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Bizarro adams at 10:14, 28 February 2012

2012-02-28T10:14:37Z

Darvin: /* God Selection */

2012-02-09T19:06:40Z

‎God Selection

Darvin: /* God Selection */

2012-02-05T09:01:29Z

‎God Selection

The Avatar: Created page with '===Race Selection=== There are two ways to go about race selection: Picking a strategy in advance, or keeping open to whatever the dungeon presents. You should probably pick you…'

2011-12-07T23:07:29Z

Created page with '===Race Selection=== There are two ways to go about race selection: Picking a strategy in advance, or keeping open to whatever the dungeon presents. You should probably pick you…'

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===Race Selection===
There are two ways to go about race selection: Picking a strategy in advance, or keeping open to whatever the dungeon presents. You should probably pick your race considering the boss, but Halflings and Gnomes are almost always helpful.

===Game Phases===
One strategy that can be effective is to play the game as if there were 3 distinct phases to it: Scouting, Preparation, and Boss Battling
*Scouting: Levels 1 to 3. It's rarely possible to kill monsters of significantly higher level at this stage, but it can be useful to do some quick scouting around the dungeon and find what Gods and Runes are available, as well as what Boss spawned (If in a random boss dungeon). You can significantly speed this up if you Scout: Altar.
*Preparation: Levels 3 to 7. It's possible to kill monsters of significantly higher level during this phase, to generate more exp by using the level-up steamroll and the experience catapult. The goal is to generate enough bonus experience to be able to reach levels 9 or 10.
*Boss Battling: Levels 7 to 10. At this point, dungeon exploration likely stops (unless you're using a poison glyph against a boss or can out regen them), and the battle begins. It can be useful at this point to be almost at the next level, allowing the player to use the level-up steamroll to instantly heal to full health and mana, possibly even multiple times during the fight.

===God Selection===
God selection is essential to victory. Nothing is worse than picking a god only to discover that the selection is going to prevent you from winning. On the other hand, getting a god early usually means more piety and access to better boons. Whether or not you should grab a god as soon as you see them is a factor of your race, class, level, items, glyphs and the state of the dungeon. Here are some general rules for each:

*[[Full:Binlor Ironshield|Binlor Ironshield]]: Stone Heart and stone fist are really the two reasons you'd take him. He grants a free ENDISWALL glyph on worship, so convert one if you have one. Worship him if you need to deal with resistance, or want some knockback, as that's all you'll really want.

*[[Full:Dracul|Dracul]]: Dracul is a good selection for most classes, as you can gain a full heal or 2 if you worship him just after using your hp potions. Unfortunately, he HATES all holy magic (HALPMEH and CYDSTEPP) so if you rely on these he is not a good choice. The other reason he's useful is for if blood shield boon, which stacks extremely well with the dragon shield.

*[[Full:The Earthmother|The Earthmother]]: A useful deity. The exp bonus from IMAWALL is great, and you gain piety from it! Unfortunately, most of her boons, except vine form, stink. Much better at lower levels, Vine form loses relevance later on for tough dungeons. Really only take her if you don't have a good deity choice and want some bonus exp from the IMAWALL glyph.

*[[Full:Glowing Guardian|Glowing Guardian]]: Excellent deity for every class except Bloodmage and Assassin. Always worship early on to grab humility and wait for the exp to some rolling in. Especially good for CYDSTEPPers, because CYDSTEPP is not effected by level. Great overall, because everybody need exp, and the protection boon is GREAT for the boss fight. Unfortunately he hates potions, so if you are a halfing or gnome, it is a bit of a wast of potions.

*[[Full:Jehora Jeheyu|Jehora Jeheyu]]: A very strange god. Good for chaos avatar, but that's about it. Anyone should join as a consolation prize, but gnomes and halflings may enjoy Jehora a lot more, because of his potion boons. You will randomly be weakened and corroded, so beware!

*[[Full:Mystera Annur|Mystera Annur]]: Rather awful, but she's the only good mp giver, besides Jehora. Her boons all have a double-edge which can be very dangerous. Never worship her as a melee or hybrid character, because the physical resistance on the monsters will crush you. Only use her as a spell caster if you have the piercing wand, or you won't get as much out of her, because of the need to use weakening on monsters.

*[[Full:The Pactmaker|The Pactmaker]]: Not a real deity. The Pactmaker offers 5 pacts which decrease your piety, but give you god effects when certain things happen. If you cannot pay the piety because you have no other god, nothing happens. If you have a god, but cant pay the piety, you do not invoke the gods punishment.

*[[Full:Taurog|Taurog]]: Okay deity, but mana bonus can be crippling. Great for berserkers, as they don't particularly need spells, and are awful with them, but also great with monks because it can help deal with their AWFUL damage. Awful for spell casters except sorcerer, as it can cope with the mp penalty, and is a hybrid class.

*[[Full:Tikki Tooki|Tikki Tooki]]: Good choice as a later game deity, as he enjoys you slaying lower level monsters, but a big no for tanks. His best boon by far is poison, but dodging and his mixtures can be useful, at times. One strategy you might want to try late game as a CYDSTEPPer or tank, is joining, killing weak monsters, grabbing poison and converting off, without fighting anything your level or higher. Tribute is also an important part of this process if you can't kill enough low levels.

===Preparation===
The preparation phase for the boss battles is highly significant, as it requires maximizing exp gain, minimizing resource usage, and choosing an appropriate strategy. It's worthwhile to note that while dungeon exploration is itself technically a limited resource, it is often desirable or even necessary to exhaust all dungeon exploration during this phase to maximize exp gain, unless intending to use a [[Full:Glyphs|APHEELSIK glyph]] or regen tactics to defeat the boss(es). In dungeons where there are two bosses, it can be helpful to try to leave a corridor, corner, or area unexplored to allow for regeneration between boss battles.

When reaching level 6 to 7, it's often beneficial to have explored most if not all of the dungeon, and begin creating an "exp farm." By weakening several lower level monsters to within a single hit from death, they can be finished later to gain exp for further level steamrolling. Note, it is less useful or even dangerous to leave creatures with the First Strike ability weakened as a part of an exp farm, as they will deal still deal damage to you when you come back to finish them off.

===Combat Techniques===

These values are with no damage powerups, and often times the disparities can be bridged with glyphs / race / class / deity bonuses, or by fighting monsters with less than the standard 100% health for their level (Gorgons, imps, wraiths, ...). The three most basic combos are the '''two-one''', the '''two-two''' and the '''four-one'''. Some race/class/deity setups are capable of doing far more advanced combos, but these are the basic underlying methods available to all.

As a note, monsters with lower starting health can often be killed at even lower levels than the charts suggest. The example of a level 8 gorgon falling to a level 4-5 '''four-one''' attack comes to mind.

'''The "two-one" attack:''' Two fireballs, followed up by a melee blow. Damage dealt is calculated by (4 x 2 x player level) for the fireball damage, and (5 x player level) for melee damage. This technique is most effective early-game.

{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" style="border-collapse: collapse;"
|- style="background-color: #EEEEEE"
!Player Level
!Damage Dealt
!Monster Level
!Monster Health (100%)
|-
| 1 || 13 || 2 || 15
|-
| 2 || 26 || 3 || 26
|-
| 3 || 39 || 4 || 39
|-
| 4 || 52 || 5 || 54
|-
| 5 || 65 || 6 || 71
|-
| 6 || 78 || 7 || 90
|-
| 7 || 91 || 8 || 111
|-
| 8 || 104 || 9 || 134
|}

As the chart shows, at most early levels it's possible to kill monsters of one higher level with a simple '''two-one''' attack. An early item such as a [[Items|Fine Sword]] can make this tactic effective well into level 5.

'''The "two-two" attack:''' This technique is similar to the '''one-two''' attack, but requires First Strike, [[Full:Glyphs|CYDSTEPP]], healing, or enough health to survive two attacks from the monster. When successful, however, it allows for easily killing monsters two levels higher. This technique is most effective mid-game, although coupled with a level-up, it can be chained into a '''four-two''' or even a '''four-four''' attack for slaying extremely high level monsters.

{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" style="border-collapse: collapse;"
|- style="background-color: #EEEEEE"
!Player Level
!Damage Dealt
!Monster Level
!Monster Health (100%)
|-
| 1 || 18 || 3 || 26
|-
| 2 || 36 || 4 || 39
|-
| 3 || 59 || 5 || 54
|-
| 4 || 72 || 6 || 71
|-
| 5 || 90 || 7 || 90
|-
| 6 || 108 || 8 || 111
|-
| 7 || 126 || 9 || 134
|}

'''The "four-one" attack:''' By leveling up mid-combat, the player can use 4 fireballs in a single battle against a monster (even 6 or 8, through gear / deity / race / class / etc.). This technique is highly effective, but often harder to use.

{| border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" style="border-collapse: collapse;"
|- style="background-color: #EEEEEE"
!Player Level (start/end)
!Damage Dealt
!Monster Level
!Monster Health (100%)
|-
| 1-2 || 34 || 4 || 39
|-
| 2-3 || 55 || 5 || 54
|-
| 3-4 || 76 || 6 || 71
|-
| 4-5 || 97 || 7 || 90
|-
| 5-6 || 118 || 8 || 111
|-
| 6-7 || 139 || 9 || 134
|}

===Boss Battling===
The ideal position to be in when starting a boss battle is at Level 7 with 34 / 35 experience, with proper runes, and all health / mana potions remaining, and an exp farm containing 96 experience worth of monsters (enough for level 10) although this is very hard to do,. The first phase of the boss battle involves the player, using all available health and mana points (but not potions) against the boss before killing weakened monsters to gain a level. This phase ends when the player no longer has enough weakened non-boss creatures to gain another level, or has reached level 10.

Phase two of the boss battle involves the player using other available resources (health & mana potions, etc.) to defeat the boss.

In dungeons with two bosses, it can often be effective to kill the "hard hitting" boss with magic attacks during phase one, as they usually have lower max health. This allows the player to save as many health and mana potions as possible for the "tank" boss, who generally doesn't retaliate as powerfully.

===First Strike Finisher===
First strike will often allow you to kill a monster you couldn't otherwise beat. Cast it just before the final blow, and the monster gets no retaliation hit.
* Keep in mind that you still take a retaliation hit if the monster has first strike as well.

===Fireball Softener===
Hitting a monster with fireball before combat will often reduce the number of hits it takes to kill it. Can be used with first strike to take on otherwise dangerous foes without taking any damage.

===Level-up Steamroll===
With very few experience needed to gain the next level, you can fight a tough monster, and then when you can't fight any more, kill a low-level monster in order to level up. This will restore your health and mana without healing the tough monster. You can then go back to killing the tougher monster with full strength.
It is possible to level up more than once during a single fight. This usually requires the player utilizing the "Experience Catapult" strategy first (see below) so that he has a lot of low-level monsters to kill. Nonetheless, keeping track of how many experience you can get from the available monsters is always a wise thing to do.

===Battle of Attrition===
If you have enough attack to do more damage in one hit than your enemy is able to regenerate in the time it takes you to regenerate the damage that he does with a single hit, you can heal between attacks and still be able to have a net effect of his health decreasing.
* Even if you heal slower than the enemy does, sometimes exploring one or a few blocks mid-battle can regenerate your HP/MP for additional hit/spell so that you can deal enough damage to kill the enemy.

===Slow Poison===
Attacking an enemy and then poisoning it and exploring (or using the LEMMISI glyph) allows you to take on enemies that would otherwise outlast you in a fight. If attacking with magic you can use this technique to beat a foe that would otherwise kill you with one hit.
* This technique relies on either of two abilities. You can last as long as you can survive a single hit, so if your HP or resistance are as high as possible, you will be able to outlast harder hits.
====Death of a Dozen Flames====
# Cast BURNDAYRAZ.
# Cast APHEELSIK.
# Explore until you have enough mana to cast both again.
# Repeat as needed.

====Persistent Martyr====
# Cast CYDSTEPP.
# Explore until you have enough mana to cast APHEELSIK.
# Attack monster until CYDSTEPP protects you from a fatal blow.
# Cast APHEELSIK.
# Explore until you have enough mana to cast CYDSTEPP.
# Repeat as needed.

===Double Deadly Blow===
Used mainly on high level monsters that are barely killable. First Strike encouraged.
# Cast CYDSTEPP.
# Explore until you have enough mana to cast another CYDSTEPP.
# Attack monster until CYDSTEPP protects you from a fatal blow.
# Cast the second CYDSTEPP and attack again.
# Finish with First Strike.

===Experience Catapult===
Depending upon the hero's class and which glyphs and items are available, there are different ways that a low-level character might be able to take out a quite high level character. When such an opportunity arises, it is beneficial to follow through when your hero is at the lowest possible level. The experience formula greatly rewards going after creatures above your level.
* For example, a level 1 hero killing a level 9 monster gets 81 experience, and will suddenly catapult to level 6.
* A level 2 hero killing the same level 9 monster gets "only" 65 experience, and will wind up at level 5.

===Single-Use Glyphs===
If you know early on in the game that you will be worshipping Taurog, you can still get limited use from some glyphs. The effects of CYDSTEPP, BYSSEPS, and GETINDARE will persist after you convert them, and those effects activating will ''not'' anger Taurog (or Binlor, for that matter), so it can be very beneficial to pick up and activate these glyphs (''especially'' CYDSTEPP for non-Fighters), before beginning worship, then convert them afterwards for piety and the racial effect.

===Gold-Farming===
If your vault is near empty, but you know ehre to kil the IN DEMAND trophy, take the bet on boss preparation, and you can score 1050 gold off the boss kill.

{{DD2Nav}}

@@ Line 17: / Line 17: @@
 *[[Full:The Earthmother|The Earthmother]]: A somewhat useful deity. The exp bonus from IMAWAL is great, and you gain piety from it! Unfortunately, most of her boons stink. Much better at lower levels, Vine form loses relevance later on for tough dungeons. She can be very useful on dungeons that involve plants, since you an invoke her boons to remove them for you.  Her "plantation" boon can also be a great way to instantly generate piety, then convert to another deity to spend it.
-*[[Full:Glowing Guardian|Glowing Guardian]]: Excellent deity for every class except Bloodmage and Assassin.  Always worship early on to grab humility and wait for the exp to some rolling in. Especially good for CYDSTEPPers, because CYDSTEPP is not effected by level. Great overall, because everybody need exp, and the protection boon is GREAT for the boss fight. Unfortunately he hates potions, so if you are a halfing or gnome, it is a bit of a wast of potions.
+*[[Full:Glowing Guardian|Glowing Guardian]]: Excellent deity for every class except Bloodmage and Assassin.  Always worship early on to grab humility and wait for the exp to some rolling in. Especially good for CYDSTEPPers, because CYDSTEPP is not affected by level. Absolution is deceptively powerful. Great overall, because everybody need exp, and the protection boon is a superb bonus for the boss fight. Unfortunately he hates potions, so most characters will need to find a way to convert out at some point.
 *[[Full:Jehora Jeheyu|Jehora Jeheyu]]: A very strange god. His boons can be very powerful, but will deplete your potions so they must be used carefully.  Piety gain is random; if you get lucky, he can give you inordinate amounts of piety.  However, punishments are also at random! Try to get the "petition" boon to end his punishments as soon as possible.
@@ Line 25: / Line 25: @@
 *[[Full:The Pactmaker|The Pactmaker]]: Not a real deity. The Pactmaker offers 5 pacts which decrease your piety, but give you god effects when certain things happen. If you cannot pay the piety because you have no other god, nothing happens. If you have a god, but cant pay the piety, you do not invoke the gods punishment.
-*[[Full:Taurog|Taurog]]: Okay deity, but the mana penalty can be crippling and his boons will fill your inventory and prevent you from purchasing other items from shops.  When you first begin your kingdom he's a strong deity, but as you unlock more powerful spells and more powerful items for shops to sell he becomes very weak. Great for berserkers, as they don't particularly need spells, and are awful with them, but also great with monks because it can help deal with their AWFUL damage. Awful for spell casters except sorcerer, as it can cope with the mp penalty, and is a hybrid class.
+*[[Full:Taurog|Taurog]]: Okay deity, but the mana penalty can be crippling and his boons will fill your inventory and prevent you from purchasing other items from shops.  When you first begin your kingdom he's a strong deity, but as you unlock more powerful spells and more powerful items for shops to sell he becomes very weak. Great for berserkers, as they don't particularly need spells, but also great with monks because it can help deal with their awful damage.
 *[[Full:Tikki Tooki|Tikki Tooki]]: Good choice as a later game deity, as he enjoys you slaying lower level monsters, but a big no for tanks. His best boon by far is poison, but dodging and his mixtures can be useful, at times. One strategy you might want to try late game as a CYDSTEPPer or tank, is joining, killing weak monsters, grabbing poison and converting off, without fighting anything your level or higher. Tribute is also an important part of this process if you can't kill enough low levels.

@@ Line 170: / Line 170: @@
 ===Gold-Farming===
-If your vault is near empty, but you know ehre to kil the IN DEMAND trophy, take the bet on boss preparation, and you can score 1050 gold off the boss kill.
+If your vault is near empty, but you know where to kill the IN DEMAND trophy, take the bet on boss preparation, and you can score 1050 gold off the boss kill.
 {{DD2Nav}}

@@ Line 11: / Line 11: @@
 God selection is essential to victory.  Nothing is worse than picking a god only to discover that the selection is going to prevent you from winning.  On the other hand, getting a god early usually means more piety and access to better  boons.  Whether or not you should grab a god as soon as you see them is a factor of your race, class, level, items, glyphs and the state of the dungeon.  Here are some general rules for each:
-*[[Full:Binlor Ironshield|Binlor Ironshield]]: Stone Heart and stone fist are really the two reasons you'd take him. He grants a free ENDISWALL glyph on worship, so convert one if you have one. Worship him if you need to deal with resistance, or want some knockback, as that's all you'll really want.
+*[[Full:Binlor Ironshield|Binlor Ironshield]]: Stone Heart and stone fist are really the two reasons you'd take him. He grants a free ENDISWAL glyph on worship, so convert one if you have one. Worship him if you need to deal with resistance, or want some knockback, as that's all you'll really want. If you have the BLUDTUPOWA glyph then you can accumulate piety with Binlor faster than with any other deity.
-*[[Full:Dracul|Dracul]]: Dracul is a good selection for most classes, as you can gain a full heal or 2 if you worship him just after using your hp potions. Unfortunately, he HATES all holy magic (HALPMEH and CYDSTEPP) so if you rely on these he is not a good choice. The other reason he's useful is for if blood shield boon, which stacks extremely well with the dragon shield.
+*[[Full:Dracul|Dracul]]: Dracul is a good selection for most melee classes, as you can gain a full heal or 2 if you worship him just after using your hp potions. Unfortunately, he HATES all holy magic (HALPMEH and CYDSTEPP) so if you rely on these he is not a good choice. The other reason he's useful is for if blood shield boon, which stacks extremely well with the dragon shield, but has a high piety cost. His blood hunger boon is very powerful if you have the BLUDTUPOWA glyph, allowing you to attack monsters to gain mana.
-*[[Full:The Earthmother|The Earthmother]]: A useful deity. The exp bonus from IMAWALL is great, and you gain piety from it! Unfortunately, most of her boons, except vine form, stink. Much better at lower levels, Vine form loses relevance later on for tough dungeons. Really only take her if you don't have a good deity choice and want some bonus exp from the IMAWALL glyph.
+*[[Full:The Earthmother|The Earthmother]]: A somewhat useful deity. The exp bonus from IMAWAL is great, and you gain piety from it! Unfortunately, most of her boons stink. Much better at lower levels, Vine form loses relevance later on for tough dungeons. She can be very useful on dungeons that involve plants, since you an invoke her boons to remove them for you.  Her "plantation" boon can also be a great way to instantly generate piety, then convert to another deity to spend it.
 *[[Full:Glowing Guardian|Glowing Guardian]]: Excellent deity for every class except Bloodmage and Assassin.  Always worship early on to grab humility and wait for the exp to some rolling in. Especially good for CYDSTEPPers, because CYDSTEPP is not effected by level. Great overall, because everybody need exp, and the protection boon is GREAT for the boss fight. Unfortunately he hates potions, so if you are a halfing or gnome, it is a bit of a wast of potions.
-*[[Full:Jehora Jeheyu|Jehora Jeheyu]]: A very strange god. Good for chaos avatar, but that's about it. Anyone should join as a consolation prize, but gnomes and halflings may enjoy Jehora a lot more, because of his potion boons. You will randomly be weakened and corroded, so beware!
+*[[Full:Jehora Jeheyu|Jehora Jeheyu]]: A very strange god. His boons can be very powerful, but will deplete your potions so they must be used carefully.  Piety gain is random; if you get lucky, he can give you inordinate amounts of piety.  However, punishments are also at random! Try to get the "petition" boon to end his punishments as soon as possible.
-*[[Full:Mystera Annur|Mystera Annur]]: Rather awful, but she's the only good mp giver, besides Jehora. Her boons all have a double-edge which can be very dangerous. Never worship her as a melee or hybrid character, because the physical resistance on the monsters will crush you. Only use her as a spell caster if you have the piercing wand, or you won't get as much out of her, because of the need to use weakening on monsters.
+*[[Full:Mystera Annur|Mystera Annur]]: Rather awful, but she's the only good mp giver, besides Jehora. Her boons all have a double-edge which can be very dangerous. Never worship her as a melee or hybrid character, because the physical resistance on the monsters will crush you. She is good for collecting piety, however.
 *[[Full:The Pactmaker|The Pactmaker]]: Not a real deity. The Pactmaker offers 5 pacts which decrease your piety, but give you god effects when certain things happen. If you cannot pay the piety because you have no other god, nothing happens. If you have a god, but cant pay the piety, you do not invoke the gods punishment.
-*[[Full:Taurog|Taurog]]: Okay deity, but mana bonus can be crippling. Great for berserkers, as they don't particularly need spells, and are awful with them, but also great with monks because it can help deal with their AWFUL damage. Awful for spell casters except sorcerer, as it can cope with the mp penalty, and is a hybrid class.
+*[[Full:Taurog|Taurog]]: Okay deity, but the mana penalty can be crippling and his boons will fill your inventory and prevent you from purchasing other items from shops.  When you first begin your kingdom he's a strong deity, but as you unlock more powerful spells and more powerful items for shops to sell he becomes very weak. Great for berserkers, as they don't particularly need spells, and are awful with them, but also great with monks because it can help deal with their AWFUL damage. Awful for spell casters except sorcerer, as it can cope with the mp penalty, and is a hybrid class.
 *[[Full:Tikki Tooki|Tikki Tooki]]: Good choice as a later game deity, as he enjoys you slaying lower level monsters, but a big no for tanks. His best boon by far is poison, but dodging and his mixtures can be useful, at times. One strategy you might want to try late game as a CYDSTEPPer or tank, is joining, killing weak monsters, grabbing poison and converting off, without fighting anything your level or higher. Tribute is also an important part of this process if you can't kill enough low levels.