YAVP: Titan's Fist, Slash and Electricity

[Sandman25]

Ok, another game in progress by me. Maybe I will finish it this time

I am trying Veil build by mbj from ayayaya's thread for beginners. So far so good except I got amazing demon on floor 2 and it makes me reconsider my plans.

Code: Select all

Name : Fiery Huo shu
Level: 2
MaxHP: 39
MaxSP: 100

Strength: 12
Magic   : 18
Vitality: 8
Agility : 10
Cunning : 12

Resist: Fire
Weak  : Ice

Abilities Known:
1) Fiery Claw (Type: Slash, 5 SP. 85 Power attack split between Slash and Fire. Has a 33% chance to Ignite the target, causing damage over a short duration.)
2) Low Profile (Type: Defense, Passive. Always dodge projectiles fired by allies unless directly targeted.)
3) Firestarter (Type: Fire, Passive. Increases your chance to apply Ignite by 50% of the original chance.)
4) Flame Dart (Type: Fire, 15 SP. 70 Power attack. Has a 33% chance to Ignite the target, causing damage over a short duration.)
5) Bask (Type: Fire, 0 SP. Must target an Ignited enemy. No effect on the target, but triggers a 60 Power heal on and restores 10 SP for the user. Free action. Cooldown: Cantrip (3))

It's like perfect Fotia if I remember correct.
Questions:
1) Should I learn Bask?
2) Should I learn Tormentor (hopefully I can find another Freybug)? I am running out of SP when I try to give SP to my healers via Refresh every turn and that 50% Ignition from Huo Shi can give me lots of SP.
3) Should I already put points into Magic (I put all 10 points into Vit)?

Code: Select all

Demon Party Dump File
Version 8/3/2016, Scoring Model: 8/3/2016
Dump file created at: 9/8/2016 5:59:47 PM


Summoner SandmanXXV...
was chosen by the Titan's Fist,
selected Slash and Electricity as their starting elements,
is currently at Tower:1 & 1/2,
and is still alive!



--==== Main Character ===--

Name : SandmanXXV
Level: 3
MaxHP: 54
MaxSP: 100

Strength: 18
Magic   : 6
Vitality: 25
Agility : 9
Cunning : 7

Resist: Body
Weak  : Electricity

Abilities Known:
1) Sure Slice (Type: Slash, 15 SP. 70 Power attack. Cannot miss.)
2) Counterattack (Type: Slash, Reactive. 50% chance to respond to damage dealt to you by adjacent enemies with a 55 Power attack.)
3) Storm Veil (Type: Electricity, Reactive. Responds to damage dealt to you by adjacent characters with a 20 Power attack that has a 4% chance to Shock the target, causing the target to miss their next turn. Cannot miss.)
4) Refresh (Type: Healing, 5 SP. Transfers up to 15 SP from the user to the target. Free action. Cooldown: Cantrip (1))
5) ------------
6) ------------
7) ------------
8) ------------

Relic Upgrades:
Fusion Saver (Reduces the cost of Fuse Demons by 25%.)
Soul Armor (Unlocks the Soul Armor transmutation, which lets you sacrifice a demon to copy its MaxHP modifier, Speed, immunities, resistances, and weaknesses to yourself.)

Inventory:
3 Chakra stone
2 Heal stone
2 Trouble chime
1 Frost rune
1 Pure stone
1 Heal gem
1 Zephyr card
1 Heart rune
1 Venom rune
1 Guardian gem

Current Credits: 1704



--==== Current Party ===--

Name : Faerie
Level: 3
MaxHP: 36
MaxSP: 100

Strength: 5
Magic   : 17
Vitality: 6
Agility : 21
Cunning : 16

Resist: Mind
Weak  : Body

Abilities Known:
1) Lucky Charm (Type: Healing, 10 SP. Resets Luck cooldown. 25% chance of an extra, random benefit as well.)
2) Healing Charm (Type: Healing, 25 SP. 80 Power heal. 25% chance of an extra, random benefit as well.)
3) Lucky Dodge (Type: Defense, Passive. Provides a 20% chance to dodge attacks. This works even when Stunned, Paralyzed, etc. Triggers a Luck cooldown when activated. Cooldown: Luck (3))
4) ------------
5) ------------
6) ------------
7) ------------
8) ------------


Name : Echeneis
Level: 3
MaxHP: 40
MaxSP: 100

Strength: 10
Magic   : 14
Vitality: 19
Agility : 13
Cunning : 9

Resist: Ice
Weak  : Electricity

Abilities Known:
1) Chilling Touch (Type: Ice, 5 SP. 70 Power attack. Chills the target, reducing their accuracy, evasion, and movement speed by 12%.)
2) Deep Chill (Type: Ice, Passive. Increases the duration of your Chill effects by 3 turns.)
3) Headwind (Type: Ice, Passive. Ice attacks delay the next turn of targets that moved during their previous turn.)
4) ------------
5) ------------
6) ------------
7) ------------
8) ------------


Name : Gandayah
Level: 3
MaxHP: 40
MaxSP: 125

Strength: 13
Magic   : 16
Vitality: 18
Agility : 9
Cunning : 9

Resist: Electricity
Weak  : Fire

Abilities Known:
1) Cleanse (Type: Healing, 15 SP. Removes Poison, Infection, and Paralysis.)
2) Refresh (Type: Healing, 5 SP. Transfers up to 15 SP from the user to the target. Free action. Cooldown: Cantrip (1))
3) Tireless (Type: None, Passive. Increases MaxSP by 25.)
4) Healing Charm (Type: Healing, 25 SP. 80 Power heal. 25% chance of an extra, random benefit as well.)
5) ------------
6) ------------
7) ------------
8) ------------


Name : Solid Red cap
Level: 2
MaxHP: 45
MaxSP: 100

Strength: 15
Magic   : 6
Vitality: 19
Agility : 10
Cunning : 10

Resist: Body
Weak  : Electricity Light

Abilities Known:
1) Feral Claw (Type: Slash, 5 SP. 70 Power attack.)
2) Throw Rock (Type: Impact, 5 SP. 70 Power attack. Cooldown: Luck (3))
3) Intent (Type: Buff, 5 SP. Briefly improves accuracy by 25%. Free action. Cooldown: Cantrip (5))
4) Dash (Type: None, 20 SP. Move to the target position instantly. Cooldown: Charge (8))
5) Flame Ward (Type: Defense, Passive. Provides a 33% chance to block Fire attacks. This works even when Stunned, Paralyzed, etc.)
6) Lucky Dodge (Type: Defense, Passive. Provides a 20% chance to dodge attacks. This works even when Stunned, Paralyzed, etc. Triggers a Luck cooldown when activated. Cooldown: Luck (3))
7) ------------
8) ------------


Name : Fiery Huo shu
Level: 2
MaxHP: 39
MaxSP: 100

Strength: 12
Magic   : 18
Vitality: 8
Agility : 10
Cunning : 12

Resist: Fire
Weak  : Ice

Abilities Known:
1) Fiery Claw (Type: Slash, 5 SP. 85 Power attack split between Slash and Fire. Has a 33% chance to Ignite the target, causing damage over a short duration.)
2) Low Profile (Type: Defense, Passive. Always dodge projectiles fired by allies unless directly targeted.)
3) Firestarter (Type: Fire, Passive. Increases your chance to apply Ignite by 50% of the original chance.)
4) Flame Dart (Type: Fire, 15 SP. 70 Power attack. Has a 33% chance to Ignite the target, causing damage over a short duration.)
5) Bask (Type: Fire, 0 SP. Must target an Ignited enemy. No effect on the target, but triggers a 60 Power heal on and restores 10 SP for the user. Free action. Cooldown: Cantrip (3))
6) ------------
7) ------------
8) ------------


Name : Headless
Level: 2
MaxHP: 50
MaxSP: 100

Strength: 15
Magic   : 4
Vitality: 25
Agility : 8
Cunning : 8

Resist: Ice Body
Weak  : Electricity Light

Abilities Known:
1) Inspiring Cut (Type: Slash, 15 SP. 70 Power attack. Briefly increases your or a nearby ally's accuracy by 25%.)
2) Daring Cut (Type: Slash, 15 SP. 70 Power attack. Briefly increases your or a nearby ally's offense by 25%.)
3) Swiftness (Type: None, Passive. Reduces the turn cost of movement and movement abilities by 20%.)
4) Leadership (Type: Buff, Passive. Accelerates the next turn of a nearby ally when you use Slash, Impact, or Pierce abilities to deal damage to one or more characters.)
5) Rabblerouser (Type: Buff, Passive. Abilities that increase the offense, defense, accuracy, evasion, or speed of allies also accelerate their next turn if they are not Shocked, Stunned, or Sleeping.)
6) Diehard (Type: Defense, Passive. Prevents death, except by Ignite or Poison damage. May trigger an Endure cooldown when activated (more damage dealt = higher chance). Cooldown: Endure (5))
7) ------------
8) ------------



--==== Recently Slain Allies ===--

Name : Freybug
Level: 2
MaxHP: 35
MaxSP: 100

Strength: 9
Magic   : 7
Vitality: 9
Agility : 15
Cunning : 20

Resist: Ice
Weak  : Light

Abilities Known:
1) Hinder (Type: Debuff, 15 SP. 70% chance to reduce evasion by 20%.)
2) Swiftness (Type: None, Passive. Reduces the turn cost of movement and movement abilities by 20%.)
3) Low Profile (Type: Defense, Passive. Always dodge projectiles fired by allies unless directly targeted.)
4) Tormentor (Type: None, Passive. Restores 5 SP when you deal damage to one or more characters that have negative status effects.)
5) ------------
6) ------------
7) ------------
8) ------------


Name : Goblin
Level: 3
MaxHP: 38
MaxSP: 100

Strength: 12
Magic   : 9
Vitality: 12
Agility : 16
Cunning : 16

Resist: Fire
Weak  : Mind

Abilities Known:
1) Low Profile (Type: Defense, Passive. Always dodge projectiles fired by allies unless directly targeted.)
2) Mob Cover (Type: Defense, Passive. Gain a 15% chance to dodge attacks when adjacent to an enemy other than the attacker.)
3) Evasion (Type: Defense, Passive. Provides a 10% chance to dodge attacks.)
4) Dash (Type: None, 20 SP. Move to the target position instantly. Cooldown: Charge (8))
5) ------------
6) ------------
7) ------------
8) ------------




[Ferret]

Bask is certainly of possible use to you, so long as you plan on keeping a demon around who can reliably Ignite, or learn to do it yourself. The Fiery Huo Shu you found is definitely capable of it, so you're already covered there so long as you plan on using him heavily.

Tormentor is a relatively good early way to get back SP if you have any reliable debuffers in your group. Since you're already leaning on the Ignite angle, you should be good there (though you may want to keep someone with Ice nukes a Debuff-class debuff around, since those tend to be cheaper and faster to apply than Ignite.) Though, you may be running out of SP in part due to Sure Slice: It's a good attack, especially with low Agility, but it is a little pricey at 15 SP for someone who also wants to spend 20 a turn on Refresh.

Magic will definitely help veils hit harder, and will also boost any self-healing like Bask and Reshape, but I wouldn't go too heavy on it for a veil build. So long as you survive, even with low Magic your veils will eventually do the job. Then too, remember that your veils (and Magic) only come into play once enemies are adjacent and hitting you: Vit will be important for surviving ranged attacks that don't trigger the veils (and thus don't cause the enemies and the damage they deal to eventually go away.)

[Sandman25]

Thank you! Going for Bask and Tormentor then. I guess putting points into Strength for defense is inferior to Vitality since Vitality helps vs magical attacks also and there are no diminishing returns for vitality (unless I am mistaken it gives linear amount of HP and also helps to avoid debuffs).

[Ferret]

To clarify: Strength helps resist *all* damage, physical and magical. It's actually a little TOO good in the 8/3 build and is getting toned back a bit in the next one. It will still help against all damage in the next builds, but the effect will kick in at lower Strength while not being able to get as high as it does now at extremely high Strength.

Also, neither stat has diminishing returns at all. Only the accuracy part of Agility and in some cases Cunning do, and only those because after a point you're at 100% chance to hit/land status effects (though some status effects require very, very high Cunning to ever reach that point, Charm for example.)

[Sandman25]

Thank you for the explanation! I didn't know Str helps vs magic damage. I will put some points into Str then.

[Ferret]

Yeah, Str can go well, especially if you can manage to lay hands on Spiny Veil, which isn't magical and will get a damage boost from Strength too. Counterattack does too, and you've already got that (though it will start missing a fair bit if Agility isn't improving.)

The whole "Strength = reduced damage" thing is meant to simulate armor most games offer high Strength (i.e.: melee/low magic) characters. It mostly works, I just need to tweak it down a bit and remove the *increased* damage it was causing characters who never pump Strength to take, both of which will be in the next build.

[Sandman25]

Speaking about armour. Have you considered adding wearable items to the game? Part of fun for me is to get excited when some randart drops from a monster, choose what to wear like "do I need those boots with increased movement or should I keep current boots of protection from fire because I want to use robe of archmagi?"

[Ferret]

There is a not often discussed thing on the list for this, of a sort Unfortunately, since it isn't likely to happen super soon yet, I'm usually reluctant to talk about it much.

Abilities/randomly modified demons are intended to fill some of this gap, at least.

I can tell you that it won't be a full on equipment system of the usual sort: way too many party members / equipment slots to manage for that. I could do it for just the player, but one of the ideas is the player isn't supposed to be uniquely powerful compared to demons... though, I suppose there are ways to mitigate that too. Hm...

[Sandman25]

I think you are right, otherwise players might change equipment for every fight (get rElec vs electricity monsters or higher armour/lower evasion vs monster with "cannot miss" attack etc.) and it would be annoying/time-consuming.

[Ferret]

Ugh, no please. That's one "pro strat" from DCSS I definitely don't want to bring to Demon: ring-swapping Or anything like it.

I guess I shouldn't tease a thing and not explain it a little. Note that when I'm talking about something this future tech, it's much more subject to change than normal.

Basic idea is you would find Soul Brands in the dungeon. A Soul Brand can be used to give a permanent bonus to a character, but each character may only have one Soul Brand in effect at a time: using a new one overwrites the old one for that character. Interestingly: using a Soul Brand does *not* expend the Soul Brand. You can only carry a limited number, but each can be used an infinite number of times.

Soul Brands will mostly offer random bonuses of varying sorts, but there is certainly the possibility of some unique ones.

Note: it will cost Credits to apply a Soul Brand. The cost will be based, probably, on the starting level of the target, and/or the quality of the Soul Brand. Swapping them around out for a dangerous fight will be possible... but not something you want to do routinely unless you don't mind it being a major way you're spending your credits.

Finally: Demons that spawn on a level with Soul Brands will, if appropriate, have used one of them on themselves. Enemy summoners will have of course found and utilized some of their own as well.