Background: Warper
- Shroud of Golubria augments Dr's inadequate natural body armor, effectively adding HP to compensate for Dr's 0 GDR weakness.
- Blink lets Dr breathe and skirmish at range, and keep Shroud up.
- Gell's Gravitas is actually useful, grouping foes for breath attack.
- Lesser Beckoning pulls in ranged foes into melee blitz or breath clouds.
- Teleport Other provides an MR-checking escape vs fast and ranged foe.
- Passage of Golubria is Blink dragon, upgraded.
The background lacks direct damage, but DrWp's aux attack provides enough.
Starting Weapon: Spear
DrWp starts with a Spear. Reach gives him multiple free attacks in a fight via Translocations. Spear's fast attack speed allows more tail slaps.
Stat Assignment: No Fate but Color
There is little point in investing in Str, given absence of body armor encumbrance. Dex apts are subpar, but this is to compensate for 0 encumbrance with natural AC. Spellcasting is -1, as are two schools, but again this is to compensate for natural AC replacing armor encumbrance. So Str is the dump stat, and it's a choice between Dex and Int.
Dex is nothing amazing. Skirmishing skills are lackluster at -1. Dr will wear a shield and crosstrain Slings and Throwing, once geared. Blink archery makes -1 skirmishing apts worthwhile for DrWp. It's solid but unexciting.
Int has hidden potential. Color can greatly improve certain apts, sometimes at the expense of others. It's unpredictable though.
DrWp starts Str 13 Int 13 Dex 10. 6 random stats increase that to about Str 15 Int 15 Dex 12. 9 free points remain. Warper doesn't need much Int. I think it's reasonable to put the first points into Dex until one finds a spellbook that will stay relevant with one's color. Then invest in Int as appropriate. For example, a Purple will find Int highly useful, whereas a Yellow has more reason to raise Dex to skirmish and melee corroded foes.
DCSS' difficulty curve is inverse, so go by whatever will help most now.
God: Makhleb
DrWp options for early Dungeon:
- Veh is tempting, but lacks Invo, wasting Dr's +1.
- Zin sounds good, since Recite costs no MP and Blinking enhances Recite kiting, but anti-cannibalism conflicts with -1 Spellcasting.
- Kiku's derived undead interfere with breath attacks.
- Qazlal is lore canonical, but Dr has strong Stealth, due to 0 encumbrance. Dr Stealth apt is 0, only -1 from Human, who wears body armor.
- Oka fits the Blink archer theme. Dr has two fewer slots for his gifts, but appreciates the early shield.
- Hep's Knight weathers breath attacks well, and Transference sets them up. However, Invo use is late and lackluster.
- Jiyva is a candidate, despite the loss of ammo. Pseudopods has no downside without body armor.
- Ely is a hungry goddess whose abilities cost MP, and she shores up Dr's critical fragility, but only Pacify directly offers offense.
- Makhleb is tempting thanks to Dr's +10% mHP, solid +1 Invo, and Warper ability to maintain range. Makhleb's abilities cost no MP.
Makhleb it is. Now DrWp's damage goes from lackluster Spear strikes to hellish strafing runs in true dragon style.
DrWp is the only essential combo to initially worship Makhleb. He can remain with Makhleb for the entire game.
If his progression is blocked in Extended, due to e.g. lacking Statue Form, then Good Gods is an option. Makhleb's wrath is relatively dangerous, but can be survived by camping an upstair to Vestibule with Zin.
Dracolleagues
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Chardump
DrWp Makhleb Ampamm's run was recorded and will be uploaded on my YouTube channel soon. Here's the morgue.
Wasteland Chillin, Cold-blooded Killin, Crocodile Villain!
The knight in shining armor bravely charges forward, his Shield of Resistance held high. The dragon blinks to the side and roasts him. Another crunchy tin taco!
Dragons are agents of unparalleled destruction and mobility, ruling the skies. DrWp simulates the Draconic battlestyle, using the speed of instantaneous Translocation to perform strafing attacks with his Breath and Makhleb's Destruction.
Precedents exists in the DCSS bestiary: Draconian Shifters are DrWp, and Draconian Scorchers command Hellfire, a nod to Makhleb.
Dragons and Draconian are creatures of Qazlal created to fight Primordial Darkness in the Creation War. After the war's conclusion, however, both species found themselves sympathetic to the defeated demon's perspective, due to their shared savage nature. Certainly the demonic mind is less alien to the Draco genus than that of the light elves. A Draconian worshiper of Elyvilon is rare.
Draconians are omnivorous, emphasis on meat. Being humanoid and intelligent, they are more flexible in habitat than dragons of the same color. However, their symbiosis with dragon mounts limits their potential range. Without mounts, Draconians are vulnerable to the cavalry of other species. Draconians mature slowly, and dragon mounts compensate for their relatively low numbers.
Due to their cold-blooded nature, most Draconians dwell in the tropics and subtropics. However, much depends on color: Yellow and Green Draconians favor swamps and sulfur; White Draconians favor poles and frigid peaks; White Draconians prefer the steaming jungle; Grey Draconians dwell in subterranean and aquatic depths; Red Draconians are volcanic and sometimes subterranean; Purple Draconians seek arcane nexi; and Black Dragons hunt the plains from the vantage of their eyries.
Their varied colors and habitats put them in competition with many sapient races. Where intensive agriculture exists, Draconians are driven off by superior numbers. Draconians typically dwell in the wastelands, preferring rocky and forested terrain with caves for egg clutches. Their vestigial wings are suited for gliding in vertical terrain such as forests and mountains, or swimming. They manage their forest habitats but do not practice intensive agriculture except underground.
Due to their lack of mammalian emotion, Draconian society is exceedingly simple. Draconians do not lie, joke, or employ figurative language. They are cooperative with others of their species; different colors rarely compete for the same territory. Dominance is recognized instinctively based on prowess. Mothers care for their hatchlings until they reach independence. Like all humanoid races they engage in trade and warfare. They sometimes live in symbiosis with Kobold scavengers.
Draconians do not pair bond, but they do cooperate for up to 14 years to raise their young. Females choose males based on their status, resources and dependents. Females are larger but rarely participate in combat outside the territory, and do not ride dragons, which is a high-mortality occupation. Egg clutches range from 3 to 6. Sex is determined by incubation temperature, which permits Draconians to practice population control. Juvenile male mortality is high, since they are used as scout infantry and menial labor. Draconians are long-lived.
Breeding females and dominant males receive the lion's share of food and wealth. The chief rules with a coalition of beta males. Other adult males are excluded during mating season. It is difficult for inferior males to develop under these conditions, prompting young adult males to depart and seek out territories of their own.
Bachelor bands range on the outskirts of Draconian territory, and beyond. Draconian territories need not be contiguous, since they communicate by air. If a bachelor chieftain secures sufficient resources, he can attract mating females to his territory.
Your band encountered an Orc patrol while far afield and got the worst of it, scattering. You survived thanks to a timely Translocation. The scroll was a gift from your Shifter mother.
By chance, your escape took past the newly-opened Dungeon entrance. Draconians covet the security of underground lairs, so entering was an easy choice. A Dungeon contains enough wealth to found a great dynasty. But first you must prevent the egg-sucking Orcs from making your balls into fritters and wearing your hide as boots.
You'll need divine aid to accomplish such a feat. Fortunately, mature Dungeons are required to house each god's altar, a protection racket no different than a Mafia shakedown. It is natural and right that the strong tax the weak.
Underground, Qaz's abilities won't amount to much. Makhleb, on the other hand, is ideal for a lone Draconian facing down an entire Dungeon. Dust dances on the floor to your infrasonic rumble as you salivate, imagining Orcs roasted by bolts of elemental fury.
there doesn't seem to be anything here