Late game advice for my Half-Troll warrior?

[Knight]

Late in the game for my Half-Troll Warrior. He's probably the strongest character I've played yet, so before I continue my mad hack-n-slash run to level 98 a.k.a scum heaven, I'd just like to get a bit of advice as far as equipment and what to be cautious of this late in the game. I've never hit level 80+ before so I'm not too sure what to look out for.

Rather than posting a dump here in the thread, here's a link to his file on the ladder.

So yeah. Advice appreciated as I head towards the endgame.

[Derakon]

Carry more CSW/CCW. Ideally about 20 potions between the two. In fights, you can phase away, then chug potions, and quickly get back into the fight.

Save most of your *Healing* and all of your Life potions for the final fights. Also reserve a stack of Speed potions for same; both Sauron and Morgoth can drain charges with their melee attacks. Save all Mass Banishment and some Destruction scrolls for the final fight too, as panic buttons.

Consider carrying Celeborn as a swap for disenchantment resistance, mostly so you can melee annoying monsters instead of having to run from them. Too bad you don't have more DEX; you could dump Thingol for your Aman cloak and wear Celeborn full-time.

You seem to be in a situation where one good item could give you a lot of flexibility in your gear selection. Otherwise, things basically look good; you could tackle the endgame right now with a bit more *Healing* potions.

[Knight]

I typically do carry more CSW/CCW, but I dumped that file right after I'd cleared a greater vault and killed about five uniques, including Carcharoth and Polyphemus.

As for *Healing*, I try to carry a few around the dungeon, but I'll leave most of them at home for the final fight.

Same for speed potions, which I never really thought of. Do such things as speed rods exist?

And as far as flexibility, yeah, I could use just one or two more good items to get to the point where I'd really be comfortable. Also just had a scare, got down to 67 HP fighting a Great Wyrm of Balance and a Jabberwock at the same time.

Thanks for the advice, I appreciate it as always.

[MattB]

Same for speed potions, which I never really thought of. Do such things as speed rods exist?

They do, but for a HT warrior they're basically junk due to a combination of rarity (you can't stack them if you've only got one), recharge time and failure rate.
IMHO.
I tend to squelch rods of healing for an HT warrior for the same reasons.

And watch out for the Terrasque, if you haven't got him already. I reckon he's tougher than Morgoth. Potions of resist cold are the key.

[Derakon]

And as far as flexibility, yeah, I could use just one or two more good items to get to the point where I'd really be comfortable. Also just had a scare, got down to 67 HP fighting a Great Wyrm of Balance and a Jabberwock at the same time.

And what did we learn from this?

(Hint: it's "never fight two enemies at the same time if you can possibly avoid it". Use those Rods of Teleport Other, or set up line-of-sight blockers at the very least)

[Knight]

That's too bad, MattB. Thanks for the info. And yes, I'll keep an eye out for the Terrasque. He's almost killed me before, actually.

@Derakon: Right, yes, I'm going to avoid fighting more than one monster at once now for sure. I'm just happy I didn't die. o_o

Edit: Found Doomcaller. It's an awesome weapon but the AC penalty means I don't think I can use it. Plus then I lose the +10 speed from Ringil and I'd have to wear another RoS, and thus would lose that +11 damage ring.

[Derakon]

Man, Ringil and Doomcaller? Some players have all the luck.

The AC penalty is peanuts. Sure, you'll take slightly more damage in melee. The vast majority of late-game damage comes from spells, though, so who cares? Even when fighting heavy-hitters, Doomcaller will tend to do enough damage that you take less damage over the course of the fight anyway, since your opponent dies faster.

In any event, Doomcaller is so rare that, given that you found it while playing as a warrior (i.e. the best class to take advantage of it), you are morally obligated to use it. Especially since its ESP frees up your amulet slot. As for speed vs. damage, Doomcaller does so much more damage than Ringil (6d5+28 vs. 4d5+25) that having to wear an extra speed ring is no problem.

[Knight]

So I actually made a chart to compare the two weapons just because... yes, I'm just curious.

Damage type					Ringil			Doomcaller

vs. undead:					573.8			513.3 (400.7?)
vs. evil:					495.0			513.3
vs. creatures not resistant to cold:		573.8			626.5
vs. demons:					730.2			626.5 
vs. dragons:					510.2 (416.8)		852.4
vs. animals:					573.8 (416.8)		513.3
vs. trolls:					573.8			626.5
vs. others:					416.8			400.7

My speed stays the same, but with Doomcaller I get an open amulet slot, -50 AC, and I aggravate monsters (what exactly does that do, anyways?) I guess it's a decent tradeoff if I find a really nice amulet, like a Silmaril or something. It also might be handy to lug around the dungeon as my dragon basher. Updated my ladder too, about to hit clvl 50, scumming dlvl 98 for consumables before Sauron.

[Derakon]

Aggravation automatically wakes up all monsters in the vicinity. It's not a great property to have, but it's not a dealbreaker either, and it's basically irrelevant for the endgame.

I'm surprised the damage is so close. Is that Ringil + damage ring vs. Doomcaller + speed ring?

[Timo Pietilä]

My speed stays the same, but with Doomcaller I get an open amulet slot, -50 AC, and I aggravate monsters

Open amulet slot? That means Trickery + Celeborn + Aman. Then Doomcaller is clear winner for endgame.

[Timo Pietilä]

Aggravation automatically wakes up all monsters in the vicinity

Addition to that: when they get a turn. If you are way faster than they just putting something that aggravates on and then immediately off those that did not get a turn in between don't wake up. Area of effect is your LoS range without monster needing to be in your sight.

Shrieking/spells that aggravate wake up monsters regardless of speed (and haste those that are in LoS of caster).

[Knight]

@Derakon: Yes. Damage + Ringil, Speed + Doomcaller.

@Timo: Okay, I'll keep my eye out for an amulet of Trickery. That does sound like a nice combo.

Also, I hit clvl 50 and found Narya, so I lose 5 speed overall (it's +5 speed as opposed to a +10 RoS), but I have ESP from that now, not to mention *Fire.

[Knight]

Another update: Base speed is now +46. Stashing consumables in preparation for the last two fights. How much should I save?

Also, switched to Trickery + Aman + Doomcaller, which does ~100 more damage per turn against evil than Ringil does and about 180 more against creatures not resistant to cold. But my AC is a piddly 123 though.

[Estie]

No res disenchantment, I would efinitely want that. Celeborn, like Timo said.

[Derakon]

Disenchantment is a swap resistance IMO. Especially, artifacts all have a decent chance to resist being disenchanted (I think it's 50% or 66%), so as long as you're paying attention you shouldn't lose more than a plus or two from your gear, at most, before having the opportunity to either flee or swap gear in.

Also, this character is completely ready for the endgame, and neither Sauron nor Morgoth has any disenchantment attacks. Go win already!