Crawl Cosplay Academy
Wiglaf the mountain dwarf
A cantankerous dwarf wearing a stupid-looking hat. He eyes you sourly, as if deciding exactly how much offense he should take to the way you're staring at it.
| Species | Background | Gods |
|---|---|---|
| Mountain Dwarf | Reaver | Okawaru |
The Species, Background, and God choices are all mandatory. You must be worshipping one of the gods listed above before entering Lair, Orcish Mines, the Vaults or Depths, unless this isn't possible in which case you must worship them as soon as you can. Don't use faded altars (except in challenges where you can choose any god), and don't do anything to lose your religion unless otherwise specified.
NOTE: Except for Beogh, Ignis, Jiyva and Lugonu, an altar for the other gods will ALWAYS show up by D:10.
Strategy
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Although this may be your first taste of casting spells, this character is first and foremost all about melee combat. What small sacrifices you may make relative to a fighter or berserker in terms of pure physical prowess, you make up for by having two very powerful "panic" buttons, both of which have their own "cooldown" systems.
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Kiss of Death will be available to you right from the get go. This is a spell which will deal significant damage and never misses, with the drawback of temporarily lowering your max HP. Overusing it can lead to a dangerously low hp pool, but so long as you are careful and only use it once or twice per difficult fight it should be very worthwhile.
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Momentum Strike is learnable at level 2. It can be cast at range and deals substantial damage, however, it can miss and when it does hit you will be locked in place and unable to move for a short time. While you are immobilized you also can't cast this again until it wears off. Care must be taken to position oneself appropriately prior to being immobilized, but when used properly, this is a significant boost to offense.
- By playing as a mountain dwarf, you will have an easier time casting spells in heavy armor so you should continue to gear similarly as the previous melee brutes with an emphasis on maximizing AC. There will be some nuanced decisions around skilling early on when your starter spells are most effective, but as you progress these spells will taper off and you should aim to transition into a typical melee warrior, with perhaps a few utility spells (keep an eye on the Translocations school). Okawaru will be a significant help for you during this transition as his signature ability, Heroism, will boost your melee fighting skills to compensate for the xp you have invested into spells. Heroism is very cheap and should be used liberally, while Finesse is more expensive but very powerful when needed.
- Keep in mind that your weapon choice, starting spells, and god choice all revolve around "dueling" enemies one at a time. You will be extremely strong when doing so, but very vulnerable to getting surrounded by enemies. Similarly to the Snorg challenge, do everything you can to avoid large, open, unexplored spaces.
Cosplay conduct points
- 1. Weapon
At the character creation screen, select Mace for your weapon.
- 2. Levelling up
Select Strength (STR) at experience levels (XL) 3 and 9.
- 3. Shields and Maces & Flails
Train Maces & Flails to at least level 12. Equip a morningstar (or eveningstar) and a shield/buckler once you find one.
Conducts are worth +5 points each, to a maximum of half your score from milestones, rounded down. (So if you achieve 3 milestones (15 points) you can earn up to 7 points from conducts.) Small mistakes in following conducts will usually be forgiven.
NOTE: for CCA, the first 2 conducts are usually to help you make choices at startup or in early game, while the 3rd conduct is usually a small fun challenge.
Bonus challenges
- 1. My Hero!
Use Okawaru's Heroism ability (via the [a] menu) 27 times.
- 2. It's a fine time to Finesse
Use Okawaru's Finesse ability (via the [a] menu) 9 times...and get your first rune.
Bonus challenges are worth one star each, similar to banners in Crawl tournaments. Small mistakes will usually be forgiven.
The 1st bonus can usually be accomplished after clearing the Dungeon (D), Lair (L) & the Orcish Mines (O), while the 2nd bonus will be a bit more challenging and will involve something like: "...and get your first rune!" as a caveat.
Milestones
- Reach XL3.
- Enter Lair, Orc, or Depths.
- Reach the bottom of D, Lair, or Orc.
- Collect your first rune.
- Find the entrance to Zot. (Just using magic mapping doesn't count.)
- Collect your third rune.
- Win the game.
The main way to score points. +5 points each, and can be done in any order.