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[Bonedaddy]

So after several more tries in going through this game with shotgun builds, pistol builds, chaingun builds, and even the odd melee build or so, I decided to fire up a Technician. This time, I wanted to go for a melee build -- specifically, I wanted to go for a dual-chainsword Malicious Blades build, but I wasn't too sure if the RNG was going to cooperate. Well...

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 DoomRL (0.9.9.7) roguelike post-mortem character dump
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 Sanctum, level 10 Cacodemon Corporal Technician,
 defeated the Mastermind at the City of Dis.
 He survived 92091 turns and scored 45510 points.
 He played for 1 hour, 48 minutes and 33 seconds.
 He was too young to die!

 He killed 512 out of 512 hellspawn. (100%)
 This ass-kicking marine killed all of them!

-- Special levels --------------------------------------------

  Levels generated : 7
  Levels visited   : 4
  Levels completed : 4

-- Awards ----------------------------------------------------

  Medal of Prejudice
  UAC Star (bronze cluster)
  Veteran Bronze Badge

-- Graveyard -------------------------------------------------

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  ##################..........####..............####.........
  #################..........................................
  #################....####............................####..
  #################....####............................####..
  #################....####............................####&.
  #################....####X...........................####..
  #################........%.................................
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  ###################.........####.....####.....####.........
  ####################........####.....####.....####........#
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  ######################...............####...............###
  #>#####################................................####
  ###########################################################

-- Statistics ------------------------------------------------

  Health 40/50   Experience 44812/10
  ToHit Ranged +0  ToHit Melee +6  ToDmg Ranged +0  ToDmg Melee +9

-- Traits ----------------------------------------------------

  Class : Technician

    Finesse          (Level 2)
    Hellrunner       (Level 2)
    Brute            (Level 3)
    Dodgemaster      (Level 1)
    Whizkid          (Level 1)
    Malicious Blades (Level 1)

  HR->HR->DM->Fin->Fin->Bru->Bru->MMB->Bru->WK->

-- Equipment -------------------------------------------------

    [a] [ Armor      ]   red armor [6/6] (62%) (P)
    [b] [ Weapon     ]   chainsword (8d2)
    [c] [ Boots      ]   plasteel boots [2/2] (100%) (A)
    [d] [ Prepared   ]   chainsword (8d2)

-- Inventory -------------------------------------------------

    [a] tactical shotgun (8d3) [5/5]
    [b] plasma rifle (1d7)x6 [40/40]
    [c] BFG 9000 (10d6) [60/100]
    [d] red armor [1/4] (5%)
    [e] shotgun shell (x50)
    [f] shotgun shell (x49)
    [g] power cell (x4)
    [h] power cell (x50)
    [i] large med-pack
    [j] large med-pack
    [k] homing phase device
    [l] thermonuclear bomb
    [m] technical mod pack
    [n] technical mod pack
    [o] technical mod pack
    [p] power battery (x120)

-- Resistances -----------------------------------------------

    Bullet     - internal 0%    torso 50%   feet 50% 
    Melee      - internal 0%    torso 75%   feet 75% 
    Shrapnel   - internal 0%    torso 50%   feet 50% 
    Acid       - internal 0%    torso 0%    feet 50% 
    Fire       - internal 0%    torso 75%   feet 75% 

-- Kills -----------------------------------------------------

    88 former humans
    48 former sergeants
    19 former captains
    72 imps
    9 demons
    189 lost souls
    24 cacodemons
    5 hell knights
    5 barons of hell
    12 arachnotrons
    5 former commandos
    16 pain elementals
    5 revenants
    5 mancubi
    5 arch-viles
    2 bruiser brothers
    1 agony elemental
    1 Cyberdemon
    1 Spider Mastermind

-- History ---------------------------------------------------

  He started his journey on the surface of Phobos.
  On level 5 he stormed the Chained Court.
  On level 7 he marched into the Military Base.
  On level 7 he assembled a tactical shotgun!
  He purified his fellow comrades.
  On level 8 he encountered the Phobos Anomaly.
  On level 12 he assembled a chainsword!
  On level 12 he romped upon the Abyssal Plains.
  He slaughtered the beasts living there.
  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!
  He left level 16 as soon as possible.
  Level 18 was a hard nut to crack!
  On level 19 he assembled a chainsword!
  Then at last he found Dis!
  On level 24 he finally defeated the Mastermind.

-- Messages --------------------------------------------------

 Spider Mastermind. The Spider Mastermind flinched!
 The Spider Mastermind hits you.
 You hit the Spider Mastermind. You hit the Spider Mastermind. The Spider
 Mastermind flinched!
 You hit the Spider Mastermind. The Spider Mastermind flinched! You hit the
 Spider Mastermind. The Spider Mastermind flinched!
 You are hit! You are hit! You are hit! You are hit! You are hit! You are hit!
 You hit the Spider Mastermind. You hit the Spider Mastermind. The Spider
 Mastermind flinched!
 You are hit! You are hit! You are hit! You are hit! You are hit! You are hit!
 You hit the Spider Mastermind. The Spider Mastermind flinched! You hit the
 Spider Mastermind. The Spider Mastermind flinched!
 The Spider Mastermind hits you.
 You hit the Spider Mastermind. The Spider Mastermind dies. Congratulations!
 You defeated the Spider Mastermind! Press <Enter>...
 You feel relatively safe now.

-- General ---------------------------------------------------

 56 brave souls have ventured into Phobos:
 49 of those were killed.
 And 4 couldn't handle the stress and committed a stupid suicide.

 3 souls destroyed the Mastermind...
 1 sacrificed itself for the good of mankind.
 2 killed the bitch and survived.

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The first part of the game had me going primarily with the shotgun and blasting my opposition. The times when I could get hold of a Computer Map were damned nice because of the Technician's ability to treat every Computer Map as a Tracking Map. I bypassed Hell's Arena due to the fact that one, there are no mods to be found anywhere in that level, and two, I wasn't interested in trying to tackle that place as a meleeist. I picked up the two Combat Knives that I would use to create the Chainswords early on in the game (I think around Level 2 or so). The Chained Court saw me getting my hands on a chainsaw and my first taste of the Berserker Rage, which I used on the zombie soldiers and the Cacos of the level, but sadly, I only got a Power Mod and Tech Mod from the place. The Military Base was where I got my first plasma gun, off a Commando in the hidden room, as well as a Tracking Map that allowed me to plan out my battle with the bad guys in the final room. I had gotten a combat shotgun in the previous level, but upon getting another power mod, I decided to create a tactical shotgun. I also had a choice to make -- either stick to the melee build path, or go with more of an all-around build. In the end, I decided to stick to my guns (so to speak). I used the Power Mod I also got from the base on the Red Armor in the Phobos Anomaly, since I badly needed protection against the two Barons of Hell that were the bosses of the place. Since I didn't have Shottyman or Reloader, fighting the Barons was an ugly affair, and without the medpacks I'd picked up, I doubt I'd have survived, let alone killed them both.

The next episode saw me finding two more power mods. Since I had learned early on that trying to melee a Demon with an unmodded Combat Knife was not going to work without taking a ton of damage, upon acquiring the second major power mod, I went ahead and power-modded both of my knives. Level 12 saw me finding my first Bulk Mod, which I used to convert the first of my Combat Knives into my first Chainsword. I was still kinda wary about melee at this point, so I didn't go with the weapon as my primary until later. I passed by the Containment Area because one, I did not have a rocket launcher, two, because my prior experiences with the level told me that tac shotgun with my build versus a tonload of Hellknights would not end well for me, and three, the backpack is useless for a melee build. The Abyssal Plains were the battle that almost ended me -- unmodded tactical shotgun with no Reloader or Shottyman against the Agony Elemental, his Pain Elementals and a whole mess of Lost Souls was not a fun fight. Again, I primarily survived through use of my health packs, and when that wall behind me went down, I took the opportunity to get the living hell out of the central room and continue blasting the hell out of Mr. Agony Elemental until he finally went down, then finished off the rest of the baddies, including a Lost Soul that I had to hunt down. The next few levels were not a fun ride. Words cannot express how much I HATE acid and lava barrels, especially in areas with lots of lava and acid. There was one point where I had a Baron in the room with little armor and few health packs remaining, and a frigging Tristar Blaster in the room. I decided to grab the puppy and use it on the Baron. I very nearly killed myself, but I got him. I used the weapon sparingly from then on, primarily relying on the Plasma Gun against tough enemies, including another Commando and a frigging Arachnotron that I had to maneuver carefully in order to stay alive. At one point while I was engaging Plasma Guy, Little Spidey got into the door I was using as cover against it and into melee range. I decided "all right you little fucker", pulled out the Chainsword and ripped its little ass in two with one hit.

The Chainsword turned out to be a fun-as-hell weapon to use, especially when in Berserk mode. And when I got my hands on Malicious Blades, things got even better. I went into the Spider's Lair on an Invulnerability powerup and decided to take both my Chainsword and my still power-modded Combat Knife to town on the Arachnotrons, and killed every one of them before the invulnerability wore off. I left the Tristar Blaster behind and picked up the BFG. Level 15 marked a period of transition between my ranged playstyle and my new Malicious Blades melee style. I was able to bring down Imps and Demons with very little problem, and when I one-shotted a Baron of Hell in full Berserk mode, I knew I had found my build. The reason the History says that I "left level 16 as soon as possible was because the Cyberdemon ended up spawning right next to me, but unlike my first ever encounter with the big guy which had much the same setup and which ended up with me getting smeared all over the vicinity, I zig-zagged my way over to him and tore him apart with four or five hits for a flawless victory, not even giving the big guy a chance to get out the rocket launcher.

Hell saw me gradually switching to the Blades full time, and on Level 3 of Hell, I finally found another Bulk Mod pack at long last, guarded by around four or so Cacodemons in a small room. In any other situation, going into melee with four Cacodemons in this situation would be suicide. But with my armor, my health and my new melee skills, I laid waste to all four of the gasbags and assembled my second Chainsword on the spot. From there on out, I switched primarily to my dual Chainswords as my primary weapon, with my other weapons being secondary and only seeing use against Sergeants and others that I knew I couldn't get close to. The dual chainswords are quite capable of taking out the Dreaded Trio (Revenants, Viles and Mancubi) in two or so hits, though there was one point where I was faced with two Revenants and a Vile together and I had to get the hell out of there, whip out the BFG and blast the hell out of them, which ended up doing a shit-ton of damage to the walls and covered the floor in lava. With the Revenant taken out, I closed in with the weakened Vile and chainsworded him to death (a nice little bonus was that when I killed a Vile with the chainswords, the result was usually gibbage), then hunted down the remaining Revenant and did the same. I entered a number of levels with Invulnerability, which allowed me to go to frigging town on things out of the gate, including the very last level before Ol' Spidey, which was full of Cacodemons and Arachnotrons. I found the Thermonuclear Bomb somewhere along the road to the final level, in a Demon and Lost Soul infested cave, but because I had missed another special level along the way, I had no Invulnerability for the final battle with Spidey, and there was no Invulnerability to be had in the second to last level, so I elected not to use the nuke. What I did get was a Soul Sphere and a nice Red Armor, which I power-modded for the final battle.

I have only fought Spidey three times, one of which I already posted about. The second time, on another Survivalist build, I nuked her and used Invulnerability to survive, but I cannot count it as a win because my first battle with Carmack saw me getting overwhelmed by his summons and getting killed. This third battle saw me wading through Spidey's heinous autofire to get right in her face and take the chainswords to town. Spidey moved a lot during the battle once I started doing damage, but I stayed on her the entire way and backed her into one of the big pillars surrounding the arena and eventually killed her. I was at around 80% health and 62% armor when I finally brought Spidey down.

This is my second big win, and my first successful YAAM run. I still have not beaten Carmack, so YAFW is still beyond my reach. One day...

[Sylph]

Nice win!
Your build was more than powerful enough to kill JC without breaking a sweat.
Just a tip - whizkid was a little pointless here, there are far better skills. Another rank in hellrunner would probably be ideal!

Also, when playing a melee build that's NOT angel of berserk, always consider rocket jumping as an option. With those ranks in hellrunner, you can expect to rocket jump then change weapons while only receiving 2 turns of incoming fire (at 50% damage resistance, no less). Add running mode to the mid, and you'll be amazed at how easy packs of revenants, viles, and mancubi can become!

Congrats on your win! I'm guessing from how late you started relying on melee, that you weren't doing much giftdropping? Might be worth picking it up a little more as you move into higher difficulties. :)

[LuckyDee]

Congrats, very good stuff! I have to agree with Sylph that the art of gift dropping works miracles for a melee build, be sure to check that out. Some additional pointers:

1) The safest way to tackle the Agony Elemental is to simply bring a shotgun (double, for preference) and a shellbox or two. This reduces the reload time enough to be able to take it and everything it spawns out without getting hit even once. And the best thing is, it requires no traits whatsoever. I think there's even 1 shellbox in the Containment Area itself, none in the City of Skulls though.

2) If you want to reduce the grief Arch-Viles give you, learn how to get rid of corpses. Water, acid an lava are your friends here, and doorways - especially combined with gift-dropping - are a godsend. And you can always whip out some explosives, if you manage your inventory right...

3) Don't get hit. I know that sounds stupidly obvious, but it's really important. Try and make each move so that you suffer the least amount of damage. Again, gift-dropping is your friend here, and corner-shooting/radar-shooting an excellent addition.

That's the most important basics, if you ask me. There's stuff like inventory management, trait selection, special level experience and more, but if you get your tactics straight, the rest will follow.

[thelaptop]

Final tip: The tips above work best where there are more things to pick up/do/kill, i.e. on HMP+.  One can somewhat scrape by on ITYTD and HNTR melee without the techniques described, but once the difficulty level goes up, the tips above will become essential for long-term survival.

[Tormuse]

Woo!  Congrats on a nice win!  :D  Dual-wielding Chainswords is what the Malicious Blades trait is made for.  I love doing that; it's a lot of fun.  :)  Even better if you can get power mods on them.  (Requires two levels of Whizkid before completing the assemblies)

And as Sylph said, you were tough enough to take on JC, if only you had gone to the Lava Pits to get the Lava Element, but then again, it looks like you didn't have any envirosuits or phase devices, so maybe it's just as well that you skipped it.

Also, I'm going to join in the chorus of advice here.  :)  You mentioned having trouble against the Bruiser Brothers...  This is the kind of build where you really have to play to your strengths; you had two levels of Hellrunner and Dodgemaster, so you should have been able to run circles around them without them touching you.  Your build makes it relatively easy to lead them on a merry chase, maneuvering them into corner-shooting positions as many times as you need to to get the job done.  (A level or two in Son of a Bitch would probably have helped too)

Anyway, as you've seen, once you reach the master trait, Malicious Blades becomes quite powerful, but the build can still be pretty tricky because the early game is so tough, so kudos for being able to pull it off!  :)