Varmpirism

[Markk116]

I really love vampirism beceause it enables me to play like a Blood Deathknight in wow. Also vampirism stacks neatly with Master of arms and beserkers rage. My question, however, is what do my vampirism attacks and corpse-drain scale with? I've noticed that if I have all the buffs of my completed Master of arms and Beserkers lines my corpse-drain heals me for half my health. On other ocasions it only heals around about 12. I can't really seem to get far without vampirism. Also vampirism seems to make it more enjoyable for me than other builds.

For any would be vampires out there I've got one tip: Trap skill. That should be your #1 priority beceause traps are way more deadly than monsters if you've got vampirism.

My full ability arsenal is:
Axe skill
Dual wielding
Besekers rage
Master of arms
Perseption
Archaeology

I am considering trading in Axe skill for something else since I'm currently dual wielding two polearms. Maybe psyconics for a reliable heal?

Any tips for me?

[Markk116]

Found something:

Vampirism effectiveness depends on the type of target.
Vs. Animals, it can heal 1 + your health regen
Vs. Demons, it can heal 1 + (your health regen * 0.6)
Vs. Other (I mean the label "Other", not everything else) it can heal 1 + (your health regen*0.4)
Healing for those types will always do a minimum of 1 (so even if your health regen is negative, you should still get some healing).

If what you are attacking does not fall into any of those categories, then it will not heal you. So, for example, Vampirism's base skill is useless against undead and machines (which makes sense).

BUT only the base Vampire skill is affected by the target type. For example, the tier 2 skill, corpse drain, works on ANY corpse, even robots and undead.

All credit goes to Haldurson

[Haldurson]

Thanks for the credit, but If you got that from a post of mine, it's actual source is most likely the Wiki: http://www.dredmorwiki.com/wiki/Vampirism
Between the Wiki (http://www.dredmorwiki.com/wiki/Main_Page), and Dredmorpedia (http://j-factor.com/dredmorpedia/#item-5-1260), you can usually find the answers to most Dredmor-related questions.

I don't have all the answers, but I'm not bad at figuring out who does.

[Markk116]

Well thanks for sharing your figuring out skills with me and the community anyway, have a good song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOXaUjGk-yY !

[Haldurson]

BTW, as far as tips are concerned, there are so many different possibilities:
1. Communism -- it's one of these varied toolkit skills that gives you a small heal, some offensive abilities (including a special attack) and a way of getting rid of debuffs.
2. Burglary -- I mention this one because it's often my go-to skill when I just want to add something incredibly useful when I'm not dead-set on anything in particular. I don't think I have to explain why I love Burglary, since so many others share my passion. It gives you a teleport, an invisibility and lots of extra loot (not to mention some additional trap affinity).
3. As an alternative to Burglary, there's Alchemy -- which gives you all sorts of potions (including heals, invisibility, potions of purity for getting rid of debuffs, gas flasks, and so on).
4. Seeing as how you've already taken Perception, that synergizes well with either Smithing or Tinkering. Of the two, I'd recommend Smithing in your case. It will give you a boot up on getting decent gear, plus excess ores and ingots can be converted to thrown weapons which will be of great use (and will inherit melee bonuses from your other skills).
5. You can take Demonology, but I wouldn't put points into it beyond Celestial Circle. It's a great skill for a melee person, and boosts all sorts of good stats so long as you stand in one place. You don't really need any mana source as it's not intended to last forever, just long enough to deal with a bunch of monsters.
6. Fungal Arts -- I always call this "a poor man's Alchemy". The affects from fungi are not as impressive as that of potions, but you do get some healing, some thrown weapons, some offense, pets, and miscellaneous buffs.
7. Tourist -- ok, not the best skill overall, I agree, but it does increase health regen which contributes to the effectiveness of Vampirism, plus it has a couple of decent utility skills, including the best pet in the game (best, because it's the only pet skill which actually scales with level). It also has Sample the Local Cuisine which (in theory) should (might?) allow a Vampire to eat stuff (though I have not actually tested this to make sure). It's an underwhelming skill overall, but one well-suited to a Vampire.

I can surely come up with more. There's, for example Shield Mastery, but since you are dual-wielding, it's kind of useless (it does potentially increase health regen, which is why it's often selected in Vampire builds). There's also Battle Geology, which goes great with most melee builds, particularly warrior-based ones. You have a lot of decent choices, really.

[Markk116]

I've only really got the free DLC, so that rules out a lot of options. I dislike taking fungal arts beceause I use the bodies as food. I tried battle geology once but that doesn't really synergize with my playstyle. The teleport form burglary is really the only selling point for me. I've now got about 5 trap afinity at player level 18, which seems fine for all intents and purposes. I prefer dual wielding to maximise my damage output so my time in combat is minimal.

Also just realising that 'good music' is subjective I made a new list. Feel free to pick from one of the following if that suits your tastes more than 'stoner rock'.

A classic from the 70ties
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DohRa9lsx0Q

Classical
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFPwm0e_K98

Metal
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fU_TwAIrJtE

Comedy music (Listen to it all the way through for it to be funny)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVN_0qvuhhw

Old comedy music
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pdkNp1X4n8

Just gonna skip pop in general.....that's not music

electronic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlljbcUl10g

Just beceause it's really good
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLV4_xaYynY

Hope there's something to your liking in this list hahaha

[Haldurson]

Like a lot of your music. I'm an older guy so Tom Lehrer, Jimi Hendrix, and Stealer's Wheel bring back good memories. Also, love the little of Tim Minchin I've seen, though he's not quite that popular in the States. And "2001: A Space Oddysey was my generation's "Star Wars", so that also really appeals to me. Two thumbs up.

Anyway, you should try either Alchemy or Smithing then. Or you can dig up some pocket change and buy one or both of the other expansions (they are well-worth the money). If money is that tight, wait for the inevitable sales.

[Markk116]

I kinda want to finish it once ( kill dreadmor) before I buy expansions.

Tom Leher is absolutely fantastic and I dare say Tim Minchin is his modern day equivalent. Tim's show Tim Minchin and the heritage orchestra is my favorite of its kind.

As for 2001: A Space Oddysey I don't like the movie that much, but the music is fantastic. Kubrick is a director. Only two more movies and I've seen everything Kubrick. And than the big question, do you prefer the Jimmy Hendrix or the Bob Dylan version of All along the watchtower?

Anyway thanks for all the Dredmor advice!

[Haldurson]

BTW, the invisibility skill from Burglary (or from Invisibility potions or Inky Hognlanters) are actually invaluable late game, especially when fighting Dredmor. You should not underestimate its use. Keep in mind that ranged monsters are a lot more dangerous and prevalent as the game continues so a teleport may not be sufficient to keeping you alive. On the other hand, Invisibility, even a short one from Inky Hoglantern, can give you the time to heal back to full when you can't afford to stand around and absorb corpses, (or in the case of non-Vampire builds, eat food). Healing potions only heal you for about 20 points, which is nearly nothing late in the game.

[Markk116]

It was neat discussion-ing with you, it's late and I'm sleepy. Goodnight. For the dungeons of Dredmor are dark and full of terrors!

[Haldurson]

I like both, but I'm a bigger Dylan fan overall., but I admit that I haven't listened to much of his later stuff. I absolutely love Blonde on Blonde and Highway 61 Revisited, and Blood on the Tracks, to name 3 of my favorite albums of his. Even got into some of the Basement Tapes. I do like Hendrix, but Dylan is just one of my heroes.

Tim Minchin is really smart and talks about things which I wish more people would talk about. I'm a skeptic and so is he. Plus he's funny and very talented. A great combination. But I admit that I'm mostly famililar with him from Youtube, and one PBS special that I saw recently.

[Markk116]

I just have to mention Hitler for the sake of Godwins law (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin%27s_Law)

[Scaff]

I've been interested in a Vampirism build, but does it offer enough over taking Fungal Arts and chugging the lifesteal mushrooms?

[Haldurson]

Vampirism is 24/7, rather than the limited drain you get from the Greedy Blungecap. The drain also scales to your health regen, as was pointed out above.

Vampirism does give you additional skills as you level up:
Tier 2 allows you to eat corpses for health (any corpses, type does not matter). The heal is for 3 + (1.2 * health regen)
Tier 3 gives you a small AE damage ability (hits all around you) + small health drain, and a 50% chance of stun
Tier 4 gives you an attack that drains mana and can potentially cause confusion.
Tier 5 gives you the ability to transform into a vampire bat -- it's semi-useless because of the debuff, except that it does increase dodge by 50 and stealth by 10, and allows you to fly over water (just don't let it expire while you are over water).

It's good ONLY IF you supplement it with skills that add to health regen (such as Shield Mastery, Master of Arms, Egyptian Magic, and several others). Another tactic that people use when going with Vampire, is to include a pet skill with an animal-type pet (eg. Promethean Magic). That way they always have something they can drain for health.