I played standalone/desktop maybe ten years ago, I think finished once. I started playing webtiles occasionally in the last year, and this was my first successful win on webtiles / trunk. After splatting a couple of spriggan mages (one at XL 17 with a rune) I scanned the apts for a more durable caster, and came across Mountain Dwarves. I didn’t even realize they have the runic magic thing (half encumbrance for spellcasting purposes) until I’d gone through a few levels. Then I also tried Ash for I think the first time, or certainly the first time recently. It got to be pretty easy after the first S branch or so. A few elemental curses and I could cast Ignite or Plasma Beam, and pretty soon at AC 30+ and SH10+ I could casually walk back to the stairs repelling and blocking attacks when I ran out of mana. I found a self-help store two Armor manuals which also helped. A bit belatedly I started to train melee as a backup so I could clean up after a few Ignites with an axe or sword to save time.
Despite being fairly easy forgiving, still an enjoyable build to play. I did the extra couple of runes – Slime was very easy, TRJ cooked with a single Ignite after poking it once to get jellies out. I did half a Zig, ducked into hells, and considered doing extended, but eventually decided to just walk out while I could. Anyway, what I’m trying to say is, MDFE+Ash is a good build for the “I’m new to DCSS/spellcasting what should I try” crowd.
Thanks to devs and hosts for the fun times! I love how the game keeps evolving, and it’s just kind of amazing that in this age where everyone is selling something you can play something so compelling for hours for free, in a web browser. Also rolling updates so you’re always playing on current trunk is very impressive. Keep doing what your’re doing, no notes. Yay open source!
https://cbro.berotato.org/morgue/JosephAMercenary/morgue-JosephAMercenary-20251102-063027.txt