Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup - Page 14

Wield axes the whole game unless you find some sort of mace/polearm early on that is much better than your starting axe. Feel free to use shields, but know that eventually you should be transferring to a two handed massive damage weapon. Use whatever armor gives you the most defense, and dont worry about evasion.

I personally just pour all my stat points into strength until it hits 25 or so, then I switch to dex. Turn off any skill that isnt combat related. (You can leave on Invocations until 7-8)

HOPr as a class is very easy early on. You should be able to just auto explore/tab through the first four levels of the dungeon pretty quickly. Run away from any unique/centaur/ogre. Around level 4-5 of the dungeon, you will start being able to recruit your followers. These first followers are extremely important. Care for them like they are you children. Don't let them die, because the longer they stay with you, the stronger they get.

Try not to use Smite unless you are about to die or if an ogre/centaur is cleaning out your squad, since the piety penalty is pretty high.

Once you find the mines, dive right in and go to level two. Hopefully here you will recruit massive mobs of people and find some sweet Orc gear for you and your troops (that -4 +17 battleaxe, and +10 platemail is boss). Save level three and four incase you need more troops. Next, train your new and improved followers in the dungeon until level 10-11, then hit up the Lair and progress from there.

Controlling your mob is important. I didn't know this until a few runs ago, but you can press 't' and issue basic commands like wait/follow/attack this target. If you see an orc brother that is about to die, try to save him or swap positions with him so he isn't in immediate danger. I tend to use recall very liberally if it means saving my squad. Also, I found that they like to pick up nice armor and weapons off the ground, so give them a few turns to swap out their items after big battles.

My triage priority goes like this, starting at the top: Red Sorc -> Purple Sorc -> Priest/Knight -> Warrior -> Regular Orc.
It's hard to recruit Red Sorcs, so usually you get them by training up a Purple one rather than converting one in the mines. It's not impossible, just that you usually don't have enough piety when you first see them. Once you have a Red Sorc in your group, babysit him as much as possible and he will make your game infinitely easier.

As for magic, you will be too stupid to learn anything from books even at the end of the game, so just get rid of them as they are dead weight. Your main magic usage will come from wands/scrolls/potions. Blink and teleport are your best friends, so be sure to have at least one or two on you at all times as a sort of get out of jail card. Blink can also be used offensively in combination with recall (just think like arbiters in BW). Potions of invisibility/speed can save you from death as well. If you have to flee the scene, do so, but remember you have your followers to think about too. Recall them as soon as you are safe and regroup. If everyone dies, just head back to the mines and get more. Also, don't hesitate to spend a few hundred turns just standing around and letting your orcs heal before moving on.

K Thats about it. Stay away from Shoals since orcs are retarded about splashing around in the water fighting electric eels and shit. Slime is also a bad place for your men. Just leave them outside before you go in.

Confusion is your enemy. The last thing you want is to accidently pick a fight with one of your generals, only to have him turn mean and whoops now you have to fight this boss hoss unique that you've been training all game. It's bad for moral. When I'm confused, I just mash 's' a few times until it goes away, that way I don't piss off Beogh and kill my dudes. I also fear scrolls of immolation. It's best to identify-by-trial as many scrolls as possible before you recruit followers so that you don't accidently blow them up and put you in the penance hole.

Alright if you have any specific questions, I'll do my best to help! Good luck guys.