YAVP: 3-rune AtFi of Okawaru (finally)

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For whatever reason I had a lot of trouble winning with an Armataur. After 60+ attempts I got one that felt strong and took me to three runes: http://crawl.akrasiac.org/rawdata/ForkInBrain/morgue-ForkInBrain-20230821-152046.txt

Lucky drops helped. A lot.

I found a randart vamp axe early on as I ran around without a barding and feeling relatively vulnerable. Then in Lair, Oka dropped me a barding with regen that I kept the whole game until the end, when I swapped it for another one Oka dropped with N++. Similarly, in Orc, Oka dropped me a randart +12 plate, which I swapped for a +4 GDR only for Crypt/Zot.

But the fun started when the second of the only two brand weapon scrolls I found took my +0 broad axe from “of protection” to “spectral.” I ran with a +4 spectral for much of the game, taking it to +9 only near the end as I found scrolls.

The fun continued when both the +18 shield of the Gong {Loud rN+ Will+ rCorr EV-5} and the the amulet “Saivve” {Faith rElec Regen+ Dex+4} dropped in Shoals. With my spectral broad axe and formidable defense I could easily mow down the hoards of enemies that the Gong shield attracted.

…easiest Vault 5 I’ve had (though I used my +2 tower of reflection for it). I did the descend+teleport+magic-map approach and landed smack in the best possible corner. Later, once I had Will+++, Elf 3 was a cake walk. For much of this game my resists sucked, but it didn’t matter because everything died so quickly.

This build felt so OP I barely used evocables or throwing once it really got going. I “dueled” a few OOF in Zot, but otherwise hardly used Oka invocations, and even felt pretty safe in the Zot 5 lungs.

Oka irony:

  1. Oka gave me at least 5 randart bardings, but I none of the other armor he gifted me was useful.
  2. Oka gifted me lots of randart hand and war axes and such. Nothing matched the spectral broad axe.

Armataur impressions:

  1. I’m kinda “meh” on Armataurs. I find it tough to make sense of their odd mix of aptitudes and penalties, so I never seem to grow attached to their fate, etc.
  2. Because they give up boots for bardings, the early game is deceptively difficult, and finding a good barding feels harder and more RNG than finding good boots does for other species (hence, I usually did better with Oka than with other gods).
  3. I think experienced players may be able to better with Armataur’s than noobs. As a quasi-noob, playing an Armataur felt deceptively odd/tricky compared to the other “simple” species I’ve played.
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Congrats! I’m pretty sure I’ve never won an Armataur myself.

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Because they give up boots for bardings, the early game is deceptively difficult, and finding a good barding feels harder and more RNG than finding good boots does for other species (hence, I usually did better with Oka than with other gods).

I don’t think that boots vs. bardings is a relevant issue in the early game, as quite often you don’t find boots in the early game at all. And if you have a pair of +0 boots or not is not very significant imo.

I think experienced players may be able to better with Armataur’s than noobs. As a quasi-noob, playing an Armataur felt deceptively odd/tricky compared to the other “simple” species I’ve played.

That may well be true. I am an experienced player and have played just one armataur who won. :slight_smile: Of course I have to thank the RNG and especially Xom, who was quite nice in that game and didn’t try to kill me too much (the character was a CK).

Congrats on the victory! Your perseverance reminds me of the time when I was trying to win an octopode, with whom I’ve always sucked.

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