So, I hear a lot about how terrible corruption is, that corrupting monsters are to be avoided in melee at all costs, that this makes a melee build simple unfeasible at the lower levels... but I started to wonder, corruption only hits artifacts right? How feasible would it be to take a melee build that doesn't rely on artifacts at all? Would probably go for a fairly heavy crafting build, partly to ensure I got some decent "mundane" equipment like serpentine platemail and katanas, and partly because I'm not sure: Does encrusting an item count as an artifact like Kronging it does?
one problem - many of your best crafted items are also given some random artifact bonuses - which makes them affected by corruption.
Melee builds work fine, you just have to pay attention and make sure to use your available weapons to kill the enemies that do the corruption before they can. Diggle Archmages are the worst, but even those can be countered if you're careful.
Stack 100 dodge, 100 magic resist, 100 reflection. profit! Failing that, there's always thrown weapons and crossbows.
Well, part of the idea is to try and challenge the preconceived notions of how to survive the later levels, and Dredmor himself. I'm well aware that bolts and/or magic are the usual methods for avoiding corruption effects, but that does basically mean you need to utilize rogue/mage skills rather than melee ones (Yes, I know you can use crossbows without archery skill, it's the principle of the matter). I was just pondering if you could get decent enough mundane gear that a lack of artifacts makes corruption a non-issue, letting you walk straight up to corrupting blobbies and Dredmor and just smack them over the head with a katana the dum dum fighter way.
Remember that pretty much every melee skill tree has ranged attacks. You don't need to use crossbows or thrown weapons to kill corrupting enemies before they reach you. As for Dredmor, he's the last boss, so you only need to survive the corruption until you kill him. Yeah, your artefacts might well end up with some not so nice stats after the last fight, but what does that matter when the game's already over?
