Difference between revisions of "Deep Dwarf"

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''This article is about the player [[species]]. For the monster, see [[Deep Dwarf (monster)]]. For a list of all monstrous deep dwarves, see [[List of deep dwarves]].''
 
''This article is about the player [[species]]. For the monster, see [[Deep Dwarf (monster)]]. For a list of all monstrous deep dwarves, see [[List of deep dwarves]].''
−
{{flavour|Deep Dwarves are short, hardy people who, unlike their extinct surface relatives, never left the underground homelands. Living there for countless generations made them turn pale and lose all ability to regenerate on their own (nor are they receptive to any effects which merely hasten regeneration), as well as all ability to recover from losses to their primary attributes over time. On the other hand, Deep Dwarves have developed the ability to instantly counteract small doses of damage. Their empathy with the earth makes them sense their surroundings; this ability increases in power as they gain experience levels.
+
{{flavour|Deep Dwarves are short, hardy people who, unlike their extinct surface relatives, never left the underground homelands. Living there for countless generations made them turn pale and lose all ability to regenerate health over time, or to have their rate of regeneration hastened by any effects. Deep Dwarves can instead draw on their magical essence to heal, but doing so will gradually deplete their maximum reserves of magic. They are passively able to reduce all incoming damage, and their empathy with the earth allows them to sense their surroundings; these abilities increase in power as they gain experience levels.
  
−
Given their lack of innate healing, few Deep Dwarves venture out for adventures or even combat. Those who do bring a wand of heal wounds, or rely on divine assistance.
+
Naturally, Deep Dwarves are quite adept with all arts of avoiding blows and damage. Offensively, they are skilled users of axes, crossbows, and slings. Deep Dwarves are highly spiritual beings, often portrayed as actual spirits by outsiders; because of this, their skill with invocations is great, and they often rely on divine assistance for healing. They are most at home with the magic of earth and death, eventually gaining some resistance to the dark powers of necromancy.}}
  
−
Naturally, Deep Dwarves are quite adept with all arts of avoiding blows and damage. Offensively, they are skilled users of axes, crossbows, and slings. Deep Dwarves are highly spiritual beings, often portrayed as actual spirits by outsiders; because of this, their skill with invocations is great. They are most at home with the magic of earth and death.
+
==Innate Abilities==
 +
*'''No Regeneration''': Deep Dwarves cannot [[heal]] lost HP naturally, nor benefit from any non-divine form of regeneration.
 +
**If they obtain [[spirit shield]], Deep Dwarves have their MP set to 0 and do not regenerate MP.
 +
*'''Damage Reduction''' (or "damage shaving"): Deep Dwarves suffer less damage from every source. This applies separately to every source of damage, every time it is dealt; for instance, damage shaving generally negates the effects of all but the worst cases of being [[poison]]ed.
 +
*'''Heal Wounds''': Deep Dwarves have an innate Heal Wounds ability, replicating the effects of the [[potion of heal wounds|potion]]. The ability has a 25% chance to permanently reduce maximum [[MP]] by 1 when used. Notably, it has a chance to fail, with a decreased chance of failure with higher experience levels.
 +
*'''[[Passive Mapping|Passive Mapping 1]]''': Deep Dwarves can sense parts of the layout of the dungeon around them.
  
−
Deep Dwarves are gifted forgers. Their armour and weapons are very well-crafted and much more durable than the products of lesser artisans, and particularly dangerous when in the hands of a true Dwarf. In addition, Deep Dwarves can tinker with gadgets so as to recharge them. However, each time they do so, they lose a bit of their magical essence.}}
+
Deep Dwarves have a base [[Strength]] of 11, [[Intelligence]] of 8 and [[Dexterity]] of 8 (before Background modifiers) and normal base [[magic points]].
−
 
 
−
==Innate Abilities==
 
−
*[[Bad mutations#Slow Healing|Slow Healing 3]]: Deep Dwarves cannot [[heal]] lost HP or attributes naturally, nor benefit from any form of regeneration (including the [[Regeneration]] spell).
 
−
**Deep Dwarves will not passively regain MP if wearing an [[amulet of guardian spirit]].
 
−
*[[Good_mutations#Passive Mapping|Passive Mapping 1]]: Deep Dwarves can sense parts of the layout of the dungeon around them.
 
−
*Damage Reduction (also known as "damage shaving"): Deep Dwarves suffer less damage from every source. Among other things, this generally negates the effects of being [[poison]]ed.
 
−
*Deep Dwarves receive bonuses from dwarven weapons and armor, in addition to the bonuses this equipment already provides from its superior construction. For Deep Dwarves, dwarven armour impedes spellcasting less than other armours and improves their effective Armour skill. They do slightly more damage when using dwarven weapons.
 
−
*[[File:Device recharge.png]] Device Recharging: Deep Dwarves can recharge wands and rods at the cost of 1 permanent MP.
 
−
{{flavour|At the permanent loss of one magic point recharge a wand or rod.}}
 
  
 
==Preferred Backgrounds==
 
==Preferred Backgrounds==
−
*'''Warriors:''' [[Fighter]], [[Gladiator]], [[Hunter]]
+
*'''Warriors:''' [[Fighter]], [[Hunter]]
−
*'''Zealots:''' [[Berserker]], [[Healer]]
+
*'''Zealots:''' [[Berserker]]
−
*'''Warrior-mages:''' [[Warper]]
 
 
*'''Mages:''' [[Necromancer]], [[Earth Elementalist]]
 
*'''Mages:''' [[Necromancer]], [[Earth Elementalist]]
−
*'''Adventurers:''' [[Artificer]]
 
  
 
==Level Bonuses==
 
==Level Bonuses==
 
*+1 [[strength]] or [[intelligence]] (equal chance) every 4th level.
 
*+1 [[strength]] or [[intelligence]] (equal chance) every 4th level.
−
*20% more [[HP]] than average.
+
*20% more [[hit points]] than average.
−
*Average [[MP]].
+
*+6 [[willpower]] per level.
−
*+6 [[magic resistance]] per level.
+
*At levels 9 and 18, your [[Good mutations#Passive Mapping|Passive Mapping]] is upgraded to ranks 2 and 3, respectively.
 
*At level 14, gain [[Life Protection|Life Protection 1]].
 
*At level 14, gain [[Life Protection|Life Protection 1]].
−
*At levels 9 and 18, your [[Good mutations#Passive Mapping|Passive Mapping]] is upgraded to ranks 2 and 3, respectively.
 
  
 
===Damage Reduction===
 
===Damage Reduction===
−
The formula for Deep Dwarves' damage reduction is 1d(2 + (1d(1 + experience level / 3) - 1)). This is applied against all damage they receive, even against attacks that are normally irresistible like [[smiting]] or [[hellfire]]. The table below only lists selected levels; unlisted levels also see small increments in damage reduction. It is not applied to damage from spell activation sources, such as [[Makhleb]]'s abilities.
+
The formula for Deep Dwarves' damage reduction is <code>1d(1 + 1d(1 + floor(XL / 3)))</code>. This is applied against all damage they receive, even against attacks that are normally irresistible like [[smiting]] or [[damnation]]. It is not applied to damage from spell or ability activation sources, such as [[Makhleb]]'s abilities. The reduction is improved every three [[experience level]]s as per table below.
  
 
{| class="prettytable"
 
{| class="prettytable"
−
!Level !! Damage reduced
+
!Level !! Maximum !! Average
 
|-
 
|-
−
|1 & 2 || 1-2 (avg. 1.5)
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|1 || 2 || 1.5
 
|-
 
|-
−
|5 || 1-3 (avg. 1.75)
+
|3  || 3 || 1.75
 
|-
 
|-
−
|8 || 1-4 (avg. 2)
+
|6  || 4 || 2
 
|-
 
|-
−
|11 || 1-5 (avg. 2.25)
+
|9  || 5 || 2.25
 
|-
 
|-
−
|14 || 1-6 (avg. 2.5)
+
|12 || 6 || 2.5
 
|-
 
|-
−
|17 ||1-7 (avg. 2.75)
+
|15 || 7 || 2.75
 
|-
 
|-
−
|20 || 1-8 (avg. 3)
+
|18 || 8 || 3
 
|-
 
|-
−
|23 || 1-9 (avg. 3.25)
+
|21 || 9 || 3.25
 
|-
 
|-
−
|26 || 1-10 (avg. 3.5)
+
|24 || 10 || 3.5
 +
|-
 +
|27|| 11 || 3.75
 
|}
 
|}
 +
Minimum reduction is always 1 point of damage.
 +
 +
[[Poison]] is treated slightly differently; the effective duration of poison is lowered so that up to 25 points of poison damage are shaved at once <ref>{{source ref|0.28.0|player.cc|4187}}</ref>.
  
 
==Starting Skills and Equipment==
 
==Starting Skills and Equipment==
−
Deep Dwarves start with the skills and equipment listed for their background, with these exceptions:
+
Deep Dwarves start with all the skills and equipment listed for their background.
−
*A [[wand of healing]] with 5 charges.
 
−
*All weapons and armor are of dwarven quality, where such variants exist.
 
  
 
==Difficulty of Play==
 
==Difficulty of Play==
 +
{{Moderate}}
  
−
{{Beginner}}
+
Deep Dwarves are a moderately difficult species to play. No regeneration can seem brutal, but other sources of healing (such as [[Makhleb]]'s heal on kill) can get around it - see below for details. In exchange, DD has some powerful abilities. The innate heal wounds ability is a powerful panic button; just don't wait until the last turn to use it. Damage shaving is a strong effect, too.
  
−
Deep Dwarves are an easy species to play so long as you quickly find a renewable source of healing. They have powerful damage shaving, which makes them immune to most damage-over-time attacks (such as poison). Starting the game with healing wands identified is also nice. They have decent aptitudes for a fighter-mage hybrid. Due to their lack of healing, they must choose their [[god]] and background with great care. Despite avoiding the loss of HP healing from [[sickness]] (since they have nothing to lose), their inability to naturally recover from ability score loss actually makes sickness a much bigger deal than for most races.
+
Deep Dwarf is arguably the best race for streaking. The heal wounds ability can let you survive early game situations that no other species can.
  
−
Towards the late game, the lack of natural healing becomes much more significant. Vaults:5 and Zot:5, among other locations, can severely strain your supply of potions or piety (for divine healing). However, full-HP Deep Dwarves are also much more capable of surviving battles in these places, because they take much less damage from things such as [[orbs of fire]]. The extended endgame is a different matter: while [[torment]] poses less of a direct danger to deep dwarves, damage from it can be very difficult to repair.  Places such as [[Hell]] and [[Pandemonium]] will see you being tormented with considerable regularity, and this will rapidly deplete your supply of healing if you're not careful.
+
Note that Deep Dwarves were made significantly harder to play in [[0.27]], as [[Makhleb]], a very popular source of healing, had the healing greatly reduced.
  
−
{{species_aptitudes|Deep Dwarf}}
+
{{obsolete_species_aptitudes|Deep Dwarf}}
  
 
==Strategy==
 
==Strategy==
−
Initially, you start with a wand of healing, and the ability to recharge at the cost of one max MP. Use it. You're not going to regain that lost health naturally, so whenever your HP is at least 20 points or so below maximum, heal. Don't be afraid to use the recharging ability - it is better to end with 45 max MP instead of 50 than it is to die. Once you've identified [[potions of heal wounds]], you should use them before the wand, as they can break, and using them means you won't have to sacrifice as many MP to charge your wand. Save [[potions of curing]] for situations where you have a negative status effect, such as [[rot]] or [[confusion]] - using them to simply heal HP is wasteful. Use the wand instead, charging it if necessary.
+
You start with a heal wounds ability, with a chance to lose one permanent MP. Use it. You're not going to regain that lost health naturally, so whenever your HP is at least 20 points or so below maximum, heal. Don't be afraid of running out of healing - you can always train more Spellcasting or Invocations to get more MP, and most characters should never run low on max MP. Save [[potions of curing]] for situations where you have a negative status effect (such as [[poison]] or [[confusion]]), and [[potions of heal wounds]] for life-or-death situations where you cannot afford the fail chance on your innate ability—using them to simply heal HP outside combat is wasteful.
  
−
Later on, you will need a source of renewable healing, in addition to the usual means of non-renewable (consumable) healing. Consumable healing will quickly be exhausted if you don't find another way to heal. There are only a few ways to go about this:
+
Later on, you will need a source of renewable healing, in addition to the usual means of non-renewable (ability and consumable) healing. Consumable healing and your maximum MP will eventually be exhausted if you don't find another way to heal. There are only a few ways to go about this:
  
−
===Healing Through [[Necromancy]]===
+
===Healing Through Spells===
−
Deep Dwarves cannot use the [[Regeneration]] spell, but they can use [[Vampiric Draining]]. This spell requires a living target in melee range to be effective; luckily, the game provides plenty of these. It is only found in the [[Book of Necromancy]], which can be obtained in three ways:
+
The [[Vampiric Draining]] spell is an excellent choice for a Deep Dwarf. It requires a living or harmful plant target in melee range to be effective; luckily, the game provides plenty of these. Vampiric Draining can be obtained in three ways:
−
*By starting as a [[Necromancer]]
+
*Starting as a [[Necromancer]]
−
*By finding it randomly, often in a shop (one might also find a [[randart]] spellbook containing the same spell)
+
*Finding a book containing the spell
−
*While [[Kikubaaqudgha]] worshipers normally only have a 50% shot at getting Vampiric Draining, the fact that they can't cast Regeneration means that Deep Dwarves will always receive it at * piety.
+
*Reaching * piety with [[Kikubaaqudgha]]
  
−
Gifted necromancers can also use [[Borgnjor's Revivification]] to heal, but this is as much of an emergency spell for Deep Dwarves as it is for any other character, given its cost in max HP.
+
Two other spells may heal Deep Dwarves. Gifted necromancers can use [[Borgnjor's Revivification]] to heal, but this is as much of an emergency spell for Deep Dwarves as it is for any other character, given its cost in max HP. [[Wereblood]] provides a few points of health when slaying adjacent creatures; 3 at most, too little for any serious healing.
  
 
===Passive Divine Healing===
 
===Passive Divine Healing===
−
Two gods passively give HP for kills:  
+
[[Jiyva]] is a special case -- the slime god provides (super)natural regeneration, as if you were any other species. But unless you find an altar early or use a [[faded altar]], Jiyva won't be found in any sort of timely manner. An altar often spawns in [[Lair]], so a vampiric spell or weapon can serve as a buffer. Or you can start with [[Elyvilon]], detailed below, who will not incur wrath on abandonment.
−
*[[Makhleb]] gives HP for killing most enemies. He is by far the more common choice, since his healing is useful everywhere, and his other abilities are useful to just about any character build.  
+
 
−
*[[The Shining One]] gives HP on killing "evil" enemies (namely demons, undead, and many spellcasters). A Deep Dwarf doing the extended end game may well find TSO to be a better option than Makhleb, since virtually all of the enemies in [[Hell]] and [[Pandemonium]] are evil, and TSO gives a variety of useful abilities in fighting them.
+
Two gods passively give HP after killing:  
 +
*[[Makhleb]] gives HP for killing most enemies. Historically, Mak has been by far the most common choice for Deep Dwarves, since Makhleb's healing is useful everywhere. Its other abilities are also helpful to just about any character build.  
 +
*[[The Shining One]] gives HP on killing "evil" enemies (namely [[demon]]s, [[undead]], and many spellcasters). This alone is not sufficient in most areas of the game, however. Only in [[Pandemonium]], [[Hell]], [[Crypt]], and [[Tomb]] is it likely to be a reliable, consistent source of healing. Also note that worshiping The Shining One precludes using Necromancy and vampiric weapons as means of healing.
  
 
===Active Divine Healing===
 
===Active Divine Healing===
−
Three gods have [[Invocations]] which can heal Deep Dwarves. All of these abilities cost piety, although to varying degrees.
+
Six gods have abilities which can heal Deep Dwarves.
−
*[[Elyvilon]] gives two healing abilities, Lesser and Greater Self-Healing. Both cost piety, but they are gained fairly early on (at * and *** piety, respectively), so most players will be unlikely to lose them. It is fairly easy to gain piety with Elyvilon by pacifying monsters, and to a lesser extent, sacrificing weapons. However, Ely's pacification abilities require [[Invocations]] skill to be most effective, and they both have steep food costs.
+
*[[Elyvilon]] gives a Heal Self ability at ***. While Elyvilon piety is only gained through exploration, accomplishing this is aided by the [[Passive Mapping]] ability of Deep Dwarves. Training [[Invocations]] skill, which they have a great aptitude for, increases the effectiveness of Heal Self.
−
*[[Trog]] gives a regeneration ability at ** piety, Trog's Hand. Unlike all other forms of regeneration, this works on Deep Dwarves. The ability does not require Invocations to be effective - rather, it becomes more effective with increasing piety. One must be careful about using this as one's only means of healing - it can rapidly consume piety, making it and Trog's other abilities considerably less effective.
+
*[[Trog]] grants Trog's Hand at ** piety, a regenerative ability that works on Deep Dwarves. Trog's Hand does not require Invocations to be effective—rather, it becomes more effective with increasing piety. Moreover, because worshipers of Trog are forbidden from using magic anyway, Deep Dwarven berserkers can lean more on their innate healing ability, as the loss of max MP is of no concern.
−
*[[Yredelemnul]] gives worshipers the ability to drain ambient lifeforce at **** piety. This ability is quite expensive, requires considerable Invocations investment (the max it can heal you is Invocation*2), and only works on living monsters. Taking Yred explicitly for this ability is inadvisable.
+
**Note that excessive use of Trog's Hand will diminish how often one can use the powerful Brothers in Arms ability. Additionally, Trog's Hand itself has a duration that depends heavily on your piety: the less piety you have, the less Trog's Hand will heal you per use, and the more piety you will have to burn to stay alive. An [[amulet of faith]] is an extremely valuable find for a Deep Dwarven berserker.
 +
*[[Yredelemnul]] gives worshipers the ability to drain ambient life force at **** piety. However, this ability requires a considerable amount of zombies and Invocations, and it only works on living or plant monsters. Taking Yred for the sole purpose of using this ability is inadvisable.
 +
*[[Ru]] lets you use Draw Out Power at *** piety at the cost of slight (temporary) reduction to your maximum HP. In a similar vein to Yredelemnul, taking Ru solely for this ability may not be wise.
 +
*[[Gozag]]'s Potion Petition ability usually offers at least one option that includes a potion of healing or curing. However, it's unreliable, expensive, and is more suited for emergencies.
 +
*[[Nemelex]]'s [[deck of escape]] can contain the [[Elixir card]] which will heal you. However, Nemelex card gifts aren't going to grant sufficient healing outside of emergencies.
  
 
===Vampiric Weapons===
 
===Vampiric Weapons===
−
Vampiric weapons will heal Deep Dwarves when they hit a living target. Unfortunately, they are quite rare, and there is no way to guarantee that they will be on a useful weapon. An early vampiric weapon may give a Deep Dwarf more flexibility in god choice, however.
+
Vampiric weapons heal Deep Dwarves when they hit a living or plant target. Unfortunately, they are quite rare, and there is no way to guarantee that they will be on a useful weapon. An early vampiric weapon may give a Deep Dwarf somewhat more flexibility in god choice.
  
 
===Non-Renewable Healing===
 
===Non-Renewable Healing===
−
Deep Dwarves can also heal themselves through the following consumable means:
+
Deep Dwarves can heal themselves by quaffing a [[potions of curing]] or [[potion of heal wounds|heal wounds]]. Unlike most forms of regeneration, [[potions of ambrosia]] also function normally and can be used to heal between fights.
−
*Quaffing a [[potion of curing]] or [[potion of heal wounds]]
 
−
*Zapping a [[wand of healing]]
 
−
*The [[Elixir]] card, found in the Decks of War, Defense, and Changes. Unfortunately, none of these are gifted by [[Nemelex Xobeh]]. At low power, this card may only induce the Regeneration spell, which is a waste on Deep Dwarves.
 
−
*The Potion card, found in Decks of Wonders. At low power, this has a 54% chance of some form of HP healing (27% each of duplicating Potion of Heal Wounds or Potion of Curing). At higher power this chance drops off, as other non-healing effects also show up and dilute your odds. It hits a 21.6% chance of healing (10.8% of each potion type) at maximum power.
 
−
*The Alchemist card (Deck of Wonders) is the only card guaranteed at all power levels to give a healing effect that works on Deep Dwarves. It also robs you blind, but what use is money if you're dead?
 
−
*Xom will occasionally heal worshipers
 
−
*Drinking from a sparkling fountain gives a random potion effect, possibly including healing. This is generally a Bad Idea, given that other effects include [[rotting]] and [[mutations]].
 
  
 
===So What Does All This Mean?===
 
===So What Does All This Mean?===
−
All of this essentially means that Deep Dwarves are fairly limited in their choice of god. Necromancers have the most flexibility; since they start with Vampiric Draining, they can do reasonably well with any god they desire, although it is still advisable to pick one who gives renewable healing. All others, with the exception of those who get lucky and find a Book of Necromancy early on, are pretty much forced to choose between Makhleb, Elyvilon, Trog, and Kikubaaqudgha. Yredelemnul is a very iffy option, while The Shining One is only effective in the late game.
+
All of this essentially means that Deep Dwarves who wish to maximise their chances for success are fairly limited in their choice of god. Deep Dwarves, possibly excepting those who have [[Vampiric Draining]] early on, are strongly incentivised to choose between [[Makhleb]], [[Elyvilon]], [[Ru]], or [[Jiyva]].
 +
 
 +
==History==
 +
*Deep Dwarves were removed in [[0.29]].
 +
*Prior to [[0.20]], Deep Dwarves started with a [[wand of heal wounds]] and a Device Recharging ability which would recharge any [[wand]] or [[rod]] for 1 permanent MP, instead of their innate heal wounds ability. Also, they had Slow Regeneration 3 instead of the species-specific No Regeneration.
 +
*Before [[0.17]], Deep Dwarves could not regenerate back temporarily reduced [[stats]] and had to use the now-removed [[potion of restore abilities]]. Deep Dwarven [[player ghost]]s also lacked the ability to regenerate.
 +
*Deep Dwarves were added in [[0.5]].
 +
 
 +
Heavily reliant on renewable methods of healing, many god changes are noteworthy:
 +
*[[0.28]] [[Jiyva]] gives passive regeneration. Removed [[Elyvilon]] Lesser Healing ability at 1* piety, moved Greater Healing from 4* to 3*. Increased Trog ability costs.
 +
*[[0.27]] [[Makhleb]] healing reduced heavily in strength.
 +
*[[0.25]] [[Trog]] lost the ability to gift vampiric weapons.
 +
*[[0.18]] [[Pakellas]] introduced, with the ability to charge and supercharge wands (of heal wounds) without max MP loss. Pakellas was removed in [[0.19]].
 +
*[[0.16]] [[Healer]] background, which started with Elyvilon, was removed.
 +
*[[0.7]] [[Chaos Knight]] of Makhleb removed.
 +
 
 +
==References==
 +
<references/>
  
−
At first glance, this might seem to make most of the religious classes off-limits for Deep Dwarves. However, this is not actually so:
+
[[Category: Dwarf]]
−
*[[Berserker]]s already start with Trog
 
−
*[[Priest]]s can safely switch from Zin to Elyvilon. Even if they choose to go for Makhleb, Zin's wrath is quite survivable, even for a low-level character.
 
−
*[[Healer]]s already start with [[Elyvilon]]
 
−
*[[Chaos Knight]]s start with Xom. Xom is not incredibly hard to ditch, given that his wrath is simply the typical nasty things he already does to you when you're in "good" standing with him.
 
−
*[[Death Knight]]s start with Yredelemnul. They will probably want to change gods, but Yred's wrath is fairly tame. He causes necro miscasts and summons servants on you - but you outrun can all of them except for [[death cob]]s, which are extremely rare, and [[flying skull]]s, which are pathetic.
 
−
*[[Abyssal Knight]]s are the only religious class with significant trouble switching to another god. [[Lugonu]] does not give healing, and her wrath is extremely dangerous for low-level character: you will likely be [[Abyss]]ed repeatedly. With the removal of wrath dilution in [[0.11]], early DDAK will either have to get lucky and find sources of healing (ideally a vampiric weapon or a book of Necromancy) that let them stay with Lugonu, or simply survive her wrath.  Delaying the changeover as long you can reasonably keep charging the wand is a good idea: an XL12-13 character has a much greater chance of surviving Lugonu's wrath than an XL5 one.  It is better to be down 10 max MP in the endgame than to be dead.
 
  
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[[category: species]]
+
{{species}}
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[[category: Dwarf]]
 

Latest revision as of 15:55, 14 December 2023

Obsolete: This article refers to an aspect of the game which has been removed. It is retained for historical reference only.

This article is about the player species. For the monster, see Deep Dwarf (monster). For a list of all monstrous deep dwarves, see List of deep dwarves.

Deep Dwarves are short, hardy people who, unlike their extinct surface relatives, never left the underground homelands. Living there for countless generations made them turn pale and lose all ability to regenerate health over time, or to have their rate of regeneration hastened by any effects. Deep Dwarves can instead draw on their magical essence to heal, but doing so will gradually deplete their maximum reserves of magic. They are passively able to reduce all incoming damage, and their empathy with the earth allows them to sense their surroundings; these abilities increase in power as they gain experience levels.

Naturally, Deep Dwarves are quite adept with all arts of avoiding blows and damage. Offensively, they are skilled users of axes, crossbows, and slings. Deep Dwarves are highly spiritual beings, often portrayed as actual spirits by outsiders; because of this, their skill with invocations is great, and they often rely on divine assistance for healing. They are most at home with the magic of earth and death, eventually gaining some resistance to the dark powers of necromancy.

Innate Abilities

  • No Regeneration: Deep Dwarves cannot heal lost HP naturally, nor benefit from any non-divine form of regeneration.
    • If they obtain spirit shield, Deep Dwarves have their MP set to 0 and do not regenerate MP.
  • Damage Reduction (or "damage shaving"): Deep Dwarves suffer less damage from every source. This applies separately to every source of damage, every time it is dealt; for instance, damage shaving generally negates the effects of all but the worst cases of being poisoned.
  • Heal Wounds: Deep Dwarves have an innate Heal Wounds ability, replicating the effects of the potion. The ability has a 25% chance to permanently reduce maximum MP by 1 when used. Notably, it has a chance to fail, with a decreased chance of failure with higher experience levels.
  • Passive Mapping 1: Deep Dwarves can sense parts of the layout of the dungeon around them.

Deep Dwarves have a base Strength of 11, Intelligence of 8 and Dexterity of 8 (before Background modifiers) and normal base magic points.

Preferred Backgrounds

Level Bonuses

Damage Reduction

The formula for Deep Dwarves' damage reduction is 1d(1 + 1d(1 + floor(XL / 3))). This is applied against all damage they receive, even against attacks that are normally irresistible like smiting or damnation. It is not applied to damage from spell or ability activation sources, such as Makhleb's abilities. The reduction is improved every three experience levels as per table below.

Level Maximum Average
1 2 1.5
3 3 1.75
6 4 2
9 5 2.25
12 6 2.5
15 7 2.75
18 8 3
21 9 3.25
24 10 3.5
27 11 3.75

Minimum reduction is always 1 point of damage.

Poison is treated slightly differently; the effective duration of poison is lowered so that up to 25 points of poison damage are shaved at once [1].

Starting Skills and Equipment

Deep Dwarves start with all the skills and equipment listed for their background.

Difficulty of Play

Simple • Intermediate • Advanced

Deep Dwarves are a moderately difficult species to play. No regeneration can seem brutal, but other sources of healing (such as Makhleb's heal on kill) can get around it - see below for details. In exchange, DD has some powerful abilities. The innate heal wounds ability is a powerful panic button; just don't wait until the last turn to use it. Damage shaving is a strong effect, too.

Deep Dwarf is arguably the best race for streaking. The heal wounds ability can let you survive early game situations that no other species can.

Note that Deep Dwarves were made significantly harder to play in 0.27, as Makhleb, a very popular source of healing, had the healing greatly reduced.

Skill aptitudes

Values are from the most recent version that had both the species and the skill:

Skill Aptitude Skill Aptitude Skill Aptitude
Attack Miscellaneous Magic
Fighting -1 Armour 1 Spellcasting -2
Short Blades -1 Dodging 1 Conjurations -1
Long Blades 0 Stealth 3 Hexes -2
Maces & Flails 0 Shields 1 Charms -1
Axes 1 Stabbing -1 Summonings -1
Polearms -1 Traps 1 Necromancy 1
Staves -1 Translocations 1
Unarmed Combat -1 Invocations 3 Transmutations -1
Evocations 3
Throwing -1 Shapeshifting N/A Fire Magic -1
Ranged Weapons N/A Ice Magic -1
Slings 1 Experience -1 Air Magic -3
Bows -3 Earth Magic 3
Crossbows 1 Poison Magic -2
Alchemy N/A

Strategy

You start with a heal wounds ability, with a chance to lose one permanent MP. Use it. You're not going to regain that lost health naturally, so whenever your HP is at least 20 points or so below maximum, heal. Don't be afraid of running out of healing - you can always train more Spellcasting or Invocations to get more MP, and most characters should never run low on max MP. Save potions of curing for situations where you have a negative status effect (such as poison or confusion), and potions of heal wounds for life-or-death situations where you cannot afford the fail chance on your innate ability—using them to simply heal HP outside combat is wasteful.

Later on, you will need a source of renewable healing, in addition to the usual means of non-renewable (ability and consumable) healing. Consumable healing and your maximum MP will eventually be exhausted if you don't find another way to heal. There are only a few ways to go about this:

Healing Through Spells

The Vampiric Draining spell is an excellent choice for a Deep Dwarf. It requires a living or harmful plant target in melee range to be effective; luckily, the game provides plenty of these. Vampiric Draining can be obtained in three ways:

Two other spells may heal Deep Dwarves. Gifted necromancers can use Borgnjor's Revivification to heal, but this is as much of an emergency spell for Deep Dwarves as it is for any other character, given its cost in max HP. Wereblood provides a few points of health when slaying adjacent creatures; 3 at most, too little for any serious healing.

Passive Divine Healing

Jiyva is a special case -- the slime god provides (super)natural regeneration, as if you were any other species. But unless you find an altar early or use a faded altar, Jiyva won't be found in any sort of timely manner. An altar often spawns in Lair, so a vampiric spell or weapon can serve as a buffer. Or you can start with Elyvilon, detailed below, who will not incur wrath on abandonment.

Two gods passively give HP after killing:

  • Makhleb gives HP for killing most enemies. Historically, Mak has been by far the most common choice for Deep Dwarves, since Makhleb's healing is useful everywhere. Its other abilities are also helpful to just about any character build.
  • The Shining One gives HP on killing "evil" enemies (namely demons, undead, and many spellcasters). This alone is not sufficient in most areas of the game, however. Only in Pandemonium, Hell, Crypt, and Tomb is it likely to be a reliable, consistent source of healing. Also note that worshiping The Shining One precludes using Necromancy and vampiric weapons as means of healing.

Active Divine Healing

Six gods have abilities which can heal Deep Dwarves.

  • Elyvilon gives a Heal Self ability at ***. While Elyvilon piety is only gained through exploration, accomplishing this is aided by the Passive Mapping ability of Deep Dwarves. Training Invocations skill, which they have a great aptitude for, increases the effectiveness of Heal Self.
  • Trog grants Trog's Hand at ** piety, a regenerative ability that works on Deep Dwarves. Trog's Hand does not require Invocations to be effective—rather, it becomes more effective with increasing piety. Moreover, because worshipers of Trog are forbidden from using magic anyway, Deep Dwarven berserkers can lean more on their innate healing ability, as the loss of max MP is of no concern.
    • Note that excessive use of Trog's Hand will diminish how often one can use the powerful Brothers in Arms ability. Additionally, Trog's Hand itself has a duration that depends heavily on your piety: the less piety you have, the less Trog's Hand will heal you per use, and the more piety you will have to burn to stay alive. An amulet of faith is an extremely valuable find for a Deep Dwarven berserker.
  • Yredelemnul gives worshipers the ability to drain ambient life force at **** piety. However, this ability requires a considerable amount of zombies and Invocations, and it only works on living or plant monsters. Taking Yred for the sole purpose of using this ability is inadvisable.
  • Ru lets you use Draw Out Power at *** piety at the cost of slight (temporary) reduction to your maximum HP. In a similar vein to Yredelemnul, taking Ru solely for this ability may not be wise.
  • Gozag's Potion Petition ability usually offers at least one option that includes a potion of healing or curing. However, it's unreliable, expensive, and is more suited for emergencies.
  • Nemelex's deck of escape can contain the Elixir card which will heal you. However, Nemelex card gifts aren't going to grant sufficient healing outside of emergencies.

Vampiric Weapons

Vampiric weapons heal Deep Dwarves when they hit a living or plant target. Unfortunately, they are quite rare, and there is no way to guarantee that they will be on a useful weapon. An early vampiric weapon may give a Deep Dwarf somewhat more flexibility in god choice.

Non-Renewable Healing

Deep Dwarves can heal themselves by quaffing a potions of curing or heal wounds. Unlike most forms of regeneration, potions of ambrosia also function normally and can be used to heal between fights.

So What Does All This Mean?

All of this essentially means that Deep Dwarves who wish to maximise their chances for success are fairly limited in their choice of god. Deep Dwarves, possibly excepting those who have Vampiric Draining early on, are strongly incentivised to choose between Makhleb, Elyvilon, Ru, or Jiyva.

History

  • Deep Dwarves were removed in 0.29.
  • Prior to 0.20, Deep Dwarves started with a wand of heal wounds and a Device Recharging ability which would recharge any wand or rod for 1 permanent MP, instead of their innate heal wounds ability. Also, they had Slow Regeneration 3 instead of the species-specific No Regeneration.
  • Before 0.17, Deep Dwarves could not regenerate back temporarily reduced stats and had to use the now-removed potion of restore abilities. Deep Dwarven player ghosts also lacked the ability to regenerate.
  • Deep Dwarves were added in 0.5.

Heavily reliant on renewable methods of healing, many god changes are noteworthy:

  • 0.28 Jiyva gives passive regeneration. Removed Elyvilon Lesser Healing ability at 1* piety, moved Greater Healing from 4* to 3*. Increased Trog ability costs.
  • 0.27 Makhleb healing reduced heavily in strength.
  • 0.25 Trog lost the ability to gift vampiric weapons.
  • 0.18 Pakellas introduced, with the ability to charge and supercharge wands (of heal wounds) without max MP loss. Pakellas was removed in 0.19.
  • 0.16 Healer background, which started with Elyvilon, was removed.
  • 0.7 Chaos Knight of Makhleb removed.

References

  1. ↑ player.cc:4187 (0.28.0)
Species
Simple Mountain Dwarf • Minotaur • Merfolk • Gargoyle • Draconian • Troll • Deep Elf • Armataur • Gnoll
Intermediate Human • Kobold • Demonspawn • Djinni • Spriggan • Ghoul • Tengu • Oni • Barachi
Advanced Coglin • Vine Stalker • Vampire • Demigod • Formicid • Naga • Octopode • Felid • Mummy
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