When it comes to Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup, I'm not a tough critic. The reason is, all the changes that have been made to DCSS have been positive. I'd have to outright lie to find fault. Since I'm not a FOX news reporter, I can't do that.
The latest big change currently in the unstable beta version of Crawl involves races. Grey elves are sailing off to the Blessed Realm. If you don't catch the Tolkien reference, that means they are getting the executioner's axe. Ka-chunk! *rude orc laughter*
Although I have toyed with grey elves before, I'm neutral, opinion-wise. What are grey elves, and why are they grey instead of white or black? To recognize what grey elves are, one has to dive deep into the Silmarillion, as they do not make many appearances elsewhere in fantasy to my knowledge. My favorite elf race has to be sludge, because of their high Fighting and Dodging ability. And where exactly do sludge elves appear in fiction? Hmm. I suspect sludge elves were an invention of the programmers, but I'm not sure.
The other change concerns what amounts to the reclassification of the gnome race. Yes, gnomes are no more, but never fear, my gnome friends. Unlike grey elves, gnomes have been reincarnated in another race, albeit with significant alterations. A new family of dwarves has been introduced, the deep dwarf, which as you might expect is better at magic, much as deep elves are best among the elves at magic. Like the old gnome race, deep dwarves can sense their surroundings and have an affinity for Earth magic. They are also pretty good at dodging, exceptional at stealth, and enjoy the old dwarven knack for evocations. That's right, mountain dwarves have ceded their superior aptitude for evocations to their kin, the deep dwarves. I always had a hunch that mountain dwarves were overpowered. Now their power has been reduced.
If you play gnomes, you may like this change, because it means you can benefit from racial items you find throughout the dungeon. I always thought gnomes had a rough life because there aren't any gnome blades or gnome armour. There are plenty of dwarven armaments, however.
But hold on, don't celebrate yet! A wrinkle has been added that may furrow the brow of a grumpy gnome. Deep dwarves don't heal. Not even a little bit. They cannot recover from either wounds or the loss of strength, intelligence, or dexterity. Yes, I'm quite serious. If a kobold slaps you on level one, you will carry that wound to level twenty-seven unless you quaff a potion of healing in the interim or zap a wand of healing. Those potions of restore abilities and healing appreciate in value if you play a deep dwarf.
To balance this huge disadvantage, deep dwarves enjoy several new abilities. They can instantly recover from small wounds. They can recharge wands or rods at the cost of 1 permanent MP, which may not be much of a cost when playing a warrior. Also, they enter the dungeon with several potions of healing. They can also sense their surroundings. Is this sufficient to balance the lack of natural healing? I will leave that up to the former gnomes to decide.
Personally, I find deep dwarves to be a challenge race for advanced players. All of my characters have moments when they require rest to recover hit points. With a deep dwarf, recovery is impossible. Before you ask, no, even rings of regeneration won't work. That's quite a handicap, and a deep dwarf had better pray to Xom that he finds a wand of healing and about a dozen scrolls of recharging, pronto. Perhaps the best profession for a deep dwarf might be a Healer worshiping Elyvilon.
If you can escape with the Orb of Zot with a deep dwarf, in my opinion that's one for the history books. But on the other hand, mummies are no walk in the park, either. And don't even get me started on Draconians. Brother! For my part, I think I'll remain with my cheerful demon whip-wielding Demonspawn necromancer.
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