ToME: the Tales of Maj'Eyal

Ok, here is my next attempt at Dwarf Cursed, on rogue like this time.

This forces me to play much more wisely (shop-scumming for gear, fleeing etc)

http://te4.org/characters/2460/tome/06e ... dc5edd7761

Lvl 18 so far.

I'll keep you posted...

Descending dreadfell now, level 23, but profile not updating, as often happens. No close calls yet. Two wild infusions plus teleport shield and healing are essential. So I haven't opened up rampage yet, just using standard talents.

I am trialling Beckon and it is excellent. I never used it once when I won with dwarf cursed before. Once I have it pumped I'll try it on subject z.

I'm pumping con every level now and will do so till it maxes. Hit points are just so vital.

Till next time....

Finished 8 levels of dreadfell, no problems. Dreadmasters are a cinch with domination. It was very easy really.

I'm now level 25, and still no blood of life found.

I want to kit up more for next stages, so before descending further, I'm off to ancient elven ruins (be careful!) and then subject z, now that beckon is maxxed.

Then west will be clear.

I will skip crypt when it is offered. That and far portal are far top risky on roguelike. And I don't like crypt in any case.

Still can't get character to update on server though. I'll keep trying...

with some good gear, hitpoints are now 900 at level 25,which is a benchmark for me.

Just curious, at what level did you start pumping CON?

From about level 15 or so I put every point into con.

My character sheet is updated now to level 25, and I have these stats
Str 38
Dex 26
Mag 8
Wil 44
Cun 21
Con 64

Strength and willpower at these levels provides enough to get talents to work well.

So surge gives 49% movement speed increase for example.

I'll pump strength and Wil now.

The key for damage from 15-25 is on hit with two weapons on frenzy. I score 550 damage for frenzy now, yet look at how low my damage is: 38 main, 16 offhand.

That's why I wear searing armour.18x8=144 extra damage for frenzy!

ok, so I've just completed elven ruins - had to recall straight out after beating boss though, as something was sending me nightmares. Nasty!

Anyway, went to subject z - commenced Beckon before opening door (as preternatural senses allows this!), but forgot the bit about Beckon breaking if npc takes damage, which he did when I whacked him with frenzy.

He then jumped to zeek and obliterated him.

Never mind - I'm now level 27 and will comlpete dreadfell and see what happens in ambush - I don't think my gear is good enough to beat ambush, but that doesn't matter.

Killed the Master easily, but lost in the ambush - hardly did any damage before I was smashed.

Here I am now: level 28: http://te4.org/characters/2460/tome/06e ... dc5edd7761

I've kitted up post ambush with new regen and shield.

Off to do some mining...

Sanctuary is really a cool talent. Do you plan to invest in the rest of the Gloom tree at some point?

Sanctuary is critical, as Cursed have no AoE attacks and so can't get to NPCs that are not adjacent, except for blindside and the speed that rampage provides.

But as I said re my previous cursed winner (http://forums.te4.org/viewtopic.php?f=49&t=33334), Gloom has no effect when you most need it, for bosses and against the toughest opponents. In the Grushnak Pride, I don't think any of the NPCs were affected, which is where I really wanted.

So I'm trying in this build to instead max out offensive capabilities, and to use Beckon which I have never used before. Because saving against mindpower works right to the end if Wil is high enough.

So I'll the Gloom talents until I'm happy with my other options.

As you probably know, you have to get to the end several times to realise what works over the long term rather than just initially. Most classes play very differently in the last 10 levels, and you have to build towards this setup frmo the outset.

btw, my sense to date is that Beckon is fantastic. I only discovered its potency once with another character in the Far Portal when I was beckoned. It drove me nuts and caused my death!

E.g. in the Ambush, which I lost, I receievd almost no damage from the boss, who was beckoned the whole time. My problem was the other characters swarming me.

Ok, now level 31, through to the East. Things now are trickier.

First I'll do the spiders.

I normally then do the Vor Armoury, but that's on adventurer mode, when I often die once or even twice there at this level.

So I'll either do a pride or an underwater area.

Need some better gear so let's hope the spiders provide.....

In terms of character development, all my generics are now where I want them, so I can start (finally!!) to pump weapon mastery, which has sat at 2 for the first 30 levels! That way I can become less dependent on on-hit damage (which Resolvers ignore in any case).

I'll pump STR, DEX, WIL one point each till the end I think. Helps everything.

Phew!

Now level 36 and starting to find lots of good gear. I'd still like a boost though to physical resist. I'm level 36 and there has not been one dragon armour, including in all the shops!

Anyway, in the East I did things in this order so far:

Spider Rescue
Underwater Caverns
Vor Pride (tough at level 34)
Vor Armory (not as tough as I anticipated) - I skipped a certain room of course

So now, I need to get one more item to return to the west, where I can level up to my heart's content...

Still no Blood of Life, and on Roguelike, that's scary. I have a certain ring that I think might help with this, but I've never used it before and don't want to waste a ring slot to wear it yet...

Playing roguelike definitely makes you more cautious, and to watch everything in great detail.

The ring is the same as the blood of life. I dislike the resurrection items. Sure, it'll save you, but all your sustains are deactivated when you die. And most of your talents will probably be on cooldown.

jenx wrote: As you probably know, you have to get to the end several times to realise what works over the long term rather than just initially. Most classes play very differently in the last 10 levels, and you have to build towards this setup frmo the outset.

Debug mode is useful for testing builds before playing a real game. Winning on your 1-2 attempt on Roguelike saves you a lot of time and frustration.

Thanks for ring info.


On surviving on roguelike, here are my rules:
1. No far portal
2. For world map parties, hit teleport and flee to stairs
3. No rescuing of maidens
4. No last hope graveyard
5. Prior to East, no spellblaze, nor rune of rift
6. In east, no vaults, unless I know creature theme
7. In 3/4 prides, hit teleport and go from there. In the other pride, replace teleport runes with invisibility
8. In final tower, just ascend and don't fight bosses

Ok, now level 44, and about to do Gorbat pride. Got both of Garkhul's items, and discovered they help in an undocumented way. Well, I can't see anything about how it is helping me, though someone in chat said to hover over helm, but nothing happens.

I just completed Eruan, and with Blinding Speed from equip + Surge + Rampage, I got through with the counter at about 460 - I'm not sure what the record is these days. I could have kitted up to go even faster, but I couldn't be bothered. I basically walked straight through and only had to kill about 3 npcs in my way with Frenzy when the path was blocked.

Ended up somehow with Fiery Choker, which is essential against corrupters in Fearscape.

Off to Gorbat, I've done Vor, then I'll do Rakshak (however it's spelled) and then Grushnak. Then home sweet home.

My gear is pretty cool now, and I still have lots of room for improvement. Ring of the War Master would be nice....