hyperblaster The hyperblaster has great ammo efficiency, but only
or TTT plasma rifle average damage output, and very weak burst (damage
in a single round of firing).
However, if a player manages to get movement speed
below 0.5s, then a T-modded hyperblaster or a TTT
modded plasma rifle can fire quickly enough to
*gaurantee* that a monster is unable to fire back,
even without cover. Provided the player continues to
step backwards, then side-to-side until the enemy
comes into range. Essentially this unlocks a new
form of tactical defense, and it's game-breakingly
powerful (hence it's inclusion here).
Demolition ammo pistol See 'plasma shotgun', above. The power of this item
lies in it's ability to dispose of corpses on
Nightmare difficulty, without expending rare or
valuable ammunition. This assembly is weaker than the
plasma shotgun due to it's restricted targetting (it
needs a wall to shoot against), and uses a firestorm
mod (which is more valuable than a sniper mod), but
in a nightmare game where no sniper mod, Antifreak
Jackal, or plasma shotgun has been found, I wouldn't
hesitate to use my first (and only) firestorm mod on
this assembly. When you can dispose of corpses with
such ease, nightmare doomrl is simply an easier
ultra violence (with double healing and duration from
powerups).
Modpack use:
Nano
- The nano pack is undoubtedly the best modpack in the game. It's basic function is making an item regerate it's ammunition/durability (after a 5-turn pause), which is extremely useful, but it has 3 incredibly strong uses in assemblies, too:
Nanomachic: BBBN
A nanomachic weapon has no ammunition, and never needs be reloaded. Whether this is better than simply using a normal nano pack is game-dependant.
I just got out of another game, one where I was collecting platinums for a rank up (N! scout explorer), and I had a go with the following build: EE->SoB->SoB->TH->TH->SoB->HR->EE->Fin->Jug->Fin->WK->WK->Bru->Bru->Ber->Fin->
It was *obscenely* strong in the early game (2 salvos killed hell knights), and later on, I was killing knights with a single barrage of my gatling gun. I think I even single-salvo'd a baron a few times. On top of this, it got hellrunner in time for phobos lab (and you *can* do phobos lab with just 1 rank of HR and an agility mod, but it requires a lot of care not to allow formers to use the medpacks, because you need a *lot* of running mode to beat those demons).
It also gets juggler in time for deimos lab/armoury. It's actually quite impressive how easily 2 shamblers can be taken down when you have 15 overcharged plasma rifles, EE2, SoaB3, and juggler!
Later on, it gets berserker for lategame play, although with certainty the hardest part of the game was the mortuary without berserker - I burned 6 medpacks, and spent *ages* battling my way through that level.
I've also come to realise that firestorm modpacks, when used on a pistol, can be considered the key to lategame nightmare play. Don't underestimate the demolition ammo pistol! It almost completely removes the problem of nightmare corpse regeneration. That said, it's not so hot in the mortuary, given the lack of decent walls to use. I think, going back, I would have done the mortuary differently... I might have been a little too hasty in getting all the cover on the left of the map destroyed while BFGing corpses, and had I taken care to use it against approaching monsters, stacking corpses, I might have not had such a close call.
Juggler+spear lets you un-equip melee for 3 attacks, then spear for the finish, which is basically a free berserk any time you walk near a corpse.
Detailed weapon analysis... [DEIS ]
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
CAUTION - SPOILERS FOLLOW.....
There are actually 3 types of item in doomrl - normal, exotic, and unique.
Exotics are *far* more rare than normal weapons, and unique are even more rare
than exotics. Most weapons have one or more exotic and unique counterparts,
and in this section I will not only list them all, I will try to cover
detailed use of each and every weapon in the game:
╔═══════════════════╦══════════════════════════════╦══════════════════════════╗
║ Basic weapons ║ Exotics ║ Uniques ║
╠═══════════════════╬══════════════════════════════╬══════════════════════════╣
║ Combat knife ║ ║ Butcher's Cleaver ║
║ Pistol ║ Blaster ║ Trigun, Beretta, Jackal ║
║ Shotgun ║ Plasma Shotgun ║ ║
║ Combat shotgun ║ Assault Shotgun ║ Pencor Jackhammer ║
║ Double shotgun ║ Super Shotgun ║ ║
║ Chaingun ║ Minigun ║ ║
║ Rocket Launcher ║ Missile Launcher ║ Revenant's Launcher ║
║ Plasmagun x ║ Laser Rifle, Nuclear plasma ║ Railgun ║
║ BFG 9000 * x ║ Nuclear BFG ║ BFG 10,000 ║
║ Chainsaw * ║ Longinus Spear * ║ Dragonslayer ║
╠═══════════════════╬══════════════════════════════╬══════════════════════════╣
║ Power Modpack ║ Firestorm Modpack ║ ║
║ Agility Modpack ║ Sniper Modpack ║ ║
║ Tech Modpack ║ ║ Nano Modpack ║
║ Bulk Modpack ║ ║ Onyx modpack ║
╠═══════════════════╬══════════════════════════════╬══════════════════════════╣
║ Green armour ║ Phaseshift armour ║ Malek's armour ║
║ Blue armour ║ Onyx armour ║ Baron armour, Necroarmour║
║ Red armour ║ Gothic armour ║ Cybernetic armour ║
╠═══════════════════╬══════════════════════════════╬══════════════════════════╣
║ Steel boots ║ Phaseshift boots ║ ║
║ Protective boots ║ ║ ║
║ Plassteel boots ║ Gothic boots ║ ║
╠═══════════════════╬══════════════════════════════╬══════════════════════════╣
║ Phase device ║ Combat translocator ║ Hell staff ║
╚═══════════════════╩══════════════════════════════╩══════════════════════════╝
*: Note that, technically, the chainsaw and BFG 9000 are in fact exotic
weapons. They're listed as normal here because they have a lot more in common
with normal weapons than they do with exotics - they are common (in fact,
gauranteed in all standard games), have their own exotic and unique
counterparts, and have a number key associated with them.
Similarly, the longinus spear is only listed here as an exotic weapon -
because it is common (gauranteed in every game, in fact),
Inventory strategy.......... [INGY ]
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
Inventory in doomRL is probably the most important aspect of the game-spanning
strategy that there is. Managing your inventory is something a player has to
get the hang of, but this section will deal with a few tips and guidelines for
effective play:
Health packs - use 'em or lose 'em
Health packs are lovely items. However, be absolutely aware that saving these
is *not* an effective strategy. I see a lot of Dead characters who were
carrying 5 or more medipacks. As well as posing the obvious question 'why was
stocking up on medikits more important to this player than surviving?' it also
highlights what a waste of inventory space this practice is.
The golden rule to medikits (and most other inventory equipment) in doomrl is:
Use it! It's all well and good hanging on to the valuable stuff until you
absolutely need it, but only a very good player is able to tell when those
situations arise *before* the game-over screen appears. (I certainly can't!)
We might think we're gonna know what that situation is, but it's doubtful
anyone who hasn't been playing doomRL for years actually can.
The better approach is to take the following strategy:
Always try to use your equipment, and only worry about when you 'absolutely
need it' when you've run out. This feels dangerous, but you'll quickly find
that you never actually encounter that situation where 'you absolutely need
it'... Why? Well, because the situation came and went. You used the item
without realising it was one of those situations, and your character is still
alive and kicking.
Furthermore, it's surprising just how quickly an empty need in your inventory
gets filled.
Ammo - your lifeblood
Make no mistake, ammo is incredibly important. In fact, it's more important
than health packs, armour, phase devices, mod kits, and even weapons. You can
live off health orbs if you're out of health packs (try playing angel of
impatience), you can use other forms of defense if you're out of armour
(including health packs and orbs), you can finish the game without mod kits,
phase devices can be as dangerous as they are helpful, and even going through
the game with only 2 weapons (one in each hand) is a fairy easy task.
Playing without ammo, on the other hand, is impossible for most characters. If
you run out of ammo, you are in a desperate situation.
To keep on top of the ammo situation, first we're going to talk about
efficiency. Spending inventory space on some ammo is more 'efficient' than
others.
10 rockets
- These can deal out lots of kills with blast effects, but due to the fact that
it destroys items, it's actually not a very efficient ammunition type to carry
around (perhaps best just to take enough to destroy walls and blast away
spiders). Typically, you'll kill about 10 creatures with a stack of rockets,
but blow up all your treasure.
100 bullets
- 10mm ammo is very efficient when fired from pistols. From a pistol character,
you'll kill perhaps 25 creatures with one stack. Very nice. In the hands of a
chaingun user, however, you'll kill perhaps 10, and if you're scouting
properly, the number will be far less.
50 Shotgun shells
- Incredibly efficient if used correctly. 50 shotgun shells will kill perhaps
35 monsters when you're using the layout of the level like a good shotgunner
should. (you'll kill about 30 if you're scouting with your stack too).
50 Cells
- Not very efficient. These will pretty much never rival a shotgun for
inventory efficiency. However, despite only carrying half as many per inventory
space, cells aren't much worse per slot than chaingun bullets, and give you
perhaps 10 kills per stack against a typical mix of monsters. The fact that
energy cells should be saved for the toughest opponents usually makes this
number far lower, but that's ok.
From a BFG, a stack of cells will do a nice chunk of damage, but like rockets,
above, the item destruction makes it an inefficient use of ammo.
Given the above, it's easy to see that shotgun shells are one of the best ammo
types to carry around with you. Unfortunately, shotguns themselves don't carry
much ammo in the weapon, meaning if you want a stack of shells as a backup ammo
supply, you're going to have to spend 2 inventory slots to get it.
Often, a player can choose to 'give up' on a specific ammo type, which saves a
little inventory space because it means he can stop carrying around the weapon
associated with it. For example, many players give up on shotgun shells, or
10mm ammo. This can be an effective strategy, as long as you know you're going
to be ok on what you have.
There are, however, characters that can't get as much mileage out of their
ammunition. Typically this is characters than have not selected damage-
increasing traits, and the best examples are those taking the 'fireangel'
master trait. Such characters are very likely to run out of ammo if they don't
manage it well, and as such are well-advised not to completely give up on an
ammo type.
An effective strategy for conserving ammo is to think of your inventory
ammunition as 'backup', and make sure to bring along a weapon capable of firing
everything you find on the ground. In this method, you're killing the monsters
from a level using the ammo you pry from their cold, dead hands.
For example, you might have a character than mainly uses shotguns, so you enter
every level carrying 150 shotgun shells, 10 rockets, 100 cells, a shotgun, a
rocket launcher, a chaingun, and a plasmagun. Despite carrying no 10mm ammo
(because it's not very efficient), you can fire every clip you find on the
level, because you bought your chaingun along. While it takes some getting used
to, this strategy is a great way to gaurantee never being desperate for ammo
for too long.
Typical inventory guidelines.
For new players, who haven't got the hang of just how much to carry around, I'd
say the following is fairly typical:
Left hand: Rocket Launcher 1/1
Right hand: Chaingun 40/40
Blue armour [2] 80%
a combat shotgun 5/5
b plasmagun 40/40
c BFG 9000 100/100
d red armour 4 78%
e red armour 4 [B] 200%
f 10 rockets
g 50 shotgun shells
h 100 bullets
i 100 bullets
j 100 bullets
k 100 bullets
l 50 cells
m 50 cells
n 50 cells
o small health pack
p Large health pack
q Large health pack
r Large health pack
s Phase device
t Homing phase device
u Thermonuclear bomb
Breaking it down, that's:
3 spaces for extra weapons (give or take)
2 spaces for spare armour (more if necessary)
4 spaces for primary ammo (whether it's shells, bullets, or energy cells)
3 spaces for energy cells (for emergencies)
1 space for backup ammo (make it something efficient)
1 space for rockets (for demolishing walls)
4 spaces for health packs
2 spaces for phase devices
1 free space for bombs, mod kits, etc.
Enemies....................... [ENES ]
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
h
color - white
name - former human.
speed - 80%
ranged - 4-16%
melee - 2-4% (usually misses)
health - 10
armour - 0-4
description - weak opponent armed with a pistol. Hardly bears even being
careful around. Drops pistol + ammo. Only has armour if it picked some up.
h
color - grey
name - former sergeant.
speed - 80%
ranged - 2-50% (range dependant, 50% is a rough figure)
melee - 2-4% (often misses)
health - 10
armour - 0-4
description - Shotgun guy - can be dangerous if he fires at close-range. Best
killed by setting up a position where he can't shoot at you, or at long range
where his weapon is uneffective. If you're close and see one, moving to melee
range is also safe (compare his melee damage to his ranged). Drops shotgun +
shells.
(Note - range damage maximum is a rough guess - theoretical maxumum for point-
blank is 16-72%, but since they never fire at point-blank range (they melee
attack instead), this will never be witnessed. I've personally never seen more
than 50%.
s
color - yellow
name - Lost Soul
speed - 220%
ranged - 0
melee - 4-8%
health - 10
armour - 0
description - Incredibly fast and incredibly weak. Swarms of these can be
dangerous. Try to take then down with a shotgun at fairly close range. That
way, you can kill the whole swarm with 2-3 shots, and take no damage.
i
color - brown
name - Imp
speed - 105%
ranged - 6-34% (armour counts twice)
melee - 6-10%
health - 12
armour - 0
description - Dangerous at all ranges, and can't be lured with giftdropping
since he doesn't use items. Best killed with tactical defense, shooting around
a corner where he can't fire back. Often, you'll have to wait for him to wander
into your sight to set this up. Running mode also makes dodging his fireballs
very effective, which can allow you to rush into cover or into melee with him.
c
color - pink
name - Demon
speed - 120%
ranged - 0
melee - 14-18%
health - 22
armour - 1
description - Pretty easy, actually. He takes some punishment, but 2 pretty-
close-ranged shotgun shots will kill usually kill him, and will almost
certainly knock him back, out of melee range. The main tricks for fighting
demons are: Using weapon swap/inventory screen instead of reloading for
shotguns, stepping diagonally around a doorframe to make the demon give up
chasing you, and using 'running mode' to run quicker than them if no other
option presents itself.
h
color - red
name - former captain.
speed - 80%
ranged - 2-12% (4 shots)
melee - 2-6%
health - 10
armour - 0-4
description - His chaingun is fairly dangerous at all ranges. Best killed with
tactical defense or giftdropping.
o
color - red
name - cacodemon
speed - 100%
ranged - 8-44% (armour counts twice)
melee - 14-18%
health - 40
armour - 1
description - Basically, almost exactly like an imp, but tougher and deals more
damage.
B
color - brown
name - Hell knight
speed - 100%
ranged - 8-38% (armour counts twice)
melee - 14-18%
health - 50
armour - 1
description - Dangerous opponent at all ranges. Can be lured with giftdropping,
but when he comes to pick up the gift, you won't kill him the instant he
appears - he's too tough for that. Best dealt with by setting up a good firing
line such as:
╔═══════╗
║#####.@║
║B......║
╚═══════╝
O
color - brown
name - Pain elemental
speed - 100%
ranged - 0
melee - 14-18%
health - 40
armour - 1
description - Spits special lost souls, which give no experience when killed.
Only spits out lost souls when it can see you, so closing a door on it pacifies
it, and shooting at the swarm of lost souls while out-of-sight of the elemental
will let you thin the swarm effectively. Note that, when you have the 'vampyre'
trait, it's in your best interest *not* to kill these, as their lost souls can
be farmed for 200% health as many times as you like.
B
color - Red
name - Baron of hell
speed - 100%
ranged - 10-54% (armour counts twice)
melee - 18-22%
health - 60
armour - 2
description - Bad news. Much like the hell knight above, but with even more
health, more armour, and a more powerful attack with a large radius.
A
color - Yellow
name - Arachnotron
speed - 130%
ranged - 2-10% (6 shots)
melee - 6-10%
health - 50
armour - 2
description - Pretty accurate shooter. The bad news - at close range a single
lucky arachnotron is capable of taking you from 100% to zero health in a single
turn (due to it's speed 130%)! Good news: when you get used to the way armour
works, these things are no sweat. Just consult the following chart, which
concerns plasma vs armour.
- green armour: -1% per bullet
- blue armour: -2% per bullet
- red armour: -4% per bullet
- berserk: -4% per bullet
Since armour has half effect against plasma attacks, you'll be wanting the red,
or the blue + running. Running mode is also always welcome, since it doesn't
use any resources to go into.
Alternatively, get into melee range. When fighting multiple arachnotrons, play
very slowly: it's surprisingly frequent how many situations crop up where you
can run into melee range of an arachnotron, and use it as a shield to fend off
the shots of it's brethren.
h
color - blue
name - Former Commando
speed - 100%
ranged - 1-14% (6 shots)
melee - 6-10%
health - 20
armour - 2-6
description - Surprisingly scary zombie. If they pick up a suit of red, they've
probably got more armour than you, and aren't going down before they've had a
chance to fire at you once or twice. If you're not wearing armour, they can do
up to 114% damage to you in a single turn so, like arachnotrons, remember the
armour, berserk, and running effects on damage.
M
color - Brown
name - Mancubus
speed - 80%
ranged - 6-62% plus 16-96% splash from 2 extra attacks
melee - 0
health - 60
armour - 2
description - Really, really dangerous, but also easy to deal with if you're
not caught flat-footed by them. The mancubus can be beaten using tactical
defense (but watch out - one screw-up and your defensive wall is gone). It can
also be killed by hugging it at point blank range (just be careful not to knock
it away with shotguns).
The bad news, of course, is that if one fires at you when your back is to a
wall, you'd better be wearing some strong armour, because you're gonna lose an
*average* of 89% health without it (and on a particularly unlucky day, you're
losing 158%).
If you decide to stand nex to them (for a melee attack, perhaps), you'll find
that they can't fight back, and will simply try to move away from you. This can
often be a safe way to beat them.
R
color - white
name - Revenant
speed - 120%
ranged - 10-50%
melee - 0
health - 30
armour - 4
description - Good armour, plenty of health, a weapon that never misses and
knocks you around in inconvenient directions... Eek... It's usually best to
defeat these with tactical defense - using wall tricks to shoot them without
return fire. Dodging is useless against their attack, and armour isn't very
effective either.
Take note, however, of the lack of a melee attack. If you enter running mode
when a revenant is close by, you can keep running into them and attacking them
with melee or rapid-fire weaponry, and in their turn they will harmlessly only
move away - they cannot attack or shoot at point-blank range.
V
color - Yellow
name - Arch-vile
speed - 160%
ranged - 22%
melee - 0
health - 70
armour - 2
description - Ack! Absolute nightmare! Their speed of 160% means arch-vile's
usually attack twice with their 22% damage flames that never miss. Red armour
still helps, of course, in part because of the protection is offers (4), and
in part because of it's fire resistance. More importantly, fireproof red
offers a *huge* fire resistance, to the point that arch viles will do almost
no damage to you (additionally, it also works with their friends: revenants
and mancubi).
Their speed of 160 also means that they can only be outrun if you have unique
armour/boots, and even then it's hard work. This, in turn, means their lack
of a melee attack is hard to take advantage of, and only really worth trying
for berserker games.
There are three good ways to deal with arch-viles:
1. The first costs normal ammo and doesn't always work - it is done with a
decent wall and perhaps a coridoor (the usual corner tricks), but this is
difficult because there will always be normal monsters that come out before the
arch-vile, and the arch-vile will just resurrect the normal monster again and
again until you run out of ammo. If you know there's an arch vile nearby, shoot
and listen for his hissing gasp... If firing up the coridoor doesn't hurt him ,
then relocate yourself and find a different angle of attack. This method is
much more practical if you have ammochain, eagle eye, or army of the dead
traits.
2. The second method costs 2-3 stacks of rocket/cells and your treasure. This
method is less situational, generally always being somewhat effective, but
sadly very taxing on your resources. Use missiles to blow up walls, and pound
monsters with missiles or a BFG until the vile shows up, at which point you can
pound him with missiles until he's dead. Trouble here, of course, is that not
only did you just use over a hundred cells or 20-odd rockets, but you blew up
all the ammo on the ground too! This causes ammo problems if you do it too
often, so you're best doing this only when you can't get a good snipe on the
vile.
3. The third method costs XP. This is probably the most effective way to deal
with Arch-viles in the long run... You open your inventory screen, check it
against your traits and think about whether you're on track to beat a
cyberdemon on level 25 (tip - I've been killed by him once in 25 fights). If
you are on track (you probably are), then you walk around the arch-vile and
avoid fighting him. If you're lucky, you'll find an invulnerability globe that
will make killing him safe & simple, or the stairs down, which means for the
cost of a little XP you can keep both your items and your life.
C
color - Red
name - Cyberdemon
speed - N/A
ranged - 6d6
melee - ?
health - 200
armour - 4
description - The cyberdemon has different AI than most monsters. It also has a
powerful weapon. The way it walks towards you in between it's bouts of firing,
combined with it's massive health and armour, mean that you usually end up
either backing to a wall taking splash damage from it's rockets, or in melee
with the thing!
Beating it is never too hard though - you can try to dodge it's missile then
shoot back while it's reloading, you can guide it past a pillar, then use
running mode for a few moves to get around it's side and hit it with a few
gauranteed BFG shots (5-6 are required), you can try tactical corner-shooting
to wear it down with a plasma rifle, and you can even phase device, relying on
the fact that the cyberdemon moves left/right as much as possible before it
starts moving up-left or up-right to get to you. Diagram?
╔═══════════════════════════════════╗
║...................................║
║.....................####..........║
║..1..................# #..........║
║.....................####..........║
║...................................║
║.....CDEFG......................5##║
║................................4# ║
║................................3##║
║.......####....................2...║
║.......# #........................║
║.......####........................║
╚═══════════════════════════════════╝
The above diagram shows 5 turns. The player, in position 1, started getting
worried, and used a phase device, appearing in position 2. He then walks up to
3, 4 and 5.
The cyberdemon prefers to walk horizontally, and thus moves through C, D, E, F
and G towards the player.
Once the player is in position 5, despite not being able to see the cyberdemon,
he can spam plasmagun shots or rockets to his left for 14 turns or so (being a
good shot or having infinite ammo helps).
@
color - Blue
name - John Carmack
speed - N/A
ranged - ?
melee - ?
health - 250
armour - 5
description -
A
color - Red
name - Angel of Death
speed - (roughly) 130%
ranged - 0
melee - (Roughly) 23% (3 hits)
health - 250
armour - 10
description - The angel of death is fought in the unholy cathedral, which means
ranged weapons cannot be used to defeat him (they don't work on that level).
The melee damage is my own rough estimate - it is in no way accurate.
Pay special attention to his stats - it's clear that with his 10 armour, fists
and the combat knife will hardly scratch him.
Furthermore, his massive damage means you can't rely on large health packs to
tank him, you use the large health pack for 100% health, and in the same turn
he brings you back down to 30% health, meaning you have to use another large
health pack, and thus can't attack or even put on armour without being killed
that turn.
Now bear in mind the effect of armour - we're taking 70% dmg per turn, but red
armour will save you 24% health, berserk will save another 24%, and tough as
nails or a power mod on your armour will save an extra 12-24% each. With some
decent armour, say, a suit of red, tough as nails 2, and berserk, you'll
take only 10% health dmg per turn.
The way to beat him is pretty clear - make sure you have berserk - the
combination of 4 extra protection and a damage high enough to penetrate his
armour is the only real way you can fight him fair in melee and win. Since his
level has a lot of demons and lost souls, the best course of action is taking
the 'berserker' trait, and running straight past the lost souls and the demons.
Stand next to the double-doors that lead to the angel, then, while still in
running mode, kill all the lost souls and demons in melee, hoping to trigger
your 'berserker' trait. When it triggers, pop on your best suit of armour (red
with bulk or protection), open the double doors, run to the angel of death, and
chainsaw him to death.
After killing him you get the longinus spear - an incredible melee weapon that
should be just perfect for your already melee-optimised build.
Update - since skulls were introduced, non-melee characters can kill the angel
of death by saving a hatred skull, littering the cathedral with demon corpses,
then using the hatred skull to turn all those corpses into berserk.
Also, if your speed is high enough, it's possible to use 'hack and back' on
the angel of death (roguelike veterans will understand hack and back, but to
explain it here, it's basically using your speed bonus to get 'double turns'
against the opponent, getting a free attack every 10 steps back or so
(depending on your speed vs his).
Angel of 100 secret enemies:
i
color - Blue
name - Nightmare Imp
speed - ??
ranged - ??
melee - ??
health - ??
armour - 0
description - Similar to the imp, but it seems to be a little tougher to kill
(still goes down to a single volley of most decent weapons), and do a little
more damage.
The biggest difference, however, is the fact that the nightmare imp does not
make any noises.
c
color - Blue
name - Nightmare demon
speed - ??
ranged - ??
melee - ??
health - ??
armour - 0
description - Similar to the demon, but it seems to be a little tougher to kill
(still goes down to a single volley of most decent weapons), and do a little
more damage.
The biggest difference, however, is the fact that the nightmare demon does not
make any noises.
o
color - Blue
name - Nightmare Cacodemon
speed - ??
ranged - ??
melee - ??
health - ??
armour - 0
description - Similar to the cacodemon, but appears to do more damage. May be
tougher to kill, but it's hard to say...
The biggest difference, however, is the fact that the nightmare cacodemon does
not make any noises.
Character builds [CHDS ]
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EE->SoB->SoB->TH->EE->HR->TH->WK->WK->SoB->Bru->Bru->
EE->EE->SoB->SoB->SoB->HR->EE->Bru->Bru->Ber->TH->
legacy info:
Traits........................ [TRTS ]
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Soldier trait tree:
SonOfAGun SonOfABitch Reloader Badass ToughAsNails IronMan Brute [Badass]
SonOfAGun SonOfABitch Reloader | \ ToughAsNails IronMan Brute |
Dualgunner Triggerhappy | Shottyman | \ | /IronMan Berserker |
BulletDance Ammochain ArmyOfTheDead Survivalist Vampyre
Scout trait tree:
Brute Hellrunner Reloader Finesse [Hellrunner] SonOfAGun SonOfABitch Intuition
Brute Hellrunner Reloader Juggler [Hellrunner] SonOfAGun SonOfABitch |
Berserker Brute | \ Shottyman / | Dodgemaster Dualgunner Triggerhappy |
Blademaster ShottyHead RunningMan GunKata Cateye
Technician trait tree
SonOfABitch ToughAsNails Finesse Brute Hellrunner Reloader SonOfAGun EagleEye Whizkid
SonOfABitch ToughAsNails | Brute Hellrunner Reloader SonOfAGun EagleEye Whizkid
Triggerhappy Badass | | Dodgemaster Shottyman SonOfAGun EagleEye Intuition |
Entrenchment MaliciousBlades FireAngel SharpShooter Scavenger
Finesse -> juggler -> hellrunner -> hellrunner -> dodgemaster -> brute -> brute -> maliciousblades -> SOAB SOAB TH SOAG SOAG SOAG SOAG SOAG
Old traits.................... [OLTS ]
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Traits are the solitary character advancement mechanism for doomRL. When you
kill enough monsters, you get to choose a new trait. That's it, and the system
is elegantly designed for some surprising levels of character planning depth.
Traits are formed into a 'tree'. There are basically 3 tiers of traits
1. Basic traits that can be purchased at character creation,
2, Advanced traits that require other traits to 'unlock' them,
3. Master traits that require more than 1 trait to 'unlock' them.
The trait tree is designed so that no master trait is avaiable for purchase
until at least character level 7. Also, all master traits 'block out' certain
basic traits. This block goes both ways - the master trait cannot be bought if
a player posesses a blocked basic trait, and the basic trait cannot be bought
if the player posesses the blocking master trait.
Note - in the current version (0.9.9.1) all master traits block in such a way
that it is impossible to ever get more than a single master trait. This is
probably intentional, and will likely continue in future versions of doomRL.
I've split the trait trees below into 'general' traits, and 'task-specific'
traits. The task specific traits are typically less powerful than the general
ones, and are best suited to the angel of shotgunnery, berserk, and
marksmanship challenges.
General Traits
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The following master traits are useful for 'all round' character types:
Brute ToughAsNails Finesse SonOfABitch EagleEye Ironman
Brute ToughAsNails | Finesse SonOfABitch EagleEye Ironman
Berserker Badass Juggler Whizkid TriggerHappy Intuition Ironman
Vampyre AmmoChain Cateye
Task-specific traits
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The traits below are more 'specialised', and best suited to a character
on a challenge game, or one who strongly favours a single weapon type:
Hellrunner Reloader ToughAsNails Brute Hellrunner SonOfAGun
Hellrunner Reloader ToughAsNails Brute Hellrunner SonOfAGun
Dodgemaster ShottyMan Badass Berserker Dodgemaster DualGunner
FireAngel ArmyOfTheDead Vampyre BladeMaster GunKata
FireAngel blocks Eagle eye, Son of a Bitch, Son of a Gun
AmmoChain blocks Tough as Nails, Son of a Gun, Eagle Eye
Cateye blocks Tough as Nails, Reloader, Brute
ArmyOfTheDead blocks Finesse, Hellrunner, Eagle Eye
Vampyre blocks Hellrunner, Son of a Bitch, Eagle Eye
BladeMaster blocks Tough as Nails, Son of a Gun, Son of a Bitch
GunKata blocks Tough as Nails, Son of a Bitch, Brute
Generally, for trait strategy, aim for a master trait. Most master traits are
far, far better than ordinary traits.
There are plenty of great character builds that don't use master traits, but
there are plenty of bad character builds too... Going for a master trait is a
sure-fire way of getting a decent character in the game, and it's a good idea
to try out every master trait before experimenting with off-the-wall builds.
Ideally, a player should select a general master trait when going for a normal
game. Weapon-specific traits should be considered in challenge games, such as
'angel of shotgunnery', 'angel of berserk', or 'angel of marksmanship'.
Of all the traits, a lot of the community is currently in a moderate agreement
about 'Ammochain' being the most powerful trait, with some players calling for
a nerf. However, there are players that think that Cateye and Vampyre are also
strong contenders. My personal experience, both from my own games and from
other community members posting on the boards, is that Ammochain is vastly more
powerful than the other master traits.
Master Trait Trees............ [MAES ]
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FireAngel
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Reloader Hellrunner Brute Ironman ToughAsNails Finesse
Reloader Hellrunner Brute ToughAsNails Finesse Juggler
ShottyMan Dodgemaster | Brute Berserker Badass Whizkid
FireAngel Blademaster
- In the most recent game update, the requirements of Fireangel were
changed to make it a 'shotgun trait'. Unfortunately, this spoiled it's
use for all-round characters, since it now blocked 'son of a gun'
and forced all-round builds to look elsewhere for a master trait.
In the process, however, fireangel became a lot more compatible with
the 'Blademaster' master trait, such that the two are possible to obtain
together. Whether a player would want to outside of a melee-orientated
game is another matter entirely.
In the current build, consider picking fireangel if you are using an
'active' shotgun build, and like to do a lot of moving while fighting.
The downside to fireangel, though, is that the player's weapons are so weak, he
is going to run into ammunition problems later in the game. You always have the
option of being a chainsaw berserker to save ammo, but it's quite possible to
live without. Perhaps check the 'inventory strategy' section of this guide for
a little help.
AmmoChain
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SonOfABitch Finesse Reloader Brute Hellrunner Ironman
SonOfABitch Finesse Juggler Reloader Brute Hellrunner
TriggerHappy Whizkid ShottyMan Berserker Dodgemaster
AmmoChain
- Ammochain is an incredibly powerful trait. It has 2 main focuses - infinite
ammunition on rapid-fire weapons, and increased attack ability with rapid-fire
weapons. A marine using a well-modded plasmagun and ammochain not only has
infinite ammunition, but is also quite capable of killing revenants,
arachnotrons, and barons with a single turn of shooting. Realistically, an
ammochain player can fully *expect* to mod a weapon up to 2-turn baron disposal
in a regular game.
The only real downside of ammochain is the fact that it blocks intuition 2 and
badass, making it a lot more difficult for the player to survive the attacks of
opponents.
All things considered, think of ammochain a little like you think of 'angel of
max carnage', but with infinite ammo...
Cateye
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SonOfABitch EagleEye Finesse Hellrunner SonOfAGun Ironman
SonOfABitch EagleEye Juggler Finesse Hellrunner SonOfAGun
TriggerHappy Intuition Whizkid Dodgemaster DualGunner
Cateye
- Cateye is another extremely powerful master trait. It falls a little short of
ammochain later in the game, but is stronger for the middle part. It's blocked
traits aren't as bad, though - you're never going to want to take brute in a
game where you are taking eagleeye and triggerhappy. Losing reloader can hurt,
but since it's so easy to get juggler here, you can fix that by carrying a
spare plasmagun in place of a stack of cells. Losing tough as nails and badass
is a nasty one though.
Overall, cateye would be an excellent master trait, were it not for the fact
that the best thing about it, intuition 2, is available earlier in the game,
and blocks nothing. cateye itself is simply icing on the cake, and it's icing
you don't need.
ArmyOfTheDead
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Reloader ToughAsNails SonOfABitch Brute SonOfAGun Ironman
Reloader ToughAsNails SonOfABitch Brute SonOfAGun
ShottyMan Badass TriggerHappy Berserker DualGunner
ArmyOfTheDead
- This trait is useless for anyone who isn't going exclusively shotguns.
For shotgun users, it's very powerful, but even in angel of shotgunnery, where
no other weapons can be used, it is only perhaps equal to other character
builds. It's not bad, by any stretch, and just about the only way of having a
chance of killing john carmac using a shotgun, but don't expect the kind of
paradigm-shifting effect you get from a chaingunner user cateye or
ammochain. Basically, with ArmyOfTheDead, a player can kill well-armoured
monsters such as revenants, mancubi, and barons without wasting a stack of
shotgun shells and a minute of in-game time. When you meet a revenant backed up
by an arch-vile, you'll really feel the drain on your ammo just trying to get
past it unless you have this trait.
On the other hand, a character using finesse and juggler is almost certainly
better at using shotguns to take down unarmoured opponents, which are the
majority of opponents in the game. The finesse build also utilises shotgun
knockback traps to better effect than the ArmyOfTheDead character, and said
juggler later has access to the 'fireangel' master trait, which allows him to
bypass the well-armoured foes when they are not in a position to be killed.
Vampyre
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ToughAsNails Brute Finesse Reloader SonOfAGun Ironman
ToughAsNails Brute Juggler Finesse Reloader SonOfAGun
Badass Berserker Whizkid ShottyMan DualGunner
Vampyre
- The premier melee trait. Vampyre lets you steal a little health from every
opponent you kill in melee. While this doesn't sound like much, remember this
is a game where health is usually finite. This trait is the only way to
regenerate your health, and with a little ingenuity (standing next to pain
elementals, or near a corse on 'nightmare' difficulty), you can spend most of
your time on 200% health.
Of course, since the path to obtaining vampyre includes getting badass, that
200% health isn't going down as time passes either!
After taking vampyre and brute(3) the best strategy is probably to plough
points into ironman, so that your 200% health is actually 160hp instead of just
100.
As a final note, it's worth mentioning that Vampyre is actually very useful
outside of 'melee only' games. The ability to steal health from opponents is
powerful in it's own right, but when a player is faced with an endless stream
of opponents to kill in melee, be it from a pain elemental, arch-vile
resurrection, or a nightmare game, he is able to take 200% health every time
such a situation arises.
GunKata
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blocks Tough as Nails, Son of a Bitch, Brute
Hellrunner SonOfAGun Finesse EagleEye Reloader Ironman
Hellrunner SonOfAGun Juggler Finesse EagleEye Reloader
Dodgemaster DualGunner Whizkid Intuition ShottyMan
GunKata
- Gunkata is a decent trait, but, like shottyman, I can't help but feel that
there are more powerful builds for pistol-uesrs. For players using a pistol,
the 'dualgunner' trait is clearly the pick of the bunch, but to expand beyond
that, a player is faced with a choice:
Do I spend points on my dodging skills in order to make free reloads and free
shots available? (Gunkata)
Or do I work on my raw pistol damage so that I can knock back or kill targets
without getting shot at?
Often, the second option is better for a pistol user, and this trait can often
be left on the sidebench.
Juggler....................... [JUER ]
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A note should be made here about 'juggler'. This is an awesomely versatile
trait that is available very early in the game. Used well, it can be worth
it's weight in gold (not that it weighs anything). Take note that 'swapping'
to the prepared item costs no time, as well as arming a weapon with one of
the weapon keys. This goes beyond the obvious pistol/chaingun/shotgun swapping.
For instance, a shotgun can be placed in both the weapon and the prepared slot,
allowing 2 shotgun blasts without any downtime. If a player has an inventory
full of shotguns, they can make use of juggler to dramatically reduce their
sustained-fire reload time, too... Fire a shotgun, switch to combat knife,
drop the empty shotgun (0.5 seconds), then press 3 to arm a shotgun - the
player just spent 0.5 seconds to get a freshly loaded shotgun in their hands,
half of the reload time that a shotgun would normally require, and
significantly less reload time that the 'shottyman' trait takes (0.8s).
Making use of these shotgun tricks will make hell's arena a breeze, even
without a combat shotgun or chaingun.
All-round builds.............. [ALDS ]
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Normal games allow players the option of using all weapons. In such a game any
decent build is viable, but the very best are probably those that use the
chaingun in the mid-game. This is more than likely because shotgun weapons are
not as effective at firing around corners. I've hand-picked a few builds which
I find particularly effective.
Jack of all trades
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Finesse -> Juggler -> Tough as nails -> Tough as nails -> Badass -> Brute ->
Brute -> Berserker -> Vampyre
An immensely tactical build, this has the distinct advantage of being able to
run on very low ammo, and as such is great in any general game, including angel
of light travel. Vampyre is a trait easy to ignore when not doing an angel of
berserk game, but it's actually immensely powerful even when melee isn't your
prime focus.
The build focuses on corner-pulling enemies using a pistol, using shotgun
knockback with juggler to pound them to next-to-zero health, then finishing
them off with a vampiric melee attack to regain health. Used correctly, it
tends to keep a player on 200% health most of the time. It's powerful from the
very start of the game (juggler), and has the huge advantage of being able to
cope with arch viles so well, you're almost pleased to hear their welcoming
scream. A good corner and you end up with a worthy health-leeching target that
the archvile will be all too happy to continue to resurrect for you, until
you're at 200% health with berserk activated, at which point you can peek
around the corner with 6 damage reduction even without armour, let loose a
double shotgun blast, hurting the vile pack and having him dispose of corpses
for you, before backing off to repeat the trick when you're back on 200%
berserk.
Make no mistake, this build takes some serious getting used to, but once the
player is proficient in it's use, there's very little stopping him.
After vampyre is obtained, the last 3 traits are completely dependant on player
preferances, or the items obtained in the current game. You can expand into
whizkid if you're finding a lot of mod packs, son of a gun if you have a decent
pistol (even an ordinary modded pistol will do), ironman if you want your
leeching to go even further, or shottyman if you've been lucky enough to find a
unique or exotic shotgun. Any unique you find will be highly useful to the
build, meaning the 'power boost' that most builds get from finding a relevant
unique will be present in over half of your games.
Note - this build is extremely useful in a 'Nightmare' difficulty game, due
to the respawning enemies and health leech. Every level will tend to start
you on 200% health. Similarly, pain elementals are basically replenishing
supercharge globes - don't kill them, take your armour off and leech leech
leech!
shottychain - for the plasmagun fan
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finesse -> juggler -> finesse -> SOAB -> SOAB -> Triggerhappy -> Whizkid ->
Ammochain -> Ironman -> Ironman -> Ironman
Probably my favourite build for nightmare difficulty. This build begins with a
focus on shotguns, but instead of using shotgun-specific traits like
'shottyman' or 'army of the dead', it simply uses the power of finesse +
juggler to attack with a very high rate of fire on shotguns. The biggest
disadvantage of shotguns are the need to constantly reload, and their inability
to penetrate armour. This build uses juggler (instead of shottyman) to get
around the reloading problem, and instead of penetrating armour with 'army of
the dead', it moves into an ammochain build for the plasmagun against the well-
armoured opponents later in the game.
In the early game, With juggler, you can use 'swap' and the number keys to get
a lot of shots out before you have to reload. For example, you could hold a
shotgun in each hand, and a combat shotgun in your inventory. This lets you
fire 3 shots without any time at all reloading, and another 4 with minimal
reload time. Finesse means you're firing shotguns quicker than enemies can
move, and with knockback that means a lot of enemy control.
Another variation is holding 2 combat shotguns (1 in each hand), and
discharging both of them to continously knock a target back, slowing his
approach. By the time he's finally walked dangerously close to you, you can
change to a normal shotgun and finish him off. The combination of instant
weapon-switching instead of reloading, and the increased firing time from
'finesse', gives you so much knockback power in the early game that, with a
good tactical defense, opponents will never get to attack you.
It also keeps you able to change instantly to chaingun when needed, and only
holds back your ammochain for a single level. Later on, the ability to rely on
an infinite-ammo plasmagun, but switch to a BFG for crowd clearance, an
overcharged plasms rifle for assassination, or a rocket launcher for an
emergency rocket jump, is another huge advantage for those tricky situations.
