I decided to do a AoB run and make solid notes about what I was doing, so that when I died I'd have a good record of what the run was like, what was working, and what I needed to do to stop getting pounded to death. I actually got farther than I'd ever gotten before on AoB; probably because I was thinking about what I should be doing while I was taking those notes. I still managed to screw it up, but it was a good experience.
Warning to those short on patience; this review is a tetch long.
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DoomRL (v.0.9.9.2) roguelike post-mortem character dump
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Soultrain, level 8 Cacodemon Sergeant Major, shot by a former sergeant
on level 18 of the Phobos base.
He survived 71542 turns and scored 42997 points.
He played for 1 hour, 36 minutes and 27 seconds.
He didn't like it too rough.
He killed 309 out of 333 hellspawn. (92%)
He held his right to remain violent.
He was an Angel of Berserk!
-- Special levels --------------------------------------------
Levels generated : 8
Levels visited : 3
Levels completed : 3
-- Awards ----------------------------------------------------
Berserker Silver Badge
Longinus Gold Badge
-- Graveyard -------------------------------------------------
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###.................+.#.............#.+>....+|#.........+..
###.#######+###==##.#.#......"......#.#.....#.#+#########..
###.#.......0.===.#.#.#.........O...#.#.....#.+.+.......###
###.#...}.....===.#.#.#######+#######.#######.#.#.......#..
###.#..........===#.+.................+.s.....#.#.......+s.
######+####/##==+#######+####+####+#######+####+####+######
###....#.......=....+....#.......#....+....+.......+..0\+..
###....#....\..#....#...h#......s#....#....#########....#+#
###..../.......+....#..../.......+....#....+.......+....#..
###....#.......#....#..h.#.....O.#....#....#.......#....#..
###....#.......#.0..+...O#....|..#....+.[..#O......#..0.+..
######/####.####+#######/####+####+#######+####+####+######
###................./....#.^.;.s.#>0.==.s...............+.=
###..............=..#..=X#.....0.#=.=====######+#######.===
###.....0........=..#....h....=.==.=.===#.............#.#=.
###########/#####==##...=####=====..=.#.#.............#.===
###.............===.+..../...=====....+.#.............#====
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-- Statistics ------------------------------------------------
Health 0/50 Experience 22802/8
ToHit Ranged +0 ToHit Melee +6 ToDmg Ranged +0 ToDmg Melee +9
-- Traits ----------------------------------------------------
Tough as nails (Level 2)
Brute (Level 3)
Berserker (Level 1)
Badass (Level 1)
Vampyre (Level 1)
Bru->Bru->Ber->TaN->TaN->Bad->MVm->Bru->
-- Equipment -------------------------------------------------
[a] [ Armor ] red armor [4/4] (71%)
[b] [ Weapon ] Longinus Spear (8d8)
[c] [ Boots ] modified steel boots [1/1] (100%) (A)
[d] [ Prepared ] modified chainsaw (5d6) (B)
-- Inventory -------------------------------------------------
[a] blue armor [1/2] (16%)
[b] blue armor [1/2] (24%)
[c] red armor [2/4] (48%)
[d] modified red armor [6/6] (100%) (P)
[e] red armor [4/4] (100%)
[f] red armor [4/4] (100%)
[g] combat knife (2d5)
[h] combat knife (2d5)
[i] large med-pack
[j] large med-pack
[k] large med-pack
[l] large med-pack
[m] large med-pack
[n] phase device
[o] phase device
[p] envirosuit pack
[q] envirosuit pack
[r] technical mod pack
[s] bulk mod pack
-- Kills -----------------------------------------------------
56 former humans
37 former sergeants
4 former captains
63 imps
56 demons
56 lost souls
18 cacodemons
3 barons of hell
4 hell knights
3 arachnotrons
3 former commandos
1 Angel of Death
1 pain elemental
1 mancubus
1 revenant
2 bruiser brothers
-- History ---------------------------------------------------
He started his journey on the surface of Phobos.
On level 5 he stormed the Chained Court.
On level 13 he ventured into the Halls of Carnage.
On level 15 he encountered the Phobos Hellgate.
On level 16 he invaded the Unholy Cathedral!
On level 16 he found the Longinus Spear!
He then destroyed the Unholy Cathedral!
On level 18 he finally was killed by a former sergeant.
-- Messages --------------------------------------------------
You need to taste blood!
You need to taste blood!
You need to taste blood!
You need to taste blood!
You need to taste blood!
You need to taste blood!
You need to taste blood!
The cacodemon fires! You are hit! You need to taste blood!
You need to taste blood!
You need to taste blood!
You need to taste blood!
You need to taste blood!
The former sergeant reloads his shotgun. You need to taste blood!
You need to taste blood!
You feel more calm.
The barrel explodes! You die!... Press <Enter>...
-- General ---------------------------------------------------
Before him 48 brave souls have ventured into Phobos:
43 of those were killed.
1 of those was killed by something unknown.
And 2 couldn't handle the stress and committed a stupid suicide.
Some rumours though, say that the Cyberdemon was killed already!
Is he immortal? 2 souls claim to have killed him...
2 killed the bastard and survived.
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Level 1 involved giftdropping a small medpack and killing everyone that comes to take it. Probably standard operating procedure for these sorts of runs, I guess. I wasn't about to lose half my health and armor to the first asshole with a shotgun.
Level 2 had a "kill everything" lever, which was pretty cool. None of this dicking around with sergeants blindsiding me as I turn a corner, or imp crossfires, just a flip of a switch and I gain a new trait. Apparently this level also had a Vault, which had a phase pack in it. Emergency retreat get! There was also a Berserk next to the exit, so I got to start Level 3 in a rage.
Level 3 was an Arena. God dammit. I managed to kill a few imps and a Former while still screaming about blood, but a pair of sergeants chewed on me afterward, which was rotten. My gift armor ran out and I had to switch to a green set. The Hell's Arena exit was in here, but I passed it up; I love the Arena Staff, but I've got no goddamn clue how to deal with the Arena armed with only a set of knives.
Level 4-5 was mostly boring, and then the Chained Court involved EVERYTHING dying. I used berserk packs to run through lava and make pumpkin pie, as I figured I'd need the EXP. Left me a little bent health-wise, but I got a berserk pack near the beginning of level 6 so that took most of the sting off.
Level 7 was another goddamn arena. Hate. Only one shotgunner, though, so I manage to kill everyone here, and it had a large healthpack for my collection and some red armor, yay! Also, isn't the Berserk Trait only supposed to work if someone else is in view after the attack? Because I seem to pretty reliably hit berserk after the last kill of the level. It's somewhat annoying.
I'm officially farther than I've every gotten in AoB before at this point.
Level 8 has another "kill everyone" lever, which actually manages to not kill everyone, the only survivor is a single demon. Also a power mod and a bulk mod; power goes on a red armor, and bulk make my chainsaw saw harder.
Level 9 is a fucking caco cave. Since there's not a lot of good cover, the area has a lot of acid, and there's no useful items on the right side of the cave (according to the computer map), I pass up on killing them all. First time I left a level without killing everything this run.
Level 10 is a maze, and I zerk off a stunned imp at the start. Very good, because around the corner was a hell knight. From here I manage to trip into killing everything mostly by accident; timely zerks and a trio of imps that all got killed by a single other imp that was throwing fireballs at me (Or at least I think that's what happened, since they were all dead when I found a path around the acid. A chaingunner might have gotten them, though), and a lot of demons that managed to appear just in time to give me a zerk boost. Also, a super shotgun! I admired the workmanship, found a pool of lava, and tossed it in, mostly out of spite for the RNG.
Level 11 was another arena. A caco was nice enough to kill a lot of the formers between me and him, making my job a lot easier, but this level involved a lot of guys with shotguns and malicious intentions.
Level 12 started on the right foot by throwing me at a Captain. Fuck. I tried gift dropping some green armor in a door, but the cheapskate ignored it and opened a door for some cacos. I managed to kill them by dancing and hit the Captain in the next room without him filling me with fire. Past that was every fucking body, a giant pile of imps, demons, and another caco. I spent a good chunk of my health tearing through them, as unfortunately there wasn't another path and they had no intention of leaving the area (it was near the center). I didn't even zerk, dammit. There was an armor up and an invulnerability near the exit, though, so I can forgive.
Level 13 starts with a Baron in the same room. Thankfully invulerability trumps all and he gave me a zerk boost for my trouble, and I killed a few other beasties before it all wore out. A bit later I found a giant pile, including a Pain Elemental and an Arachnotron. I killed the spider before it could shoot me and then the Elemental, but it left behind something like 10 goddamn Souls. An imp tried to help me by shooting a nearby napalm barrel, which cleared a chunk out along with a bit of health; then I bolted through a door so I could take them one-by-one, and resolved not to try the City of Skulls this run. At this point I got Badass, which was cool because the level had a supercharge. I also thanked the imp in the traditional manner, by gutting him from crotch-to-throat with my chainsaw.
I hopped into the Halls of Carnage for the door prizes, as I figured at this point the sergants shouldn't be an issue. Besides, I was supercharged, so why the hell not? I chainsawed through the locked doors and killed everything on the far side in a red rage, and claimed my BFG. Then I waded out into the central lava river and threw it in before leaving.
Level 14 took the winds out of my sails by tossing me at a Reverant, a Captain, and a Baron all in turn. Apparently the game gets testy when I throw the prizes in lava moats. The rest of the level was nothing but demons though, which aren't really a problem at this point.
Hellgate was an issue. Usually I open up by killing most of the crowd with the Arena Master's staff and gunning down the rest with my biggest guns. This time I had no staff or guns. This time I grabbed a large health for the zerk and launched out... at which point the zerk wore off after I killed the first Lost Soul, making it SO very pointless. I used a large pack and basically hit whatever was biggest and adjacent until I zerk'd again and was able to finish most of the group off. Then I went back for the second large orb, since there was two cacos left AND I was sort of half-dead and armorless. After that I charged the Bruisers on run, zerk'd on the first hit, and killed them before it ran out. Also, hit Vampire, so I guess I was in good shape.
Hell dropped me in with an arachnotron, and I hit him up before the "deer in headlights" effect gave him back his legs. I spent most of the level looking for the Cathedral (I hear there's a spear involved or something, supposed to be nifty), and kinda freaking out at the mancubus noises I kept hearing. Turns out it wasn't an issue, the fucker runs for his life without firing a shot if you charge him while zerk'd. I heard a few more imps and souls running about, but since I'd already skipped some baddies and had found the Cathedral exit, I figured it was safer to move on.
In the Unholy Cathedral, I was worried about the giant pile of souls and demons I had to carve through, until I noticed I was gaining more life than I was losing, especially while zerking. Goddamn vampire is useful. Zerk wore off right as I got in striking range of the Angel, but it kicked in again after a couple of hits and I went from losing 30%-40% of my health per hit to losing like 2%, which was kinda nutty. I grabbed the Longinus Spear, my prize, and admired it for a bit. Then I waded out into the lava and... just kidding, I put that shit right into my equipped slot and headed for the exit.
Level 17 is an arachnotron cave! I carved up the welcoming spider before it moved and hoofed it to the exit. Better safe than sorry; I was mostly kit up equipment-wise, level 8, had the spear in hand, and wasn't going to fuck this up to squish some spiders.
Except that's exactly what I did next. In level 18, I met a pile of formers in various flavors, and managed to get killed by a sergeant with an exploding barrel while chasing a caco while berserked. I overestimated how durable I was with red and zerk, and didn't notice the barrel under all the red coloring. This is doubly ridiculous because I had plenty of medpacks; I could have spared one before I set off to stab things, but I didn't since my health didn't seem to be in the danger zone, particularly not from a Former with a shotgun.
Next time, I'll have to pay more goddamn attention, and not let all the blood red madness keep me from noting where the barrels are at.
Shit we learned:
~ Pay fucking attention. It's probably not a coincidence that the first time I bust out the notepad and start writing out everything I'm doing is the first time I get so far on AoB. And it's definately not a coincidence that I died when I stopped thinking and started chasing. "AHAHAHA MEAT" is not a substitute for taking stock of the situation.
~ Enemies seem to be stunned or something when you first enter the level. I'd noticed this before, but it really hit home during this playthrough. Even without running, sometimes I could cross a small room and go upside someone's head before they'd react, which was often enough time to bolt for an exit in bad situations or to kill single enemies, or at one point do both: kill something in my way while I haul ass for cover.
~ Berserker and chainsaws make melee piles tolerable, though not necessarily healthy. A horde of lost souls or demons can be dealt with if you go zerk soon enough, though it seems risky. It does mean the Hellgate is safer than I was expecting.
~ Vampyre... I'm not so sure about it's usefulness. Not knocking it, but it seemed Badass and Berserker were what really kept my engine running. I'll probably go with it next time anyhow, if only because the Cathedral seemed to be all about handing me loads of health via vampire, but I'm wondering if I would have been better served with another trait.
~ Charging at mancubi = easy kill? The blubberbutt was pretty slow and more interested in putting distance between us than peppering my face with rockets. I only found one, but it turned out pretty well. It might depend on whether you can meet him up close before he starts his volleys. It'd be nice to know how other people deal with them on AoB, aside from the generally non-helpful "run away" notice. I get that "run for it" is easier way, but sometimes there's not any other choice but to deal with them, so how's the best way to actually do it? Is a screaming charge actually a good option, or was I just getting lucky?
~ I actually managed to avoid taking good notes on 4 and 5. And level 2 was basically "flip the switch to win", which means I have all of crap to examine from my early game. Which is sort of a problem since early on is usually when my AoB runs end; shotguns in rooms I can't go around, cutting me to ribbons. Some idea on how better to deal with the early stages would be helpful. Particularly dudes with shotguns. Yes, I know, "avoid them", how goddamn unhelpful is that? It's not even usually an option to go around them until later level types, at which point you've got armor and health to deal with it. How do I manage them when they're still sitting in rooms that I can't get around? I don't have a load of experience and familiarity with their AI, so some tips on them would be helpful.
~ I found a lot of mods. I typically trip over a lot of mods between Level 8 and the Hellgate. I'm wondering if Whizkid would be worth looking at. Then again, Longinus kicks the crap out any chainsaw no matter how well-modded, and the armor assemblies above basic all require Nano, which I'm not likely to trip over. And even without Whizkid, nano can make Power Armor. It'd probably be more useful in making a melee secondary for a game that uses melee but isn't exclusively so, I'm guessing. Or you crazies that do Ao100 with just melee.
Any comments? Advice for the poor not-quite-berserker?
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Topic: [M|AoB|92%|18|YASD] Berserker Diary (Read 2664 times)