Rat Monarch

[MTaur]

Burn doesn't use corrosion. It's strictly a regen-fighting tool. Knockback is really strong here. It's sort of a pity, because regen-fighting with Whurrgarbl on this class has a nice rhythm to it. It's sort of strong, but the opportunity cost probably exceeds its overall strength. I don't really like the idea of non-half-dragons being totally dependent on Knockback, but it's sort of bordering on that here. And the only Mystera fanatic in the room has the burny sword banned......

[Lujo]

Whurgarble's pretty good on hybrids. And tanks, actually. A hardcore spellcaster isn't really lookin (or often able) to melee. Monks, Dwarves, various Goblins, Paladins, Berserkers (oddly enough), random PQI Elves. If you know you'll end up with 2 big bars, it's good, or if you know you're looking at a Drac endgame (with a dwarven health pool ofc) it's also good. It's also VERY GOOD with Martyr Wraps. This is about the thing in general...

[Astral]

It's great for Gorgons too.
Not to mention it's good for dedicated GG worshipers. For a prep it's a superior Stone Sigil, on top of earning piety it actually helps in fights.

[Tinker]

Tinker's Guide to winning any map*, anytime, with the Rat Monarch:

1. Preparations


2. Orientation


3. Exploration, corrosion poking and leveling


4. Special mentions to Exploration


5. Bossfight(s)


*EDIT: VGT is now included in the service, please refer to the specific post: http://www.qcfdesign.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3271&start=174

[MTaur]

What do we think about Gloves of Midas? I think it's a "think about" item, even at level 1. Inventory space is really hard to come by, but a little help getting early bonus XP from the refill, which eventually pays for itself before turning into CP, can be a very good thing. I probably wouldn't prep the item, though.

[Tinker]

[Darvin]

Gloves of Midas are pretty much an auto-buy for any class if you have the inventory space for it, but simply are not worth the preparation slot. It's definitely very synergistic with the Rat, but not so much as to change my opinions on its value as a preparation.

For preps, I'd actually have to give a shout-out to Yendor. Immediately promoting to level 5 is really nice for the Rat, since he gets a lot of value out of leveraging blackspace and you can start to work corroding high-value targets earlier.

[William]

[Tinker]

Quick poll... Do you guys fancy details/write-up?

I could probably fill volumes thanks to the several builds, many runs, and different approaches I went through, but I'm a bit afraid that providing a "recipe" would just curb other players' enthusiasm to discover a solution on their own (which might actually be different from mine, I felt for some of my previous builds that they could work, and I'm certain I didn't even think of all the possibilities...).

What do you think?

[sitnaltax]

My vote is yes! I like reading reports, and playing DD is fun enough in its own right that I don't have a strong need for the thrill of being a trailblazer.