What should a 'great build' be able to do?

I'd just like state that in my experience of playing the game the biggest skill in cheesing through the game by basically having an answer/agment for everything is Mad scientist.

Mad Scientists gives you:
1. Bonus crafting materials (alchemical ooze from slimes/others)
2. A strong early game single target ranged skill that will 1-2 hit nearly every enemy in the first 2-3 floors without any tinkering.
3. A strong early game aoe that burns through enemies readily, or can be used to burn out secrets from the walls.
4. Multiple skills good at situationally disengaging from enemies, knock back and can knock enemies over water/lava based on positioning (or can be used to fetch things off islands)
5. A wide AOE that is available earlier than most other AOE with such a wide area.
6. Little to no reliance on mana/mana regeneration, can easily wear thick armor and prioritize survival stats/skills over need for things like Blood Magic.
7. Multiple dabbling level crafting skill points. (2 pts in alchemy, 2 pts in tinkering, 2 pts in wandcrafting) Which is enough for some key recipes/encrusts (Healing Potion, Mana Potion, Medicoating, Coral Wand), which provide lots of valuable resistances and/or healing.
8. Late game damage on skills scales with crafting skills, not magic power or melee power. This means greater equipment flexibility (magic power or melee power deficits won't overly hurt your build).
9. Extensive debuffs from skills. (Dazed, Acid Burn)

Basically from your list the only things Mad Scientist doesn't give you are:
1. An easy path to kill dredmor. (though debuff synergy could help)
2. A teleport.

 

mad= rogue.

 

This alone makes it a viable replacement for Alchemy in builds that don't have space for both. Of course, it's fun to get Alchemy as well to power up your canisters, but it's not essential.

With Wandcrafting, you can get +3 from equipment (at least), so you're pretty much covered there as well for crafting/encrusting purposes. It's only Tinkering that really needs a high level (for high-end Clockwork equipment and so on).

 

Your right, sorry... I could blame things but honestly just goofed.... sorry.