What's your style in dungeon crawls?

[kingvictory2003]

This poll was inspired by my reading of the whole potions vs. infusions discussion in the Ideas section, with comments along the lines of people enjoying crafting etc. I thought I'd just throw this poll out there to see the demographics of playstyles among fellow players.

PLEASE feel free to qualify your choice with comments. There is no perfect poll for this sort of thing, as playstyles can be very personal, but they can follow certain trends. The poll is also not restricted to a single choice.

I'll start:

I am essentially a min-maxer who generally likes to try to win whenever possible. I do enjoy having myriad choices for upgrades and handling situations, but I tend to conform to somewhat "cookie-cutter" builds for specific classes that fit my style. I enjoy special challenges, but not often (e.g. no potions, etcetc.).

I myself greatly enjoy crafting, even in multiple steps with rare ingredients, if the result is either worth the investment, or is very unique in a cool way. I'm also completely aware that "worth the investment" or "very unique" is very subjective, so the more stuff out there the better

I also have always loved playing hybrid characters, who can smash face but also toss some lightning or phase away to safety.

Thanks for voting; here's looking forward to the results!

DISCLAIMERS:

**This poll is not intended necessarily to drive game design in any direction, but it may help just showing what aspects people enjoy.

**This poll was originally created just to satisfy my curiosity

**This poll is not intended to start a flame war in any shape, form, temperature, location, elevation, or dreamscape.

**The answer is, indeed, 42.

[Grey]

I like exploring in games. Can be nice with random dungeons and different layouts, though I must admit that I find TOME4's dungeon generators to be fairly ugly and boring a lot of the time.

Min-maxing is something I do a lot in games - it feels natural really. I needed a bit of adjustment to play TOME4 actually, since I had to get used to the fact that it's not just fighters who have to invest in Con :P It's something I've learned to like actually - the stats in TOME are quite nicely balanced.

I really enjoy a challenge. I've done some quite supreme challenges in ADOM, and I find added challenge a lot of fun. As long as it's fair challenge of course. I don't play on the harder modes in TOME because I think the simple +x damage to be just cheap. Something like "play naked" is a far more fun idea. I'm looking forward to the infinite dungeon being added in the next beta for some cool challenges with it.

I like hybrid classes that break the mold, and have numerous ways of playing them. Can make for some interesting gameplay (and ways to min/max and break the system!)

[greycat]

I won't vote on this one, because I like playing all of them, at different times. Sometimes I want to club things, and sometimes I want to set them on fire.

[kingvictory2003]

I really enjoy a challenge. I've done some quite supreme challenges in ADOM, and I find added challenge a lot of fun. As long as it's fair challenge of course. I don't play on the harder modes in TOME because I think the simple +x damage to be just cheap. Something like "play naked" is a far more fun idea. I'm looking forward to the infinite dungeon being added in the next beta for some cool challenges with it.

Wow...*bows down* I could never do any of those challenges in ADOM. The game is hard enough as it is! *salute*

I like hybrid classes that break the mold, and have numerous ways of playing them. Can make for some interesting gameplay (and ways to min/max and break the system!)

I'm with you there too, I just can't help myself

[Shoob]

awww, there is no choice for me

I am a min-maxer who plays pretty much everything with a pretty strict build and I prefer melee over ranged and ranged over melee as well as hybrids, I will alo take on restrictive challenges.

(and who says I cant be that)

(and, yes there is a perfectly logical reasoning for my melee over ranged and ranged over melee)

[Sirrocco]

I min/max to a degree - though I'd call it optimization. I generally want to have a rough plan on how I'll spend my skill points and stats, what rough order I'll go through dungeons and so forth in place before I take my first step as a character. I feel compelled to optimize on the system, and am willing to grind quite a bit to make it happen, such as [spoiler]ing until level [spoiler] in order to [spoiler] with just about every single one of my [spoiler]s, even though it means that I basically can't [spoiler] until I get that done. Given that there are wo or three such things for at least some of the characters I've played, my default beginning-game often winds up heavily defined by the things I do to maximize my eventual ability. As such, I'm a fan of interesting new systems (like crafting, etc) that require permanent, irreplaceable resources to access (like, say, generic skill points) - so that I can play with them with some characters, and have fun that way, without feeling compelled to incorporate them into every single character I play.

At times I've actually had to prevent myself from doing certain things because they make the game too easy for a time - and then once they start to lose their power, the bad habits they've taught wind up killing me.

In general, I like hybrids - particularly melee-heavy hybrids. They generally wind up being interesting to play, with interesting powers, without being so complicated tactically that I fritz out when trying to put together a build. My best characters so far have been frost Wyrmics (with recent, profitable expansion into frost/storm). I also semi-regularly try to get a Cursed going, though they wind up being a bit fragile in my hands. I'm moderately fond of Alchemists as well - they're a ranged character, but fairly straightforward as one, and the golem adds some interesting details. I'm looking forward to being able to try the Anorithil, once I get them unlocked. I generally go for optimizing through passives and sustains, with a standard, instant-refresh attack that I use most of the time and a small number of active powers that get used in specific situations (mob scenes or charging, or what have you).

[Dervis]

To sum it up, I like choices without brain-boggling calculations. I like moderate amounts of resource-management.
I like to feel the need to find different strategies and use different skill-sets on different quests.

I tend to enjoy playing melee and hybrid classes better, mostly due to the fact that in most roguelikes ranged toons all fall in the 'Maximize Fireball, kill everything with Fireball model.'.

I also enjoy min-maxing quite a lot... no, forget that, what I REALLY LIKE IS COMBOS!!! I like having things that have to bounce each other for amazing results... to have to set up a Curse. a short-term Buff, a freeze or something to pull off that special move or bonus that's purely amazing really gets me going. If this was MtG, i would be playing the deck that wins by infinite turns, or pulling a Huge monster out of the graveyard with the most retarded card there is.

You were talking about the infusion system... I really liked the change... it still requires some balancing, but knowing I can't just depend on my 30 potions of healing wherever I go is quite fun on my book.

At the moment, my biggest criticism is that's there's almost no resource-management on some parts of the game and a couple classes. Infusions are unlimited, the cooldowns are too short, you can scum for a particular item if you need... Paladins NEVER run out of juice, Cursed as well as soon as they make it past the first 10-15 levels... Any mana class can find a gazillion gems for recharging mana on demand, and they're even cheap and weightless.

[kingvictory2003]

Fellow min-maxers unite!

Well taken perspectives, although I can't really figure out what exactly you're talking about Shoob If I had to hazard a wild guess, do you mean make a hybrids out of predominantly melee characters by pumping some ranged skills and vice versa?

Speaking of combos, I'm known to very much enjoy Backstab on my arcane blades With one of my favorite ever attacks, Stunning Blow, how could you go wrong?

Regarding resource management, I see what you're saying Dervis. There definitely is a great differential in management of the various resources, and with that in mind I actively dislike playing wilders because of the extreme pain of managing equilibrium compared to mana and -foo-energy. I know there is a (spoiler) tree gotten by (spoiler) that makes equilibrium much easier to deal with, but it would almost feel like a requirement to me, rather than optional.

I'll be interested to try out infusions when the next beta comes out, as I don't know where to get svn stuff and am too lazy to learn how to compile anyways

Thanks for all the input, looking forward to more!

[kingvictory2003]

Anyone have specific item-oriented builds?

I was thinking to make an Arcane Blade or a Berserker wielding the Hammer of Khazad-Dum, as I believe it has the highest pure damage output of any single weapon per strike.

Then I belatedly realized (after HOW many characters?!?!) that greatmauls have a base 1.2 weapon speed. So THAT's why I got stunganked in a corridor by that stupid skeleton warrior after smashing the mage in front of me with bill's tree trunk. That, and I was reading "attack speed reduction of 10%" of Precise Strikes as 10% less time betweein attacks

I since have switched to using Warmaster Ganarg's blade, because of nice bonuses, among which is a certain attribute when combined with a certain -spoiler- neckpiece and possibly a certain -spoiler- infusion, may allow one to see certain -spoilers-. Here's hoping for an uber greatsword or axe that I can build around

Another item-build I had thought to try was dual-wielding swords with Shadowblades, with a certain frigid one in one hand, and a burning bright one in the other. Then I seem to have found out that only daggers can go in the offhand...? And also pumping two separate %damage increase generic talents simply costs too much. Alas

[Sirrocco]

Reavers can dual-wield non-daggers, and get the ability to do so at level 1. They're the only ones.

[kingvictory2003]

Reavers can dual-wield non-daggers, and get the ability to do so at level 1. They're the only ones.

Muahaha, gonna have to try it! Thanks for the info. I'll just have to figure out how to manually unlock the class in b13 (with the bugged unlock).

I shouldn't say I'm surprised at the pretty even balance between melee vs. ranged vs. hybrid preference; I guess I find it really interesting. If I had to specify my preference more, I'd say I like melee-oriented hybrids, who can hit hard with lots of flash-bang (i.e. arcane blades with arcane combat) and run away with facility to lick their wounds (phase door).

I've heard archers are crazy powerful, and I've played mages in the early betas, so I know they're crazy powerful, but I find the concept of them a little one-dimensional. That's not really being fair to the mages, as they have so many different schools and eye-candy visual effects, but with respect to archers I think I'd get bored with shoot, shoot, shoot. I'll really have to try one to see I guess.

[greycat]

The Reaver unlock was bugged in beta 12, not beta 13. (Not just Reavers -- all the classes with cumulative unlock counters.)