I've been playing random essential combos for fun, following my build guides, and found a mistake.
In my SpSk essential build draft, I listed Ely as first god. +0 Invo heals on ultra-low mHP sounded like a great deal.
However, I've concluded I was wrong. Ely costs too much MP and HP, and leaves SpSk with inadequate offense. SpSpk winds up running all over the map, kiting.
After review, I realized that Fedhas is the correct solution. Fedhas leverages all corpses, whereas Ely is hungry but Sp can't eat any corpses. Both are Invo gods, which Sp wants early, to get bonus MP before she has Evo.
It might seem that Sp should avoid Fedhas since Sp outruns Wandering Mushrooms so thoroughly. This is backwards, however. Sp's speed means the whole map is in play, since combat is kiting centric. Fedhas focuses on static ambushes, as does Skald, and Sp is happy to draw the largest percentage of monsters into a given map point of any species except perhaps CeMo Qaz, who draws with noise instead of kiting.
How does Fedhas boost SpSk offense?
- Renewable Confusion stabs brings stealth to primary, a huge boon, and reducing incoming damage
- Sunlight nerfs dire clothie EV, permitting clutch rapid Infusion dump
- Fungal Bloom creates useful roadblocks for ranged combat, and Sp is fast enough to move through them with minimal penalty
- Oklobs pierce extreme AC that frustrates SpSk
- etc
Rather than lead Wandering Mushrooms, SpSk sets them to guard, preferably an upstair, and deploys them in ambushes as needed. They reduce the danger of stairdancing.
Rain also benefits SpSk, because water makes meleeists fumble attacks, and slows their approach, favoring sling-centric SpSk.
The above analysis focuses on Fedhas' early abilities because that's when Fedhas is weakest. Slow initial piety gain is a major reason to avoid early Fedhas, but SpSk avoids that problem by sacrificing every corpse.
Don't underestimate the importance of Stealth becoming a primary offensive skill. Spriggan is sorely lacking in viable offensive skills.
In retrospect it seems obvious that Spriggan should be the scout general of floral legions.
God branch progression:
- Fedhas: Dungeon, Lair, Orc, Water, Poison, Elf
- Jiyva: item harvest, Slime, Vaults, Depths, Vestibule
- Zin: donate and wait, Hell:1 wrath, Slime, Abyss, Depths, Zot
- TSO: Crypt, Tomb, Tartarus
- Gozag: acquire penalty gold, Extended and Zigs
Fedhas fares poorly in Vaults, which restricts SpSk's freedom of movement, cornering and flooding her.
Jiyva's Slimify counters Vaults snowball threats such as Convokers and Wardens. Jellies corrode prevalent high AC. Bonus satiety relieves post-Fedhas ration depletion. High piety protects against Fedhas wrath. Jiyva is ineffective in Abyss, however, where jellies are inefficient at eating items.
The Zin dip protects against Jiyva wrath. It also permits SpSk to farm Abyss indefinitely until Statue Form and Necromut are found, if one wishes to be thorough.
Gozag permits Sp to buy appropriate gear and lots of evocables, which at +3 Evo are a superior substitute for Sp's +0 Invo. Book shops offer Statue Form and Necromut. Potion Petition makes SpSk temporarily a powerful meleeist.
5 gods sounds like too many for a -30% mHP species. It's only two wraths, however. Both wraths are faced at high piety.
there doesn't seem to be anything here