ToME: the Tales of Maj'Eyal

I'm trying to learn to play this game without savescumming on classes other than what I know (AM/PM). Right now I'm trying Anorthil. And I just don't seem to see a way past certain scenarios, which seem absolutely unfair.

So, I'm lvl 15 in the Maze, against Horned Horror boss.
My build is similar to http://forums.te4.org/viewtopic.php?f=56&t=48257

The boss can pull you and stranglehold you in one turn. Then you have 2 physical debuffs applied on you. One silences, one pins. Your only active ability at this point is wild infusion. If you have any other debuff on you from the boss at this point, there's a chance that debuff will be removed by the infusion, and then you are left with no active abilities and have to get hit for 4 turns by the boss, which results in death, unless by chance you had a huge damage shield going or he's very unlucky with his hits.

Which concludes to:
- boss has to hit with a pull (seems to be like 50% chance)
- there has to be another physical debuff on you (most of the time it does so let's say 66%)
- infusion does not remove either of strangle debuffs (33% if only one other debuff on you)
- if you had a huge damage shield, boss has to crit 1-2 times during the turns ahead (let's say you can survive in 33% of the chances, so 66% chance of this not happening in your favor)

So 50% x 66% x 33% x 66%, this is about 7% chance of you just dying every time boss has that tentacle off cooldown. So is this considered fair to just randomly have to die? Or am I missing some other option to turn this into a manageable fight? Like, I guess I could have on use items that would save me, like, items that would let me move while immobilised or remove snares, but you can't rely on that. Should I only visit Maze last and by that time invest in heavy armor perk and wear massive to that fight? Or something else I'm missing.

I get it that people quite reliably win normal on roguelike setting on most classes, and this isn't even far into the game, it seems I must be missing something.

Well you can easily have more than one cure inscription by that point.
Providence if used beforehand will also help a bit.
Chant Adept also gives you a cure option.

Alternatively, Stun it with Starfall so it can't use abilities.

Hi, thanks for reading my guide

Horned horror is always a brawler, so you can prepare for him, knowing that.
First, yes you should indeed be using heavy/massive armor. That will make you that much more durable against melee/archer.
Second, don't hesitate to use the movement infusion (that you should have inscribed) right at the start of the fight, so that you can't be pinned.
Third, precasting providence is also very good, especially when you KNOW you'll get silenced. Circles could prevent that but you won't have them yet.
Lastly, the last talent in hymn category will have 20% chance of blinding him every turn, even if you're silenced, so that's something :p i usually have it to 3/5 at level 15, for that sweet neg energy generation.

Good luck for next time! And if you have questions on the guide, don't hesitate.

Ah, so I have to basically pre-use providence or movement from the start until he spends the tentacle, and then keep track of amount of turns passed to know when he will have that available again?

At what level do you invest in massive armor perk and how do you get enough STR to wear it?

It's a good idea to ALWAYS start fight with movement, I don't/wouldn't bother with keeping track of their cd though.
1 point in heavy armor training soon, before level 10. For stats use items, and it's not a problem to spend a few points in STR early, any char should do so if they have problem finding str items. Helps with encumbrance too! Ano has stats points to spare, so it bothers them even less than a lot of non STR class.

Erm what's the point starting the fight always with movement? I mean, unless you are in a bad position immediately, what's the point? Just for two turns of pin immunity? I mean the movement part will be gone immediately since you'll use some ability next, right?

Movement infusions give you five or more turns of stun/pin immunity, which will almost certainly be enough to block the pin. Its also worth mentioning that the Horned Horror is harmless as long as you have a physical Wild Infusion. He'll almost always grapple you first thing and apply the silence and the pin. The key is knowing that the silence effect ends if you move away from him. If you cleanse the silence, then you can cast spell and murder him. If you cleanse the pin, then you can move a step backwards[Removing the silence] and THEN murder him. I lost several mage characters before I learned this, but if you keep this in mind its simple to defeat him.

Okay it seems I didn't notice it actually lasts 5 turns. As for cleansing either effect, that was my point. It's harmless unless he also applies some other effect on you like daze. In that case wild can remove that other effect and you're left both pinned and silenced.

And that's what Providence is for. Pop it at the beginning of the fight, or if you're feeling bold, after you've taken a debuff or two, and it'll prevent you from being locked down.