Project: Community Skills Guide

And with that I think we are done here.

 

Just a question, how many people are using the PDF? I started to update it last night and kind of lost the will. I'll keep it going if people like it, though.

Now, let's cover that pesky dodging skill...

Artful Dodger
Type: Rogue
Role: Fuel Tank or Turbocharger
Mostly dodging saves you HP, and this skill is the most guaranteed source of dodge in the game! Keeps your HP in you and makes you better in melee combat by extension.
Theme: Can't Touch This (da, na na na)
Strategy:
Dodging only keeps you out of trouble, it doesn't actually kill things for you, so the key is to have a high dodge while still getting damage from somewhere. Preferably melee damage, since dodge isn't worth much to a ranged fighter.
Pros:
Just to get it out of the way, there's Knightly Leap. This ability is really good. It lets you hop over one or two pesky enemies, grab stuff on islands and generally run roughshod over obstacles. The interdimensional dodge is a good way to put distance between yourself and a single dangerous enemy most of the time, but it's not useful against large groups. Akido for Adventurers is a great defensive proc up there with Dwarven Handshake, will buy you time for potions or just an extra ranged attack that will quite frequently be the difference between walking away with your head high and limping away hoping nothing catches up to you.
Cons:
This tree is short, and it only protects you from melee attacks. None of its many potent powers will really be a benefit against ranged attacks, which are pretty much all magic, or traps. You'll need a gameplan for both of those, or tons of HP, which you won't get from Artful Dodger either.
Synergies:
Combines well with Unarmed Combat, which gives you good dodge and counter bonuses to help protect yourself from attacks and lets you dual wield shields to add some AA and other defensive stats on top. It's also a huge boon to Daggers and other skills that scale to nimbleness.
Takeaway:
Artful Dodger is a good workhorse skill to drop into an empty spot in a build, particularly if you don't want to micromanage crafting or some other such nonsense in your otherwise straightforward rogue or mage. Pretty much everyone but a dedicated counter attack/tank warrior wants dodge, so everyone will like this skill at least some.

 

I recently downloaded the pdf, to see if I'd missed Artful Dodger somehow. While there was a lot more information within that I expected (the comments and such), the forum is more convenient for me personally.

 

I read the PDF to catch up when I started following the thread. If it's tiresome to update for now, perhaps just put a link on the first page to the first un-PDF'd post in the thread so newcomers could start from there? If we have newcomers.

 

I LOVE artful dodger. With the update to combat a little while back dodge takes precedent over all other combat skills. If you got 80 you can pretty much guarantee that nothing can hit you in melee. Artful dodger gives you a whooping 27 with stats. That is amazing! you know those blink bats you can never hit? Well they only got 44. You will get over 50 just with artful dodger, parachute pants, and other skill trees (they don't have to be rogue skills!). If you add in Unarmed (8 ) and Perception (15 ) you pretty much melee anything without fear. Add in tinkering for even more and unlimited bolts (with unarmed you will be amazing at long range damage).

TL;DR
Artful Dodger+Unarmed+Perception+Tinkering gives you the most defensive build in the game.


Edit: with the new crusting system, tinkering can add even more dodge to your boots!

 

I find the PDF useful, so I would like to see it kept mostly up-to-date.

I would find it more useful if it started with a clickable table of contents, but if you're already losing interest in it, you probably don't want to add something new..

 

With the elusive Artful Dodger filling out the ranks of the Core Game skills, let's get back to...

Emomancy
Type: Wizard
Role: Engine or Fuel Tank
Emomancy can be the soul of your run with a little work, but it also makes a good place to get HP from.
Theme: Behold The Rainy Darkness Of The Deepest Reaches Of My Blackened Soul
Strategy:
Emomancy specializes in avoidance, having a number of skills to keep monsters, and their worst abilities, at arms length, where you can blast them at your leisure.
Pros:
A heal spell that removes debuffs (admittedly, one at a time and with a minor one of its own), an antimagic effect and an AoE spell in a rarely resisted damage type. Oh, plus the Mark of Black Eyeliner, which is a pretty solid defensive buff. The magic resistance alone is quite useful, and there's enough necro and transmutative damage to make the resists pretty solid. Mages always love AA, too. The de-aggro effects are probably a lot more useful with the new stealth mechanics, too. For sheer versatility, only Psionics is better.
Cons:
You have to wait a little while for damage, not that that's unusual with wizard trees. Also, there's no cheap damage. In fact, the tree leans towards the expensive side over all, only one of its spells ever drops to 5 mana or less in cost, the underwhelming Love Will Teleport Us Apart. A far cry from most of the core game wizard skills. The capstone skill isn't very impressive, either. Emomancy offers no little damage resist buffs or similar perks, either. You just get the spells.
Synergies:
Emomancy is an excellent rogue/wizard or gish support skill, the Mark helps melee builds get along and the de-aggro effects let you be sneaky better. The Mark of Black Eyeliner is a boon for any Necro mage, admittedly one that takes a while to get to. Ley Walker really helps you keep your mana up and Magic Training both forces your costs down faster and gives you Trancendental Meditation to keep your MP full.
Takeaway:
Emomancy is a great catchall wizard skill that fits well with many builds, provided you can find a way to keep your MP full. It also creates some interesting gameplay as you experiment with tools you won't get elsewhere. Great for playing around with a gish, a roguely wizard or just a mage that's not depending on Necronomiceconomics or Promethean Magic for damage.

 

Doesn't the new patch/CotW change the Cure to only one debuff removed? I'm pretty sure I read that in the patch notes.

Edit: http://www.gaslampgames.com/2012/08/01/dredmor-patch-1-1-1/. It could be you were already referring to the current version of The Cure in your entry above, but it couldn't hurt to make it more explicit, could it?

 

I believe all decurse effects now function that way, so I assumed that's what would be implied. But you are correct. I have explicitized my statement above.

 

@Lorrelian is it possible to add it to steam workshop shelf?

 

I.... Don't know. Anyone able to provide some insight there? I assume you mean the skills guide PDF, not the ability to contribute to it.

 

Nope, just The Cure does.

Which makes it pretty terrible because its ratio is absolutely horrible and the base damage isn't that great. The debuff isn't worth it for just one curse removed.

 

I'd love to see your take on Clockwork Knight/Rogue Scientist.

Still not sure if Aetheric Death Ray is too weak.

 

It's my hope to eventually get to all the skills published on Steam by Gaslamp, including the YHTNTEP quartet. But I'm saving YHTNTEP until after RotDG (and before Polearms and Daggers, which reminds me that I need to do some more dagger runs...) Look forward to it! ^_^

Big Game Hunter
Type: Warrior
Role: Fuel Tank or Turbocharger
Big Game Hunter makes you a better fighter against animals, but mostly it gives you delicious meats and experiences.
Theme: Doctor Digglestone I presume?
Strategy:
Use animals to get ahead on resources, way far ahead, then use them to carry you over the rougher spots of the dungeon. Also gives you some small passive bonuses useful against non-animals, and a very powerful summon.
Pros:
The bonus XP from animals really adds up, particularly if you get to The Most Dangerous Game. Worth an extra level or two on DLs 1-3, and probably leaves you ahead of the curve by a full level or so by endgame. But it really shines on those early floors. The free meat from Butcher and Most Dangerous Game will keep your tank topped up between encounters and makes messing with traps much more viable. Extra sight range and crit chance is always welcome.
And then there's the summon. It's eats for Vampires, distraction from named monsters and chaos in a monster zoo. Like all pets, they don't scale well, but they remain relevant for sheer numbers longer than most summons, and its always a good way to get away from a huge group, if you need it.
Cons:
The skill is only marginally useful, offensively, against animals. Hunter's Lure is a buggy skill, particularly with the changes to stealth mechanics. And it's not a very long or varied skill, pretty much doing only one thing, rewarding the killing of fluffy animals.
Synergies:
Works in funny ways with Vampirism, the capstone is basically a snack pack for you to use in refilling your health. The sight radius buff boosts the Perception capstone, in case that's something that's a plus for you.
Takeaway:
Big Game Hunter is one of those fill-in skills, the kind of thing you use as the capstone on a solid build once you've got all your engines and turbochargers crammed in. It's not game changing, but it is very useful.

 

I was just wondering whether I'd gone blind or you guys had skipped Promethean Magic.

I mean, it is kind of obvious. "BOOM" and all, but I'm not seeing it in the guide.

 

Oh man, that would have been funny. But it was done. http://community.gaslampgames.com/threads/project-community-skills-guide.3033/page-12#post-43130

 

Ah, OK, I was working off the PDF and it wasn't in there. Thanks.

 

Yeah. Someone's been lazy and ignored updating that for a while. It's a project I'm going to tackle tomorrow afternoon sometime.

 

Hunter's Lure isn't a great debuff but it can effect five monsters at once so that's something. Butchery is also probably better than it used to be thanks to Gaga's Glaze.