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I have absolutely done this. Indeed I have flat-out forgotten my stash and just merrily climbed down the stairs, only to immediately realize I just lost a lot of useful consumables.
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I wanted to try a low turncount in addition to ironman challenge. I had high enough stealth to manage but my HP and offenses were just not good enough. Also the death scene was a very sloppy play.
I did post the morgue here. I can post the journal in other thread too if somebody really wants to read bad english and few curse words
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Well, when someone has 136 HP-s (or a few more with the 1 more CL as he wrote), AMHD and Greater Basilisk are bad news anyway and biggest problem is probably not thinking about the poison resistance
The point is valid, but as a mage you simply need to detect and always need to know what you will face (and you can switch if needed). At that depth/HP combo there are more monsters i try to avoid if possible (i hate ethereal drakes...).Comment
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L32. 5-2. Shagrat the Orc Captain takes 6 frost bolts and drops a ring of speed +8, a great replacement for my ring of lightning. A doombat takes me to CL 29 (182 HP, 117 SP). On the floor is an iron helm of intelligence [7,+9] <+1>, which brings INT to 18/119 and SP to 131. Before leaving, I learn Frost Ball, now down to 2% fail rate.
L33. 5-5. Nothing of interest here except a potion of constitution that grants CON 18/30, 189 HP.
L34. 5-8. A young black dragon drops the ball-and-chain 'Nindi' (+6,+17): slays undead, demons, animals, resist lightning and nether, protection from confusion and stunning, regeneration. Nice, but I prefer my +2 INT morning star, so I leave Nindi where the dragon dropped it. An ogre shaman drops 2 potions of intellect that ping my wisdom and dexterity, but increase my intelligence to 18/152 and my SP to 189, same as my HP, which I take as another good omen.
Draebor, the imp is waiting in a corner room with a few manes. He summons and teleports, but dies after taking 7 acid bolts. His drop includes the bastard sword 'Cirnilith' (+11,+15), which offers +1 intelligence, +3 infravision, +2 attack speed, free action, and a couple slays. I just can't see myself using this weapon, so I stubbornly keep my morning star of *slay animal*, which has +2 intelligence.
All that's left here is a large vault, packed with dark elves of all kinds, led by Nar. It doesn't seem to dangerous, so I just walk in. When Nar comes for me, I'm at +18 speed so I hit him with 7 acid bolts before he can really respond. His drop is just more dungeon junk.
But in the vault:
a) a potion of augmentation; constitution increases to 18/52, 203 HP.
b) a potion of toughness that pings wisdom and brings CON to 18/82, 240 HP.
c) a golden crown of the Magi: +1 intelligence, rBase, sustain intelligence, ESP. A straight upgrade from the +1 helm of intelligence I picked up a couple levels ago. ESP will help a lot from now on.
d) a potion of intellect that pings my strength and raises INT to 18/171, 218 SP.
e) the Phial of Braglin: 3 light, +3 wisdom, rDisenchant, free action. I'd take this if I didn't have the Arkenstones.
f) a +3 ring of intelligence. At this point, my stealth is still superb even without the ring of the mouse, so I ditch the mouse ring and take this one. This brings me to 18/201 INT and 233 SP.
L35. 5-3. Azog, king of the Uruk-Hai, and his kid Bolg are camped out with a whole bunch of mixed orc-types near my entry point. None of them resist acid nor have +18 speed. Azog takes 15 acid bolts but Bolg only takes 8. Their drop includes leather sandals of speed [1,+7] <+4>, excellent since my feet are currently bare. My base speed is now +12. This level is infested with bats of Gorgoroth; one drops a potion of constitution that takes me to 18/98 CON and 254 HP.
L36. 5-3. A pack of mumakil nets me over 12,000 experience and CL 30 (266 HP, 241 SP).
L37. 4-4. A cave level, all narrow twisty passageways. Lokkak, the ogre chieftain is sleeping right down the hall from my entry point with a large band of assorted ogres. I back up down the hallway, accelerate to +22, and let loose with acid bolts. It takes 25 acid bolts and 1 phase door to kill him. He drops the ring of Mindinim, which offers +2 DEX, +4 CON, +4 speed, resists lightning and shards, and free action. Is this better than my new +3 ring of intelligence? Yes, I think so. SP go down from 241 to 226, HP go up from 266 to 326, base speed goes from +12 to +16.
Gorbag, the orc captain takes 7 acid bolts and drops nothing I can use.Comment
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L38. 5-3. Lorgan, chief of the Easterlings is hanging out in a room with 6 easterling champions. Killing Lorgan is no simple matter. A little experimentation demonstrates he resists all my elemental attacks. He summons demons, vampire lords, wraiths, mature dragons, fast-breeding worms, and more. It takes 19 arrows and 37 magic missiles to kill him. His only drop is leather armor of resistance that's worse than the robe of resistance I'm already wearing. But killing all the things he summons takes me to CL 31 (334 HP, 233 SP).
L39. 5-4. Just passing through. Where are the stairs?
L40. 5-4. Nothing to report except potions of intelligence and constitution dropped by wandering monsters, that take my intelligence 18/171 to 18/176 and increase my constitution to 18/151. Now 365 HP.
An ancient green dragon reminds me that my amulet set-up is probably embarassingly suboptimal at this point, so I dump 2 randart amulets (Alfindair, a strength booster, and Eredrie, +3 INT) and wear Siandi for +4 CON and—finally—rPois. This improves my HP from 365 to 474.
L41. 5-4. A master yeek drops a copy of Raal's Tome of Destruction. I learn Shock Wave, Explosion, Cloud Kill, and Acid Ball. Perfect for engaging with the Queen Ant and her entourage, who are hanging out in a small room nearby. What with 4 new area-effect spells, multiple ant summons almost every turn, and teleports/chasing across the level, the resulting scuffle is too chaotic to keep track of who's getting hit with what, but eventually the Queen Ant dies. She drops the short bow of Silost (x4) (14,+30), which has +2 shooting power, resistance to acid, fire, cold, and poison, and paralysis prevention. Now I have a way to deliver real damage—for example, my arrows of venom now do 177.4/310.6 damage/round.
I come across a rapier of Gondolin and finally replace the morning star of *slay animal* (+2 INT) I've been carrying for the last 10 levels, just to have a permanent source of see invisible instead of carrying a lantern of true sight as a swap. My SP drop from 233 to 202 as a result. Honestly I'm not really sure whether or not this is a good choice. How important is see invisible when you have ESP?Comment
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L42. 5-4. A bunch of dreads are waiting near my entry point when I arrive. I'm a little careless with them, my strength takes 2 hits; suddenly I'm 17 lb overweight, and my base speed is "only" +15. But in compensation, 2 potions of constitution found on the floor bring my CON to 18/202 and my HP to 520.
I spot Rogrog the black troll in a large room with escort. 2 castings of stone to mud bore through a wall to create an extra-long attack corridor and hit him with 34 acid bolts while he charges toward me throwing boulders. He takes me to CL 32 (534 HP, 209 SP, STR restored), and drops some magic arrows, ammo for my new randart bow.
L43. 4-5. A tiny maze level with pack of dreads, tricky to deal with in these restricted corridors. Lucky I still have a few arrows of slay undead that do 303 damage/round. One of them drops a potion of intelligence that takes me to INT 18/161, 225 SP. Another drops the long sword of Eluin (+13,+23), which gives +4 stealth and rAcid; doesn't really seem like what I'm looking for, so I leave it behind.
L44. 8-6. Medusa the gorgon is sleeping just next to my entry point. I try to sneak away, but she wakes up and summons 9- and 11-headed hydras and an assortment of multicolored nagas. She also does serious damage with spell attacks. I teleport away and approach again from a different angle. This time I prepare a special space for the fight, which is a good thing because eventually I'm forced to retreat into an anti-summoning corridor. Medusa falls to 16 arrows and 5 frost bolts, but not before burning up a bunch of nice arrows and 2 of my spell books. She drops nothing of interest.
There's a small vault here, guarded by Khamul, the black easterling and a drolem, with friends. Khamul comes charging out of the vault and gets teleported away; I don't want to deal with him yet. Turns out the drolem isn't so dangerous when double poison resist is turned on; it dies after 25 frost bolts and 1 arrow. The only thing of interest in the vault is a potion of strength that takes my STR to 18/40 and boosts my carry capacity. Also, this vault takes me to CL 33 (549 HP, 232 SP).
L45. 5-2. At this point I'm relying heavily on stealth and stone to mud to sneak through the dungeon disturbing as little as possible, unless I choose to engage a particular target, such as the great crystal drake that fell easily to 8 arrows of venom and an acid bolt. Speaking of those arrows of venom, I'm now carrying 2 quivers of arrows, since archery is by far my fastest way to deliver damage.Comment
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This is ridiculously beefy mage considering it is going through an ironman game. 549 HP at dlvl45 as a hobbit mage is almost hard to believe
I wouldn't carry Restore Life Levels potions with innate HoldLife. Also both constitution rings are junk atm unless you really feel you need to sustain CON. With character having this many CSW potions to back up CCW:s, I wouldn't carry rods of curing either. Finally, those higher 5-8 spellbooks are indestructible so no need to carry extra copies.
Your body armor could use improvement. You can totally wear heavier armor atm. You should also try attack wands. Wand of fireballs, for example, does ridiculous damage in hands of a hobbit mage. Can recharge it many times, because wands rarely explode from mage's recharge spell. Annihilation wand is a final-fight-wand for a mage.
Best of luck for incoming encounters
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The books can be stolen, so 2 of it is not too much in my opinion.
The weapon could also be changed to a better one, you were not lucky on that part. You could have found a defender which can add up to +4 stealth and the regen which you miss.
Sphara is right on the attack wands, they are really good
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Pretty sure Rogrog is immune to acid. And books getting stolen is almost impossible as mage at +16 base speed It has happened to me once, ever, as a normal-speed rogue. At +26 speed you will be faster than the only moderately dangerous thief.Comment
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You are absolutely right about having books be stolen from a mage is not a usual thing (though it happened to me more than once).
However since the OP dedicates a slot to rods of probing in an IM game, i thought it is a good idea to point out this possibility.
Sometimes I also tend not to pay enough attention to some monsters which are not dangerous just annoying. So not only Harowen is dangerous to me from this aspect
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Once you achieve Dex of 18/50, I think I'm right in saying, it is flat out impossible to have anything stolen. I might be wrong about the exact number though...Comment
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It's 18/150, or was the last time I checked, which was admittedly many years ago.Comment
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That is very useful information, I had no idea. I've always squelched attack wands as soon as I got the equivalent spell book attack or better. Thank you!
I thought 34 acid bolts seemed excessive! I was probably half-asleep when I fought him, it's a miracle @ survived.Comment
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L46. 7-4. Uldor the Accursed consumes 15 frost bolts. Scatha the Worm is killed by 6 arrows of venom soften and 10 acid bolts. He takes me to CL 34 (565 HP, 239 SP) and drops an artifact I don't like. Mim, betrayer of Turin seems to resist everything so I just kill him with 50 magic missiles.
L47. 6-5. A vampire lord drops a potion of augmentation that maxes both my strength at 18/50 and my intelligence at 18/170. Now I have 256 SP.
L48. 4-3. A tiny maze level, nothing of interest.
L49. 5-3. A vrock takes me to CL 35 (580 HP, 263 SP). Eol, the dark elf is hanging out here. It takes a couple hastily-crafted antisummoning corridors, 20 arrows, and 8 acid bolts to kill him. I lose lots of arrows because he and his summons keep burning them up. He drops the maul of Amion, which gives +2 strength, +3 intelligence, +4 dexterity, +1 light, resistance to acid, fire, cold, light, and shards, see invisible, and free action. Finally a helpful weapon: with this I have 18/200 INT, 281 SP, and 0% fail rate on my best spells. I learn a few spells I haven't bothered with so far: Fire Ball, Shield, Ice Storm.
L50. 6-7. On the floor is my new weapon, the mattock of Gilomast, offering +4 constitution, +8 speed, and see invisible. mostly this drops my INT back to 18/170 and my SP back to 263, while increasing my base speed to +24. Seems like a pretty good upgrade.
L51. 5-5. Itangast, the fire drake dies to 7 arrows of venom and 3 acid bolts. He drops a pair of +6 boots of speed, a minor upgrade for the +4 sandals of speed I've been wearing since L35; my base speed is now +26.
L52. 4-7. Nothing but a useless artifact on the floor.
L53. 6-5. It takes 3 arrows of venom and 23 acid bolts to kill Smaug the Golden. He takes me to CL 36 (599 HP, 271 SP). His drop:
a) Tenser's Transformations. I immediately learn Greater Recharging and Elemental Brand.
b) The alchemist's gloves of Methir. +2 strength, +3 intelligence, +3 wisdom, rLightning, regeneration, free action. I'm still wearing the gloves of free action that naga dropped on L21, so I take these. They raise my INT to 18/200 and my SP to 289.
L54. 5-5. Not much of interest here. Moving on.
L55. 5-6. Shelob, Spider of Darkness dies after taking 7 arrows of frost, 5 mithril arrows, and 13 fire bolts.
Tom, Bill and Bert the stone trolls are camped out here. Tom dies after taking 18 acid bolts, Bert takes 17, and Bill only 16.
It takes 43 acid bolts to kill Quaker, master of Earth and 10 mithril arrow and 18 fire bolts to kill Ariel, queen of Air. Adunaphel the quiet dies after taking 7 mithril arrows and 11 acid bolts.
A pack of mumakil takes me to CL 37 (615 HP, 297 SP). I learn Rift and Meteor Swarm.
On the floor I find the metal cap of Tandi, offering +5 intelligence, +4 constitution, resistance to acid, cold, dark and nether, see invisible, and free action. My crown of the Magi is still indispensable because it's my only source of ESP, but I put Tandi in my pack as a swap in case I need resist nether.
L56. 4-6. On the floor in the inner chamber of a triangle-shaped room is the iron helm of Wenath. It gives +5 intelligence, +4 wisdom, resists acid and chaos, protects from blindness, and ESP, my new helmet.
L57. 6-6. A master mystic drops a pair of steel shod boots of elvenkind with +4 stealth and +7 speed, a nice upgrade for the +6 sandals of speed I'm wearing. A little storage closet contains a copy of Mordenkainen's Escapes; I pick it up, dropping my teleport level scrolls to make room, and learn Door Creation, Stair Creation, Teleport Level, and Rune of Protection. Actually, I guess Stair Creation and Teleport Level are redundant at this point.
A vampire pit takes me to CL 38 (631 HP, 305 SP).Comment
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