[1.2.0] Insane Roguelike Anorithil Win

[donkatsu]

Destroy Them With Lazers

Can't let Sun Paladins have all the fun. This was my first serious Insane attempt, during which I also wanted to see how the new update would change Anorithils. They got quite the defensive boost in the new Chant of Fortress + Bathe in Light, which both synergized beautifully with Circle of Warding. Despite getting the standard Telos Top Half (I farmed Telos with Threads of Fate for this drop), Life Drinker, and Black Robe combination, Insane bosses tended to have too much resist all for the procs to really be effective. On one occasion I encountered a boss with 170% resist all, which meant that only darkness damage, which I had stacked penetration in, was getting through. I think next time I'll pick a class that only focuses on one damage type for easier penetration stacking. Obviously there's a lot of class warfare going on in Insane, and Anorithils are weirdly extreme in their matchups. Spellcasters and most melee/archers can't do anything whatsoever against Circle of Sanctity and Warding, respectively... but Mindslayers and Brawlers are incredibly hard counters. Mindslayers don't care how many Coronas they get hit by because their shields are enough to negate the damage, and a certain Brawler was at 600% global speed permanently, again due to Coronas. If either Argoniel or Elandar had Mindslayer/Brawler classes, I would most certainly have failed the final fight and there was nothing I could have done about it.

That said, this was probably the most fun I've had with ToME since I first started playing. Despite certain very bad matchups as an Anorithil, overall it felt really well balanced. I actually used autoexplore without getting oneshot! Cauterize didn't even proc until High Peak. In that sense, it was easier. In the more meaningful sense, it was much, much harder. I made mistakes and was punished for them with many, many close brushes with death, but nothing ever annihilated me for 4000 damage in one turn or anything. There were a lot of fights that lasted for more than 5 turns, and that was what ToME really needed, in my opinion. Less oneshot nuking, both from players and from NPCS. It might be different playing as a more offensive class (hello, 2-hander Sun Paladins) but there was a LOT of tactical play as an Anorithil.

[Salo]

Wow, that's very impressive. Insane/adventurer is already very incredible, the roguelike part makes it even better. Well done.

[Marson]

Impressive, donkatsu. I'm giving Insane/Adventure a go now and enjoying it immensely as well. Obtaining a Roguelike win... that's definitely an achievement worth noting. Congrats.