Ancient Domains Of Mystery, forum overview / Spoilers / Troll Guide!
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This thing is just hanging around my hardrive, and I'm having trouble working up the motivation to finish it. That's why I decided to post what I have, and hope to get some comments and other thoughts that will get me going a bit : ) If there are some parts in here that conflict or seem silly (stupid), let me know. I didn't give it the world's best proofreading before posting it. Don't hesitate with comments/critisisms. ------------------------- CONTENTS ------------------------- 1. INTRODUCTION 2. TROLL DISADVANTAGES 3. TROLL ADVANTAGES 4. CLASS EVALUATIONS 5. HOW TO FIX A TROLL 6. WALKTHROUGH ------------------------ 1. INTRODUCTION ------------------------ You is troll. Well, perhaps you is thinking about being a troll, but you don't like the drawbacks. This guide will hopefully give a few ideas about how to deal with the... well, trollness of trolls. This will be written, mainly for the player that has no ADOM victory yet, but it should be worth a read for those who have. In general, the class of your PC is much more important than your race choice in ADOM. The troll race is the exception. They have many universal problems and advantages, regardless of their class: ---------------------------- 2. TROLL DISADVANTAGES --------------------------- So why is it that trolls are under-rated? It is because they have many drawbacks. Every race has some, but trolls have a lot. It doesn't take a long time to fix the troll's disadvantages though, and it's not even boring. Most players just figure that it is easier to fix the other races problems, and leave trolls alone. Here the troublemakers are: Experience points - Trolls need an insane amount of exp. points to level up. You may very well find yourself in the ludicrous position of having to clear Darkforge, in order to just reach exp. level 13, to gain entry to the pyramid. This can really depreciate the value of the Ancient Mummy Wrapping for the mid-game, as Darkforge usually holds better (not to mention smithable) armor. You have to accept early on, that you will be facing many game challenges at very low exp. levels. That means that your enemies will have more success with their bolt spells, confusion, paralyzation, and aging attacks (a troll's worst nightmare). Stats - A troll's learning stat is miserable, and many of their other stats leave a lot to be desired as well (Wi, De, and Ma to name a few). You will have quite a bit of work ahead of you, to fix most of these. The low LE will cause drawbacks like initial illiteracy, and minimal skill increases at exp. level-ups. The low Wi stat means that any monster that tries to confuse you, will succede. Also, if your troll is a spellcaster, your bolts will have a pitiful range, and be underpowered to boot. The low De stat will hinder your dodging abilities, and that's especially bothersome against undead. The paralyzing, and aging attacks can kill your troll quickly, and the stat draining can make you 'Q'uit your own game out of disgust. The low MA is really only a problem for spellcasters. Low CH and AP stats will cause shop prices to be pathetic. Illiteracy - Quite likely for non-spellcasting trolls. You will have to go through much of the early game without scrolls. This can be cumbersome, because in ADOM, items are very important. Without scrolls of identify, you will not have access to some early-game life-saving items like potions of healing. Experimenting with wands is usually safe enough, but experimenting with potions can be a very bad idea. You can wind up draining your stats, or worse re-aranging them. You do not want your troll having Ap 25 and To 4. You will just have to do without early-game knowledge of those life-saving potions. Metabolism - Trolls need lots of food. PP's regen rate - Worst in the game. You can increase your stats easily enough, but your regen rate is another matter. If you don't have the concentration skill, it will seem as though you never regenerate PP's. Summary - These drawbacks do not represent a big problem for the early game, but (unless fixed) could cause big problems for mid and late game PC's. ------------------------- 3. TROLL ADVANTAGES ------------------------- After reading all that mess, why should anyone want to play as a troll? I have thought of six. Troll advantages, regardless of class: Strength - Even a troll wizard, can melee his way through the early game without breaking a sweat. The carrying cappacity is pretty nice also. Being able to carry a large inventory can increase the chances of finding that club of penetration, or short sword of the eagle that can be so helpful. Also, if one is open-minded about the tactic of starvation scumming, it is possible to quickly gain an extremely high St stat. Other races start from a lower point, so it would take quite a few ogre corpses to get their St to 25. Trolls might start with St at 25, so with starvation scumming, they could easily get their St in the 30's. Toughness - You get 1 PV point when your To stat hits 20, and 1 more point of PV for every 2 points of To after that. This means that if your troll starts the game with a To stat of 30, you will start with 6 intrinsic PV points, plus whatever your equipment yeilds. So trolls can start the game with VERY respectable PV : ) You have plenty of HP's to work with also, this greatly increases your chances of early game survival. Hidden traps that would kill an elf, will barely scratch a troll. Skills - Atletics, Bridge Building, Food Preservation, Gemology, and Mining. They make up one of the best race skill sets in the game. Athletics compliments any class nicely. Food Preservation is one of the best skills in the game, giving many potential stat increases, and intrinsic elemental resistances, from increased corpse generation. Gemology and mining are highly exploitable, useful for aquiring beneficial magic crystals. Exp. level restricted quests - Retrieving the waterproof blanket from the SMC is a luxury that many players have just learned to live without. The SMC gets very dangerous very quickly, depending on your PC's exp. level, so trolls have a big advantage here. Fighting the Raider Lord with an exp. level 5 PC can be dangerous for some PC's, but not trolls. Most trolls can do that quest safely, even at exp. level 3. When you persue the black druid quest, he will be generated at approximately the same exp. level that your PC is, so once again, trolls have an advantage over other races. Other races usually find the Pyramid to be a challenge at exp. level 13, trolls plow through it with no trouble. There is also the level restriction for the minotaur maze, and as a troll, you will probably be extremely powerful at that stage in the game. Healing rate - A troll's fast healing rate will give an increased chance of surviving early-game monsters, poisoning, traps, sickness, and so on. In fact, a troll's healing rate is so fast, that you don't really NEED the healing skill at all. There is no other race in the game, that you can say that about. With a troll, you have maximum flexibility with regard to the Terinyo quests. If your PC starts with niether healing nor herbalism, you can choose herbalism with little regret. Your internal healing will serve you well enough, until you find healing herbs, you'll just need to be a bit more careful about healing up after each battle. A good spenseweed patch will see you through the game for sure, but a passive healing skill is a nice convenience feature that should not be under-valued. Experimentation - I advise total ADOM newbies to play troll healers, at least until they learn the game keys. The same goes for any class you may be curious about, but aren't yet skilled enough to keep alive very long. Mindcrafters, merchants, thieves, assasins, necromancers, and yea even wizards, have a tendancy to die like flies if you don't know all the tricks yet. Thanks to the troll race, these classes are off limits to none. Just roll yourself up an incredible-hulk mindcrafter, and mindlessly bash your way through the early game. After that, you can beef up your PC's stats, and have much fun playing with your special powers. I advise all (but especially new) players to ROLL SCUM trolls. Trolls really only have two massively strong points, strength and toughness. If you are playing a race JUST for their amazing St and To, then roll a PC with lousy St and To, that's just defeating the WHOLE purpose of chosing that race in the first place! If you roll a trollish fighter that starts with St 18 and To 20, you will naturally have a low opinion of trolls. Roll that same race/class combo with St 29 and To 31, and see if your opinion doesn't change a bit. To me, there is little since in crippling a PC, then complaining about the PC. I know others have different opinions though. --------------------------------- 4. CLASS EVALUATIONS --------------------------------- In each class evaluation, I will give a brief list of what I consider to be good stats for them. The guidebook already has info such as:
St Le Wi Dx To Ch Ap Ma Pe Total
Troll 18 5 8 8 18 6 5 6 7 - 9
Archer: +1 0 0 +4 0 0 +1 0 +3 + 9
Meaning that a trollish archer might start out with approximate stats like:
St Le Wi Dx To Ch Ap Ma Pe
19 5 8 12 18 6 6 6 10
I think that particular troll archer should suffer death by Shift-Q. Trolls actually make decent archers, due to an abundant primary ammo supply (rocks) and the fact that there are herbs to eventually fix the trolls De stat, but in the early-game, a troll archer will rely heavily on melee. In my opinion, a good rule of thumb is to take the baseline stats for each troll class, add ~7 to the St and To stats, and disregard all others. That should make for an acceptable troll in most cases, but there are exceptions. A troll archer may want at least SOME starting De, and a wizard/mindcrafter may want SOME Wi and Ma. I will give my opinion of acceptable stats for each class, in their respective evaluations. One other thing to consider, when roll scumming trolls, is how highly you regard starting out with the literacy skill. If starting out literate is important to you, it usually takes ~1 minute of rolling to get it for most classes. All most classes need is for their starting Le stat to be 10, though troll barbarians will never start out literate, regardless of their initial Le stat. Persuing literacy comes with a cost though, as you can't expect all your stats to be amazing, you will have to give up some physical stats as a trade. Personally, I don't feel it is a good idea to trade even ~5 stat points for literacy. That skill is available to you shortly after reaching Dwarftown, and that's not really far for a troll : ) All stat evaluations I list are based on the preferance of NOT scumming for the literacy skill. One MORE thing to consider (last one, I promise), is the effect of scumming for a specific star sign. Some classes start out with niether the healing or herbalism skill, and for them, roll scumming for the candle star sign is a tempting option. This will also mean taking a hit to the physical stats though, and in the long run it's usually not worth it. Trolls have an acceptable healing rate, and I recommend that all PC's that have to chose between healing and herbalism, chose herbalism. All stat evaluations I list are based on the preferance of NOT scumming for a specific star sign. All trolls start with a heavy club, thick furs, and some food, so I won't mention those for each class. I will only mention if they don't start with them. <Archer> Notable starting equipment: ~7 throwing clubs Troll archers really get screwed here. Even troll barbarians start with something like 40 rocks! For comparison, gray elven archers start with a long bow, a horde of arrows, and elven chain mail to boot! Oh well, he'll be a beast anyway : ) Notable added skills: Stealth, Alertness, Archery, Concentration, Dodge, and Fletchery. Pros: It doesn't take long to get some decent missiles (rocks) because PC:2 is full of them. Your real power boost will come after finding moss of mareilion. After that, you will be on your way to greatness. The De boost will not only improve your DV, but will drastically improve your missile attacks. This will turn you into a true killing machine. The archer's skillset includes both dodge, and alertness, these will help you dodge incoming bolts and missiles, so are very handy. You also get the concentration skill, which opens the door for some spellcasting (much!) later. Also, their class powers are considered by many (me included), to be the best in the game. Archery is *the* method for killing bosses. Also, archers can take great advantage of the 'coward bonus' (the reduction to movement energy cost, that comes from having less than 1/3 HP's). Using hit and run tactics will allow archers to survive many tough situations. Cons: As an archer, you would expect ARCHERY to be your main source of offense. As a troll though, your initial missile damage is not so good, due to a low initial De stat, and poor starting missiles. You will have to rely mainly on bashing things in melee, not a big deal though, as your bash should work nicely. You will also probably have to switch your primary missile type at some point in the game, so as to be able to utilize slaying ammo, which is not available in 'thrown rock' form. Archers may also have some ammo problems in the ToEF, unless they find a ring of ice somewhere. Rocks are pretty resistant to heat though, so a troll can always fall back on those. Archers start the game without healing or herbalism, so you will have a tough choice to make. Summary: A good class for a troll. The skillset is complimentary, the troll's low Le stat has little impact, and your low De stat is quite likely to be fixed in short order. Your fast healing, and powerful melee will see you through the early game. Good archer stats - St 25 To 24 (De ~12) <Assasin> Notable starting equipment - ~7 daggers, hood, gloves, leather boots, hooded cloak, and two potions of poison. Still, a bit below average. Elves once again get elven chain mail. *weep* Notable added skills - Backstabbing, Detect Traps, Pick Locks, Stealth, Two Weapon Combat, Alchemy, Alertness, Archery, Dodge, Find Weakness. Pros: Goodness! What a skillset! The troll assasin's list of amazing skills just keeps going, and going, and going. Wow! The combination of archery and find weakness will allow great results with missiles. Dodge and alertness helps with defense. If used properly, detect traps and pick locks can drastically reduce equipment destruction. The alchemy skill will help enormously with lifespan problems in the mid and late-game, and eventually, alchemy can be used offensively to create PP's free fireballs! These skills, combined with nice (fun) class powers, and an abundant supply of poison, make great compliments to the troll race. Oh yeah, and assasins are cool : ) Cons: There are a few great skills missing, healing, herbalism, and Concentration. No concentration is not that big of a problem, as this is not a spellcasting class, so you will mainly be relying on wands anyway. Still, your PP's regeneration will be absolutely horrible. Even casting an occasional utility spell can be frustrating when your PP's seem to never recover at all. Trolls aren't the smartest PC's around, so training up those nice skills will seem to go agonizingly slow at times. Summary: As a fighting machine, trollish assasins are great. Their skillset makes them powerful in melee and archery, and gives some eventual protection from aging attacks. Having to chose between healing and herbalism is a pain though. Good assasin stats - St 26 To 26 <Barbarian> Notable starting equipment - ~50 rocks. Notable added skills - Herbalism, swimming, dodge. Pros: Finally, you don't have to live without herbalism or healing! That alone makes this a nice melee class. Their class powers are super. The exp. level 6 class power 'mighty blow' is amazing when combined with the melee prowess of a troll. The faster movement class power at exp. level 12 is also super sweet, and is almost as good as a pair of 7LB's! Trolls have natural talent with two-handed weapons, a good weapon choice for a barbarian. Cons: If you don't fix your Dx stat, you may wind up getting your St and To drained. That can be a game ender... out of disgust. You probably won't be doing much spellcasting with this dolt either, they just don't have the brains until quite late in the game. They don't have the skillset of an assasin, the only really good one is herbalism. Summary: A monster of a PC, that can lay a whoopin' on just about anything you come across. With a few precautions when dealing with undead, they should make for likely winners. Good barbarian stats - St 30 To 28 ! <Bard> Notable starting equipment - torches, instruments, wand of light. Notable added skills - Kind of difficult to predict... but at least your sure of music : ) Pros: The bard class compliments the troll skillset *VERY* nicely. One of the strengths of bards AND trolls is their skillsets, but trolls are normally so dumb, that it's hard to train their skills to high levels. Bards though, get an extra 2 (!) skill increases per exp. level, and always start with AMAZING (4d4 and 4d5!) modifiers to their skills. This can be extrememly helpful for trolls. For example, quickly raising the food preservation skill to 100 is VERY productive in terms of early-game resistances and stat increases. Bards also have a four-star set of class powers as well. These will give a boost to your skill training, HP and PP regen, spell knowledge, and even some stat increases. Cons: Do you really picture your TROLL ~frolicking~ through the meadows, singing a charming song to his cave bear (or worse, killer bug) companion, as he periodically stops to smash the bloody pulp out of random monsters? Seriously though, melee will probably be your best offense for a while, because spellcasting and missile attacks will be rather limited. Only problem is, that bards aren't usually built as melee specialists. Most of the time, you will miss out on the sweet bard heir gift of 7LB's, because trolls rarely get 3 starting talents. Roll scumming is split between stats and skills, so you will probably wind up with rather average stats, just to get the skills you like. Summary: As always with bards, it depends on your skills. Good bard stats - St 24 To 25 <Beastfighter> Notable starting equipment - A horde of food. Notable added skills - Healing, herbalism, swimming, dodge. Pros: You get both healing and herbalism, so you have maximum flexibility with the Terinyo quests. To me, this means that you have access to a guaranteed wand of cold from Guth Alak, with no down side. Beastfighters in general can become very powerful, dealing well over 100 HP's of damage with each hit in the late-game. They have solid class powers that include faster movement. Cons: A beasfighter's melee abilities are partially based on their exp. level. Since trolls have problems gaining exp. levels, you may feel like you are missing out to a large extent. A beastfighter should always fight bare-handed, so this means you are near guaranteed to find an eternium two-handed sword of devastation in Darkforge. When this happens, just ignore it and try to recall the more pleasant moments in life. Your spellcasting and missile attacks will be limited. Summary: As I see it, there isn't enough reason to pick a beastfighter over a barbarian. Having your attack power highly based upon level-ups just isn't a good compliment to the troll race. The fact that they start out with the healing skill isn't that important for a troll, because gaining a means of healing is just not that big of a task for trolls. Good beastfighter stats - St 30 To 30 (Hey, they have a lot going against them.) <Druid> Notable starting equipment - hood, light cloak, wooden shield, two potions, spellbook of devine wrath. Notable added skills - Healing, herbalism, literacy, swimming, concentration. Pros: I believe troll druids may be the 'most likely to survive' race/class combo available in the whole game of ADOM. A troll has natural early-game survivability due to high strength, toughness, HP's, and regen rate. A druid's nice skillset provides flexibility and spellcasting. A druid is quite likely to find early spellbooks that aid survival, such as cure light wounds, cure disease, neutralize poison, darkness, destroy undead (for the ghost bats: )), invisibility, bless, and so on, and these will help tremendously with the early, mid and even late-game. With a bit of stair hopping in the ID, trollish druids become very durable, very quickly. A starting neutral alignment can be seen as a plus, as that provides quest flexibility. Having animals generated as non-hostiles also helps with early-game survival in a number of different ways (also makes it easier to get the RotMC). Since a troll has the gemology skill, and ants are freindly to druids, scumming PC:2 for gems is a very good option for the early-game. Gems provide many benefits, including an early source of cash. Cons: A druid's class powers can be best described in the words of Silfir, they "suck donkey". Also, a druid is a 'semi-spellcaster', which means you gain weapon skill marks 50% more slowly than true melee classes. Summary: A great (probably the best) choice for those who want to AVOID DYING. Good druid stats - St 24 Le 7 To 26 (I say screw Wi and Ma) <Elementalist> Notable starting equipment - robe, boots/sandals, no club, dagger, two rings (I think one is guaranteed to be fire resistance), ~3 wands, ~3 potions, ~2 scrolls, no raw meat. Notable added skills - Healing, literacy, swimming, concentration, gemology. Pros: Starts with healing. Doesn't have to learn spells from books, as elementalists gain spell knowledge automatically upon exp. level ups. For a troll, that can seem like a nice feature, because they are so uber-stupid they have trouble learning anything from anywhere. On the other hand, trolls level up so slowly, your spells run out pretty quickly. At least you will start out literate. Cons: Skill modifiers stink. Combine this with a troll's whopping 3 skill increases per exp. level up, and your skills will stay horrible for a long time to come. It's not exactly fun to play a spellcaster that has a literacy skill stuck at 54, and a concentration skill stuck at 67. Not fun at all! Your race based skills fare no better, food preservation at 55 is not very helpful. The elementalist's class power of 'fire resistance' simply doesn't work. There is no way to make it work, it's a bug in the game. Elementalists are 'true spellcasters', which means that they gain weapon marks twice as slowly as melee fighters. Elementalist is the Ancardian word for crap. Summary: The elementalist class does not compliment trolls. Good elementalist stats - St 99 To 99 <Farmer> Notable starting equipment - hood, cooking set, fletchery set, herb seeds (!), extra food. Notable added skills - Herbalism, gardening, archery, cooking, fletchery. Pros: Starting with the herbalism skill means you need only acquire healing to have the set, and the healing quest is really easy for a troll. Starting with herb seeds and the gardening skill is a fantastic benefit for a troll. It is possible to raise your gardening skill past 80, plant yourself a row of morgia/moss or moss/spenseweed and beef your troll up to amazing levels in the early-game. Farmers have solid missile and melee abilities. Cons: If one doesn't care much for the idea of early farming, this class loses some (most) of it's appeal. Their class powers are mediocre. Summary: If you don't mind spending a bit of time buffing the PC, this is a solid option. Good farmer stats - St 29 (Starting De and To stats don't matter if you plan to farm the proper herbs, so feel free to concentrate on St) <Fighter> Notable starting equipment - none Notable added skills - Archery, dodge, find weakness. Pros: Well, they get enough skills to make them strong in melee and missiles. They get decent starting physical stats. That's just about it. Cons: Mediocre class powers, as the small % bonus to PV rarely even registers. No nice starting equipment, like other race's fighters get. The skillset includes niether healing nor herbalism. They have smaller boosts to St and To than barbarians and beastfighters... who would have been better choices anyway. Fighters actually only get +1 to the To stat, that's half of a druid's +2 and one forth of a healer's +4... goodness. I guess fighter is the Ancardian word for wimp. Summary: There are other fighter classes that fit trolls better. Since the only things you get from these guys are St and To, you better get all you can! Good fighter stats - St 29 To 27 It will take quite a bit of rolling to get this. <Healer> Notable starting equipment - stethascope, scalpel, bandages, ~3 potions of extra healing, Notable added skills - Healing, herbalism, literacy, alertness, concentration, cooking, find weakness. Pros: Great skillset! It helps with fighting, defense, eventual spellcasting, surviving, and with healing AND herbalism, provides maximum flexibility. The healers class powers are very nice, providing 2x and 3x healing rate with the first two powers! Troll healers born in the month of candle will enjoy a healing rate that has often been described as 'almost cheating'. They have nice potential for spellcasting, yet do not suffer from a spellcaster's handicap in gaining weapon marks. Nice. Healers start out literate, regardless of your Le stat, so you can feel free to focus on your physical stats. Since troll healers CAN start with a To stat of 34 (or higher) that makes what, 8 free points of starting PV?! Wow! Healers also get a nice starting boost to the Wi stat. The immune to pain is one of the best talents in the game (as it even counts as a source of fire resistance in the ToEF), and having To and Wi at 15 is a requirement for it. This makes the immune to pain talent more likely for a troll healer to achieve in time for the ToEF, than any other class in the game. Cons: Let's see here... they don't have the archery talent... I suppose that's one. Summary: One of the best choices for your troll. Good healer stats - St 26 To 29 <Merchant> Notable starting equipment - leather boots, assortment of specialized items. Notable added skills - Herbalism, Gemology, literacy, appraising, detect item status, (possibly alchemy). Pros: You specialize in one item type, so you start with some of them, and ID them on sight. Merchants all start literate, so you can use scrolls right away, regardless of your Le stat. If your specialty is potions, you get the alchemy skill, which can help counter aging attacks. You will find more shops throughout the game. You will get better prices in shops. You get herbalism, so the healing skill isn't far away. Cons: You do not get any good bonus to any of your starting stats. You can't make much use of a merchant's coin throw ability, because a troll's lousy De stat limits the damage. The lower shop prices still do not yeild great shop prices for trolls. Not the best skill set. Not the best class power set. Summary: Trolls make lousy merchants. They SHOULD be lousy merchants though, when you think about it : ) Good merchant stats - There are no such things as good merchant stats. <Mindcrafter> Notable starting equipment - sandals, quarterstaff, ~2 rings, ~2 wands, ~2 potions, ~2 scrolls, Notable added skills - Herbalism, gemology, literacy, concentration, music. Pros: Mindcrafting is fun to play with if you haven't done it yet (and even if you have: )). Trolls offer a way to get one of these anemic PC's to live long enough to actually enjoy it. You get herbalism, so healing is quickly available. The first mindcrafting power you get is a confusion attack, which is surprisingly good, even if you won't have the PP to enjoy the other powers very often, you can at least make use of this one. Starting out with literacy is nice. Cons: This isn't the most powerful class for a troll, so you won't plow through monsters like you would with a barbarian. Mindcrafting does not train the Ma stat, so you will still have to use magic for that. Mindcrafters have mediocre modifiers to most of their skills. Oh yeah, mindcrafters can't (hardly) ever learn spells. This seems like a cruel joke, and who knows, it probably is : ) The work around is to zap wands, and drink potions of 'wonder' to learn basic knowledge of a spell, then bookcast from the matching spellbook. It's not easy or fast, but it's possible. Your pysical stats enjoy no initial boost from this class, in fact, they get drained to the tune of -4! Oh well, St and To aren't the point of mindcrafters anyway. Summary: Only play this PC for a challenge, or to explore mindcrafting a bit. Good mindcrafter stats - St 21 To 23 (You will probably want some Wi and Ma here.) <Monk> Notable starting equipment - none Notable added skills - Alertness, concentration, healing, literacy, dodge, find weakness. Pros: Great skillset (with respectable modifiers) provides excellent melee abilities, and possible future spellcasting. The documented class power of lower energy cost for movement is nice. The UN-documented exp. level 13 class power of being able to kick down walls is also nice, as trolls have the gemology skill, and can therefore generate gems this way. Monks are great at unarmed fighting, but they don't suffer the weapon penalties that beastfighters do, so feel free to use whatever weapons you like. Monks have lower food costs than other classes, and this balances a troll's metabolism. You get the healing skill by default, so you can feel free to chat first with the druid. Cons: Most of the class powers are mediocre, you don't often need to change positions with hostile monsters, you will never use circular kicks, etc. The faster movement power is slow to come, and The wall destroying class power comes only after you would have access to pickaxes anyway. Summary: A good choice if you like what they specifically have to offer. The full set of melee based skills, plus concentration. I would personally chose other classes. Healers have nearly the same notable skills (except dodge) and they have amazing class powers to boot. Good monk stats - St 26 To 25 <Necromancer> Notable starting equipment - black robe, heavy SKULL club, sandals, skull staff, 1 ring, ~4 potions, ~2 scrolls, spellbook of frost bolt. Notable added skills - Herbalism, literacy, alchemy, concentration, dodge, find weakness, and uh, necromancy. Pros: Necros are cool. They can eventually learn to cheat death, even to the point of imortality (well, sometimes). They're skills offer a lot of flexibility, and add up to a very powerful set overall. Herbalism allows you to aquire healing, literacy allows scrolls, alchemy leads to all kinds of fun stuff, find weakness is a boon to melee and missile attacks, and the necromancy skill can make you safer through enslaving the dead. Having access to spells is a great benefit in ADOM, and necros get their fair share of books. Late game necromancy can create some uber-powerful slaves. Cons: They suffer from the melee-weapon-marks-handicap as wizards, so they are twice as slow as most PC's to gain proficiency levels. Necromancers join mindcrafters and elementalists in the running for 'class with the worst skill modifiers in the entire game of ADOM'. This may not seem like a big deal, but when those skills hang at ~50, you are missing out on a lot. Necros do not have any PP's-reducing class powers like wizards and priests do, and trolls can really benefit from those. Sometimes, dealing with companions can be irritating. Summary: A think a necro is a good choice for a troll spellcaster. Your troll spellcaster is naturally going to rely more on muscle than magic, at least in the early and mid-game. Chosing a class that has the Find Weakness skill, rather than magic boosting class powers, is a decision that makes sense for trolls. Besides, if you want to play with some undead slaves, and can't seem to keep any other race of necro alive, trolls are the only choice left : ) Good necromancer stats - St 23 To 25 <Paladin> Notable starting equipment - short sword, and a holy symbol Notable added skills - Healing, literacy, swimming, concentration, dodge. Pros: Some OK skills. Cons: I'm just going to say it. Troll paladins suck. They get slighted in nearly every way. Other classes have better skills, better class powers, decent boosts to starting physical stats, everything. To top it all off, other races of paladin (like dwarves, for example) actually get decent starting equipment, trolls get a short sword. Ugh. Summary: Stay away. Stay away! Good paladin stats - St 26 To 24 <Priest> Notable starting equipment - Holy symbol, potions (that may include holy water!), a scroll, and a book. Notable added skills - Healing, herbalism, literacy, concentration, detect item status, music. Pros: Troll priests get some nice PP's-reducing class powers, eventually, which a spellcasting troll will need. They sometimes start with holy water, which can be used as a dipping source for other potions of water. This can lead to a large supply of holy water early in the game, which is nice for improving scrolls, potions, rings, etc. The detect item skill has a great modifier, and is easily trained to high levels, so it is very effective. Knowing the status of items can help you make decisions about what equipment to risk equip-ID'ing. Cons: Their skillset is inferior to that of wizards. Music and Detect-items falls far short of alchemy and ventriloquism in my book. Thier class powers are inferior to wizards, because even though they ultimately get a larger reduction to PP's costs than wizards, those powers come at later EXP. LEVELS than a wizard's. This is VERY bad for trolls! Priests aren't even guaranteed to start out with an offensive spellbook, and that's bad news for a primary spellcaster. Their melee attacks are hindered by the spellcaster's curse of reduces marks proficiency. Summary: Trollish priests fall short of trollish wizards as spellcasters, due to inferior skills and late-to-come class powers. They fall short of necros as well-rounded magic users, because necros have find weakness. Trollish druids outshine priests as survival machines, due to friendliness with animals, superiority in gaining weapon skills, better starting equipment, a guaranteed offensive spellbook at the start, and superior boosts to initial stats (+2 to To). Don't get me wrong, troll priests are powerful PC's for sure, but just fall short of the other spellcasters. Good priest stats - St 24 To 24 <Ranger> Notable starting equipment - Not a blasted thing. Notable added skills - Healing, herbalism, swimming, alertness, archery, dodge, and yes, I will even list two-weapon-combat for this one : ) Pros: Not only do rangers have excellent skills, they have some of the best skill modifiers in the game. That helps to make up for a troll's abismal learning rate. Dual wielding is cool, and no class can do it like rangers. Cons: No find weakness skill. This hinders melee and missile attacks. Small potential for magic as well, due to the lack of the concentation skill. Rangers have the worst class powers in the game, as far as trolls are concerned. I know they get faster movement at exp. level 40, but for a troll, that is a loooong way away. As sad as it is to say this, the best one they get is the level 6 'immune to weather effects'. Enjoy. Also, dual wielding means giving up the use of a shield, and trolls need whatever DV they can get their hands on, due to aging attacks. Summary: You like dual wielding? Play a ranger... just not as a troll : ) Good ranger stats - Just don't bother. OK? <Thief> Notable starting equipment - thieves picks. Notable added skills - Detect traps, disarm traps, alertness, appraising, pick locks. Pros: You will have the ability to find a lot of traps. Yep. You can pick locks really good... well, not at first you can't, but after a lot of training and effort, then you can... pick locks... really good. Yeah. You can also use thieves picks to LOCK doors as well! Yep. You can lock and unlock doors like no other PC in the game. While those other classes are off fighting monsters with sword and sorcery, you can open locked doors... and close them... and re-lock them. Cons: Traps pose little danger to a troll, so that skill is not-so-great. Proficiency in locking and unlocking doors isn't exactly the feature I want in a PC. Thieve's class powers are horrible in general, and specifically horrible for a troll. Thieves start with niether healing or herbalism. Summary: Don't play a trollish thief. Good thief stats - No such thing. <Weaponsmith> Notable starting equipment - anvil (!), iron ingots, large hammer, ring of -fire, Notable added skills - Detect traps, appraising, concentration, find weakness, smithing. Pros: Nice compliments in the skills area. Find weakness helps with melee and missiles, and concentration leaves the door open for later spellcasting. Weaponsmiths get very nice boosts to their initial physical stats at St +2 and To +3. Trollish weaponsmiths start with the complete set of smithing skills with mining, gemology, smithing, and metalurgy. The only other weaponsmiths that can say the same are gnomes, and they are pretty hard to keep alive. If you find an early forge, you have a decent chance of getting some quick PV and DV points, and that helps trolls avoid aging attacks. You can exploit smithing in dwarftown at an earlier time than any other PC. Cons: No healing or herbalism, so you have to chose. Trolls start with no smithable gear, so you must find at least one metal armor piece before you can get the DV and PV benefits. Smithing for extended periods is boring and even game-breaking. Weaponsmiths have some of the worst class powers in the game, and being a troll, they are even worse because they are all further away. Faster smithing, and the ability to melt metalic items just isn't that great. Summary: If you like smithing, trolls make fine weaponsmiths. I would even say they are among the best. I just don't care much for smithing. Good weaponsmith stats - St 26 To 27 <Wizard> Notable starting equipment - Robe, quarterstaff (or dagger), torches, two rings, a wand, some potions, a couple of scrolls, and some spellbooks. You don't get the customary heavy club, raw meat, and thick furs. Notable added skills - Healing, Herbalism, literacy, alchemy, concentration, ventriloquism. Pros: Good skills to compliment spellcasting, and they come with respectable modifiers as well. Wizards have the best class powers to compliment spellcasting, and they come early enough to be of use. Starting with two (or even 3!) spellbooks gives them an advantage over all other spellcasting classes. Also, it is guaranteed that one of the books will always be an offensive spell. The ability to attack undead at a distance is invaluable for a troll. Cons: Wizards are made for magic, trolls are not. They have the worst PP's regen of all the races in the game. The wizard class yields no bonus to the initial physical stats, but instead drains them for a total of -3. That's the worst drain of all the spellcasting classes, but at least not as bad as mindcrafters : ) Wizards, of course, can't learn to use weapons to save their lives (sometimes literally). Summary: Necros, priests, druids, and wizards,. Which to chose, and why? I say, if your goal is to have high powered magical offense, as quickly as possible, chose a wizard. For the most offensively versatile spellcaster, chose a necro. For survivability, chose a druid. I think the only time to prefer a priest is if you happen to like the detect item skill, but that's just me I guess : ) Good wizard stats - St 22 To 23 ----------------------- 5. HOW TO FIX A TROLL ----------------------- Put me in the 'fool filter', where I belong! [Edited 1 time, last edit on 10/9/2008 at 10:34 (GMT -5) by gut] |
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Jhonka Registered user Kickass player Last page view: 5349 days, 12 hours, 18 minutes and 32 seconds ago. |
"Good elementalist stats - St 99 To 99" :D that one made me almost soil myself |
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Soirana Registered user Chaos Freak Last page view: 4142 days, 17 hours, 35 minutes and 39 seconds ago. |
few things: 1. Should have mentioned there is xp limit (5K?) for raider quest. Troll may be under level 6 and not eligible for it. IIRC, that is mentioned in guidebook. 2. Could you explain what is so great about troll healers once more? IMHO, they make trolls... well, more sturdy. If they ever needed that. Healers have pathetical damage (in troll terms, i do believe troll thief is doing more.) 3. Troll mindcrafter's make very very nice class. I do know they do receive a lot of hate. They can't get enough power for greater something? Screw it. Look at them as fighters with two things - tp control (not loosable in pools) and confusion blast. When you bash your confused opponents with that big club they die quickl:) Beats healer by a mile. 4.You should at least mention somewhere trolls DO NOT need signifanctly more herbs to improve stats. Looking forward to chapter 5. p.s. I have never minded original PP rate. Either you start with concentration and max it or not. In both times regeneration doesn't change main thing. A root is a flower that disdains fame. Kahlil Gibran(1883-1931) |
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Nezur Registered user Last page view: 5430 days, 12 hours, 42 minutes and 31 seconds ago. |
In the "Troll Disadvantages" section you could mention that trolls don't get the level based bonus when they try to learn new spells. |
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Silfir Registered user Writer of Overly Long Guides Last page view: 4061 days, 13 hours and 58 seconds ago. |
" Fixed. I lol'd at the troll thief. Hail the mighty door-opener! 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! |
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gut Registered user Painted this one too. Last page view: 4890 days, 14 hours, 35 minutes and 44 seconds ago. |
> xp limit (5K?) for raider quest. I actually didn't know that. > Could you explain what is so great about troll healers once more Careful... I'll do it : ) Maybe you are thinking troll healers start out with that silly scalpel, they actually start with the heavy club. They may be the only type of healer that isn't stuck with the scalplel, but I'm not sure. Thieves do start with 1 more point of St than healers, but they have no find weakness skill, and I think find weakness is often worth a wish. > Troll mindcrafter's > tp control (not loosable in pools) and confusion blast. > Beats healer by a mile. I forgot about TP control! Doh. The fact that it's pool-proof doesn't impress me much though, it's not too tough to recover from that. I mentioned that confusion blast was good, but it's been so long since I actually PLAYED a mindcrafter, I probably underestimated it. As for troll healer vs. midcrafter: A healer worth keeping will probably start the game with 3 more PV points than a mindcrafter, which is helpful against undead. He has find weakness, which is wish-worthy and helps with melee and missile attacks. He also gets the early class powers of amazing healing, as opposed to a mindcrafter's abilities of 'recover from confusion' (beware jibbering mouthers!) and to 'sense the amount of enemies around you' (which is not the same as monster detection). Healers can actually use magic : ) > trolls DO NOT need signifanctly more herbs The number of herbs needed isn't a hinderance, but the slower exp. leveling does mean slower stat increases from herbs. I'll work that in there. > trolls don't get the level based bonus when they try to learn new spells Indeed. > Barely acceptable elementalist stats - St 99 To 99 INDEED : ) Keep them coming. Put me in the 'fool filter', where I belong! |
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Darren Grey Registered user Last page view: 4232 days, 12 hours, 18 minutes and 48 seconds ago. |
Hurrah, it's finally here! :) Now to nit-pick and point out typos... :P > To me, there is little since in crippling a PC, > then complaining about the PC. "Sense" not "since". > (Archers) I think it might be worth noting that archery helps a lot with keeping undead at a distance, especially the dangerous aging ones. > Trolls have natural talent with two-handed > weapons, a good weapon choice for a barbarian. Especially if you end up with the truly tremendous Vanquisher. In general it might be noted that ADOM tends to reward specialisation in one field, and a troll barbarian is the ultimate melee specialist. > Bards Another con is that if you're into pet-breding they can steal your already valuable xp. > <Druid> > Notable starting equipment - hood, light cloak, > wooden shield, two potions, spellbook of devine wrath. "Divine" > I believe troll druids may be the 'most likely > to survive' race/class combo available in the > whole game of ADOM. Food can be an early game issue without animal corpses. Sure, this can be managed if you're careful and plan ahead, but a *lot* of newer players will find their troll druids dropping dead from starvation (many people have this general problem with early game trolls). One advantage to troll druids is you don't have to worry about the class powers being amazing - you'll never get to see them all anyway! > (Elementalist) Also you tend to have very low PP and crappy regen - spellcasting is something you can never rely on. Pretty bad for a pure spellcaster! > (Farmer) The lower xp requirement can be nice. It's especially worth considering that barbarians, monks, rangers, paladins and fighters require 41% more xp than farmers - for a troll that's around 30 million xp (enough to bring a gnome to max level 3 times over). > This makes the immune to pain talent more > likely for a troll healer to achieve in time > for the ToEF, than any other class in the game. Uh, come again? A drakeling healer is guaranteed to have the right stats, and will gain levels fast enough to comfortably get the right talents. Whilst technically troll healers have the highest sum Wi + To drakelings are only 1 point behind and much more balanced for getting enough Wi. Many other r/c combos would be reasonably guaranteed the right stats too, and wouldn't have the troll's trouble of having to actually sacrifice other talents to get Immune to Pain in time for the tower. > (Mindcrafters) It's frequently said that at the start of the game mindcrafters should be played like fighters and use the mindcraft properly later. For trolls this is even more obvious. The lack of spells is no biggy for trolls that have trouble reaching them anyway, and you have the advantage of unlocking special spell-like powers a lot of trolls wouldn't normally get. The mindcraft powers don't depend on stats much, but they do depend heavily on level - a troll will have trouble reaching GTB and getting his powers at cheap costs. > Necros are cool. They can eventually learn to > cheat death, even to the point of imortality Not troll necros :P Also your companion powers are entirely based around your own level, meaning you won't be anywhere near as good a necro as a fast-levelling race. > Trollish druids outshine priests as survival > machines, due to friendliness with animals, > superiority in gaining weapon skills Priests only pay 50% above normal too. They're usually considered the best melee/magic mix for this reason, obviously being better than druids in many other areas. In comparison with necros I'd personally prefer the faster weapon marks for a troll than the find weakness skill, since you'll likely end up with slaying weapons for when the damage really counts. > Thieve's class powers are horrible in general, > and specifically horrible for a troll. The stunning on crits is great with a slaying weapon. Just a pity it comes along around about when you're mopping up D50 with a troll. > (Weaponsmiths) With barbarians and monks a difficult choice due to the high xp you might be tempted to Weaponsmith as the next general melee class due to their fighting stats and Find Weakness skill. However it's likely that assassins and healers would be a better pick overall. > (Wizard) Troll wizards are an awesome combo! You're shit at reading the books at the start, but all you use them for is a little back-up now and then anyway. 100% literacy straight away is great for a troll - many other classes will never get it maxed out, making book-reading risky. The crappy weapon skills is made up for by the sheer troll power. Eventually they'll end up as good as any other wizard, blasting spells at everything, but with a solid To stat throughout the game. Rather importantly they end up the best-prepared for dealing with ghosts, with offensive spells from the start and invis after not long. One key element I think is that they are very fun to play, with their playstyle evolving slowly throughout the game. Look forward to seeing more of this, especially the tips on getting to level 50 :) Waldenbrook, the dwarven shopkeeper, mumbles: "I'd offer 9 gold pieces for yer dwarven child corpse." |
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Nezur Registered user Last page view: 5430 days, 12 hours, 42 minutes and 31 seconds ago. |
I found a few typos. > <Assasin> "Assassin" > <Bard> > Notable added skills - Kind of difficult to predict... but at least your sure of > music : ) "You're" > Summary: Necros, priests, druids, and wizards,. Which to chose, and why? I > say, if your goal is to have high powered magical offense, as quickly as > possible, chose a wizard. For the most offensively versatile spellcaster, > chose a necro. For survivability, chose a druid. I think the only time to prefer > a priest is if you happen to like the detect item skill, but that's just me I > guess : ) "Choose" [Edited 1 time, last edit on 10/10/2008 at 08:27 (GMT -5) by Nezur] |
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moomoo Registered user Last page view: 5377 days, 17 hours, 14 minutes and 32 seconds ago. |
A nice guide, thanks! Generally very nice job and funny wording (a big lol on the thief part). Tho i feel the most important (and interesting for me) part of the guide is missing :S Hope you find the inspiration to finish it. Basically i'd like to see what you've come up for leveling up. I personally dislike trolls becouse the start is the most challenging and maybe funniest part of the game and trolls just own it only to choke down later. |
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Silfir Registered user Writer of Overly Long Guides Last page view: 4061 days, 13 hours and 58 seconds ago. |
I think it might be a good idea to divide up the last part into the stats you have to pump. Do a big section on XP, then smaller ones on the stats and just what you can do to increase all them. One for all stats (PoGA, PoBalance, PoEx, Garth), one for St, one for Wi... One for Appearance and Charisma each containing the word "YAWN" in capital letters... 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! |
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gut Registered user Painted this one too. Last page view: 4890 days, 14 hours, 35 minutes and 44 seconds ago. |
> Food can be an early game issue without animal corpses So why can't druids generate animal corpses? Oh, I forgot to explain the missile shooting bug : ) > > (Farmer) > The lower xp requirement can be nice I actually didn't even think about the exp. requirements between the classes. I suppose I will have some editing to do. > > This makes the immune to pain talent more > > likely for a troll healer to achieve in time > > for the ToEF, than any other class in the game. > Uh, come again? A drakeling healer is guaranteed to have the I said any other CLASS, not PC. I was comparing trolls to trolls. Probably I will capitalize the word HEALER to make that more plain. > > superiority in gaining weapon skills > Priests only pay 50% above normal too. Doh! Edits to come. > 100% literacy straight away is great for a troll I completely overlooked that as well. Thanks for all the suggestions, and I will implement most (if not all) of them. I will get back to typing on this thing soon. I WILL finish it before JADE is released, just bet on it : ) Put me in the 'fool filter', where I belong! |
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Darren Grey Registered user Last page view: 4232 days, 12 hours, 18 minutes and 48 seconds ago. |
> So why can't druids generate animal corpses? Oh, I forgot > to explain the missile shooting bug : ) Well, some don't like to take advantage of that, and in the early game you may not have missiles straight away. Though a druid will have little trouble acquiring some it does seem a bit silly to specifically get ants to dig out rocks and then abuse game bugs so you won't have food troubles. > I said any other CLASS, not PC. I was comparing trolls to trolls. > Probably I will capitalize the word HEALER to make that more plain. Ah, silly me - because you said "troll healer" I thought you meant that particular r/c combo (especially since statistically they do in fact have the highest Wi+To combo). Would be remedied a little just by removing the word "troll" and saying "more likely for a healer to achieve" (a true general statement as well). Another thing to consider in the class line-up is the different alignments. Healers and Druids can be handy for those that don't like to start off too chaotic. Ironically neither get the big benefit of being able to learn healing the nice way! Waldenbrook, the dwarven shopkeeper, mumbles: "I'd offer 9 gold pieces for yer dwarven child corpse." |
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gut Registered user Painted this one too. Last page view: 4890 days, 14 hours, 35 minutes and 44 seconds ago. |
> you may not have missiles straight away You don't have to shoot a proper missile, just toss a scroll or better yet a shield, that way if it hits, you get a shield mark : ) > ants to dig out rocks and then abuse game bugs Exploit one bug, then another : ) I am actually going to claim the moral high-ground on the missile bug issue by leaving it out of the troll guide, then mercilessly citicize Silfir for including it in his druid guide. Shame on you Siflir. > "more likely for a healer to achieve" That'll work. > different alignments. Forgot that too, thanks. Put me in the 'fool filter', where I belong! |
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Silfir Registered user Writer of Overly Long Guides Last page view: 4061 days, 13 hours and 58 seconds ago. |
I did tell my readers that they are dumb cheaters if they abuse the bug. Personally I find the inclusion of the term "stair-hopping" in this guide far more offensive. 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! |
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gut Registered user Painted this one too. Last page view: 4890 days, 14 hours, 35 minutes and 44 seconds ago. |
That's what I get for TROLLING. Ha! I was looking for a way to get that in from the very start! Darren didn't bite when I picked on thieves, but I finally got it in : ) Goodness I'm glad to get that out of the way. It's just been eating away at me. Put me in the 'fool filter', where I belong! |
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Darren Grey Registered user Last page view: 4232 days, 12 hours, 18 minutes and 48 seconds ago. |
Join the club :) Waldenbrook, the dwarven shopkeeper, mumbles: "I'd offer 9 gold pieces for yer dwarven child corpse." |
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Jhonka Registered user Kickass player Last page view: 5349 days, 12 hours, 18 minutes and 32 seconds ago. |
By the way, why does the guidebook claim that creating undead slaves *trains* mana?!? |
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Silfir Registered user Writer of Overly Long Guides Last page view: 4061 days, 13 hours and 58 seconds ago. |
Because even though you lose one point, you are trained in the mana stat, so much so that you usually get the point back at some point, plus maybe an additional one. 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! |
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gut Registered user Painted this one too. Last page view: 4890 days, 14 hours, 35 minutes and 44 seconds ago. |
You can test that out with an early game necro by using the BUGWIL. First, kill bugs until you are experienced enough to create ghuls, using only one Ma point. Then kill some hobgoblins in the wild, for corpses, and strand one of your new slaves in the wild. Now return to the BUGWIL and get another exp. level, and you will regen your Ma point as well. Repeat this procedure a few more times, then skip making a slave once. You *should* get a free Ma point out of it. Put me in the 'fool filter', where I belong! |
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Molach Registered user Lord of DurisMud Last page view: 5134 days, 18 hours, 13 minutes and 11 seconds ago. |
Exp things for Trolls sometimes makes getting precrowns harder. If you find early good altar any char can get it easy, but trolls have to scum exp a bit to hit level 8. But that is not the real problem, getting 8 is not too hard. However if you have to wait till after dwarftown you generated the si, and level 11 is a bit off. Cant do darkforge, cant to dwarven tomb, cant really do 2nd dwarf quest (scythe), can't become literate either. Generate one of these and then you need to wait till 14. Which really starts taking time. With planning you can fix this, but it is something to think about. If you like precrowning, that is. [Edited 1 time, last edit on 10/13/2008 at 08:41 (GMT -5) by Molach] |
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Jhonka Registered user Kickass player Last page view: 5349 days, 12 hours, 18 minutes and 32 seconds ago. |
Slow monster spell is a good way to gain levels fast, though it's mostly midgame strategy. The good thing is that levels start to be a problem in mid levels. |
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Silfir Registered user Writer of Overly Long Guides Last page view: 4061 days, 13 hours and 58 seconds ago. |
Choosing a class like druids that has craptastic class powers does wonders for motivation, too. If I know I don't need the levels, not getting them is less of a problem. 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! |
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vogonpoet Registered user Last page view: 4949 days, 19 hours, 49 minutes and 32 seconds ago. |
Darren said "Look forward to seeing more of this, especially the tips on getting to level 50 :)". For me, the fun thing about trolls is that they completely undermine the usual "must level up to progress in ADOM" mentality. Playing a troll should not be about working out how to scum for XP, but instead should be seen as an exercise in changing ones ADOM philosophy. In the various ADOM fora, I often read posts by not-n00bs-but-not-yet-multiple-winners saying things like "Oh, I always wait until I am at least level 16 before taking on Darkforge" or even worse: "yeah, I tend to take the HOF flgs with a pinch of salt, how can someone win with a level 29 PC, they must be cheating, and look at Trinity, wow, what a barefaced lie lol!!!1!". Playing a troll for not-n00bs-but-not-yet-multiple-winners is useful to make them realise that PC level is not the be all and end all of PC ability assessment. Once they have played trolls, they can take this new found understanding and use it for other races, and greatly reduce number of turns wasted, should they so desire. Do you have the weapon marks, the PV/DV, the HP, the intrinsics and perhaps the wand required for a particular job? You do? Then who cares that you are only level 14. Just do it. Tips for getting your troll to 50? Screw that. Tell me instead what stats I need for a particular area, and what sort of level I would probably have, so I don't waste unnecessary time levelling up. //I have won the game with a troll just 1 time, he was a merchant, and I totally wasted time (like almost 60 days game time) cause I didn't realise he was already ready for the ToEF even though he was only level 14 [Edited 1 time, last edit on 10/17/2008 at 10:11 (GMT -5) by vogonpoet] |
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Darren Grey Registered user Last page view: 4232 days, 12 hours, 18 minutes and 48 seconds ago. |
I agree of course, but I feel a troll guide would not be complete without a few tips on maximising xp gains or even outright scumming - all part of the fun :) Waldenbrook, the dwarven shopkeeper, mumbles: "I'd offer 9 gold pieces for yer dwarven child corpse." |
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gut Registered user Painted this one too. Last page view: 4890 days, 14 hours, 35 minutes and 44 seconds ago. |
I heartily agree with both! Just... need... more... hobby-time : ) My thoughts at present are to emphasise moss as the #1 priority, then tactics, then exp. Put me in the 'fool filter', where I belong! |
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Silfir Registered user Writer of Overly Long Guides Last page view: 4061 days, 13 hours and 58 seconds ago. |
Moss is more important than tactics? 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! |
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gut Registered user Painted this one too. Last page view: 4890 days, 14 hours, 35 minutes and 44 seconds ago. |
How many tactics are needed against large bats? Usually the monsters that give problems only come along after moss, but there are a few exceptions. Put me in the 'fool filter', where I belong! |
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Soirana Registered user Chaos Freak Last page view: 4142 days, 17 hours, 35 minutes and 39 seconds ago. |
Troll tactics? Swing with club. Well, later you can shoot something. But as gut said that comes after moss. A root is a flower that disdains fame. Kahlil Gibran(1883-1931) |
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gut Registered user Painted this one too. Last page view: 4890 days, 14 hours, 35 minutes and 44 seconds ago. |
Yeah, for a troll barbarian, it's quite possible to start the game with a weapon stat of +28 to hit, 1d10+22 damage, with tactics set to berserk. Of course, if that's not enough, one can always sacrifice the almighty (-1, -1) [+0, +2] furs, and then enjoy a weapon stat of +38 to hit, 1d10+30 damage. It's not that much of a sacrifice really, as a troll barbarian should still have ~5 PV left : ) Put me in the 'fool filter', where I belong! |
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Silfir Registered user Writer of Overly Long Guides Last page view: 4061 days, 13 hours and 58 seconds ago. |
To be fair, skill and raw power in whacking things on the head is largely unaffected by dexterity... 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! |
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