths.
 26040 | D:15     | Received a gift from Trog
 26349 | D:15     | Got a faintly humming plate armour
 26360 | D:15     | Identified the +7 plate armour of the Snake Pit {rN+ Int+6} (You found it on level 15 of the Dungeon)
 26503 | D:15     | Found a shimmering altar of Xom.

Skill      XL: |  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 |
---------------+-------------------------------------------------+-----
Fighting       |     4        5     6  7  8  9 10 11 12 13 14    | 14.7
Armour         |     4           5  6  7  8  9 10 12             | 12.7
Dodging        |     1     2     3  4  6  7  8  9 10          11 | 11.1
Long Blades    |        3     4  5  7  9 10 12 13 14 15 17 18    | 18.9
Maces & Flails |                                2                |  2.6
Short Blades   |                                2     5  7       |  7.3
Throwing       |                                2                |  2.3
Stealth        |                                1                |  1.7
Shields        |                                5  6  7  8 11    | 11.9
Unarmed Combat |                                1           2  3 |  3.1
Invocations    |                                1           2  3 |  3.4
Evocations     |                                1     4  6  7  8 |  8.2
Spellcasting   |                                                 |  0.2

Action                   |  1- 3 |  4- 6 |  7- 9 | 10-12 | 13-15 | 16-18 || total
-------------------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------++-------
Melee: Long sword        |    94 |   185 |   439 |    83 |       |       ||   801
       Mace              |       |       |     4 |       |       |       ||     4
       Great sword       |       |       |       |   530 |   124 |       ||   654
       Dagger            |       |       |       |    19 |       |       ||    19
       Scimitar          |       |       |       |    15 |    42 |       ||    57
       Double sword      |       |       |       |       |  1006 |   184 ||  1190
Invok: Berserk           |       |       |     1 |     4 |     4 |       ||     9
       Trog's Hand       |       |       |     1 |     3 |     1 |       ||     5
       Brothers in Arms  |       |       |       |     2 |       |       ||     2
 Abil: Evoke Flight      |       |       |       |     1 |       |       ||     1
  Use: Potion            |       |       |     3 |     8 |     1 |       ||    12
       Scroll            |       |       |     2 |    18 |     3 |       ||    23
  Eat: Chunk             |       |     9 |    11 |    26 |    40 |     3 ||    89
       Bread ration      |       |       |     1 |     1 |       |       ||     2


I cleared all of Lair, Orc, and Dungeon. Where should I go next? What should I equip to make that branch the easiest? I can Get full rF with different equipment. My game has been very generous on item creation this time.

Never beat the game, closest I ever go was to final Zot floor but died to Orbs of Fire.

[Damiac]

I have to disagree with the complaints about merfolk.  Having a +4 polearm apt means you get to use the biggest polearm you can find pretty easily.  I notice you guys keep talking about demon tridents, but the 2 handers are significantly more damaging, and if you're having a tough time killing enemies fast enough, that might be something to consider.

Secondly, they have a good dodging apt (+2 or +3, I don't remember).  That means they have really good defense most of the time, as long as you train some dodging.  And although they have a negative armor apt, later on there's enough xp to train it a bit.  You probably don't want to wear gold dragon armor on a merfolk or anything, but you don't have to stay in leather either.

Another strong point is that in the water, they have incredible move speed (0.6 delay) and get a substantial boost to EV.  If you can fight from the water as a merfolk, do it.  Being able to cross water without flying is also nice, but not really a gamechanger.

Gladiator is a fantastic match for merfolks, start off training dodge and polearms, and just use the most damaging polearm you can find.  Oka or trog are the obvious choices, but Ru can be great, as well as most any other god (probably not veh, kiku, or sif though)
Another great choice is skald. You get quick access to regeneration (merfolk have a good charms apt too), and infusion is better than nothing early on.  Spectral shroud is surprisingly useful, it's always a good move to cast it before a fight if possible.  Spectral weapon with a polearm is just ridiculous, you can stand in a corridor and have the spectral weapon behind you, almost doubling your damage output for just 4 mp.

Merfolk's biggest weakness is probably HP.  They have a neutral HP apt, but they do have +1 fighting apt, which helps.  So they're not exactly weak in this area, but compared to some of the more fighty races, their HP pool feels a bit low.  Still, they're better off than elves.

As a quick aside, polearms are roughly equal to axes in terms of damage/xp invested, but you get reaching instead of cleaving.  If you take the first free hit you get against most enemies due to reaching, polearms actually are the most damaging weapon for short fights.  The longer the fight goes on, the less significant that first free hit is, of course.

As another quick aside, if you're looking for a different play experience(and possibly a pretty easy win) try a statue form troll.  Start off as a troll TM or EE, then basically ignore your background and play as an unarmed troll fighter until a book with statue form shows up(hopefully it will).  Then, learn statue form, and train earth and transmutations until you can cast it.  Then, laugh in an evil voice and proceed to stomp the rest of the game.  I've won two 15 rune statue trolls, which is the same number of trolls I've had who can cast statue form.  Seriously, you can basically tab the rest of the game down once you can cast statue form as a troll.