Goatperson

From DDwiki
Revision as of 14:39, 29 May 2014 by MondSemmel (Talk | contribs) (Prototype)

Jump to: navigation, search
Goatperson
Special Class
Goatperson Hero Large.png
Class traits
SCAPEGOAT
Randomly worships a new god per level, no conversion or desecration
PROTOTYPE
No restoration effects on level-up, gold instead of trophies
HERBIVORE
Eats food while exploring. Killing enemies yields more food
Conversion
Refills HP and MP for 100 (+10 cumulative) CP
Unlocking
Find at least 6 gods (enough that two altars will spawn in dungeons), and pay 3000 gold at the Goat Glade.

"The accurate and persistent balancing of this class isn’t guaranteed."

The Goatperson is the secret monster class, acquired by unlocking the Goat Glade (available to early supporters or as DLC on Steam). It is a dangerously experimental class, based on short-term and sometimes extremely short-term decisions.

Class Features

Herbivore

Exploring a tile costs food, which takes up a small inventory space for your whole supply. Killing an enemy gives 9 food, and, more to the point, exploring without food damages you until you GET FOOD or DIE. Each tile uncovered will deplete 1 food. As you might be able to tell, this adds up really quick. This obviously is meant to limit exploration, as no food is consumed by going back over uncovered tiles.

Scapegoat

The Goatperson will randomly worship a new god out of the 3 that have altars in the dungeon (or 2, if you haven't unlocked enough gods yet) upon level up. The no-desecration aspect is simply done so that you can't escape this change by destroying the other altars.

This trait is designed to severely limit the strategies that one can implement, as it is impossible to be sure when you will be forced to worship one god instead of another. The Goatperson will always change to a different deity on each level-up, and will never remain with the same deity.

Prototype

The fact that the Goatperson does not heal upon level up completely torpedoes mid-fight level-up strategies, and makes progression much, much more difficult. While you can still heal mid-fight by converting, the increasing conversion cost makes this rather costly, and severely limits supply. The exploration phase is also much more difficult, because you cannot rely on leveling up to heal you. Therefore, the only ways for your character to heal at all are by exploring (which is limited by your food supply, which is only replenished by killing monsters), using glyphs, converting items, using potions, and taking god boons. All of these are in limited supply. Exploring becomes extremely conservative, as you will be forced to heal every wound by using consumables. By the time you reach the boss, it's likely that you won't have any way left to heal yourself.

Trait: Poisoned Poisoned and Trait: Mana Burn Mana Burn are far more dangerous afflictions to the Goatperson than to usual classes, since he does not recover from them when he levels up!

The last feature (gold instead of boss trophies) merely ensures that you cannot use the Goatperson for quest progression. It remains to be seen if the amount of money dropped is equal to the value of the trophy that would've dropped instead. If so, this could be useful, as it would allow one to get around that fact that a trophy's price drops the more that you collect that particular trophy.

Strategy

Simply put, this class was carefully balanced to stack the deck against the player as much as physically possible without making it completely impossible to win. This is a challenge class. If you can beat a dungeon with this class, then you're either inordinately lucky or an absolute master at this game.

Due to his sharply limited early exploration preparing the fireball magnet to begin with Glyph: BURNDAYRAZ BURNDAYRAZ is highly recommended. Items that can be used as general-purpose "get out of jail free" cards (such as Item: Namtar's Ward Namtar's Ward, which allows you an emergency death protection) are exceptionally good preparation choices as well. A Goatperson who likes variety can get a lot of mileage out of preparing a fourth altar. Due to his vulnerability to afflictions, the Goatperson should never prepare Item: Patches the Teddy Patches the Teddy.

The Glyph: BLUDTUPOWA BLUDTUPOWA glyph is an excellent find for the Goatperson. Because it reveals 3 tiles, but only costs 1 food, it allows you to effectively explore at a reduced cost. If used repeatedly over the course of the dungeon, the Goatperson can save up enough food that he doesn't need to worry about his exploration limitations anymore. If enough food is saved, he can even convert some in the end-game for extra heals. Be mindful that the Glowing Guardian does not like this glyph.

Deity Guide

God: Glowing Guardian Glowing Guardian The Glowing Guardian is an above-average draw for the Goatperson. Most of his piety comes from persistent worship, which is not possible due to the forced conversion on every level-up. His humility boon will reduce your health regeneration and fireball damage, which is dangerous for this character. However, his cleansing boon helps alleviate the Goatperson's weakness to afflictions, and the Goatperson is free to drink potions whenever he "bounces" out of this religion which allows him to avoid the primary downsides of Glowing Guardian Worship. Converting food is an effective way of earning piety with the Glowing Guardian.

God: Tikki Tooki Tikki Tooki Potentially game-ending if you are assigned to him at the 1st level. It is very difficult to earn piety with Tikki Tooki as a 1st level character, and his punishment must be avoided at all costs. However, for a higher-level Goatperson he is an excellent source of piety, and his Dodging and Tikki's Edge boons offer excellent long-term value. Be mindful not to pick the poison attack boon if the Glowing Guardian is present.

God: Taurog Taurog Similar to Tikki Tooki, this god can be problematic if you are assigned at the 1st level. Because the Goatperson is often reliant on his fireball glyph for his first kill (particularly if boxed in on a hard or higher difficulty scenario) this can immediately invoke Taurog's punishment, which can be game-ending. However, Taurog is otherwise an invaluable source of piety to fuel your other deities. If you have either Dracul or Pactmaker in addition to Taurog, stacking resistances can be a very effective approach.

God: The Earthmother The Earthmother A mediocre draw for the Goatperson. Because you will not receive the free Glyph: IMAWAL IMAWAL glyph on worship, earning piety with her is far more difficult than usual. You will need to rely on other deities to fuel her, or else use her plantation boon. Because of her limited piety generation with the Goatperson, Vine Form and Greenblood have less value than usual, but Plantation, Clearance, and Entanglement remain top-notch boons.

God: Mystera Annur Mystera Annur A poor draw for the Goatperson, Mystera's "refreshment" boon is redundant with his conversion bonus. While it is possible to leverage refreshment as a Goatperson, it is highly impractical. Fortunately she's easy to generate piety with, and if you have the Glyph: WEYTWUT WEYTWUT glyph then mystic balance can be worthwhile, but aside from this she has little to offer him.

God: Binlor Ironshield Binlor Ironshield Similar to Earthmother, you do not receive the free Glyph: PISORF PISORF glyph as a Goatperson. This makes earning piety with Binlor somewhat difficult. However, if you can accrue 35 piety with another deity you can purchase his Stone Soup boon to get a free Glyph: ENDISWAL ENDISWAL glyph. Because the Goatperson can purchase boons between three deities, he will rarely run into the issue of depleting all the walls on the level.

God: Jehora Jeheyu Jehora Jeheyu A very dangerous, but potentially rewarding, draw for the Goatperson. The vulnerability to mana burn and poison mean getting the Petition boon immediately is a top priority, and his inability to desecrate other altars can make this difficult if you get stuck with Jehora at the 1st level. If you are transferred to his religion with 50+ piety, however, picking up petition is easy and you can completely skip over his normal limits. Jehora's boons are quite powerful for the Goatperson. Note that Chaos Avatar will not automatically heal the Goatperson when used, but since it grants 100 conversion points it will often trigger the Goatperson's conversion bonus. Converting food is a superb way to earn piety with Jehora Jeheyu.

God: Dracul Dracul By far the most powerful deity for the Goatperson, all of Dracul's boons are exceptionally useful for him. Because the Goatperson has no inherent resistances, Blood Hunger's penalty is meaningless to him. His focus on end-game spiking makes Blood Tithe and Blood Swell incredibly worthwhile. When combined with other resistance-granting deities, Blood Shield is incredibly potent. When using Dracul's boons, be mindful of potential conflict with the Earthmother and Glowing Guardian, both of which dislike lifesteal. You should avoid the Blood Hunger boon if those deities are present. The Earthmother does not have a problem with Blood Tithe, but the Glowing Guardian does. This doesn't preclude you from picking the boon, but you must make sure not to tread on the bloodstains when under his religion. Make sure you drink your healing potions and slay any undead when you are worshipping a different deity.

God: The Pactmaker The Pactmaker Another deceptively great find for the Goatperson. You cannot actually "worship" the Pactmaker, but some of his pacts are extremely useful. The Body Pact works quite well when combined with other resistance-granting deities, but the real secret is the Scholar's Pact. This cancels out the normal Goatperson penalty that prevents him from healing on level-up, allowing him to gain far more value from this pact than other classes would normally.