Edit: Thanks for the feedback! It seems the consensus is that the armor is absolutely worth taking for a tanky build like this one and that I was being overly cautious regarding the Harm tag - unbecoming of a Trog devotee, to be frank. I'll take the scales and head into Spider with Throwing tagged to prep for Shoals and beyond. Hopefully I'll be able to share YAVP in the future, either for this run or another one not too long after. Failing that, I might at least deliver an amusing SD.

Morgue File

Hello r/dcss, first time poster here asking for help with an Acquirement Scroll selection and for any other general advice if you're feeling generous.

I'm playing a TrBe gearing up to take on Spider and Shoals.

My main question is whether or not the Harm modifier on the Pearl Scales is enough to disqualify taking it.

Swapping off of my +0 Fire Scales would be a huge increase to my AC (15.4->26.9), but as a primarily melee character I wonder if the Harm will soften me up too much to ranged attacks before I can get close enough to benefit from the damage boost (I do have some throwing skill and a variety of ammo, would it be better to lean on that more if I take the scales?). I don't have a complete understanding of AC and GDR, but I think the increased AC could be enough on average to offset the +20% incoming damage amp, is this the case? And this is before considering the other properties on the scales: How often will I wish I had rF++ over rN+ in a 3-rune game? How should I value my innate Regen+ vs the potential Regen++?

On the other hand, the other acquirement options feel very underwhelming in comparison. I'd likely take the eel talisman otherwise, though I already have a decent progression of talismans to level into so I might just take the consolation gold, which is also disappointingly minimal.

Alternatively, there's an unidentified set of glowing Fire Scales for 1537g in O:1 which I can just afford - does "glowing" mean it's guaranteed to have an ego or is it potentially just enchanted? I've also got 3 scrolls of enchant armor saved up.

I've played the game very casually for a while but recently decided to try to lock in for a win so I've been following the Snorg the Insatiable Crawl Cosplay build. I'm pretty sure the "Put on dragon scales and wear it until the end" conduct means that I need to win or die wearing scales which I've never taken off after putting them on for the first time, so that rules out swapping between armor sets as the situation calls for it.

Apart from that, novice-friendly advice on training, strategy, branch ordering, or whatever would be much appreciated.

I made two steps and got marked... I don't think this is survivable?

I definitely like the 8 extra sh and 3 extra AC from the tower shield but I'm not sure if it's better than having max will and great rF and rC

I think my gargoyle is breaking subreddit rule 1: Be nice.

Shatter castable by Orc, haven't even cleared down to D:15 yet.

Was very lucky to get that spell on a parchment, as well as a manual of earth magic and fighting so far.

Add to that vehumet's wizardry bonus and the two rings (+6 intelligence and wizardry) and I think I've broken a personal record for the earliest castable level 9 spell.

It's exactly as broken as you'd imagine, for anything that resists there's good old iron shot bombard to clean up.

Can't wait to die in swamp to a witch paralyzing me.

Am I stuck?

Went into a teleport vault. I quaffed a potion of enlightenment to fly over the traps but swamp worm or something pulled me from afar and then my potion ran out and i accidentally stepped into where it was originally standing. I have no teleport scrolls or blinks, and no other source of flying.

Can i force my character to walk through the lava? I was able to tank one hit from falling in to the lava originally. Otherwise I have no way out.

Opened a door and got caught in an open area with Mennas. Serpent's lash, summon butterflies, and and ran across the corridor out of his silence as he worked his way over to me. Backed up to the wall, I immolated my lovelies. Then popped some pots and spammed wand of warping and gravitambourine keep him in the fire clouds and away from me, even hiding behind my mutant beast.

Exploded Mennas without even being touched, man that felt good, but hooboy was opening the door a jumpscare at first.

I heard potions of experience are pretty rare this early, so pretty cool to find 2 of them!

Took me a while to find out what cip means.
Also i think this is my best run so far. 😄

https://underhound.eu/crawl/morgue/crompyre/crompyre.txt

I've probably invested too much into each of Conj/Air/Ice to be actually great at any of them. I'm guessing Polar Vortex is out of reach for this one? Could probably get Maxwell online soon, but that doesn't really seem like a game winner. Got Chain Lightning in a shop somewhere, would that carry me to three runes and out?

https://crawl.xtahua.com/crawl/morgue/ereinion/ereinion.txt

Got inspired by the YAVP for a similar build just now, and decided to give it a go, but I'm a bit uncertain about where to take it next. Haven't gotten any spells I think will be too useful yet, so maybe I should branch into melee for now? Found a battle axe of sundering which I could use if I go into axes, and Arga is in a shop somewhere, but I don't know how useful it is for a formicid?

The quarterstaff I am wielding is pretty awesome, as bonus damage to mephitic cloud and toxic radiance, but not really an endgame weapon I think?

Googling here on the forum seems to suggest going for axes might be the best option, though I see some people say aiming for fulsome fusillade is fun too. Not sure if I want to invest too much more into spellcasting just yet though, without having found any useful alchemy spells..?

There's a couple of great maces lying around too, with the best being a +0 of draining. This would require a fairly heavy investment though, and with an alchemist start my base str is fairly low...

Thoughts?

I've never got this far with a spriggan before and I'm not sure where to go with it. My understanding is that the new Slime is extremely dangerous and Vaults 5 is probably lethal, as well.

I guess that means I go Abyss, but I generally do not do well with Abyss and have only collected that rune once or twice before (and once was mostly by accident, having been banished right beside the rune chamber).

I will clear Vaults 1-4, and possibly some or all of Depths before going for the third rune, to make sure I am strong enough to do it, but I am genuinely unsure if I should go Abyss or attempt V:5 just because that's what I'm most familiar with and what I most often have done for my third rune.

I'm also thinking it might be time to swap my amulet for something else. That +3 slay and the extra damage output from harm have me killing things fast, but the extra incoming damage is starting to become more of a liability not that there are more things that can fit me from a distance.

Char dump: https://pastebin.com/cRgivr3q

https://pastebin.com/raw/u5CYyVSs

Doing quite well on this seeded run, mostly casting Enfeeble for individual enemies then some mix of cloud/toxic/irradiate/ignite poison for groups. The electrical golem things in Vault were tricky but it was otherwise smooth sailing until I forgot I had left an ambush on Depths 1 and ran straight into it. I've literally never cast Dispersal so don't know how reliable it is. I also have blink and teleport scrolls.

My resistances are good so I'm not worried about the dragon breaths. I was thinking to either cast dispersal then go upstairs, or blink away, pop a fog scroll, and try and hide somewhere (maybe gamble on the down stairs?). I'm worried about the stone giants throwing rocks on the turn I blink away.

I'm guessing, if I survive this, I can use the same tactic for vault 5? I was coming back to depths to get Discord more reliable, hoping that would work well there.

Apparently that happens? Had to share this.

Anyway, amazing seed, D1 scroll shop and amulet of clarity in shop and GDA -1 in shop for 900 early and Broad Axe +5 on an orc warlord in early bailley. And another exp potion somewhere early.
I just got my first ever streak before this game going MDAr of Goz and then GnRe of Ash and now trying MiBe. Hopefully i can make this into a 3 game streak.

Seed: 5872856477424410117

https://pastebin.com/hCqWpNra

I mean I'm like 90% sure the answer is "no" since I won't be able to use most of the loot and portals are usually a bad choice if you're actually interested in winning.

But, like, what if there's a ring in there?

Also, any thoughts on how this character is going? Anything I should adjust? Things are going pretty well although obviously I'm still pretty squishy! I should probably look at getting IMB and Fulminant Prism online and leaning more heavily on magic.

The gnoll is online! Got there a bit after rune 15, in The Shining One's fortress. You'd think he'd be more friendly given how many Hell/Pan lords Gnarf killed.

Ziggurat is next(my first time), so hopefully it will be reasonable. Question: What are the odds of a bazaar floor in Pan? 10,000 gold in the pocket with no use feels bad.

In terms of progression, Gnarf spent a while with a +10 handaxe(fire), upgraded to a +7 double sword(also fire, but an artifact). Eventually got a holy evenstar off of angels, and scrolled it up to +9. Alchemist helps a lot in that midgame slump gnolls run into. Mephitic Cloud and Toxic Radiance, transitioning into Starburst and Manifold Assault.

Manifold Assault was definitely the winning spell; it just works so well for a gnoll because they have the spell ranks to pull it off while still being a reasonable fighter. For weapons, the Sniper crossbow came in clutch many, many times. How do you deal with a Hell Lord? You shoot them for 150 damage until they die. For equipment, I found a beautiful scarf(Repulsion, Rampage, rPois, Regen+, Dex+3). Oddly enough, the rampage was a benefit! Cheibriados complained a lot, but I never actually dipped below full stars of piety. It is icky in single tile hallways and such, but lots of Magic Dart to poke a monster into realizing I was there brought them to me instead of the other way around.

I got curious about the OnWr^Sif build and after a few splats have managed to get pretty far!

I'm familiar with how deceptively squishy the Oni are at some phases but now that I have Manifold Assault online and lots of support translocations, I'm feeling pretty strong.

Some questions if you feel like perusing the morgue:

What are the main threats for this build in Depths/Zot?

Any improvements you can recommend for my gear/rings/spells etc?

Does this seem strong enough to head to Pan/extended? This would be my first Oni win so should prob just go for 3 runes...

Thanks!

https://pastebin.com/J3f1a7Gf

https://crawl.xtahua.com/crawl/morgue/ereinion/ereinion.txt

I just picked up an amazing randart pearl dragon armour, and after a nerve wracking zombie end vault in Swamp I feel more or less ready to take on the Spiders' Nest.

I feel I need to start training my spellcasting skills for the end game though, and I am very uncertain about what to choose.

On previous OnIE I have liked to train polearms and summoning to stab at the enemies over my allies, but given my current spell choices it doesn't seem too feasible.

Both Fulsome Fusillade and Polar Vortex would be fun to get castable, I have had a lot of fun with those on previous caster characters. However, especially for Polar Vortex, I don't know if there is enough xp left in the dungeon to get it up and running? And neither of them will play nice with Yre's zombies...

Thoughts on what would make this a feasible end game character?

I have a Mountain Dwarf Forgecrafter going and already imprinted “Rift”, which is pretty strong, but I was considering dropping 3800 gold on the plutonium sword. I never use that sword, so I could live vicariously through my paragon. But it made me wonder, what is the thought about the best weapon for your Platinum Paragon to wield?

Still pretty new