CrawlWiki - User contributions [en]

Player ghost

2016-04-27T14:08:23Z

Rezek: added strategic use of stairs to tips and tricks

{{version013}}
{{no-bot-monster
|name=player ghost
|glyph={{White|p}}
|tile=[[File:Ghost.png]]
|flags={{Fighter flag}} {{Speaks flag}} {{Spellcaster flag}} {{Actual spells flag}} {{Flying flag}} {{Evil flag}} {{Unique flag}} {{Insubstantial flag}}
|resistances={{Constriction resistance}}, {{Poison resistance}}, Varies
|vulnerabilities={{Holy vulnerability}}, Varies
|max_chunks=0
|meat={{No corpse}}
|xp=~
|holiness={{Undead}}
|magic_resistance=~
|hp_range=~
|avg_hp=~
|armour_class=~
|evasion=~
|habitat=land
|speed=~
|size={{Medium}}
|item_use={{Open doors}}
|attack1=4-50, damage and brand depends on character
|attack2=
|attack3=
|attack4=
|hit_dice=~
|base_hp=2
|extra_hp=3
|fixed_hp=0
|intelligence={{High intelligence}}
|genus=player ghost
|species=player ghost
}}
{{Flavour|The apparition of an unfortunate adventurer.}}

==Useful Info==
A '''player ghost''' is generated when your character dies, unless at Dungeon level 1 or 2, or in the [[Ecumenical Temple]].

Undead characters don't leave ghosts (but may carry previously existing ghosts on this level). If you die on a level that already has (player's) ghosts that were not killed, they will be added to the same ghost file, making several ghosts appear on this level later on.

The maximum number of ghosts that are saved (including the one you just generated unless you were an Undead) depend on the level depth:

*1 for Dungeon levels 3-9, [[Orcish Mines]] level 1 or Lair level 1.
*2 for Dungeon levels 10-15 or any other levels in the Orcish Mines or [[the Lair]].
*9 for any level in [[Pandemonium]], [[the Abyss]], [[the Crypt]], [[the Tomb]], [[the Realm of Zot]] or Dungeon levels 23-27.
*1, plus 5*(L+1)% chance of a second one, plus 2.5*(L+1)% chance of another one on any other level, where L is the level depth.

Each time a player on the same server (or computer if you're playing locally) enters a level for which a ghost was saved, there's a 33% chance that this ghost (and eventual other ones it is carrying with it) will be generated in that level. The ghost file is deleted in the process, which means that it won't be generated again later, unless you die on this level without having killed the ghost(s), in which case the ghost may appear again if the level has enough space for it. For levels with multiple ghosts, the oldest ones will be deleted first, meaning that even extremely overpowered ghosts will rarely have more than one or two victims.

==Ghost Properties==
Ghost stats:

*When your ghost is created, its stats are defined as follow:
**Its max [[HP]], [[AC]] and [[EV]] are equal to yours when you died.
**Its number of [[hit dice]] is equal to your experience level.
**Its cold, fire and electricity resistances are equal to yours when you died.
**It gains poison and sticky flame resistance.
**If you were able to see invisible, so does the ghost.
**Its base speed is equal to 10, minus 1 for Nagas, +2 for Felids, +3 for Centaurs and Spriggans, +2 if you were wearing boots of running. The final base speed can never be less than 6 or greater than 13. Ghosts are levitating, so it will be able to cross water or lava.
**If you were a [[Deep Dwarf]], the ghost won't be able to regenerate,
**Its damage is determined by the weapon you were wielding and your skill levels:
***If you had a weapon in hand, the base damage is equal to the weapon's base damage, increased by 4% per skill level you had for this weapon. In addition, the attacks will have the eventual weapon brand.
***If you had no weapon in hand, the base damage is 4 plus your [[Unarmed Combat]] skill, plus your experience level if you were a Troll.
***This base damage is then increased by 3.3% per [[Fighting]] skill, then increased by 0.25 times your Strength. Total damage is capped at 50.
**If you knew spells, the ghost may still be able to cast up to 6 of them. See below for the mechanics.
**Ghosts of level 7+ Draconians also have a high chance of being able to breathe Bolts of Draining (30 accuracy, 3d(2*HD) damage where HD was your experience level).

The experience level of a ghost is indicated in their description with one of the following adjectives:

{| class="prettytable"
!Ghost description
!Experience level
|-
|weakling
|1 to 3
|-
|average
|4 to 6
|-
|experienced
|7 to 10
|-
|powerful
|11 to 15
|-
|mighty
|16 to 21
|-
|great
|22 to 25
|-
|awesomely powerful
|26
|-
|legendary
|27
|}

==Spellcasting==
Like all monsters, ghosts have six spell slots. Specifically, the code scans the deceased character's spells (excluding any with a failure rate of more than 50%) to try to come up with a set of six that fits the following pattern, biased towards the character's most dangerous spells:

*Slot 1: A conjuration.
*Slot 2: A second conjuration, distinct from Slot 1.
*Slot 3: A summoning or self-enchantment spell.
*Slot 4: A hostile enchantment spell, or, failing that, another conjuration (can be a repeat of Slot 1 or 2).
*Slot 5: Another hostile enchantment different from Slot 4, or, failing that, a conjuration different from Slot 4 (but not necessarily Slot 1 or 2). This spell slot will always be filled by [[Dig]] if the player possessed it, however.
*Slot 6: An emergency spell. The only one available to ghosts is Blink.

The specific logic is as follows:

===Conjurations Slots===
The ghost wants the following (mostly) direct-damage spells, in order of preference. These spells fill the first, second, and possibly fourth and fifth slots. Note that not all of the spells on this and subsequent lists are possible for players to have. Pan lords are generated using the same code to pick random spells, and they can have such spells. Also, to some extent the code is simply outdated.

Conjuration slot spells: [[Lehudib's Crystal Spear]], [[Fire Storm]], [[Ice Storm]], [[Chain Lightning]], [[Bolt of Draining]], [[Agony]], [[Lightning Bolt]], [[Airstrike]], [[Sticky Flame]], [[Iskenderun's Mystic Blast]], [[Orb of Destruction]], [[Bolt of Magma]], [[Throw Icicle]], [[Bolt of Fire]], [[Bolt of Cold]], [[Fireball]], [[Delayed Fireball]], [[Venom Bolt]], [[Iron Shot]], [[Lee's Rapid Deconstruction]], [[Stone Arrow]], [[Dazzling Spray]], [[Force Lance]], [[Throw Flame]], [[Throw Frost]], [[Freeze]], [[Pain]], [[Sting]], [[Shock]], [[Sandblast]], [[Magic Dart]], [[Ensorcelled Hibernation]], [[Flame Tongue]], [[Corona]]

===Summonings/Charms Slot===
These are the spells the ghost wants for its third slot, mostly Summonings and Charms, again in order of preference.

Self-enchantment/Summoning slot spells: [[Summon Greater Demon]], [[Summon Horrible Things]], [[Summon Dragon]], [[Haunt]], [[Summon Hydra]], [[Summon Demon]], [[Demonic Horde]], [[Haste]], [[Silence]], [[Iskenderun's Battlesphere]], [[Summon Butterflies]], [[Summon Elemental]], [[Summon Swarm]], [[Summon Ugly Thing]], [[Swiftness]], [[Summon Ice Beast]], [[Animate Dead]], [[Invisibility]], [[Summon Scorpions]], [[Call Imp]], [[Summon Small Mammals]], [[Malign Gateway]], [[Controlled Blink]], [[Blink]]

===Hostile Enchantments Slots===
These spells will be chosen for the fourth and fifth slots; if the dead character did not have any of them, the code will then try to pick a spell from the first list, possibly allowing duplicates.

Hostile enchantments: [[Shatter]], [[Agony]], [[Banishment]], [[Freezing Cloud]], [[Ozocubu's Refrigeration]], [[Olgreb's Toxic Radiance]], [[Mass Confusion]], [[Metabolic Englaciation]], [[Dispel Undead]], [[Conjure Ball Lightning]], [[Paralyse]], [[Confuse]], [[Mephitic Cloud]], [[Slow]], [[Petrify]], [[Polymorph Other]], [[Teleport Other]], [[Dig]], [[Corona]]

===Emergency Spell===
This sixth spell will be an "emergency spell". While previously this included [[Teleport Self]] and even some ancient self-healing spells, now it only includes [[Blink]] (monsters do not distinguish between the controlled and uncontrolled versions).

==Tips & Tricks==

Player ghosts can be extremely dangerous, often on a par with the most dangerous [[unique]]s for the dungeon depth. There are a number of strategies for dealing with them:
* First and foremost, remember that they are trapped on the level they spawn on. If you facing a ghost that seems like it might kill you, remember that you absolutely don't have to face it now. Skip it and come back to it later.
* You can e'''x'''amine the ghost to get its species, class, and a rough idea of its level when it died. This can give you a good impression of how dangerous it is, but be aware that this may not show everything (e.g. an average KoFi might be a little more dangerous if it was wielding a weapon of electrocution when it died).
* If you have it, [[Dispel Undead]] will make short work of ghosts, bypassing their defenses entirely. This can be particularly useful against later ghosts, who will often have much higher defenses than most monsters.
* Be careful around [[draconian]] ghosts with XL>=7: they are almost guaranteed to have a nasty [[bolt of draining]] attack.
* If you fight the ghost while you are standing on [[stairs]], you can escape quickly at any time because the ghost cannot follow you. Just remember that it takes a little while to use stairs, so it's best to start climbing them as soon as you notice that the ghost is dealing a lot more damage to you than you are to it.
* If a ghost has <50% HP and you leave the level it's on, it will teleport away, and likely not be near the stairs when you return.
* You can check the morgue of the dead character if you wish to see exactly spells/abilities/defenses a ghost has. On local games, just search through your /morgue folder to find it; on public servers, you can usually use one of the IRC bots to find the dumplog: start by searching for deaths on the level you're on, and stop when you find the player whose ghost you are encountering.
If you are playing a local game (i.e. are not on a public server) and are encountering many of your own ghosts, there are a few steps you can take to remedy the situation:
* Play undead. They can't add to the problem, and many undead are quite capable of taking out ghosts themselves. [[Ghoul]] [[monk]]s work well as ghostbusters, as do various casting [[vampire]]s.
* Worshiping [[Kikubaaqudgha]] will guarantee you access to [[Dispel Undead]] at *** piety - too late for early ghosts, but great for taking out ghosts in Lair, Orc, and later branches. [[Necromancer]]s will have an easier time getting the spell online.
* Ghost files are deleted if you die on any other level, though this may eventually be changed. Therefore, simply bypassing a ghost if possible ([[travel exclusion]]s can be useful here) is often the best option, not just for your current character but also for future ones.
* If you are desperate or simply find ghosts unfun, deleting the bones files (stored in the /saves directory or similar) is always an option. Be aware that this is often considered [[cheating]], particularly if it is done selectively.

==History==
In [[0.17]], deep dwarf player ghosts now regenerate normally.

[[Category:Featured_Article]]

Rezek's Ogre Warper of The Shining One guide

2016-04-20T16:40:55Z

Rezek: /* Branches */

{{version017}}
{{Advice}}

== Introduction ==

Ogres can use the most fun weapons in the game: [[giant spiked club]]s and [[large rock]]s. They have a number of weaknesses, but I think this combination offsets these nicely and leads to fun gameplay (especially if you can make it to level 10 or so, which is a big if!)

Take a mace as your starting weapon, and start the game by hitting m and focusing Maces & Flails, Throwing, Spellcasting and Translocations, turning off Stealth, Dodging, and Unarmed Combat, and leaving Fighting and Armour on but not focused. You might also hit \ and set javelins, large rocks, stones, throwing nets, and "miscellaneous" to be auto-picked up.

The beginning of the game is a very vulnerable time for you. As usual, be very careful around any enemy you haven't already confronted, and around any uniques. Flee as necessary, especially from [[centaur (monster)|centaurs]] and the [[Sigmund|nastier]] [[Grinder|uniques]], and if a level is very hard remember that the next one may well be easier! Try to use throwing to soften up enemies at a distance, and don't be shy about using up your 5 tomahawks of dispersal -- those need to do damage to work, and as enemies get tougher they quickly become quite unreliable. Potions of lignification are especially good to use at this stage, as well as of course berserk rage. Be very aggressive with any wands you find, especially any evil ones that The Shining One won't allow you to use later. Learn Shroud of Golubria as soon as you reach Level 2, and try to cast it before almost every fight -- often it's worth recasting in the middle too, once it unravels or falls apart. Then learn Blink as soon as you can -- always a wonderful escape spell, and then Portal Projectile. All three of those spells, as well as (to some extent) Apportation, will be useful for the whole game. Other than that at this stage you will mostly be bashing enemies over the head (also works well for the whole game). I'll go over some specific kinds of skills and items I recommend next, and then go back to discussing strategy for the rest of the game.

== Weapon ==

Switch to heavier weapons in the Maces and Flails category as they become available (although a [[electrocution|nice brand]] on a [[whip|lighter weapon]] may also be attractive for a while), culminating in a Giant Spiked Club (by far the most powerful melee weapon in the game), which you will hopefully be able to pick off an Ogre by dungeon level 5 or 10 at the latest. After your attack speed with that becomes average you might turn Maces and Flails back down to a lower level of training (or not!). Save all your enchant weapon scrolls for the GSC, and then use them right away on it. When you find scrolls of brand weapon, wait until you have started worshipping The Shining One, and then use them until you get the [[freezing]] brand -- the best all-purpose brand for a heavy weapon (worshipping TSO rules out many brands, making it quicker to get freezing). Later you will want to pick up and enchant a second GSC, which will get the holy wrath brand once TSO blesses it (more situational but incredibly powerful -- it will deal massive, massive damage to even the nastiest enemies if they are vulnerable to it).

== Throwing ==

Throwing is always useful, although after a little while stones will become underpowered. Tomahawks are always at least OK, and javelins and of course large rocks are amazing and make it worthwhile to keep Throwing focused for the whole game. Portal Projectile is extremely handy to throw past summons, whether your own or the enemy's. Throwing nets can be good too, although TSO's strict code of honor makes them a little more situational.

== The Shining One ==

Start worshipping him as soon as you find an altar, and then focus Invocations and leave it focused for the whole game. All the special abilities will be very useful -- see [[TSO]] for more details. Just be careful not to accidentally harm an ally! Especially handy in your case are the halo for attack accuracy and revealing invisible creatures, free protection from negative energy (saves some precious equipment slots), and blessing your secondary GSC. Summon Divine Warrior is amazing for any player but especially for you and once it's available should be used before any difficult fight. (The same could be said of Divine Shield, although that has a smaller impact).

== Armour ==

Ogres are very limited here -- always keep a sharp eye out for any decent artefact you are capable of wearing (especially if it has a big AC bonus or a nice intrinsic/ability: see the section on Jewellery below for the ones I especially like here). Troll Leather Armour works well, and you might use Swamp Dragon Armour if you can get it for areas with lots of poison. Later on, Quicksilver Dragon Armour and Fire Dragon Armour are both good options, if you don't mind the casting penalty. Nice hats and cloaks tend to be uncommon and you may have to just take what you can find. I usually leave the armour skill on but do not focus it, and ignore dodging altogether.

== Jewellery ==

[[Ring of teleportation|Teleportation]] is great if you can get it, and nice intrinsics include slaying, AC/EV, wizardry, magic resistance, regeneration, fire/cold/poison/electricity resistance, later on corrosion and mutation resistance. Also boosts to Strength/Int can be good. Clarity, stasis, and flight can be good sometimes, as can extra MP and gourmand. You won't be able to have all of it at once, probably, so you will have to switch depending on what branch you are in and what you are fighting.

== Evocations ==

Focus this skill as soon as you find anything that uses it and leave it focused. Use wands liberally, especially early on, except for heal wounds and hasting, which are precious resources. Later on things like sack of spiders, box of beasts, phial of floods, lamp of fire, stone of tremors, fan of gales, and disc of storms will all be handy as you find them, and also any rods you can get, especially rod of inaccuracy, and any decks, especially ornate and legendary ones (save scrolls of identify for those and for good wands -- you can rely on remove curse for a lot of item testing, since you won't be interested in most weapons or armour). Items which summon allies combine nicely with Summon Divine Warrior, and also with summoning spells (see below), and with your trusty Portal Projectile, which allows you to fight while hiding behind allies. Be extremely careful with anything that does damage if you have allies around -- your god will (temporarily) take away all your special abilities if you give any of them even the smallest scratch!

== Magic Schools ==

Mostly these should be trained very little and even switched off -- Spellcasting, where you have a better aptitude, will help here, and should always be focused -- but the following three can be worth training higher:

=== Translocations ===

Phase Shift is a great buff for a low EV character like you. Dispersal can be very nice. Controlled Blink and Disjunction are amazing if you can get them online but that will be late in the game, if at all.

=== Charms ===

Repel Missiles and Swiftness are great for you. Ozocubu's Armour can be excellent if your armour allows it. Spectral Weapon is great. Haste is amazing as always if you find it -- if available this one spell should be made reliably castable at almost any cost (put on rings of wizardry, switch to lighter armour, train the skills exclusively -- whatever it takes). Deflect Missiles is lovely but probably too much trouble to get functioning due to its Air Magic component.

=== Summonings ===

These are great for a melee character, and combine great with Evocations and Divine Warrior. I usually keep the skill focused for as much of the game as possible. Essentially all of the summonings are handy if you can get them working (although some are forbidden by TSO), but some of the lower level ones become underpowered and you might want to forget them later. Again, hiding behind allies and casting Portal Projectile is amazing once you get it working.

== Stats ==

I like to dump every possible stat increase into intelligence, to improve spell success. Strength is another good choice, though.

== Acquirements ==

If there is something you are saving up for in a shop (remember to use the $ key to add things to your shopping list) then gold is probably the best thing to pick if you get a scroll of acquirement. Armour can sometimes be good but more often than not it results in a shield or a crappy robe or something. Book can be a good choice if you are trying to get some of the nice spells listed above. Ammunition can be good too, although large rocks are plentiful in the Depths and Vaults.

== Branches ==

The usual order works well here -- descend the Dungeon until it gets too hard (skipping levels as necessary and coming back to them when you are stronger!), and then try the Lair. Bad situations can often be escaped using random blinking and teleporting until you end up somewhere safe, but it's better if you start the process early when you have lots of health! Also, unless you have a ring of teleport, you won't be able to do this too often. Random blinking by itself is sometimes enough: if you blink in a lucky direction you may be able to run behind a corner or into a hallway where the enemies can't surround you, or you may be able to run away altogether.

Be especially careful when going down any stairs in case there is a nasty ambush (more and more likely the farther along you get!). If there is a [[Trample|trampling]] creature right next to you it will probably knock you off the stairs if you try to climb back up. You can try to escape using the random blinking and teleporting strategy described above, or another option is to use a random blink right away, lure the monsters away from the stairs, and then use a scroll of blinking back onto the stairwell and up once the tramplers are safely away from it.

When the Lair gets too hard try the Orcish Mines, try going deeper into the Dungeon, and later on try Swamp/Shoals/Snake/Spider and Elvish Halls (hopefully you are at least level 15 or so by now). When those become hard try the Depths and the Vaults (you need at least one rune for the latter). The Shining One will make the Crypt and Abyss easier than average for you -- just be liberal with Divine Warriors and Cleansing Flame and use your holy wrath weapon (and of course always be careful -- don't wait too long to summon more allies as needed, or to blink and teleport away in an emergency!). You can probably clear the Crypt as soon as you find it, and start dipping into the Abyss once your level is in the 20s and you have a source of mutation resistance (stay on level 1 at first, and descend for the rune only after making sure you are strong enough for it!).

As always explore the last level of each branch carefully: try all the staircases first and start exploring around the one with the fewest enemies around it, moving in the direction of corners and quiet corridors first if you can find them. Try to advance especially slowly and lure enemies back towards the already cleared areas. (These are good practices always, really, but especially important on those bottom levels). Remember also that skipping a level is always an option to consider, and sometimes skipping a bottom level or a rune is the right thing if there is a [[Mara|very]] [[Nikola|nasty]] [[Lerny|enemy]] in the way or if you are missing some crucial ability or resistance. You can always come back later (possibly much much later!) or just decide to try to ascend without it.

In the case of the Vaults expect a very tough fight the second you set foot on the bottom level (read [[The Vaults|the article]] on that area carefully!). The best thing may be to have the spell Haste and to use that and Portal Projectile to quickly pummel any Vault Wardens and any monsters like dragons that might trample you, and then to run back up the stairs (then kill any monsters that followed you, blinking/teleporting away to safety first if necessary, and repeat the process as many times as necessary). Otherwise you can try random blinking and teleporting as soon as you go down the stairs (keep repeating until you find a relatively quiet spot and then start summoning like crazy) but it might be suicide.

Another good thing to try might be the Slime Pits: if you can make it to the bottom without almost dying (remember there is no need to clear each level here -- there is no loot until the end and the enemies aren't worth a ton of experience for how hard they are) there is a good chance you are strong enough to take on The Royal Jelly (and TRJ is relatively easy to escape from if everything goes to hell).

By now you should be around level 27 and ready to enter Zot and/or the Vestibule of Hell. You can decide if you want to go deeper into Hell/Tomb/Pandemonium and get more loot and runes, or clear Zot and quit while you are ahead (assuming you haven't died yet!). Just as with the Crypt and Abyss the combination of GSC of holy wrath, TSO, and miscellaneous summons is great for those branches, but they are hard!

Rezek's Ogre Warper of The Shining One guide

2016-04-20T16:34:37Z

Rezek: /* Evocations */

{{version017}}
{{Advice}}

== Introduction ==

Ogres can use the most fun weapons in the game: [[giant spiked club]]s and [[large rock]]s. They have a number of weaknesses, but I think this combination offsets these nicely and leads to fun gameplay (especially if you can make it to level 10 or so, which is a big if!)

Take a mace as your starting weapon, and start the game by hitting m and focusing Maces & Flails, Throwing, Spellcasting and Translocations, turning off Stealth, Dodging, and Unarmed Combat, and leaving Fighting and Armour on but not focused. You might also hit \ and set javelins, large rocks, stones, throwing nets, and "miscellaneous" to be auto-picked up.

The beginning of the game is a very vulnerable time for you. As usual, be very careful around any enemy you haven't already confronted, and around any uniques. Flee as necessary, especially from [[centaur (monster)|centaurs]] and the [[Sigmund|nastier]] [[Grinder|uniques]], and if a level is very hard remember that the next one may well be easier! Try to use throwing to soften up enemies at a distance, and don't be shy about using up your 5 tomahawks of dispersal -- those need to do damage to work, and as enemies get tougher they quickly become quite unreliable. Potions of lignification are especially good to use at this stage, as well as of course berserk rage. Be very aggressive with any wands you find, especially any evil ones that The Shining One won't allow you to use later. Learn Shroud of Golubria as soon as you reach Level 2, and try to cast it before almost every fight -- often it's worth recasting in the middle too, once it unravels or falls apart. Then learn Blink as soon as you can -- always a wonderful escape spell, and then Portal Projectile. All three of those spells, as well as (to some extent) Apportation, will be useful for the whole game. Other than that at this stage you will mostly be bashing enemies over the head (also works well for the whole game). I'll go over some specific kinds of skills and items I recommend next, and then go back to discussing strategy for the rest of the game.

== Weapon ==

Switch to heavier weapons in the Maces and Flails category as they become available (although a [[electrocution|nice brand]] on a [[whip|lighter weapon]] may also be attractive for a while), culminating in a Giant Spiked Club (by far the most powerful melee weapon in the game), which you will hopefully be able to pick off an Ogre by dungeon level 5 or 10 at the latest. After your attack speed with that becomes average you might turn Maces and Flails back down to a lower level of training (or not!). Save all your enchant weapon scrolls for the GSC, and then use them right away on it. When you find scrolls of brand weapon, wait until you have started worshipping The Shining One, and then use them until you get the [[freezing]] brand -- the best all-purpose brand for a heavy weapon (worshipping TSO rules out many brands, making it quicker to get freezing). Later you will want to pick up and enchant a second GSC, which will get the holy wrath brand once TSO blesses it (more situational but incredibly powerful -- it will deal massive, massive damage to even the nastiest enemies if they are vulnerable to it).

== Throwing ==

Throwing is always useful, although after a little while stones will become underpowered. Tomahawks are always at least OK, and javelins and of course large rocks are amazing and make it worthwhile to keep Throwing focused for the whole game. Portal Projectile is extremely handy to throw past summons, whether your own or the enemy's. Throwing nets can be good too, although TSO's strict code of honor makes them a little more situational.

== The Shining One ==

Start worshipping him as soon as you find an altar, and then focus Invocations and leave it focused for the whole game. All the special abilities will be very useful -- see [[TSO]] for more details. Just be careful not to accidentally harm an ally! Especially handy in your case are the halo for attack accuracy and revealing invisible creatures, free protection from negative energy (saves some precious equipment slots), and blessing your secondary GSC. Summon Divine Warrior is amazing for any player but especially for you and once it's available should be used before any difficult fight. (The same could be said of Divine Shield, although that has a smaller impact).

== Armour ==

Ogres are very limited here -- always keep a sharp eye out for any decent artefact you are capable of wearing (especially if it has a big AC bonus or a nice intrinsic/ability: see the section on Jewellery below for the ones I especially like here). Troll Leather Armour works well, and you might use Swamp Dragon Armour if you can get it for areas with lots of poison. Later on, Quicksilver Dragon Armour and Fire Dragon Armour are both good options, if you don't mind the casting penalty. Nice hats and cloaks tend to be uncommon and you may have to just take what you can find. I usually leave the armour skill on but do not focus it, and ignore dodging altogether.

== Jewellery ==

[[Ring of teleportation|Teleportation]] is great if you can get it, and nice intrinsics include slaying, AC/EV, wizardry, magic resistance, regeneration, fire/cold/poison/electricity resistance, later on corrosion and mutation resistance. Also boosts to Strength/Int can be good. Clarity, stasis, and flight can be good sometimes, as can extra MP and gourmand. You won't be able to have all of it at once, probably, so you will have to switch depending on what branch you are in and what you are fighting.

== Evocations ==

Focus this skill as soon as you find anything that uses it and leave it focused. Use wands liberally, especially early on, except for heal wounds and hasting, which are precious resources. Later on things like sack of spiders, box of beasts, phial of floods, lamp of fire, stone of tremors, fan of gales, and disc of storms will all be handy as you find them, and also any rods you can get, especially rod of inaccuracy, and any decks, especially ornate and legendary ones (save scrolls of identify for those and for good wands -- you can rely on remove curse for a lot of item testing, since you won't be interested in most weapons or armour). Items which summon allies combine nicely with Summon Divine Warrior, and also with summoning spells (see below), and with your trusty Portal Projectile, which allows you to fight while hiding behind allies. Be extremely careful with anything that does damage if you have allies around -- your god will (temporarily) take away all your special abilities if you give any of them even the smallest scratch!

== Magic Schools ==

Mostly these should be trained very little and even switched off -- Spellcasting, where you have a better aptitude, will help here, and should always be focused -- but the following three can be worth training higher:

=== Translocations ===

Phase Shift is a great buff for a low EV character like you. Dispersal can be very nice. Controlled Blink and Disjunction are amazing if you can get them online but that will be late in the game, if at all.

=== Charms ===

Repel Missiles and Swiftness are great for you. Ozocubu's Armour can be excellent if your armour allows it. Spectral Weapon is great. Haste is amazing as always if you find it -- if available this one spell should be made reliably castable at almost any cost (put on rings of wizardry, switch to lighter armour, train the skills exclusively -- whatever it takes). Deflect Missiles is lovely but probably too much trouble to get functioning due to its Air Magic component.

=== Summonings ===

These are great for a melee character, and combine great with Evocations and Divine Warrior. I usually keep the skill focused for as much of the game as possible. Essentially all of the summonings are handy if you can get them working (although some are forbidden by TSO), but some of the lower level ones become underpowered and you might want to forget them later. Again, hiding behind allies and casting Portal Projectile is amazing once you get it working.

== Stats ==

I like to dump every possible stat increase into intelligence, to improve spell success. Strength is another good choice, though.

== Acquirements ==

If there is something you are saving up for in a shop (remember to use the $ key to add things to your shopping list) then gold is probably the best thing to pick if you get a scroll of acquirement. Armour can sometimes be good but more often than not it results in a shield or a crappy robe or something. Book can be a good choice if you are trying to get some of the nice spells listed above. Ammunition can be good too, although large rocks are plentiful in the Depths and Vaults.

== Branches ==

The usual order works well here -- descend the Dungeon until it gets too hard (skipping levels as necessary and coming back to them when you are stronger!), and then try the Lair. Bad situations can often be escaped using random blinking and teleporting until you end up somewhere safe, but it's better if you start the process early when you have lots of health! Also, unless you have a ring of teleport, you won't be able to do this too often. Random blinking by itself is sometimes enough: if you blink in a lucky direction you may be able to run behind a corner or into a hallway where the enemies can't surround you, or you may be able to run away altogether.

Be especially careful when going down any stairs in case there is a nasty ambush (more and more likely the farther along you get!). If there is a [[Trample|trampling]] creature right next to you it will probably knock you off the stairs if you try to climb back up. You can try to escape using the random blinking and teleporting strategy described above, or another option is to use a random blink right away, lure the monsters away from the stairs, and then use a scroll of blinking back onto the stairwell and up once the tramplers are safely away from it.

When the Lair gets too hard try the Orcish Mines, try going deeper into the Dungeon, and later on try Swamp/Shoals/Snake/Spider and Elvish Halls (hopefully you are at least level 15 or so by now). When those become hard try the Depths and the Vaults (you need at least one rune for the latter). The Shining One will make the Crypt and Abyss easier than average for you -- just be liberal with Divine Warriors and Cleansing Flame and use your holy wrath weapon (and of course always be careful -- don't wait too long to summon more allies as needed, or to blink and teleport away in an emergency!). You can probably clear the Crypt as soon as you find it, and start dipping into the Abyss once your level is in the 20s and you have a source of mutation resistance (stay on level 1 at first, and descend for the rune only after making sure you are strong enough for it!).

As always explore the last level of each branch carefully: try all the staircases first and start exploring around the one with the fewest enemies around it, moving in the direction of corners and quiet corridors first if you can find them. Try to advance especially slowly and lure enemies back towards the already cleared areas. (These are good practices always, really, but especially important on those bottom levels). Remember also that skipping a level is always an option to consider, and sometimes skipping a bottom level or a rune is the right thing if there is a [[Mara|very]] [[Nikola|nasty]] [[Lerny|enemy]] in the way or if you are missing some crucial ability or resistance. You can always come back later (possibly much much later!) or just decide to try to ascend without it.

In the case of the Vaults expect a very tough fight the second you set foot on the bottom level (read [[The Vaults|the article]] on that area carefully!). The best thing may be to have the spell Haste and to use that and Portal Projectile to quickly pummel any Vault Wardens and any monsters like dragons that might trample you, and then to run back up the stairs (then kill any monsters that followed you, blinking/teleporting away to safety first if necessary, and repeat the process as many times as necessary). Otherwise you can try random blinking and teleporting but it might be suicide.

Another good thing to try might be the Slime Pits: if you can make it to the bottom without almost dying (remember there is no need to clear each level here -- there is no loot until the end and the enemies aren't worth a ton of experience for how hard they are) there is a good chance you are strong enough to take on The Royal Jelly (and TRJ is relatively easy to escape from if everything goes to hell).

By now you should be around level 27 and ready to enter Zot and/or the Vestibule of Hell. You can decide if you want to go deeper into Hell/Tomb/Pandemonium and get more loot and runes, or clear Zot and quit while you are ahead (assuming you haven't died yet!). Just as with the Crypt and Abyss the combination of GSC of holy wrath, TSO, and miscellaneous summons is great for those branches, but they are hard!

Rezek's Ogre Warper of The Shining One guide

2016-04-20T16:31:28Z

Rezek: /* Jewellery */

{{version017}}
{{Advice}}

== Introduction ==

Ogres can use the most fun weapons in the game: [[giant spiked club]]s and [[large rock]]s. They have a number of weaknesses, but I think this combination offsets these nicely and leads to fun gameplay (especially if you can make it to level 10 or so, which is a big if!)

Take a mace as your starting weapon, and start the game by hitting m and focusing Maces & Flails, Throwing, Spellcasting and Translocations, turning off Stealth, Dodging, and Unarmed Combat, and leaving Fighting and Armour on but not focused. You might also hit \ and set javelins, large rocks, stones, throwing nets, and "miscellaneous" to be auto-picked up.

The beginning of the game is a very vulnerable time for you. As usual, be very careful around any enemy you haven't already confronted, and around any uniques. Flee as necessary, especially from [[centaur (monster)|centaurs]] and the [[Sigmund|nastier]] [[Grinder|uniques]], and if a level is very hard remember that the next one may well be easier! Try to use throwing to soften up enemies at a distance, and don't be shy about using up your 5 tomahawks of dispersal -- those need to do damage to work, and as enemies get tougher they quickly become quite unreliable. Potions of lignification are especially good to use at this stage, as well as of course berserk rage. Be very aggressive with any wands you find, especially any evil ones that The Shining One won't allow you to use later. Learn Shroud of Golubria as soon as you reach Level 2, and try to cast it before almost every fight -- often it's worth recasting in the middle too, once it unravels or falls apart. Then learn Blink as soon as you can -- always a wonderful escape spell, and then Portal Projectile. All three of those spells, as well as (to some extent) Apportation, will be useful for the whole game. Other than that at this stage you will mostly be bashing enemies over the head (also works well for the whole game). I'll go over some specific kinds of skills and items I recommend next, and then go back to discussing strategy for the rest of the game.

== Weapon ==

Switch to heavier weapons in the Maces and Flails category as they become available (although a [[electrocution|nice brand]] on a [[whip|lighter weapon]] may also be attractive for a while), culminating in a Giant Spiked Club (by far the most powerful melee weapon in the game), which you will hopefully be able to pick off an Ogre by dungeon level 5 or 10 at the latest. After your attack speed with that becomes average you might turn Maces and Flails back down to a lower level of training (or not!). Save all your enchant weapon scrolls for the GSC, and then use them right away on it. When you find scrolls of brand weapon, wait until you have started worshipping The Shining One, and then use them until you get the [[freezing]] brand -- the best all-purpose brand for a heavy weapon (worshipping TSO rules out many brands, making it quicker to get freezing). Later you will want to pick up and enchant a second GSC, which will get the holy wrath brand once TSO blesses it (more situational but incredibly powerful -- it will deal massive, massive damage to even the nastiest enemies if they are vulnerable to it).

== Throwing ==

Throwing is always useful, although after a little while stones will become underpowered. Tomahawks are always at least OK, and javelins and of course large rocks are amazing and make it worthwhile to keep Throwing focused for the whole game. Portal Projectile is extremely handy to throw past summons, whether your own or the enemy's. Throwing nets can be good too, although TSO's strict code of honor makes them a little more situational.

== The Shining One ==

Start worshipping him as soon as you find an altar, and then focus Invocations and leave it focused for the whole game. All the special abilities will be very useful -- see [[TSO]] for more details. Just be careful not to accidentally harm an ally! Especially handy in your case are the halo for attack accuracy and revealing invisible creatures, free protection from negative energy (saves some precious equipment slots), and blessing your secondary GSC. Summon Divine Warrior is amazing for any player but especially for you and once it's available should be used before any difficult fight. (The same could be said of Divine Shield, although that has a smaller impact).

== Armour ==

Ogres are very limited here -- always keep a sharp eye out for any decent artefact you are capable of wearing (especially if it has a big AC bonus or a nice intrinsic/ability: see the section on Jewellery below for the ones I especially like here). Troll Leather Armour works well, and you might use Swamp Dragon Armour if you can get it for areas with lots of poison. Later on, Quicksilver Dragon Armour and Fire Dragon Armour are both good options, if you don't mind the casting penalty. Nice hats and cloaks tend to be uncommon and you may have to just take what you can find. I usually leave the armour skill on but do not focus it, and ignore dodging altogether.

== Jewellery ==

[[Ring of teleportation|Teleportation]] is great if you can get it, and nice intrinsics include slaying, AC/EV, wizardry, magic resistance, regeneration, fire/cold/poison/electricity resistance, later on corrosion and mutation resistance. Also boosts to Strength/Int can be good. Clarity, stasis, and flight can be good sometimes, as can extra MP and gourmand. You won't be able to have all of it at once, probably, so you will have to switch depending on what branch you are in and what you are fighting.

== Evocations ==

Focus this skill as soon as you find anything that uses it and leave it focused. Use wands liberally, especially early on, except for heal wounds and hasting, which are precious resources. Later on things like sack of spiders, box of beasts, phial of floods, lamp of fire, stone of tremors, fan of gales, and disc of storms will all be handy as you find them, and also any rods you can get, especially rod of inaccuracy, and any decks, especially ornate and legendary ones (save scrolls of identify for those and for good wands -- you can rely on remove curse for a lot of item testing, since you won't be interested in most weapons or armour). Items which summon allies combine nicely with Summon Divine Warrior, and also with summoning spells (see below), and with your trusty Portal Projectile, which allows you to fight while hiding behind allies.

== Magic Schools ==

Mostly these should be trained very little and even switched off -- Spellcasting, where you have a better aptitude, will help here, and should always be focused -- but the following three can be worth training higher:

=== Translocations ===

Phase Shift is a great buff for a low EV character like you. Dispersal can be very nice. Controlled Blink and Disjunction are amazing if you can get them online but that will be late in the game, if at all.

=== Charms ===

Repel Missiles and Swiftness are great for you. Ozocubu's Armour can be excellent if your armour allows it. Spectral Weapon is great. Haste is amazing as always if you find it -- if available this one spell should be made reliably castable at almost any cost (put on rings of wizardry, switch to lighter armour, train the skills exclusively -- whatever it takes). Deflect Missiles is lovely but probably too much trouble to get functioning due to its Air Magic component.

=== Summonings ===

These are great for a melee character, and combine great with Evocations and Divine Warrior. I usually keep the skill focused for as much of the game as possible. Essentially all of the summonings are handy if you can get them working (although some are forbidden by TSO), but some of the lower level ones become underpowered and you might want to forget them later. Again, hiding behind allies and casting Portal Projectile is amazing once you get it working.

== Stats ==

I like to dump every possible stat increase into intelligence, to improve spell success. Strength is another good choice, though.

== Acquirements ==

If there is something you are saving up for in a shop (remember to use the $ key to add things to your shopping list) then gold is probably the best thing to pick if you get a scroll of acquirement. Armour can sometimes be good but more often than not it results in a shield or a crappy robe or something. Book can be a good choice if you are trying to get some of the nice spells listed above. Ammunition can be good too, although large rocks are plentiful in the Depths and Vaults.

== Branches ==

The usual order works well here -- descend the Dungeon until it gets too hard (skipping levels as necessary and coming back to them when you are stronger!), and then try the Lair. Bad situations can often be escaped using random blinking and teleporting until you end up somewhere safe, but it's better if you start the process early when you have lots of health! Also, unless you have a ring of teleport, you won't be able to do this too often. Random blinking by itself is sometimes enough: if you blink in a lucky direction you may be able to run behind a corner or into a hallway where the enemies can't surround you, or you may be able to run away altogether.

Be especially careful when going down any stairs in case there is a nasty ambush (more and more likely the farther along you get!). If there is a [[Trample|trampling]] creature right next to you it will probably knock you off the stairs if you try to climb back up. You can try to escape using the random blinking and teleporting strategy described above, or another option is to use a random blink right away, lure the monsters away from the stairs, and then use a scroll of blinking back onto the stairwell and up once the tramplers are safely away from it.

When the Lair gets too hard try the Orcish Mines, try going deeper into the Dungeon, and later on try Swamp/Shoals/Snake/Spider and Elvish Halls (hopefully you are at least level 15 or so by now). When those become hard try the Depths and the Vaults (you need at least one rune for the latter). The Shining One will make the Crypt and Abyss easier than average for you -- just be liberal with Divine Warriors and Cleansing Flame and use your holy wrath weapon (and of course always be careful -- don't wait too long to summon more allies as needed, or to blink and teleport away in an emergency!). You can probably clear the Crypt as soon as you find it, and start dipping into the Abyss once your level is in the 20s and you have a source of mutation resistance (stay on level 1 at first, and descend for the rune only after making sure you are strong enough for it!).

As always explore the last level of each branch carefully: try all the staircases first and start exploring around the one with the fewest enemies around it, moving in the direction of corners and quiet corridors first if you can find them. Try to advance especially slowly and lure enemies back towards the already cleared areas. (These are good practices always, really, but especially important on those bottom levels). Remember also that skipping a level is always an option to consider, and sometimes skipping a bottom level or a rune is the right thing if there is a [[Mara|very]] [[Nikola|nasty]] [[Lerny|enemy]] in the way or if you are missing some crucial ability or resistance. You can always come back later (possibly much much later!) or just decide to try to ascend without it.

In the case of the Vaults expect a very tough fight the second you set foot on the bottom level (read [[The Vaults|the article]] on that area carefully!). The best thing may be to have the spell Haste and to use that and Portal Projectile to quickly pummel any Vault Wardens and any monsters like dragons that might trample you, and then to run back up the stairs (then kill any monsters that followed you, blinking/teleporting away to safety first if necessary, and repeat the process as many times as necessary). Otherwise you can try random blinking and teleporting but it might be suicide.

Another good thing to try might be the Slime Pits: if you can make it to the bottom without almost dying (remember there is no need to clear each level here -- there is no loot until the end and the enemies aren't worth a ton of experience for how hard they are) there is a good chance you are strong enough to take on The Royal Jelly (and TRJ is relatively easy to escape from if everything goes to hell).

By now you should be around level 27 and ready to enter Zot and/or the Vestibule of Hell. You can decide if you want to go deeper into Hell/Tomb/Pandemonium and get more loot and runes, or clear Zot and quit while you are ahead (assuming you haven't died yet!). Just as with the Crypt and Abyss the combination of GSC of holy wrath, TSO, and miscellaneous summons is great for those branches, but they are hard!

Rezek's Ogre Warper of The Shining One guide

2016-04-20T16:29:29Z

Rezek: /* Armour */

{{version017}}
{{Advice}}

== Introduction ==

Ogres can use the most fun weapons in the game: [[giant spiked club]]s and [[large rock]]s. They have a number of weaknesses, but I think this combination offsets these nicely and leads to fun gameplay (especially if you can make it to level 10 or so, which is a big if!)

Take a mace as your starting weapon, and start the game by hitting m and focusing Maces & Flails, Throwing, Spellcasting and Translocations, turning off Stealth, Dodging, and Unarmed Combat, and leaving Fighting and Armour on but not focused. You might also hit \ and set javelins, large rocks, stones, throwing nets, and "miscellaneous" to be auto-picked up.

The beginning of the game is a very vulnerable time for you. As usual, be very careful around any enemy you haven't already confronted, and around any uniques. Flee as necessary, especially from [[centaur (monster)|centaurs]] and the [[Sigmund|nastier]] [[Grinder|uniques]], and if a level is very hard remember that the next one may well be easier! Try to use throwing to soften up enemies at a distance, and don't be shy about using up your 5 tomahawks of dispersal -- those need to do damage to work, and as enemies get tougher they quickly become quite unreliable. Potions of lignification are especially good to use at this stage, as well as of course berserk rage. Be very aggressive with any wands you find, especially any evil ones that The Shining One won't allow you to use later. Learn Shroud of Golubria as soon as you reach Level 2, and try to cast it before almost every fight -- often it's worth recasting in the middle too, once it unravels or falls apart. Then learn Blink as soon as you can -- always a wonderful escape spell, and then Portal Projectile. All three of those spells, as well as (to some extent) Apportation, will be useful for the whole game. Other than that at this stage you will mostly be bashing enemies over the head (also works well for the whole game). I'll go over some specific kinds of skills and items I recommend next, and then go back to discussing strategy for the rest of the game.

== Weapon ==

Switch to heavier weapons in the Maces and Flails category as they become available (although a [[electrocution|nice brand]] on a [[whip|lighter weapon]] may also be attractive for a while), culminating in a Giant Spiked Club (by far the most powerful melee weapon in the game), which you will hopefully be able to pick off an Ogre by dungeon level 5 or 10 at the latest. After your attack speed with that becomes average you might turn Maces and Flails back down to a lower level of training (or not!). Save all your enchant weapon scrolls for the GSC, and then use them right away on it. When you find scrolls of brand weapon, wait until you have started worshipping The Shining One, and then use them until you get the [[freezing]] brand -- the best all-purpose brand for a heavy weapon (worshipping TSO rules out many brands, making it quicker to get freezing). Later you will want to pick up and enchant a second GSC, which will get the holy wrath brand once TSO blesses it (more situational but incredibly powerful -- it will deal massive, massive damage to even the nastiest enemies if they are vulnerable to it).

== Throwing ==

Throwing is always useful, although after a little while stones will become underpowered. Tomahawks are always at least OK, and javelins and of course large rocks are amazing and make it worthwhile to keep Throwing focused for the whole game. Portal Projectile is extremely handy to throw past summons, whether your own or the enemy's. Throwing nets can be good too, although TSO's strict code of honor makes them a little more situational.

== The Shining One ==

Start worshipping him as soon as you find an altar, and then focus Invocations and leave it focused for the whole game. All the special abilities will be very useful -- see [[TSO]] for more details. Just be careful not to accidentally harm an ally! Especially handy in your case are the halo for attack accuracy and revealing invisible creatures, free protection from negative energy (saves some precious equipment slots), and blessing your secondary GSC. Summon Divine Warrior is amazing for any player but especially for you and once it's available should be used before any difficult fight. (The same could be said of Divine Shield, although that has a smaller impact).

== Armour ==

Ogres are very limited here -- always keep a sharp eye out for any decent artefact you are capable of wearing (especially if it has a big AC bonus or a nice intrinsic/ability: see the section on Jewellery below for the ones I especially like here). Troll Leather Armour works well, and you might use Swamp Dragon Armour if you can get it for areas with lots of poison. Later on, Quicksilver Dragon Armour and Fire Dragon Armour are both good options, if you don't mind the casting penalty. Nice hats and cloaks tend to be uncommon and you may have to just take what you can find. I usually leave the armour skill on but do not focus it, and ignore dodging altogether.

== Jewellery ==

Nice things include slaying, AC/EV, wizardry, teleportation, magic resistance, regeneration, fire/cold/poison/electricity resistance, later on corrosion and mutation resistance. Also boosts to Strength/Int can be good. Clarity, stasis, and flight can be good sometimes, as can extra MP and gourmand. You won't be able to have all of it at once, probably, so you will have to switch depending on what branch you are in and what you are fighting.

== Evocations ==

Focus this skill as soon as you find anything that uses it and leave it focused. Use wands liberally, especially early on, except for heal wounds and hasting, which are precious resources. Later on things like sack of spiders, box of beasts, phial of floods, lamp of fire, stone of tremors, fan of gales, and disc of storms will all be handy as you find them, and also any rods you can get, especially rod of inaccuracy, and any decks, especially ornate and legendary ones (save scrolls of identify for those and for good wands -- you can rely on remove curse for a lot of item testing, since you won't be interested in most weapons or armour). Items which summon allies combine nicely with Summon Divine Warrior, and also with summoning spells (see below), and with your trusty Portal Projectile, which allows you to fight while hiding behind allies.

== Magic Schools ==

Mostly these should be trained very little and even switched off -- Spellcasting, where you have a better aptitude, will help here, and should always be focused -- but the following three can be worth training higher:

=== Translocations ===

Phase Shift is a great buff for a low EV character like you. Dispersal can be very nice. Controlled Blink and Disjunction are amazing if you can get them online but that will be late in the game, if at all.

=== Charms ===

Repel Missiles and Swiftness are great for you. Ozocubu's Armour can be excellent if your armour allows it. Spectral Weapon is great. Haste is amazing as always if you find it -- if available this one spell should be made reliably castable at almost any cost (put on rings of wizardry, switch to lighter armour, train the skills exclusively -- whatever it takes). Deflect Missiles is lovely but probably too much trouble to get functioning due to its Air Magic component.

=== Summonings ===

These are great for a melee character, and combine great with Evocations and Divine Warrior. I usually keep the skill focused for as much of the game as possible. Essentially all of the summonings are handy if you can get them working (although some are forbidden by TSO), but some of the lower level ones become underpowered and you might want to forget them later. Again, hiding behind allies and casting Portal Projectile is amazing once you get it working.

== Stats ==

I like to dump every possible stat increase into intelligence, to improve spell success. Strength is another good choice, though.

== Acquirements ==

If there is something you are saving up for in a shop (remember to use the $ key to add things to your shopping list) then gold is probably the best thing to pick if you get a scroll of acquirement. Armour can sometimes be good but more often than not it results in a shield or a crappy robe or something. Book can be a good choice if you are trying to get some of the nice spells listed above. Ammunition can be good too, although large rocks are plentiful in the Depths and Vaults.

== Branches ==

The usual order works well here -- descend the Dungeon until it gets too hard (skipping levels as necessary and coming back to them when you are stronger!), and then try the Lair. Bad situations can often be escaped using random blinking and teleporting until you end up somewhere safe, but it's better if you start the process early when you have lots of health! Also, unless you have a ring of teleport, you won't be able to do this too often. Random blinking by itself is sometimes enough: if you blink in a lucky direction you may be able to run behind a corner or into a hallway where the enemies can't surround you, or you may be able to run away altogether.

Be especially careful when going down any stairs in case there is a nasty ambush (more and more likely the farther along you get!). If there is a [[Trample|trampling]] creature right next to you it will probably knock you off the stairs if you try to climb back up. You can try to escape using the random blinking and teleporting strategy described above, or another option is to use a random blink right away, lure the monsters away from the stairs, and then use a scroll of blinking back onto the stairwell and up once the tramplers are safely away from it.

When the Lair gets too hard try the Orcish Mines, try going deeper into the Dungeon, and later on try Swamp/Shoals/Snake/Spider and Elvish Halls (hopefully you are at least level 15 or so by now). When those become hard try the Depths and the Vaults (you need at least one rune for the latter). The Shining One will make the Crypt and Abyss easier than average for you -- just be liberal with Divine Warriors and Cleansing Flame and use your holy wrath weapon (and of course always be careful -- don't wait too long to summon more allies as needed, or to blink and teleport away in an emergency!). You can probably clear the Crypt as soon as you find it, and start dipping into the Abyss once your level is in the 20s and you have a source of mutation resistance (stay on level 1 at first, and descend for the rune only after making sure you are strong enough for it!).

As always explore the last level of each branch carefully: try all the staircases first and start exploring around the one with the fewest enemies around it, moving in the direction of corners and quiet corridors first if you can find them. Try to advance especially slowly and lure enemies back towards the already cleared areas. (These are good practices always, really, but especially important on those bottom levels). Remember also that skipping a level is always an option to consider, and sometimes skipping a bottom level or a rune is the right thing if there is a [[Mara|very]] [[Nikola|nasty]] [[Lerny|enemy]] in the way or if you are missing some crucial ability or resistance. You can always come back later (possibly much much later!) or just decide to try to ascend without it.

In the case of the Vaults expect a very tough fight the second you set foot on the bottom level (read [[The Vaults|the article]] on that area carefully!). The best thing may be to have the spell Haste and to use that and Portal Projectile to quickly pummel any Vault Wardens and any monsters like dragons that might trample you, and then to run back up the stairs (then kill any monsters that followed you, blinking/teleporting away to safety first if necessary, and repeat the process as many times as necessary). Otherwise you can try random blinking and teleporting but it might be suicide.

Another good thing to try might be the Slime Pits: if you can make it to the bottom without almost dying (remember there is no need to clear each level here -- there is no loot until the end and the enemies aren't worth a ton of experience for how hard they are) there is a good chance you are strong enough to take on The Royal Jelly (and TRJ is relatively easy to escape from if everything goes to hell).

By now you should be around level 27 and ready to enter Zot and/or the Vestibule of Hell. You can decide if you want to go deeper into Hell/Tomb/Pandemonium and get more loot and runes, or clear Zot and quit while you are ahead (assuming you haven't died yet!). Just as with the Crypt and Abyss the combination of GSC of holy wrath, TSO, and miscellaneous summons is great for those branches, but they are hard!

Rezek's Ogre Warper of The Shining One guide

2016-04-20T16:27:30Z

Rezek: /* The Shining One */

{{version017}}
{{Advice}}

== Introduction ==

Ogres can use the most fun weapons in the game: [[giant spiked club]]s and [[large rock]]s. They have a number of weaknesses, but I think this combination offsets these nicely and leads to fun gameplay (especially if you can make it to level 10 or so, which is a big if!)

Take a mace as your starting weapon, and start the game by hitting m and focusing Maces & Flails, Throwing, Spellcasting and Translocations, turning off Stealth, Dodging, and Unarmed Combat, and leaving Fighting and Armour on but not focused. You might also hit \ and set javelins, large rocks, stones, throwing nets, and "miscellaneous" to be auto-picked up.

The beginning of the game is a very vulnerable time for you. As usual, be very careful around any enemy you haven't already confronted, and around any uniques. Flee as necessary, especially from [[centaur (monster)|centaurs]] and the [[Sigmund|nastier]] [[Grinder|uniques]], and if a level is very hard remember that the next one may well be easier! Try to use throwing to soften up enemies at a distance, and don't be shy about using up your 5 tomahawks of dispersal -- those need to do damage to work, and as enemies get tougher they quickly become quite unreliable. Potions of lignification are especially good to use at this stage, as well as of course berserk rage. Be very aggressive with any wands you find, especially any evil ones that The Shining One won't allow you to use later. Learn Shroud of Golubria as soon as you reach Level 2, and try to cast it before almost every fight -- often it's worth recasting in the middle too, once it unravels or falls apart. Then learn Blink as soon as you can -- always a wonderful escape spell, and then Portal Projectile. All three of those spells, as well as (to some extent) Apportation, will be useful for the whole game. Other than that at this stage you will mostly be bashing enemies over the head (also works well for the whole game). I'll go over some specific kinds of skills and items I recommend next, and then go back to discussing strategy for the rest of the game.

== Weapon ==

Switch to heavier weapons in the Maces and Flails category as they become available (although a [[electrocution|nice brand]] on a [[whip|lighter weapon]] may also be attractive for a while), culminating in a Giant Spiked Club (by far the most powerful melee weapon in the game), which you will hopefully be able to pick off an Ogre by dungeon level 5 or 10 at the latest. After your attack speed with that becomes average you might turn Maces and Flails back down to a lower level of training (or not!). Save all your enchant weapon scrolls for the GSC, and then use them right away on it. When you find scrolls of brand weapon, wait until you have started worshipping The Shining One, and then use them until you get the [[freezing]] brand -- the best all-purpose brand for a heavy weapon (worshipping TSO rules out many brands, making it quicker to get freezing). Later you will want to pick up and enchant a second GSC, which will get the holy wrath brand once TSO blesses it (more situational but incredibly powerful -- it will deal massive, massive damage to even the nastiest enemies if they are vulnerable to it).

== Throwing ==

Throwing is always useful, although after a little while stones will become underpowered. Tomahawks are always at least OK, and javelins and of course large rocks are amazing and make it worthwhile to keep Throwing focused for the whole game. Portal Projectile is extremely handy to throw past summons, whether your own or the enemy's. Throwing nets can be good too, although TSO's strict code of honor makes them a little more situational.

== The Shining One ==

Start worshipping him as soon as you find an altar, and then focus Invocations and leave it focused for the whole game. All the special abilities will be very useful -- see [[TSO]] for more details. Just be careful not to accidentally harm an ally! Especially handy in your case are the halo for attack accuracy and revealing invisible creatures, free protection from negative energy (saves some precious equipment slots), and blessing your secondary GSC. Summon Divine Warrior is amazing for any player but especially for you and once it's available should be used before any difficult fight. (The same could be said of Divine Shield, although that has a smaller impact).

== Armour ==

Ogres are very limited here -- always keep a sharp eye out for any decent artefact you are capable of wearing (especially if it has a big AC bonus or a nice intrinsic/ability: see the section on Jewellery below). Troll Leather Armour works well, and you might use Swamp Dragon Armour if you can get it for areas with lots of poison. Later on, Quicksilver Dragon Armour and Fire Dragon Armour are both good options, if you don't mind the casting penalty. Nice hats and cloaks tend to be uncommon and you may have to just take what you can find. I usually leave the armour skill on but do not focus it, and ignore dodging altogether.

== Jewellery ==

Nice things include slaying, AC/EV, wizardry, teleportation, magic resistance, regeneration, fire/cold/poison/electricity resistance, later on corrosion and mutation resistance. Also boosts to Strength/Int can be good. Clarity, stasis, and flight can be good sometimes, as can extra MP and gourmand. You won't be able to have all of it at once, probably, so you will have to switch depending on what branch you are in and what you are fighting.

== Evocations ==

Focus this skill as soon as you find anything that uses it and leave it focused. Use wands liberally, especially early on, except for heal wounds and hasting, which are precious resources. Later on things like sack of spiders, box of beasts, phial of floods, lamp of fire, stone of tremors, fan of gales, and disc of storms will all be handy as you find them, and also any rods you can get, especially rod of inaccuracy, and any decks, especially ornate and legendary ones (save scrolls of identify for those and for good wands -- you can rely on remove curse for a lot of item testing, since you won't be interested in most weapons or armour). Items which summon allies combine nicely with Summon Divine Warrior, and also with summoning spells (see below), and with your trusty Portal Projectile, which allows you to fight while hiding behind allies.

== Magic Schools ==

Mostly these should be trained very little and even switched off -- Spellcasting, where you have a better aptitude, will help here, and should always be focused -- but the following three can be worth training higher:

=== Translocations ===

Phase Shift is a great buff for a low EV character like you. Dispersal can be very nice. Controlled Blink and Disjunction are amazing if you can get them online but that will be late in the game, if at all.

=== Charms ===

Repel Missiles and Swiftness are great for you. Ozocubu's Armour can be excellent if your armour allows it. Spectral Weapon is great. Haste is amazing as always if you find it -- if available this one spell should be made reliably castable at almost any cost (put on rings of wizardry, switch to lighter armour, train the skills exclusively -- whatever it takes). Deflect Missiles is lovely but probably too much trouble to get functioning due to its Air Magic component.

=== Summonings ===

These are great for a melee character, and combine great with Evocations and Divine Warrior. I usually keep the skill focused for as much of the game as possible. Essentially all of the summonings are handy if you can get them working (although some are forbidden by TSO), but some of the lower level ones become underpowered and you might want to forget them later. Again, hiding behind allies and casting Portal Projectile is amazing once you get it working.

== Stats ==

I like to dump every possible stat increase into intelligence, to improve spell success. Strength is another good choice, though.

== Acquirements ==

If there is something you are saving up for in a shop (remember to use the $ key to add things to your shopping list) then gold is probably the best thing to pick if you get a scroll of acquirement. Armour can sometimes be good but more often than not it results in a shield or a crappy robe or something. Book can be a good choice if you are trying to get some of the nice spells listed above. Ammunition can be good too, although large rocks are plentiful in the Depths and Vaults.

== Branches ==

The usual order works well here -- descend the Dungeon until it gets too hard (skipping levels as necessary and coming back to them when you are stronger!), and then try the Lair. Bad situations can often be escaped using random blinking and teleporting until you end up somewhere safe, but it's better if you start the process early when you have lots of health! Also, unless you have a ring of teleport, you won't be able to do this too often. Random blinking by itself is sometimes enough: if you blink in a lucky direction you may be able to run behind a corner or into a hallway where the enemies can't surround you, or you may be able to run away altogether.

Be especially careful when going down any stairs in case there is a nasty ambush (more and more likely the farther along you get!). If there is a [[Trample|trampling]] creature right next to you it will probably knock you off the stairs if you try to climb back up. You can try to escape using the random blinking and teleporting strategy described above, or another option is to use a random blink right away, lure the monsters away from the stairs, and then use a scroll of blinking back onto the stairwell and up once the tramplers are safely away from it.

When the Lair gets too hard try the Orcish Mines, try going deeper into the Dungeon, and later on try Swamp/Shoals/Snake/Spider and Elvish Halls (hopefully you are at least level 15 or so by now). When those become hard try the Depths and the Vaults (you need at least one rune for the latter). The Shining One will make the Crypt and Abyss easier than average for you -- just be liberal with Divine Warriors and Cleansing Flame and use your holy wrath weapon (and of course always be careful -- don't wait too long to summon more allies as needed, or to blink and teleport away in an emergency!). You can probably clear the Crypt as soon as you find it, and start dipping into the Abyss once your level is in the 20s and you have a source of mutation resistance (stay on level 1 at first, and descend for the rune only after making sure you are strong enough for it!).

As always explore the last level of each branch carefully: try all the staircases first and start exploring around the one with the fewest enemies around it, moving in the direction of corners and quiet corridors first if you can find them. Try to advance especially slowly and lure enemies back towards the already cleared areas. (These are good practices always, really, but especially important on those bottom levels). Remember also that skipping a level is always an option to consider, and sometimes skipping a bottom level or a rune is the right thing if there is a [[Mara|very]] [[Nikola|nasty]] [[Lerny|enemy]] in the way or if you are missing some crucial ability or resistance. You can always come back later (possibly much much later!) or just decide to try to ascend without it.

In the case of the Vaults expect a very tough fight the second you set foot on the bottom level (read [[The Vaults|the article]] on that area carefully!). The best thing may be to have the spell Haste and to use that and Portal Projectile to quickly pummel any Vault Wardens and any monsters like dragons that might trample you, and then to run back up the stairs (then kill any monsters that followed you, blinking/teleporting away to safety first if necessary, and repeat the process as many times as necessary). Otherwise you can try random blinking and teleporting but it might be suicide.

Another good thing to try might be the Slime Pits: if you can make it to the bottom without almost dying (remember there is no need to clear each level here -- there is no loot until the end and the enemies aren't worth a ton of experience for how hard they are) there is a good chance you are strong enough to take on The Royal Jelly (and TRJ is relatively easy to escape from if everything goes to hell).

By now you should be around level 27 and ready to enter Zot and/or the Vestibule of Hell. You can decide if you want to go deeper into Hell/Tomb/Pandemonium and get more loot and runes, or clear Zot and quit while you are ahead (assuming you haven't died yet!). Just as with the Crypt and Abyss the combination of GSC of holy wrath, TSO, and miscellaneous summons is great for those branches, but they are hard!

Rezek's Ogre Warper of The Shining One guide

2016-04-20T16:24:40Z

Rezek: /* Weapon */

{{version017}}
{{Advice}}

== Introduction ==

Ogres can use the most fun weapons in the game: [[giant spiked club]]s and [[large rock]]s. They have a number of weaknesses, but I think this combination offsets these nicely and leads to fun gameplay (especially if you can make it to level 10 or so, which is a big if!)

Take a mace as your starting weapon, and start the game by hitting m and focusing Maces & Flails, Throwing, Spellcasting and Translocations, turning off Stealth, Dodging, and Unarmed Combat, and leaving Fighting and Armour on but not focused. You might also hit \ and set javelins, large rocks, stones, throwing nets, and "miscellaneous" to be auto-picked up.

The beginning of the game is a very vulnerable time for you. As usual, be very careful around any enemy you haven't already confronted, and around any uniques. Flee as necessary, especially from [[centaur (monster)|centaurs]] and the [[Sigmund|nastier]] [[Grinder|uniques]], and if a level is very hard remember that the next one may well be easier! Try to use throwing to soften up enemies at a distance, and don't be shy about using up your 5 tomahawks of dispersal -- those need to do damage to work, and as enemies get tougher they quickly become quite unreliable. Potions of lignification are especially good to use at this stage, as well as of course berserk rage. Be very aggressive with any wands you find, especially any evil ones that The Shining One won't allow you to use later. Learn Shroud of Golubria as soon as you reach Level 2, and try to cast it before almost every fight -- often it's worth recasting in the middle too, once it unravels or falls apart. Then learn Blink as soon as you can -- always a wonderful escape spell, and then Portal Projectile. All three of those spells, as well as (to some extent) Apportation, will be useful for the whole game. Other than that at this stage you will mostly be bashing enemies over the head (also works well for the whole game). I'll go over some specific kinds of skills and items I recommend next, and then go back to discussing strategy for the rest of the game.

== Weapon ==

Switch to heavier weapons in the Maces and Flails category as they become available (although a [[electrocution|nice brand]] on a [[whip|lighter weapon]] may also be attractive for a while), culminating in a Giant Spiked Club (by far the most powerful melee weapon in the game), which you will hopefully be able to pick off an Ogre by dungeon level 5 or 10 at the latest. After your attack speed with that becomes average you might turn Maces and Flails back down to a lower level of training (or not!). Save all your enchant weapon scrolls for the GSC, and then use them right away on it. When you find scrolls of brand weapon, wait until you have started worshipping The Shining One, and then use them until you get the [[freezing]] brand -- the best all-purpose brand for a heavy weapon (worshipping TSO rules out many brands, making it quicker to get freezing). Later you will want to pick up and enchant a second GSC, which will get the holy wrath brand once TSO blesses it (more situational but incredibly powerful -- it will deal massive, massive damage to even the nastiest enemies if they are vulnerable to it).

== Throwing ==

Throwing is always useful, although after a little while stones will become underpowered. Tomahawks are always at least OK, and javelins and of course large rocks are amazing and make it worthwhile to keep Throwing focused for the whole game. Portal Projectile is extremely handy to throw past summons, whether your own or the enemy's. Throwing nets can be good too, although TSO's strict code of honor makes them a little more situational.

== The Shining One ==

Start worshipping him as soon as you find an altar, and then focus Invocations and leave it focused for the whole game. All the special abilities will be very useful -- see the page on him for more details. Just be careful not to accidentally harm an ally! Especially handy in your case are the halo for attack accuracy and revealing invisible creatures, free protection from negative energy (saves some precious equipment slots), and blessing your secondary GSC. Summon Divine Warrior is amazing for any player but especially for you and once it's available should be used before any difficult fight. (The same could be said of Divine Shield, although that has a smaller impact).

== Armour ==

Ogres are very limited here -- always keep a sharp eye out for any decent artefact you are capable of wearing (especially if it has a big AC bonus or a nice intrinsic/ability: see the section on Jewellery below). Troll Leather Armour works well, and you might use Swamp Dragon Armour if you can get it for areas with lots of poison. Later on, Quicksilver Dragon Armour and Fire Dragon Armour are both good options, if you don't mind the casting penalty. Nice hats and cloaks tend to be uncommon and you may have to just take what you can find. I usually leave the armour skill on but do not focus it, and ignore dodging altogether.

== Jewellery ==

Nice things include slaying, AC/EV, wizardry, teleportation, magic resistance, regeneration, fire/cold/poison/electricity resistance, later on corrosion and mutation resistance. Also boosts to Strength/Int can be good. Clarity, stasis, and flight can be good sometimes, as can extra MP and gourmand. You won't be able to have all of it at once, probably, so you will have to switch depending on what branch you are in and what you are fighting.

== Evocations ==

Focus this skill as soon as you find anything that uses it and leave it focused. Use wands liberally, especially early on, except for heal wounds and hasting, which are precious resources. Later on things like sack of spiders, box of beasts, phial of floods, lamp of fire, stone of tremors, fan of gales, and disc of storms will all be handy as you find them, and also any rods you can get, especially rod of inaccuracy, and any decks, especially ornate and legendary ones (save scrolls of identify for those and for good wands -- you can rely on remove curse for a lot of item testing, since you won't be interested in most weapons or armour). Items which summon allies combine nicely with Summon Divine Warrior, and also with summoning spells (see below), and with your trusty Portal Projectile, which allows you to fight while hiding behind allies.

== Magic Schools ==

Mostly these should be trained very little and even switched off -- Spellcasting, where you have a better aptitude, will help here, and should always be focused -- but the following three can be worth training higher:

=== Translocations ===

Phase Shift is a great buff for a low EV character like you. Dispersal can be very nice. Controlled Blink and Disjunction are amazing if you can get them online but that will be late in the game, if at all.

=== Charms ===

Repel Missiles and Swiftness are great for you. Ozocubu's Armour can be excellent if your armour allows it. Spectral Weapon is great. Haste is amazing as always if you find it -- if available this one spell should be made reliably castable at almost any cost (put on rings of wizardry, switch to lighter armour, train the skills exclusively -- whatever it takes). Deflect Missiles is lovely but probably too much trouble to get functioning due to its Air Magic component.

=== Summonings ===

These are great for a melee character, and combine great with Evocations and Divine Warrior. I usually keep the skill focused for as much of the game as possible. Essentially all of the summonings are handy if you can get them working (although some are forbidden by TSO), but some of the lower level ones become underpowered and you might want to forget them later. Again, hiding behind allies and casting Portal Projectile is amazing once you get it working.

== Stats ==

I like to dump every possible stat increase into intelligence, to improve spell success. Strength is another good choice, though.

== Acquirements ==

If there is something you are saving up for in a shop (remember to use the $ key to add things to your shopping list) then gold is probably the best thing to pick if you get a scroll of acquirement. Armour can sometimes be good but more often than not it results in a shield or a crappy robe or something. Book can be a good choice if you are trying to get some of the nice spells listed above. Ammunition can be good too, although large rocks are plentiful in the Depths and Vaults.

== Branches ==

The usual order works well here -- descend the Dungeon until it gets too hard (skipping levels as necessary and coming back to them when you are stronger!), and then try the Lair. Bad situations can often be escaped using random blinking and teleporting until you end up somewhere safe, but it's better if you start the process early when you have lots of health! Also, unless you have a ring of teleport, you won't be able to do this too often. Random blinking by itself is sometimes enough: if you blink in a lucky direction you may be able to run behind a corner or into a hallway where the enemies can't surround you, or you may be able to run away altogether.

Be especially careful when going down any stairs in case there is a nasty ambush (more and more likely the farther along you get!). If there is a [[Trample|trampling]] creature right next to you it will probably knock you off the stairs if you try to climb back up. You can try to escape using the random blinking and teleporting strategy described above, or another option is to use a random blink right away, lure the monsters away from the stairs, and then use a scroll of blinking back onto the stairwell and up once the tramplers are safely away from it.

When the Lair gets too hard try the Orcish Mines, try going deeper into the Dungeon, and later on try Swamp/Shoals/Snake/Spider and Elvish Halls (hopefully you are at least level 15 or so by now). When those become hard try the Depths and the Vaults (you need at least one rune for the latter). The Shining One will make the Crypt and Abyss easier than average for you -- just be liberal with Divine Warriors and Cleansing Flame and use your holy wrath weapon (and of course always be careful -- don't wait too long to summon more allies as needed, or to blink and teleport away in an emergency!). You can probably clear the Crypt as soon as you find it, and start dipping into the Abyss once your level is in the 20s and you have a source of mutation resistance (stay on level 1 at first, and descend for the rune only after making sure you are strong enough for it!).

As always explore the last level of each branch carefully: try all the staircases first and start exploring around the one with the fewest enemies around it, moving in the direction of corners and quiet corridors first if you can find them. Try to advance especially slowly and lure enemies back towards the already cleared areas. (These are good practices always, really, but especially important on those bottom levels). Remember also that skipping a level is always an option to consider, and sometimes skipping a bottom level or a rune is the right thing if there is a [[Mara|very]] [[Nikola|nasty]] [[Lerny|enemy]] in the way or if you are missing some crucial ability or resistance. You can always come back later (possibly much much later!) or just decide to try to ascend without it.

In the case of the Vaults expect a very tough fight the second you set foot on the bottom level (read [[The Vaults|the article]] on that area carefully!). The best thing may be to have the spell Haste and to use that and Portal Projectile to quickly pummel any Vault Wardens and any monsters like dragons that might trample you, and then to run back up the stairs (then kill any monsters that followed you, blinking/teleporting away to safety first if necessary, and repeat the process as many times as necessary). Otherwise you can try random blinking and teleporting but it might be suicide.

Another good thing to try might be the Slime Pits: if you can make it to the bottom without almost dying (remember there is no need to clear each level here -- there is no loot until the end and the enemies aren't worth a ton of experience for how hard they are) there is a good chance you are strong enough to take on The Royal Jelly (and TRJ is relatively easy to escape from if everything goes to hell).

By now you should be around level 27 and ready to enter Zot and/or the Vestibule of Hell. You can decide if you want to go deeper into Hell/Tomb/Pandemonium and get more loot and runes, or clear Zot and quit while you are ahead (assuming you haven't died yet!). Just as with the Crypt and Abyss the combination of GSC of holy wrath, TSO, and miscellaneous summons is great for those branches, but they are hard!

Rezek's Ogre Warper of The Shining One guide

2016-04-20T16:21:59Z

Rezek: added formatting and links and made some small edits

{{version017}}
{{Advice}}

== Introduction ==

Ogres can use the most fun weapons in the game: [[giant spiked club]]s and [[large rock]]s. They have a number of weaknesses, but I think this combination offsets these nicely and leads to fun gameplay (especially if you can make it to level 10 or so, which is a big if!)

Take a mace as your starting weapon, and start the game by hitting m and focusing Maces & Flails, Throwing, Spellcasting and Translocations, turning off Stealth, Dodging, and Unarmed Combat, and leaving Fighting and Armour on but not focused. You might also hit \ and set javelins, large rocks, stones, throwing nets, and "miscellaneous" to be auto-picked up.

The beginning of the game is a very vulnerable time for you. As usual, be very careful around any enemy you haven't already confronted, and around any uniques. Flee as necessary, especially from [[centaur (monster)|centaurs]] and the [[Sigmund|nastier]] [[Grinder|uniques]], and if a level is very hard remember that the next one may well be easier! Try to use throwing to soften up enemies at a distance, and don't be shy about using up your 5 tomahawks of dispersal -- those need to do damage to work, and as enemies get tougher they quickly become quite unreliable. Potions of lignification are especially good to use at this stage, as well as of course berserk rage. Be very aggressive with any wands you find, especially any evil ones that The Shining One won't allow you to use later. Learn Shroud of Golubria as soon as you reach Level 2, and try to cast it before almost every fight -- often it's worth recasting in the middle too, once it unravels or falls apart. Then learn Blink as soon as you can -- always a wonderful escape spell, and then Portal Projectile. All three of those spells, as well as (to some extent) Apportation, will be useful for the whole game. Other than that at this stage you will mostly be bashing enemies over the head (also works well for the whole game). I'll go over some specific kinds of skills and items I recommend next, and then go back to discussing strategy for the rest of the game.

== Weapon ==

Switch to heavier weapons in the Maces and Flails category as they become available (although a [[electrocution|nice brand]] on a [[whip|lighter weapon]] may also be attractive for a while), culminating in a Giant Spiked Club (by far the most powerful melee weapon in the game), which you will hopefully be able to pick off an Ogre by dungeon level 5 or 10 at the latest. After your attack speed with that becomes average you might turn Maces and Flails back down to a lower level of training (or not!). Save all your enchant weapon scrolls for the GSC, and then use them right away on it. When you find scrolls of brand weapon, wait until you have started worshipping The Shining One, and then use them until you get the [[freezing]] brand -- the best all-purpose brand for a heavy weapon (worshipping TSO rules out many brands, making it quicker to get freezing). Later you will want to pick up and enchant a second GSC, which you will get the holy wrath brand once TSO blesses it (more situational but incredibly powerful -- it will deal massive, massive damage to even the nastiest enemies if they are vulnerable to it).

== Throwing ==

Throwing is always useful, although after a little while stones will become underpowered. Tomahawks are always at least OK, and javelins and of course large rocks are amazing and make it worthwhile to keep Throwing focused for the whole game. Portal Projectile is extremely handy to throw past summons, whether your own or the enemy's. Throwing nets can be good too, although TSO's strict code of honor makes them a little more situational.

== The Shining One ==

Start worshipping him as soon as you find an altar, and then focus Invocations and leave it focused for the whole game. All the special abilities will be very useful -- see the page on him for more details. Just be careful not to accidentally harm an ally! Especially handy in your case are the halo for attack accuracy and revealing invisible creatures, free protection from negative energy (saves some precious equipment slots), and blessing your secondary GSC. Summon Divine Warrior is amazing for any player but especially for you and once it's available should be used before any difficult fight. (The same could be said of Divine Shield, although that has a smaller impact).

== Armour ==

Ogres are very limited here -- always keep a sharp eye out for any decent artefact you are capable of wearing (especially if it has a big AC bonus or a nice intrinsic/ability: see the section on Jewellery below). Troll Leather Armour works well, and you might use Swamp Dragon Armour if you can get it for areas with lots of poison. Later on, Quicksilver Dragon Armour and Fire Dragon Armour are both good options, if you don't mind the casting penalty. Nice hats and cloaks tend to be uncommon and you may have to just take what you can find. I usually leave the armour skill on but do not focus it, and ignore dodging altogether.

== Jewellery ==

Nice things include slaying, AC/EV, wizardry, teleportation, magic resistance, regeneration, fire/cold/poison/electricity resistance, later on corrosion and mutation resistance. Also boosts to Strength/Int can be good. Clarity, stasis, and flight can be good sometimes, as can extra MP and gourmand. You won't be able to have all of it at once, probably, so you will have to switch depending on what branch you are in and what you are fighting.

== Evocations ==

Focus this skill as soon as you find anything that uses it and leave it focused. Use wands liberally, especially early on, except for heal wounds and hasting, which are precious resources. Later on things like sack of spiders, box of beasts, phial of floods, lamp of fire, stone of tremors, fan of gales, and disc of storms will all be handy as you find them, and also any rods you can get, especially rod of inaccuracy, and any decks, especially ornate and legendary ones (save scrolls of identify for those and for good wands -- you can rely on remove curse for a lot of item testing, since you won't be interested in most weapons or armour). Items which summon allies combine nicely with Summon Divine Warrior, and also with summoning spells (see below), and with your trusty Portal Projectile, which allows you to fight while hiding behind allies.

== Magic Schools ==

Mostly these should be trained very little and even switched off -- Spellcasting, where you have a better aptitude, will help here, and should always be focused -- but the following three can be worth training higher:

=== Translocations ===

Phase Shift is a great buff for a low EV character like you. Dispersal can be very nice. Controlled Blink and Disjunction are amazing if you can get them online but that will be late in the game, if at all.

=== Charms ===

Repel Missiles and Swiftness are great for you. Ozocubu's Armour can be excellent if your armour allows it. Spectral Weapon is great. Haste is amazing as always if you find it -- if available this one spell should be made reliably castable at almost any cost (put on rings of wizardry, switch to lighter armour, train the skills exclusively -- whatever it takes). Deflect Missiles is lovely but probably too much trouble to get functioning due to its Air Magic component.

=== Summonings ===

These are great for a melee character, and combine great with Evocations and Divine Warrior. I usually keep the skill focused for as much of the game as possible. Essentially all of the summonings are handy if you can get them working (although some are forbidden by TSO), but some of the lower level ones become underpowered and you might want to forget them later. Again, hiding behind allies and casting Portal Projectile is amazing once you get it working.

== Stats ==

I like to dump every possible stat increase into intelligence, to improve spell success. Strength is another good choice, though.

== Acquirements ==

If there is something you are saving up for in a shop (remember to use the $ key to add things to your shopping list) then gold is probably the best thing to pick if you get a scroll of acquirement. Armour can sometimes be good but more often than not it results in a shield or a crappy robe or something. Book can be a good choice if you are trying to get some of the nice spells listed above. Ammunition can be good too, although large rocks are plentiful in the Depths and Vaults.

== Branches ==

The usual order works well here -- descend the Dungeon until it gets too hard (skipping levels as necessary and coming back to them when you are stronger!), and then try the Lair. Bad situations can often be escaped using random blinking and teleporting until you end up somewhere safe, but it's better if you start the process early when you have lots of health! Also, unless you have a ring of teleport, you won't be able to do this too often. Random blinking by itself is sometimes enough: if you blink in a lucky direction you may be able to run behind a corner or into a hallway where the enemies can't surround you, or you may be able to run away altogether.

Be especially careful when going down any stairs in case there is a nasty ambush (more and more likely the farther along you get!). If there is a [[Trample|trampling]] creature right next to you it will probably knock you off the stairs if you try to climb back up. You can try to escape using the random blinking and teleporting strategy described above, or another option is to use a random blink right away, lure the monsters away from the stairs, and then use a scroll of blinking back onto the stairwell and up once the tramplers are safely away from it.

When the Lair gets too hard try the Orcish Mines, try going deeper into the Dungeon, and later on try Swamp/Shoals/Snake/Spider and Elvish Halls (hopefully you are at least level 15 or so by now). When those become hard try the Depths and the Vaults (you need at least one rune for the latter). The Shining One will make the Crypt and Abyss easier than average for you -- just be liberal with Divine Warriors and Cleansing Flame and use your holy wrath weapon (and of course always be careful -- don't wait too long to summon more allies as needed, or to blink and teleport away in an emergency!). You can probably clear the Crypt as soon as you find it, and start dipping into the Abyss once your level is in the 20s and you have a source of mutation resistance (stay on level 1 at first, and descend for the rune only after making sure you are strong enough for it!).

As always explore the last level of each branch carefully: try all the staircases first and start exploring around the one with the fewest enemies around it, moving in the direction of corners and quiet corridors first if you can find them. Try to advance especially slowly and lure enemies back towards the already cleared areas. (These are good practices always, really, but especially important on those bottom levels). Remember also that skipping a level is always an option to consider, and sometimes skipping a bottom level or a rune is the right thing if there is a [[Mara|very]] [[Nikola|nasty]] [[Lerny|enemy]] in the way or if you are missing some crucial ability or resistance. You can always come back later (possibly much much later!) or just decide to try to ascend without it.

In the case of the Vaults expect a very tough fight the second you set foot on the bottom level (read [[The Vaults|the article]] on that area carefully!). The best thing may be to have the spell Haste and to use that and Portal Projectile to quickly pummel any Vault Wardens and any monsters like dragons that might trample you, and then to run back up the stairs (then kill any monsters that followed you, blinking/teleporting away to safety first if necessary, and repeat the process as many times as necessary). Otherwise you can try random blinking and teleporting but it might be suicide.

Another good thing to try might be the Slime Pits: if you can make it to the bottom without almost dying (remember there is no need to clear each level here -- there is no loot until the end and the enemies aren't worth a ton of experience for how hard they are) there is a good chance you are strong enough to take on The Royal Jelly (and TRJ is relatively easy to escape from if everything goes to hell).

By now you should be around level 27 and ready to enter Zot and/or the Vestibule of Hell. You can decide if you want to go deeper into Hell/Tomb/Pandemonium and get more loot and runes, or clear Zot and quit while you are ahead (assuming you haven't died yet!). Just as with the Crypt and Abyss the combination of GSC of holy wrath, TSO, and miscellaneous summons is great for those branches, but they are hard!

Rezek's Ogre Warper of The Shining One guide

2016-04-20T15:52:06Z

Rezek: Added new guide -- will work on formatting and links

Ogres can use the most fun weapons in the game: giant spiked clubs and large rocks.mThey have a number of weaknesses, though, but I think this combination offsets these nicely and leads to fun gameplay (especially if you can make it to level 10 or so, which is a big if!)

Start by hitting m and focusing Maces & Flails, Throwing, Spellcasting and Translocations, turning off Stealth, Dodging, and Unarmed Combat, and leaving Fighting and Armour on but not focused. You might also hit \ and set javelins, large rocks, stones, throwing nets, and "miscellaneous" to be auto-picked up.

The beginning of the game is a very vulnerable time for you. In the first levels, especially watch out for adders, gnolls, ogres, centaurs, and any uniques. Flee as necessary, and if a level is very hard remember that the next one may well be easier! Try to use throwing to soften up enemies at a distance, and don't be shy about using up your 5 tomahawks of dispersal -- those need to do damage to work, and as enemies get tougher they quickly become quite unreliable. Potions of lignification are especially good to use at this stage, as well as of course berserk rage. Be very aggressive with any wands you find, especially any evil ones that The Shining One won't allow you to use later. Learn Shroud of Golubria as soon as you reach Level 2, and try to cast it before almost every fight -- often it's worth recasting in the middle too, once it unravels or falls apart. Then learn Blinking as soon as you can -- always a wonderful escape spell, and then Portal Projectile. All three of those spells, as well as (to some extent) Apportation, will be useful for the whole game. Other than that at this stage you will mostly be bashing enemies over the head (also works well for the whole game). I'll go over some specific kinds of skills and items I recommend next, and then go back to discussing strategy for the rest of the game.

Weapon

Switch to heavier weapons in the Maces and Flails category as they become available (although a nice brand on a lighter weapon may also be attractive), culminating in a Giant Spiked Club (by far the most powerful melee weapon in the game), which you will hopefully be able to pick off an Ogre by dungeon level 5 or 10 at the latest. After your attack speed with that becomes average you might turn Maces and Flails back down to a lower level of training (or not!). Save all your enchant weapon scrolls for the GSC, and then use them right away on it. When you find scrolls of brand weapon, wait until you have started worshipping The Shining One, and then use them until you get the freezing brand -- the best all-purpose brand for a heavy weapon (worshipping TSO rules out many brands, making it quicker to get freezing). Later you will want to pick up and enchant a second GSC, which you will get the holy wrath brand once TSO blesses it (more situational but incredibly powerful -- it will deal massive, massive damage to even the nastiest enemies if they are vulnerable to it).

Throwing

Throwing is always useful, although after a little while stones will become underpowered. Tomahawks are always at least OK, and javelins and of course large rocks are amazing and make it worthwhile to keep Throwing focused for the whole game. Portal Projectile is extremely handy to throw past summons, whether your own or the enemy's. Throwing nets can be good too, although TSO's strict code of honor makes them a little more situational.

The Shining One

Start worshipping him as soon as you find an altar, and then focus Invocations and leave it focused for the whole game. All the special abilities will be very useful -- see the page on him for more details. Just be careful not to accidentally harm an ally! Especially handy in your case are the halo for attack accuracy and revealing invisible creatures, free protection from negative energy (saves some precious equipment slots), and blessing your secondary GSC. Summon Divine Warrior is amazing for any player but especially for you and once it's available should be used before any difficult fight. (Also Divine Shield is a great buff).

Armour

Ogres are very limited here -- always keep a sharp eye out for any decent artefact you are capable of wearing (especially if it has a big AC bonus or a nice intrinsic/ability: see the section on Jewellery below). Troll Leather Armour works well, and you might use Swamp Dragon Armour if you can get it for areas with lots of poison. Later on, Quicksilver Dragon Armour and Fire Dragon Armour are both good options, if you don't mind the casting penalty. Nice hats and cloaks tend to be uncommon and you may have to just take what you can find. I usually leave the armour skill on but do not focus it, and ignore dodging altogether.

Jewellery

Nice things include slaying, AC/EV, wizardry, teleportation, magic resistance, regeneration, fire/cold/poison/elec resistance, later on corrosion and mutation resistance. Also boosts to Strength/Int can be good. Clarity, stasis, and flight can be good sometimes, as can extra MP and gourmand. You won't be able to have all of it at once, probably, so you will have to switch depending on what branch you are in and what you are fighting.

Evocations

Focus this skill as soon as you find anything that uses it and leave it focused. Use wands liberally, especially early on, except for heal wounds and hasting, which are precious resources. Later on things like sack of spiders, box of beasts, phial of floods, lamp of fire, stone of tremors, fan of gales, and disc of storms will all be handy as you find them, and also any rods you can get, especially rod of inaccuracy, and any decks, especially ornate and legendary ones (save scrolls of identify for those and for good wands -- you can rely on remove curse for a lot of item testing, since you won't be interested in most weapons or armour). Items which summon allies combine nicely with Summon Divine Warrior, and also with summoning spells (see below), and with your trusty Portal Projectile, which allows you to fight while hiding behind allies.

Magic Schools

Mostly these should be trained very little and even switched off -- Spellcasting, where you have a better aptitude, will help here, and should always be focused -- but the following three can be worth training higher:

Translocations

Phase Shift is a great buff for a low EV character like you. Dispersal can be very nice. Controlled Blink and Disjunction are amazing if you can get them online but that will be late in the game, if at all.

Charms

Repel Missiles and Swiftness are great for you. Ozocubu's Armour can be excellent if your armour allows it. Spectral Weapon is great. Haste is amazing as always if you find it -- if available this one spell should be made reliably castable at almost any cost (put on rings of wizardry, switch to lighter armour, train the skills exclusively -- whatever it takes). Deflect Missiles is lovely but probably too much trouble to get functioning due to its Air Magic component.

Summonings

These are great for a melee character, and combine great with Evocations and Divine Warrior. I usually keep the skill focused for as much of the game as possible. Essentially all of the summonings are handy if you can get them working (although some are forbidden by TSO), but some of the lower level ones become underpowered and you might want to use scroll of amnesia to clean them out later. Again, hiding behind allies and casting Portal Projectile is amazing once you get it working.

Stats

I like to dump every possible stat increase into intelligence, to improve spell success. Strength is another good choice, though.

Acquirements

If there is something you are saving up for in a shop (remember to use the $ key to add things to your shopping list) then gold is probably the best thing to pick if you get a scroll of acquirement. Armour can sometimes be good but more often than not it results in a shield or a crappy robe or something. Book can be a good choice if you are trying to get some of the nice spells listed above. Ammunition can be good too, although large rocks are plentiful in the Depths and Vaults.

Branches

The usual order works well here -- descend the Dungeon until it gets too hard (skipping levels as necessary and coming back to them when you are stronger!), and then try the Lair. Bad situations can often be escaped using random blinking and teleporting until you end up somewhere safe, but it's better if you start the process early when you have lots of health! Also, unless you have a ring of teleport, you won't be able to do this too often. Random blinking by itself is sometimes enough: if you blink in a lucky direction you may be able to run behind a corner or into a hallway where the enemies can't surround you, or you may be able to run away altogether.

Be especially careful when going down any stairs in case there is a nasty ambush (more and more likely the farther along you get!). If there is a "trampling" creature right next to you it will probably knock you off the stairs if you try to climb back up. You can try to escape using the random blinking and teleporting strategy described above, or another option is to use a random blink right away, lure the monsters away from the stairs, and then use a scroll of blinking back onto the stairwell and up once the tramplers are safely away from it.

When the Lair gets too hard try the Orcish Mines, try going deeper into the Dungeon, and later on try Swamp/Shoals/Snake/Spider and Elvish Halls (hopefully you are at least level 15 or so by now). When those become hard try the Depths and the Vaults (you need at least one rune for the latter). The Shining One will make the Crypt and Abyss easier than average for you -- just be liberal with Divine Warriors and Cleansing Flame and use your holy wrath weapon (and of course always be careful -- don't wait too long to summon more allies as needed, or to blink and teleport away in an emergency!). You can probably clear the Crypt as soon as you find it, and start dipping into the Abyss once your level is in the 20s and you have a source of mutation resistance (stay on level 1 at first, and descend for the rune only after making sure you are strong enough for it!).

As always explore the last level of each branch carefully: try all the staircases first and start exploring around the one with the fewest enemies around it, moving in the direction of corners and quiet corridors first if you can find them. Try to advance especially slowly and lure enemies back towards the already cleared areas. (These are good practices always, really, but especially important on those bottom levels). Remember also that skipping a level is always an option to consider, and sometimes skipping a bottom level or a rune is the right thing if there is a very nasty enemy in the way or if you are missing some crucial ability or resistance. You can always come back later (possibly much much later!) or just decide to try to ascend without it.

In the case of the Vaults expect a very tough fight the second you set foot on the bottom level (read the article on that area carefully!). The best thing may be to have the spell Haste and to use that and Portal Projectile to quickly pummel any Vault Wardens and any monsters like dragons that might trample you, and then to run back up the stairs (then kill any monsters that followed you, blinking/teleporting away to safety first if necessary, and repeat the process as many times as necessary). Otherwise you can try random blinking and teleporting but it might be suicide.

Another good thing to try might be the Slime Pits: if you can make it to the bottom without almost dying (remember there is no need to clear each level here -- there is no loot until the end and the enemies aren't worth a ton of experience for how hard they are) there is a good chance you are strong enough to take on the Royal Jelly (and TRJ is relatively easy to escape from if everything goes to hell).

By now you should be around level 27 and ready to enter Zot and/or the Vestibule of Hell. You can decide if you want to go deeper into Hell/Tomb/Pandemonium and get more loot and runes, or clear Zot and quit while you are ahead (assuming you haven't died yet!). Just as with the Crypt and Abyss the combination of GSC of holy wrath, TSO, and miscellaneous summons is great for those branches, but they are hard!

Character guides

2016-04-20T15:50:25Z

Rezek: Added new guide

{{Advice}}
New players should start with the [[Walkthrough]]. After that, please browse our [[strategy guides]] for more general advice, and review the [[Early Game Tips|early game]], [[Mid Game Tips|mid-game]], and [[Late Game Tips|late game]] tips.

''Authors: You are responsible for maintaining your guide. Failure to do so will result in your guide being removed from this list until it has been updated. If the guide you're looking for is no longer available here, check the [[Outdated character guide archives|archives]] to see if it has been archived.''

==Species==
'''Centaur'''
* CeHu:
** [[Agentchuck's Centaur Hunter guide]] (unk. v#)

'''Deep Elf'''
* DECj:
** [[MistyMan's_Deep_Elf_Conjurer_of_Vehumet_guide]] (0.13)
* DEEn:
** [[Berder's Deep Elf Enchanter of Sif Muna guide]] (0.15)

'''Demonspawn'''
* DsCj:
** [[Naughty's_Demonspawn_Conjurer_of_Vehumet_guide]] (unk. v#)

'''Draconian'''
* DrCj:
** [[R.Daland's Draconian of Ashenzari Guide]] (0.15)

'''Gargoyle'''
** [[Psiweapon's Melee/Evocations Gargoyle guide]] (0.13 & 0.14)
* GrWz
** [[Majang's Gargoyle Wizard of Vehumet Guide]] (0.17)
* GrEE:
** [[Majang's Caster Walk-Through]] (0.17)
** [[Majang's Disquisition on the Nether Reaches]] (0.17) - extended game walk-through

'''Hill Orc'''
*HOFi
** [[Vigrid's Hill Orc Fighter Guide]] (0.13)

'''Minotaur'''
*MiBe:
**[[Beef Jerky's Simple 3 Rune Minotaur Berserker Guide for Beginners]] (0.14)
*MiGl:
**[[Buddy23Lee's Minotaur Staff-Madness guide]] (0.16)
'''Merfolk'''
* MfDK:
** [[Ophanim's Merfolk Death Knight Guide]] (0.10)
* MfTm:
** [[Elynae's Sludge Elf/Merfolk Transmuter guide]] (unk. v#)

'''Mummy'''
* MuFi:
** [[Buddy23Lee's Mummy Fighter guide]] (Updated to 0.14)
* MuWz
** [[Elynae's Better MuWz Guide]] (0.11)

'''Naga'''
* General:
** [[Tasonir's Melee Naga Guide]] (0.15)
** [[Berder's Naga Transmuter of Chei Guide]] (0.15)

'''Octopode'''
* OpFi
** [[Berder's Octopode Fighter of Dithmenos Guide]] (0.16)

'''Ogre'''
* General:
** [[Davion Fuxa's Ogre guide]] (0.11)
* OgHu:
** [[Serfuzz's Ogre Hunter guide]] (unk. v#)
* OgWn:
** [[Demos' Ogre Wanderer guide]] (unk. v#)
* OgWpL
** [[rezek's Ogre Warper of The Shining One guide]] (0.17)

'''Sludge Elf'''
* SETm
** [[Elynae's Sludge Elf/Merfolk Transmuter guide]] (unk. v#)

'''Spriggan'''
* SpEn:
** [[Huggz's Spriggan Enchanter guide]] (0.13)
* SpVM:
** [[Demos' Spriggan Venom Mage guide]] (unk. v#)
* SpWz:
** [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4lclhJ-3jQ Spriggan Wizard Guide <video>] (0.9.1)

'''Troll'''
* TrCj:
** [[Elynae's Troll Conjurer guide]] (unk. v#)
* TrMo:
** [[Buddy23Lee's Troll monk of Jiyva ("slime troll") guide]] (Updated to 0.14)

==Background==
'''Abyssal Knight:'''
* [[IonFrigate's Abyssal Knight guide]] (0.11)
* [http://pastebin.com/QnHCvEVv Pacra's Abyssal Knight guide] (unk. v#)

'''Fire Elementalist:'''
* [[Elynae's Fire Elementalist guide]] (0.11, short)
* [[Majang's Fire Elementalist of TSO Guide]] (0.17)

'''Skald'''
* [[Lawman's Skald guide]] (0.10)

[[Category:Strategy_Guides]][[Category:Guides]]