I wanted to test out Army of the Dead this time now that Finesse is no longer blocked, as well as Reloader getting significantly buffed. I'd say that these changes have made the master trait much more balanced and very usable!
Reloader helps a lot with the start of the game, along with the Marine's new resistance buffs. With Whizkid down the road, you can create powerful weapons like you could with any other build, but now actually exceed their power since the piercing effect or Army of the Dead isn't compromised by being limited in weapons or being entirely outclassed by Nano-Shrapnel.
Coincidentally, I found a Nano Pack which would normally be used for Nano-Shrapnel, but I decided to make a Focused Double Shotgun (N) to make more use of Army of the Dead. It was excellent on anything it could kill in one shot, which was a lot, and I had other weapons while it recharged. Finesse allowing access to Juggler also supported this.
I was also very lucky to find Jackhammer in Deimos Lab, which is extremely powerful with Army of the Dead, and its ammo-hungry nature was complemented by my semi-infinite Focused Double Shotgun. I mostly used a Tactical Shotgun until finding Assault Shotgun in The Vaults, and was able to make a strong non-assembly out of it too.
I went for a full win with 100% kills, although I skipped Unholy Cathedral since I didn't have any reliable way to deal with Angel of Death.
Overall, Army of the Dead is very playable now!
Here is a video of me clearing The Mortuary using only Jackhammer.
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DoomRL (0.9.9.8 BETA 2) roguelike post-mortem character dump
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Icy, level 13 Demon Sergeant Major Marine,
nuked the Mastermind at the Hell Fortress.
He survived 2892427 turns and scored 143851 points.
He played for 1 hour, 29 minutes and 40 seconds.
He didn't like it too rough.
He killed 855 out of 855 hellspawn. (100%)
This ass-kicking marine killed all of them!
-- Special levels --------------------------------------------
Levels generated : 11
Levels visited : 10
Levels completed : 10
-- Awards ----------------------------------------------------
Medal of Prejudice Won with 100% kills
UAC Star (silver cluster) 50+ kills without taking damage
Aurora Medallion Found more than 3 uniques in one game
Grim Reaper's Badge Clear the Mortuary/Limbo
Hell Armorer Badge Clear Hell's Armory/Deimos Lab
Hell Champion Medal Clear Hell's Arena
-- Graveyard -------------------------------------------------
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-- Statistics ------------------------------------------------
Health 35/60 Experience 75590/13
ToHit Ranged +0 ToHit Melee +0 ToDmg Ranged +0 ToDmg Melee +0
-- Traits ----------------------------------------------------
Class : Marine
Finesse (Level 3)
Reloader (Level 3)
Juggler (Level 1)
Whizkid (Level 2)
Badass (Level 2)
Shottyman (Level 1)
Army of the Dead (Level 1)
Rel->Rel->Fin->Bad->SM->MAD->Fin->WK->WK->Jug->Bad->Rel->Fin->
-- Equipment -------------------------------------------------
[a] [ Armor ] nothing
[b] [ Weapon ] Jackhammer (8d3)x3 [7/10]
[c] [ Boots ] cerberus protective boots [0/0] (100%)
[d] [ Prepared ] focused double shotgun (8d4)x2 [2/2] (N1)
-- Inventory -------------------------------------------------
[a] assault shotgun (10d3) [6/6] (P3T1)
[b] Angelic Armor [1/7] (4%)
[c] shotgun shell (x70)
[d] shotgun shell (x70)
[e] shotgun shell (x36)
[f] shotgun shell (x70)
[g] large med-pack
[h] large med-pack
[i] large med-pack
[j] large med-pack
[k] shell box (x100)
[l] shell box (x100)
[m] shell box (x100)
[n] shell box (x100)
[o] shell box (x100)
[p] shell box (x100)
-- Resistances -----------------------------------------------
acid - internal 20% torso 20% feet 100%
fire - internal 20% torso 20% feet 100%
plasma - internal 20% torso 20% feet 20%
-- Kills -----------------------------------------------------
120 former humans
85 former sergeants
57 former captains
67 imps
47 demons
214 lost souls
76 cacodemons
56 hell knights
39 barons of hell
32 arachnotrons
6 former commandos
12 pain elementals
7 revenants
8 mancubi
12 arch-viles
5 elite former humans
2 elite former sergeants
2 bruiser brothers
2 shamblers
1 lava elemental
1 agony elemental
1 Cyberdemon
1 Spider Mastermind
1 John Carmack
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 5 he stormed the Chained Court.
On level 5 he found the Arena Master's Staff!
He defeated the Hell Arena Master!
On level 7 he marched into the Military Base.
On level 7 he assembled a tactical boots!
He purified his fellow comrades.
On level 8 he encountered the Phobos Anomaly.
On level 9 he entered Deimos Lab.
On level 9 he found the Jackhammer!
On level 9 he assembled a tactical shotgun!
He destroyed the evil within and reaped the rewards!
On level 11 he arrived at the Containment Area.
He emerged from the Containment Area victorious!
On level 12 he found the Grammaton Cleric Beretta!
On level 12 he romped upon the Abyssal Plains.
He slaughtered the beasts living there.
On level 13 he assembled a focused double shotgun!
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 17 he assembled a cerberus boots!
On level 19 he assembled a fireproof armor!
On level 19 he entered the Vaults.
On level 19 he found the Railgun!
He cracked the Vaults and cleared them out!
On level 20 he was foolish enough to enter the Mortuary!
On level 20 he found the Angelic Armor!
He managed to clear the Mortuary from evil!
On level 22 he entered the Lava Pits.
He managed to clear the Lava Pits completely!
Then at last he found Dis!
He overloaded a nuclear BFG 9000 on level 24!
He defeated the Mastermind and found the TRUE EVIL!
Then finally in Hell itself, he killed the final EVIL.
-- Messages --------------------------------------------------
The lost soul hits you. The lost soul hits you. Your red armor is damaged!
John Carmack reloads his rocket launcher.
The lost soul hits you. The lost soul hits you. The missile hits the lost
soul. The lost soul dies. The lost soul dies.
You use a large med-pack. You feel fully healed. Carmack raises his hands and
summons hellspawn!
The lost soul hits you. Your red armor is completely destroyed!
You hear the scream of a freed soul! You hear the scream of a freed soul! The
hell knight dies. The lost soul hits you.
You hear the scream of a freed soul! You hear the scream of a freed soul! You
hear the scream of a freed soul! You hear the scream of a freed soul! You
hear the scream of a freed soul! The lost soul hits you.
The lost soul hits you. John Carmack reloads his rocket launcher.
The lost soul dies. The lost soul dies. John Carmack dies. Congratulations!
You defeated John Carmack! Press <Enter>...
You feel relatively safe now.
-- General ---------------------------------------------------
5 brave souls have ventured into Phobos:
1 of those was killed.
1 didn't read the thermonuclear bomb manual.
And 1 couldn't handle the stress and committed a stupid suicide.
2 souls destroyed the Mastermind...
2 showed that it can outsmart Hell itself.
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