Ran the Gantlet; What Next?

[Egavactip]

So I just got my sixth true win, as a half-troll warrior, which means that I have now won once each as each character class, which leaves me with a nice little sense of accomplishment. I played for several years without any uncheating wins, so it it is nice to think that I have picked up some skills along the way. I love the tactical fighting, though, so I probably take some risks just for the love of the fight that a more victory-oriented person might not.

I am interested in suggestions and thoughts as to what race/class combo to try next--and why you would make that suggestion. I am thinking maybe a mage again. I dunno. This last character was a half-troll warrior because I got tired of low hit points (my ranger win couldn't crack 1,000hp even with a con of 18/200).

[Estie]

For the quick and dirty win: half-troll rogue.
For the long, slow road that leads to an all-powerfull character: high-elf paladin.

[quarague]

I would suggest to fiddle with the birth options a bit.
Activating randarts increases variance a bit, there might be some amazing stuff, or there might not be.
I like activating disconnected stairs, which just prevents stair scumming. This can increase the difficulty quite a bit, depending on how much of a stair scummer you are.
You can also try different versions of iron man. You can activate forced descent. You can also forbid usage of the town after the first entry into the dungeon. These two things are independent, so you can play with either one of them or both at the same time.
You could also try to win once with each race. While the classes are all approximately the same difficulty (although with very different play styles) the races are not.

[Thraalbee]

1) Go for a quick win, e.g. below 100 000 standard turns. This will keep you diving even when not at comfortable depth and only explore really intestesting areas. Resting for hp and mana suddenly comes at a cost (more turns)! You may die more often in the process, but with less time invested that is ok. This is a great way to play and also a great training for the competitions. My only issue with this is that I get into the super fast play-mode and then forget to slow down when it gets really hairy in the later game.

2) Play with Ironman settings: Forced Descent + No Recall: Ironman is typically a slower game that makes you appreciate more of the simple things like finding !oil and food as well as rods of curing and so on. I have a few Ironman wins and my current target is an Ironman win in each class. Dwarf Priest is a good choice, High Elf Mage too. I am currently playing a hobbit ranger which was considerably difficult in the early game but now rocks at DL60.

[Egavactip]

I would suggest to fiddle with the birth options a bit.
Activating randarts increases variance a bit, there might be some amazing stuff, or there might not be.
I like activating disconnected stairs, which just prevents stair scumming. This can increase the difficulty quite a bit, depending on how much of a stair scummer you are.
You can also try different versions of iron man. You can activate forced descent. You can also forbid usage of the town after the first entry into the dungeon. These two things are independent, so you can play with either one of them or both at the same time.
You could also try to win once with each race. While the classes are all approximately the same difficulty (although with very different play styles) the races are not.

I always play with randarts--otherwise there is not enough variety. I rarely do stair scumming, so I don't feel a need to actively prohibit myself from doing it.

I am not necessarily interested in changing game options to make the game more difficult so much as I am in hearing about race/class suggestions that might be fun or interesting.

[wobbly]

It's hard to know what to suggest without knowing what you've played or what you're looking for. One I don't see a lot of is the hobbit warrior which is a bit like a rogue without the spells. HPs aren't great for a warrior but still match a human rogue (& you've got a higher natural constitution). One of the best non-ranger archers in the game too. Also nice to be able to just melee XP-drainers too. Just fun, simple & strong.

[Egavactip]

That's an interesting idea.

[Arphod]

I would suggest to fiddle with the birth options a bit.
Activating randarts increases variance a bit, there might be some amazing stuff, or there might not be.
I like activating disconnected stairs, which just prevents stair scumming. This can increase the difficulty quite a bit, depending on how much of a stair scummer you are.
You can also try different versions of iron man. You can activate forced descent. You can also forbid usage of the town after the first entry into the dungeon. These two things are independent, so you can play with either one of them or both at the same time.
You could also try to win once with each race. While the classes are all approximately the same difficulty (although with very different play styles) the races are not.

^This, a lot. I'm right where OP is, and randarts and no-connect stairs completely changes the game.

[HallucinationMushroom]

This is not what you asked for, but I would recommend you try to nab some variant wins. If you've never played NPP, it is very much like Vanilla IMO. It's like, vanilla-zilla. Try a rogue. Do some quests. shrugs.

[Pete Mack]

NPP 4 .x is like V. NPP 5 is tedious because it has so many uniques. Ends up being too much fighting.

[HallucinationMushroom]

Ah, fair enough. I haven't played NPP in a long time.