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[TheDarkStar]

As it turns out, you can find a dragon hide on D:1. I died later in the run, but it's the best one I've had - I made it all the way to Lair:1 and killed the first hydra I found (but died to the second).

[EnigmaticHat]

Nemelex on a troll serves to provide magic options to give you burst and escape.  You want to stack decks of escape with useful things to, well escape.  Like shafts.  The other decks can be pretty freely drawn from.  In the lategame, its true your cards won't be as powerful as a dedicated spellcaster, but its rare that a single action will beat Drawing Four from a legendary deck of war.  It also plays well with your aptitudes since you already benefit from evocations anyway.

[spümpkin]

Okay, so I'm playing a run as a gargoyle fighter, with a flail. Hopefully this doesn't flail immediately.

[spümpkin]

I actually had a decent run for once (decent for me being getting past a group of orcs) but then I got cocky and decided to fight the orc wizard on the previous floor, and I died, whilst also being chased around by a water mocassin and a worker ant.

[moondowner]

I found that a Deep Dwarf Warrior is generally a fool-proof combination for the early game. Damage shaving is great early on, especially as anti-poison thing, and the rechargable healing wand is huge. Even without much luck or skill involved gets me to Lair almost each time. Later, in the sub-branches of the Lair and in the Orc Mines, things inevitably get dicy. And I die.

[Damiac]

Well, nobody made a recommendation, so I decided to run a Kobold Necromancer and... in the latest trunk, their book doesn't have bolt of draining anymore.  Well.... that sucks. I know super good players say necromancers are already strong, but most... normal players think they're a bit weak, which I would agree with.  Well now they're weaker! I guess this means Kiku is more valuable for a necro now, since their only damaging spell in the starting book is pain, which is nice, but not enough for lair.  Kiku also helps out quite a bit by being able to airdrop corpses to you, which is obviously very helpful for a necromancer.

Anyway, the lack of bolt of draining isn't what killed me, although it would have presented a problem in the longer term.  Nope, what killed me was getting cocky after I found a dagger of venom (they are really nice early game) and charging headlong into an orc priest.  Splat! No streak for me this time.

Then I decided to go with a Troll Monk, hoping to eventually get statue form.  But instead, I got cocky after killing things really quick, charged headlong into an orc priest, and splatted. 

So... orc priests are dangerous in the early game, no matter how powerful you feel.  Don't charge into them...

[flame99]

Orc priests have smite, which only requires line of sight--even if there's glass, bars, enemies, or anything else that'd block, say, an arrow but not sight. And smite is pretty damn mean to begin with. Anything that smite-targets isn't something you want to charge into; hide around a corner and let them come to you, if at all possible. This also has the advantage of funneling the priest's followers so you can take them out with relative ease.

[Damiac]

Oh, believe me, I know better, it's just after winning a 15 runer with a practically invincible merfolk, it's hard to get back into the mentality of being properly afraid of orc priests again. 

By the way, smite will not go through glass, although I'm pretty sure you're right about the rest of the list.  Yes, backing off around a corner is the right way to deal with them, in fact, it's really the right way to deal with almost every ranged enemy in the game.  But knowing is only half the battle, the other half is actually doing it.  And pressing tab is so much easier than stopping and thinking for a second!

[Arcvasti]

Oh, believe me, I know better, it's just after winning a 15 runer with a practically invincible merfolk, it's hard to get back into the mentality of being properly afraid of orc priests again. 

I just got into the habit of treating them like I would hellfire/torment users. Which is to say, charge in with no thought for my own survival and apply violence.

[TheDarkStar]

And I died in Lair:8. I probably should have just skipped that floor and gone down the subbranches.

[Micro102]

And I died in Lair:8. I probably should have just skipped that floor and gone down the subbranches.

I tend to finish Lair completely, then the rest of the normal dungeon, then go back and work on the lair sub-branches.

[Arcvasti]

I found that a Deep Dwarf Warrior is generally a fool-proof combination for the early game. Damage shaving is great early on, especially as anti-poison thing, and the rechargable healing wand is huge. Even without much luck or skill involved gets me to Lair almost each time. Later, in the sub-branches of the Lair and in the Orc Mines, things inevitably get dicy. And I die.

Its obviously not fool-proof because I suck at Deep Dwarves. Too miserly to use their wand properly.


So apparently Lightning Spire is absurdly good. That + Summon Ice Beast makes Lair a cakewalk with proper positioning. Also, after looking for a good race for Summoners[Mummies have low aptitudes and Tengu/Deep Elves are hella squishy], I decided on Felid for my Summoner. I accidentally quaffed a mutation potion, which gave me fire breath. The fire breath REALLY helped and shored up a Summoner's weaknesses admirably. So then I died as that char and realized Draconians make really good Summoners.

[frostshotgg]

I'm partial to Vampire Summoners.

[Moron]

Well, nobody made a recommendation, so I decided to run a Kobold Necromancer and... in the latest trunk, their book doesn't have bolt of draining anymore.  Well.... that sucks.

I don't think bolt of draining has ever been in the necromancer starting book - it used to have Dispel Undead back in 0.10 or something, and the spell that gave a temporary draining brand to your weapon (can't remember the name) was also removed.

Necromancer is a strong background because even after they got nerfed, animate skeleton and animate dead scale up very effectively as you go down into the dungeon, without requiring much skill investment. They are still useful in Zot, as the power of the allies they produce depends only on the type of corpses and not on spellpower - unlike say conjurations or summoning that need high skill levels to be effective in the late game.

You may wish to invest heavily in necromancy to get the higher level spells as well, but it is not necessary and can free up a lot of XP for other things.

[TheDarkStar]

I made it a lot further this time. I cleared Dungeon, Lair, and Orcish Mines but I died on the last floor of Shoals.