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[Aoi]

I don't like starting with Usk; I always use him as a mid to late swap, depending on if I plan to deal with Tomb/Pan/Hells, favoring the more traditional route of Oka's equipment roulette... Do you find the early power boost to be worth the tradeoff of probably less powerful endgame gear?

[Graven]

I don't like starting with Usk; I always use him as a mid to late swap, depending on if I plan to deal with Tomb/Pan/Hells, favoring the more traditional route of Oka's equipment roulette... Do you find the early power boost to be worth the tradeoff of probably less powerful endgame gear?

I've tried Oka before and overall prefer Usk's offensive power over Oka's semi-unreliable gifting; Oka does give you pretty nice offensive tools too (and they're on demand), but I just like the passive AoE and single-target (through Damage bond and paralysis) that Usk provides.

Since this was a while ago, however, I'm running a VsFi^Oka right now, and will edit this post once I win.

In the meantime however, did y'all know they changed acquirement scrolls? Now they just give you a list of like 4 wimpy ID'd items and ask hey, which one of these garbages you want? While getting to choose one of a few identified items may be nice for smoothing out gameplay, I really liked the random aspect of acquirement; this is also why I love gifting gods and ARAM in League. Now it's just... meh.

Also there's a new Unique - Maggie, a low-level Hell Knight apprentice with Fire Bolt and Mesmerise. Or at least I think she's new? Being a VsFi I just tabbed her to death, don't know what tier she'd normally be.

edit: Holy moly I keep dying to stupid things because I'm rushing. I really don't like this version of trunk. I keep falling in shafts and getting weirdly out of depth monsters.

Btw this is how Acquirement looks like now:
https://imgur.com/a/ZXM0vSh

Also also, the vorpal brand is now vorpal for all weapons, so no Slicing, Piercing etc

[Graven]

Ok new post for my thoughts on VsFi^Oka. This is me at a point where I'd normally swap from Okawaru - 4 runes, Zot cleared, about to switch to TSO, do Crypt, bless a weapon and dive into extended (run mostly carried by the +4 ring of Slaying I got on D:1):

Code: [Select]

Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup version 0.25-a0-420-g1cc7eeb (tiles) character file.

Game seed: 7626856827521376516, levelgen mode: deterministic

Gravenous the Slayer (Vine Stalker Fighter)        Turns: 52167, Time: 01:39:51

Health: 153/153    AC: 37    Str: 37    XL:     27
Magic:  30/30      EV: 12    Int:  2    God:    Okawaru [******]
Gold:   2811       SH: 29    Dex: 16    Spells: 26/26 levels left

rFire    + . .     SeeInvis +   E - +8 arc blade {discharge, rElec}
rCold    + + +     Gourm    .   Q - +1 large shield "Ponwiugh" {rPois rC++ Str+8 Int-4}
rNeg     . . .     Faith    .   R - +12 gold dragon scales
rPois    +         Spirit   +   O - +0 helmet {SInv}
rElec    +         Reflect  .   T - +2 cloak {MR+}
rCorr    +         Harm     .   I - +2 pair of gloves {Str+3}
MR       ++++.                  X - +0 pair of boots {run}
Stlth    ..........             u - amulet of the Air {Inacc +Fly rElec EV+5 RMsl}
HPRegen  1.15/turn              l - +4 ring of slaying
MPRegen  0.22/turn              g - ring of resist corrosion

@: studying Evocations, repel missiles, quick
A: fangs 3, clumsy 1, deformed body, deterioration 2, dopey 1, frail 1,
regeneration 2, weak 1, magic shield, antimagic bite, no potion heal 3, rot
immunity
}: 4/15 runes: decaying, slimy, silver, gossamer
a: Heroism, Finesse, Renounce Religion, Evoke Flight


You are on level 6 of the Lair of Beasts.
You worship Okawaru.
Okawaru is exalted by your worship.
You are not hungry.

You have visited 11 branches of the dungeon, and seen 55 of its levels.
You have visited 2 bazaars.
You have also visited: Trove, Ice Cave and Wizlab.

You have collected 8182 gold pieces.
You have spent 5371 gold pieces at shops.

Inventory:

Hand Weapons
 E - the +8 arc blade (weapon) {discharge, rElec}
   (Okawaru gifted it to you on level 5 of the Depths)   
   
   It insulates you from electricity.
 L - a +9 quick blade of draining
Missiles
 C - 2 throwing nets (quivered)
Armour
 I - a +2 pair of gloves of strength (worn)
 M - a +1 pair of boots of flying
 N - a +0 large shield of protection
 O - a +0 helmet of see invisible (worn)
 Q - the +1 large shield "Ponwiugh" (worn) {rPois rC++ Str+8 Int-4}
   (You took it off Mennas on level 3 of the Vaults)   
   
   It affects your strength (+8).
   It affects your intelligence (-4).
   It greatly protects you from cold.
   It protects you from poison.
 R - +12 gold dragon scales (worn)
 T - a +2 cloak of magic resistance (worn)
 X - a +0 pair of boots of running (worn)
Jewellery
 b - an uncursed ring of protection from magic
 d - a +4 ring of slaying
 g - a ring of resist corrosion (right hand)
 l - a +4 ring of slaying (left hand)
 o - the ring "Jethry" {rC+ MR- Str+8 Dex-2 Slay+5}
   (You bought it in a shop in a bazaar)   
   
   [ring of slaying]
   
   It affects your strength (+8).
   It affects your dexterity (-2).
   It affects your accuracy and damage with ranged weapons and melee attacks
   (+5).
   It protects you from cold.
   It affects your resistance to hostile enchantments.
 u - the amulet of the Air (around neck) {Inacc +Fly rElec EV+5 RMsl}
   (You found it on level 11 of the Dungeon)   
   
   [amulet of inaccuracy]
   
   It reduces the accuracy of all your attacks.
   It affects your evasion (+5).
   It insulates you from electricity.
   It lets you fly.
   It protects you from missiles.
 z - an uncursed ring of protection from fire
 H - an uncursed ring of protection from cold
 V - the amulet of Oclaciru {Spirit rElec rF+ Str+4 Dex-5}
   (You found it in a treasure trove)   
   
   [amulet of guardian spirit]
   
   It causes incoming damage to be split between your health and magic.
   It affects your strength (+4).
   It affects your dexterity (-5).
   It protects you from fire.
   It insulates you from electricity.
Wands
 j - a wand of scattershot (10)
 q - a wand of iceblast (49)
 B - a wand of digging (30)
 F - a wand of clouds (12)
 G - a wand of acid (43)
Scrolls
 a - 2 scrolls of holy word
 c - 11 scrolls of enchant weapon
 m - 17 scrolls of remove curse
 n - 6 scrolls of magic mapping
 r - 7 scrolls of fear
 v - 39 scrolls of identify
 y - 39 scrolls of teleportation
 D - 3 scrolls of fog
 P - 2 scrolls of blinking
 W - 3 scrolls of enchant armour
Potions
 e - a potion of invisibility
 h - 2 potions of haste
 i - 21 potions of curing
 k - 6 potions of ambrosia
 p - 7 potions of lignification
 s - 2 potions of agility
 t - 5 potions of berserk rage
 w - 3 potions of cancellation
 A - 15 potions of mutation
 J - 4 potions of resistance
 K - 4 potions of flight
 S - a potion of magic
Books
 U - a manual of Evocations
Comestibles
 f - 66 rations


   Skills:
 - Level 26.0 Fighting
 * Level 19.9 Short Blades
 + Level 15.3 Armour
 - Level 25.0 Shields
 - Level 8.0 Invocations
 - Level 6.6 Evocations


You have 26 spell levels left.
You don't know any spells.
Your spell library contains the following spells:

 Spells                   Type           Power        Failure   Level  Hunger
 Animate Skeleton         Necr           N/A          99%         1    ##.....
 Apportation              Tloc           #.....       99%         1    ##.....
 Beastly Appendage        Tmut           #.....       99%         1    ##.....
 Corona                   Hex            #......      99%         1    ##.....
 Foxfire                  Conj/Fire      #...         99%         1    ##.....
 Freeze                   Ice            #...         99%         1    ##.....
 Infusion                 Chrm           #...         99%         1    ##.....
 Magic Dart               Conj           #...         99%         1    ##.....
 Pain                     Necr           #...         99%         1    ##.....
 Sandblast                Erth           #.....       99%         1    ##.....
 Shock                    Conj/Air       #...         99%         1    ##.....
 Sting                    Tmut/Pois      #...         99%         1    ##.....
 Summon Butterflies       Summ           #.......     99%         1    ##.....
 Summon Small Mammal      Summ           #...         99%         1    ##.....
 Blink                    Tloc           N/A          100%        2    ###....
 Call Imp                 Summ           #.......     100%        2    ###....
 Corpse Rot               Necr/Air       N/A          100%        2    ###....
 Ensorcelled Hibernation  Hex/Ice        #.....       100%        2    ###....
 Poisonous Vapours        Pois/Air       #.....       100%        2    ###....
 Searing Ray              Conj           #.....       100%        2    ###....
 Shroud of Golubria       Chrm/Tloc      #.....       100%        2    ###....
 Slow                     Hex            #.......     100%        2    ###....
 Song of Slaying          Chrm           #.......     100%        2    ###....
 Sticks to Snakes         Tmut           #.......     100%        2    ###....
 Sublimation of Blood     Necr           #.........   100%        2    ###....
 Swiftness                Chrm/Air       #.......     100%        2    ###....
 Call Canine Familiar     Summ           #.......     100%        3    ####...
 Confusing Touch          Hex            #.......     100%        3    ####...
 Conjure Flame            Conj/Fire      #.......     100%        3    ####...
 Dazzling Flash           Conj/Hex       #.....       100%        3    ####...
 Gell's Gravitas          Tloc           #.........   100%        3    ####...
 Ignite Poison            Fire/Tmut/Pois #.......     100%        3    ####...
 Inner Flame              Hex/Fire       #.......     100%        3    ####...
 Lesser Beckoning         Tloc           #.........   100%        3    ####...
 Mephitic Cloud           Conj/Pois/Air  #.......     100%        3    ####...
 Ozocubu's Armour         Chrm/Ice       #.......     100%        3    ####...
 Portal Projectile        Hex/Tloc       #.....       100%        3    ####...
 Recall                   Summ/Tloc      N/A          100%        3    ####...
 Spectral Weapon          Hex/Chrm       #.......     100%        3    ####...
 Spider Form              Tmut/Pois      #.........   100%        3    ####...
 Static Discharge         Conj/Air       #.......     100%        3    ####...
 Stone Arrow              Conj/Erth      #.....       100%        3    ####...
 Summon Guardian Golem    Hex/Summ       #.......     100%        3    ####...
 Teleport Other           Tloc           #.......     100%        3    ####...
 Tukima's Dance           Hex            #.......     100%        3    ####...
 Vampiric Draining        Necr           #.........   100%        3    ####...
 Airstrike                Air            #.........   100%        4    #####..
 Animate Dead             Necr           N/A          100%        4    #####..
 Cause Fear               Hex            #.........   100%        4    #####..
 Dispel Undead            Necr           #.......     100%        4    #####..
 Fulminant Prism          Conj/Hex       #.........   100%        4    #####..
 Hailstorm                Conj/Ice       #.......     100%        4    #####..
 Ice Form                 Ice/Tmut       #.......     100%        4    #####..
 Iskenderun's Mystic Bla  Conj/Tloc      #.......     100%        4    #####..
 Leda's Liquefaction      Hex/Erth       #.........   100%        4    #####..
 Olgreb's Toxic Radiance  Pois           #.......     100%        4    #####..
 Passage of Golubria      Tloc           N/A          100%        4    #####..
 Petrify                  Tmut/Erth      #.......     100%        4    #####..
 Sticky Flame             Conj/Fire      #.......     100%        4    #####..
 Summon Ice Beast         Ice/Summ       #.......     100%        4    #####..
 Summon Lightning Spire   Summ/Air       #.......     100%        4    #####..
 Agony                    Necr           #.......     100%        5    ######.
 Alistair's Intoxication  Tmut/Pois      #.......     100%        5    ######.
 Blade Hands              Tmut           #.........   100%        5    ######.
 Bolt of Magma            Conj/Fire/Erth #.........   100%        5    ######.
 Borgnjor's Vile Clutch   Necr/Erth      #.........   100%        5    ######.
 Excruciating Wounds      Chrm/Necr      #.........   100%        5    ######.
 Fireball                 Conj/Fire      #.........   100%        5    ######.
 Irradiate                Conj/Tmut      #.........   100%        5    ######.
 Iskenderun's Battlesphe  Conj/Chrm      #.......     100%        5    ######.
 Lightning Bolt           Conj/Air       #.........   100%        5    ######.
 Silence                  Hex/Air        #.........   100%        5    ######.
 Summon Demon             Summ           #.........   100%        5    ######.
 Yara's Violent Unravell  Hex/Tmut       #.........   100%        5    ######.
 Conjure Ball Lightning   Conj/Air       #.........   100%        6    #######
 Darkness                 Hex            #.........   100%        6    #######
 Death Channel            Necr           #.........   100%        6    #######
 Deflect Missiles         Chrm/Air       #.........   100%        6    #######
 Dispersal                Tloc           #.........   100%        6    #######
 Eringya's Noxious Bog    Tmut/Pois      #.........   100%        6    #######
 Invisibility             Hex            #.......     100%        6    #######
 Iron Shot                Conj/Erth      #.........   100%        6    #######
 Shadow Creatures         Summ           N/A          100%        6    #######
 Simulacrum               Ice/Necr       #.........   100%        6    #######
 Dragon Form              Tmut           #.........   100%        7    #######
 Haunt                    Necr/Summ      #.........   100%        7    #######
 Malign Gateway           Summ/Tloc      #.........   100%        7    #######
 Monstrous Menagerie      Summ           #.........   100%        7    #######
 Orb of Destruction       Conj           #.........   100%        7    #######
 Ring of Flames           Chrm/Fire      #.........   100%        7    #######
 Spellforged Servitor     Conj/Summ      #.........   100%        7    #######
 Summon Greater Demon     Summ           #.........   100%        7    #######
 Borgnjor's Revivificati  Necr           #.........   100%        8    #######
 Chain Lightning          Conj/Air       #.........   100%        8    #######
 Controlled Blink         Tloc           N/A          100%        8    #######
 Death's Door             Chrm/Necr      #.........   100%        8    #######
 Discord                  Hex            #.........   100%        8    #######
 Disjunction              Tloc           #.........   100%        8    #######
 Ignition                 Fire           #.........   100%        8    #######
 Infestation              Necr           #.........   100%        8    #######
 Lehudib's Crystal Spear  Conj/Erth      #.........   100%        8    #######
 Necromutation            Tmut/Necr      #.........   100%        8    #######
 Summon Horrible Things   Summ           #.........   100%        8    #######
 Dragon's Call            Summ           #.........   100%        9    #######
 Fire Storm               Conj/Fire      #.........   100%        9    #######
 Glaciate                 Conj/Ice       #.........   100%        9    #######
 Shatter                  Erth           #.........   100%        9    #######
 Tornado                  Air            #.........   100%        9    #######


Dungeon Overview and Level Annotations

Branches:
Dungeon (15/15)            Temple (1/1) D:6            Lair (6/6) D:11
  Swamp (4/4) Lair:3       Spider (4/4) Lair:2        Slime (5/5) Lair:6
    Orc (2/2) D:10            Elf (3/3) Orc:2        Vaults (5/5) D:13
  Crypt (0/3) Vaults:3     Depths (5/5) D:15            Zot (5/5) Depths:5
  IceCv (visited)          WizLab (visited)         

Altars:
Ashenzari
Cheibriados
Dithmenos
Elyvilon
Fedhas
Gozag
Hepliaklqana
Kikubaaqudgha
Makhleb
Nemelex Xobeh
Okawaru
Qazlal
Ru
Sif Muna
Trog
Uskayaw
Vehumet
Wu Jian
Xom
Yredelemnul
Zin
The Shining One
Beogh
Jiyva

Shops:
D:7 (   D:8 [   D:9 *   D:13 (([   Orc:2 ([[:   Elf:3 *   Vaults:3 [
Depths:1 *

Portals:
Hell: Depths:1 Depths:2 Depths:3 Depths:4 Depths:5
Abyss: Depths:3 Depths:4
Pandemonium: Depths:1 Depths:3
Ziggurat: Depths:3

Annotations:
D:14 2 transporters, Gravenous's ghost, journeyman VSFi


Innate Abilities, Weirdness & Mutations

You have razor-sharp teeth.
You heal very quickly.
When hurt, damage is shared between your health and your magic reserves.
Your bite disrupts and absorbs the magic of your enemies.
Potions cannot restore your health.
You are immune to rotting.
You are clumsy. (Dex -2)
Armour fits poorly on your strangely shaped body.
Your body often deteriorates upon taking damage.
You are dopey. (Int -2)
You are frail. (-10% HP)
You are weak. (Str -2)
I remember now why I didn't like it before. It's because the character doesn't work

With VsFi^Usk, you do damage not so much with your weapon, but with the interaction between your antimagic bite, the speed of Short Blades, Usk's paralysis (which procs a ton, especially with Faith), shortblade stabbing, and Usk forcing enemies to share damage.

The damage of your weapon isn't that major a factor - you just need to hit one dude quickly enough to bite him a few times, paralyse him, stab him, proc Pain bond and wipe the screen. The main benefit is that Pain bond procs on all enemies in Line of sight, meaning that if you're safely tucked in the lip of a corridor, by the time Pain bond comes, the entire screen is taking massive damage without (mostly) being able to retaliate, unlike with Axes, where you need to be in the melee to cleave the bad mans. Also while Usk's telefrag does require some investment to be able to be cast reliably, paralysis and Pain bond really don't, meaning you get nearly full benefit from your god from the moment you start worshipping.

You're also not gated by gear - you want a quick weapon, and a ton of defenses so you don't get popped before you can paralyse. All you need for end-game is a Quickblade (or Rapier of Speed/Frost), Gold Dragon Armour for resists (craftable), a Shield (I like large shields but eh), 3 pips of Magic Resist, and some Negative resist. Slaying, a scarf of Resistance, and 3 pips of rNeg are more or less luxury items. You can always juggle rings to ensure the appropriate elemental resist is high enough for the branch you're at.

Contrast with VsFi^Oka, where you do damage by hitting one guy with Short Blades.

Now you're just a relatively bad melee combo - Vine Stalkers are fragile, Short Blades have low damage even for the highest tier, you have no AoE and you're at the mercy of gifting and/or spamming Finesse. Now, Finesse is wonderful for a VS, because low weapon delay means a ton of bites, but you're still missing on the paralysis/stabbing/Pain Bond synergy. Meaning you might as well go with an actual weapon - mace or sword, where the damage of the weapon itself is much higher.

Now let's look at Okawaru Gifts. Here are screenshots of all the gifts I got over this run. I didn't use an amulet of Faith because I got the Amulet of Air early on, and rElec is great. (Not sure why I can't imbed Imgur images, oh well)

https://imgur.com/ZAWC5ZC
https://imgur.com/lcjDNzi

Of all gifts, I'm carrying a Large shield of protection (not worn), boots of running (really nice, gifted in Zot), Gloves of strenght (meh), Quickblade (was +4 unbranded when gifted, there are a few other quickblades this game) and the Arc Blade (really nice, helped me in Zot and Slime to offset the lack of AoE). The Arc Blade is potentially end-game, but a blessed quickblade will be better.

From the other gifts, notable items are:
+6 short sword of speed - pretty decent mid-game weapon, can potentially struggle through end-game and extended if you're brave
+3 Crystal Plate of Regen - not bad, but a Gold Dragon Armour will always be better, as you're squishy and want to maximise resists, leaving as many slots open for potential slaying - meaning GDA and Scarf of Resistance is hella good
+4 Vamp Quickblade - would be great for mid-game, but was sadly gifted in Zot

All in all, pretty mediocre, trending to bad. No slaying, no great randarts. Of course, gifting will always be a gamble, and in general I really enjoy Okawaru for the randomness of gifts and the rush of getting a great item early on, but in this particular case, it's just inferior.

To sum up - for the specific combo of Vine Stalker Fighter with Short Blades, just go Uskayaw from the start - less clunky, more satisfying; you miss some end-game gear but the character doesn't actually need all that great gear to mosh.

For all other fighters - go Oka

[Inarius]

Yeah Oka is very good.

I prefer the current version of Acquirement scroll. I mean, Acquirement scroll are the scroll version of XP potions.

However, most of the time you end with garbage. So i think it's best now, considering that it's supposed to be rare and powerful.

[Aoi]

Ok new post for my thoughts on VsFi^Oka.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

This is me at a point where I'd normally swap from Okawaru - 4 runes, Zot cleared, about to switch to TSO, do Crypt, bless a weapon and dive into extended (run mostly carried by the +4 ring of Slaying I got on D:1):

Code: [Select]

Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup version 0.25-a0-420-g1cc7eeb (tiles) character file.

Game seed: 7626856827521376516, levelgen mode: deterministic

Gravenous the Slayer (Vine Stalker Fighter)        Turns: 52167, Time: 01:39:51

Health: 153/153    AC: 37    Str: 37    XL:     27
Magic:  30/30      EV: 12    Int:  2    God:    Okawaru [******]
Gold:   2811       SH: 29    Dex: 16    Spells: 26/26 levels left

rFire    + . .     SeeInvis +   E - +8 arc blade {discharge, rElec}
rCold    + + +     Gourm    .   Q - +1 large shield "Ponwiugh" {rPois rC++ Str+8 Int-4}
rNeg     . . .     Faith    .   R - +12 gold dragon scales
rPois    +         Spirit   +   O - +0 helmet {SInv}
rElec    +         Reflect  .   T - +2 cloak {MR+}
rCorr    +         Harm     .   I - +2 pair of gloves {Str+3}
MR       ++++.                  X - +0 pair of boots {run}
Stlth    ..........             u - amulet of the Air {Inacc +Fly rElec EV+5 RMsl}
HPRegen  1.15/turn              l - +4 ring of slaying
MPRegen  0.22/turn              g - ring of resist corrosion

@: studying Evocations, repel missiles, quick
A: fangs 3, clumsy 1, deformed body, deterioration 2, dopey 1, frail 1,
regeneration 2, weak 1, magic shield, antimagic bite, no potion heal 3, rot
immunity
}: 4/15 runes: decaying, slimy, silver, gossamer
a: Heroism, Finesse, Renounce Religion, Evoke Flight


You are on level 6 of the Lair of Beasts.
You worship Okawaru.
Okawaru is exalted by your worship.
You are not hungry.

You have visited 11 branches of the dungeon, and seen 55 of its levels.
You have visited 2 bazaars.
You have also visited: Trove, Ice Cave and Wizlab.

You have collected 8182 gold pieces.
You have spent 5371 gold pieces at shops.

Inventory:

Hand Weapons
 E - the +8 arc blade (weapon) {discharge, rElec}
   (Okawaru gifted it to you on level 5 of the Depths)   
   
   It insulates you from electricity.
 L - a +9 quick blade of draining
Missiles
 C - 2 throwing nets (quivered)
Armour
 I - a +2 pair of gloves of strength (worn)
 M - a +1 pair of boots of flying
 N - a +0 large shield of protection
 O - a +0 helmet of see invisible (worn)
 Q - the +1 large shield "Ponwiugh" (worn) {rPois rC++ Str+8 Int-4}
   (You took it off Mennas on level 3 of the Vaults)   
   
   It affects your strength (+8).
   It affects your intelligence (-4).
   It greatly protects you from cold.
   It protects you from poison.
 R - +12 gold dragon scales (worn)
 T - a +2 cloak of magic resistance (worn)
 X - a +0 pair of boots of running (worn)
Jewellery
 b - an uncursed ring of protection from magic
 d - a +4 ring of slaying
 g - a ring of resist corrosion (right hand)
 l - a +4 ring of slaying (left hand)
 o - the ring "Jethry" {rC+ MR- Str+8 Dex-2 Slay+5}
   (You bought it in a shop in a bazaar)   
   
   [ring of slaying]
   
   It affects your strength (+8).
   It affects your dexterity (-2).
   It affects your accuracy and damage with ranged weapons and melee attacks
   (+5).
   It protects you from cold.
   It affects your resistance to hostile enchantments.
 u - the amulet of the Air (around neck) {Inacc +Fly rElec EV+5 RMsl}
   (You found it on level 11 of the Dungeon)   
   
   [amulet of inaccuracy]
   
   It reduces the accuracy of all your attacks.
   It affects your evasion (+5).
   It insulates you from electricity.
   It lets you fly.
   It protects you from missiles.
 z - an uncursed ring of protection from fire
 H - an uncursed ring of protection from cold
 V - the amulet of Oclaciru {Spirit rElec rF+ Str+4 Dex-5}
   (You found it in a treasure trove)   
   
   [amulet of guardian spirit]
   
   It causes incoming damage to be split between your health and magic.
   It affects your strength (+4).
   It affects your dexterity (-5).
   It protects you from fire.
   It insulates you from electricity.
Wands
 j - a wand of scattershot (10)
 q - a wand of iceblast (49)
 B - a wand of digging (30)
 F - a wand of clouds (12)
 G - a wand of acid (43)
Scrolls
 a - 2 scrolls of holy word
 c - 11 scrolls of enchant weapon
 m - 17 scrolls of remove curse
 n - 6 scrolls of magic mapping
 r - 7 scrolls of fear
 v - 39 scrolls of identify
 y - 39 scrolls of teleportation
 D - 3 scrolls of fog
 P - 2 scrolls of blinking
 W - 3 scrolls of enchant armour
Potions
 e - a potion of invisibility
 h - 2 potions of haste
 i - 21 potions of curing
 k - 6 potions of ambrosia
 p - 7 potions of lignification
 s - 2 potions of agility
 t - 5 potions of berserk rage
 w - 3 potions of cancellation
 A - 15 potions of mutation
 J - 4 potions of resistance
 K - 4 potions of flight
 S - a potion of magic
Books
 U - a manual of Evocations
Comestibles
 f - 66 rations


   Skills:
 - Level 26.0 Fighting
 * Level 19.9 Short Blades
 + Level 15.3 Armour
 - Level 25.0 Shields
 - Level 8.0 Invocations
 - Level 6.6 Evocations


You have 26 spell levels left.
You don't know any spells.
Your spell library contains the following spells:

 Spells                   Type           Power        Failure   Level  Hunger
 Animate Skeleton         Necr           N/A          99%         1    ##.....
 Apportation              Tloc           #.....       99%         1    ##.....
 Beastly Appendage        Tmut           #.....       99%         1    ##.....
 Corona                   Hex            #......      99%         1    ##.....
 Foxfire                  Conj/Fire      #...         99%         1    ##.....
 Freeze                   Ice            #...         99%         1    ##.....
 Infusion                 Chrm           #...         99%         1    ##.....
 Magic Dart               Conj           #...         99%         1    ##.....
 Pain                     Necr           #...         99%         1    ##.....
 Sandblast                Erth           #.....       99%         1    ##.....
 Shock                    Conj/Air       #...         99%         1    ##.....
 Sting                    Tmut/Pois      #...         99%         1    ##.....
 Summon Butterflies       Summ           #.......     99%         1    ##.....
 Summon Small Mammal      Summ           #...         99%         1    ##.....
 Blink                    Tloc           N/A          100%        2    ###....
 Call Imp                 Summ           #.......     100%        2    ###....
 Corpse Rot               Necr/Air       N/A          100%        2    ###....
 Ensorcelled Hibernation  Hex/Ice        #.....       100%        2    ###....
 Poisonous Vapours        Pois/Air       #.....       100%        2    ###....
 Searing Ray              Conj           #.....       100%        2    ###....
 Shroud of Golubria       Chrm/Tloc      #.....       100%        2    ###....
 Slow                     Hex            #.......     100%        2    ###....
 Song of Slaying          Chrm           #.......     100%        2    ###....
 Sticks to Snakes         Tmut           #.......     100%        2    ###....
 Sublimation of Blood     Necr           #.........   100%        2    ###....
 Swiftness                Chrm/Air       #.......     100%        2    ###....
 Call Canine Familiar     Summ           #.......     100%        3    ####...
 Confusing Touch          Hex            #.......     100%        3    ####...
 Conjure Flame            Conj/Fire      #.......     100%        3    ####...
 Dazzling Flash           Conj/Hex       #.....       100%        3    ####...
 Gell's Gravitas          Tloc           #.........   100%        3    ####...
 Ignite Poison            Fire/Tmut/Pois #.......     100%        3    ####...
 Inner Flame              Hex/Fire       #.......     100%        3    ####...
 Lesser Beckoning         Tloc           #.........   100%        3    ####...
 Mephitic Cloud           Conj/Pois/Air  #.......     100%        3    ####...
 Ozocubu's Armour         Chrm/Ice       #.......     100%        3    ####...
 Portal Projectile        Hex/Tloc       #.....       100%        3    ####...
 Recall                   Summ/Tloc      N/A          100%        3    ####...
 Spectral Weapon          Hex/Chrm       #.......     100%        3    ####...
 Spider Form              Tmut/Pois      #.........   100%        3    ####...
 Static Discharge         Conj/Air       #.......     100%        3    ####...
 Stone Arrow              Conj/Erth      #.....       100%        3    ####...
 Summon Guardian Golem    Hex/Summ       #.......     100%        3    ####...
 Teleport Other           Tloc           #.......     100%        3    ####...
 Tukima's Dance           Hex            #.......     100%        3    ####...
 Vampiric Draining        Necr           #.........   100%        3    ####...
 Airstrike                Air            #.........   100%        4    #####..
 Animate Dead             Necr           N/A          100%        4    #####..
 Cause Fear               Hex            #.........   100%        4    #####..
 Dispel Undead            Necr           #.......     100%        4    #####..
 Fulminant Prism          Conj/Hex       #.........   100%        4    #####..
 Hailstorm                Conj/Ice       #.......     100%        4    #####..
 Ice Form                 Ice/Tmut       #.......     100%        4    #####..
 Iskenderun's Mystic Bla  Conj/Tloc      #.......     100%        4    #####..
 Leda's Liquefaction      Hex/Erth       #.........   100%        4    #####..
 Olgreb's Toxic Radiance  Pois           #.......     100%        4    #####..
 Passage of Golubria      Tloc           N/A          100%        4    #####..
 Petrify                  Tmut/Erth      #.......     100%        4    #####..
 Sticky Flame             Conj/Fire      #.......     100%        4    #####..
 Summon Ice Beast         Ice/Summ       #.......     100%        4    #####..
 Summon Lightning Spire   Summ/Air       #.......     100%        4    #####..
 Agony                    Necr           #.......     100%        5    ######.
 Alistair's Intoxication  Tmut/Pois      #.......     100%        5    ######.
 Blade Hands              Tmut           #.........   100%        5    ######.
 Bolt of Magma            Conj/Fire/Erth #.........   100%        5    ######.
 Borgnjor's Vile Clutch   Necr/Erth      #.........   100%        5    ######.
 Excruciating Wounds      Chrm/Necr      #.........   100%        5    ######.
 Fireball                 Conj/Fire      #.........   100%        5    ######.
 Irradiate                Conj/Tmut      #.........   100%        5    ######.
 Iskenderun's Battlesphe  Conj/Chrm      #.......     100%        5    ######.
 Lightning Bolt           Conj/Air       #.........   100%        5    ######.
 Silence                  Hex/Air        #.........   100%        5    ######.
 Summon Demon             Summ           #.........   100%        5    ######.
 Yara's Violent Unravell  Hex/Tmut       #.........   100%        5    ######.
 Conjure Ball Lightning   Conj/Air       #.........   100%        6    #######
 Darkness                 Hex            #.........   100%        6    #######
 Death Channel            Necr           #.........   100%        6    #######
 Deflect Missiles         Chrm/Air       #.........   100%        6    #######
 Dispersal                Tloc           #.........   100%        6    #######
 Eringya's Noxious Bog    Tmut/Pois      #.........   100%        6    #######
 Invisibility             Hex            #.......     100%        6    #######
 Iron Shot                Conj/Erth      #.........   100%        6    #######
 Shadow Creatures         Summ           N/A          100%        6    #######
 Simulacrum               Ice/Necr       #.........   100%        6    #######
 Dragon Form              Tmut           #.........   100%        7    #######
 Haunt                    Necr/Summ      #.........   100%        7    #######
 Malign Gateway           Summ/Tloc      #.........   100%        7    #######
 Monstrous Menagerie      Summ           #.........   100%        7    #######
 Orb of Destruction       Conj           #.........   100%        7    #######
 Ring of Flames           Chrm/Fire      #.........   100%        7    #######
 Spellforged Servitor     Conj/Summ      #.........   100%        7    #######
 Summon Greater Demon     Summ           #.........   100%        7    #######
 Borgnjor's Revivificati  Necr           #.........   100%        8    #######
 Chain Lightning          Conj/Air       #.........   100%        8    #######
 Controlled Blink         Tloc           N/A          100%        8    #######
 Death's Door             Chrm/Necr      #.........   100%        8    #######
 Discord                  Hex            #.........   100%        8    #######
 Disjunction              Tloc           #.........   100%        8    #######
 Ignition                 Fire           #.........   100%        8    #######
 Infestation              Necr           #.........   100%        8    #######
 Lehudib's Crystal Spear  Conj/Erth      #.........   100%        8    #######
 Necromutation            Tmut/Necr      #.........   100%        8    #######
 Summon Horrible Things   Summ           #.........   100%        8    #######
 Dragon's Call            Summ           #.........   100%        9    #######
 Fire Storm               Conj/Fire      #.........   100%        9    #######
 Glaciate                 Conj/Ice       #.........   100%        9    #######
 Shatter                  Erth           #.........   100%        9    #######
 Tornado                  Air            #.........   100%        9    #######


Dungeon Overview and Level Annotations

Branches:
Dungeon (15/15)            Temple (1/1) D:6            Lair (6/6) D:11
  Swamp (4/4) Lair:3       Spider (4/4) Lair:2        Slime (5/5) Lair:6
    Orc (2/2) D:10            Elf (3/3) Orc:2        Vaults (5/5) D:13
  Crypt (0/3) Vaults:3     Depths (5/5) D:15            Zot (5/5) Depths:5
  IceCv (visited)          WizLab (visited)         

Altars:
Ashenzari
Cheibriados
Dithmenos
Elyvilon
Fedhas
Gozag
Hepliaklqana
Kikubaaqudgha
Makhleb
Nemelex Xobeh
Okawaru
Qazlal
Ru
Sif Muna
Trog
Uskayaw
Vehumet
Wu Jian
Xom
Yredelemnul
Zin
The Shining One
Beogh
Jiyva

Shops:
D:7 (   D:8 [   D:9 *   D:13 (([   Orc:2 ([[:   Elf:3 *   Vaults:3 [
Depths:1 *

Portals:
Hell: Depths:1 Depths:2 Depths:3 Depths:4 Depths:5
Abyss: Depths:3 Depths:4
Pandemonium: Depths:1 Depths:3
Ziggurat: Depths:3

Annotations:
D:14 2 transporters, Gravenous's ghost, journeyman VSFi


Innate Abilities, Weirdness & Mutations

You have razor-sharp teeth.
You heal very quickly.
When hurt, damage is shared between your health and your magic reserves.
Your bite disrupts and absorbs the magic of your enemies.
Potions cannot restore your health.
You are immune to rotting.
You are clumsy. (Dex -2)
Armour fits poorly on your strangely shaped body.
Your body often deteriorates upon taking damage.
You are dopey. (Int -2)
You are frail. (-10% HP)
You are weak. (Str -2)
I remember now why I didn't like it before. It's because the character doesn't work

With VsFi^Usk, you do damage not so much with your weapon, but with the interaction between your antimagic bite, the speed of Short Blades, Usk's paralysis (which procs a ton, especially with Faith), shortblade stabbing, and Usk forcing enemies to share damage.

The damage of your weapon isn't that major a factor - you just need to hit one dude quickly enough to bite him a few times, paralyse him, stab him, proc Pain bond and wipe the screen. The main benefit is that Pain bond procs on all enemies in Line of sight, meaning that if you're safely tucked in the lip of a corridor, by the time Pain bond comes, the entire screen is taking massive damage without (mostly) being able to retaliate, unlike with Axes, where you need to be in the melee to cleave the bad mans. Also while Usk's telefrag does require some investment to be able to be cast reliably, paralysis and Pain bond really don't, meaning you get nearly full benefit from your god from the moment you start worshipping.

You're also not gated by gear - you want a quick weapon, and a ton of defenses so you don't get popped before you can paralyse. All you need for end-game is a Quickblade (or Rapier of Speed/Frost), Gold Dragon Armour for resists (craftable), a Shield (I like large shields but eh), 3 pips of Magic Resist, and some Negative resist. Slaying, a scarf of Resistance, and 3 pips of rNeg are more or less luxury items. You can always juggle rings to ensure the appropriate elemental resist is high enough for the branch you're at.

Contrast with VsFi^Oka, where you do damage by hitting one guy with Short Blades.

Now you're just a relatively bad melee combo - Vine Stalkers are fragile, Short Blades have low damage even for the highest tier, you have no AoE and you're at the mercy of gifting and/or spamming Finesse. Now, Finesse is wonderful for a VS, because low weapon delay means a ton of bites, but you're still missing on the paralysis/stabbing/Pain Bond synergy. Meaning you might as well go with an actual weapon - mace or sword, where the damage of the weapon itself is much higher.

Now let's look at Okawaru Gifts. Here are screenshots of all the gifts I got over this run. I didn't use an amulet of Faith because I got the Amulet of Air early on, and rElec is great. (Not sure why I can't imbed Imgur images, oh well)

https://imgur.com/ZAWC5ZC
https://imgur.com/lcjDNzi

Of all gifts, I'm carrying a Large shield of protection (not worn), boots of running (really nice, gifted in Zot), Gloves of strenght (meh), Quickblade (was +4 unbranded when gifted, there are a few other quickblades this game) and the Arc Blade (really nice, helped me in Zot and Slime to offset the lack of AoE). The Arc Blade is potentially end-game, but a blessed quickblade will be better.

From the other gifts, notable items are:
+6 short sword of speed - pretty decent mid-game weapon, can potentially struggle through end-game and extended if you're brave
+3 Crystal Plate of Regen - not bad, but a Gold Dragon Armour will always be better, as you're squishy and want to maximise resists, leaving as many slots open for potential slaying - meaning GDA and Scarf of Resistance is hella good
+4 Vamp Quickblade - would be great for mid-game, but was sadly gifted in Zot

All in all, pretty mediocre, trending to bad. No slaying, no great randarts. Of course, gifting will always be a gamble, and in general I really enjoy Okawaru for the randomness of gifts and the rush of getting a great item early on, but in this particular case, it's just inferior.

To sum up - for the specific combo of Vine Stalker Fighter with Short Blades, just go Uskayaw from the start - less clunky, more satisfying; you miss some end-game gear but the character doesn't actually need all that great gear to mosh.

For all other fighters - go Oka

Yeeeah, it's been very long since I played Vs and I sort of forgot what race it stood for, so the intricacies of using Usk with it slipped my mind... it's a potent combo.

Though I do lament how hard it is to find a good weapon without Oka's help: Three 1+rune runs later, I have yet to find a good shortblade. Elec Falchion? Niii-- why am I missing constantly? Oops. Early game demon blade!...sigh. Here, take a whip of distortion! Artifact shortsword? That's... freezing... and... -8str?'

Accessories have been pretty generous though. 2x +4prot on the first floor, an amulet of reflection, and a scarf of resistance. Too bad my connection lagged and sent me tab-flying into the army in Orc:2. -_-

Edit: Freakin'... artifact +9 whip of electrocution with no maluses in a shop on D:5. 

[Graven]

Yeah Oka is very good.

I prefer the current version of Acquirement scroll. I mean, Acquirement scroll are the scroll version of XP potions.

However, most of the time you end with garbage. So i think it's best now, considering that it's supposed to be rare and powerful.

My problem is that before I'd get excited and be like "oh boy I wonder what I'll get from this Acquirement scroll!" and now it's "oh.... a 1000 gold scroll"

Yeeeah, it's been very long since I played Vs and I sort of forgot what race it stood for, so the intricacies of using Usk with it slipped my mind... it's a potent combo.

Though I do lament how hard it is to find a good weapon without Oka's help: Three 1+rune runs later, I have yet to find a good shortblade. Elec Falchion? Niii-- why am I missing constantly? Oops. Early game demon blade!...sigh. Here, take a whip of distortion! Artifact shortsword? That's... freezing... and... -8str?'

Accessories have been pretty generous though. 2x +4prot on the first floor, an amulet of reflection, and a scarf of resistance. Too bad my connection lagged and sent me tab-flying into the army in Orc:2. -_-

Edit: Freakin'... artifact +9 whip of electrocution with no maluses in a shop on D:5. 

Yeah once you get used to gifting gods, going back to "ugh it's D:15 and I've had zero executioner axes so far this sucks" is kind of hard

I don't find short blades too bad, though - a dagger of poison/draining/electrocution is perfectly ok at the start, and branded rapiers are pretty common. Getting a quickblade, of course, means either Elf or Depths.

[Aoi]

Yeeeah, it's been very long since I played Vs and I sort of forgot what race it stood for, so the intricacies of using Usk with it slipped my mind... it's a potent combo.

Though I do lament how hard it is to find a good weapon without Oka's help: Three 1+rune runs later, I have yet to find a good shortblade. Elec Falchion? Niii-- why am I missing constantly? Oops. Early game demon blade!...sigh. Here, take a whip of distortion! Artifact shortsword? That's... freezing... and... -8str?'

Accessories have been pretty generous though. 2x +4prot on the first floor, an amulet of reflection, and a scarf of resistance. Too bad my connection lagged and sent me tab-flying into the army in Orc:2. -_-

Edit: Freakin'... artifact +9 whip of electrocution with no maluses in a shop on D:5. 

Yeah once you get used to gifting gods, going back to "ugh it's D:15 and I've had zero executioner axes so far this sucks" is kind of hard

I don't find short blades too bad, though - a dagger of poison/draining/electrocution is perfectly ok at the start, and branded rapiers are pretty common. Getting a quickblade, of course, means either Elf or Depths.

*gasp!* Poison! Draining!

...The best dagger I've gotten pre-rune so far was a +3 freezing, if you exclude an artifact shortsword of distortion that had enough maluses to make it worthless. Even the Eustachios haven't been kind enough to generate a branded rapier... +0s all the way down.

Okay, after I had that typed up and forgot to post, I snagged a +4 chaos and +3 venom on the same floor. Worth using as a pair of swaps, I guess.

Updates: I can't really complain about scrolls of acquirement though-- just opened my first one since the change and got... a Hat +0, rF+, Str+3, Slay+5.

Places to find a quickblade: Orc shops? No. Elves? No. Abyss:5 long enough to find the rune? No. Vaults? No. Randomly on the floor in Pit? Yerp. Unfortunately, it's either a +0 qb of venom or a +7 rapier with antimagic, rN++, Str2, Int4, Dex3. Yeeeah, that qb needs some work.

-----

Oh. Uhm. Wow. Pulled a scroll of acquirement in Lair:5. Gave me the choice of ~700 gold... or a +10 quickblade. On Lair:3 (which I evidently missed due to a shaft and forgot about), I got a scroll of branding... for vamp. Sure, why not. There's still lots of fleshy stuff for me to kill at this point. Now, watch me die to something stupid. -_-

[Graven]

Updates: I can't really complain about scrolls of acquirement though-- just opened my first one since the change and got... a Hat +0, rF+, Str+3, Slay+5.
-----
Oh. Uhm. Wow. Pulled a scroll of acquirement in Lair:5. Gave me the choice of ~700 gold... or a +10 quickblade. On Lair:3 (which I evidently missed due to a shaft and forgot about), I got a scroll of branding... for vamp. Sure, why not. There's still lots of fleshy stuff for me to kill at this point. Now, watch me die to something stupid. -_-

Dude now you're flexing on me and that's outright uncool

Also watch out for Shadow Dragons and/or Orbs of Fire that's the main thing that gets you killed at a point like this.

[Aoi]

Updates: I can't really complain about scrolls of acquirement though-- just opened my first one since the change and got... a Hat +0, rF+, Str+3, Slay+5.
-----
Oh. Uhm. Wow. Pulled a scroll of acquirement in Lair:5. Gave me the choice of ~700 gold... or a +10 quickblade. On Lair:3 (which I evidently missed due to a shaft and forgot about), I got a scroll of branding... for vamp. Sure, why not. There's still lots of fleshy stuff for me to kill at this point. Now, watch me die to something stupid. -_-

Dude now you're flexing on me and that's outright uncool

Also watch out for Shadow Dragons and/or Orbs of Fire that's the main thing that gets you killed at a point like this.

Nah. I was playing on my laptop that doesn't have a numpad and accidentally moved the wrong direction on Vaults:WhateverBottomFloor when using vi keys movement, moving me away from the stairs. That'll get you killed too.

I also generated the orange crystal plate armor in a shop on like D:5 or so, which I was saving up for, because, hey, Clarity! Except I never got around to it. -_-

Edit: Oh, and my armor was godawful suck too... It was a +2 somethingmail of poison resistance. Only other choice was a +4 chainmail with rN+ and Dex-8.

Edit 2: And just a thought, but why UC27? Unless the wiki's wrong, UC doesn't help with bites, and since you're prooobably using a shield, you don't get to punch either.

Every scroll of acquirement so far has had something at least somewhat useful-- those two above are pretty much jawdroppers, but even the least useful scroll gave me a manual of short blades, which was pretty cool, considering I was only at D:9.

[Graven]

Nah. I was playing on my laptop that doesn't have a numpad and accidentally moved the wrong direction on Vaults:WhateverBottomFloor when using vi keys movement, moving me away from the stairs. That'll get you killed too.

I also generated the orange crystal plate armor in a shop on like D:5 or so, which I was saving up for, because, hey, Clarity! Except I never got around to it. -_-

Edit: Oh, and my armor was godawful suck too... It was a +2 somethingmail of poison resistance. Only other choice was a +4 chainmail with rN+ and Dex-8.

Edit 2: And just a thought, but why UC27? Unless the wiki's wrong, UC doesn't help with bites, and since you're prooobably using a shield, you don't get to punch either.

Every scroll of acquirement so far has had something at least somewhat useful-- those two above are pretty much jawdroppers, but even the least useful scroll gave me a manual of short blades, which was pretty cool, considering I was only at D:9.

Oof ouch yikes. Misclicks physically hurt. Especially on ^Chei, where each time I fatfinger something the enemies get to add 3-5 years of experience beating my ass in their CVs.

Armour... depends on what your character was going for, really. I always look at the AC/EV totals, but based on your skills and build you might value one more than the other. The Orange Crystal Plate is nice, but if you get to Depths/Zot a Gold Dragon Armour is generally better for extended, especially if you have enough Enchant Armour scrolls moshing around.

If you're asking why my previous char had 27 UC, it's because I ran out of useful things to level in the Ziggurats. Presumably Dodging/Evocation would be better, because I'm never sure how UC interacts with bonus attacks. It's basically the equivallent of adding a big mirror to a tank so you can blind enemies with sunlight. Yeah, it doesn't do anything, but it's already a tank, so eh.

I should finish up the current VsFi, but I'm attending a wedding this weekend, so it'll be a while.

[Aoi]

Armour... depends on what your character was going for, really. I always look at the AC/EV totals, but based on your skills and build you might value one more than the other. The Orange Crystal Plate is nice, but if you get to Depths/Zot a Gold Dragon Armour is generally better for extended, especially if you have enough Enchant Armour scrolls moshing around.

If you're asking why my previous char had 27 UC, it's because I ran out of useful things to level in the Ziggurats. Presumably Dodging/Evocation would be better, because I'm never sure how UC interacts with bonus attacks. It's basically the equivallent of adding a big mirror to a tank so you can blind enemies with sunlight. Yeah, it doesn't do anything, but it's already a tank, so eh.

I should finish up the current VsFi, but I'm attending a wedding this weekend, so it'll be a while.

Yeah, assuming all other factors equal, going with the higher sum isn't a bad policy I find, at least for early/mid-game. Beyond it being a huge upgrade over a measly *mail, the Clarity probably would've been useful in Hell to avoid the confusion... in either case, no dragon armors (other than maybe the rather not useful steam or acid) had spawned.

As per my memory (and the wiki), UC only helps with fist-alogue attacks, so it's only good for unarmed/1h+NoShield characters... if I'm doing my math right, you'll get something like 15EV from maxing dodge instead, 10 mana from maxing Spellcasting, or... I guess maybe throwing, so you can plink stuff from a distance? I'd probably go with dodge, then whatever as, as noted, the pickings for things that are useful are slim at that point.

Maybe a few specific schools of magic for niche use? Everybody loves passwall.

Scroll of Acquirement: Arc Blade vs AoF+rElec+Dex+3.

Well... that was an interesting death. What on earth in Swamp seems to turn all the trees hostile?

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Scroll of Acquirement: QB+4 on D8.

[Graven]

Well... that was an interesting death. What on earth in Swamp seems to turn all the trees hostile?

Spriggan Druid. Pretty sure they also berserk animals on death, meaning that hydra you were fleeing from is definitely catching up.

Not the biggest threat but Awaken forest can severely limit your positioning. I always tend to beat them up first just to avoid the headache, unless there's a Thorn Hunter around (it always gets priority 1, the asshole).

[quinnr]

Ok new post for my thoughts on VsFi^Oka. -snip-

So I just tried a VsFi^Usk after reading through this post and had a surprisingly easy time! I ended up dying on Snakes:4 after getting a bit too bold, but that was mainly because it got so easy to rend through entire packs of enemies and I got too bold. Probably was helped greatly by the fact that I found a Treasure Trove where the entry cost was just...all piety (Hah! My god doesn't even care about piety.) Inside was a +4 Quick Blade which I managed to enchant to +9 by my first S:4 (and I had a full MR from two rings and a cloak, which was sweet for Shoals.)

[Aoi]

It took a bit of save scumming, but I actually managed to almost fully clear a zig with VsFi, pre-L27, and without OP gear. (Yes, I'm scumming this character because it's offline+seeded anyways, and playing on a 17 hour flight is hardly conducive to a serious game.)

I had to skip Z:23 because it had like 20 Pan Lords and it was a nasty enough time to get to the exit without getting shredded, never mind killing them... I wasn't packing the right rings to deal with a mess like that either.

Also, I'm not sure if they're a recent addition, but I found a unique spriggan in Depths that had two bodyguards, all with quickblades, so now I'm rocking a pair of +9 holy/elec. But my RNG is made up for on my armor... Either +2 rN++, rF+, rElec faerie scales or a +6 CPA (no GDS generated at all yet). I mean, not BAD, but we're looking at a character that's now at 11 runes and tabbing through Pan.

Playing offline .24 which still has the old Acquirement, I really prefer the new one. I think it basically gives one of each of the options and you pick the one you want, so you have a net improvement on the odds of getting something good... That, or I'm smarting from the buckler of reflection, scarf of cloud immunity, and hat of +3int, -6slay. Stupid armor acquirement...

[Inarius]

Playing offline .24 which still has the old Acquirement, I really prefer the new one. I think it basically gives one of each of the options and you pick the one you want, so you have a net improvement on the odds of getting something good... That, or I'm smarting from the buckler of reflection, scarf of cloud immunity, and hat of +3int, -6slay. Stupid armor acquirement...

I agree. If you consider scroll of acquirement as an equivalent to XP Pot, you could consider that acquirement was wayyy worse. Now it's really better, nearly on par with XP Pot.