YAVP: Fated Plutonium Man Ratling Ranger
Summary
The adventures of Sfs, the fated Ratling Ranger, was probably the longest game I ever played, both in real-time (almost 24 hours all told) and game time. My first-ever fated character win, and only 2nd or 3rd win overall (in 20 years). Also my first-ever non-spellcaster character win. I begin to appreciate the non-casters' abilities, as opposed to the "survive in the early game by luck and then spell-blast everything" wizard/priest method of playing.
I became a plutonium man without even trying to, as a result of trying all the side quests and diving deep into the ID after closing the gate to see how strong MaLaKhI is, as well as finding the antediluvian forest with the dinosaurs.
The one-word summary is CAUTION. Whenever something looked dangerous - it might be an ultimate doppelganger, a ghost lord, a greater titan, etc. - a well as the orb guardians, I was careful to be prepared and ready to run away, as well as not trying to deal with a greater undead vault, not wanting to meet emperor liches. Cautiously looked around in mixed tension rooms, never pressed "hit" repeatedly without checking, always mindful of my HPs. Something CAN always kill you, often easily, even when you're level 40+. Also, "when in doubt, pray" - don't wait for "just one more hit," as well as take care to be as fast as possible in most situations.
Never used spells, and only rarely the Ranger's two-handed weapon skill. It is quite dangerous even for a strong character to do without the shield. Needle and Sting had about +150 bonus points of damage when dual-wielded, but I wanted to have as much PV/DV as possible.
Process
Nothing remarkable in the early game, except for finding a nice adamantium hammer and tower shield which made me good at melee at that stage of the game. SC HMW Tyrenio quests (except the black druid, which I kept for later) Early random dungeons to get the Tome of Donors (less useful than it is reputed to be) Dwarven village Pyramid animated forest.
By the time I reached Dwarftown I was crowned with Sun's messenger and lighting immunity, which was very useful in the blue dragons' cave, and had teleportitis from a pool and teleport control from a blink dog. Stopped drinking from pools then since the two are very cool together. It was missiles and slaying ammo which I used to get the tough critters in the game.
In the midgame, I did the ice queen's quests. Was very lucky to also find the Robes or Resistance and Preserver in the greater giants' vault in Hagar's dungeon. Tried to do the minotaur emperors' quest but got stat drained and gave up. As a consolation, I found the dinosaurs. Was very lucky with Hagar's greater giant vault.
From the start, I aimed to do Rolf's quest. For the first time ever I got the six map fragments and went to Rolf's fortress. Did that even before the ToEF. Unfortunately, I didn't notice I killed the drunken dwarf by mistake when killing the crime lord, so couldn't get to the final level. Ah well. But the Unpick Axe, with its +10 toughness, is really great.
In the ToEF, lost some cool stuff trying to go in without it, including 7LB, so waited until I could wear only artifacts. Barney was quite easy (again, slaying ammo). Used the orb for strength until D:48. Also found Blup's mom, but oddly never got the trident!
Herbs were plentiful. With them, Garth's training, the Fire orb, a GoGS (unfortunately destroyed later by lightning), and the ability of giants' corpses to train strength, I was at over 70 strength at some point and over 40 most of the game. Toughness was also high due to the unpick axe's bonus herbs/training, and some giants' corpses (titans, yum!).
In the final dive, I had well over 500 HP, super strength, and great DV / PV, so the lower levels were no problem so long as I was careful. That is, check every doppelganger to see if it's not an ultimate doppelganger (used wand of fireballs on the latter), I was meleeing diamond golems with no problem, dispatching ghost lords with Sun's messenger with one hit, etc. To be sure, I used a wand of destruction on the levers after I closed them.
After closing the gate, I decided to deep-dive to MaLaKhi to see how tough he was. He fell down to two or three hits with slaying ammo and melee. Left the chaos scepter there. Went all the way to about D:75 before deciding not to do for the very deep dive achievement. Was beginning to see tension rooms with ancient Karmic wyrms, greater titans, etc., and may well have been killed if I persisted.
Observations
Didn't find an AoLS and couldn't save Khelly, but corruption - with guardians' corpses and SoCR from the mad minstrel - was never a problem.
Two odd monsters stick in my memory: found a hostile eternium golem somewhere outside the merchant's guild. Apparently, they do not only span there.
Also, deep in the ID found a named Diamond golem that shoots energy bolds. Nearly killed me with ~300-500 damage in one hit! Got out of there in a hurry.
Missed lots of artifacts (and sacrificed lots of others.) Presumably many were either in the merchant guild or else in the undead greater vault I left damn well alone.
Oddly, didn't get the "you are prepared for the most shocking tasks" message when crowned with lightning immunity.
Also never got the trident for saving bloop's mom. Perhaps I accidentally hit the greater water elemental messenger making him hostile, maybe in the water temple? In any case, the bastard never showed up, or at least, never gave me the trident.
Late in the game, started using Devilbane - which is a demon-slaying returning scuragi - instead of sun's messenger against relevant tougher monsters.
Didn't get a wish the entire game.
Game Dump (heavily snipped)
RaRa/45 L+ DV/PV: 80/46 H: 717/717 P: 287/287
Name: Sfs Race: male Ratling Class: Ranger
Total weight: 5129 stones Carrying capacity: 8175 stones
My stats are missing for some reason. Strength was about 45 and toughness \ willpower similar.
He: uncursed crown of leadership [+2, +7] {Ch+18} [65s]
Ne: uncursed sapphire amulet "Preserver" [+4, +4] {Wi+7} [3s]
Bo: uncursed chain mail of the martyred crusader (-1, -3) [-1, +10] {Wi+12}
Perhaps the best three items in the game for these slots. Found in greater vaults deep in the CC.
Gi: blessed girdle of strength [+0, +0] {St+4} [15s]
Cl: uncursed cloak of defense [+4, +0] [20s]
RH: blessed dwarven shield "Rolf's Saviour" (+2) [+9, +6] [120s]
LH: blessed dwarven rune axe "Rolf's Companion" (+3, 3d6+6) [+4, +4] {To+3}
My combo since I got them.
RR: uncursed ring of slaying (+6 melee damage, +6 missile damage) [1s]
LR: uncursed ring of slaying (+7 melee damage, +6 missile damage) [1s]
Br: uncursed bracers of pure might [+4, +4] {St+8} (+8 spd) [12s]
Ga: blessed elemental gauntlets (-1, +0) [+0, +3] [10s]
Bo: blessed boots of speed [+2, +0] (+8 spd) [20s]
MW: -
Mi: uncursed gleaming drakish scurgar "Devilbane" (+15, 2d8+9) [10s]
Tl: uncursed unpick axe (+3, 3d6+3) {To+10} [75s]
First time I got to Rolf's fortress.
Stuff
Massively snipped.
Total weight: 4390 stones Carrying capacity: 8175 stones
uncursed black rune-covered dagger "Needle" (+8, 3d4) [+4, +1] [10s]
uncursed black rune-covered dagger "Sting" (+8, 3d4) [+4, +1] [10s]
uncursed phase dagger (+1, 1d4+2) [5s]
blessed elven long bow "Sun's Messenger" (+15, +15) [30s]
Excellent Crowning gift, esp. for a ranger.
uncursed rune-covered sling "Whirlwind" (+12, +12) [3s]
cursed antediluvian dwarven map [2s]
First time!
uncursed scroll of corruption removal [2s]
Corruption Was never a problem.
Weapon Skills
Massively snipped
Clubs & hammers 8 +6 +4 +2 excellent 217
Adamantium hammer (IIRC) in the early game.
Maces & flails 1 +1 +0 +0 basic 15
Swords 10 +9 +6 +3 excellent 1701
Sword of Nonnak, etc. before Rolf's companion.
Axes 15 +18 +16 +4 Grand Mastery
Rolf's companion.
Missile weapon Lvl Hit Dam Ra Level Required marks
Bows 10 +20 +15 +3 excellent 195
Crossbows 9 +18 +13 +3 excellent 436
Used slaying ammo a lot, and Sun's messenger esp. against undead.
Boomerangs & scurgari 7 +14 +10 +2 skilled 197
Devilbane (a demon slayer) later in the game.
Damage caused with your melee weapons:
Left hand: +104 bonus to hit, 3d6+65 damage
Was easily meleeing diamond golems, titans, and balors in the late game.
Damage caused with your missile weapons:
Ammunition: 1, base range: 14, +89 bonus to hit, 2d8+45 damage
Needed against greater titans, karmics, molochs, ghost lords, and others you shouldn't melee.
Skills
Alertness .................100 (superb) [+1d5]
Appraising ................100 (superb) [+1]
Archery ...................100 (superb) [+1d3]
Athletics .................100 (superb) [+2d4]
Climbing ..................100 (superb) [+2d4]
Courage ...................100 (superb) [+1d5]
Detect item status ........100 (superb) [+1d3]
Dodge .....................100 (superb) [+1d5]
First aid .................100 (superb) [+1d5]
Food preservation .........100 (superb) [+2d4]
Gardening ................. 85 (great) [+1d3]
Haggling .................. 84 (great) [+3d3]
Healing ...................100 (superb) [+1d5]
Herbalism .................100 (superb) [+3d3]
Listening .................100 (superb) [+2d4]
Literacy ..................100 (superb) [+1]
Pick pockets .............. 72 (great) [+1d5]
Stealth ...................100 (superb) [+2d4]
Survival ..................100 (superb) [+2d4]
Swimming ..................100 (superb) [+1d3]
Two weapon combat .........100 (superb) [+2d4]
Ventriloquism ............. 49 (fair) [+1d5]
Woodcraft ................. 69 (good) [+3d5]
The ranger's excellent skill set, missing only find weakness.
Spells
Calm Monster : 11, 15pp (Effectivity: +0)
Cure Critical Wounds: 14, 27pp (Effectivity: +0)
Cure Light Wounds : 14, 9pp (Effectivity: +0)
Earthquake : 10, 152pp (Effectivity: +0)
Greater Identify : 13, 187pp (Effectivity: +0)
Magic Lock : 10, 15pp (Effectivity: +0)
Revelation : 176, 33pp (Effectivity: +0)
Wish : 11, 5670pp (Effectivity: +0)
All - including Wish - from Potions of Wonder. Never cast any.
His further life:
After he leaves the Drakalor Chain he is welcomed by his people with great
honors. They acknowledge his noble deeds, his valor, his cunning and his
great skills that helped to prevent the complete destruction of the world he
knows. He is crowned to be the king of all ratlings and spends the last
couple of years of his remaining life full of love, happiness and pleasure.
Yay.
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His achievements during his battles:
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Sfs, the ratling ranger, saved the world with his brave efforts and became a
great ruler while saving himself 34 times.
He scored 11204248 points and advanced to level 45.
He survived for 0 years, 267 days, 14 hours, 38 minutes and 18 seconds
(188566 turns).
Real-time almost 24 hours, on and off for a month or so.
Sfs visited 206 places.
His strength score was modified by +13 during his career.
His learning score was modified by +7 during his career.
His willpower score was modified by +21 during his career.
His dexterity score was modified by +12 during his career.
His toughness score was modified by +9 during his career.
His charisma score was modified by -9 during his career.
His appearance score was modified by +5 during his career.
His perception score was modified by -5 during his career.
He was unnaturally aged by 70 years.
@#$!! ghost lords on CC: 50.
He was the champion of the arena.
He made a little water dragon very happy.
He defeated the arch enemy of a mighty karmic wyrm.
He left the Drakalor Chain after completing his quest and became a great
leader and famous hero.
10264 monsters perished under his attacks.
Plutonium man - and I didn't even TRY to get the achievement! Probably the first time I ever killed 10,000+ monsters.
The following 58 artifacts were generated during his adventure:
By far the highest total I've ever seen in a game. Missed many of them, as noted below. Presumably many in the greater undead vault, the merchants' guild, or held by the named super-powerful diamond golem I found in the ID.
the si
the dwarven rune axe "Rolf's Companion"
the scythe of corruption "Moon Sickle"
the potion of literacy
the golden gladius "Death's Sting"
the dwarven shield "Rolf's Saviour"
the elven long bow "Sun's Messenger"
the holy avenger "Justifier"
the Chaos Orb of Elemental Water
the Chaos Orb of Elemental Air
the Chaos Orb of Elemental Fire
the Chaos Orb of Elemental Earth
the heavy crossbow "The Far Slayer"
Missed it, a pity.
the lead-filled mace "Big Punch"
the scorched spear
the rune-covered trident
Never got it! Somehow I missed the messenger...
the sword of Nonnak
the elemental gauntlets
the ring of the High Kings
the phial of Caladriel
the crown of science
the ancient mummy wrapping
the ankh
the Sceptre of Chaos
Just went down to the ID to get the "deep dive" steam achievement and take a look at the SIL after closing the gate.
the black torc
the rune-covered club "Skullcrusher"
the glaive "Long Sting"
the Chaos Orb of Elemental Mana
the black rune-covered dagger "Needle"
the black rune-covered dagger "Sting"
the rune-covered sling "Whirlwind"
the robes of resistance
My armor before the chainmail of the martyred crusader.
the staff of the archmagi
the sapphire amulet "Preserver"
It sure is!
the crown of leadership
the black tome of Alsophocus
the weird tome
First time I got it!
the tome of donors
the antediluvian dwarven map fragment
the antediluvian dwarven map
First time!
the ancient dwarven key
the unpick axe
the deformed mace "Masher"
Missed it.
the whip of the vampire snake
Used a bit, but then sacced.
the gleaming drakish scurgar "Devilbane"
Used a lot.
the twisted quarterstaff "Kalmius' Shield"
the quicksilver bracers
Missed it.
the staff of wonder
Found it, took me a while to see I am getting corrupted very quickly by it! Sacrifices it at Dwarftown.
the chain mail of the martyred crusader
the circlet of the pure mind
the beheading axe "Headman's Hand"
Missed it.
the scroll of the finder
Potion of Uselessles gift
the bracers of pure might
the robe of the master monk
Found after crusader armor, so didn't use.
the amulet of indomitable life
the lightning-etched boomerang "Sonic Boom"
Missed these two.
the tattered cloak of the dark souls
the stone of the ages
Missed it.
He possessed the following intrinsics:
He was fire resistant (also through items).
He was poison resistant (also through items).
He was cold resistant (also through items).
He was acid resistant.
He was lucky (also through items).
Fate smiled upon him (also through an item).
He was able to teleport.
He was able to control teleportation.
He was paralyzation resistant (gained through an item).
He was resistant to death rays (gained through an item).
Finally gained with martyred crusader's armor.
He was shock resistant (also through an item).
He was able to see invisible things (gained through items).
He was immune to shock attacks.
Crowning. Oddly, don't recall getting the "you will not fear thunder and lightning" message.
He was immune to ice attacks.
He was able to breathe water (gained through an item).
He was able to resist confusion attacks (gained through items).
He was immune to diseases (gained through an item).
He had the following talents: Affinity with Axes, Alert, Ambidextrous, Good Learner, Greased Lightning, Great Learner, Healthy, Long Stride, Mechanically Inclined, Miser, Pious, Quick, Sixth Sense, Treasure Hunter, Very Pious, Very Quick.
He had a final speed score of 141 (final base speed: 125).
Speed is of extreme importance in this game.
He was a messiah of Fiit-Ssaaar.
He asked for 23 divine interventions.
He was a holy champion of Order.
He was slightly tainted by Chaos.
The following monsters were vanquished:
Plutonium man - leaving the most remarkable:
1 ancient blue wyrm
Melee.
1 Ancient Chaos Wyrm
Barney was no problem at all w/slaying ammo.
6 ancient karmic dragons
In the late game you can relatively easily get them.
57 ancient minotaurs
8 ancient red dragons
1 Ancient Stone Beast
Melee!
2 ancient white dragons
10 ankylosauruses
First time ever I met dinosaurs...
1 assassin prince
7 balors
Both were melee material, after softening with missiles.
1 black druid
Got him in melee.
1 Chaos Archmage
Slaying ammo.
14 diamond golems
By late game was meleeing them easily.
1 drunken dwarf
1 dwarf
OUCH. Didn't mean to. This is why I couldn't get to talk to Rolf...
1 eternium golem
Surprisingly, this was NOT at the merchant's guild. Apparently, they do appear elsewhere, but very rarely.
48 ghost lords
These are very dangerous in melee. Sun's messenger + slaying ammo.
12 great karmic wyrms
Found a tension room of them deep in the ID.
7 greater molochs
Easy with slaying ammo or devilsbane.
1 greater titan
Found a tension room of them deep in the ID. Killed one and ran away.
12 greater water elementals
No trident, though...
7 juggernauts
Those constructs are really tough. Used slaying ammo.
16 karmic dragons
4 mimic hiveminds
No problem with high Wi and level. But very dangerous mid-game.
1 minor fungoid
Didn't do the fungal caves.
9 minotaurs
5 minotaur kings
31 minotaur lords
18 minotaur mages
11 minotaur mazelords
33 minotaur mazemasters
Gave up on the minotaur emperor's axe.
9 quickling kings
6 quickling queens
Very fast, but by the time I met them in the late game their damage was superficial.
1 shark
Shot it off the bridge in Rolf's fortress for sport...
1 Snake from Beyond
22 titans
Tough but not in the late game.
1 truesilver golem
Guards the Unpick Axe
4 ultimate doppelgangers
Very careful about them.
Dispatched the legendary goblin Huckree.
Dispatched the legendary frost giant Fiyr.
Dispatched the legendary ogre Nagrat.
Dispatched the legendary black wizard Roland, Last of the Old-Mobbe.
...and ran like hell from a spell-casting named diamond golem.
submitted by
Unusual_Flow9231 to
ADOM
Make Phalanx great again!
Introduction:
Phalanx is a lost love for a lot of Crusader players (including me) and was one of the first skills you see as a big difference between D2 Paladin and D3 Crusader.
Unfortunately, after the Akkhan/Stampede meta (I don't even remember how long ago this was) it is a skill that doesn't do much, although it has 3 dedicated items to it.
Facts and specifics about the skill:
- Phalanx has 4 extremely distinct mechanics, which makes it difficult to balance between runes: (1)Bowmen, 2)Stampede/Shield Charge, 3) Shield bearer, 4) Bodyguard);
- Phalanx has 4 unique items that boost it and by Kanai's cube they are 2 weapons (Unrelenting Phalanx, Baleful Remnant), 1 armor (Warhelm of Kassar), 1 jewellry (Eternal Union);
- All runes are (at that time) physical.
- No 6-piece set mentions it exclusively (Like Blessed Hammer(SotL) , Fist of the Heavens/Heaven's Fury(AoV) , Shield Charge/Sweep Attack (Roland), Punish/Slash (Invoker), which would make it susceptible for a LoD build.
If we are to make it great again, my first note would be that it's bad to link it to a skill with a 60-120 seconds cooldown, without the opportunity to negate this cooldown. (We all hate long cooldowns)
Second, simply putting a +XXX% damage on 1-2 items would be boring, lazy and will ruin the diversity of the skill. (It definitely needs a damage boost, but simple numbers would be boring).
My suggestions:
- Include the Bodyguard rune in one of the items, so even if you use Bowmen or Stampede, you get the 2 melee avatars beside you.
- Make melee avatars do something more interesting (cast a skill, provide utility/toughness, etc.)
- For me, it would be bad to just introduce a new item/new legendary power, solely to boost the skill, when it already has a good amount of legendaries, but including it in an already existing one would make more sense.
- Warhelm of Kassar: Reduces the cooldown and cost of Phalanx by 45-60% and increases the damage with the same amount. Phalanx receives the Bodyguard runeword.
- Unrelenting Phalanx: increases damage by 150-200% and moved into legendary power (up from 45-60%). Phalanx casts twice per use.
- Baleful Remnant - Enemies killed while any Law (before Akarat's Champion) is active, turn into Phalanx Avatars for 10 seconds.
- Armor of the King Reagent - You gain the effect of all Laws when activated. The equipped Law receives the effect of every rune. (I thought "king reagent" made more sense to have a power about "Laws" than Smite.
- Swiftmount - Doubles the duration of Steed Charge. Phalanx - Stampede deals double damage for 10 seconds after casting Steed Charge.
PHALANX AND FALLING SWORD
- Eternal Union - Duration of Phalanx is increased by 200% and while Phalanx is active Falling sword has no cooldown. Melee Avatars perform Falling sword with you. (Costs wrath for each Falling sword cast by the Phalanx also). I think it would be super awesome to be able to cast Falling sword as the Imperius drop in the campaign of act 5.
- Faithful Memory/Cam's Rebuttal - combined into 1 legendary: Falling sword can be cast a second time for free within 4 seconds. Each enemy hit increases the damage of Blessed Hammer and Phalanx by 60-80%. Stacks 10 times and lasts 10 seconds.
PHALANX AND SHIELD BASH
- Flail of the Ascended - Shield Glare deals damage equal to up to 5 last Shield Bash casts to each affected enemy. The two closest avatars to you cast Shield Bash and Shield Glare when you do.
- Angel Hair Braid - Punish gets the effect of every rune and every second attack releases a Shield Cross. (If combined with Flail of the Ascended, Avatars should shield bash too)
- Drakon's Lesson - When Shield Bash hits 3 or less enemies, its damage is increased by 300–400%. Shield Bash receives the effect of Pound rune (Shield cross should count only the front, in my opinion)
PHALANX AND BLESSED HAMMER
- Hammer Jammers - enemies hit by Blind, Immobilize, Freeze or Stun take 300-400% more damage from Blessed Hammers and Phalanx for 10 seconds.
- Blessed of Haull - Each successful hit of Justice also summons a free Blessed Hammer at the same location. Blessed hammer receives the Brute Force rune and chance to explode becomes 100%. (A way to proc Hammer Jammers from a distance, if you decide to do a Bowmen-Justice crusader)
Any feedback would be appreciated :)
submitted by
bamzelot to
Diablo