Help with running an alchemist

[Ithulta]

I'm a newbie and I'd like some advice on running an alchemist. Last time I played a sorcerer and did pretty well (by my standards, anyway), but he died, and now I'd like to try something a little weird. Tips on how to get started would be particularly appreciated. Also, when does all the fun weapon- and item-making start? Can you build cool items fairly early, or is it not till the mid-game?

[Shoob]

First I equip the gloves and create the potion of detonations (it almost always works)

then I head to the mountains and find a mature dragon and a friendly eagle unique... wait till the dragon is almost dead and dismiss my eagle... throw the potion and get to lvl 26-30... then I go back to town and use essenses of light to make money.

so basically the fun doesnt start till lvl 21 but with an alchemist you (can) get there in one kill so it doesnt matter.

after that I scum towns <yawn>...

skill wise there are 2 options
a) the uber powerful- melee character, or
b) the uber powerful manathrust character.

keep in mind that you wont be able to make any items unless you learn how to make them first (via *ID* (not id) or a 1/3rd chance when you extract/leech from the item)

so more powerful weapons will come later unless you get lucky with black markets

I normally play option a so my fav weapon is a vampiric shadow blade of aman (+6) but that is mostly luck and I generally settle for a +4 or 5 instead.

[Yottle]

Shoob covered the basics. Some additional points:

Some recipes cover more than one type of item. Two important ones to get early are "Elven" which you can usually get from armor in the BD and "of Power" which you can get from a bow or boomerang. You will want to make elven boots and gloves of power- with these you are set through the mid-game.

You need money to buy stuff from the black market to ID. The best source is exploding ammo- when a batch of these are enchanted with poison or acid you can easily get 200,000 gp. So buy lots of wands of noxious cloud to get poison essences.

I usually play alchemists with the always unusual rooms option on. That guarantees that every room is a vault. Once I get to level 25 and have enough stuff that I won't die instantly, I head to the Sandworm Lair and loot a few vaults. Assuming that I survive, I will have most of the recipes and items I need. This takes about 20 minutes.

If you find a dungeon market with a jewelry or potion shop, get your dexterity high enough that you can steal without getting caught (around 33). Then you can learn all of the recipes for those items and get your stats maxed easily.

[Ithulta]

Thanks, that was really helpful. I'd forgotten about that dragon strategy. I still have some questions, though, namely, how do I find a dragon and an eagle? Are they pretty common? And I don't have to actually enter the mountains, do I? I'd have no idea how to go about that. Also, what do you mean by using light essences to make money? How do I do that exactly?

[Derakon]

Dragons and eagles can be found in the wilderness in "mountain" regions. Your best bet is to find a plains area adjacent to a mountainous area and walk across the border into the mountains. You can hop across the border until you get the enemies you want.

As for making money from light essences, I don't know offhand what he's talking about, but presumably it has something to do with extracting essences from something cheap like Scrolls of Light (or is it Illumination in ToME?) and applying them to something more expensive. Alchemists are money-making machines, though, so that's not the only way to run things. You can use elemental essences, most notably including poison, to make branded ammo, which sells for ridiculous amounts of cash.

[Shoob]

yeah I was referring to the beginning when you make torches of fearlessness which sell for 2.6k+ (useful at beginning) and then later you will collect exploding ammo and make then venomous and they sell for 20k each

but yeah, money should be no problem for an alchemist, so you dont really need to steal the potions (unless you have 33 dex) just keep buying the store out till you get 33 dex (you will need at least +5 dex item(s) to do that)

[martinuzz]

acquiring the vampiric, and (*defender*) brand for your weapons is also very nice.

[budswell]

I am also just starting out with an alchemist.
I get my early essenses by looting the mushroom farm.
If you end up stockpiling essenses, I usually use wands and staves which you can recharge alot (my staff of remove curese is 400+ charges). Much lighter to carry, and/or only one spot in the home for > 99
Then again I have not made level 20 yet. Chugging away the slow way, Barrow downs, Orc Caves, etc

[martinuzz]

Some very useful things to have recipe for as well, apart from basics and what is already mentioned in this thread;
fairly easy to obtain in the early game. Just browse the black market / look for dungeon towns:

- potion of Enlightenment
- potion of Healing and/or *Healing*
- Staff of Stone Prison
- (lightsource) of the Magi (can grant invisibility)
- ((elven) cloak) of the Magi
- (crown) of the Magi
- chaotic weapon brand, if you don't have vampiric yet. The teleporting and earthquake effects can be annoying in some situations though
- (weapon) of Aman
- dwarven (metal armor)
- (armor) of resistance
- magical (digging tool) of digging
- indestructable (ring/amulet)

You will notice a lot 'of the Magi' stuff here. I use it even though I play melee style. There's nice bonusses for them, and you can store some (god) spells. You will need to *identify* (100% succes) or extract from all different kind of items to be able to create an 'of the Magi' version of the respective items. You cannot make a Faenorian Lamp of the Magi if you have only got the recipe for a cloak of the Magi. This rule applies to a lot of other brands.

About *identifying*: There is a trick to *identify* some types of items bought from shops..
for rings and amulets: make them indestructable, then (e)xtract from them. The ring/ amulet will come out of this process with 'need to *identify*' status. For rod tips: attach them to a rod base, extract them from it. The tip will now be *identify*-able. For scrolls and staves: fireproof them, then extract the fireproofing. Unfortunatly, there is no means to do this with potions.

As a general rule, purchase all the scrolls of *identify* you can. You will need the magic essences, and the essences of knowledge are good for making potions of Enlightenment.

Also, when creating new items, you can always extract from them again if you are not satisfied with the result, and try again. A lot of brands have small chances of giving an extra resist, or intrinsic, read the forum on Ego brands about it. For example, the vampiric brand can lower or increase your max HP. Just keep trying. You will get it to (120%) life eventually (or higher)

[Ithulta]

The eagles just kill the dragon in one hit.

[Yottle]

The eagles just kill the dragon in one hit.

Even Thorondor doesn't do that to a mature dragon. Target the dragon and watch its hit points turn by turn. Dismiss the eagle when it gets down to two or three stars. You don't get any messages, so if you use Rest it will get killed.

[Ithulta]

You're right.

[Ithulta]

Yay, level 25! Can anybody give me general idea of where I should put these skill points? I'm afraid that I'll misallocate them. I haven't played an alchemist at all, so I have no feel for one.

[martinuzz]

Even though it is a quick way to gain 25 levels, it is a bit cheesy.
It isn't too hard to get an alchemist through the early game by 'normal' means.
I favor Rohanknight zombies to play alchemist with. I start with buying a sling and as much ammo as I can get, and immediatly head into the Bree house to do the thieves quest. Set tactics to berserker, speed to running, and you should be able to pick off most bad guys down there with your sling, and once you run out of ammo, be level- upped enough to melee the rest. When you emerge, you'll be level 4-5, and ready to dive into the Barrow downs.
Sell the potion of detonation for starting cash (if possible, buy some good ammo with it, makes the thieves quest easier) instead of wasting it on a dragon.

[Ithulta]

Yeah, it is pretty cheap. I think I'll try gaining levels through some good, honest grinding, but first, I'm gonna try out another sorcerer.