[FrogComposband] Best Race+Personality combo for a Mystic

[amalek]

I just got my first ladder character destroyed (Armageddon High-Mage). I'm starting a new playthrough as a Mystic. I already tried it once and died on CL21. I chose Hades parentage back then for the CON bonus, but now I'm wondering if there is a better Race for this class. The description says that CHR is the spellcasting stat and DEX determines melee prowess.

[wobbly]

Think it's meant to be a force of personality thing. Blows and spells are level dependent so something that levels faster then demigod might be more fun. What's the chr on a cyclops? That'd be a bunch of hps and boulders. Or half-giant, half-ogre. I'd just go big for extra hps.

[amalek]

Thanks for the tips guys. I went for Combat+Centaur. Any race in the Orc/Troll/Giant category would've been a big no as they have huge penalties to DEX , low stealth and low CHR. I also chose against Ares parentage as I think stealth is quasi mandatory for a mystic (they get a class power that increase their stealth). Hera isn't needed since Clear Mind is the same as Concentration (or maybe it's even worse).

I totally forgot about Centaurs, I only used them once in a short-lived archer build, but I noticed they actually have excellent melee too. Sadly they have huge XP penalty (190%, even bigger than Balrogs),

[GenericPseudonym]

"Think it's meant to be a force of personality thing"
Mages use Int, I don't see how sorcerers are qualitatively different to mages

In Dungeons and Dragons, Sorcerers are differentiated by the fact that they call on intrinsic magic power from within, rather than studying for years and learning spells from magical books like Wizards. So their magical prowess is based on their force of personality, not their studying ability.

The sorcerers in PCB presumably took that "use CHR rather than INT" aspect from D&D without taking the rest of the flavor. (Warlocks and their Eldritch Blast ability are also based on D&D.)

[EpicMan]

The switch from INT to CHR is surely based on the D&D sorceror's who use CHR as their casting stat. However, in Zangband (where sorceror's were created) they used INT, this was continued in Hengband and seems to have been changed in PosChengband from INT to CHR.

It makes a lot less sense in 'band for them to use CHR, since the Sorceror is just an extreme version of the mage in this game.

[wobbly]

The annoying part is the inconsistency. Chr is also the fear resistance stat & a bunch of big bruisers get -chr for shopping reasons. Zombies are more vulnerable to fear then just about anything else in the game. So chr does a whole bunch of different things & the +/- s don't necessarily end up making sense.

[wobbly]

Bit late now but I just remembered golems either have no or a small chr penalty. Your comments about mystics and AC reminded me. Really golems can get crazy good on classes with a speed bonus.

[amalek]

Bit late now but I just remembered golems either have no or a small chr penalty. Your comments about mystics and AC reminded me. Really golems can get crazy good on classes with a speed bonus.

You're right about golems, I think they also get a bonus to unharmed combat. But just to be precise, my problem wasn't with AC per se, but rather with lack of crucial resistances like rAcid. I think I lost 2 _teleportation on that character. I had an heavy armor of Elvenkind, but
I couldn't wear it because it would block all my powers. I spent lots of time trying to find a Filthy Rag of Elvenkind or something but I eventually got bored.