Chaosforge Forum

DoomRL => Post Mortem => Topic started by: johnnih on May 01, 2014, 07:22

Title: [H|97%|24|YAVP] Nothing extraordinary, but my first win
Post by: johnnih on May 01, 2014, 07:22
As the title says, this mortem has nothing on the jaw dropping achievements, which can be seen elsewhere on these forums. It is my first win, however. It was a long way coming being my 88th game, which I partly attribute to my insisting on playing on [H], but mostly to my tendency to become careless in the later stages of the game. I have died at level 20 to former sergeants a couple of times because I forgot to keep an eye on my health or got to greedy and pushed my luck. In both cases I had ample ressources and equipment that should've made the end game relatively easy.

But this time I prevailed! I'm not quite sure whether I played better or simply had more margin for failure due to the nice drops I got. I put early levels in SoB and made do with chaingun and shotgun for a long time (incredible how strong these basic weapons are with SoB!). Then in Phobos Labs, shortly before getting to level MAc, I found a nuclear plasma rifle and was suddenly well prepared to take on the depths of hell. With the prospect of not having to worry about ammo, I aimed for WK2 and started hurling mods onto the hellish device. Deimos Lab treated me to a firestorm mod and Hell's armory offered a sniper mod. I even found the minigun down the road, but realized it was of no use to me. Towards the late game I found good armors and a nuclear BFG to round off my rechargeable weaponry. Boy, oh boy - free gibs all around! The mortuary was a breeze.

I got to see a lot of content for the first time this game. The jackhammer was fun, but totally superfluous this particular game. Both the Lava armor and Angelic armor were new to me as well. I must say the Lava armor seems very strong! I visited the mortuary and lava pits for the first time this game. Alas. I had no means of getting through the lave in the pits, and thus had to leave the level and ruin my 100% score. But for once I live and learn (usually its die and learn).

Oh, and unfortunately I didn't get to melt JC's face by way of nuclear fission. I had looked forward to that, but I don't know how to reach him yet. No spoilers please - I prefer learning the ins and outs of the game on my own. I like toying around with mods to find new assemblies, although getting beyond the basic recipes is difficult.


Observations:
 - MAc is strong! Nuclear weapons are an unneccessary but fun combination with this master trait.
 - Nigh-invulnerability to fire makes many areas of the late game much, much easier.
 - WK seems very strong with rapid fire builds. I can't see skipping it unless I'm experimenting. A simple plasma rifle becomes monstrous after a few mods and some points in SoB. Do people agree that WK is good for rapid fire builds?
 - I'm generally not that great at inventory management and I guess I favor MAc for that reason. Perhabs I should ask the Angel of Light Travel to teach me a lesson?



--------------------------------------------------------------
 DoomRL (0.9.9.7) roguelike post-mortem character dump
--------------------------------------------------------------

 Russell, level 13 Cacodemon Sergeant Marine,
 defeated the Mastermind at the City of Dis.
 He survived 184102 turns and scored 197863 points.
 He played for 3 hours, 19 minutes and 11 seconds.
 He wasn't afraid to be hurt plenty.

 He killed 915 out of 939 hellspawn. (97%)
 He held his right to remain violent.

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

  Levels generated : 11
  Levels visited   : 10
  Levels completed : 9

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

  Mastermind's Brain
  UAC Star (silver cluster)
  Aurora Medallion
  Grim Reaper's Badge
  Hell Armorer Badge
  Hell Champion Medal
  UAC Bronze Badge
  UAC Silver Badge
  Reaper Silver Badge
  Reaper Gold Badge

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

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

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

  Health 60/60   Experience 76744/13
  ToHit Ranged +0  ToHit Melee +0  ToDmg Ranged +4  ToDmg Melee +4

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

  Class : Marine

    Finesse          (Level 2)
    Son of a bitch   (Level 4)
    Reloader         (Level 2)
    Whizkid          (Level 2)
    Triggerhappy     (Level 2)
    Ammochain        (Level 1)

  SoB->SoB->SoB->Rel->Rel->TH->TH->MAc->Fin->Fin->WK->WK->SoB->

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

    [a] [ Armor      ]   Angelic Armor [7/7] (100%)
    [b] [ Weapon     ]   nuclear plasma rifle (1d8)x8 [19/24] (A1F1P1S1T1)
    [c] [ Boots      ]   nothing
    [d] [ Prepared   ]   high power BFG 9000 (12d6) [65/65]

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

    [a] missile launcher (6d7) [4/4] (P1)
    [b] nuclear BFG 9000 (8d6) [52/52] (B1)
    [c] BFG 9000 (10d6) [100/100]
    [d] Jackhammer (8d3)x3 [9/9]
    [e] tactical armor [0/0] (100%)
    [f] onyx armor [4] (P)
    [g] Lava Armor [4/4] (100%)
    [h] shotgun shell (x70)
    [i] rocket (x14)
    [j] rocket (x4)
    [k] power cell (x70)
    [l] power cell (x64)
    [m] power cell (x70)
    [n] large med-pack
    [o] large med-pack
    [p] large med-pack
    [q] large med-pack
    [r] homing phase device
    [s] onyx armor pack
    [t] hatred skull
    [u] hatred skull
    [v] power battery (x120)

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

    Bullet     - internal 0%    torso 50%   feet 0%   
    Melee      - internal 0%    torso 50%   feet 0%   
    Shrapnel   - internal 0%    torso 50%   feet 0%   

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

    102 former humans
    131 former sergeants
    32 former captains
    102 imps
    75 demons
    206 lost souls
    66 cacodemons
    22 hell knights
    46 barons of hell
    45 arachnotrons
    20 former commandos
    13 pain elementals
    20 revenants
    14 mancubi
    13 arch-viles
    2 bruiser brothers
    2 shamblers
    1 agony elemental
    1 Cyberdemon
    1 Spider Mastermind
    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.
  He defeated the Hell Arena Master!
  On level 5 he found the Arena Master's Staff!
  On level 7 he sneaked into the Phobos Lab.
  He broke through the lab.
  On level 8 he encountered the Phobos Anomaly.
  On level 9 he entered Deimos Lab.
  On level 9 he assembled a tactical shotgun!
  On level 9 he assembled a tactical boots!
  He destroyed the evil within and reaped the rewards!
  On level 11 he witnessed the Wall.
  He massacred the evil behind the Wall!
  On level 12 he found the City of Skulls.
  He wiped out the City of Skulls.
  On level 13 he found the Jackhammer!
  On level 14 he ventured into the Spider's Lair.
  He cleared the Lair, kickin' serious spider ass!
  On level 15 he assembled a tactical armor!
  On level 15 he assembled a fireproof armor!
  On level 16 he found the Tower of Babel!
  On level 18 he assembled a high power weapon!
  On level 19 he entered the Vaults.
  On level 19 he found the Lava Armor!
  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 decided it was too hot there.
  Then at last he found Dis!
  On level 24 he finally defeated the Mastermind.

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

 missile hits the Spider Mastermind. The Spider Mastermind flinched! The
 missile hits the Spider Mastermind. The Spider Mastermind flinched! The
 missile hits the Spider Mastermind. The Spider Mastermind flinched! The
 missile hits the Spider Mastermind. The Spider Mastermind flinched! The
 missile hits the Spider Mastermind. The Spider Mastermind flinched! The
 missile hits the Spider Mastermind. The Spider Mastermind flinched! The
 missile hits the Spider Mastermind. The Spider Mastermind flinched! The
 missile hits the Spider Mastermind. The Spider Mastermind flinched! The
 missile hits the Spider Mastermind. The Spider Mastermind flinched! The
 missile hits the Spider Mastermind. The Spider Mastermind flinched! The
 missile hits the Spider Mastermind. The Spider Mastermind flinched!
 Chain fire ( full ) -- Choose target or abort...
 You see : a Spider Mastermind (almost dead) | blood | [ m ]ore
 The missile hits the Spider Mastermind. The Spider Mastermind dies.
 Congratulations! You defeated the Spider Mastermind! Press <Enter>...
 You feel relatively safe now.

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

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

 1 souls destroyed the Mastermind...
 1 killed the bitch and survived.

--------------------------------------------------------------


Cheers!
Title: Re: [H|97%|24|YAVP] Nothing extraordinary, but my first win
Post by: LuckyDee on May 01, 2014, 07:38
Good show! I must admit that the nuclear rifle and MAc are indeed a killer combination. And sticking to HMP difficulty has probably been working to your advantage, too, although personally I'm very fond of experimenting at lower difficulties simply because I don't have the time to suffer death after death - I like my games to actually go somewhere every once in a while :)

You mentioned visiting both Hell's Armory and Deimos Lab, but I'm assuming that's your recollection playing tricks on you. They're paired, so in any given game you'll always get either one or the other.

WK can go well with about any build, although the benefit for rapidfire might indeed be biggest. I personally always take at least one level of WK when I play MSs, simply because I love the storm bolter and the energy pistol definitely has its uses too.

AoLT actually doesn't do all that much in teaching you inventory management if you ask me. This morning I've earned Lightfoot Gold (AoLT on HMP) on the very first attempt. Playing melee and then being lucky enough to find a special armor that has infinite durability kinda spoils the game :S But even without said armor, this particular challenge is actually a piece of cake on melee. I think playing a non-MAc rapidfire build (on Ao100) or MBD will go a lot further than that.
Title: Re: [H|97%|24|YAVP] Nothing extraordinary, but my first win
Post by: Sylph on May 01, 2014, 09:47
Very nice work on the win! Luckydee is right about AoLT not teaching you much about inventory. If anything you learn more from playing angel of impatience - playing with zero medpacks and zero phase devices make you appreciate how rarely you need them, and how nice it would be just to have *1* of them in your inventory! :D

For the record, probably the most glaring 'unusual' trait of your inventory in this mortem are carrying hatred skulls around with you (when you've already passed the cathedral and the mortuary), carrying more than 2 spare armours, and carrying more than 1 stack of rockets.
I'm also a firm believer in carrying around a backup shotgun in case I run out of bullets, but I usually drop the shells as soon as I feel I need to make space (having an empty combat shotgun on the level has saved me from most situations in which I run out of bullets). I drop the shotgun itself round about the time I start using cell-based weapons - knocking a target back becomes less important when you can just kill them before they reach you, and there's always rockets if you need the knockback that much!

I must admit, if I were going for ammochain, and picked up a nuclear plasma rifle, I'd pick eagle eye immediately and never look back! Your sniper mod made this less significant, but I'd still rather have EE than ammochain if I had a nuclear plasma! This might be down to the player though, and above anything else a player is best doing whatever feels most comfortable/safe to them.

I ♥ your attitude towards spoilers. I bet you hate those schematics in the armoury don't you? :D

*Massive* kudos for your win, and of *course* it's because you played better! 87 games ago you could have had the best 'margin of error' in the world, and you still would have lost! Doomrl is a *constant* (and very nicely-laid-out) learning curve, good for thousands more games yet, but such a high-difficulty first win is probably the biggest landmark on it, making this perhaps the most important kind of mortem we can post!
Title: Re: [H|97%|24|YAVP] Nothing extraordinary, but my first win
Post by: johnnih on May 01, 2014, 15:01
Quote from: LuckyDee on May 01, 2014, 07:38
You mentioned visiting both Hell's Armory and Deimos Lab, but I'm assuming that's your recollection playing tricks on you. They're paired, so in any given game you'll always get either one or the other.

Right you are - I now realize I had the Armory in my last attempt just before this one. That's what I get for stubbornly stringing multiple runs. DoomRL can be quite addictive, huh?

Quote from: LuckyDee on May 01, 2014, 07:38
AoLT actually doesn't do all that much in teaching you inventory management if you ask me. This morning I've earned Lightfoot Gold (AoLT on HMP) on the very first attempt. Playing melee and then being lucky enough to find a special armor that has infinite durability kinda spoils the game :S But even without said armor, this particular challenge is actually a piece of cake on melee. I think playing a non-MAc rapidfire build (on Ao100) or MBD will go a lot further than that.

Quote from: Sylph on May 01, 2014, 09:47
Very nice work on the win! Luckydee is right about AoLT not teaching you much about inventory. If anything you learn more from playing angel of impatience - playing with zero medpacks and zero phase devices make you appreciate how rarely you need them, and how nice it would be just to have *1* of them in your inventory! :D

Thanks for your ideas! Angel of impatience does sound like an educational experience. Maybe that's the next goal.

Quote from: Sylph on May 01, 2014, 09:47
For the record, probably the most glaring 'unusual' trait of your inventory in this mortem are carrying hatred skulls around with you (when you've already passed the cathedral and the mortuary), carrying more than 2 spare armours, and carrying more than 1 stack of rockets.
I'm also a firm believer in carrying around a backup shotgun in case I run out of bullets, but I usually drop the shells as soon as I feel I need to make space (having an empty combat shotgun on the level has saved me from most situations in which I run out of bullets). I drop the shotgun itself round about the time I start using cell-based weapons - knocking a target back becomes less important when you can just kill them before they reach you, and there's always rockets if you need the knockback that much!

Cool to have some feedback on specifics of the mortem - much appreciated! I realize that this isn't the most representative inventory screen, though. Since it was a bit of a lucky run drop-wise, I may have gotten the shinyitis and hung on to some uniques/exotics unneccessarily. I managed to dig up an inventory list from a mortem of a game played on my fiancée's laptop:

Quote
-- Inventory -------------------------------------------------

    [ a] BFG 9000 (11d6) [169/169] (B2P1)
    [ b] Revenant's Launcher (7d6) [1/1]
    [ c] fireproof red armor [4/4] (97%)
    [ d] Berserker Armor [ 0]
    [ e] rocket (x14)
    [ f] power cell (x63)
    [ g] power cell (x70)
    [ h] large med-pack
    [ i] large med-pack
    [ j] large med-pack
    [ k] homing phase device
    [ l] envirosuit pack
    [ m] agility mod pack
    [ n] onyx armor pack
    [ o] blood skull
    [ p] blood skull
    [ q] hatred skull
    [ r] Arena Master's Staff
    [ s] rocket box (x20)
    [ t] power battery (x120)
------------------------------------------------------

More generally speaking, I probably carry around 3-4 health items, 2-3 armors, 1 envo suit, 1 get out of jail free card (phase/hellwave), 1 rocket-type weapon, 1 shotgun-type weapon, whatever other weapon i may be using/specializing in, and 3-4 stacks of each ammo type employed (except for rockets - I do pack fewer of those). Add to that mods and the Arena Master's Staff and my logistic troubles should be appearent.

I suspect that you are right that I carry too many consumables. I feel I need the ammo though, as some later levels are rather ammo dry. My biggest problem here is probably that I often use three or four different types of ammo as different weapons work for different situations. I believe I can get better at cutting down to 2-3 types though. With a build like this for instance, I might lose the shotgun or shells about the time cell weapons appear as you suggest.

Aside from health items I may be guilty of hauling too many mods around. But modding is both very enjoyable to me, seems rather efficient, and is kinda required for me if I am to ever discover all the recipes.

Quote from: Sylph on May 01, 2014, 09:47
I must admit, if I were going for ammochain, and picked up a nuclear plasma rifle, I'd pick eagle eye immediately and never look back! Your sniper mod made this less significant, but I'd still rather have EE than ammochain if I had a nuclear plasma! This might be down to the player though, and above anything else a player is best doing whatever feels most comfortable/safe to them.
I thought about this but decided against it. You are most likely right though, so I would like to pick your brain on this. Here is my thoughts. I already had the firestorm mod at the time I got the NPR, and I were pretty determined to mod it, seeing that it would be the most potent weapon in my arsenal. That would leave me with a weapon that fired volleys of eight with a mag capacity of 24. Three volleys didn't seem a lot to me, and from the testing I did before getting MAc it did fall short. Actually it made me wonder how useable I would find the regular NPR with its six shots a volley -> total of four volleys before recharge. I suspect I may simply be using this weapon wrong. Perhabs the trick is bulk modding it? Or more likely - run it in tandem with another weapon in the prepared slot and hopefully a point in Juggler?

Quote from: Sylph on May 01, 2014, 09:47
I ♥ your attitude towards spoilers. I bet you hate those schematics in the armoury don't you? :D
Haha, not as much as you might think. Perhabs its illogical, but since they are part of the game, it doesn't bother me much. I did kinda have a competition against myself as I tried to find as many recipes as  I could before unlocking them. Not sure how this mini game turned out - but I remember getting excited as I came across tactical boots and could extrapolate how to make tactical armor from that. Oh well, they are all unlocked now.

Quote from: Sylph on May 01, 2014, 09:47
*Massive* kudos for your win, and of *course* it's because you played better! 87 games ago you could have had the best 'margin of error' in the world, and you still would have lost! Doomrl is a *constant* (and very nicely-laid-out) learning curve, good for thousands more games yet, but such a high-difficulty first win is probably the biggest landmark on it, making this perhaps the most important kind of mortem we can post!

Thanks a lot for the nice comments, both of you. I look forward to conquering more DoomRL challenges in the future. I will keep you updated if I manage anything noteworthy or simply have one of those particularly fun games.
Title: Re: [H|97%|24|YAVP] Nothing extraordinary, but my first win
Post by: LuckyDee on May 02, 2014, 00:50
Quote from: johnnih on May 01, 2014, 15:01
More generally speaking, I probably carry around 3-4 health items, 2-3 armors, 1 envo suit, 1 get out of jail free card (phase/hellwave), 1 rocket-type weapon, 1 shotgun-type weapon, whatever other weapon i may be using/specializing in, and 3-4 stacks of each ammo type employed (except for rockets - I do pack fewer of those). Add to that mods and the Arena Master's Staff and my logistic troubles should be appearent.

Although I am by no means a master of this game (in which case I could make do with fewer 'protective' items), I tend to find that 2-3 large medkits an 1 spare armor suffice. Envirosuits can be a real blessing, but for some reason I nearly always neglect them. At least 1 (homing) phase, but preferably 2 are also standard kit.

A rocket launcher plus one stack of ammo will also be among my possessions. The Arena Master's staff I only carry up until a certain point, and mods are either put to use immediately or I save only the ones I know I can build a good assembly with (unlike yourself, I didn't mind have the assemblies spoiled for me and even then it took me 59 games to build them all).

That leaves the rest of the space for ammo (and possibly, but not often, a backup weapon). Unless I'm playing melee, of course, in which case skulls, medpacks and armors will fill the empty slots. Here's some representative examples:

Spoiler: Scavenger on Ao100 (HNTR): (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Masterless standard game (UV): (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Cateye AoMC (HNTR): (click to show/hide)

And then there's lots of exceptions of course, caused by the challenge or build that you're playing. Maybe these examples can be of service.
Title: Re: [H|97%|24|YAVP] Nothing extraordinary, but my first win
Post by: johnnih on May 02, 2014, 02:47
Yeah, those examples corroborates the notion that I drag along too many weapons and mods. I'll get better at letting them go when I need to.

As an aside - I just started an AoI game on HMP. So far it doesn't seem all that bad, but I shouldn't speak too soon. I just can't help comparing it to AoB, which is the only other challenge I have tried. And failed miserably. Unfortunately I have to tend to other matters now, so I will have to get back to my challenge later this weekend. DoomRl, why are you so much fun!?
Title: Re: [H|97%|24|YAVP] Nothing extraordinary, but my first win
Post by: Sylph on May 02, 2014, 07:44
Quote from: johnnih on May 02, 2014, 02:47
I thought about [not taking ammochain] but decided against it. You are most likely right though, so I would like to pick your brain on this. Here is my thoughts. I already had the firestorm mod at the time I got the NPR, and I were pretty determined to mod it, seeing that it would be the most potent weapon in my arsenal. That would leave me with a weapon that fired volleys of eight with a mag capacity of 24. Three volleys didn't seem a lot to me, and from the testing I did before getting MAc it did fall short. Actually it made me wonder how useable I would find the regular NPR with its six shots a volley -> total of four volleys before recharge. I suspect I may simply be using this weapon wrong. Perhabs the trick is bulk modding it? Or more likely - run it in tandem with another weapon in the prepared slot and hopefully a point in Juggler?
I probably wouldn't put a firestorm mod on a nuclear plasma rifle in the first place, if I'm honest! I ♥ rapidfire builds (despite their difficulty, I think there's a lot of finesse to pulling them off, and I think they're among the competitive ranged builds provided you have a *lot* of experience with them), and with rapidfrie builds you'll be surprised at how much better eagleeye makes your ammo issues. You'll find that an eagleeye character can go a *lot* further with a nuclear plasma rifle than a non-eagleeye character can! A firestorm mod only increases this problem.
Besides eagleeye, though, the real key to nuclear plasma, as you guessed, is probably having a normal plasma or a gatling gun in the switch slot, and switching tactically. Even if you only use the nuclear plasma to kill formers and imps, it will still *easily* save you enough cells to never have any ammo problems. You need to know when to use it as a first line of offense, and when to use it as a fallback, which itself depends on the target, your positioning, the layout of the level, how many monsters are left on the level, your defense, enemy arachnotrons, which powerups/health orbs you're aware of, and a ton of other criteria that you just have to get a feel for with experience! Juggler helps immensely here, of course, but even without it if you have the wrong gun in your hands you can normally find a safe moment to switch, even if it requires [running] to cover.

When I take whizkid, I save firestorms for normal plasma rifles. In a lot of games I manage to get either a TTTFP or a TTTFF plasma rifle, and either of those is *obscenely* powerful if you have eagleeye. If I were modding a nuclear plasma, on the other hand, I'm more concerned with having it last long enough to kill monsters if I'm caught out in the open - the raw DPS is reserved for my main plasmagun weapon! With that in mind, I find a burst assembly to be far better suited to a nuclear plasma - 48 cells, 1d9x8. Far better than your firestorm nuclear plasma (although your ammochain, causing a lack of eagleeye, probably makes the burst weapon assembly unviable on anything other than a laser rifle - this is what I mean about ammochain and why I hate it!). You can even bulk mod it for 62/62 ammo (but I'd sooner tech mod it or power mod it). Best of all, you're not wasting any rare modpacks, so you can save that firestorm for your main-offense plasma gun, or build it towards your biggest F.G. :).
(Extra-bonus little note - A burst assembly is quite niche, it's generally a rubbish assembly on anything other than a purple rapidfire weapon, but happens to be brilliant on a key few. The nuclear plasma rifle is pretty much cream of the crop for non-ammochain rapidfire builds. It's something of an outlier. Don't go thinking burst is a good assembly or anything! x

Quote
You are most likely right though
Oh, I'm but one voice among the whole party here! Don't take why I say as gospel! Ammochain is actually quite popular, and I know I'm something of a minority when it comes to my like of entrenchment (although there's beginning to be some consensus about masterless being the best build for nightmare rapidfire angel games which I can get behind)

Quote
Yeah, those examples corroborates the notion that I drag along too many weapons and mods. I'll get better at letting them go when I need to.
I'm not sure, actually. Looking at your other examples, I'd say the main offender is your carrying skulls everywhere! They're not very good (and it's not a very nice thing to do anyway is it? You'll not make many friends, being like that.) The rest of your ammo strategy seems pretty good, really.

Quote
As an aside - I just started an AoI game on HMP. So far it doesn't seem all that bad, but I shouldn't speak too soon.
It's not so bad, until you get into one of those horrible situations where you need to phase device or [running mode] away! :D
Learning to rocket jump (particularly right after entering a level) helps a lot with those situations, but the real reason I advised you to try it is exactly this - it's not all that bad, is it? ;)
I used to carry no less than 4 large medpacks every game. After a few victories on AoI, I was quite happy to carry only 2, and as time on they became more about the running mode than the health they offered!
(note - running mode is the best thing about small medpacks, especially in N! - thinks of them as running mode boosters, rather than health boosters!)

Quote
I just can't help comparing it to AoB, which is the only other challenge I have tried. And failed miserably.
AoB is a very different way of playing, but it's not really any more difficult than a normal game. Just requires different tactics, different builds, different armour etc. Have you learned to giftdrop yet? That alone carries you through pretty much all the problems HMP AoB can offer...
Title: Re: [H|97%|24|YAVP] Nothing extraordinary, but my first win
Post by: wyvern on May 02, 2014, 13:49
Congrats on your first win! Your insisting on playing [H] right of the bat is the way to go, I also couldn't bring myself to play HNTR from the very first day I witnessed the greatness that is DoomRL xD

Wanted to comment a little on that -
Quote
AoLT actually doesn't do all that much in teaching you inventory management if you ask me. This morning I've earned Lightfoot Gold (AoLT on HMP) on the very first attempt. Playing melee and then being lucky enough to find a special armor that has infinite durability kinda spoils the game :S But even without said armor, this particular challenge is actually a piece of cake on melee. I think playing a non-MAc rapidfire build (on Ao100) or MBD will go a lot further than that.
I just had my first "serious" AoLT run, and it was non-melee. In fact, it does teach a bit about inventory management, BUT it is not good as an "educational" run because it changes the entire game by making you 20% faster, and it's a HUGE factor which makes the game itself somewhat different. Easier, actually.

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Very nice work on the win! Luckydee is right about AoLT not teaching you much about inventory. If anything you learn more from playing angel of impatience - playing with zero medpacks and zero phase devices make you appreciate how rarely you need them, and how nice it would be just to have *1* of them in your inventory! :D
Angel of Impatience is challenging, but it does not teach you about inventory management. Because you can't pick things xD It teaches you about not getting hit, I think, especially on special levels where there's next to none healing.

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For the record, probably the most glaring 'unusual' trait of your inventory in this mortem are carrying hatred skulls around with you (when you've already passed the cathedral and the mortuary), carrying more than 2 spare armours, and carrying more than 1 stack of rockets.
Ha-ha! I am often guilty on all of these counts, too xD But usually after the mortuary I don't care much about what I carry, because the game is usually almost won, so there are usually skulls I didn't need to use in there or obsessively collected uniques or unused mods xD And there's nothing wrong with carrying extra rockets, especially right BEFORE the Mortuary.