Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[BurnedToast]

Aww, but I don't want to kill the healer!

Can I... Can I change my alignment? Yes, the wiki says I can, with an altar.

ED: Well, the point just became moot as I was killed by a minotaur. WELP.

Well you're dead so it's too late but... what I do if I don't find an altar is kill the crime lord in holeinthewall which gives you a nice lawful boost, then tell the sheriff in terenyo and he gives you a deputy badge (blessed amulet of law). Wear that sucker and it pulls your alignment up - warning, if you are chaotic, it burns which does minor damage and can kill you (eventually) so just run in circles around the healer with it on, having him heal you when you're close to death. Once you hit N- he will teach you, and plus the amulet won't hurt you anymore (it just itches after that point) so you can go all the way to L+ easily after that.

the bandit leader is really easy to kill if you picked long stride (you really should always pick this anyway) and any sort of ranged attack (stockpile rocks and use a sling if you have to). Don't try to melee him because you WILL lose. He's also worth a decent chunk of EXP so even if you are N or L already (or even C and already finished his quests) you might as well kill him at some point.

[Soadreqm]

How does unarmed damage hold up compared to weapons? I've got this tenth-level gray elven monk who gets +26 to hit and 1d18+6 to damage with her fists, and really nothing to compare that to.

EDIT:
Also, how many different ways are there to deal with cursed items? I've been stuck with a useless leather girdle and want to switch to a different girdle. Also body armour.

[Vibhor]

I want a character that can actually finish the game.
Could anybody give me pointers on what to choose and what to do?

[RedKing]

How does unarmed damage hold up compared to weapons? I've got this tenth-level gray elven monk who gets +26 to hit and 1d18+6 to damage with her fists, and really nothing to compare that to.

EDIT:
Also, how many different ways are there to deal with cursed items? I've been stuck with a useless leather girdle and want to switch to a different girdle. Also body armour.

Your monk is doing pretty well. An average long sword, for instance does 1d8+Str bonus. Now, something like an eternium two-handed sword of devastation is still going to outwallop your monk for a while, but the nice thing with monks is that their damage output goes up as they level. A high-level monk can be a terrifying asskicker. Yours is probably hindered by being a grey elf (the least brawny race in the game, 'cept for maybe hurthlings) but will be compensated by a better ability to learn and use magic. And crazy high dexterity.

As far as dealing with cursed items:
1. Take off and drop all other items and read a scroll of item destruction.
2. Scroll of uncursing. If you read a blessed scroll of uncursing, it'll remove the curse from all worn items.
3. Dip it in holy water (which changes the 'cursed' status to 'blessed'). Holy water is relatively easy to come by once you have a co-aligned altar.
4. If it's metallic, you can try to let a rust monster rust it until it disintegrates.
5. If it's a weapon (or gloves, if you go weaponless), you can try hitting gray oozes with it until it disintegrates.

[Gamerlord]

I usually just go to the ToEF to burn them off.

Anyway: Whats the best race and talents for monks?

[RedKing]

I usually just go to the ToEF to burn them off.

That's a good trick. Hadn't thought of that, although I wouldn't recommend it for a low-level character.

Anyway: Whats the best race and talents for monks?

Since monk damage is level-dependent, you want XP and high carrying capacity (any level of burden wipes out your martial arts bonuses). Obviously, troll monk is not made of win (although if you could eventually level one up, the strength and constitution bonuses would make them a brute and they'd have the carrying capacity to be doing flying dragon kicks in full plate mail).

I usually go with humans (no XP penalty) or high-elves (very minor XP penalty plus some resistances and dex/learn bonus). Dwarves also work well, and they're a bit easier to keep alive in the early game. Orcs make for an interesting choice, because you get brownie points for sacrificing weapons, and as a monk melee weapons are generally useless to you.

As far as talents:
 
Good Learner is CRUCIAL, since it's actually a +40% bonus to xp instead of the listed +2%. (Don't get Great Learner, as it's bugged and actually reduces the bonus back down to +20%.). As stated before, XP is your bread and butter as a monk.

Porter/Master Packager/Beast of Burden is a very useful talent set as well, because you want to keep that carrying capacity as high as possible. Girdles of Carrying are your best friend as a monk.

Quick/Very Quick/Greased Lightning are always useful, but as a monk you'll be pretty light on your feet anyways.

Brawler isn't worth it. +2 to hit is minor, and it's a waste of a talent pick.

Defensive Fighter and associated defense-boosting talents aren't that useful because Unarmed Fighting gives you boosts to DV anyways.

Hardy/Tough Skin/Iron Skin/Steel Skin on the other hand, gives you much-needed PV boosts. Since you're not likely to be wearing good PV armor, unless you find an elven chain mail or wear Rehetep's robes, these can save your life against something like quicklings that almost always hit regardless of DV. If you're a dwarven monk, you can go up to Mithril Skin which gives you a +3 to PV.

[Il Palazzo]

Re: dealing with cursed items - ratling fencers can take care of any cursed weapon you're wielding. Not recommended for low-level characters though.

I want a character that can actually finish the game.
Could anybody give me pointers on what to choose and what to do?

My personal favourite is Human Barbarian, but I also won with Gnome Elementalist. As for what to do(with a barbarian) - I always did the dungeons in this order: puppy cave-(hunting for Kranach if he's still around - ask sheriff)-small cave(can't wait any longer or you'll die on the first level due to being too experienced; also, use any means you've got to rush to the next level down)-carpenter's cave(need bridge building manual)-foreboding tunnel with
Also:

Spoiler: slightly spoiler'y I suppose (click to show/hide)

Stick with two-handed weapons.
Remember what was the first critter you killed and talk to the old barbarian in the forest once you're lvl10+.
Don't kill any cats. Give them rats' corpses, play a tune(if you can), teleport yourself or them away, create/use existing traps to dispose of them, just don't ever hit them.
Use amulets of order/balance whenever you need to change alingment.
Learn pickpocket south of Terinyo, and steal from monsters until you're accepted in the thieves guild(can't be lawful so do it early), then learn all the skills they teach.
Win in the arena(make sure you've got a wand of teleportation with you, or at least wands of trap creation to deal with feline opponents) and trade the prize for training in the dwarven pub.
Make a stash for your valuable scrolls and potions(like cure corruption). Old barbarian's glade is good for this purpose.
Buy all the fried lizards from arena's ratling vendors you can. Stash the excess.
Never sell all your "sis". Always keep at least one.
Visit the pyramid soon after receiving an invitation(the gate closes if you're too experienced) - possibly do this before the last battle in the Arena, as the loot from the Pyramid may help you out immensely.
Find an altar(Lawful is best as it's hard to stay neutral later on), and sacrifice living monsters(not cats!) and shit until you're championed.
If you get an artifact morningstar, or are blessed with fire immunity as a result of the above, head for the tower of flames(you need to sort some stuff in the lower levels of the main dungeon before you're allowed to enter)
Train Bridge Building so you can walk over the piranha lake in the N-W-most dungeon.
Bless water at altars and bless everything valuable with it. Potions, scrolls, girdles of carrying, seven league boots etc.
When in the wilderness, use survival to get food.
Loot graves!
Should you find yourself missing gold/some item/exp - dress down to flame resistant items, drop all your scrolls and potions, and go hunting dragons in the mountains.

[RedKing]

My personal favourite is Human Barbarian, but I also won with Gnome Elementalist. As for what to do(with a barbarian) - I always did the dungeons in this order: puppy cave-(hunting for Kranach if he's still around - ask sheriff)-small cave(can't wait any longer or you'll die on the first level due to being too experienced; also, use any means you've got to rush to the next level down)-carpenter's cave(need bridge building manual)-foreboding tunnel with
Also:

Spoiler: slightly spoiler'y I suppose (click to show/hide)

Stick with two-handed weapons.
Remember what was the first critter you killed and talk to the old barbarian in the forest once you're lvl10+.
Don't kill any cats. Give them rats' corpses, play a tune(if you can), teleport yourself or them away, create/use existing traps to dispose of them, just don't ever hit them.
Use amulets of order/balance whenever you need to change alingment.
Learn pickpocket south of Terinyo, and steal from monsters until you're accepted in the thieves guild(can't be lawful so do it early), then learn all the skills they teach.
Win in the arena(make sure you've got a wand of teleportation with you, or at least wands of trap creation to deal with feline opponents) and trade the prize for training in the dwarven pub.
Make a stash for your valuable scrolls and potions(like cure corruption). Old barbarian's glade is good for this purpose.
Buy all the fried lizards from arena's ratling vendors you can. Stash the excess.
Never sell all your "sis". Always keep at least one.
Visit the pyramid soon after receiving an invitation(the gate closes if you're too experienced) - possibly do this before the last battle in the Arena, as the loot from the Pyramid may help you out immensely.
Find an altar(Lawful is best as it's hard to stay neutral later on), and sacrifice living monsters(not cats!) and shit until you're championed.
If you get an artifact morningstar, or are blessed with fire immunity as a result of the above, head for the tower of flames(you need to sort some stuff in the lower levels of the main dungeon before you're allowed to enter)
Train Bridge Building so you can walk over the piranha lake in the N-W-most dungeon.
Bless water at altars and bless everything valuable with it. Potions, scrolls, girdles of carrying, seven league boots etc.
When in the wilderness, use survival to get food.
Loot graves!
Should you find yourself missing gold/some item/exp - dress down to flame resistant items, drop all your scrolls and potions, and go hunting dragons in the mountains.

Interesting...I often make some rather different choices.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

If I start with Healing, I do the small cave first, work my way down and back to the High Mountain Village, then back to the main map. Then I'll do the Druid's quest and get Herbalism, or if I've already got that, take the "power" reward and get a wand of cold. If you have a wand of cold or two, and several scrolls of charging (or even better, learn the Ice Bolt spell) you don't need Bridge Building. Bridge Building is a pain in the ass anyways for the sheer amount of time it takes to chop down trees, carry multiple 800s logs into the dungeon, build a bridge segment, rinse and repeat, etc.

Since I'm often going for an Ultra ending, I sometimes give the Golden Gladius to the demented ratling, since it's tough to come by six artifacts. The black torc, the ancient scythe and the gladius are three guaranteed ones that you can get by early-mid game. After that, you have to hope you get lucky and/or try getting crowned.

[Il Palazzo]

You can't really rely on ice bolts as an alternative to bridges when you're playing a barbarian. The sheer weight of weapons and armour you're going to be wearing is bound to break the ice.

[RedKing]

There's only one place in the game where a bridge is absolutely required, and there shouldn't be a combat on the other side. Drop everything so you're below 1000s, cross over, get the ring, come back.

[Gamerlord]

Another quick question: Can someone explain Priests, Druids and Elementalists to me please? They don't make much sense and I don't know how to play them or what their strengths are.

[C27]

You use them to zap things.

Priests get the useful Detect Item Status skill, and get more piety bonus from sacrificing to their deities. They don't usually start with a particularly useful spellbook, though, so you'll probably have to melee in the beginning. On the other hand, I think they're the most durable caster you can get.

Druids always get Lightning Bolt, and natural, unsummoned animals are peaceful to them. They also get nature skills, which are not that big of a deal. They always start out N=, which can help various races be able to get the quests/rewards that they couldn't otherwise.
 
Elementalists automatically learn some offensive spells, but I don't think they find spellbooks as often as other casters and their skills are not great. However, you'll practically never run out of castings of your cheaper spells like Burning Hands.

[vogonpoet]

I am a bit late, but for those using the bridge building skill, seriously, just don't

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

That one bridge you almost need (the item is a convenience only after all, although admittedly a major convenience) is a long way from any forests, and lugging logs around is a pain in the ass. You don't need spells or a wand either - I like to use an Ogre Mage from the levels above to freeze all the strange red water, so that even if I get confused, I don't need to clean my ears, which always feels exploity.

Also, for those hating on the Sherrif - IMO Human Archers are the best characters for entering Terinyo at level one and not leaving until all the villagers are dead.

[Satarus]

Drakeling monk is also pretty nice.  Drakeling gives you a nice acid range attack and the monks innate hunger reduction synergizes well with it.  Since you get a penalty for using shields, just use a great 2 hand weapon.  You could also try 2 weapon fighting, but that has a lot of hit penalties early on.  Also monks can cast spells with a little bit of work and that can be a big lifesaver.  Just don't expect to cast some of the more advanced stuff.  Still being able to book cast spells like darkness and strength of atlas are super useful.

[Akura]

I wonder what some of the worst race/class combos are. Just to have a fun time trying them later.

<Any> Elf Fighter?
Hurthling Monk?
Troll Elementalist(this one is actually a pretty bad choice, Elems need levels to gain spells)?
Troll Healer? Troll Farmer?

I'd try Dwarf Druid, but I know that particular combination will probably destroy the universe. Impossible paradoxes and all.