YASD of my DEConjurer

I’ve played a whole bunch of DeepElf Conjurers but never won with one, lost quite a few somewhere in the range of level 15 to 20. Usually they feel like they have massive killing power but are super fragile, the last one however felt like the RNG is constantly fighting against me.

Here is the top of the morgue:

 Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup version 0.34.1 (tiles) character file.

Game seed: 11521738925663252192

200274 Liecreti the Devastator (level 17, 0/105 HPs)
             Began as a Deep Elf Conjurer on Aug 28, 2026.
             Was the Champion of Vehumet.
             Succumbed to a war gargoyle's poison
             ... on level 1 of the Vaults on Aug 30, 2026.
             The game lasted 04:42:40 (32873 turns).

Liecreti the Devastator (Deep Elf Conjurer)        Turns: 32873, Time: 04:42:41

Health: 0/105      AC: 15    Str:  4    XL:     17   Next: 87%
Magic:  12/37      EV: 25    Int: 37    God:    Vehumet [******]
Gold:   340        SH:  5    Dex: 17    Spells: 10/44 levels left

rFire   + + .  (33%)    p - +4 quarterstaff {protect, rPois rF++}
rCold   + . .  (50%)      [offhand occupied]
rNeg    + . .  (50%)    w - +2 robe {rC+}
rPois   +      (33%)    n - +3 helmet of Punke {Snipe, Fly rN+ Int+3 Slay-2}
rElec   .      (100%)   a - +2 cloak {Will+}
rCorr   .      (100%)   t - +2 pair of gloves {Stlth+}
SInv    .               j - +0 pair of boots
Will    +++..           q - amulet of Iciunud {Reflect Will+ SH+5}
Stlth   +++             h - +6 ring of intelligence
HPRegen 0.37/turn       s - +5 ring of evasion
MPRegen 0.50/turn

%: reflection
@: lethally poisoned (0 -> -12), flying, studying Shields
A: magic regeneration
}: 1/15 runes: barnacled
a: Renounce Religion (0%)


You were on level 1 of the Vaults.
You worshipped Vehumet.
Vehumet was exalted by your worship.
You visited 7 branches of the dungeon, and saw 31 of its levels.
You also visited: Gauntlet.

You collected 3761 gold pieces.
You spent 3421 gold pieces at shops.

Inventory:

Hand Weapons
 p - the +4 quarterstaff of Responsibility (weapon) {protect, rPois rF++}
   (You found it in a Gauntlet)   
   
   rPois:     It protects you from poison.
   rF++:      It greatly protects you from fire.
   
   It cannot be enchanted further.
 B - the +7 falchion of Raust {vamp, Int+6}
   (You bought it in a shop on level 2 of the Orcish Mines)   
   
   Int+6:     It affects your intelligence (+6).
   
   It cannot be enchanted further.
 D - the +7 arbalest of Ysove {drain, rC+ rN+}
   (You found it on level 14 of the Dungeon)   
   
   rC+:       It protects you from cold.
   rN+:       It protects you from negative energy.
   
   It cannot be enchanted further.
Missiles
 b - 13 atropa-tipped darts
 d - 38 poisoned darts
 L - a throwing net
Armour
 a - a +2 cloak of willpower (worn)
 g - an orb of attunement
 i - an orb of energy
 j - a +0 pair of boots (worn)
 k - a +2 robe of positive energy
 m - an orb of stardust
 n - the +3 helmet of Punke (worn) {Snipe, Fly rN+ Int+3 Slay-2}
   (You found it in a Gauntlet)   
   
   Fly:       It grants you flight.
   rN+:       It protects you from negative energy.
   Int+3:     It affects your intelligence (+3).
   Slay-2:    It affects your accuracy & damage with ranged weapons and melee
   (-2).
   
   It cannot be enchanted further.
 t - a +2 pair of gloves of stealth (worn)
 w - a +2 robe of cold resistance (worn)
 z - a +0 troll leather armour
 A - an orb of pyromania
 C - the +1 cloak of the Gusle {rPois Dex-5 Slay+5}
   (You acquired it on level 2 of the Orcish Mines)   
   
   rPois:     It protects you from poison.
   Dex-5:     It affects your dexterity (-5).
   Slay+5:    It affects your accuracy & damage with ranged weapons and melee
   (+5).
   
   It cannot be enchanted further.
 H - a +0 kite shield of reflection
 I - the +0 buckler of Qopi {rElec Int+3}
   (You found it on level 3 of the Shoals)   
   
   rElec:     It insulates you from electricity.
   Int+3:     It affects your intelligence (+3).
   
   It cannot be enchanted further.
 K - a +0 cloak of corrosion resistance
 P - a +2 robe of willpower
Magical Staves
 J - the cold staff "Yfochod" {rC+ Ice Earth}
   (You found it on level 3 of the Shoals)   
   
   [staff of cold]
   
   rC+:       It protects you from cold.
   Ice:       It increases the power of your Ice spells.
   Earth:     It increases the power of your Earth spells.
Jewellery
 e - a ring of protection from fire
 h - a +6 ring of intelligence (worn)
 l - a +6 ring of dexterity
 o - the ring "Izoesha" {rC+ rN++ Will- Dex+6}
   (You found it in a Gauntlet)   
   
   [ring of dexterity]
   
   rC+:       It protects you from cold.
   rN++:      It greatly protects you from negative energy.
   Will-:     It decreases your willpower.
   Dex+6:     It affects your dexterity (+6).
 q - the amulet of Iciunud (worn) {Reflect Will+ SH+5}
   (You found it in a Gauntlet)   
   
   [amulet of reflection]
   
   Reflect:   It reflects blocked missile attacks.
   Will+:     It increases your willpower.
   SH+5:      It affects your SH (+5).
 r - a ring of positive energy
 s - a +5 ring of evasion (worn)
 u - a ring of poison resistance
 v - a ring of protection from cold
 x - a ring of flight
 y - a ring of magical power
 E - a ring of wizardry
 F - a ring of protection from cold
 G - the ring "Izio" {Int+2 Slay+4 SInv}
   (You found it on level 15 of the Dungeon)   
   
   [ring of slaying]
   
   Int+2:     It affects your intelligence (+2).
   Slay+4:    It affects your accuracy & damage with ranged weapons and melee
   (+4).
   SInv:      It lets you see invisible.
 M - a ring of willpower
 N - a +6 ring of intelligence
 O - a +4 ring of slaying
 Q - a ring of willpower
Wands
 c - a wand of roots (41)
 b - a wand of light (10)
 d - a wand of digging (3)
 e - a wand of paralysis (16)
 a - a wand of flame (20)
 p - a wand of polymorph (6)
Scrolls
 S - 3 scrolls of silence
 t - 8 scrolls of teleportation
 w - 3 scrolls of enchant weapon
 N - 6 scrolls of noise
 W - a scroll of brand weapon
 b - a scroll of blinking
 p - 2 scrolls of poison
 f - 7 scrolls of fear
 g - a scroll of fog
 I - a scroll of immolation
 r - 4 scrolls of revelation
 a - a scroll of enchant armour
 x - 4 scrolls of amnesia
 V - 2 scrolls of vulnerability
 T - 3 scrolls of torment
 i - 3 scrolls of identify
 s - a scroll of summoning
Potions
 e - 2 potions of enlightenment
 c - 6 potions of curing
 M - 6 potions of mutation
 B - 2 potions of berserk rage
 a - 2 potions of ambrosia
 h - a potion of haste
 m - 6 potions of might
 L - 2 potions of lignification
 b - 2 potions of brilliance
 A - 3 potions of attraction
 C - a potion of cancellation
 g - a potion of magic
 r - 2 potions of resistance
Miscellaneous
 g - a +1 tin of tremorstones (2/2)


   Skills:
 * Level 11,6 Fighting
 * Level 14,8 Dodging
 - Level 2,6 Stealth
 * Level 6,3 Shields
 + Level 14,3 Spellcasting
 - Level 18,0 Conjurations
 + Level 1,5 Summonings
 + Level 12,5 Translocations
 * Level 5,6 Fire Magic
 + Level 11,3 Ice Magic
 + Level 4,6 Air Magic
 * Level 0,5 Earth Magic
 + Level 4,8 Alchemy
 + Level 10,3 Evocations


You had 10 spell levels left.
You knew the following spells:

 Your Spells              Type           Power      Damage    Failure   Level
a - Magic Dart            Conj           100%       1d8       0%          1
b - Searing Ray           Conj           100%       2d8       0%          2
c - Blink                 Tloc           100%       N/A       0%          2
d - Iskenderun's Mystic   Conj/Tloc      96%        2d19 (+2d11%          4
e - Hailstorm             Conj/Ice       94%        3d15      0%          3
f - Summon Ice Beast      Ice/Summ       65%        N/A       1%          3
g - Mephitic Cloud        Conj/Alch/Air  76%        N/A       1%          3
h - Fireball              Conj/Fire      42%        3d17      1%          5
i - Starburst             Conj/Fire      42%        6d12      1%          6
j - Lee's Rapid Deconstr  Erth           15%        3d10*     9%          5

Your spell library contained the following spells:

 Spells                   Type           Power      Damage    Failure   Level
 Bombard                  Conj/Erth      38%        9d7       1%          6
 Freeze                   Ice            100%       1d10      0%          1
 Lesser Beckoning         Tloc           100%       N/A       0%          2
 Mercury Arrow            Conj/Alch      100%       2d11      0%          2
 Momentum Strike          Conj/Tloc      100%       3d10      0%          2
 Kinetic Grapnel          Frge           100%       1d8       1%          1
 Summon Small Mammal      Summ           100%       N/A       1%          1
 Call Imp                 Summ           76%        N/A       1%          2
 Frozen Ramparts          Ice            100%       1d16      1%          3
 Inner Flame              Hex/Fire       47%        N/A       1%          3
 Maxwell's Portable Pile  Tloc           87%        (3-9)d8   1%          3
 Airstrike                Air            28%        2d(5-21)  1%          4
 Brom's Barrelling Bould  Conj/Erth      76%        2d11      1%          4
 Fulminant Prism          Conj/Alch      42%        3d19      1%          4
 Passage of Golubria      Tloc           87%        N/A       1%          4
 Dispersal                Tloc           43%        N/A       1%          6
 Launch Clockwork Bee     Frge           26%        N/A       4%          3
 Sigil of Binding         Hex            26%        N/A       4%          3
 Vampiric Draining        Necr           26%        2d7       4%          3
 Forge Blazeheart Golem   Fire/Frge      47%        N/A       4%          4
 Petrify                  Alch/Erth      23%        N/A       4%          4
 Summon Seismosaurus Egg  Summ/Erth      34%        N/A       9%          4
 Curse of Agony           Necr           26%        N/A       36%         5
 Disjunction              Tloc           43%        N/A       47%         8
 Summon Cactus Giant      Summ           19%        N/A       75%         6


Dungeon Overview and Level Annotations

Branches:
Dungeon (15/15)            Temple (1/1) D:7            Lair (5/5) D:10        
 Shoals (4/4) Lair:3        Snake (3/4) Lair:2        Slime (0/5) Lair:4      
    Orc (2/2) D:12            Elf (0/3) Orc:2        Vaults (1/5) D:14        
 Depths (0/4) D:15        Gauntlet (visited)        

The Realm of Zot is guarded by orbs of fire.

Already encounted uniques that I was not able to kill twice before even making it to the temple, Eustacio on D4 and then Grinder on D5. Both of them have more hp than I could take down with my mana reserves. So I skipped half of each of these levels and only after clearing D6 and leveling up a bit I went back up and killed these. Finally on D7 I found the temple and could become a follower of Vehumet.

Next trouble on D10, encountered Erolcha, the ogre mage. Again more HP then my MP allow me to kill, additionally ability to turn invisible (I had no see invisible) and a fire bolt with same nasty damage against my lack of any fire res. So I had to flee into the lair, hoping I can level up in there enough to be able to kill her when I come out.

Lair 1 had a gauntlet. The key realization here was that most of the exciting loot is just lying on the floor, so you don’t have to kill any of the nasties. Got a nice artifact helmet and an artifact ring. Rest of lair didn’t cause to much trouble and I learned Mephitic Cloud in there which made Erolcha fairly harmless when I came back out.

Next a few more levels of Dungeon and then Orc which weren’t too hard. Orc 2 I bought a scroll of acquirement and learned that I had a second one in my inventory. Both of them gave me a collection of garbage, first I actually picked gold, second one I took an artifact cloak but it didn’t really seem better than my cloak of willpower so I never wore it.

Wanted to do snakepit next, after the first two groups of monsters I encountered Aizul. Burned a bunch of consumables when running away from her, compared to most other things in snakepit she can run as fast as hasted player. So snakepit blocked, try Shoals instead.

Shoals 1 had Jorgrun and Frances but I managed to kill both. Rest of shoals gave me the first rune but no exciting loot.

Tried vault but after encountering a war gargoyle who took half my HP with its spell I just run away.

Tried snakepit again and killed Aizul using starburst. Snake 2 had Vashnia. I took down two of her marksmen but then run away and entered Snake 2 from a different stair. Decided to let Vashnia be in her corner and went to Snake 3, entry was protected by Mara, the demon lord. It has ++ fire resistance, so no chance to kill it for now.

Back to vaults. Learned Lee’s rapid deconstruction to take care of the war gargoyle and go in a different direction first to train a few levels of earth magic. Run into another war gargoyle. It’s immune to mephitic cloud and de facto immune to Mystic Blast because it just tanks it to zero damage. It got exactly one melee hit on me, hit (40% chance) and did 102 points of damage + poison usings its +3 morning star of venom. Still have 3 HP left but nothing I could do. Potion of curing would expose me to melee attacks by the war gargoyle and a peace keeper. Opted for blink instead, hoping that with poison res I wouldn’t take much damage but it was more than 3 points. Game over.

Yes on this one it looks like the RNG shafted you. A Deep Elf should ideally be using level 8 spells when you get to Vaults, though level 7 spells keep it manageable. But you don’t have any offensive spells above level 6 in the library.
No opportunity to get better spells with either Acquirement or in any shop?

Your skilling looks a bit suboptimal (not enough Fighting or Stealth, arguably too much conjurations, ice and alchemy for your spell set), but with this RNG I probably would have lost the game too.
(Also having 6 shield skil to use a buckler of rElec Int+3 in combination with the staff of Ice and Earth does make sense, but then you do need to be wearing those items. Stopping all other skill training temporarily to train 15 shield skill and switch to the shield of reflection could also have made sense in this situation, but if I do that kind of thing I know I’m in a losing situation.)

I was training shields to switch eventually but at this stage the quarterstaff with rPois and rF++ feld better than the shield and staff. I didn’t have any other source of fire res apart from a ring of fire res.
Fighting was on increased training through the entire game, maybe I should have put conjuration off a little more often. Stealth I deliberately turned off, most of my spells are fairly loud anyway so I don’t see much benefit from sneaking around.
I had reflection on the amulet but that would have worked better with an actual shield as well.
I’m not sure about level 7 or 8 spells, I had lots of mana issues as is when using level 3/4/5 spells, mostly blast and hailstorm. Which spells would you recommend?

A DE is rather fragile. I don’t know if Veh or Sif are truly beginner friendly with this combo (DECj), they both align with the class and both offer help with the Arcane, yet both expect you to save yourself in times of trouble, that’s what magic is for and they have already provided their support. Sif does offer a direct assistance in Divine Exegesis, costly in early games.

So if you have trouble with them, how about try picking up another god/religion? you wouldn’t lose anything. Just don’t pick Yred, it’s chaotic and minions just get in the way.

The most troublesome thing about Erolcha is Banishment. Watch out!

Well, a race similar to DE literally have A low-hp apt (-2 apt in fighting, -20% HP ?) so I personally think it’s pointless to train Fighting skill above level 8 until you hit XL 20-27, if you need to train more then do it for the sake of melee, or you have a manual, otherwise save your XP for something else.

Ah yes. Why stealth and IMB matter. You go downstairs or turn around a corner. You encounter a unique or a too much early Ogre. The thing wakes up directly because your lack of stealth made noise. They hit you and take at least a third of your hp. I’m still not sure if I want to train stealth first or start training IMB or Prism but I would want to have stealth skill up to level 5 at least.

Stealth helps monsters forget about you, and makes it take them longer for them to find you when you’re running away or temporarily hiding in a corner. I do find it very useful.

Higher level spells are generally more mana efficient than low level spells. So it usually only helps with the mana economy. I think pretty much all of them are good. With blaster casters I often find myself relying on OoD (Orb of Destruction) for single-target damage. But OoD doesn’t deal well with crowds though.
I recently had a game with Magnavolt which was amazing.
In general with Deep Elf I would just rush the highest level spell that seems achievable at any given time. (Where getting a spell that doesn’t help you much like Manifold Assault doesn’t count, and if I have to train Ice from 0 to 20 to get the spell working that doesn’t count either.) (And I do generic training including fighting and spellcasting etc plus a little bit of magic training for spellpower & reduced failure rates when it isn’t reasonably possible to rank up.)