Messages

Another option is to get tactical gear (so you move faster), find an invincible pillar, and corner-shoot him to death. (Though now that I think of it, I'm not sure if there is an invincible pillar anymore. Hmmm)

I would have to say the number 2 from the OP would be really really nice. Also, on the topic of wait times, maybe it should be the minimum of your possible actions (fire, move, reload). That might be a bit unbalanced for pistoleros though...

I've always wondered if there was some way back across the wall in AoB/AoMr if a phase takes you across. I've never managed to get across in either (bad luck with phases).

limbo

O_O  An hour is a long win?!? I must be the proverbial tortoise then. I haven't won in less than two unless trying a speedrun or AoRA.

i'm not sure where exactly you came down the stairs, so I don't know for sure if this is feasible. But, if you could see any cover, you could have turned on running (definitely a good idea in any case) and carefully diagonal walked to it. With running and a full tac loadout, you should be slightly faster than an arachnotron. Another possibility is to use one of the arachnotrons for cover from the other one: they're pathetic in melee, so you practically neutralize the one you're next to, and he dies twice as fast.

Yet another possibility is to switch to the missile launcher, and blast them out of sight. Unfortunately, you only had two rounds in the magazine (from pounding Cybie I'd guess).

Or trigger the homing phase immediately. Honestly, I'm surprised you survived taking out the two arachnotrons with no cover, tac armor, and less than full health. The RNG hates me enough to ensure I wouldn't. :)

Basically though, this was bad luck. But not a lot of it, because arachnotron caves are common in hell, and inevitably (at least on the higher difficulty levels) you'll spawn next to a couple eventually. Definitely not "easily survivable" though.

Radiation Shielding Suit

Warrens

Thanks! I'll do that next time. BTW, thanks for all those video tutorials. They really help newbies (like me) learn tactics. :)

[--------------------------------------------------------------]

Well, this is my first UV win, and I really have to give credit to ZicherCZ for suggesting trying AoMC if you're having trouble with regular UV. It definitely makes for a tougher school, but it is easier in some ways. Even an unmodded chaingun with no skill can one burst kill formers (not commando) and imps. My tactic in the first few levels was, go to middle of intersection (preferably with some cover) and wait for stuff to wander into your line of sight. Boring, but...

This is actually only the second game I tried this build. Previously I'd been going for an ammochain build, and hoping for the mods for an assault cannon or similar. Apparently I'm a little better with ammo conservation than I am with keeping from being shot at the edge of vision, so Cateye worked nicely. (Cateye + Light goggles + intuition 2 makes for an amazing field of view.)

This game also had a lot of luck in it; I found an Onyx pack at the armory and made a plate armor, which I used for nearly all of the game. I also found a medical armor, a gothic armor (which I nanofibered, and used on spidey. Silly me assumed it did bullet damage. :) and a duelists armor (used in unholy cathedral).

On the other hand, the RNG mocked me with the first sniper mod I've ever seen, so I guess it evens out. ;)


--------------------------------------------------------------
 DoomRL (v.0.9.9.5) roguelike post-mortem character dump
--------------------------------------------------------------

 Byrel, level 15 Hell Baron 2nd Lieutenant Scout,
 defeated the Mastermind on level 8 of Hell.
 He survived 176498 turns and scored 325285 points.
 He played for 2 hours, 52 minutes and 26 seconds.
 He was a man of Ultra-Violence!

 He killed 1011 out of 1077 hellspawn. (93%)
 He held his right to remain violent.
 He was an Angel of Max Carnage!

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

  Levels generated : 11
  Levels visited   : 8
  Levels completed : 6

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

  UAC Star (silver cluster)
  Aurora Medallion
  Hell Champion Medal
  Hell Armorer Badge
  Destroyer Silver Badge

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

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

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

  Health 44/50   Experience 101968/15
  ToHit Ranged +12  ToHit Melee +12  ToDmg Ranged +5  ToDmg Melee +5

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

  Class : Scout

    Finesse          (Level 1)
    Hellrunner       (Level 3)
    Son of a bitch   (Level 5)
    Juggler          (Level 1)
    Dodgemaster      (Level 1)
    Intuition        (Level 2)
    Triggerhappy     (Level 1)
    Cateye           (Level 1)

  Int->Int->SoB->SoB->TH->MCe->SoB->HR->HR->DM->Fin->HR->Jug->SoB->SoB->

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

    [a] [ Armor      ]   nanofiber gothic armor [5]
    [b] [ Weapon     ]   plasma rifle (1d7)x6 [10/52] (B1)
    [c] [ Boots      ]   plasteel boots [2/2] (100%)
    [d] [ Prepared   ]   rocket box (x19)

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

    [a] combat shotgun (7d3) [5/5] (T1)
    [b] chaingun (1d6)x4 [42/52] (B1)
    [c] missile launcher (6d6) [4/4]
    [d] BFG 9000 (10d8) [100/100]
    [e] BFG 9000 (10d8) [11/100]
    [f] plate armor [8]
    [g] medical armor [2/2] (100%)
    [h] duelist armor [2/2] (200%) (B)
    [i] 10mm ammo (x140)
    [j] 10mm ammo (x140)
    [k] 10mm ammo (x140)
    [l] 10mm ammo (x140)
    [m] 10mm ammo (x140)
    [n] rocket (x14)
    [o] power cell (x70)
    [p] large med-pack
    [q] homing phase device
    [r] sniper weapon pack
    [s] Hell Staff
    [t] 10mm ammo chain (x250)
    [u] 10mm ammo chain (x250)
    [v] rocket box (x20)

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

    Bullet     - internal 0%    torso 50%   feet 0%   
    Melee      - internal 0%    torso 50%   feet 0%   
    Shrapnel   - internal 0%    torso 50%   feet 0%   
    Acid       - internal 0%    torso 0%    feet 50% 
    Fire       - internal 0%    torso 0%    feet 25% 

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

    129 former humans
    108 former sergeants
    82 former captains
    218 imps
    93 demons
    100 lost souls
    42 cacodemons
    32 hell knights
    83 barons of hell
    21 arachnotrons
    21 former commandos
    8 pain elementals
    24 revenants
    14 mancubi
    29 arch-viles
    2 bruiser brothers
    1 shambler
    1 Angel of Death
    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 4 he stormed the Chained Court.
  On level 4 he found the Arena Master's Staff!
  He defeated the Hell Arena Master!
  On level 4 he assembled a tactical armor!
  On level 7 he witnessed the Wall.
  He massacred the evil behind the Wall!
  On level 8 he encountered the Phobos Anomaly.
  On level 10 he ran for his life from acid!
  On level 10 he entered Hell's Armory.
  On level 10 he found the Onyx Armor Pack!
  On level 10 he assembled a plate armor!
  On level 10 he assembled a tactical boots!
  He destroyed the evil within and reaped the rewards!
  On level 12 he ventured into the Halls of Carnage.
  On level 16 he found the Tower of Babel!
  On level 17 he invaded the Unholy Cathedral!
  On level 17 he found the Longinus Spear!
  He then destroyed the Unholy Cathedral!
  On level 19 he entered the Vaults.
  He came, he saw, but he left.
  On level 20 he assembled a nanofiber armor!
  On level 20 he was foolish enough to enter the Mortuary!
  He managed to escape from the Mortuary!
  On level 21 he found the Hell Staff!
  Then at last he found Dis!
  On level 24 he finally defeated the Mastermind.

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

 the Spider Mastermind. The missile hits the Spider Mastermind. The missile
 hits the Spider Mastermind. The missile hits the Spider Mastermind.
 The Spider Mastermind hits you.
 Fire -- Choose target...
 You see : a Spider Mastermind (severely wounded) [m]ore | pool of blood
 The missile hits the Spider Mastermind. The missile hits the Spider
 Mastermind. The missile hits the Spider Mastermind. The missile hits
 the Spider Mastermind. The missile hits the Spider Mastermind. The missile
 hits the Spider Mastermind. The missile hits the Spider Mastermind.
 The Spider Mastermind hits you.
 Fire -- Choose target...
 You see : a Spider Mastermind (almost dead) [m]ore | pool of blood
 The missile hits the Spider Mastermind. The missile hits the Spider
 Mastermind. The missile hits the Spider Mastermind. The Spider
 Mastermind dies. You feel relatively safe now. Congratulations! You
 defeated the Spider Mastermind! Press <Enter>...

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

 129 brave souls have ventured into Phobos:
 110 of those were killed.
 1 didn't read the thermonuclear bomb manual.
 And 5 couldn't handle the stress and committed a stupid suicide.

 13 souls destroyed the Mastermind...
 9 killed the bitch and survived.
 4 showed that it can outsmart hell itself.

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


Thanks ZicherCZ for the great advice! I haven't won even a HMP game yet, but with a little practice I just got my first UV win, on AoMC.

It isn't, as you pointed out, exactly easier (at least after the early game). It merely gives you a constant reminder whenever you lapse from paranoid play to merely cautious play (which is death in a RL).

I'm starting to work on the wiki in my free time, and I was going to start with the new level layout, etc.

Is there a canonical source for where levels can appear? Or should I just run through a few games keeping track, and post best estimates?

My other question was about monster AI changes. Did these change firing chance? If so, how do I find out what the firing chances are? Count as they shoot me? :) (I don't think I'll get a good sample on the mastermind before I die... ) Also, how do I go about finding the damage done by spidey? AoMC, and factor?

Energy Pistol was used on the first page.

Erebus

I just tried running an HMP AoB run, and you can, indeed, run them out of ammo. Unfortunately (or fortunately for balance) apparently shotgun blasts go straight through the tree.

BTW, does anyone know why you can't corner-shoot around the trees? The line-of-fire acts like the tree isn't there.

I was just thinking that maybe enough fire (or even plasma) damage might be able to evaporate water off the floor. I can't see it being useful very often (maybe if I'm pounding a former so hard it is obvious it has exotic armor of some sort?) You could also have lots and lots of fire damage ignite acid into lava.... which could be unpleasant, but might be a nice way of speeding up the death of stuff you've knocked back into it.