Archived from groups: rec.games.roguelike.misc (More info?)
Motto: "Elyvilon the Healer is worshipped by the healers (among others), who
gain their healing powers by long worship and devotion. Although Elyvilon
prefers a creed of pacifism, those who crusade against evil are not
excluded." [...]
A while back when somebody asked if any character can do the Tomb, I mused
briefly on the possibility of doing it with a worshipper of Elyvilon. Having
only seen the names of his powers and not the details of what they did, and
not having seen exactly what higher mummy death curses do, I wasn't sure.
Now I can finally tentatively say that yes, an Elyvilon worshipper can do the
Tomb.
I got heavily into playing Crusaders around the time I thought I was about to
have my first YAVP, a DECj. I didn't YAVP, but I did discover a really cool
class in Crusaders. When it first came time for me to choose a god for a
Crusader, I said to myself "Trog no, Okawaru not really needed, Vehumet bored
to death with him, Xom no way, Nemelex someday after I retire"... until I ran
across Elyvilon and recalled my posting regarding doing the Tomb with him,
and thus chose Elyvilon.
It turned out to be a really good fit in any case, because it turns out that
his relatively cheap and early Purification power cures slowing... including
post-berserk slowing. In other words, shortly after you start worshipping
Elyvilon, you have a guaranteed Amulet of Resist Slowing (half-strength and
with a cost attached, but still...) that doesn't occupy your neck slot. This
is only useful if you are sure you can get the ability without worshipping
Trog (obviously)... in other words, if you "Crusade-r against evil." I
wouldn't be surprised to learn the descriptive text was intended as a hint.
Anyway, having finally managed to get a Crusader near the Tomb, I researched
the theoretical aspects when I was bored at work yesterday, and "researched
it in practice" shortly before quitting for the night yesterday.
Theoretically, all the tools are there. Basically, higher mummy curses zap
you with random necromancy miscast effects, biased more and more towards the
worst effect types the "higher" the mummy's type is. Normally, this makes
doing the Tomb as a non-undead without summoned help infeasible, because on
the one hand your healing potions will constantly be turning into potions of
decay, and on the other hand you'll constantly be getting hit with miscast
effects that cause rotting. However, Restoration, Elyvilon's second-highest
power, cures rotting (and a whopping lot of it too).
That's for the theory. Yesterday I got about halfway into the first level and
I must say it's pretty scary... but I'm surviving. The scariest bit are the
half-health curses (at least I think that was a curse and not a "living"
Mummy Priest that launched that one). It's also scary to walk around with no
potions in my pack -- especially when I blundered and blinked my way right
into the middle of a pack of 4-5 Sphinxes. Sure, Elyvilon will provide... but
a 95+% chance of getting healed just ain't the same as a 100% chance.
But I think I'll make it.
Some tips so far for anyone who wants to follow in my tracks in the future:
- Carry plenty of survival scrolls (like teleportation and blinking); the
chances of something frying your scrolls in the Tomb are pretty low, and it
helps make up for not having potions. Of course, the usual principle of not
randomly teleporting (and you can only randomly teleport until you have the
rune) on a mostly uncleared level unless absolutely necessary still applies.
If you're fire-resistant, you might want to make one run carrying no scrolls
other than scrolls of immolation (finally a use for them!).
- Carry wands of invisibility, hasting, and healing if you've got 'em.
- Stash some potions of restore abilities by the stairs to the Tomb; you
don't want to be running around the Tomb very long with curse-ruined stats,
but only the only Elyvilon power that can restore stats is Restoration, which
has a big piety cost, so you don't want to overuse it. These potions aren't
usually too useful anyway (except when intensively summoning Horrible Things,
which you obviously won't be doing as an Elyvilon Worshipper), so now is the
time.
- Keep some levels with corpse-bearing creatures around in the vincinity;
this approach to clearing the Tomb is unusually food-intensive. Don't even
bother without an amulet of the Gourmand.
- Due to the way Elyvilon piety works, it helps to save up weapons and ammo
into piles, ready for delivery after major piety drains, rather than
continuously delivering the stuff to him as you move through the game. This
is true overall, but especially important when you reach the Tomb, since it's
a huge piety drain.
- Be resistant to negative energy; you'll be getting drained a lot both by
death curses and by the creatures that mummies summon. A good sacrifice to
make in exchange for negative energy resistant is elemental resistance; you
won't be needing it much (except maybe for resistance to cold due to summons
of freezing wraiths). See Invisible is also nice, due to this invisible,
draining Wraith type that keeps getting summoned and whose name I can't
remember. But it's not a necessity, any more than it is for Orc Wizards or
Unseen Horrors.
One final note: interestingly, I haven't been rotted a single time so far. I
wonder how long it'll hold out.
Erik
Motto: "Elyvilon the Healer is worshipped by the healers (among others), who
gain their healing powers by long worship and devotion. Although Elyvilon
prefers a creed of pacifism, those who crusade against evil are not
excluded." [...]
A while back when somebody asked if any character can do the Tomb, I mused
briefly on the possibility of doing it with a worshipper of Elyvilon. Having
only seen the names of his powers and not the details of what they did, and
not having seen exactly what higher mummy death curses do, I wasn't sure.
Now I can finally tentatively say that yes, an Elyvilon worshipper can do the
Tomb.
I got heavily into playing Crusaders around the time I thought I was about to
have my first YAVP, a DECj. I didn't YAVP, but I did discover a really cool
class in Crusaders. When it first came time for me to choose a god for a
Crusader, I said to myself "Trog no, Okawaru not really needed, Vehumet bored
to death with him, Xom no way, Nemelex someday after I retire"... until I ran
across Elyvilon and recalled my posting regarding doing the Tomb with him,
and thus chose Elyvilon.
It turned out to be a really good fit in any case, because it turns out that
his relatively cheap and early Purification power cures slowing... including
post-berserk slowing. In other words, shortly after you start worshipping
Elyvilon, you have a guaranteed Amulet of Resist Slowing (half-strength and
with a cost attached, but still...) that doesn't occupy your neck slot. This
is only useful if you are sure you can get the ability without worshipping
Trog (obviously)... in other words, if you "Crusade-r against evil." I
wouldn't be surprised to learn the descriptive text was intended as a hint.
Anyway, having finally managed to get a Crusader near the Tomb, I researched
the theoretical aspects when I was bored at work yesterday, and "researched
it in practice" shortly before quitting for the night yesterday.
Theoretically, all the tools are there. Basically, higher mummy curses zap
you with random necromancy miscast effects, biased more and more towards the
worst effect types the "higher" the mummy's type is. Normally, this makes
doing the Tomb as a non-undead without summoned help infeasible, because on
the one hand your healing potions will constantly be turning into potions of
decay, and on the other hand you'll constantly be getting hit with miscast
effects that cause rotting. However, Restoration, Elyvilon's second-highest
power, cures rotting (and a whopping lot of it too).
That's for the theory. Yesterday I got about halfway into the first level and
I must say it's pretty scary... but I'm surviving. The scariest bit are the
half-health curses (at least I think that was a curse and not a "living"
Mummy Priest that launched that one). It's also scary to walk around with no
potions in my pack -- especially when I blundered and blinked my way right
into the middle of a pack of 4-5 Sphinxes. Sure, Elyvilon will provide... but
a 95+% chance of getting healed just ain't the same as a 100% chance.
But I think I'll make it.
Some tips so far for anyone who wants to follow in my tracks in the future:
- Carry plenty of survival scrolls (like teleportation and blinking); the
chances of something frying your scrolls in the Tomb are pretty low, and it
helps make up for not having potions. Of course, the usual principle of not
randomly teleporting (and you can only randomly teleport until you have the
rune) on a mostly uncleared level unless absolutely necessary still applies.
If you're fire-resistant, you might want to make one run carrying no scrolls
other than scrolls of immolation (finally a use for them!).
- Carry wands of invisibility, hasting, and healing if you've got 'em.
- Stash some potions of restore abilities by the stairs to the Tomb; you
don't want to be running around the Tomb very long with curse-ruined stats,
but only the only Elyvilon power that can restore stats is Restoration, which
has a big piety cost, so you don't want to overuse it. These potions aren't
usually too useful anyway (except when intensively summoning Horrible Things,
which you obviously won't be doing as an Elyvilon Worshipper), so now is the
time.
- Keep some levels with corpse-bearing creatures around in the vincinity;
this approach to clearing the Tomb is unusually food-intensive. Don't even
bother without an amulet of the Gourmand.
- Due to the way Elyvilon piety works, it helps to save up weapons and ammo
into piles, ready for delivery after major piety drains, rather than
continuously delivering the stuff to him as you move through the game. This
is true overall, but especially important when you reach the Tomb, since it's
a huge piety drain.
- Be resistant to negative energy; you'll be getting drained a lot both by
death curses and by the creatures that mummies summon. A good sacrifice to
make in exchange for negative energy resistant is elemental resistance; you
won't be needing it much (except maybe for resistance to cold due to summons
of freezing wraiths). See Invisible is also nice, due to this invisible,
draining Wraith type that keeps getting summoned and whose name I can't
remember. But it's not a necessity, any more than it is for Orc Wizards or
Unseen Horrors.
One final note: interestingly, I haven't been rotted a single time so far. I
wonder how long it'll hold out.
Erik
.
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