Post by jellyman on May 15, 2009 21:37:14 GMT -5
First: pick a main attack method. Most of your points should go into boosting this attack method. Generally increases in attack power will be steeper the more points you put in, and splitting your points between multiple attack powers results in a drastic reduction in attack power.
Second consider your defence. Most of the rest of your points should go into some form of defence. Hitpoints is a priority, and is probably all that is needed at lower levels, at medium levels magic defence and/or resistance to disabling effects (confusion blindness etc) is very important, and probably last to become important is to increase your armour class.
Third, plan for elite and boss monsters. These monsters tend to have immunity to either melee or magic, or can return melee or magic. Building both a strong melee and magic attack does not seem to be viable, but there are some ways to get around elites and bosses without needing both strong melee and attack:
magic user: The element 'missile' can damage monsters immune to magic. For magic returners you can use life blast. A normal magic attack can kill you in one shot if returned, hower life blast does a percentage of hit points. With a bit of magic defence you can usually kill a magic return monster faster than you die, and you might be able to heal mid fight as well. If you can cast mutliple effects in a spell, you can mix life blast and heal self effects. At the highest levels you can get damage fields which don't return damage, but I have yet to build a magic user who has found such a book.
melee: A spin attack ability, or similar will avoid damage from melee returning monsters. To damage monsters immune to physical attacks, a branded weapon can help. Although at high levels the damage from brands is very weak, so there might be better ways.
all: if all other options fail. Or if you feel like it, teleport away and leave the level to avoid monsters with such abilities.
When distributing skill points, most formulas for power etc are mutliplicative. Attack damage is proportional to strength mutiplied by weapon skill multiplied by number of attacks. To maximise effectiveness, it is best to distribute points roughly equally between each factor.
Some equipment tips:
An important aspect of character building is levelable items. These can sometimes be found, and can also be created out of any item using a scroll of item leveling. Also consider using a scroll of etnerality on such items so you don't lose them when/if you die.
Levelable items give you free points to build your character up further - these points can increase any stat, any skill, and also give other powers that can be found only on items. The only thing these points can't be spent on is increasing resistances.
Note that race and class penalties apply to skills/stats built using character development, but not to skills/stats built from levelable items. So try and spend most of your character points on skills/stats that have race or class bonuses. And to spend more of your item points on any skills or stats you want that have no bonus or a penalty.
Second consider your defence. Most of the rest of your points should go into some form of defence. Hitpoints is a priority, and is probably all that is needed at lower levels, at medium levels magic defence and/or resistance to disabling effects (confusion blindness etc) is very important, and probably last to become important is to increase your armour class.
Third, plan for elite and boss monsters. These monsters tend to have immunity to either melee or magic, or can return melee or magic. Building both a strong melee and magic attack does not seem to be viable, but there are some ways to get around elites and bosses without needing both strong melee and attack:
magic user: The element 'missile' can damage monsters immune to magic. For magic returners you can use life blast. A normal magic attack can kill you in one shot if returned, hower life blast does a percentage of hit points. With a bit of magic defence you can usually kill a magic return monster faster than you die, and you might be able to heal mid fight as well. If you can cast mutliple effects in a spell, you can mix life blast and heal self effects. At the highest levels you can get damage fields which don't return damage, but I have yet to build a magic user who has found such a book.
melee: A spin attack ability, or similar will avoid damage from melee returning monsters. To damage monsters immune to physical attacks, a branded weapon can help. Although at high levels the damage from brands is very weak, so there might be better ways.
all: if all other options fail. Or if you feel like it, teleport away and leave the level to avoid monsters with such abilities.
When distributing skill points, most formulas for power etc are mutliplicative. Attack damage is proportional to strength mutiplied by weapon skill multiplied by number of attacks. To maximise effectiveness, it is best to distribute points roughly equally between each factor.
Some equipment tips:
An important aspect of character building is levelable items. These can sometimes be found, and can also be created out of any item using a scroll of item leveling. Also consider using a scroll of etnerality on such items so you don't lose them when/if you die.
Levelable items give you free points to build your character up further - these points can increase any stat, any skill, and also give other powers that can be found only on items. The only thing these points can't be spent on is increasing resistances.
Note that race and class penalties apply to skills/stats built using character development, but not to skills/stats built from levelable items. So try and spend most of your character points on skills/stats that have race or class bonuses. And to spend more of your item points on any skills or stats you want that have no bonus or a penalty.
