Crawl 0.4.3 questions.

I'm another ADOM player, recently adicted to Crawl : )
I have cleared Orc, Lair, Swamp, Snake, Slime, Hive,
and the dungeon levels to 19. I am now in Vault 2.
The last time I got a conjurer this far, I had the
crystal spear spell. This time I don't, and I feel
like I'm really going to need it soon. Is there a
way to increase my chances of getting it?

There are two scrolls of acquirement in shops, one
selling for ~450, and one for ~900. Are these worth
buying? I quickly dove to ~D:24, to use a few of
them earlier, thinking that a deeper dungeon level
would yield better items. I recieved a nice ring, a
miserable suit of armor, and a lousy book. Considering
that, I'm now leaning toward using the gold for a
potion of experience on sale for ~750. The problem is,
I don't know exactly what to expect from one of these.
Will it give me a whole level, or just a small boost?

I wonder what does the 'brisk ticking of an ancient
clock' message mean? I usually get that once per game,
and wonder if it's an opportunity I'm missing.

On my PC info screen, there are a few things I don't
understand. I have 'see invis', but I don't see any
item that's granting it. I have two sources of -pois,
but only one '+' is displayed. Is it the case, that the
only way to get ++ is to have a 'greatly protecting'
source?

I have cleared Vault before, so I feel pretty confident
about doing it again. After that though, I'm at a bit
of a loss as to what would be the safest route. I've
never been in the Crypt, Hell, or Zot before, how bad
are they in relation to Pan? My last PC escaped from the
Abyss three times, yet died in Pan rather quickly, so
that makes me wary of that place. Would it be worth my
time to go back and tackle Elf?

I'm still rather new to Crawl in general. I would greatly
appreciate it if someone with more experience could take
a quick glance at this info, and see if there is some
blatantly stupid thing I am doing to hinder myself : )
For instance, I just recently found out that it might be
a good idea to give my conjurer some skills in 'fighting',
That made a HUGE difference. Any advice is appreciated.

Death jr the Devastator (Deep Elf Conjurer) Turns: 109280, Time: 12:30:00


HP 106/106 AC 23 Str 5 Exp: 21/539809 (1), need: 48890

MP 42/42 EV 13 Int 35 (36) God: Sif Muna ******

Gold 1039 SH 7 Dex 18 Spells: 15 memorised, 7 levels left



Res.Fire : + + . See Invis. : + w - staff of conjuration

Res.Cold : + + . Warding : . z - +5 elf ring mail (R-poison)

Life Prot.: + . . Conserve : . M - +2 shield (protect)

Res.Poison: + Res.Corr. : . P - +2 wizard hat

Res.Elec. : + Clarity : . n - +2 cloak "Liwk"

e - +2 pair of gloves "Thremiquff"

Sust.Abil.: . Rnd.Telep. : . (no boots)

Res.Mut. : + Ctrl.Telep.: . c - amulet "Ceavon"

Res.Slow : . Levitation : . I - ring of Pride

Saprovore : . . . Ctrl.Flight: . m - ring of Psuuv



@: incredibly resistant to magic, quite stealthy
A: herbivore 2, deterioration 1, Str -1
a: Channel Energy, Forget Spell, Renounce Religion, Evoke Blink


Hand weapons
C - a +5,+4 dagger of venom
Armour
e - the +2 pair of gloves "Thremiquff" (worn)
(You found it on level 4 of the Snake Pit)
It affects your damage-dealing abilities (+2).
It insulates you from electricity.
n - the +2 cloak "Liwk" (worn)
(You bought it in a shop on level 3 of the Orcish Mines)
It affects your dexterity (+3).
It affects your accuracy (-1).
It greatly protects you from fire.
It lets you blink.
z - a +5 elven ring mail of poison resistance (worn)
M - a +2 shield of protection (worn)
P - a +2 wizard hat (worn)
Magical devices
h - a tapered bone wand
i - a wand of lightning
p - a wand of invisibility {zapped: 1}
s - a tapered bone wand
G - a wand of draining (
N - a wand of disintegration
Comestibles
r - a choko
S - 8 honeycombs
U - 4 royal jellies
Scrolls
a - a scroll of fog
b - 2 scrolls of recharging
d - a scroll of acquirement
g - 4 scrolls of identify
k - 6 scrolls of teleportation
o - 3 scrolls of remove curse
y - a scroll of fear
A - 2 scrolls of detect curse
K - a scroll of holy word
Jewellery
c - the amulet "Ceavon" (around neck)
(You bought it in a shop on level 2 of the Lair of Beasts)
[amulet of resist mutation]
It affects your intelligence (+4).
It protects you from poison.
It speeds your metabolism.
m - the ring of Psuuv (left hand)
(You bought it in a shop on level 8 of the Dungeon)
[ring of protection]
It affects your AC (+3).
It protects you from cold.
It protects you from negative energy.
It enhances your eyesight.
F - the amulet of Shubbest
(You acquired it on level 23 of the Dungeon)
[amulet of warding]
It affects your intelligence (+1).
It greatly protects you from cold.
It protects you from poison.
I - the ring of Pride (right hand)
(You bought it in a shop on level 2 of the Lair of Beasts)
[ring of regeneration]
It affects your intelligence (+2).
It affects your damage-dealing abilities (-5).
It protects you from cold.
It increases your resistance to enchantments.
It enhances your eyesight.
Z - an uncursed amulet of the gourmand
Potions
j - 2 potions of speed
q - 2 potions of invisibility
u - 3 potions of healing
x - 4 potions of heal wounds
J - a potion of restore abilities
Magical staves
w - a staff of conjuration (weapon)

+ Level 6 Fighting
- Level 8 Dodging
- Level 5 Stealth
- Level 2 Stabbing
- Level 2 Shields
- Level 1 Traps & Doors
- Level 5 Unarmed Combat
+ Level 15 Spellcasting
+ Level 25 Conjurations
- Level 2 Enchantments
- Level 2 Summonings
- Level 1 Necromancy
- Level 1 Transmigration
- Level 1 Divinations
- Level 1 Air Magic
+ Level 16 Earth Magic
- Level 1 Poison Magic
- Level 4 Invocations
- Level 2 Evocations

a - Bolt of Iron Erth/Conj
b - Throw Flame Fire/Conj
c - Stone Arrow Erth/Conj
d - Conjure Flame Fire/Conj
e - Detect Creatures Divn
f - Mephitic Cloud Pois/Air/Conj
g - Summon Small Mammals Summ
h - Repel Missiles Air/Ench
i - Blink Tloc
j - Dig Erth/Tmgr
k - Magic Mapping Erth/Divn
l - Cure Poison Pois
m - Flight Air/Ench
n - Regeneration Ench/Necr
o - Swiftness Air/Ench


You digest meat very inefficiently.

You are weak (Str -1).

Your body is slowly deteriorating.


Vanquished Creatures (others)
A royal jelly (Slime:6)
// I didn't actually kill this guy. I nearly killed
// him, and he fled. Shortly after, the coler left
// the walls. Just so I know, I didn't get any exp.
// points for this did I?

On Dec 26, 6:23 pm, gut <none> wrote:
> I'm another ADOM player, recently adicted to Crawl : )

Hi, welcome to Crawl! I hope you enjoy your stay!

> I have cleared Orc, Lair, Swamp, Snake, Slime, Hive,
> and the dungeon levels to 19. I am now in Vault 2.

Wow, that's pretty good for a beginning player.

> The last time I got a conjurer this far, I had the
> crystal spear spell. This time I don't, and I feel
> like I'm really going to need it soon. Is there a
> way to increase my chances of getting it?

I'm not sure how the acquirement code works. Sif Muna will eventually
hand out the book you need, but it might take a while. As you're
already worshipping Sif using a scroll of acquirement for books seems
like a waste, but of course it might make the book in question a bit
earlier than it would otherwise. I just don't think it's worth it.

> I wonder what does the 'brisk ticking of an ancient
> clock' message mean? I usually get that once per game,
> and wonder if it's an opportunity I'm missing.

It means that there's a labyrinth on the level. The entry's got a
timer shown in the ticking getting more urgent. Once the timer is up,
the labyrinth is gone forever. There may be several of those per game,
and each contains a minotaur and a stack of items at the exit, usually
including one or two books. So if you got the message recently and
don't mind treading a maze, this might be an option.

> On my PC info screen, there are a few things I don't
> understand. I have 'see invis', but I don't see any
> item that's granting it.

Your ring of Psuuv "enhances your eyesight", that is, grants See
Invisible.

> I have two sources of -pois, but only one '+' is displayed. Is it the case,
> that the only way to get ++ is to have a 'greatly protecting' source?

No, it means that there's only one level of PR.
Poison Arrow will still hurt you, that's intentional - but eating
poisonous corpses is safe.

> I have cleared Vault before, so I feel pretty confident
> about doing it again. After that though, I'm at a bit
> of a loss as to what would be the safest route. I've
> never been in the Crypt, Hell, or Zot before, how bad
> are they in relation to Pan?

The only required branches in the entire game are the main dungeon and
Zot. Once you've got three runes you can enter Zot and try to get the
Orb. If you're still looking for more xp you could try to dip into the
branches you mentioned, but in that case prepare to die (including the
Vaults) as they can be really hard.

From skimming your dump I get the feeling that you've got some decent
gear, but you really need to find out what the tapered bone wand is.
The mutations are rather lousy, though, so you could try to gamble
with a potion of mutation if you've got cure mutation lying around
somewhere. I'd stash some of the scrolls you won't use in the imminent
future (at least some of ?identify, ?recharging, ?remove curse and ?
teleportation).
Also, you can use autoinscriptions for the artefacts to get a short-
hand list of their properties (via i or {) - that can make decisions
about when to switch a bit easier to manage.

> Vanquished Creatures (others)
>   A royal jelly (Slime:6)
> // I didn't actually kill this guy. I nearly killed
> // him, and he fled. Shortly after, the coler left
> // the walls. Just so I know, I didn't get any exp.
> // points for this did I?

Probably. Could be your allies killed it, in which case you'd get half
its xp.

Good luck!

Johanna