Register new account
Edit account
Search

Ancient Domains Of Mystery, forum overview / Spoilers / Advice for potential ultra

Online users ( Unknown)
Application object not working properly at the moment, no clue who is online...

* Numbers in parentheses are the number of minutes since the user last loaded a page. Logged-in users time out after 40 minutes (unless they manually log out), lurkers and anonymous posters after 20.

Gonzo
Registered user
doctor of journalism


Last page view:

5914 days, 20 hours, 33 minutes and 46 seconds ago.
Posted on Thursday, November 08, 2007 at 07:34 (GMT -5)

Hello everybody.

I've got a potential ultra ending character. Sword born dark elven farmer that progressed nicely thanks to features of puppy cave:1 generated with a potion shop and a pool.

My character is currently level 19.
Long story short, big room is tamed, all of my stats are at 30 (except mana @ 31), I've been precrowned twice with BoW and Protector. Even pickpocketed whirlwind. I have AoLS, 2x 7LB and thanks to potion shop 5 RoDS. Pyramid is cleared.
1 wish will go for heaps of RoI, 1 for ring of weakness.

This leaves 3 unused wishes. I've got T/C and managed to learn teleport from spellbook, along with some bolt spells, light and knock.
My question is should I use one of the wishes for concentration?
Also, since I now have 2.4 mil gold and 607 blessed stomafilias, would you recommend leveling up to 24 and getting 3rd precrowning by avoiding locations that guarantee generation of further aftifacts? Game time is now at 91 days, but I'm not going to rush it as I want to be as prepaired for ultra ending as possible. I was thinking of maybe gaining xp in ID and CoC. More importantly weapon marks, since polearms are now at level 13.

Thanks for your replies in advance.
Darren Grey
Registered user

Last page view:

4211 days, 14 hours, 9 minutes and 29 seconds ago.
Posted on Thursday, November 08, 2007 at 07:59 (GMT -5)

If you intend to go ultra then save one wish for speed before you enter the gate. Another wish may be well-used on red dragon scale mails if you don't have enough fire resistance for the tower. A wish on concentration may be worth it if you have enough PP and intend to use magic a lot. However you might want to save the wish for scrolls of chaos resistance.

Getting to level 24 would take some time in non-corrupting areas. And are you sure you've counted the number of artifacts right? If you've done the pyramid and generated golden gladius, moon sickle and si, then you'd need level 30. There's also the chance of other random artifacts you haven't noticed, as well as the guaranteed ones like Nonnak's sword, the elemental gauntlets, ring of the high kings, black torc, and the orbs. Even if it were possible you can't be sure of getting a decent artifact out of it, and it could be wasted effort. Yo've been quite lucky with what you've got, so maybe you should just be happy with that :P

If polearms are level 13 then I don't see what extra training you need. Levels 14 and 15 will come naturally, there's no need to grand master them just yet. How are your bow and shield skills?

Sounds like you do have a good potential winner, but obviously remember to take things slow and don't get cocky. Be wary of corruption at the same time though - this is always a nuisance for people going for ultras.
Waldenbrook, the dwarven shopkeeper, mumbles: "I'd offer 9 gold pieces for yer dwarven child corpse."
Gonzo
Registered user
doctor of journalism


Last page view:

5914 days, 20 hours, 33 minutes and 46 seconds ago.
Posted on Thursday, November 08, 2007 at 08:26 (GMT -5)

I have 3 levels of fire resistance now, so I'm not going to waste a wish on armor. I was planing to use 1 wish for speed for Andy ;) And currently 153 PP's.

On the matter of precrowning:
Yes, I'm pretty sure, number of artifacts generated should be 5. I took healing quest obviously, farmers don't start with healing so scratch Torc. I've done 19 arena fights and delaying last one for Thrundarr's quest. I haven't ventured beyond the big room @ CoC:7 to prevent Si from being generated. This also implies Dwarven Graveyard is undiscovered.

Bow's at level 6 now, shields at 6. 91/25 DV/PV using normal tactics.
J.
Registered user
You'll never get rid of me


Last page view:

5636 days, 9 hours, 3 minutes and 49 seconds ago.
Posted on Thursday, November 08, 2007 at 09:43 (GMT -5)

Getting from 19 to 24 sounds EXTREMELY BORING to me, if you can't go past the big room, or visit darkforge for quick exp... I think it would mean MANY real time hours of the last cavernous level of the high king's tomb. Probably a better idea would be to go semi-deep into the ID, maybe do some stairhopping for tension rooms, I dunno.

If you have a penetrating weapon, you could even try killing Blup's mom in the dark... But that would probably get you killed, as you won't harm her fast enough, then she flees the dark space...

Who is of the shop-robbing kind? Do shopkeepers give good exp?
If you're feeling happy, don't worry, it'll go away.

Originally posted by noob: "I'm everytime amazed how you people know to exploit every single little bug (or not-bug) for elaborated scumming tatics even if the feature seems completely useless or bad."
Portrait
**cHAoTicChaOs**
Registered user
Chaotic Awesome


Last page view:

5960 days, 8 hours, 25 minutes and 4 seconds ago.
Posted on Thursday, November 08, 2007 at 17:50 (GMT -5)

Shopkeepers give good exp! but dont rob that potion shop - too valuable to keep, With Bows trained a bit, you could try to take out some of the top level of the ClawBugTemple..

All the assassins in the Dusty Cave..

If your big on gaining Exp, you could grab a spellbook of Slow Monster, casting it upon yourself before finishing off your Targets.

Have you got Contstructy Slaying arrows? you could take that lovely gear to the Darkforge - allways good place for exp.
.vultuous.
Darren Grey
Registered user

Last page view:

4211 days, 14 hours, 9 minutes and 29 seconds ago.
Posted on Thursday, November 08, 2007 at 18:07 (GMT -5)

I'd recommend training shields up if you have a good one. Best way to do this in my experience is get a spider factory going in the big room, wield two shields on very aggressive tactics, replace items that give lots of DV with more PV-based items, and keep resting whilst you gain tonnes of marks. Once the spiders in direct contact stop giving more marks pop them off with missiles and keep going. Your bow skill will need more training over time, and I'd recommend you invest several talents into them (since the missile talents are some of the best available, especially Fast/Lightning Shot).

With that amount of PP, and considering you're a dark elf, then a wish for Concentration would be wise. Archery can be nice to have as well, though whether it merits a wish or not depends on your playstyle.

Shopkeepers aren't great for experience considering how hard they are to kill (except Casino shopkeeper, who's normally worth a couple of levels). Caverns of the high kings dungeon and ID tension rooms are probably the quickest ways, and both would take some time. Slowing yourself by various means (especially the spell) would help gain xp that little bit faster.
Waldenbrook, the dwarven shopkeeper, mumbles: "I'd offer 9 gold pieces for yer dwarven child corpse."
vogonpoet
Registered user

Last page view:

4928 days, 21 hours, 40 minutes and 13 seconds ago.
Posted on Friday, November 09, 2007 at 02:32 (GMT -5)

Sounds to me like you could safely just get on with the game. BoW and Protector, awesome. Its a long way from 19 to 24...go deep enough into ID, you might get yourself a randomly generated artifact anyway...

Ive never done an ULtra, but there are an awful lot of monsters between the big room and CoC50, plenty of time to train both your shields and your missiles surely?
Gonzo
Registered user
doctor of journalism


Last page view:

5914 days, 20 hours, 33 minutes and 46 seconds ago.
Posted on Friday, November 09, 2007 at 03:36 (GMT -5)

To cHAoTicChaOs: killing Assassins is out of the question, I chose one for my 1st kill and I'm being very careful not to increase that kill counter. So far this gives me Filk on ID:2.

To Darren Grey: I agree, investing talents into missiles is indeed a good idea. Farmers start the game with Archery skill anyway ;) Sadly I haven't got Slow Monster spellbook yet.

I'm pretty reluctant to venture deeper to avoid background corruptions. I'll stick to upper levels of ID and periodically revisit my potion shop training shields and bows for now, till I eventually get bored of it.

Thanks for replies everybody.
Silfir
Registered user
Writer of Overly Long Guides


Last page view:

4040 days, 14 hours, 51 minutes and 39 seconds ago.
Posted on Friday, November 09, 2007 at 05:44 (GMT -5)

It's a moot point now, but remember that Lightning Shot and Eagle Eye have a high Archery skill as prerequisite. On its own, the skill is rather useless (+5 to hit and +2 to damage at 100 for non-archers).
You drop the golden ball.
You kick the golden ball. It slides to the west.
Suddenly Harry Potter, the apprentice wizard, appears! "That's not how you play Quidditch! are you even listening?"
Which direction? (123456789) 4
Harry Potter, the apprentice wizard, is hit by a bolt of acid! Harry Potter, the apprentice wizard, is annihilated.
You hear the ecstatic cries of a large crowd!
Molach
Registered user
Lord of DurisMud


Last page view:

5113 days, 20 hours, 3 minutes and 52 seconds ago.
Posted on Friday, November 09, 2007 at 08:19 (GMT -5)

You need 23 for precrown, not 24.

But forget it is perfectly safe. Can't think of much you really need - ring of immunity or preserver, mabye long sting, or some nice humanoid slayer backup weapons (but this will not be polearm, sadly).

DO wish for concentration, and a ring of weakness sounds good too (be careful, burden and air-kicking can kill you). If you haven't found any yet, rings of slaying will help you through the mid-game untill you get a better melee weapon (you didn't say what you're using). But that is a luxury, you will surely find them later on. But you will also find ring of ice, and you certainly do NOT need this to kill the Chaos Wyrm.

You could instead wish for dodge, great skill , make you very hard to hit with anything along with alertness, and it also opens up dodger talent.

And of course save one wish for amulet of life saving when that time comes.

Speed for final fight - mabye, but surely you have stashed some potions of boost speed by now? They work fine for final fight as well.

Good luck onwards.
Portrait
Soirana
Registered user
Chaos Freak


Last page view:

4121 days, 19 hours, 26 minutes and 20 seconds ago.
Posted on Friday, November 09, 2007 at 09:46 (GMT -5)

wishing for dodge never really paid off for me. It usually ends stuck in 60ties.
A root is a flower that disdains fame.
Kahlil Gibran(1883-1931)
Portrait
gut
Registered user
Painted this one too.


Last page view:

4869 days, 16 hours, 26 minutes and 25 seconds ago.
Posted on Sunday, November 11, 2007 at 02:13 (GMT -5)

I recently posted on rec.games.roguelike.adom
an explanation of how to clear the BUGWIL to
the down staircase, even with a level 1 spell-
caster. You could have a look at that for a
pretty safe way to gain quick exp. levels.
If you decide to try it though, you should
save your present character, then generate a
new character and practice first with him.
After you get the hang of it, you might find
yourself doing this regularly to get your
spellcasting characters off to a quick start.
Put me in the 'fool filter', where I belong!
Gozer
Unregistered user
Posted on Sunday, November 11, 2007 at 03:27 (GMT -5)

I agree with Vogonpoet - get on with the game. Another precrowning is unlikely to make much difference. With the equipment that you already have, you will probably only die if you make a bad mistake or suffer some terrible luck - an extra artifact is unlikely to make much difference in those circumstances.

I largely agree with the wishing suggestions that others have already posted, although wishing for speed at the end is a bit of a luxury - fine if you have wishes to burn, but I wouldn't go out of your way to save a wish just for that.

Don't forget to save as many of your wishes as you can since you may need them for some of the Old Crone quest items. Finally, wands of paralyzation and/or poison can also be immensely useful when tackling particularly difficult monsters (specifically ACW).
F50
Registered user

Last page view:

5448 days, 5 hours, 34 minutes and 57 seconds ago.
Posted on Tuesday, November 13, 2007 at 08:58 (GMT -5)

Paralyzation is also invaluable with the Cat Lord and Andy
"If the bread weights that much in the draklor chain, then it's no wonder so many die of starvation.
AND - what kind of IRON RATION weights as much as an iron shield?! A dinner for four, oven included? ;)"

-Maelstrom
Gonzo
Registered user
doctor of journalism


Last page view:

5914 days, 20 hours, 33 minutes and 46 seconds ago.
Posted on Thursday, November 15, 2007 at 08:57 (GMT -5)

Here's a brief update on progress of my char:

Despite your advice I continued grinding ID:9 all the way to level 23. Yes it was tedious, thanks for asking. Wearing ring of weakness all the time and using blessed girdle of greed I was able to keep char at strained! most of the time to train str. Occasionally visiting potion shop in PC:1. This gave some nice stat increases to str, as well as several PoGA, another pair of 7LB and by abusing baby dragons which double your gold if they pick it up I exited ID:9 with 2.7 mil gold (left 2.4 mil along with unnecessary items in the room across master thief). Using PoEx I managed to swap 61 str at the place of toughness attribute.;)
Also I managed to get mastery in both shields and bows.

And as for 3rd precrowning, seems RNG awards persistence - I got PRESERVER !!! \o/
I wasn't sure exactly how much I had to sacrifice, so I dumped 1 mil gold on altar, which led me to 'absolutely close'. To remedy this I had to slay few beggars in holeinthewall to get to not-so-N= status. Fortunately I didn't pray immediately, that would get me crowned and ruined any chance of doing ultra with this one.

Moral of the story? Don't give up just because it's boring sometimes ;)
PS: RNG please don't kill me if you're reading this.
Darren Grey
Registered user

Last page view:

4211 days, 14 hours, 9 minutes and 29 seconds ago.
Posted on Thursday, November 15, 2007 at 14:01 (GMT -5)

Hah, man, that's one nice piece of luck all right. Only thing you're missing now is an awesome one-handed artifact weapon, though hopefully one will come along in due course. Best of luck with the rest of the game now!
Waldenbrook, the dwarven shopkeeper, mumbles: "I'd offer 9 gold pieces for yer dwarven child corpse."
Xevoc
Unregistered user
Posted on Thursday, November 15, 2007 at 14:39 (GMT -5)

I've finished the game with much worse characters. Save wishes for things like scroll of danger, giant boar skull, etc, because you might not want to try to find them if RNG doesn't like you. Finish the game already and stop wasting your real life time. :)

Color mixer:
Red: Green: Blue: HTML color code: result:      
Your Name: Check to login:

Your Message:


Read the
formating help
Are you a spambot? Yes No Maybe Huh?
Create poll? Yes No   What is this?
Poll question: