ToME: the Tales of Maj'Eyal

Hello Guys/Girls

My last char (lvl 23 dwarf bulwark - http://te4.org/characters/17674/tome/4a ... 188b938783) died in fight with The Master. I wasnt ready and I didnt have any tactics (teleport, phase door etc, no pickaxe :F).

So now Ive made second character - so far lvl 16 dwarf berserk :
http://te4.org/characters/17674/tome/73 ... 2193dde190
I know, I have shitty weapon. I can buy twice better but then I lose bonus saves from Dawrf Racial Skil(power is the money). Should I buy one?

And I have some question. I think that I need to be at 25-30 lvl. So far I made KorPul, Old Forest, The Maze. Im going to SandwormLair but then Ill have lvl 18 which is to low for Daikara I think. Ive done Morgol Lair and Nurgos lair, Deep Below to. Dont know if I can do Halfing Ruins. Meyby I should go to Lake Nur and SherTul Fortres but how can I obtain amulet(or other item) which give me underwater breath ability? Could you give me some advices? What dung/places should I visit before daikara? What skill should I take first? Should I buy new items for my dwarf?(rng didnt drop any nice 2-hander for me...)

18 is good enough for Daikara, as long as you use cover effectively. If you want, you can do the hidden compound first.

Lake Nur is possible without waterbreathing. There are bubbles in the water that will restore 18 air per turn; air consumption is slow enough that you can duck into a bubble every so often until you find the downstairs.

Ok but where I can found/buy something that give me water breathing ability? Any tip?
And where exactly is Hidden Compund?

I've done Lake Nur with no waterbreathing before and it's not that hard really as long as you manage you movements carefully.

I believe Hidden Compound is a random location.

Generally speaking, one of the key things you can do for ANY boss is carry multiple teleports. Most early bosses don't heal much, and as I recall the Master doesn't have any particularly fast regen mechanics.

You clear the level and avoid the boss if at all possible until the level is essentially empty, then engage him cautiously. Always make him come around a corner, unload your status effects first, followed by your highest damage attacks. Burn through your shields and heals for a bit, but keep at least one ore two in reserve - teleport out before you get too low, and rest up quickly before he finds you again, wash, rinse and repeat until he is dead.

Having a teleport rune and perhaps a teleport staff or totem as a backup is usually your best bet, and overall this is usually the safest way to deal with the Master in my experience. A build based around better defenses, more healing/shielding can certainly go toe-to-toe with him, but it is riskier, particularly with the threat of having critical defenses stunned out at a key moment.

Oh, and don't forget to use critical little artifacts like the Rod of Annulment. This can really mess with an enemy boss' skills and prevent some of their worst effects from landing.

Of course, this tactic is not really feasible if you are anti-magic. If you go that way, you're going in headfirst. In that case you need to be pretty sure of your gear before you go at him, because you're probably stuck with him until one of you is dead.

As a note, uncontrolled phase door is virtually useless - it's most often a quick way to commit suicide as a melee, and not much better for ranged classes.

Teleport is far better, though you generally want to have at least TWO teleports on tap, as this greatly increases your overall chance of survival, in the not too uncommon case that the first teleport puts you someplace unpleasant. Needless to say, the value of teleport increases as you clear more rooms on the level - at first it is quite risky, but then, at first you should be near the stairs and pulling anything particularly dangerous back to them to fight.

It seems that teleport is biased the same way it was in Angband: teleporting twice almost always brings you back where you were the first time. That's why a source of controlled teleportation is also good to have.

Random is random ... no bias sorry

Yeah, I've never noticed any particular bias in the teleports, aside of course from the obvious bias of Murphy's Law plucking you out of the frying pan and into the fire. Always teleport BEFORE you are in serious trouble, and leave a few tricks available to survive what happens at the far end.

Bear in mind that on a smaller level map, the 15 square minimum teleport range may tend to shuffle you from corner to corner.