User:Shadowrider38/THEM Roles
Archeologists now start with a spellbook and two scrolls. They have the advantage of gaining access to Grayswandir as their second sacrifice gift, a coveted endgame weapon option.
Barbarians have their usual strong starting physical stats and intrinsic poison resistance, making their early game easier than most. However, Barbarians are charged three times as much money in shops, which pairs poorly with their low starting charisma. Their two guaranteed sacrifice gifts, Cleaver and Deathsword, can help with this: Deathsword in particular has a +14 damage bonus against all humans, making it much easier to kill shopkeepers. Unfortunately, both of these artifact weapons are underwhelming past the early/mid-game, so Barbarians will want to aim for stronger weapons eventually.
Caveman/Cavewomans will have a straightforward early game if they can get their hands on Skullcrusher.
Healers now start with a wand of healing and medical kit in exchange for giving up the spellbook of extra healing. Their sacrifice gifts, Mirrorbright and Deluder, add to their defensive prowess - but this still leaves Healers with the same dependence on obtaining a powerful artifact weapon that can deal adequate damage to complement this.
Knights start with -3 AC worth of heavy armor, helping out their early game significantly. They also start with many more apples and carrots, allowing them to keep their pet horse fed much more easily. Praying for minions is an effective strategy for knights, and is a viable consideration at almost every phase of the game.
Monks have a strong early game assisted by their sacrifice gifts, the Gauntlets of Defense and Whisperfeet. Coupled with tactical usage of their assorted techniques - such as the chained blitz that deals massive damage when used correctly - monks are one of the strongest roles.
Necromancers are glass cannons, having a similar starting inventory and stats to a wizard with the added benefit of detecting the beatitude of items like a Priest. Their power scales as the game progresses, with their first sacrifice gift being Serpent's Tongue, an endgame-caliber weapon. Their quest artifact, The Great Dagger of Glaurgnaa is a nice boon, providing rare slotless magic resistance and the ability to invoke for an energy boost. Moreover, their starting sickness resistance and drain resistance pay increasing dividends as the game progresses.
Priests/Priestesses have not changed significantly, and their early game suffers slightly due to the variety of early-game threats added. Their sacrifice gifts are Disrupter and Sunsword, which have solid situational use, but are of limited use against said early-game monsters. However, Disruptor is a great boon against the many strong undead spellcasters both new and returning, and as such is worth keeping and enchanting in order to overcome enchantment resistances.
Rangers are largely unchanged, with their sacrifice gifts being decent improvements on their starting dagger and bow. However, SlashTHEM encourages rangers to use ranged weapons as their primary offense, with more bonuses to multishot. As a result, retaining the starting stack of arrows is more important, and obtaining holy water and the Mine's End luckstone are early priorities.
Rogues' first priority is almost certainly sacrificing for the uber-strong Bat from Hell. Once obtained, pretty much the only thing that can take out a Rogue in the early/middle game is hubris. Rogues are even better equipped to steal money, now with scrolls of gold detection and teleportation suited for plundering vaults in addition to their oilskin sack to steal items and money from shops.
Samurai have the option to either go for Kiku-ichimonj or Excalibur if lawful. Both of these weapons have a strong additional damage bonus making them strong choices, on top of Excalibur's important drain resistance.
Tourists have access to Whisperfeet and Luckblade, but are still quite fragile. Like vanilla, their power does not scale as much until later in the game once they can obtain the Platinum Yendorian Express Card and the wand of wishing. Dopplegangers can make up for the weak starting stats and equipment with careful use of polyforms.
Valkyries are strong fighters as always, exchanging their long sword for a spear, and their +3 small shield is still one of the most powerful starting pieces of armor for any role. Their first gift, Mjollnir, remains extremely powerful and deals almost twice as much electric damage on average, while their second gift, Frost Brand is another popular late-game weapon. While the Valkyrie quest artifact, the Orb of Fate, is somewhat overshadowed by the lighter Hand of Vecna, it still has useful properties such as half spell damage and levelport capabilities.
Wizards now start with four spellbooks, but have a much harder time than in vanilla. Even after obtaining Magicbane, they are fragile especially with the addition of difficult early threats. What's more, wizards will likely find themselves strapped for item slots for extrinsics.
