(alternate title: Yet another scrub roguelike player enters the fray.)
I've been playing this version of DoomRL (actually, the only version of DoomRL that I've ever played...I'm a late bloomer.) for the last five months, with varying activity. I really like DoomRL, but man, does it irk me when I die because I don't know how to deal with commandos and arachnotrons in the early-game. Guess that just comes with experience. Though I've noticed that it's definitely easier to deal with such things with a rapid-fire weapon than the Army of the Dead + Melee build that I am desperately trying to detach from.
This run was a spur-of-the-moment attempt after one restart due to the sporadic nature of the former humans that meander around base entry...
As stated in the previous paragraph I'm trying to quit my addiction to the Army of the Dead build that I normally use for...whenever I can, actually. So this time I considered a Sharpshooter build, but then quickly opted for a masterless build. Entrenchment might have been a good idea, but I have severe ammo management issues...Maybe I should try an Ammochain build first before I try Entrenchment? Anyways.
Phobos was, for the most part, quick and painless. I wimped out on attempting the Wall, and later I was wishing that I had at least tried to clear it for that wonderful backpack. Even if I had escaped with a few kills, that would have meant a little more experience and some free inventory slots. But oh well.
I feel that this run could have been better if not for three key mistakes, as follows:
Mistake #1: I decided to attempt City of Skulls in hopes of getting a hatred skull or a blood skull. I practically rely on those to clear the Mortuary. I ended up clearing City of Skulls with minimal difficulty and medpacks, but I had a hilarious brain lapse where the agony elemental died right next to me, dropped its skulls, and spawned its pain elemental and lost souls, and then for some reason I decided to use a shockwave pack. It destroyed the skulls that dropped from the agony elemental, and I was scratching my head and wondering, why did I do that.
Mistake #2: I assembled a fire-proof red armor sometime before fighting the Cyberdemon. If I can get the mods, I always do so. Though in this run I learned that dodging Cyberdemon's shots is actually pretty easy and doable with just a suit of tactical armor. Might have been just my luck, though. But anyway. While clearing out inventory I inadvertently tossed my fire-proof red armor somewhere and was not aware of it until I was getting ready to enter the Mortuary.
Mistake #3: Entering the Mortuary has always been a bad idea for me. When the level started, I thought that I was really lucky, as two viles started in plain view from my starting position. Not wasting any time, I gunned both of them down with my burst plasma rifle. And then I wandered around, hoping to find the other viles quickly before they could resurrect the dead army of the Mortuary, but of course, I was too slow. And of course, I ran out of ammo. It just wouldn't be a YASD for me if I don't run out of ammo at least once or twice. I think what I need to learn is how to gib corpses that aren't next to the wall.
The Mortuary really has a strange sensation to it--that desperate feeling one gets when one runs out of ammo and is frantically scrounging for ammo in the corpses.
If there was a counter that showed how many times you've died to a particular monster, the arachnotron would most likely be at the top of the list for me. Stupid things...
This run isn't my best, but it was one I felt like sharing.
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DoomRL (v.0.9.9.6G) roguelike post-mortem character dump
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White Rider, level 11 Arch-Vile Major Technician,
let an arachnotron get him on level 4 of Hell.
He survived 133657 turns and scored 115026 points.
He played for 2 hours, 16 minutes and 52 seconds.
He wasn't afraid to be hurt plenty.
He killed 783 out of 893 hellspawn. (87%)
-- Special levels --------------------------------------------
Levels generated : 11
Levels visited : 7
Levels completed : 6
-- Awards ----------------------------------------------------
UAC Star (bronze cluster)
Hell Champion Medal
Hell Armorer Badge
-- Graveyard -------------------------------------------------
###########################################################
...........A......c...............h..........%......%#.#%##
.......h.B..h...........................%.%..%%....%%.....#
.A.....h....h..h..B..h.................|.%.%..%%...%.#.>.##
....O.....hh......................}...}....%......%%.%....#
A.................h..............cc.B.}......|}.}...%.....#
....hh......hh....c.................}..}|.....}.%..%..%%%.#
..h.............##.##...............|h......%..}|...%.%...#
cih..O..........#..^#A.....c..V...........|%...|}%.%....%.#
..Vh.}%.i.........B............}...........%}..%}.}.%.....#
.....B...BO.....#...#.......h..|....h}..A..%...|.|}}|.....#
B...............##.##....%............|.}....|...%|[......#
......i..h............c.........hO...%.|}...|}X..}}%......#
....B...B............................}B..}|}.}...%...%....#
....................c...Ah}}......|i}||.B.|c....%%...#.#.##
.................A...h............|}}B..|...}|..%.......%.#
................O...A..A.h.......|}|}...}........%%..#.>.##
.h...................h.......i....}..||................^..#
...B....h.i...h.........h.....}|........}............#.#.##
###########################################################
-- Statistics ------------------------------------------------
Health 0/50 Experience 53918/11
ToHit Ranged +6 ToHit Melee +6 ToDmg Ranged +3 ToDmg Melee +3
-- Traits ----------------------------------------------------
Class : Technician
Son of a bitch (Level 3)
Reloader (Level 2)
Eagle Eye (Level 3)
Intuition (Level 2)
Whizkid (Level 1)
EE->EE->Int->Int->EE->SoB->WK->SoB->SoB->Rel->Rel->
-- Equipment -------------------------------------------------
[a] [ Armor ] Shielded Armor [2]
[b] [ Weapon ] nuclear plasma rifle (1d7)x6 [31/31] (B1)
[c] [ Boots ] phaseshift boots [4/4] (90%)
[d] [ Prepared ] burst plasma rifle (1d9)x8 [80/80]
-- Inventory -------------------------------------------------
[a] combat shotgun (7d3) [5/5]
[b] tactical rocket launcher (6d6) [5/5]
[c] laser rifle (1d7)x5 [40/40]
[d] BFG 9000 (11d8) [60/100] (P1)
[e] shotgun shell (x31)
[f] rocket (x9)
[g] power cell (x10)
[h] envirosuit pack
[i] plasteel boots [2/2] (99%)
-- Resistances -----------------------------------------------
Bullet - internal 0% torso 90% feet 0%
Melee - internal 0% torso 90% feet 0%
Shrapnel - internal 0% torso 90% feet 0%
-- Kills -----------------------------------------------------
79 former humans
82 former sergeants
27 former captains
99 imps
41 demons
247 lost souls
34 cacodemons
38 hell knights
21 barons of hell
41 arachnotrons
27 former commandos
14 pain elementals
8 revenants
13 mancubi
6 arch-viles
2 bruiser brothers
1 shambler
1 agony elemental
1 Cyberdemon
1 Arena Master
-- History ---------------------------------------------------
He started his journey on the surface of Phobos.
On level 2 he entered Hell's Arena.
He left the Arena as a champion!
On level 4 he stormed the Chained Court.
On level 4 he found the Arena Master's Staff!
He defeated the Hell Arena Master!
On level 8 he encountered the Phobos Anomaly.
On level 9 he assembled a tactical armor!
On level 10 he entered Hell's Armory.
On level 10 he assembled a fireproof armor!
On level 10 he found the Cybernetic Armor!
He destroyed the evil within and reaped the rewards!
On level 11 he assembled a burst cannon!
On level 12 he ventured into the Halls of Carnage.
On level 13 he found the City of Skulls.
He wiped out the City of Skulls.
On level 14 he found the Shielded Armor!
On level 14 he ventured into the Spider's Lair.
He cleared the Lair, kickin' serious spider ass!
On level 16 he found the Tower of Babel!
On level 19 he assembled a tactical rocket launcher!
On level 20 he stumbled into complex full of mancubi!
On level 20 he was foolish enough to enter the Mortuary!
On level 20 he finally let an arachnotron get him.
-- Messages --------------------------------------------------
You are hit!
The missile hits the cacodemon. The missile hits the cacodemon. The missile
hits the cacodemon. The missile hits the cacodemon.
The missile hits the cacodemon. The cacodemon dies.
The missile hits the demon. The missile hits the demon. The missile hits the
demon. The missile hits the demon. The demon dies.
The missile hits the hell knight. The missile hits the hell knight. The
missile hits the hell knight. The missile hits the hell knight. You hear the
scream of a freed soul! You hear the scream of a freed soul!
The missile hits the arachnotron.
The missile hits the demon.
You dodge! You dodge! You dodge! You dodge! You dodge!
You reload the burst plasma rifle. You are hit! You are hit! You are hit! You
are hit! You are hit! You are hit! You are hit!
You swap your weapons. You are hit! You die!... Press <Enter>...
You use a small med-pack. You feel healed.
-- General ---------------------------------------------------
241 brave souls have ventured into Phobos:
203 of those were killed.
5 didn't read the thermonuclear bomb manual.
32 souls destroyed the Mastermind...
6 sacrificed itself for the good of mankind.
19 killed the bitch and survived.
7 showed that it can outsmart hell itself.
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