Rogue-likes! (not a discussion of the correct use of the term)

[Winthur]

Mindcrafters are, for instance (so I hear).

Imagine being a character who starts with caster gear and weapon progression and doesn't shake it off until like level 12, but you are supposed to level as a physical character. Books hardly drop for you and you may very well forget about learning any spells from them anyway. Your first few mind spells are of limited usage, can genuinely hurt you if you attempt to use them against undead, and you can't spellcast from hitpoints in a pinch.

They're much better later in the game, but it's a struggle until you get there and you never shake off certain weaknesses. But hey, you get to cast massive AoE through walls and come with free teleport control.

[Kaptin Keen]

Imagine being a character who starts with caster gear and weapon progression and doesn't shake it off until like level 12, but you are supposed to level as a physical character. Books hardly drop for you and you may very well forget about learning any spells from them anyway. Your first few mind spells are of limited usage, can genuinely hurt you if you attempt to use them against undead, and you can't spellcast from hitpoints in a pinch.

They're much better later in the game, but it's a struggle until you get there and you never shake off certain weaknesses. But hey, you get to cast massive AoE through walls and come with free teleport control.

I've never tried one, but yea: I hear they're hard to play.

Skree the ratling farmer has reached Dwarf Town, meaning he's now not long for the world. He's literate now, and has a pile of blessed scrolls of identify, but I'm not sure I dare cast them, cause I'm afraid he'll fail =(

But he's wonderfully strong, good armor, and a staff of devastation he's learning to use. Robs him of a shield, but ye gods, the damage. Actually, he should be visiting Rehetep soon. See how that goes, he's somewhat light on resistances right now.

[Cespenar]

Imagine being a character who starts with caster gear and weapon progression and doesn't shake it off until like level 12, but you are supposed to level as a physical character. Books hardly drop for you and you may very well forget about learning any spells from them anyway. Your first few mind spells are of limited usage, can genuinely hurt you if you attempt to use them against undead, and you can't spellcast from hitpoints in a pinch.

They're much better later in the game, but it's a struggle until you get there and you never shake off certain weaknesses. But hey, you get to cast massive AoE through walls and come with free teleport control.

Not to mention that you get corrupted by attacking the mind of the corrupted, aka the stuff that you need to kill as quickly as possible.

Skree the ratling farmer has reached Dwarf Town, meaning he's now not long for the world. He's literate now, and has a pile of blessed scrolls of identify, but I'm not sure I dare cast them, cause I'm afraid he'll fail =(

I was skeptical about that bit, and turns out the wiki says that Literacy only governs the chance of reading unidentified scrolls. So you should be safe there.

[Kaptin Keen]

I was skeptical about that bit, and turns out the wiki says that Literacy only governs the chance of reading unidentified scrolls. So you should be safe there.

Oh - that's wonderful! I kinda suspected I'd be ok to cast identified scrolls, but I wasn't sure, and from experience I expect the game to screw me over any chance it gets =)

[Sian]

and even then, the chances to fail is only barely big enough that it's a enough of a issue, that you won't do it in combat

[Maryring]

This thread made me reinstall ADOM. Closed the Chaos gate once long before. I think it was with a Human Wizard, but I don't recall. Considering making an attempt on an ultra ending this time. Or at least getting the Trident. Rolled up a Mindcrafter, never played em before and sheesh. Talk about a tough class to play. Powers that don't work on vermin or undead and corrupt against chaos beasties. And the ice wand I start with has 1 charge. I've found two other wands of fire. One with 1 charge. One with 0 charges.

Is it just me though, or are starts tougher than I remember them to be though? Corpses seem to drop far less often than I remember, which is a problem because it means I can't use my Acid Spit. I've found some herb patches, but I've mostly gotten cursed herbs of stomachemptia from em. I have found several bows, but only 50 or so arrows in total. And considering I'm... NOT skilled with bows, they plink for 0-1 damage most of the time. I've not found any weapons or armour with a prefix/suffix yet either.

At least regular enemies are easy to fight. Confusion means I'm only attacked 1/8 times, so True Berserk takes care of em.

[Kaptin Keen]

I have found several bows, but only 50 or so arrows in total.

I consider it a must-do to wander around Terinyo until you spot the goblin camp. It gives you enough rocks to throw at things to last a lifetime.

[Maryring]

I don't remember a goblin camp. That something new that's been added to the game, or have I just been missing it all this time?

[Kaptin Keen]

I don't remember a goblin camp. That something new that's been added to the game, or have I just been missing it all this time?

No, it's new. But it's almost sure to spawn in the early game, close to Terinyo. It has goblins, and rocks. Also a swordsman (who may join you) and an ogre. Oh and - spoiler alert.

[Maryring]

So basically worth checking out, even if I'm already level 11. I'll see if I can't find it.

[Kaptin Keen]

So basically worth checking out, even if I'm already level 11. I'll see if I can't find it.

Definitely worth checking out level 1. At level 11, it .. basically offers you hundreds of rocks. Which are a perfectly viable missile.

You can also walk the world map, find barbarians, switch to coward, and walk around awhile. They'll fire tons of arrows at you =)

[Cespenar]

Yep, this thread finally made me go and get the deluxe version and open up a character as well. Tried a dwarven chaos knight for the sake of trying out the class, but lost it at somewhere beyond Dwarftown to a 70 something damage critical hit. Classic death.

Also, turns out chaos knights are a bit of a "pro" class, as if the game is easy enough by itself.

[zlefin]

this has reminded me of some much older rogue-likes I played long ago. (they were on the simpler side)
Fatal Labyrinth for the Sega genesis; had a lot of fun with that one.
Lufia 2 had a subsection/subgame in it that was basically a rogue-like, that was also a lot of fun, though I didn't play it as much.

anyone play 'em? just reminiscing really.

On another note: is anyone playing the Rogue Fable III early access on steam?
I played the earlier beta version that was put up on kongregate and it was already great fun, though not something I'd play for more than 20-50 hours or so, but all new development is now happening on the steam version, and I was curious how it's going.

[Kaptin Keen]

I think my ratling farmer is now the strongest character I ever played. He has most of the intrinsics (that I know about), he has an exceedingly strong staff, and very, very decent broadsword, fully armed and armored (with spares) he has an amazing 3000 stones of spare carrying capacity. He has 24/24 defences on neutral tactics.

Only thing that troubles me slightly is his complete inability to use magic. Oh, and he's grown thorns. Corruption isn't anything you need to actually worry about, right?

I mean, I'll die long, long before that becomes a real issue, right? I've never had to concern myself with this before =)

[Silfir]

I think my ratling farmer is now the strongest character I ever played. He has most of the intrinsics (that I know about), he has an exceedingly strong staff, and very, very decent broadsword, fully armed and armored (with spares) he has an amazing 3000 stones of spare carrying capacity. He has 24/24 defences on neutral tactics.

Only thing that troubles me slightly is his complete inability to use magic. Oh, and he's grown thorns. Corruption isn't anything you need to actually worry about, right?

I mean, I'll die long, long before that becomes a real issue, right? I've never had to concern myself with this before =)

I believe you kick the bucket at your 18th corruption. The main worry is having corruptions with truly crippling negative effects, of which Thorns isn't one. It can be mitigated with corruption removal items, be on the lookout for those. Only cure the heinous stuff, like stiff muscles.

Having only 24 DV on neutral is a much bigger issue. Staves don't tend to be a good choice for characters with no magical aptitude. You can get away with not using shields, but only if you have a very, very good reason in the form of a two-handed weapon with absolutely devastating damage, and that's very unlikely to be a staff.

[Kaptin Keen]

I believe you kick the bucket at your 18th corruption. The main worry is having corruptions with truly crippling negative effects, of which Thorns isn't one. It can be mitigated with corruption removal items, be on the lookout for those. Only cure the heinous stuff, like stiff muscles.

Having only 24 DV on neutral is a much bigger issue. Staves don't tend to be a good choice for characters with no magical aptitude. You can get away with not using shields, but only if you have a very, very good reason in the form of a two-handed weapon with absolutely devastating damage, and that's very unlikely to be a staff.

On neutral it's either 23/25 with sword and shield, for +26 to hit, and 2d9+13 damage. Or it's 30/21 (and I have no idea why those numbers are different now), for +32 to hit, and 5d10+12 damage with my trusty staff. It's a ... very good staff.

I could equip Big Punch instead I suppose, which hits harder, but it's impractical for other reasons.

[Kato]

Lufia 2 had a subsection/subgame in it that was basically a rogue-like, that was also a lot of fun, though I didn't play it as much.

anyone play 'em? just reminiscing really.

The ancient cave was awesome, it's just a shame gift mode wasn't available just by beating the game.
Also, obviously, the lack of saving. Geez, I mean, I think I reached the bottom at some point on the console but it was like ten hours to do that. That's just irresponsible for a Snes game.

[zlefin]

still playing adom some; but I'll probably stop soon; while exploring a new game is interesting, its flaws are just grating/getting tiresome, and it doesn't have enough positives to outweigh them (and it's a bit too grindy once you get past the very earliest parts)

[Anteros]

I picked up Rogue-Empire on sale. It's a decent, if simplistic roguelike. I'm enjoying the card system when it comes to picking skills. It's certainly not as deep as some roguelikes, but I'm having fun with it so far.

[Maryring]

I loved Lufia II, and it's roguelike dungeon was a lot of fun. I'm pretty sure it was the first roguelike dungeon I ever played. In retrospect though, I feel that it's incredibly swingy, which is a bit of a problem.

Anyway, I finished the pyramid. And sheesh, it was baaaaaaad. I got level 15, so I could use the TK blast against the undead. But it's very expensive. I'd brought a wand of fire with 4 charges, but the mummy boss shrugged of every single hit. At least it helped thin out all the regular mummies. I had to flee and train a little elsewhere before trying again. In retrospect, I should've made a stab at grabbing some precrowning gifts but... I'm a dumdum. Now I've spawned so many artifacts, I'm not gonna be grabbing any precrowning gifts at all.

Also, did they remove the effect fo spenseweed? They used to heal damage IIRC, but now they seem to do nothing, except possibly be used in alchemy, but I'm no alchemist unless I get lucky with a scroll of Education.

[Kato]

I had a great run in Gungeon, getting to floor 5 with really good stuff and five full hearts. Then some reaper showed up that didn't bother me for just a room but kept chasing me! Of course I died like three rooms later. Turns out I never before had to worry about my curse level and now I learned the hard way what happens if you pick up too much bad karma... I'm sure I could have managed the boss but I was too greedy.

[Kaptin Keen]

Also, did they remove the effect fo spenseweed?

You don't eat it, you use it. Important little distinction there =)

[Maryring]

Ah. It really has been way too long since I played this game. I forgot how finicky it can be.

[Wookieetank]

Just stumbled across this: ADOM RPG kickstarter and thought some of ya'll might be interested.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

So, in DCSS, I was playing a Minotaur Fighter. Basically giving up entirely on casting and focusing on being a melee monster. Worshiped Makhleb for sustain. Didn't bother with Dex since I knew I was going to go into heavy armor and go for damage mitigation instead of damage avoidance. Started out picking Maces, but I ended up using a Freezing Broad Axe. It wasn't even a RANDART, just a magic weapon, but pretty dang good (except against Hydras, of course). Then I picked up a Shield with the Reflection ego, and I knew I had a potential run. Ran into the Enchantress, got the Fairy Dragon Scales, and it had rCorr, Clarity, rFire, rPois, and rCold... so I was kinda like... yanno, I think I'll take this. Unless I run into some wicked Gold Dragon Scales, this is probably gonna be it. Then I picked up a randart ring with rNeg, MR, and a couple points of Slaying on it, and -Tele. Which was actually my undoing.

I had picked up an Amulet of Resistance (rFire and rCold), so I was feeling pretty confident. That's when I fell into a pit right in the middle of a pack of Draconians. And I couldn't Blink out because my ring prevented me from being able to. So basically, it was up to my axe to keep me alive. Was actually not doing that bad... then something started trying to Banish me. Some shaman, I think. I was taking Smites, but kind of shrugging them off because I had a really big HP pool. Then a Banish landed. RIP. I only had MR like... probably 40 from the ring at the time? Didn't have enough, and couldn't break LoS because I was basically in a room surrounded by draconians.

I figured... okay, -Tele is bad, but rNeg is really useful against Drain effects, and it's my only MR item I've found so far, so I just have to be careful, right? Yea, right.

It was fun while it lasted. Reflected an Ice Beast's icicle spell back at it, which was fun, and of course yaktaurs tended to kill themselves on me. The axe's sweeping attack came in handy a few times. Death by pit trap into a Bad Place.

[Rynjin]

What's DCSS?

[Sian]

What's DCSS?

Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup

[Cozzer]

I'm playing Dungeon of the Endless when I have the time, and it's a pretty nice roguelike with small RTS and Tower-Defence elements. I'm not usually into roguelikes, so the fact that I like this one might be relevant.

[Anteros]

So, in DCSS, I was playing a Minotaur Fighter. Basically giving up entirely on casting and focusing on being a melee monster. Worshiped Makhleb for sustain. Didn't bother with Dex since I knew I was going to go into heavy armor and go for damage mitigation instead of damage avoidance. Started out picking Maces, but I ended up using a Freezing Broad Axe. It wasn't even a RANDART, just a magic weapon, but pretty dang good (except against Hydras, of course). Then I picked up a Shield with the Reflection ego, and I knew I had a potential run. Ran into the Enchantress, got the Fairy Dragon Scales, and it had rCorr, Clarity, rFire, rPois, and rCold... so I was kinda like... yanno, I think I'll take this. Unless I run into some wicked Gold Dragon Scales, this is probably gonna be it. Then I picked up a randart ring with rNeg, MR, and a couple points of Slaying on it, and -Tele. Which was actually my undoing.

I had picked up an Amulet of Resistance (rFire and rCold), so I was feeling pretty confident. That's when I fell into a pit right in the middle of a pack of Draconians. And I couldn't Blink out because my ring prevented me from being able to. So basically, it was up to my axe to keep me alive. Was actually not doing that bad... then something started trying to Banish me. Some shaman, I think. I was taking Smites, but kind of shrugging them off because I had a really big HP pool. Then a Banish landed. RIP. I only had MR like... probably 40 from the ring at the time? Didn't have enough, and couldn't break LoS because I was basically in a room surrounded by draconians.

I figured... okay, -Tele is bad, but rNeg is really useful against Drain effects, and it's my only MR item I've found so far, so I just have to be careful, right? Yea, right.

It was fun while it lasted. Reflected an Ice Beast's icicle spell back at it, which was fun, and of course yaktaurs tended to kill themselves on me. The axe's sweeping attack came in handy a few times. Death by pit trap into a Bad Place.

I've found that -Tele is pretty much a death trap no matter how good the rest of the item is. It will kill you, it's just a matter of when. Of course you can always unequip the item and teleport, but generally when you need to teleport out you don't have the turns to spare.

I tend to go with Okuwaru for my melee monsters. Trog is slightly better, but I prefer the diversity of Okuwaru's gifts, and you can abandon him late game for TSO or Mak much more safely than Trog.

[Narkis]

Does Slay the Spire count as a roguelike? I started playing a couple days ago, and I've become obsessed with it. I love the combination of deckbuilding card game and progression mechanics it offers. Anyone else?