Ask an expert
From CrawlWiki
Dungeon Crawl is a roguelike, so it's not unnatural for players to seek help once in a while.
These are the usual sources of help for players:
- rec.games.roguelike.misc
- ##crawl or ##crawl-dev on Freenode
Additionally, there are several experienced players on this wiki, so feel free to ask a question below and somebody is sure to answer it eventually. If you want to discuss something pertaining to this wiki, please discuss it here.
Start a new section on the bottom of this page for each question.
Rings of Sustenance and spriggans.
Since spriggans start off with slow metabalism 3, does a ring of sustenance actually do anything for them?
- No, a ring of sustenance has no effect on them, unless there's something external causing them to get hungry quicker. There are only a few ways to increase their metabolism, such as wielding a weapon of Vampiricism, wearing a ring of hunger, and similar items.
High Scores List
This is most likely a "Duh!" question, but how do I access my high scores list so that I can browse through it? Thanks in advance.
- Enter wizard mode (&) and quit the game (Ctrl + q), then you'll see your high score list.
Training Armour skill
Do heavier armours train the Armour skill faster (i.e. plate mail vs. ring mail)? If not, are there any tricks for training Armour quickly?
- No, weight doesn't effect how fast your armour skill gets trained. It depends on your armour aptitude (the lower the better). For example, a mountain dwarf (armour apt-60) will train his armour skill faster than a human (apt-100). In 0.5, your body armour's evasion penalty determines how much you can train your armour skill, before it starts training dodging (higher EV penalty = higher training limit). In 0.6, it's the same, except the distinction between light and heavy armour has been removed.
Edit: Here's a "trick". It's called victory dancing:
- Kill something worth a lot of XP.
- Find some harmless creature and let it hit you, until your experience pool is empty.
- Repeat the process.
Cleansing flame damage
What is the damage of this? Info from the Ziggurat article states 83 max? Henzell's learndb states max 100 and up to 200 if you are undead. I played demonspawns a lot, are they considered undead? Becouse I made a video that clearly suggest they are undead. Or are demonspawns just specially vulnerable to clansing flame? Which would be kinda logical.
- The max damage is easily over 100, even if you're not evil. Luca probably made a mistake. Demonspawns are demonic and Cleansing Flame deals more damage to demons and the undead. Cleansing Flame's instant kill potential isn't an exaggeration though, here's an example of TSO's wrath.
- Oh, thanks for the info. I also got lvl 27 demonspawn instant-killed by this in abyss but with 170 damage. And I have 1 notable survivor example http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0Pk_13WBSs However, it doesn't say up to 100/200hp but can exceed 100/200hp. I missred it. It just doesn't say demonspawns are included. Saw you play on public server couple of times, name is a win. I wish I could get that acustumed to that interface. I would like to try to ascent minotaur wizard there or something like that but I just played too much tiles.
- PigVomit is a different player. I'm too lazy to play on the public servers. :-P
EV vs. AC
Is there an in-depth strategy article on the long-term differences between these two stats? My basic understanding so far is that EV helps you not get hit, and that AC helps you once you do get hit. What are the early-game, mid-game, and end-game implications of having high AC and low EV (or the reverse)? Perhaps using example monsters, how do fighting (or running) strategies differ?
- No, there aren't any in-depth guides about that. You're right, EV is for dodging and AC is for guaranteed damage reduction (GDR). In 0.5, AC is overpowered and EV is nearly worthless unless it's very high (30+). Generally, fighters want to wear heavy armor for the GDR (light armor doesn't have GDR) and spellcasters don't care.
Spellcasters aren't suppose to let monsters get within melee distance, which is why they have so many escape options compared to fighters. Most spellcasters just wear a nice robe, since light armor doesn't interfere with spell success.
Light armored fighters suck, unless they use support spells. In 0.6, AC got a major nerf (see AC nerf). EV got buffed, due to the limit on Dexterity being removed. In 0.5, Dex was a useless stat and it was pointless to increase it above 17 (its bonus to EV was capped). In 0.6, the distinction between light and heavy armor was removed, so all body armors train the armor skill.
After playing the trunk version for a while it feels like light armor is now better than heavy armor (especially when wielding a shield).
tl;dr: (0.5.2) AC > EV / (0.6.0) AC < EV
Restoring old stopping behavior in 0.6.0
I'm having trouble finding the right option in 0.6.0 to make the stopping behavior more like 0.5.2. In the past auto-explore would go up to a stack with more than one item on it (e.g. a corpse of a monster you just killed and the weapon the monster had) and stop, giving you a chance to look at their weapon. Now auto-explore just keeps going. I've looked through the options but I can't figure it out, does anybody know what I need to change?
- Is auto pick-up on? Try 'Ctrl + A' in-game to see if it's off. Otherwise, try commenting out this line:
default_autopickup = false
I don't mess with the default settings too much, so I'm not sure if it'll help.
- Auto pickup is on. Note that this is a problem with auto-explore, auto-pickup works fine for me.
OK take a look at this picture: http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/1750/58081829.jpg This is the problem: I kill the goblin, then I autoexplore, my character touches the stash which includes a glowing dagger, then continues autoexploring without giving me a chance to pick up the dagger. Since it might be an ego dagger I want it to stop when it gets there (the 0.5.2 autoexplore behavior). How can I set it to do this is 0.6.0?
- Try checking your init.txt and remove # in front of this line:
explore_stop = items,greedy_pickup,stairs,shops,altars,gates
If that isn't commented out you could try copying the travel settings from 0.5.2 and pasting it over the current settings. Otherwise, you may have to ask someone on ##crawl or ##crawl-dev.
- According to the description in the options guide, this only stops you when you see an item in your LOS, not on top of the item. I'll try playing around with it, though.
Wizard mode on mac builds
I'm sad to see that .6 Stone Soup for Mac doesn't support Wizard Mode! Is there a build for Mac OSX that does?
- Yes, I'd like to know the answer to this question above too, thanks!Bwoinky 07:06, 13 April 2010 (UTC)
- Try downloading the this updated version: Mac OSX 0.6.0.1
- Yes, I'd like to know the answer to this question above too, thanks!Bwoinky 07:06, 13 April 2010 (UTC)
Conjurations and Accuracy
What determines the accuracy of a conjuration, or any other spell which has a chance to miss its target? Is it spellpower, etc., or is the accuracy of a spell unaffected at all by player skills?
- I haven't checked the code, but for missile-type Conjurations, I'd reckon there are two separate factors at work: the spell's own chance to miss (which depends on the spell itself, e.g. Bolt of Inaccuracy) and the target's EV. For other effects (such as Mephitic Cloud's chance to confuse a target) I'd wager it's a spell power versus hit dice/MR comparison. --Mr. K 20:21, 23 June 2010 (UTC)
High Score Character Limit
Is there a way to make the high score table display longer character names than 10 letters?
I tried looking in the option files, but I can't seem to find a value that controls this (though I may well have overlooked it, as I'm hardly an expert). It would be nice to be able to use longer names for my characters without having them cut off on the high scores!
Brands on thrown weapons
If I throw a spear of piercing, does the damage bonus apply? What about other brands on thrown weapons?
- There are two types of brands: melee and ranged. Melee brands (piercing, distortion, venom, etc.) don't activate when thrown.
Stealth Skill
What are the best methods for training the stealth skill? I find myself walking past creatures unnoticed but my experience pool does not lower.
- Wait near sleeping monsters or wait near pacified monsters.
Armour Restricted Races and Okawaru
Will the item gifts from Okawaru respect the restrictions on types of armour that can be worn, by spriggans, draconians and ogres?
- Yes.
Opening Stone Soup in smaller window
Is there a way to open up Stone Soup, either with or without tiles, in a window that isn't screen sized?
- I currently play the text version and the window is actually sized as the terminal, DC does not resize the terminal at all. I used either windows, linux or mac versions
- I know that in the tiles version, editing the tiles_options.txt file allows you to change three options
tile_full_screen = false
tile_window_width = 1024
tile_window_height = 700
Which will allow you to change the 'full screen' option, and set desired geometry. Please note that in the MacOS version, this file is in the actual package contents, and the ful path would be
/Applications/Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup.app/Contents/Resources/settings
Draining Brand
Is a draining brand worth using as a main weapon considering the fact that it lowers xp gain? This seems almost counter productive in the aims of leveling and making it to the lowest levels of the dungeon.
- Yes, but I wouldn't use it with species that gain levels slowly. It makes fights easier by lowering a monster's HD. Once a monster's HD reaches zero they die, so if you're fighting Sigmund (3 HD) just pull out a draining dagger and stab him 3 times. Lowering a monster's HD also reduces their max HP, so if you fail to kill them they'll be easier to kill next time you encounter them.
Branch Order?
What order should branches be taken in (and if lacking certain equipement what's the alternative plans available)? I know the Lair should come first, but then do I work at orc or move into swamp/snake?
- I think you can have a look to the Walkthrough
Mac ascii build, how to run?
How is supposed to be run the mac ascii version? I keep getting errors like this no matter if I let the .app file alone or if I copy the files in real folders:
Failed to open DB: /Users/<myuser>Library/Application Support/Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup/saves/db/descriptions: Inappropriate file type or format
Resolved: i deleted the save directory created by the tiles version.
Now one more question, is the Mac ascii build enabled for unicode? I'm getting "Unicode glyphs are not available." no matter which font I use. --Palin 20:24, 23 August 2010 (UTC)
Vampire Rot
The wiki notes that Vampires are able to heal rot through drinking blood. Is there something more to this than it seems? I have been unable to do so as of yet. Potion of blood? Corpse blood? Special corpse blood? Help would be appreciated.
- The article on rotting was outdated. Vampires don't heal rot by drinking blood.
Necronomicon
What is the prompt for the Necronomicon choice from Kiku? I've been Lord of Darkness for a long time and am worried I may have missed it. Snarvid 18:33, 22 August 2010 (UTC)
- Pray at his altar.
