Thoughts on solo IM rogue - by Cyrene

ObDisclaimer: some of the following is based on Diablo “fact”, but a lot more is based on individual play style. For the record, my play style is usually described on a scale ranging from “unorthodox” to “just plain nuts”. Just because it works (sometimes) for me does not make it rational. . . also, I can think of in-game exceptions to just about everything I say 8-)

On bows:
The Murphy drop generator does seem to stalk solo IM attempts. I normally use my starting cash to buy a short bow if one is available (if not I usually dump it on the ground in a show of contempt for the Diablo godsthis also lets me convert the char to a LoL-type after I’m is done, if I desire). Then I shoot until they all breaks or I die. The reasons are

1) I’m playing a rogue to shoot arrows, dammit! If I wanted to melee I’d use a warrior and get equip repairs, life, and crit hit.

2) I’m weird.

On Stats:
Since I always play 99% bow, I’ll add 2 to magic to get heal then all to DEX, Period. Until at least late caves or into hell. There is one early exception I won’t do anymore, but I wouldn’t argue about too much: if you find a couple of HB sticks before Leo, then letting it go up to 20 might be ok. I throw those long bows on the ground in town and go with short bows and hunters. I’ll spare you the lecture about dex and roguesI’m sure you’ve heard it before. The point is that you will be on the ragged edge of the stun curve all the way down (Charis can probably supply the math 8-)), and just can’t afford to give away any ac or to-hit or block. After a bunch of deaths in late cats and late caves where I fell off the stun wagon and died, I have become so fanatical about this that, when solo, I won’t even add the 2 to magic for heal until

1) I have the book/stick in hand and

2) I’m starting to get hurt so much that level up refills are starting to be to few and far between. Hey, I might find the right shrine and get the 2 magic for free. . .

On Leo:
Solo, I park him. When I hit 3 I work very cautiously looking for a nice dead-end room out of sight of the stairs to cast a town portal in. then. When I find him, I just have to flash a little leg and run up it to town, then back down via the stairs. I will then let him cool his jets until I feel like I could kill him with a dirty look - between cats and caves or between caves and hell is a favorite time. I’m usually sorting back through all the levels hitting old glimmers and goat shrines by then, too, so it isn’t really out of the way. The disadvantage to this is that you don’t get what might be a really good drop (I have gotten a stormy from him before, iirc). The advantage is that you live and use up no resources but a town portal scroll. Of course, this will only work if you leave the game running throughout its entirety (which I do, I like the feel of “one” game, with the die cast on the first game generation and all the shrines and such staying putalso, town gets to look pretty cool too - like Wirt’s warehouse exploded). If you can’t leave the game running, you can kill him early with a bow (or 2), but it takes a good deal of patience, running around, and appreciation for the tiles of the game and the way Leo moves. If you’re going to do this, I’d park him until after 4 and be sure I left all barrels intact on 3.

On S/S in Cats:
Good luck. My experiences in solo rogue IM in s/s have generally been very short and very painful (co-op IM is a different story entirely, as partners have to keep reminding me). I will only go s/s in cats (well, anywhere) if it ups my damage enough to stun monsters I cannot stun with the bow. I will even go so far down this road on levels with “hard” and “soft” monsters to swap back and forth between s/s and bow on the run (literally) depending upon what layouts and monsters I run into. Otherwise, bow only for me. If I can stun with the bow, why would I want to get close enough for them to hit me? If I can’t stun with the bow (nor s/s), then I REALLY want to stay far, far, away. There are 3 parts to making this work

1) know how to string mobs outa “loop” around a closed room is ideal (consider leaving all closed doors shut until you have cleared the “open” part of the level. Absolutely leave all barrels unpopped until you know you won’t need them for defensive barricadesa lot of the cats monsters are very stupid about barrels).

2) Know how to keep Spitters and goat archers from hitting you with ranged attacks (otherwise known as AI exploits 8-)),

3) Know exactly how many arrows it takes to kill each monster type on the level (just count the first couple of times to get the range [range is importantneed to know min and max and always depend on max] of values). When the toad demon at the front of the line you have strung out moves into the next tile and raises his stubby little arm, you have to know whether the next arrow will drop him or if you should run. If you shoot and hope, and he does not drop, you can start to run, but his seemingly short little arm will reach out and grab you by the collar and yank you back to stun-lock land. If you run “to be safe” and that last arrow would have dropped him, you have escaped (which is good) but have also trashed the nice little set of spaces you have put a couple of laps in stringing the monsters out, and will have to do it again while fatso regenerates hit points. Of course, you also have to realize that the kill often comes in a range of hits due to damage and hit point calcs, and factor in that safety margin.

On MS:
Hehe, I never get enough magic to even think about casting ms (or sc). I avoid fw because, without a plug, I find very few instances in solo that it can be used where a bow cannot be substituted.