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(v. 4.2.1)
I've acquired a handful of wins over the years, mostly mage as, admittedly, the other classes haven't appealed to my play style. Lately I've been questioning that philosophy, trying to goad myself into trying something outside my comfort zone and rekindle my interest in the game.
Enter the Necromancer. It's a primary spellcaster, whose potential 0% failure rate appeals to me. I assumed that it would eventually have some powerful offensive spellcasting capabilities at high levels (spoiler: it does). And it was advertised as having some distinctive and flavorful utilities. So I gave it a whirl.
And died horribly. Over and over again. My god, I thought early game was challenging for a mage. But this guy can't seem to get the ball rolling. Hell, he can barely find the ball, stumbling around in the dark as he does. And why do my @#%&*@% spells keep @#%&*@% failing so much?!
Well, it was a combination of factors. Firstly, it turned out that the effect of being in a lit area is that it reduced spellcasting chance. This included standing next to a monster that radiates light. So most p's, some Z's, etc. Thus, my 6-7% failure rate would suddenly jump up to a ~30% failure rate just when I needed it the most -- when that paladin got right up in my face. Once I figured that out, things became a bit easier.
A bit. Then, more unexpected spell failures. What now?! Oh... apparently the Afraid state reduced spellcasting chance as well. Huh. Okay. So we needed to take that into account, too. Actually, I ended up making a mental list of the Very Important Statuses that I had to take into account, above and beyond effects like blindness/dark/light and confusion:
- Lit area: Darken lit rooms before attacking; stay away from light-emitting monsters; use Phase Door scrolls to get away from light-emitting monsters
- Afraid: Carry stacks of !Boldness; look for items that resist Fear (early on it was =Dog)
- Stun: Be wary of gold dragons and other sound-damage producing monsters; drink potions that cure stun; look for items that resist Sound/Stun (stun resistance can even show up on some non-artifact weapons)
Did Afraid always reduce spellcasting chance? Was that why, every once in a while as a mage, I'd get a string of mysterious spellcasting failures for no seeming reason? Oh, well. I'm by no means an Angband expert.
Anyway, above and beyond the casting, the early game necromancer still lacked in many ways. It lacked in reliable escapes, until the rather expensive Shadow Shift became viable. As a result, I carried stacks and stacks of Phase Door scrolls all game long. It also lacked reliable casting damage; Nether Bolt, the early bread-and-butter, go-to ranged nuke, would get a "resists somewhat" message against a wide slew of monsters, including orcs and kobolds, which are quite prevalent in the early levels. A roomful of snaga, ordinarily a tasty treat for a mage, would send my necromancer scurrying back to the shadows. And undead and constructs were just flat-out immune.
I had to shift my mentality more -- much more -- in the direction of moving slowly, detecting often (Read Minds revealed the vast majority of truly dangerous foes throughout the game) and choosing my battles carefully. I also found myself relying on devices a great deal more, using wands and, eventually, rods of various sorts. Eventually, I lucked upon a Maul of Acid, which I wielded to great effect, even enchanting it up to +10/+10. I clobbered a great many nether-resistant, stubborn opponents with this weapon; I was saddened to replace it.
I read a review recently by a mage player who took every opportunity to push their Con. I took the opposite strategy; I pushed Int, even wincing in begrudging acceptance when a !Intellect reduced my Con. Swiftly acquiring a more solid mana pool, as well as a dramatically reduced failure rate, I made my way into the mid-game, where I could solidly rely on Disenchant as my primary form of attack.
Disenchant worked on *everything*. Alive, undead, construct, you name it. But what's absolutely fantastic about this spell, apart from its versatility, was its utterly astounding side-effect: it dramatically reducesd the target's chances to throw spells back at me. And that effect worked on every spellcaster in the dungeon. Including uniques. Including Sauron. Including Morgoth. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
My mid-game consisted of searching for Int, and eventually Con, potions, to round out my primary statistics. This, along with equipment that would provide the key resistances to prevent casting chance reduction, plus bonuses to Int and Con. In this respect I got quite lucky, as I found myself absolutely overflowing with +Int, +Con, and eventually +Speed items of wide variety. I also took the advice of another necromancer thread I'd read on these forums, whereby I equipped a Lantern of True Sight and drained it to 0, gaining me its benefits (see invisible; resist blindness) while not radiating any light.
At this point I should make note that my character was a half-troll; that indeed, all of my characters are always half-trolls. This is because I am possessed of the notion that this race possesses the one attribute that no other race can ever possess: extra hit points. Half-trolls enjoy higher hit point dice modifiers than every other race. Anything they sacrifice in return for this benefit can readily be made up for by wearing the appropriate equipment. As hit points are, arguably, the most important attribute, I find myself hard-pressed to justify giving up this bonus, no matter how much more difficulty I'm imposing on myself as an Int-based class.
Necromancers also have another fantastic advantage: they resist both dark and nether intrinsically. This provides a terrific amount of versatility in finding and acquiring equipment. Dark resistance in particular is great early game, as spellcasters love throwing darkness effects (thanks, enemy spellcaster!) and darkness hounds become immaterial. Combined with the ability to cast See Invisible on demand, I found it much easier to build a set of gear that provides the important resistances and immunities for mid-game survival, such as fire/cold/acid/lightning/poison resistance; nexus; blindness; confusion; and as aforementioned, sound and fear.
At some unidentifiable point I crossed over from surviving comfortably to absolutely kicking butt. My end game consisted of obliterating every unique on the level irrespective of the amount of intervening trash, and casually tossing artifacts over my shoulder if they didn't have the potential improve my setup in some fashion. Annihilate, and at level 50, Storm of Darkness, would dispatch enemies of any level of strength in no time flat -- so long as they were interspersed with the occasional casting of Disenchant, to ensure that my opponent rarely, if ever, got off a spell cast. I faced down both Sauron and Morgoth in the middle of empty rooms -- normally sacrilege against powerful summoners such as these -- simply because they almost never actually cast a spell.
I saw a mage review that talked about each of the spell books in turn; so I thought I might steal that format to do the same:
Into the Shadows
Nether Bolt is a decent enough damage spell against some opponents, especially in the very early game. But there's eventually a gap between when this spell is reliable and when a caster can shift to the use of Disenchant.
Sense Invisible is fantastic tool, eliminating the need to find a permanent source for quite some time.
Create Darkness is occasionally handy when one finds themselves forced to fight in a lit room (or the preemptively prepare a room for combat).
Bat Form seems like a gimmick; I found no real use for it. If other necromancers can provide advice to the contrary, I'm all ears.
Read Minds is cast almost constantly in the early and mid-games -- basically, until one can find a reliable source of telepathy.
Dark Rituals
Tap Unlife is a decent damage spell against undead. It can be relied upon -- must be relied upon, really -- during the gap between the use of Nether Bolt and Disenchant. It's great that its cost is 0; it's even better that it net gains you mana in its use. There have been times during the mid-game that I found myself juggling two foes, one undead, one living, throwing nukes at the living foe and replacing my mana by draining the undead one. It didn't happen often, however. And eventually, once you're powerful enough, you'll end up just throwing Disenchant against undead foes, too.
Miasma seems like an act of desperation, putting you in a dangerous situation of being confused and hallucinating, all to deal a ton of damage in an area around you. It even has a life draining effect on you. I avoided its use as much as possible.
Sleep Evil is a spell I avoided as well, as I find control spells (sleep, confuse, hold, fear) notoriously unreliable against monsters, who oftentimes turn out to be flat-out immune to such effects in any event.
Shadow Shift is the Necromancer's get away spell. Too far to be a reliable combat tactic, too expensive to be used frequently, it's an emergency use spell in the mid-game.
Disenchant is the go-to mid-game damage spell. It's average damage is solid, though the damage range can sometimes make it esoteric and unreliable. But its side effect of lowering spell casting chance is unparalleled. Used all game long.
Fear and Torment
Frighten is another control spell that I shied away from.
Vampire Strike is a surprisingly useful mid-game attack. It deals consistent damage, and you gain as much health as the damage that you deal. The downside is that you land next to the creature that you attack, so it gets to swipe back at you. But if the enemy isn't that dangerous, you can net gain more than you lose as you bounce around an enemy, gradually draining all of its health, ending the fight at full hit points. The attack costs a lot less than Disenchant, making it a very efficient spell. All told, a very solid and reliable mid-game spell. Can be a bit finicky depending on positioning, as sometimes the spell cast will be canceled because the game can't find a proper space for you to land on.
Dispel Life is a convenient mid-game weapon to use against rooms full of living opponents. The damage isn't reliable, but if you have the mana pool, you can swiftly dispatch a large number of enemies. The only reliable area-of-effect mid-game attack.
Dark Spear is the necromancer's first and only beam attack. Damage and cost are both slightly below Disenchant. Convenient for use in corridors and similar situations.
Warg Form is, I believe, for extended durations of melee combat. By the time I acquired this spell, I was already shifting toward a style of pure spell casting. I never used it.
Deadly Powers
Banish Spirits is an absolutely incredible endgame spell, basically a -Teleport Other on steroids. It throws almost everything out of the room -- p's, P's, D's, A's, U's, W's, V's, L's, almost anything with a mind of its own. Sadly, Z's and other animals are excluded. But the ability to dismiss a huge swath of dangerous opponents with a single spell is simply incredible. A staple endgame tool.
Annihilate is, until level 50, the standard endgame attack spell against everything except undead and constructs. Be sure to pepper in some Disintegrate castings to make sure nothing gets thrown back at you.
Grond's Blow is an earthquake. Some players like to destroy an area before fighting particularly difficult uniques, such as summoners. With the avent of Disenchant, however, I found this totally unnecessary.
Fume of Mordor is a wonderful endgame utility, mapping the whole dungeon, darkening every room, and detecting all objects. Always cast upon arrival in new dungeon level.
Storm of Darkness is the level 50 attack spell. Works on both living and dead alike, with the extremely rare exception of explicitly darkness-resistant opponents. Fantastic damage. Huge area of effect. Same damage as Annihilate but slightly cheaper.
Corruption of Spirit
Power Sacrifice is a nice way to supplement mana in long fights against foes that aren't too dangerous. Can save you !Restore Mana sometimes.
Crush is a convenient way to clear a room of small critters. Cheaper and easier to just use Storm of Darkness eventually.
Vampire Form is another melee-oriented shapeshift. I didn't really try it.
Curse deals, according to its description, extra damage against weakened opponents. However, it deals 100 to the caster, which I found too high a price to experiment with. I probably should have tried it just to see how effective it was against weakened foes. (I suppose I still can; I haven't quit with my character yet...)
Command lets you take over a monster's movements for a turn or two. Seemed silly -- and dangerous, as I didn't see a way to abandon the control myself and go back to my own body.
I'll include my character dump below, for any who are interested. I think the body armor in particular was a fantastically lucky find. And I'm now a rabid fan of Crowns of Serenity for spell casters.
I've acquired a handful of wins over the years, mostly mage as, admittedly, the other classes haven't appealed to my play style. Lately I've been questioning that philosophy, trying to goad myself into trying something outside my comfort zone and rekindle my interest in the game.
Enter the Necromancer. It's a primary spellcaster, whose potential 0% failure rate appeals to me. I assumed that it would eventually have some powerful offensive spellcasting capabilities at high levels (spoiler: it does). And it was advertised as having some distinctive and flavorful utilities. So I gave it a whirl.
And died horribly. Over and over again. My god, I thought early game was challenging for a mage. But this guy can't seem to get the ball rolling. Hell, he can barely find the ball, stumbling around in the dark as he does. And why do my @#%&*@% spells keep @#%&*@% failing so much?!
Well, it was a combination of factors. Firstly, it turned out that the effect of being in a lit area is that it reduced spellcasting chance. This included standing next to a monster that radiates light. So most p's, some Z's, etc. Thus, my 6-7% failure rate would suddenly jump up to a ~30% failure rate just when I needed it the most -- when that paladin got right up in my face. Once I figured that out, things became a bit easier.
A bit. Then, more unexpected spell failures. What now?! Oh... apparently the Afraid state reduced spellcasting chance as well. Huh. Okay. So we needed to take that into account, too. Actually, I ended up making a mental list of the Very Important Statuses that I had to take into account, above and beyond effects like blindness/dark/light and confusion:
- Lit area: Darken lit rooms before attacking; stay away from light-emitting monsters; use Phase Door scrolls to get away from light-emitting monsters
- Afraid: Carry stacks of !Boldness; look for items that resist Fear (early on it was =Dog)
- Stun: Be wary of gold dragons and other sound-damage producing monsters; drink potions that cure stun; look for items that resist Sound/Stun (stun resistance can even show up on some non-artifact weapons)
Did Afraid always reduce spellcasting chance? Was that why, every once in a while as a mage, I'd get a string of mysterious spellcasting failures for no seeming reason? Oh, well. I'm by no means an Angband expert.
Anyway, above and beyond the casting, the early game necromancer still lacked in many ways. It lacked in reliable escapes, until the rather expensive Shadow Shift became viable. As a result, I carried stacks and stacks of Phase Door scrolls all game long. It also lacked reliable casting damage; Nether Bolt, the early bread-and-butter, go-to ranged nuke, would get a "resists somewhat" message against a wide slew of monsters, including orcs and kobolds, which are quite prevalent in the early levels. A roomful of snaga, ordinarily a tasty treat for a mage, would send my necromancer scurrying back to the shadows. And undead and constructs were just flat-out immune.
I had to shift my mentality more -- much more -- in the direction of moving slowly, detecting often (Read Minds revealed the vast majority of truly dangerous foes throughout the game) and choosing my battles carefully. I also found myself relying on devices a great deal more, using wands and, eventually, rods of various sorts. Eventually, I lucked upon a Maul of Acid, which I wielded to great effect, even enchanting it up to +10/+10. I clobbered a great many nether-resistant, stubborn opponents with this weapon; I was saddened to replace it.
I read a review recently by a mage player who took every opportunity to push their Con. I took the opposite strategy; I pushed Int, even wincing in begrudging acceptance when a !Intellect reduced my Con. Swiftly acquiring a more solid mana pool, as well as a dramatically reduced failure rate, I made my way into the mid-game, where I could solidly rely on Disenchant as my primary form of attack.
Disenchant worked on *everything*. Alive, undead, construct, you name it. But what's absolutely fantastic about this spell, apart from its versatility, was its utterly astounding side-effect: it dramatically reducesd the target's chances to throw spells back at me. And that effect worked on every spellcaster in the dungeon. Including uniques. Including Sauron. Including Morgoth. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
My mid-game consisted of searching for Int, and eventually Con, potions, to round out my primary statistics. This, along with equipment that would provide the key resistances to prevent casting chance reduction, plus bonuses to Int and Con. In this respect I got quite lucky, as I found myself absolutely overflowing with +Int, +Con, and eventually +Speed items of wide variety. I also took the advice of another necromancer thread I'd read on these forums, whereby I equipped a Lantern of True Sight and drained it to 0, gaining me its benefits (see invisible; resist blindness) while not radiating any light.
At this point I should make note that my character was a half-troll; that indeed, all of my characters are always half-trolls. This is because I am possessed of the notion that this race possesses the one attribute that no other race can ever possess: extra hit points. Half-trolls enjoy higher hit point dice modifiers than every other race. Anything they sacrifice in return for this benefit can readily be made up for by wearing the appropriate equipment. As hit points are, arguably, the most important attribute, I find myself hard-pressed to justify giving up this bonus, no matter how much more difficulty I'm imposing on myself as an Int-based class.
Necromancers also have another fantastic advantage: they resist both dark and nether intrinsically. This provides a terrific amount of versatility in finding and acquiring equipment. Dark resistance in particular is great early game, as spellcasters love throwing darkness effects (thanks, enemy spellcaster!) and darkness hounds become immaterial. Combined with the ability to cast See Invisible on demand, I found it much easier to build a set of gear that provides the important resistances and immunities for mid-game survival, such as fire/cold/acid/lightning/poison resistance; nexus; blindness; confusion; and as aforementioned, sound and fear.
At some unidentifiable point I crossed over from surviving comfortably to absolutely kicking butt. My end game consisted of obliterating every unique on the level irrespective of the amount of intervening trash, and casually tossing artifacts over my shoulder if they didn't have the potential improve my setup in some fashion. Annihilate, and at level 50, Storm of Darkness, would dispatch enemies of any level of strength in no time flat -- so long as they were interspersed with the occasional casting of Disenchant, to ensure that my opponent rarely, if ever, got off a spell cast. I faced down both Sauron and Morgoth in the middle of empty rooms -- normally sacrilege against powerful summoners such as these -- simply because they almost never actually cast a spell.
I saw a mage review that talked about each of the spell books in turn; so I thought I might steal that format to do the same:
Into the Shadows
Nether Bolt is a decent enough damage spell against some opponents, especially in the very early game. But there's eventually a gap between when this spell is reliable and when a caster can shift to the use of Disenchant.
Sense Invisible is fantastic tool, eliminating the need to find a permanent source for quite some time.
Create Darkness is occasionally handy when one finds themselves forced to fight in a lit room (or the preemptively prepare a room for combat).
Bat Form seems like a gimmick; I found no real use for it. If other necromancers can provide advice to the contrary, I'm all ears.
Read Minds is cast almost constantly in the early and mid-games -- basically, until one can find a reliable source of telepathy.
Dark Rituals
Tap Unlife is a decent damage spell against undead. It can be relied upon -- must be relied upon, really -- during the gap between the use of Nether Bolt and Disenchant. It's great that its cost is 0; it's even better that it net gains you mana in its use. There have been times during the mid-game that I found myself juggling two foes, one undead, one living, throwing nukes at the living foe and replacing my mana by draining the undead one. It didn't happen often, however. And eventually, once you're powerful enough, you'll end up just throwing Disenchant against undead foes, too.
Miasma seems like an act of desperation, putting you in a dangerous situation of being confused and hallucinating, all to deal a ton of damage in an area around you. It even has a life draining effect on you. I avoided its use as much as possible.
Sleep Evil is a spell I avoided as well, as I find control spells (sleep, confuse, hold, fear) notoriously unreliable against monsters, who oftentimes turn out to be flat-out immune to such effects in any event.
Shadow Shift is the Necromancer's get away spell. Too far to be a reliable combat tactic, too expensive to be used frequently, it's an emergency use spell in the mid-game.
Disenchant is the go-to mid-game damage spell. It's average damage is solid, though the damage range can sometimes make it esoteric and unreliable. But its side effect of lowering spell casting chance is unparalleled. Used all game long.
Fear and Torment
Frighten is another control spell that I shied away from.
Vampire Strike is a surprisingly useful mid-game attack. It deals consistent damage, and you gain as much health as the damage that you deal. The downside is that you land next to the creature that you attack, so it gets to swipe back at you. But if the enemy isn't that dangerous, you can net gain more than you lose as you bounce around an enemy, gradually draining all of its health, ending the fight at full hit points. The attack costs a lot less than Disenchant, making it a very efficient spell. All told, a very solid and reliable mid-game spell. Can be a bit finicky depending on positioning, as sometimes the spell cast will be canceled because the game can't find a proper space for you to land on.
Dispel Life is a convenient mid-game weapon to use against rooms full of living opponents. The damage isn't reliable, but if you have the mana pool, you can swiftly dispatch a large number of enemies. The only reliable area-of-effect mid-game attack.
Dark Spear is the necromancer's first and only beam attack. Damage and cost are both slightly below Disenchant. Convenient for use in corridors and similar situations.
Warg Form is, I believe, for extended durations of melee combat. By the time I acquired this spell, I was already shifting toward a style of pure spell casting. I never used it.
Deadly Powers
Banish Spirits is an absolutely incredible endgame spell, basically a -Teleport Other on steroids. It throws almost everything out of the room -- p's, P's, D's, A's, U's, W's, V's, L's, almost anything with a mind of its own. Sadly, Z's and other animals are excluded. But the ability to dismiss a huge swath of dangerous opponents with a single spell is simply incredible. A staple endgame tool.
Annihilate is, until level 50, the standard endgame attack spell against everything except undead and constructs. Be sure to pepper in some Disintegrate castings to make sure nothing gets thrown back at you.
Grond's Blow is an earthquake. Some players like to destroy an area before fighting particularly difficult uniques, such as summoners. With the avent of Disenchant, however, I found this totally unnecessary.
Fume of Mordor is a wonderful endgame utility, mapping the whole dungeon, darkening every room, and detecting all objects. Always cast upon arrival in new dungeon level.
Storm of Darkness is the level 50 attack spell. Works on both living and dead alike, with the extremely rare exception of explicitly darkness-resistant opponents. Fantastic damage. Huge area of effect. Same damage as Annihilate but slightly cheaper.
Corruption of Spirit
Power Sacrifice is a nice way to supplement mana in long fights against foes that aren't too dangerous. Can save you !Restore Mana sometimes.
Crush is a convenient way to clear a room of small critters. Cheaper and easier to just use Storm of Darkness eventually.
Vampire Form is another melee-oriented shapeshift. I didn't really try it.
Curse deals, according to its description, extra damage against weakened opponents. However, it deals 100 to the caster, which I found too high a price to experiment with. I probably should have tried it just to see how effective it was against weakened foes. (I suppose I still can; I haven't quit with my character yet...)
Command lets you take over a monster's movements for a turn or two. Seemed silly -- and dangerous, as I didn't see a way to abandon the control myself and go back to my own body.
I'll include my character dump below, for any who are interested. I think the body armor in particular was a fantastically lucky find. And I'm now a rabid fan of Crowns of Serenity for spell casters.
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