Nightmare Roguelike: Skeleton Arcane Blade

[rift42]

Here's my guy, "bones", McCoy, skeleton arcane blade: https://te4.org/characters/121467/tome/ ... 6d6320cfa5

I decided to go 2-handed instead of 1-handed as is recommended by all the arcane blade guides. The primary reason I did this was because 1-handed staves are so much more rare than 2-handed. I never saw a single 1-h tier-5 randart on my playthrough. I can't compare late game power, but my attempts to play dual wielding with either daggers or whatever 1-h staff I resulted in a player that felt quite a bit weaker than my 2-h playthrough during the early levels; my dual-wield attempts were never successful.

I happened to get lucky and got The Calm robe and Storm Bringer Gauntlets quite early, which I think helped quite a lot with this character. I found myself checking repeatedly whether I was actually playing on Nightmare, as it felt easier than my normal playthroughs. The final fight was fairly straightforward; killing both bosses rather quickly without closing any portals and without Aeryn dying.

This was the first time I have killed Atamathon, which only took a few turns (including attempts on normal). I'm sure it was nowhere near as quickly as the old days when dual-wielding hits gave the same chance of proc as 2-handed.

I used my skeleton racial death when attempting the Hypostasis of Entropy, and managed to kill it after reassembling my bones. I had a Ring of the Dead, which I wore when for my fight with Linaniil. She killed me as well, costing me the ring, but I again managed to recover and win that fight in the end.

I guess off to the Infinite Dungeon for this character. Probably Insane difficulty for my next playthrough(s).

edit: final death on ID 98 due to sloppiness with a unique.

[visage]

The primary reason I did this was because 1-handed staves are so much more rare than 2-handed. I never saw a single 1-h tier-5 randart on my playthrough.

Yeah, I wouldn't want to try for a 1h-staff character on a difficulty under Insane... and trying to find the drops are kind of annoying even there.