DCSS pasta for /vg/ Roguelike General

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			       Contents
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1. Links.
2. FAQ.
3. Good guides.
4. More links (changelog, youtube, online morgues and more).

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			      1. Links
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Download link (stable):
	http://crawl.develz.org/wordpress/downloads

Download link (trunk):
	http://crawl.develz.org/trunk/
	//Download a .zip version instead of installer.
	//Unpack it into a folder with English-only full path and name.

WebTiles:
	http://crawl.project357.org		//Australia
	http://crawl.xtahua.com:8080		//France
	http://crawl.lantea.net:8080		//Germany
	http://lazy-life.ddo.jp:8080		//Japan
	http://kr.dobrazupa.org:8080		//Korea
	http://crawl.akrasiac.org:8080		//USA, Arizona
	https://crawl.s-z.org			//USA, Florida
	http://crawl.berotato.org:8080 		//USA, Georgia

	//You can play yourself or spectate other players.
	//You might need to enable WebSockets in your browser.

Console (online) instructions:
	http://crawl.develz.org/wordpress/howto
	//ASCII interface is faster and more responsive.

Scoring (for online players only):
	http://crawl.akrasiac.org/scoring/players/YOUR_ACCOUNT_NAME.html
	//Identically named accounts on different servers
	//count as one for scoring purposes.

Learndb:
	https://loom.shalott.org/learndb.html
	//Best source of Crawl-related information.

Detailed official FAQ:
	http://crawl.develz.org/wordpress/faq

Wiki:
	http://crawl.chaosforge.org/index.php?title=CrawlWiki
	//Is known to contain a lot of outdated or plain wrong info;
	//has an affectionate nickname "badwiki".
	//Use at your own risk.

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				2.FAQ
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1. What should I start with?
2. What does <monster/spell/item/mutation> do?
3. What's "trunk"?
4. I'm new to DCSS, what should I play?
5. How to see how much turns my action took?
6. What's min delay?
7. What skills should I train?
8. How to identify items better?
9. I leveled up, what stat should I raise?
10. I have weapons X and Y, which is better?
11. I have armours X and Y, which is better?
12. I got a scroll of acquirement, what should I ask for?
13. I keep dying, what the fuck?
14. I found <portal entrance>, should I go in?
15. I've finished <branch>, where should I go next?
16. Is there a way to speed up WebTiles play?
17. Is there a shorter way to cast spells? What are and how do I create macros?
18. I've got a question not covered here.
19. This game sucks, there's too much RNG! Waaah!

1. What should I start with?
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Play through tutorials and read this FAQ.

2. What does <monster/spell/item/mutation> do?
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https://loom.shalott.org/learndb.html

You can also examine monsters in-game (press x to go into examine mode, select monster and press v to view its description.

3. What's "trunk"?
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Fresh version of Crawl, full of new features (and new bugs).

4. I'm new to DCSS, what should I play?
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Melee: Minotaur Berserker of Trog: learn how and when to use Trog's powers (Berserk, in particular).

Magic: Draconian Conjurer of Vehumet/Kiku/Sif, whichever altar you find first.

Stealth: Spriggan Enchanter: http://crawl.develz.org/info/inline.php?q=hyperbolic

5. How to see how much turns my action took?
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In the top right part of your screen there's a "Time:" indicator. The first number is a total number of in-game turns your character went through and the number in parentheses is the amount of turns your last action took, which is useful to judge how various factors influence your movement and attack speed.
Monsters described as having average speed spend one turn (1.0) to move and to attack.

6. What's min delay?
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Top speed at which your weapon can attack, achieved by raising weapon skill to a certain point.

https://loom.shalott.org/learndb.html#min_delay
>Min delay for a melee weapon is min(7, floor(base delay / 2)), or 5 for a cutlass. To achieve min delay, you need your weapon skill to be at least max(base delay, 2*base delay - 14), plus 1 if odd, or 14 skill for a cutlass.

Skill required to reach min delay for each weapon type (table):
http://crawl.chaosforge.org/index.php?title=Weapon_Speed

7. What skills should I train?
------------------------------
Words of wisdom:
"First you train the skills that you use to kill dudes. Once you are killing dudes well enough, then you train the skills you use to not die to dudes. If you later run into problems killing dudes, you switch back to killdudes skills."

General tips:
It is usually best to train one skill only, and to use manual skill training mode (you can open skill menu by pressing m and toggle it with / after you start a game).
Maximum skill level is 27, and each next level in a skill is significantly more expensive than previous (getting last 5 skill levels is roughly as expensive as previous 22). Skills continue to train after you reach maximum character level.

A couple of words on "melee" and "caster" characters:
In Crawl, even characters starting without weapon skills can benefit greatly from getting proficient in melee because it's reliable and doesn't run out of mana or ammo. Firstly you can use a weapon that will do good damage even at 0 skill, preferably without taking forever to swing - a typical example of such weapon would be a dagger of electrocution or a plain quarterstaff. After you are satisfied with your non-melee means of offense and with your defenses, you can choose a good weapon out of the ones you have available and invest in its skill. "Caster" characters typically use one-handed weapons, lajatangs and enhancer staves - those weapons don't take a lot of XP to be effective, and enhancer staves get bonus damage depending on related magic skills.
Most "melee" characters, regardless of their aptitudes or armour, also can benefit from casting spells - a lot of low-level spells are good for anyone, and Haste is worth investing heavily in Charms, unless you have a wand of hasting with a stock of scrolls of recharging.

Weapon skill:
This skill increases weapon damage (by multiplying its base damage), accuracy and, most importantly, attack speed up to min delay. This is also the skill most melee characters should train in early game to maximise their survivability.
While it's  sometimes recommended for melee characters to get min delay first ignoring all other skills, it usually is a very bad idea. A better idea is to get some defenses - Dodging or Armour, Fighting, and a good point to do so is somewhere around getting your weapon to average attack speed (1 attack per turn), though it depends on weapon type and aptitudes.
Training weapon skill after reaching min delay continues to add to damage and accuracy, but there are usually better things to train, be it defensive skills, spell schools to cast support spells, or something else.
Training multiple melee weapon skills is not advised.

Spell schools:
These skills increase spell success rate and spellpower for related spells (if a spell belongs to several schools, your skills in them are added up and divided by the number of these schools).

Spellcasting:
Increases amount of mana and amount of spell slots. It also reduces spell hunger - but you shouldn't worry to much about getting all your spells to hungerless since Crawl has plenty of food.

Dodging, Armour:
Dodging adds EV depending on your Dex and encumbrance rating of armour you wear, Armour adds AC based on your base armour AC. Generally it is preferable to have a good balance of AC and EV, and even heavy armour users should invest in Dodging at some point.

Fighting:
Fighting is both defensive and offensive skill, adding damage and accuracy to your melee attacks and also increasing your HP. It's usually not recommended to train Fighting very early because HP gain is tied to character's level, and offense-wise weapon skill will do more to your damage. Every character benefits from training Fighting.

Invocations:
Invocations is a skill that helps you use some gods' powers and should be trained to increase success rate on the powers it influences and their power.

This write-up doesn't cover all skills or playstyles. This is because the variety of races, classes and items make it very hard to give generic - and even concrete - advice. Be observant about what are you training, what are you doing and your success with it. With good tactics it's possible to win even with auto-training.

8. How to identify items better?
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Identify scrolls by reading them on a clean floor while not surrounded by allies.
Identify potions with scrolls of identification, since good potions are a very valuable resource. Quaff-ID is normally a very bad idea, but if you find yourself in a tight spot and have no other choice, the biggest stack of potions is usually curing.
Wands can be identified by simply zapping them once, though it's worth to waste a scroll on them if you suspect it might be one of good wands (say, if you acquired it) or if you want to know a precise number of charges. In trunk, wand types are identified on picking them up, however, zapping an unidentified wand wastes 1-2 additional charges, so you'll want to identify the wands you care about.
Weapons, armour and jewellery are fully identified on equip. However, weapons can be branded with distortion - a powerful brand by itself, it can be a nuisance if you wield a distortion weapon that you don't intend to use, since it can't be unwielded without suffering harmful effects. Also, random artifacts can have Contam property - such armours and weapons will fill you with magical contamination (mutagenic energy) on unequip, so they might warrant an ID scroll, if you have a spare one. That property is mercifully rare, though.

9. I leveled up, what stat should I raise?
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Intelligence helps with casting spells easier and making your spells more powerful, Strength helps to reduce the penalties of heavy armours and Dexterity determines how much evasion you will get from training Dodging skill. Ask learndb if you want to learn more about what each stat does.

10. I have weapons X and Y, which is better?
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In general, weapons with higher base damage are better since base damage is amplified by your skills and stats (not taking brands into account). The exceptions to that rule are usually fast one-handed weapons like demon whips.
Here's one good player's advice regarding enchantments and base damage:
>For one-handed weapons, +3 to-damage enchantment is reasonably close to +2 base damage
>For two-handed weapons, +2 to-damage is reasonably close to +1 base damage (since you have more skill)

If you are really torn between two or more weapons, you can backup your save file, enter wizard mode (press &), and use fight simulator (press &f and enter monster's name), it will give you average damage you'll deal to said monster with your skills and the weapon you wield (and average damage you'll take). Do not pick a trivial monster like a rat for your tests though, as those have rather low defense values and do not represent an average threat to your character. Overwrite your wizmode save with your backup save after you've finished testing.

11. I have armours X and Y, which is better?
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Unlike with weapons, it's easy to check AC and EV difference (base AC is multiplied by your Armour skill) by simply wearing them. A good armour is the armour that gives you a good balance of AC and EV. Resistances past first + are usually not important, except for magic resistance. "Encumbrance rating" is the "recommended" amount of Strength - having less will increase its penalties, having more will reduce them somewhat. Spellcasters should consider the penalty heavier armours impose on their casting capabilities, obviously, though armoured spellcasting is not out of question.
Note that heavier armour impede Unarmed Combat significantly by randomly slowing its attack speed.

12. I got a scroll of acquirement, what should I ask for?
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Wand acquirement has a good chance of giving you one of great wands (hasting, teleport, heal wounds), especially if you haven't seen one yet.
Armour acquirement will often try to fill an empty slot and is weighted by your skills.
Weapon acquirement - base type is weighted towards your skill, is likely to be good and have a brand you haven't seen yet. Worth considering, especially if you aren't worshiping a gifting god.
Staff acquirement checks your magic school and Evocation skills. For magic-heavy characters it has a good chance of generating an enhancer staff for your best elemental magic school, characters specializing in Evocations are more likely to get a rod instead. Trog followers are guaranteed to get a rod.
https://loom.shalott.org/learndb.html#acquirement

13. I keep dying, what the fuck?
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Change your tactics. Fight in corridors, don't charge monsters as soon as you see them (especially pack ones like gnolls and orcs), kite them to explored place. Throw stones at them to catch their attention without (hopefully) raising too much noise. Use your consumables like potions, scrolls, wands (after you die, examine your inventory to see what kind of items you have and think how could they save your character). Do not run in unexplored territory if possible. If you managed to split an enemy pack, take some of them upstairs to a cleared floor, where you can deal with them without having worry much about reinforcements (aka "stairdancing"). Unless you're reasonably sure you can beat something, run away.
Skip entire floors if you need to. Examine (with "x") any enemy you haven't seen before to check resistances, speed and other helpful information (or consult learndb).
Always treat any unique you see with respect, even if you slapped its shit with ease on your last character! A few non-unique enemies to watch out for in the early game: anything with "glowing" weapons, orc priests and wizards, ogres, centaurs, gnolls.
What you also can do is pastebining your morgue file and posting it in the thread or asking someone to watch you playing on webtiles.

14. I found <portal entrance>, should I go in?
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Probably, you can always try and escape if you get into trouble - most of those contain an exit portal right next to the entrance. You may want to drop most of your potions/scrolls before entering Ice Caves/Volcanoes as they can be destroyed without conservation, but keep some vital ones just in case. Appropriate resistances help with those portals too.

15. I've finished <branch>, where should I go next?
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Dungeon -> Lair -> Orcish Mines -> finish Dungeon -> get a Lair rune or two (avoid Slime) -> Vaults:1-4 -> Depths -> Vaults:5 -> Zot -> win. Any branch not mentioned here is optional and probably won't increase your chance of winning. In general, once you get past the early game you'll have a couple of options on where to go so this is not a definitive guide (though most characters should finish Lair before going into Orcish Mines). Progress on a given path until you encounter enemies you cannot handle given your current items and abilities. Decide on whether you should just bypass the monster in question or try a different branch.
It's also worth mentioning that last floors of each branch are often much more challenging.

16. Is there a way to speed up WebTiles play?
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Try putting those two lines into your rc file (accessed from your server's WebTiles page):
explore_delay = -1
travel_delay = -1
This will stop the game from visualizing anything during autoexploration and autotravel.

Note that rc files have many more options that can significantly enhance your crawling experience, along with instructions on how to use them.

17. Is there a shorter way to cast spells? What are and how do I create macros?
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The best way to play casters is by setting macros. Macros are shortcuts that bind a key (the trigger) to a combination of commands.
To set a macro, press either the '~' key or Ctrl+d, then press "m" to set a new macro. When prompted for a trigger choose whichever key you want to bind (usually the fast keys (f1, f2, f3, etc...)). Finally, set the route, for example, Za. Press enter when done. Now whenever you press f1, it will be the same as pressing Z and then a.
You might want to add \{13}\{27} after the command (eg. "Za\{13}\{27}"). The \{27} auto-escapes if you would hit yourself with splash damage or if there's no target in range. (This macro doesn't work with fire storm.)
If you save the game and accept to save macros, they will be kept for future games.
To erase a macro, just press ctrl+d, then the trigger you want and choose clear.
For more info, check http://git.develz.org/?p=crawl.git;a=blob_plain;f=crawl-ref/docs/macros_guide.txt;hb=HEAD

18. I've got a question not covered here.
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Check the learndb, the official FAQ linked above, or in-game help (accessed by pressing "?"). Play through the in-game tutorial. Failing that just ask the thread, of course.

19. This game sucks, there's too much RNG! Waaah!
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Stop being bad.

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			  3. Good guides
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Abyssal Knight: http://pastebin.com/QnHCvEVv
		http://crawl.chaosforge.org/IonFrigate%27s_Abyssal_Knight_guide
Deep Dwarf: http://crawl.develz.org/info/inline.php?q=dd+guide
Fire Elementalist: http://crawl.chaosforge.org/Elynae%27s_Fire_Elementalist_guide
Spriggan Enchanter: http://crawl.develz.org/info/inline.php?q=hyperbolic
Transmuter: http://crawl.chaosforge.org/Elynae%27s_Sludge_Elf/Merfolk_Transmuter_guide

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			  4. More links
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Changelog:
	http://crawl.develz.org/trunk/changes.txt
	http://gitorious.org/crawl/crawl/commits/master

Online morgues, ttyrecs and rcfiles locations:
	http://crawl.akrasiac.org/		//links are under "Server"
	http://crawl.lantea.net/crawl/
	http://crawl.develz.org/morgues/
	http://crawl.develz.org/ttyrecs/
	http://crawl.develz.org/configs/
	http://dobrazupa.org/			//CSZO
	https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0BwoOLDyVvMZObFdTQTVZM3JMRE0&usp=sharing#list	//RHF

Species and classes abbreviation list: https://crawl.develz.org/tavern/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=4605

Youtube walkthroughs:
Hill Orc Berserker: http://youtube.com/watch?v=ix7srBKuXd0

DCSS clua functions: http://pastebin.com/eXvDvEfk