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| | == Overview == | | == Overview == |
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| | == Armour == | | == Armour == |
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| − | Robes of resistance or the rare robe of the archmagi are my preferred choices. You sometime get a nice artefact | + | Robes of resistance or the rar |
| − | robe but ''always'' make sure you have a remove curse before you try it. The worst fixed artefact in the game
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| − | is the robe of Misfortune and easilly a death sentence for an unlucky magic user. A decent leather armour
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| − | artefact might be worth wearing but it'll make [[Ice Storm]] slightly harder to get. Anything heavier I would
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| − | disregard.
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| − | | |
| − | == Weapons and Shields ==
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| − | | |
| − | As a [[Conjurer]] you'll mostly want to be nuking monsters from a distance so you have flexibility when it comes to
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| − | weapon choice.
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| − | | |
| − | Shields are strictly optional but branded bucklers aren't uncommon to so I normally run with one and train
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| − | Shields skill to 5 to counteract the spellcasting inteference they cause. I'll only start training Shields
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| − | once I get [[Freezing Cloud]] at a low failure rate though because it's such a vital spell to a [[Conjurer]].
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| − | | |
| − | The best weapon is an enhancer staff like a staff of [[conjurations]] or a staff of cold. They are reasonably
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| − | common but I tend to choose Staff from scroll of acquirement until I get one. A staff of energy, wizardry
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| − | or power is not to be sniffed at either but your focus should be on damage dealing.
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| − | | |
| − | [[Demonspawn]] have an intrinsic bonus with the three demonic weapons: demon whip, demon blade and demon trident.
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| − | These don't appear until later on in the game though so you take a gamble training any weapons skill in
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| − | anticipation.
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| − | | |
| − | It's worth having a standby weapon for emegencies either due to some nice resistances on an artefact
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| − | or a nice brand like poison early on.
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| − | | |
| − | Monstrous [[Demonspawn]] are great for Unarmed Combat but you have a -1 aptitude and need the experience for other
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| − | skills. Unarmed Combat also needs quite a bit of training to get really effective.
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| − | | |
| − | == Jewellry ==
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| − | Normal rules apply here with only a few [[conjurer]] specifics.
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| − | A ring of wizardy is great early on for a [[Conjurer]], a ring of magical power is also good. It also might
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| − | be worth wearing an amulet of faith early on to get [[Vehumet]]'s gifts earlier but when you take it off it'll
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| − | take a third of your piety so be careful.
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| − | | |
| − | An amulet of the gourmand can be very useful for spellcasters due to spell hunger.
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| − | | |
| − | == Books ==
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| − | Be on the lookout for books containg the following spells:
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| − | * ''[[Throw Icicle]]''. It makes a great replacement of Iskenderun's Mystic Blast for an [[Ice Magic]] user because it also hurts ice resistant ro immune monsters.
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| − | * ''[[Repel Missiles]] or [[Deflect_Missiles|Deflect Missiles]]''. One of these is vital or at least very, very, highly recommended.
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| − | * ''[[Haste]]''. Even after it got nerfed from a 2x bonus to a 1.5x bonus it's a very useful spell to have.
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| − | * ''[[Apportation]]''. Really cheap spell and you only ever need to use it when you've not learnt it :)
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| − | * ''[[Regeneration]]''. Not as useful if you have the powered by death mutation but cheap and a good starting point if you want Dispel Undead.
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| − | * ''[[Dispel Undead]]''. Not vital for a [[conjurer]] due to having other nukey options but [[Demonspawn]] have a +1 Necromany aptitude and it's not too hard to train.
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| − | * ''[[Phase Shift]]''. I personally find this quite useful.
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| − | * ''[[Abjuration]]''. [[Vehumet]] will eventually gift you this as well as Mass Abjuration but maybe not before Orc:4 where it's quite useful.
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| − | * ''[[Shadow Creatures]]''. You can save learning this until you attack Zot you also don't need much [[Summoning]] skill because [[Vehumet]] helps you and you should have very high [[Spellcasting]] by the time it's useful.
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| − | * ''[[Summon Butterflies]]''. Useful meat shields and cheap to learn.
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| − | * ''[[Swiftness]]''. Cowards win crawl, and this imporves your cowardly potential.
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| − | * ''[[Ozocubu's Armour]]''. You'll be training [[Ice Magic]] and [[Charms]] and this can get quite powerful.
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| − | | |
| − | == Strategy: Early Game ==
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| − | | |
| − | [[Demonspawn]] can have a very variable early game due to mutations. If you max a good mutation early on it can
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| − | be a lot easier but it safer to assume this hasn't happened for a guide.
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| − | | |
| − | Due to the early game difficulty I'm going to write a fairly detailed sequence of suggestions but don't take
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| − | this as the absolutely optimal path. It's mainly for those witout a lot of crawl or [[Conjurer]] experience.
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| − | | |
| − | There are a few 'phases' in the early game for a [[Conjurer]] that correspond to when various spells become usable.
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| − | The playstyle in the phases can change quite a bit.
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| − | | |
| − | === Phase 1: Getting Mephitic Cloud ===
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| − | * Switch on manual training in the Skills menu.
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| − | * Focus [[Spellcasting]], leave [[Conjurations]] on, turn on [[Traps & Doors]] and turn off everything else.
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| − | * Now kill things with Magic Dart and try and find a first weapon, any weapon really but be careful with the branded (blue) weapons as they may be cursed or even worse distortion branded (although this isv ery rare).
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| − | * Once [[Traps & Doors]] passing level 1 switch it off.
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| − | * Once you reach level 3 learn [[Mephitic Cloud]] and switch on [[Air Magic]] and [[Poison Magic]].
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| − | * Once [[Poison Magic]] gets to level 1 switch it off.
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| − | | |
| − | [[Mephitic Cloud]] is one of the reasons magic users have an easier early game than melee users. A lot of early
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| − | threats are suseptable to it including ogres, centaurs, orc bands and uniques like Sigmund, Jessica, Ijyb and most of the time Crazy Yiuf (although he sometimes has a cloak of poison
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| − | resistance, in which case run away and come back when your stronger to steal his lovely cloak). You might also
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| − | find Purgy in one of the sewer portal variants.
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| − | | |
| − | [[Mephitic Cloud]] is also the first noisy spell you've learnt thus far. This can cause nearby enemies off-screen
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| − | to come looking for you and wake up sleeping enemies.
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| − | This still leaves icebeasts, wights, player ghosts and the uniques Menkaure and Grinder being danagerous.
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| − | | |
| − | I suggest getting 1 level of [[Poison Magic]] because it helps avoid Mephitic miscasts (which can be deadly
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| − | early on) and [[Demonspawn]] have a better aptitude for it than [[Air Magic]].
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| − | Also watch out for Orc Priests (they're the green orcs in tiles) as their smiting ability hurts [[Demonspawn]]
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| − | more than usual and they only need line of sight to use it.
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| − | | |
| − | === Phase 2: The Journey to Lightning Bolt ===
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| − | * Skills recap:
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| − | ** * [[Spellcasting]]
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| − | ** + [[Conjurations]]
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| − | ** * [[Air Magic]]
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| − | * Train [[Air Magic]] to something like 4-6 for Lightning Bolt then switch it off.
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| − | Be on the lookout for the Ecumenical Temple or any altars to [[Vehumet]] outside the temple. There's two [[Vehumet]]
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| − | altars worthy of note.
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| − | * One is blocked by trees. Use Lightning Bolt to burn the trees, stand back though as the trees explode and can set off other trees.
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| − | * One has flame clouds bursting over it. This is a tricky one without fire resistance or very good timing only attempt at full health and if you've got some form of healing. If you find this altar very early on carry on until you've levelled up a few times and come back later.
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| − | If you haven't already learnt about multizap (on this wiki or Henzell) as it makes Lightning Bolt far more
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| − | potent. Also Lightning Bolt is very, very loud and can cause enemies to come looking from quite a way accross
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| − | the map so be careful.
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| − | | |
| − | Lightning Bolt now covers a reasonably large hole in your offences. Ice beasts, wights, player ghosts and
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| − | others can now be killed without too much issues. Well apart from player ghosts which for [[Conjurers]] know
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| − | Mephtic Cloud and it's unlikely you have rPois yet.
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| − | | |
| − | === Phase 3: Towards [[Freezing Cloud]] and The Lair ===
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| − | * Skills recap
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| − | ** * [[Spellcasting]]
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| − | ** + [[Conjurations]]
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| − | * Make sure you've learnt Throw Frost from your starting book.
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| − | * Focus [[Ice Magic]].
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| − | * From D:6 onwards I would train (but not focus) [[Traps & Doors]] and [[Dodging]].
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| − | * Once [[Dodging]] is about 5 switch it off.
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| − | If you aren't worshipping [[Vehumet]] by now and you're past D:9 you've missed the altar somehow. Go back and
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| − | find it.
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| − | It'll take quite a bit of experience to get [[Freezing Cloud]] and Bolt of Cold castable. [[Vehumet]]'s passive ability at '''**''' or above piety makes it easier to cast all [[Conjurations]] and some other nukey spells.
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| − | If you find a random spellbook with [[Throw Icicle]] in it, learn it. It's not that likely but for [[Ice Magic]] users it makes a great replaceent for Iskenderun's Mystic Blast.
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| − | You may have found the entrace to the Orcish mines by now, don't go there yet.
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| − | I wouldn't recommend entering the Lair without [[Freezing Cloud]] and Bolt of Cold.
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| − | | |
| − | Once you get [[Freezing Cloud]] and Bolt of Cold to about 10-15% failure rate you should just have enough spell
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| − | slots to memorise them both. If not prioritise Bolt of Cold because you'll it'll be easier to cast and
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| − | is powerful enough to drop the spiny toads and hydras you may meet in Lair.
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| − | Once you've got [[Freezing Cloud]] working you've hit a major milestone:
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| − | * You've memorised your entire starting book so you can discard it.
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| − | * The Lair is now a lot less intimidating, especially if you haven't got rPois yet.
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| − | * [[Freezing Cloud]] is one of the best spells in the midgame and you will be using it heavily for quite a while, make sure to learn its many uses.
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| − | ** It tries to fill the area around where it's cast so you can use it to fill corridors but be careful not to get yourself.
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| − | ** A few casts can cover quite a large area. Found a vault full of bees and you don't have rPois? No problem simply cast at the area near the door and then fill in the rest of the room behind it.
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| − | ** Cast it at a group then walk away or hide round a corner, covering your tracks with more clouds. Cowards, especially [[Freezing Cloud]] equipped cowards, win crawl.
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| − | * However it isn't great against fast enemies unless they're in a corridor. For hydras, black mambas and maybe spiny frogs use Bolt of Cold.
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| − | Use either Lair:1 or Lair:2 as a stash and store your excess baggage, with Str around 8 you can't really carry that much.
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| − | | |
| − | == Strategy: Midgame ==
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| − | * Skills recap
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| − | ** + [[Traps & Doors]]
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| − | ** * [[Spellcasting]]
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| − | ** + [[Conjurations]]
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| − | ** * [[Ice Magic]]
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| − | Normally you'll get your first [[Vehumet]] gift somewhere in Lair. As a [[Conjurer]] it'll be the book of Power. This
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| − | has some great midgame nukes in it as well as Mass Confusion for some reason.
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| − | I would suggest you learn [[Iskenderun's Mystic Blast]] (if you haven't got [[Throw Icicle]]) and [[Orb of Destruction]]
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| − | as soon as possible. These now sure up the last hole in your midgame offensive capabilities (undead and Ice resistant
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| − | enemies).
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| − | Once you've cleared Lair, clear Orc. Be careful on Orc:4 there's several potential killers there. I won't write
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| − | down all the potential threats, there's other guides and places for that. Don't be afraid of running away and
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| − | comming back later.
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| − | By now you [[Traps & Doors]] skill should be around 8-10. Stop training it once it's 10 that should be good
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| − | enough for the rest of the game.
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| − | It's worth getting a bit of [[Stealth]] training in, up to about 6-8 should do.
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| − | | |
| − | === Charms ===
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| − | You also want to be training [[Charms]] to around 10 for [[Haste]] and [[Repel_Missiles|Repel]]/[[Deflect Missiles]]. To get Deflect Missiles
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| − | working you'll need to either train [[Charms]] higher than 10 or train [[Air Magic]] a bit higher than you already
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| − | have. This will take a while even with a ring of wizardry but it a high priority.
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| − | | |
| − | === Branch Order ===
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| − | As a rule of thumb you need [[Conjurations]] and [[Ice Magic]] near 20 even with [[Vehumet]]'s help to get [[Ice Storm]]
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| − | reliably castable. You also need [[Spellcasting]] quite a bit above 20 to mitigate the very high food cost.
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| − | It takes a while before that happens so in the mean time here's my suggested post-Orc branch order:
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| − | * Main Dungeon until you find the entrance to Vaults (D:14-19) or it starts feeling too dangerous.
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| − | * Now try levels 1 to 4 of the easier Lair subbranches Swamp, Snake Pit or Shoals (you only get two of the three).
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| − | ** Do '''not'' try Slime Pits yet if at all. You don't need this for a 3-rune win.
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| − | ** rPois is pretty much required for Snake Pit and Swamp.
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| − | ** Shoals without Repel/Deflect Missiles is a bad idea.
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| − | * Now try Vaults:1-4, you really need Deflect Missiles by this point or the yaktaurs will kill you.
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| − | ** Be careful of Vaults:4 the entrace to the Hall of Blades can be there, and it can be guarded by hovering weapons. They're fast and hit hard and you can easilly mistake them for floor trash if playing Tiles mode.
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| − | * Now try the Main Dungeon again until it gets tricky or until about level 20-ish. D:27 can have some very hard areas in it so resist going there just now.
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| − | ** It's worth noting that the Vaults and the Main Dungeon have the same monster set so should be about the same diffculty.
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| − | ** Also it's around this point that [[Ice Storm]] starts becoming castable. Once [[Ice Magic]] and [[Conjurations]] are at 20 you can switch them off and focus on [[Spellcasting]] until it's at 27.
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| − | * Now Vaults:5-7.
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| − | * Now the Main Dungeon to D:27.
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| − | * If you have high MR you could try the Elven Halls but be very careful on Elf:5 while there's a lot of treasure it's often of questionable usefulness and also very dangerous.
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| − | * The Hall of Blades is another tricky place you may want to try but be very careful.
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| − | * If you're feeling lucky clear the Vestibule of Hell.
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| − | ** You can 'stair dance' the Vestibule. That is, you can get back out and in by using the gate, don't let yourself get swamped.
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| − | ** Makes a great stash place once you've cleared it out.
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| − | * Now level 5 of the Lair subbranches you did earlier to get 2 runes.
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| − | * Now Vaults:8, this can be very tricky so be careful.
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| − | Before the end of that list you should have [[Ice Storm]] castable, [[Ice Magic]] and [[Conjurations]] at 20 and [[Spellcasting]] at 27. So what other skills?
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| − | * Fighting improves your max HP and can be trained quite a bit with the enemies later on in the game.
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| − | == Endgame and Beyond ==
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| − | Well done if you've got this far.
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| − | TODO: finish this off
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