Írimë II
What did I say I wanted? Poison resistance and a good light source? Well, on DL 38, Írimë avenged her predecessor by killing Lorgan, Chief of the Easterlings, and he dropped... the Phial of Galadriel! So now she can see more than two feet in front of her face.
Then she returned to town, and for a measely 4500 gold she bought a Ring of Resist Poison! It's meant taking off my Ring of the Mouse (increased stealth but slightly reduced attack; I've had this one since around level 5), but I have enough stealth from other sources to still be Superb.
Even more exciting, on DL 39 I found a Ring of Speed just lying on the floor. A ring of
+8 Speed. With her fancy boots, Írimë is now +14 speed natively, which works out as her getting 2.4 moves for a normal-speed opponent's one.
And she needs it. She's just entered DL 40, and there is a
massive difficulty bump around here. Case in point:
M is hydra;
J is snake;
n is naga. That's a pit absolutely stuffed with hydrae, including a bunch of 6-headed ones.
I actually think 6-headed hydrae are the biggest difficulty bump in the game. 2-4 headed ones breathe fire, which you can laugh off. 5-headed will poison you.
6-headed hydrae will breathe poison at you, and if you don't resist it, will knock 200 health off you just like that. Face two of them? You're dead. Don't heal or run fast enough from one? You're dead.
This pit was on DL 36, and Írimë hit the Teleport Self button as soon as she saw it, because
nope. Four levels further down, 6-headed hydrae are becoming regular features. She's killed two so far, and been terrified the entire time.
Worse, my old enemies Inertia and Gravity Hounds are showing up. Inertia Hound breath slows you down (though that still leaves Írimë at +4); Gravity Hound breath throws you across the level into a wall. Getting caught in a room with either is a recipe for disaster.
But that's okay. She's got her Reveal Monsters spell, so she just has to keep an eye on what's happening and always be ready to jump out if it gets nasty. She'd better, because she's reached Level 40, so this is her last chance before she gets replaced with a new character.
hS
PS: Still no artefacts, other than the Phial and Trident. Which isn't to say I haven't
found any... they just haven't been as good as what I already had. Like the Iron Helm of Gorlim, which showed up in a vault on DL 33: it gives -3 Intelligence and Wisdom, -5 Searching, and aggravates all monsters around you. Umm... pass, thanks. ^_^ (It also gives protection from fear and paralysis, and See Invisible, so a big burly warrior might want it. Írimë definitely doesn't.)