http://crawl.montres.org.uk/morgue/damerell/morgue-damerell-20230809-172945.txt
This win came after a long dry spell; I play each random combo until I at least get to Lair, and the RNG handed me GrAK (5 games to a splat in Dis with 4 runes), FoAM (6 games to die in an ice cave), OpCj (6 games to die on Lair:3), GhNe (a truly horrible combo, 8 games to die in Crypt with 3 runes). GrBe seemed like it might be slightly easier (and indeed I played one, won one); I thought I’d try and make it a bit more interesting by sticking with Trog all game, including the extended rune I try to go for at least one of every game.
Trog served up a decent hand crossbow of flaming early - decent enough to make +9 with the available enchant weapons - and I’d found a +2 buckler. This was reasonably solid; ammo was short as it always is before yaktaurs turn up, but I had a reasonable flail of crushing for taking care of chaff and being Very Annoyed. However, I was pretty sure I’d want to go 2h eventually, and when Trog supplied a triple crossbow on Elf:3 it was time to swap. Without spells to spend XP on, I could easily train up both this and a great mace.
Orcs were the best performing monsters this game, with an orc priest getting me to 4/57 HP on D:4 and an orc warrior getting me to 2/145 on O:2 (hence, saved only by a scarf with {Spirit Int+6}; I would end up using a curious number of +Int items given I had no actual use for Int…). After that there were some close calls (especially in E:3 and an encounter with a random spriggan-and-troll pack somewhere in U) but nothing quite so alarming.
MR problems and a lack of good heavy armour meant I spent much of the game in a +3 randart ring mail with {MR+ Dex+3} - annoying on a GrBe not to be wearing something much heavier with no spells to fail. This lasted me right up until I found GDS (on the outside of a dragon) and the Ring of the Mage (more Int+) on U:3. I also really struggled with see invisible (getting a ring on E:3, but until then it was a +6 broad axe with {freeze, rF- rN+ SInv}, which nearly got me killed once through the rF hole) and rCorr (again, finding a ring on E:3, and a +4 chain mail with rC+ rCorr on E:1 which I wore to Slime).
I found the Wrath of Trog which I maybe should have carried around. Trove on V:2 - +3 storm dragon scales - which I eventually cashed, getting one of my enchant armour scrolls back and a couple of other consumables. Pretty well a no-score draw for that trove. V:3 yielded a ring with {rF+ rC+ rN+ Dex+4} which finally stopped resistances being so painful.
After V:5 I did Slime, immolating The Royal Jelly and its friends. Next was Crypt, very easy going with torment resistance and massive damage for poxy curse skulls. I fancied trying for revenge on Dis, and while I had one alarming moment on the way down (“A hell hound, a hell hog, a bone dragon, an iron golem, a hell knight, 4 iron imps, a hellion, 2 tormentors, a reaper, an ice devil, 2 rust devils, a flaming corpse, a flayed ghost, a wraith and 7 zombies come into view”; I holy worded that little lot) I did manage to get down to Dis:7 on the second attempt. Dispater went down to another holy word, one or two box beasts, and a Brother in Arms (plus a number of crossbow bolts), and I mastered Crossbows.
I’d got one extended rune, but it had got pretty hairy and I wanted to save some holy words for Zot and the orbrun (as it turned out, I used one to daze a panlord), so it seemed like time to try and win. Mastered Fighting on Z:1, first OOF on Z:2 (but I’d got a great mace of crushing in Dis, and could just hammer away at OOFs), mastered Armour on Z:5. A nasty moment getting into the lungs when two ancient lichen and an OOF turned up along with a draconian pack including a shifter; the shifter promptly blinked the ancient lichen behind me, blocking my line of retreat and trapping me between them and the OOF. However, with Evo 23, box beasts were becoming fearsome, and they helped me rescue myself. The rest of Z:5 was easy by comparison.
Two panlords and a seraph on the orbrun, all of which I evaded. Next is DEAM, although I suppose I might try the cosplay challenge.