Hey guys, so after hitting the 2nd floor today I realized that I stupidly forgot to take either archery or thrown weapons. Right now I have a melee only build: Axes Master of Arms Berserker Rage Dual Wielding Assassination Big Game Hunter Archaeology Yes, I really like melee builds. The farthest I've ever gotten was 9th floor with an unarmed build, which ultimately failed because I invested too much into dodging and not enough into block / counter / damage absorb. This time I feel a little more prepared but it's very worrying to not be able to throw / shoot things as effectively. Do you guys think I can win with this build? And if so, what advice do you have in terms of tactics / gear?
Since you don't have Tinkering nor Smithing, you can just change all the ingots you get into either basic bolts or basic throwables, and use those on problematic enemies. Unless you get really unlucky, you shouldn't have that much of a problem. Not to mention that you do have a ranged attack spell from Archaeology, so there's that too; it's not much but still something.
You don't have to have a special ranged attack to do well. Just make sure you get decent warrior gear. Both thrown weapons and bolts are great whether you have the appropriate skill or not (the skills of course make them better, but they are still quite good). You just have to be a bit more conservative about the use of ranged weapons because you will not retrieve the bolts/throwing daggers/whatever) as often. In any case, for your build, thrown weapons will be better than bolts (unless you have a really awesome crossbow). And always keep an eye out for the appropriate vending machines.
Pretty much this; additionally save up your wands and utilize as much as possible that Archaeology skill as it's knockback+stun is invaluable in sticky situations.
Five of those seven skills are warrior archetype, zero are wizard. Burliness ensues, leading to melee power, which last I heard applies to throwing but not shooting. I did a similar melee build and beat the game with it (GRPD) a while back; you'll probably find clockwork sawblades are well worth it when you get to the lower floors.
Clockwork Sawblades are expensive, but truly awesome partly because of their DOT (damage over time) effect. Honestly, I didn't use them much until my most recent run. I always thought I should be collecting piercing for Dredmor, but those sawblades are reallly impressive. I never did get a chance to try them on Dredmor -- I won't go into why, but he killed me too quickly.
