YASD: Hand of the Dead/Slash/Mind

[Sandman25]

Ok, trying next combo recommended by Ferret, started with Will o' wisp as it was first recommended demon. First group was 2 Slimes, I sacrificed 70% HP and got a Slime ally, retreated back to starting territory and healed. Returned to the same region, started killing the Slime (it had panic status at this point) when suddenly 2 Goblins came into view. Ok, I activate a link, agree to sacrifice my Slime ally, then sacrifice some HP and thus I get the Goblin as ally. Ok, I kill the other goblin and then immediately activate link on the heavily wounded Slime, it asks me to heal it, I agree (I don't have any healing abilities so it is probably a minor bug), then I sacrifice some HP twice and again I am at 1 HP with 3 allies and no enemy in range, quite standard situation for me at Tower 1

[Sandman25]

I got XL 6 Brutal Ghoul on Tower 1 & 1/2 and I am only XL 2
That wasn't easy though, I met Headless and co when I still had to kill 2 enemies for the quest... So I ordered to attack a Zombie and ignored everything else, then another Zombie... So I got Brutal Ghoul but the problem was that I wanted Headless too who was at about 50% HP and my Faerie was at low SP so I would fail the quest. Of course I retreated but Headless was adjacent to my demons so it followed me. I retreated almost the whole floor while waiting Headless to heal, then I ran back to where I met him first and eventually initiated and completed his quest.
So here I am after disbanding Echeneis (it taught Chiling Touch to Goblin) and Slime (it taught Reshape to Chindi).
This time I am trying to train only a few demons (Red cap learned 2 abilities, Chindi learned 3 abilities).
Also I replaced Haunt on Chindi with Healing Charm (Haunt is a very bad ability for Chindi IMHO, it puts the demon right in the middle of enemy pack and Chindi does not have especially high agility/vitality or abilities to restore HP like Leech Bite.

Code: Select all

Demon Party Dump File
Version 12/3/2015, Scoring Model: 8/22/2015
Dump file created at: 12/14/2015 9:38:56 PM


Summoner SandmanXXV...
was chosen by the Hand of the Dead,
selected Slash and Mind as their starting elements,
is currently at Tower:1 & 1/2,
and is still alive!



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

Name : SandmanXXV
Level: 2
MaxHP: 46
MaxSP: 100

Strength: 14
Magic   : 4
Vitality: 13
Agility : 12
Cunning : 17

Resist: Dark
Weak  : Light

Abilities Known:
1) Maul (Type: Slash, 15 SP. 85 Power attack split between two Slash attacks.)
2) Terrifying (Type: Mind, Passive. Provides a 20% chance for your Slash, Impact, and Pierce attacks to apply Panic, causing the target's actions to sometimes be randomized.)
3) Yellow Whisper (Type: Mind, 20 SP. 65% chance to inflict Panic, causing the target's actions to sometimes be randomized. Free action. Cooldown: Presence (8))
4) Evasion (Type: Defense, Passive. Provides a 10% chance to dodge attacks.)
5) Block Impact (Type: Defense, Passive. Provides a 33% chance to block Impact attacks.)
6) Heavy Blow (Type: Impact, 5 SP. 70 Power attack.)
7) Evade Step (Type: Defense, Passive. Gain a 33% chance to dodge attacks when your last action was movement or a movement ability.)
8) Mob Cover (Type: Defense, Passive. Gain a 20% chance to dodge attacks when adjacent to an enemy other than the attacker.)

Inventory:
1 Might gem
7 Heal stone
1 Pure stone
1 Chakra stone
1 Gold matrix



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

Name : Will o' wisp
Level: 2
MaxHP: 35
MaxSP: 100

Strength: 10
Magic   : 9
Vitality: 9
Agility : 17
Cunning : 15

Immune: Body
Resist: Slash Impact Pierce
Weak  : Electricity Light Dark

Abilities Known:
1) Ghost Pierce (Type: Pierce, 10 SP. 70 Power attack. Moves you to different, randomly selected, position adjacent to the target.)
2) Evade Step (Type: Defense, Passive. Gain a 33% chance to dodge attacks when your last action was movement or a movement ability.)
3) Souleater (Type: Dark, Reactive. Responds to a visible character's death by draining them, healing yourself for 7% of their maximum HP.)
4) ------------
5) ------------
6) ------------


Name : Goblin
Level: 2
MaxHP: 36
MaxSP: 100

Strength: 11
Magic   : 8
Vitality: 11
Agility : 15
Cunning : 15

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 20% 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) Chilling Touch (Type: Ice, 5 SP. 70 Power attack. Chills the target, reducing their accuracy, evasion, and movement speed by 12%.)
6) ------------
7) ------------


Name : Gandayah
Level: 2
MaxHP: 39
MaxSP: 125

Strength: 9
Magic   : 15
Vitality: 20
Agility : 8
Cunning : 8

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 20 SP from the user to the target.)
3) Tireless (Type: None, Passive. Increases MaxSP by 25.)
4) ------------
5) ------------
6) ------------


Name : Red cap
Level: 2
MaxHP: 39
MaxSP: 100

Strength: 16
Magic   : 7
Vitality: 15
Agility : 9
Cunning : 13

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, 10 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) Mob Cover (Type: Defense, Passive. Gain a 20% chance to dodge attacks when adjacent to an enemy other than the attacker.)
6) Evasion (Type: Defense, Passive. Provides a 10% chance to dodge attacks.)
7) ------------


Name : Faerie
Level: 2
MaxHP: 34
MaxSP: 100

Strength: 6
Magic   : 15
Vitality: 6
Agility : 18
Cunning : 15

Resist: Mind
Weak  : Fire

Abilities Known:
1) Lucky Charm (Type: Healing, 5 SP. Reduces Luck cooldown by 1 turn. 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 25% chance to dodge attacks. This works even when Stunned, Paralyzed, etc. Triggers a Luck cooldown when activated. Cooldown: Luck (3))
4) ------------
5) ------------
6) ------------


Name : Chindi
Level: 3
MaxHP: 38
MaxSP: 125

Strength: 5
Magic   : 17
Vitality: 13
Agility : 13
Cunning : 17

Immune: Body
Resist: Slash Pierce Ice Dark
Weak  : Impact Electricity Light

Abilities Known:
1) Vile Touch (Type: Body, 10 SP. 70 Power attack. Has a 50% chance to apply Infection, which hinders HP and SP recovery.)
2) Blood Rot (Type: Body, Passive. When you apply Infection, Poison, or Paralysis, you have a 50% chance to reduce the target's offense by 20%.)
3) Snuff Out (Type: Dark, 25 SP. Attempts to instantly kill the target (lower HP = higher chance, 0% chance until 30% of maximum HP, 100% chance at 20%). Cooldown: Dark (3))
4) Tireless (Type: None, Passive. Increases MaxSP by 25.)
5) Reshape (Type: Healing, 0 SP. Removes all negative status effects, then applies a 125 Power heal. Cooldown: Endure (5))
6) Healing Charm (Type: Healing, 25 SP. 80 Power heal. 25% chance of an extra, random benefit as well.)


Name : Brutal Ghoul
Level: 6
MaxHP: 58
MaxSP: 100

Strength: 28
Magic   : 5
Vitality: 18
Agility : 15
Cunning : 14

Immune: Body
Resist: Ice
Weak  : Fire Mind Light

Abilities Known:
1) Numbing Bite (Type: Pierce, 15 SP. 70 Power attack. Has a 35% chance to inflict Paralysis, causing the target to frequently miss their turns.)
2) Pounce (Type: Slash, 15 SP. Must target a character. Leap to the target with a 70 Power attack. Inflicts Stun, causing the target to miss their next turn. Cooldown: Charge (6))
3) Flesheater (Type: Body, Reactive. Responds to an adjacent character's death by draining them, healing yourself for 15% of their maximum HP.)
4) Choking Veil (Type: Body, Reactive. 50% chance to delay the next turn of adjacent characters that deal damage to you.)
5) Clobber (Type: Impact, 5 SP. 100 Power attack. 50% accuracy.)
6) Focusbreaker (Type: Impact, 15 SP. 70 Power attack. Has a 50% chance to reduce accuracy by 20%.)
7) Evasion (Type: Defense, Passive. Provides a 10% chance to dodge attacks.)
8) ------------


Name : Headless
Level: 2
MaxHP: 49
MaxSP: 100

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

Immune: Body
Resist: Ice Dark
Weak  : Electricity Light

Abilities Known:
1) Infectious Bite (Type: Pierce, 10 SP. 70 Power attack. Has a 50% chance to apply to Infection, which hinders HP and SP recovery.)
2) Inspiring Cut (Type: Slash, 20 SP. 70 Power attack. Briefly increases your or a nearby ally's accuracy by 25%.)
3) Daring Cut (Type: Slash, 20 SP. 70 Power attack. Briefly increases your or a nearby ally's offense by 25%.)
4) Swiftness (Type: None, Passive. Reduces the turn cost of movement and movement abilities by 20%.)
5) Flesheater (Type: Body, Reactive. Responds to an adjacent character's death by draining them, healing yourself for 15% of their maximum HP.)
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 : Slime
Level: 1
MaxHP: 44
MaxSP: 100

Strength: 17
Magic   : 6
Vitality: 17
Agility : 4
Cunning : 11

Weak  : Pierce Fire Ice Electricity Body Light

Abilities Known:
1) Heavy Blow (Type: Impact, 5 SP. 70 Power attack.)
2) Block Impact (Type: Defense, Passive. Provides a 33% chance to block Impact attacks.)
3) Reshape (Type: Healing, 0 SP. Removes all negative status effects, then applies a 125 Power heal. Cooldown: Endure (5))
4) Malleable (Type: Healing, Passive. Improves natural HP regeneration and healing received (including from the Regen status effect) by 25%. Does not affect healing received based on dealing damage.)
5) ------------
6) ------------




[Sandman25]

Got Antaeon join my party on Tower 2, that was scary (Artemis joined the fun too). I think the quest description can be improved, currently it is not clear that activating the link will trigger huge groups of minions. I was a spoiled player so I made sure I have demons with Healing Charm before activating the link.

[Ferret]

(Ooops! I typed this out, then forgot to hit Submit.)

Huh. What character did it let you "heal" the slime with? Weird, I'll look into it. At least I know exactly what characters/abilities you had.

If I hadn't programmed the game myself, I would swear there is code that makes Headless appear nearby if you start a Ghoul capture on Tower: 1 & 1/2. You handled it like a pro by the sound of things, and a Brutal Ghoul at that. I would say this is the equivalent of finding a nice randart early in DCSS: it should come in very handy.

Haunt is one of those cases where I've purposefully crippled an early demon due to some powerful mechanic it's been used to introduce. In this case, it's a two for one sale: Haunt itself is powerful (just... not on a mage demon) and Snuff Out is very scary. Some demons need a little help to shine.

Let's have a look at the party

Main character: Looks like you've gone heavy on defenses... that or this is just the first abilities offered and you haven't gotten any/many you really want yet. What's your long term plan for the main character, if you have one at the moment?

Will o Wisp: No comment, since he hasn't been trained any yet.

Goblin: Our standard Chilling Touch addition, not much to say here either

Gandayah: Still factory spec.

Red Cap: Looks like he's been trained to be a bit more durable up in the front line. He's a good melee stat-wise, just needs help on abilities: he has good ones, but none that help him survive. Looks like you're fixing that for future use.

Faerie: Still normal. Tireless coming soon hopefully?

Chindi: Or maybe not, it looks like you've made this guy into a healer/nuker with an extra surprise for those who get close.

Brutal Ghoul: HOLY CRIPES IT GOT CLOBBER?! Clobber is *amazing* on a Ghoul: Paralyze completely eliminates the chance of missing. Pounce's Stun also serves the same purpose. The AI is well aware of the fact too: though you may see it prioritize Numbing Bite over Clobber sometimes on a Stunned target (after all, a Paralyze if it sticks will allow many, many Clobbberings!) Focusbreaker is another good one, though your Ghoul already has so many good melee abilities it may not choose to use it much. Even so, it'd be a great thing to pass to a second melee: -ACC is a very effective debuff.

Headless: Always good to see him.


TLDR: Looks like you're off to a good start.

[Ferret]

And yeah, Protect captures will be getting a small note warning people that they're going to be swarmed shortly after.

[Sandman25]

The heal request happened with this character who had Will o' wisp and Goblin. I chose corresponding answer and got a screen with my whole party except all three letters (a,b,c) were disabled. I tried them anyway just to be sure, nothing happened and then I pressed Esc to return back to dialog.
Yes, the Ghoul is awesome, though I am not sure, probably Jiang Shi is better thanks to vampirism.
I heavily invested in defense for my main character, I even replaced Dash (I am disappointed in the ability after previous death ). I considered Clobber but I don't know if panic decreases Evasion, I hope it does. Also I guess I may need a Freybug, its Tormentor and Evasion Down can be very useful for me.

[Sandman25]

I found that I like early game much more than later one. Late game overwhelms me with new info (I am too lazy to carefully read descriptions of all abilities on new demons) while early game just provides tactical challenges. Hopefully it will change after getting more experience with later game, I will get used to late monsters like to Raichos

[Ferret]

Ah, okay. Then the heal request wasn't actually fulfilled. I assume you had to choose something else to proceed?

Yeah, Jiang Shi, even a few levels lower, will probably tend to be more durable than Ghoul. 75% damage return on an attack is hard to ignore.

Panic disables defensive passives (block/dodge), but you retain Agility-related evasion. It will help against enemies with defensive passives, but no effect otherwise.

As you get to the late game more regularly, hopefully you'll pick up on what the demons there do and find those to be enjoyable tactical challenges too.

[Sandman25]

Yes, I had to pick something else to proceed with Slime quest.
Thank you for clarification on panic, I guess I don't need Clobber then. I tried +25% accuracy free action with the character and I was not impressed (too low duration for 25 SP IMHO) so I replaced it with infectious melee.

[Ferret]

I might be adjusting buff costs soon. But.. free actions are really nice too.