Advice Needed for end game

[StMicah]

I need some advice.

First, here's my current character. What equipment should I drop? I just cleared a smallish vault and got some upgrades. I'm inclined to keep the Amulet of Trickery and chuck the elfstone. I think I should chuck Crisdurian too (I've been carrying that around in case I could max str and dex so to fight dragons). Should I chunk any of the armors? I haven't used the curerods for a bit and could easily use my CCW potions.

Second, by now I would have at least Raal's. But no luck this go: is there some enemy I can seek out to find one of them? Do I try to find some vampires or Ainurs and wish for the best?

Finally, any advice for my mage as I delve the next 28 levels? I'm playing rather cautiously since this is the furthest I've gotten with a mage on ironman. I have yet to find a decent CON ring to swap with.

[Ingwe Ingweron]

I need some advice...

I'd ditch the rod of cold balls (you have a wand of dragon frost), the rods of curing (these are nice early, but you don't need them anymore), the staves of dispel evil (use them if they happen to be around and it's tactically viable, but don't bother carrying them), Elfstone (it's nice, but not worth carrying once you have better, i.e., keep Trickery), wield Rohirrim and ditch the other armors you're carrying (if this weren't ironman, I might store them, but chances are Rohirrim is going to be the best bet), Crisdurian (as a warrior, I'd be tempted to keep it, but it's too heavy for your hobbit mage, and by the time your stats are such that it might be worth using you will have found something better).

Kelek's or Raals. You will just have to depend on the RNG gods. More likely to be found in vaults, but no specific monster with better odds. Your idea of Ainur pits, etc., is fine for consumables, but not a good bet for the dungeon books.

Advice for the rest... I don't know... stay alive!

[Thraalbee]

You are doing great. Your hp are very low but with esp and detection manageable with good stealth. Don't wear anything with aggravation until much more hp though. Still, I'd look for con boosts. Frost immunity protects potions which I like in ironman so I'd drop Crisdurian. Probably 1-2 armours too. But which one?
Kelek's is very very rare. You may not find it before the final 3-5 levels. Killling uniques and raiding vaults helps, but you need more hp to engage most uniques now. Big dragons and demons drops are also good, but may instakill if you don't have double protection
I have to remind myself to slow down at this point, so easy to lose it all until you get tougher. Also, once available stay hasted and resistant from spells always. I also use shield spell a lot at this stage, but without more hp better stay away from melee altogether

[StMicah]

thanks Ingwe and Thraalbeast.

I proceed slowly.

Out of curiosity how much damage does the dispel evil staff do typically?

[Estie]

I would ditch Hithlomir, too. Res dark isnt needed for a long long time; youll want to have an armour with res base around, but rconfusion, +2 str and rsound makes Rohirrim strictly better.

[StMicah]

A few more dlvls and I found raal's; upgraded my boots of speed (now at 20 without buffs and =INT) find both Ingwe and Carlammas (and tossed it).

That's it for today (about to update my ladder). Tomorrow I continue....

[StMicah]

A few more levels and a few more questions. Still progressing slowly stat wise, though Mim dropped Narya and the Arkenstone, so that helped.

I just cleared out a vault and, among the goodies, found isildur and erebor. I also upgraded my boots to elven ones for the stealth bonus.

Should I bother with either of these? Isildur would give me a +35 AC and, when I equip erebor, I get a 100 HP bump. Figure I could carry that around for the final fights unless I find another CON boost. Is it time to give up Ingwe? I haven't used it and the INT and WIS increases don't increase my SP or save throw (currently @ 100%)

[Ingwe Ingweron]

In my opinion...

Turmil is nice for it's cold immunity, but Erebor beats it in damage nearly double. Erebor wins. Drop Turmil.

If I can slander my namesake, the Pendant of Ingwe isn't worth carrying around. Once you find Trickery or Weaponmastery, pretty much all other amulets are history.

Isildur beats Rohirrim. Wield Isildur, drop Rohirrim. (Although I didn't see Isildur in your inventory, but perhaps you haven't left the level.)

Your Buckland sling isn't worth carrying around (non-ironman might store it). If you find one that is +2 power and +2 shots (i.e., Buckland x4 with 2 extra shots), the calculus changes.

You've had some truly great luck with the RNG!

[StMicah]

thanks Ingwe—wearing both isildur and erebor push me over 600 HP. I should hit a few more clvl as I work through the next 15 dlvls, so I should have a decent HP level on 99 and 100.

I'll probably carry Turmil for the immunity swap; no point in losing potions.

And, yes, I feel a bit lucky RNG-wise. Some good vaults with dealable uniques. Also, pretty good drops outside of vaults.

Edit: (speaking of luck, a scroll of acquirement produced doomcaller. that will likely be left behind.)

[Ingwe Ingweron]

...(speaking of luck, a scroll of acquirement produced doomcaller. that will likely be left behind.)

Doomcaller might be worth carrying, check the damage and extrapolate for when you have enough Strength and Dexterity to max blows. In the hands of a mage, you might be right to drop it as between Erebor and Doomcaller. In the hands of a warrior, no contest - Doomcaller wins. The aggravation isn't a problem once you are in the final fights.

[StMicah]

I did it! (Didn't have much game time while visiting with family)

This was my hardest win yet, in part, because I didn't kill all the uniques and Morgy kept summoning his baddies....and I wanted more CON. Sauron was straightforward though.

Thanks for the help with equipment.