Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Races and Classes in Stone Soup Dungeon Crawl

New players to Dungeon Crawl are faced with an immediate decision as to which race and class they will play. All variations have their own special advantages, and some players develop a strong preference for a particular race/class combination. My position is that they are always right. Whatever works for them is best. The race/class they prefer is what best matches their particular style of play.

However, if you are curious and want to learn the specific aptitudes of each race, grounded in mathematics, then you should view the Tables of Attributes, which can be found by pressing ? for help, followed by %.

The Table of Attributes enlightened me about the deficiencies of the Mummy race. Early on, I preferred playing Mummies, because they alone among all the races need not eat. Also, they enjoy resistance to negative energy, mutation, cold, and poison. Only when one studies the Table of Attributes do their severe disadvantages become clear. Mummies learn all skills poorly, save for Fighting and Necromancy. In fact, in order to get anywhere with a Mummy, one has to remain at the lower levels for an extraordinary length of time, skulking about looking for magic items and easy monsters to slay in order to gradually build up power. Woe betide a Mummy that has not obtained an artificial means of resisting Fire! However, theoretically it seems possible to build an invulnerable character with a Mummy, if you are willing to invest enough time, because Mummies are immune to negative energy and mutation, and resistant to poison and cold. In addition, their immunity to hunger means they can cast spells with impunity, where other classes grow hungry from spell-casting. They need not carry abundant supplies of food in their inventory, but can devote all their inventory to weapons and magic. The best class for a Mummy is probably a Death Knight that dabbles in Necromancy but has strong fighting skills. Unfortunately, many of the powerful low-level spells of Necromancy, such as Regen and Vampiric Draining, cannot be used by Mummies. They are quite limited as spellcasters, but with patience throughout a long game, can master many low level spells.

An excellent choice for any player would be a Demonspawn Beserker, which may be the easiest combination to play. They are extremely powerful and in their beserk state, can blast through all but the most mighty monsters such as named Demons and Devils. The main drawback for the Beserker is being restricted from casting spells, but Demonspawns sometimes develop mutations that allow them to cast ranged attacks using poison, fire or negative energy. Also, the Beserker can rely upon Trog's munificence to employ certain useful magical powers. What I like about Demonspawn is how they develop random, but permanent, beneficial mutations, which are different in every game but always helpful. Especially for a Beserker, these are useful, because the Beserker cannot use magic and the mutations often grant magic-like abilities. The main drawback to the Demonspawn race is the increased need for food--they are a hungry lot, I have found. Also, Demonspawn are not particularly apt at any particular skill except Fighting and Necromancy, although much quicker at learning than Mummies. Demonspawn are excellent at Invocations, surpassing all other classes. It should be noted, however, that Beserkers do not exercise Invocations when they call upon Trog's abilities. Trog's gifts are given free of charge. Only the abilities of other gods, such as Sif Muna, tax the Invocation ability. This is a fine point I was unaware of for a long time, until I noticed that my Invocation skill never progressed.

Many players swear by the Mountain Dwarf race, and I would be remiss not to mention it, although I never play dwarves, possibly out of a prejudice developed from watching "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy of movies, in which dwarves were depicted in a comical and unattractive light. A glance at the Table of Attributes is enough to confirm that dwarves are excellent fighters, although rather less gifted spellcasters, with the possible exception of Fire Magic. Any dwarven Fire Elementalist would be hampered by the low aptitude at spellcasting and mediocre aptitude at Conjurations. For this reason, I strongly suggest that dwarves that wish to learn Fire Magic, instead begin their career as a Conjurer, because that will grant them several levels of Conjuration skill from the start. Most Fire spells rely in part upon the Conjuration skill.

However, dwarves excel at Evocations, more so than any other race save Gnomes, their equal. Therefore, a dwarf character need only stock up on wands and other devices in order to cast spells indirectly using a device. Another key advantage for dwarves is the abundance of racial items throughout the dungeon. Dwarves, like orcs and elves, gain a bonus for using items crafted by their own race.

My newest infatuation would be for the race of elves, in particular sludge elves, which are good spellcasters, yet better than any other elf species at the Fighting ability, which helps to increase hit points. Sludge elves excel at unarmed combat, which is advisable until your character discovers a particularly good weapon. If staves were good at all, then sludge elves would be the best race to use them with. But I don't like staves, because they don't seem to work well with shields. The best enchanted shields convey resistance to both heat and cold, and help to avoid attacks and minimize the damage inflicted by a successful attack, including dragon breath and electrical discharge. In order for a staff to be a competitive weapon, it must inflict high damage, and to date the best candidate would be the lajatang, which is worth considering. But lajatangs are seldom encountered in the lower levels of the dungeon, when skills are being acquired, and I would be loath to switch weapon classes in mid-career. For that reason, my sludge elves usually practice with an elven short or long blade, and switch to a quick blade whenever one is found. It should be noted that proficiency with long blades lends itself to short blades as well.

Among short blades, which is better for an elf: a quick blade or an elven short sword of speed? After long consideration, I think I will go with the elven short sword of speed, because it should be both faster than the quick blade, and enjoy a racial bonus (if the character is an elf). The biggest drawback is that a short sword of speed, being already enchanted, cannot be vorpalized. Vorpalization is effected by a Scroll of Vorpalize Weapon, which causes an unenchanted weapon to yield additional damage on a permanent basis.

What is the advantage of a small but fast melee weapon? Every time that your character attacks, there is an opportunity for an additional, unarmed combat attack to occur. This is random, but by having more attacks per turn you increase the chances of your unarmed combat coming into play. Also, if you're fast, you can attack, then retreat, and the monster may not have an opportunity to do more than simply follow. Also, with each attack there is a chance you may kill the monster, and a fast rate of attack reduces the possibility that the monster might get off one last killing stroke before it dies. Although some players scoff at the low damage rating of short blades, a heavily enchanted short blade can inflict a great deal of damage, not so much less than larger weapons.

A career in Ice Magic should be considered by every sludge elf. No other race is better at Ice Magic save the white draconian. I begin my sludge elf as a Conjurer, so that he has several levels in that department, because Conjurations are important for many spells in Ice Magic. The best spells are Bolt of Ice and Ice Bolt, whose titles are similar and therefore confusing. To the best of my knowledge, Ice Bolt is a lower level spell that can only strike one monster, whereas Bolt of Ice can strike multiple monsters in a row, and seems more powerful. The main drawback to Ice Magic is that the undead, particularly mummies, have a low level of resistance to it. However, there are not many living creatures in the dungeon that can resist cold, and the many fire-breathing dragons, demons and efreeti suffer particularly from it. However, the defensive spells, such as Condensation Shield and Icozubu's Armour, cannot be used if the character is already heavily armored and wearing a shield. I tend to learn ice magic to a certain level and then begin to practice other schools of magic, such as transmutation, at which sludge elves excel, and earth magic. Note that the Ice and Earth schools of magic have an affinity for one another. Learning one assists in learning the other. This is also true of Fire and Air. Poison and Necromancy stand alone without relation to other schools.

Another class I find worthy of mention is the minotaur, which should be considered by anyone who despises spellcasting. Minotaurs make excellent Beserkers. They are very strong and robust and learn all forms of combat quickly. Unarmed combat is not a bad strategy for the minotaur due to its large set of horns. Go unarmed until you find the perfect weapon. What is the perfect weapon? You will know it when you find it. Maybe it will convey protection, or resistance to harm, or maybe it will freeze or drain your opponents. Minotaurs should always wear a shield and heavy armor, because they excel at those skills, as well as dodging. The minotaur may indeed be the easiest race to play.

Other races I regard as experimental. Although they may be quite powerful in their own way, I have not found cause to try them at length other than once or twice. The human race I regard as boring. I prefer a race that has specialties. Deep elves are certainly worth considering if spellcasting is to be the cornerstone of your strategy, but they are weak, though not as weak as Spriggans. Spriggans, however, are fast and dexterous and learn dodging at a rapid rate. I think that most players will find that warriors and hybrid classes of warrior/spellcasters will be the easiest choices, and for these, elves, dwarves, minotaurs, and demonspawn represent some of the best races.

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