Dungeon Crawl: Stone Soup - The Soupening

Math wrote:

https://crawl.develz.org/tavern/view...

Looks like CJR is shutting down. :(

That’s really sad. CJR is (was? will have been?) the best server for me. Unless another contender steps up geographically close to me, I’ll probably fall back to CBRO.

Friendly reminder: CJR is shutting down on November 30. If you have a custom RC file there, you might want to copy/paste it onto another server before then.

CJR has shut down, and a new server has stepped up: CKO, hosted in New York.

Even if you don't plan on playing there, you may want to at least create your named account, to prevent anyone else from impacting your win rate, streaks, etc.

RIP in peace, Labrynths.

https://github.com/crawl/crawl/commi...

Some trap-related changes in trunk recently, too. If I read the commits correctly:

1) All traps are always visible.
2) For every tile that's uncovered, there's a chance that the player will be teleported or shafted.
3) Alarm traps will always affect the player, even if a monster stepped on it.
4) New Dispersal trap -- looks like a pink teleport trap, but when anyone steps on it, everything in visible range is randomly blinked.

Inspired by Demise's current video series, I also created a "Jorgrun" character (DDEE), and got a win. This checks both DD and EE off my lists. This character felt more powerful than almost every other char I've played, even despite being shafted three separate times (for 2, 3, and 2 floors, respectively) under the new trap rules. I was definitely tempted to go for a 15-rune win, but meh. Shatter is fun, but it's not really visually interesting.

Happiness is watching Psyche get banished by her own dagger of distortion after Tukima’s Dance.

The DCSS 0.23 Tournament starts on Feb 8, 2019. Anyone feel like giving it a shot?

I'm always down for a tournament. I have been playing quite a bit, trying to broaden my horizons (I have actually played casters and stabbers with slightly less ineptitude than my norm!). Also, been watching a lot of Ultraviolent4 on YouTube, I start to get a lot of the depth in the game I have been too dense to pick up over the years.

Still do too much dumb stuff but I think my play has improved.

You're not alone there. I try out most of the combos that Ultraviolent4 and Demise play, to varying degrees of success. I'm selfishly giddy that I got a DDEE win (a few posts up) where Demise struggled mightily and gave up. I have a Merfolk Summoner going now (in-progress morgue), started off modeled after Ultra's current character, but I converted from stabber to axe-wielding maniac. This is my first time playing seriously as Wu Jian Council, and while I don't think I like it a whole lot as a god choice, I definitely can appreciate that it turns combat into a much more tactical experience.

Perfect timing! I had just logged in for the first time on Friday, found I still had a character going, and proceeded to get it killed in 5 minutes because I couldn't remember if I was still going down, or retreating back up!

merphle wrote:

The DCSS 0.23 Tournament starts on Feb 8, 2019. Anyone feel like giving it a shot?

I really shouldn't because of time, but I probably will!

Also, is it just me or do the 0.23 changes seem really small?

I'll toss my hat in the ring, but Civ 6 gathering storm comes out on Feb 14, so I can't guarantee that I won't get distracted.

While I agree with you, Math, that post doesn't have all of the changes. Not sure why they omitted Trap Reform and Gauntlet replacing Labyrinth -- those are probably the two biggest changes, plus Nemelex Reform (which obviously won't affect all characters).

Full changelog.

Edit: Actually, that post is only the changes committed since the last trunk update post, which was about two weeks ago. Trap reform and Gauntlet were from before then, hence not mentioned in this post. The changelog above is complete for 0.22->0.23.

Pretty light on the updates. Anyway, I’m down and will start modifying the OP and spreadsheet and stuff.

I'll probably join again. Hopefully I'll have more time this time than the last two.

I should be able to captain again, but won't get much playtime.

I'm thinking "Lich Hunt" for a team name.

I would like to participate again, but not sure how much time I will get to put in.

I've missed the last several tournaments but am up for this one.

After many recent failed attempts at an Ultraviolent4-inspired Merfolk Summoner of Wu Jian Council. I finally succeeded. This scores my first win as a Merfolk, first win as a Summoner, and first win of Wu.

You will note that I had the +2 pair of boots of the Assassin {Detection Stab+ Stlth++}. That item is incredibly broken on any character that's not already a stabber, because it means you can get stab insta-kills on unaware enemies using ANY weapon type -- not just daggers. I used an amazing randart hand axe (Venom, +Inv), and later a bardiche I enchanted & branded to +9 flaming. The hand axe came in handy (ha!) even in Zot, to go invisible around a pack of draconians and get free insta-kills on all of them while they were confusedly searching for me.

Also, I relied on the new Confusing Touch quite a bit this game, because it doesn't check MR. This means I was able to confuse just about everything up through gold dragons and get an insta-kill using my bardiche. Also, it can proc confuse on a monster via polearm reach. So I could confuse something on the other side of one of my summons. Super OP.

I also had the +0 pair of fencer's gloves {Riposte Dex+3}, which meant I was also riposting rather often with my hand axe & bardiche, given that I was training for EV from the start.

This character had just a mighty insane damage output, but was a bit light on defense, so I found myself running away quite a lot. Even still, I came precipitously close to death far too often. I really need to work on deciding to run sooner. I say that every time; hopefully it'll stick one of these days. Maybe publicly shaming myself here will help.

25515 | D:10 | HP: 3/115 [poisoned by a green ugly thing]
49565 | Spider:1 | HP: 6/151 [something (3)]
54426 | Spider:4 | HP: 4/153 [something (13)]
56789 | Vaults:1 | HP: 6/159 [vault warden/+3 war axe (23)]
93134 | Slime:5 | HP: 9/206 [acid (3)]

Congrats! That is awesome!

I usually just run through death's door.

Congrats, merphle of the Merpholk!

Congrats! I bet that run was a fun story!

merphle wrote:

Even still, I came precipitously close to death far too often. I really need to work on deciding to run sooner. I say that every time; hopefully it'll stick one of these days.

I feel this. Every single time.

Updated the title and added links to the 0.22 teams (oops). Looks like the tourney page isn't up yet.

You guys mentioned Ultraviolent before - I credit his videos with getting better at the game. I've got more wins on this version than any other, and I think it's because I've picked up a lot from him.

I'm looking at his videos... where do you even start?

Taharka wrote:

I'm looking at his videos... where do you even start?

Assuming that wasn't a rhetorical question...:

Start at the beginning: Minotaur Berserker, episode 1 of 14, watch that series for tips that apply across the board, then just jump in with whatever combo in his playlists looks interesting.

Note that earlier series' were recorded on older versions of Crawl, so some things he uses may not apply any more.

Edit: Also, for anyone new to DCSS and joining us for the tournament, check out Ultraviolent4's awesome beginner's guide to help get started. #ad

Yeah, his MiBe episodes really helped me contextualize a lot of stuff I knew about playing but never really applied consistently or even connected the dots on. The subsequent videos use other combos with a similar, if slightly less, level of detail. He does a really good job of explaining why he is doing what he is doing.

Thanks. I hadn't gone through all his videos, so I wasn't sure if he did a general tips and tricks thing somewhere, or if it was baked into one of his combos.

Taharka wrote:

I'm looking at his videos... where do you even start?

I’d go to his Playlists and pick a combo that you find interesting or have struggled with.

He does a lot of streaking, so his super cautious play and views on early game threats are very eye opening.

I also watch Demise a fair bit but I feel like I get less useful info. Different play styles. His “presentation” videos are often useful, his gameplay less so.