Polytheist greaterplayer in 28 wins out of 933 games (the fewest possible wins)

Antal Spector-Zabusky

June 8, 2023

I achieved polytheist greaterplayer status in 933 games, taking the minimal number of wins possible (28) by never repeating a background, god, or species unless necessary! You can check out my score page and stats page at the usual places; alternatively (especially if you’re reading this from the future), you can check out my grid or list of wins, also available in a score PDF or stats PDF if you’d rather. (Why did this take 28 wins and not 27, you ask? 0.30, with Armataurs and Reavers, came out while I was playing 0.29, but I’d already won a Palentonga Abyssal Knight!)

You can also find this post on Reddit, if it’s not currently blacked out due to the protest action (solidarity!).

I started playing DCSS just about two years ago (July 31, 2021), although I’d played a bunch of NetHack and some Brogue before. I insisted on my first win being a DEWz^Sif, because dammit, I wanted to win as a caster, and those were the three casteriest choices! (My first NetHack ascension was a Wiz-Elf-Mal-Cha, back in the day.) In retrospect: wow, what a choice. It took me 109 games of trying over a month and a half, but I got that first win!

I then decided I wanted to try something totally different, so I went with a FoFi^Qaz – I loved the sound of a shield plus an executioner’s axe. Again, in retrospect: a Formicid of Qazlal‽ But it only took me 4 games over 4 days to get my second win. (Only had a battleaxe, in the end.)

Around here I committed to the idea of going for polytheist greaterplayer in the minimal number of games, and started to work out my list of characters. One thing I decided on early was that I was going to delay the canonical “easy characters” for new players as late as possible, to… well, to show off, I guess, let’s be honest. So I put DrCj^Veh and MiBe^Trog at 24 and 25 on my list, respectively. Other than that, I let myself play what I wanted, repeating characters until I won, and occasionally tweaking the list. I played on stable, since the thought of a game breaking out from under me on trunk was unappealing. By sheer chance, my very first game from above was the day after the release of 0.27; it took me until after the release of 0.30 to complete my goal.

I really like DCSS. I absolutely love the spellcasting; the different spells feel interesting to cast, and meaningfully different from each other. Casting Maxwell’s Capacitive Coupling is different from Shatter is different from Polar Vortex – or, at lower levels, Foxfire is different from Magic Dart is different from Freeze. The weapon abilities, armor and weapon brands, and random and fixed artifacts all come together for a really dynamic equipment game, too. I think the skilling system is neat but really hard to get a handle on; there’s a high skill ceiling there (no pun intended). On a more meta-level, I really appreciate the philosophy of Crawl, particularly around a lack of grinding. The only downside is how much the game fills my head even when I’m not playing; it’s fun, but potentially a little bit all-consuming.

A couple of spell opinions: if I find Olgreb’s Toxic Radiance early, I’ll try to retool almost any character who plausibly could to cast it; it nukes everything, and means I can hit Orc before Lair. Plus, it trivializes (the offensive part of) Spider and to an extent Shoals. And that’s all without adding in Ignite Poison! Mid- to late-game, I think Yara’s Violent Unravelling is one of the strongest spells available. It cleans up against summoners, so no sudden Tzitzimimeh or Brimstone Fiends or Neqoxecs from your neighborhood demonologists; it dispels scary buffs like haste and might; and it cancels dangerous spells like, in particular, ironbound convokers’ Word of Recall. And it does all this by turning enemies into bombs! What’s not to love? It’s worth going out of your way for, IMO.

I definitely (as one would hope!) improved over the course of this journey. I found myself regularly going for 4 or 5 runes (I got much less scared of Abyss over time, though I still default to Vaults:5 or Slime for my 3rd) and the Vestibule of Hell, though that’s partly because I always like getting stronger characters and seeing what they can do. I learned that I should refine my skilling down to my actual goals, and sometimes even managed to actually do that. By the same token, I’ve at least started to learn to embrace using my consumables. And I just got better at tactics; some of these I got to bring in from NetHack, but others were different (e.g., NetHack’s doors restrict you to 4-way movement, and you can only shoot in the 8 cardinal directions).

What’s next for me with DCSS? Well, I’ll maybe take a bit of a break, but my official score page doesn’t know that Arcane Marksmen were renamed to Hexslingers, so it looks like I’m missing that… and it has an empty column for skald for some reason, so maybe I should fill that in… and while I’m back there, I never did play a deep dwarf or a centaur or… oh hey, the stats page records that I’ve only won 1 draconian color towards Tiamat…. Or I suppose I could just play some games for fun, but hey, where’s the fun in that? :-)

Major thanks to /r/dcss, the wiki (so glad it’s back!), the learndb and the knowledge bots, listgame and Sequell, and the #crawl IRC channel for being incredibly valuable resources for learning about DCSS. And my profound gratitude to the Devteam for putting together an incredible game and continuing the development in the open (I lurk #crawl-dev sometimes), and Linley Henzell for writing the original Crawl back in the day.

Here are a few thoughts on my 933-game, 28-win journey, character by character, for anybody who’s interested in some of the details.

  1. DEWz^Sif, 3 runes (109 games). So much floundering, so many bad branch orders, so much confusion about skilling! I was very much learning the game during this – at one point, I said “I think my short sword with rF+ and MP+ is better than a +6 quick blade”. Still, despite everything, I got Shatter castable in my winning game, and that can’t have hurt :-)

  2. FoFi^Qaz, 4 runes (4 games). Things improved pretty fast! This only took me four tries, and I snagged both the silver (for the first time) and slimy runes.

  3. GhEE^Yred, 3 runes (46 games). As of this writing, I hold the only online win for a GhEE^Yred, and I see why. I thought, oh, ghouls have okay earth aptitudes, undead fit with Yredelemnul… nope. It took me until playing demigods (my 27th win) to really understand how important stats are.

  4. SpEn^Wu, 4 runes (30 games). This was fun! Dart, dart, lunge, stab, kaboom! After losing two games here, I put DCSS down for almost a year, and came back to 0.29 (having skipped 0.28 entirely). It also featured my one departure from my rigid plan – I found an early Jiyva altar in a Sewer once, and decided to roll with it (before dying).

  5. PaAK^Lu, 5 runes (4 games). Knowing that Palentongas and Abyssal Knights were being removed, I wanted to get a game in with them. Conveniently, I’d already planned on playing a PaAK. It was so different – I’d gotten so used to running away!

  6. FeSu^OneiGozag>Jiyva, 15 runes (2 games). I saw Oneirical’s guide/s and was just so tempted, so I rejiggered my list to fit it in. What a blast! The guide was good enough that this only took me two tries, and that was for my very first time in extended (beyond the Vestibule of Hell), a ziggurat (which I completed!) or even the Crypt! Thanks, Oneirical!

  7. OgGl^Oka, 3 runes (137 games). I don’t know why I found this so hard – harder even than my DEWz when learning the game! The thinking was: go Okawaru, get a great artifact giant spiked club from them, get a bunch of large rocks from them, Hulk smash. I didn’t get that GSC, but I did smash things with a great mace they gave me and a GSC that I enchanted myself.

  8. NaVM^Chei, 4 runes (10 games). Olgreb’s Toxic Radiance my beloved. I found the woodcutter’s axe on D:5 in the hands of a gnoll bouda in a vault, and it almost killed me (6673 | D:5 | HP: 3/70 [gnoll bouda/the +3 woodcutter's axe {vorpal} (1)]), but I used it for the rest of the game – it’s an awesome find on a spellcaster, I never put a single skill point into Axes.

  9. HOMo^Beogh, 4 runes (27 games). My first time playing skill-target games to get a title – I wanted to be a Messiah, so I targeted Fighting at 26.9 while letting Invocations hit 27 (and dipped into a ziggurat to get my piety back up after Z:5).

  10. DjFE^Makh, 15 runes (41 games). I really like Djinn. You can cast so much! I had the Elemental Staff, which was great fun; Iron Shot + Chain Lightning is a great pair of spells, too. After I realized how much I could cast, I made it a point not to make any physical attacks – in the end, I only made three mêlée attacks all game, and they were all accidental (and no throwing at all). This character just felt super strong, so after finishing Zot I decided to take my first unguided journey into extended, and ended up completing two ziggurats after getting all my runes. (Lom Lobon was scary, though – I had multiple close calls and used a ton of scrolls of blinking.)

  11. VSWr^Usk, 8 runes (43 games). I’m proud of this game for being one where (1) I realized I could go into extended, but (2) I realized that discretion was the better part of valor and left early after exiting a ziggurat with single-digit HP from a mummy floor. I used an artifact spear of speed all game because I found it early and it was fast enough to capitalize on my bite, but I think that was a mistake and I should’ve gone to/back to short blades to get the stabbing bonus (never found a quick blade, though). On the upside, I found a potion of experience in a bailey in my winning game, only to discover I was already carrying two others! I made the tactical error of Grand Finale-ing the Royal Jelly, and then almost dying to engulfment by quicksilver oozes.

  12. TeAE^Zin, 5 runes (5 games). Since I was worshiping Zin I wanted to go to Hell, but this character didn’t feel strong enough. Otherwise, not terribly remarkable. I did pick up Wyrmbane in Depths, which was a good time, as I was barely doing any physical combat before that.

  13. BaAM^Hep, 5 runes (1 game!). My only one-and-won and consequently (due to my play-one-character-repeatedly approach) my only streak! Barachi, Hexslinger (formerly Arcane Marksman), and Hepliaklqana all seem to be really strong together. And it didn’t hurt that I bought Zephyr in a shop in Snake; that thing is nuts. I did a little bit of a ziggurat before Zot:5, but decided to take the 5-rune win rather than get cocky.

  14. MfIE^TSO, 15 runes (43 games). At first, a Mf^TSO was where I was planning to do extended for the first (and only?) time; thanks to Oneirical, I learned I needn’t be so scared. Still, I decided I was going to take this character all the way; I wanted to play with one of TSO’s holy weapons! So… I died to Gloorx Vloq due to lethal poison. But eventually I made it! I got to use both a eudemon blade from The Shining One and the trishula “Condemnation”, so really taking advantage of all the Merfolk aptitudes. I even cleared a ziggurat! Other highlights include accidentally clearing Slime without rCorr (it was only on an artifact weapon, and I forgot I wasn’t using it until after dispatching TRJ) and realizing in a ziggurat that a potion of attraction + Cleansing Flame can actually recover you a lot of health as a worshiper of TSO against smiters/damnationers/tormenters who are trying to keep their distance.

  15. MuNe^Ash, 5* runes (20 games). My winning game got one extended rune – icy, from Cocytus (in addition to silver, slimy, barnacled, and serpentine). It didn’t seem to me like Mummies were as hard as people say, but that might be because Ashenzari is as good as people say. I had a very frustrating death where I tried to take advantage of being undead to clear some of Tomb:1 but misremembered how far in I could go – and this in a game where I forgot to do Vaults:1–4 and went straight to Depths, and cleared it! My winning game, I went back and revenged myself on the safe part of Tomb:1, at least. I also killed Mennas and dipped into a ziggurat. I was surprised how good Haunt was; I took it as a lesson in the danger of being surrounded.

  16. KoDe^Dith, 5 runes (16 games). It’s amazing how good an early stab on a red enemy as a Delver feels, as you rocket up in XP. I hit #********* stealth before picking up the orb.

  17. HuCA^Ignis, 3 runes (23 games). I know it’s not “intended”, but I had to keep Ignis for polytheist. That meant I underused their abilities, since I was nervous about running out. In my winning run, Wyrmbane was graciously donated by Maggie on D:8, and I dropped axes like a hot potato. Obnoxiously, though, the very first gloves to spawn were the Mad Mage’s Maulers on Shoals:4.

  18. VpBr^Kiku, 5 runes (32 games). I definitely preferred to be bloodless; the benefits seem really strong. Not much else to say here.

  19. MeAr^Ely, 3 runes (18 games). I was not looking forward to this; I play slooooowly. But it was more fun than I expected! Elyvilon is great, and not just in 0.29 for Meteorans where you can use them to get rid of your Zot clock drain (a synergy I opted into accidentally). Smite-targeted “Heal Other” to OHKO enemies? Amazing. And Meteoran aptitudes are great! Still, not planning to do this again any time soon. Also I’m kicking myself for missing an enchant weapon scroll that would’ve let me bring my lajatang up to +9. How do people take Meteorans into extended? I felt like I was running out of Zot clock so often!

  20. GnWn^Nem, 5 runes (6 games). I got to be a hybrid tank casting 5th and 6th level spells in crystal plate, what’s not to love? Also vampiric axes are incredible. Nemelex wasn’t too shabby either. Unfortunately, I really wanted to rescue Crazy Yiuf this run, but I wasn’t thinking and killed him with Manifold Assault trying to get a balrug while standing on the exit.

  21. GrCK^Xom, 10 runes (48 games). The Xom-meister! Another run I wasn’t looking forward to (I had this and Meteoran classed as “Miserable” in my planning document), so I paired it with a powerful species. I got a bit cocky and wanted to try extended runes with Xom due to some great equipment, so of course I died in Pandemonium with 7 runes on game 6 (I hadn’t noticed that I could read scrolls again). But I did eventually win with a ziggurat and the 5 Pan runes; I tried Cocytus, escaped a hairy situation, and decided enough was enough with Xom. Extended runes with Xom! I’m proud of that, but no more Xom for me, thanks.

  22. OpTm^Gozag, 15 runes (9 games). After Oneirical’s guide, I sort of figured this character would do 15 runes. And boy howdy did it. (Plus a ziggurat!) Dragon Form was strong early, Storm Form and Necromutation were naturally stronger later. (This might be the run where I forgot how to do extended without Necromutation, actually.) And Bribe Branch is bonkers strong; Zot:5 and Tomb were so chill. Bonus: the Octopode lich tile is so cute! Thank you, Sastreii!

  23. DsHu^Fedhas, 5 runes (66 games). Some sloppy play made this take so many games. (What early-me would’ve said to calling this “so many”!) Fedhas seems quite good, although in retrospect going ranged with Demonspawn means your body mutations feel pretty pointless unless you get antennae… which I did in my winning game, so that’s nice :-) Overgrow is neat; I was able to crack into the Zot lungs, but I sadly didn’t get a Gauntlet so I couldn’t sequence-break it.

  24. DrCj^Veh, 15 runes (5 games). As I mentioned, I deliberately put off the canonical “easy characters” as late as I could. So here was a (grey) DrCj^Veh, the magic character that, in retrospect, maybe I should’ve started with. (I think renaming “Wizard” to “Hedge Wizard” plus changing the abbreviation was a good call.) Okay, so taking it into extended and completing a Ziggurat isn’t a starting-character approach! Shatter remains great, but I feel like Fire Storm is overrated? I got to use the Elemental Staff again, which is always a treat!

  25. MiBe^Trog, 3 runes (4 games). Ah, the classic starting character. This is as late as I could put it: 25th, the final background. (After this, I had to repeat something until the release of 0.30, but that happened later.) What is there to say? I acquired “the +9 executioner's axe "Cusuarph" {vorpal, rC+ Dex+4}” in a Bailey on turn 10129, basically stapled it to my hands almost immediately (it hit mindelay mid-Lair), and then threw on some crystal plate I found in Elf:3. Grandplayer complete!

  26. TrGl^Ru, 4 runes (19 games). Now I was into repeats! I found this character challenging, but Ru is really strong. I lost a character with the scales of the Dragon King and the shield of the gong in Slime after clearing Vaults, which was more than a bit tragic, but my winning game found mundane gold dragon scales on D:7 so it worked out. I sacrificed Arcana (Earth, Hexes, and Necromancy, not that it mattered), Nimbleness, Stealth, Artifice, and Drink, which worked out. Polytheist complete! (Unless that includes atheist.)

  27. DgHW, 15 runes (153 games). I decided I wanted to close out the 0.29 list with a Hedge Wizard, coming back to where I started. Then. That took. Forever. The most games of any combo. 0.30 came out while I was working on this character! Admittedly, I lost six different Demigods in extended that I could’ve taken to a 3–5-rune win. (Fuck Dis, fuck Ziggurats.) My first extended loss was after a much more reasonable 23 games (and I claim partly due to lag – I hit Xkk to examine a panlord while at lowish health, the game missed the X, and… not that I would necessarily have survived anyway, but still). After 30 games, the 0.30 tournament started, and although Call Imp got a lot better, I didn’t get a single win during the tourney as I kept brute-forcing extended (but did get the combo high score, somehow). I finally won, using Chain Lightning and very aggressive casting of Maxwell’s Capacitive Coupling. I tried to do a ziggurat after Dis but before Tartarus (!) of all places, and while I found the Necromutation I was looking for, I had to bail. After Tomb, I decided I really wanted the ziggurat completion, and tried again – I had to run through most of the final floors, but I got out! And finally rescued Crazy Yiuf, to boot! If you require atheist, then now it was polytheist complete!

  28. AtRe^faded altar Jiyva, 4 runes (12 games). Now that 0.30 was out, I had Armataurs and Reavers to win. So, like everybody else, I played a bunch of AtRes. I went for a faded altar when I could, since I hadn’t done that yet. My first game? Xom. It actually went pretty well, though, despite the eventual death (after conversion to Cheibriados). My eventual win was with a faded altar Jiyva from D:3, and while the loss of consumables wasn’t great, you hit max piety fast. I definitely underused their abilities, particularly later. But I made it out. And with that: greaterplayer complete!!

If you really did make it all the way down here, thanks for reading everything! I really like Crawl, but don’t have a ton of folks I know in my daily life who play/ed it, so it’s nice to share with a community who knows what I’m talking about :-)