Wow - Time Hounds really *&%^ you up.

Also finding that from about 2200' and downwards Hold Life would be handy, lost count of the number of levels I would be if I had not had to gain exp back from life drainers.

Yeah, 'time' is very nasty. You probably don't realize just how nasty, yet...

It's been a while between drinks as they say.

Currently really low on Int and Wis due to stat drainers on my last trip down, and lucky me found no potions of restore when I got back up :(

Found Bard on my last trip down for the first time that I can recall in all my years of playing, so that was a nice experience.

Current weapon choice isn't easy, tossing up between the current confusion resistance vs see invisible vs telepathy. Really hoping for a decent helm to turn up soon that'll alleviate that problem.

Telepathy is an OK replacement for SI, but Theoden is a bad weapon for you. You should be wielding Maedhros or Careth Asdriag instead of Totila (in fact, this is the first time I can recall that I've ever seen anyone using Totila), because the extra damage (and in Maedhros's case, the extra speed) is worth more than resist confusion. Ditch the Strength ring in favor of a Ring of See Invisible and equip Maedhros, I'd say.

Actually, Totila does more damage than you think 75*5 = 475 vs fire-vulnerable creatures is respectable for where he is. 45*7 = 315 for careth asdraig doesn't come close, especially when you will lose rConf. I would carry Theoden and Totila as swaps for this character, and use theoden for walking around, Totila vs non-dragons and confusion resistance.

Huh? I'm hardly an expert player, but I must say that there's not a lot I've ever found to be more valuable than rConf. In my experience confused generally = dead.

Pete: fair point. I keep forgetting that Totila actually gets decent brand damage.

As for resist confusion: don't get me wrong, it's quite handy. However, anyone past 500' or so should be carrying as many Cure Critical Wounds potions as they can get their grubby little mitts on, so as long as you aren't trying to fight a monster with melee confusion attacks, you should be able to shake off any confusion without too much trouble. I'd much rather have good damage and resist confusion, but at the depth he's at, I'd rather take the latter over the former. Far better to kill all enemies quickly, than to protect yourself against one somewhat uncommon attack at the cost of being unable to kill all enemies as quickly. The more time you spend in combat, the more likely you are to make a mistake or be unlucky.

Resistance to confusion turns Gold and Bronze dragons of any age from threats to treats.

In my experience, when I'm lucky enough to have res_conf before stat gain, I go through stat gain significantly faster than otherwise.

Well, by the time I knocked off last night I'd managed to collect a few more resistances, and covered my See Invis hole with a ring. Scored a diamond vault with permanent walls within an even bigger square space, never seen one of those before, was an interesting experience. Unfortunately I couldn't avoid killing Bert or the Queen Ant and save them for later without missing out on clearing the vault.

Now I'm struggling to work out what combo of weapons and armour will suffice, as I've managed to get stuff to cover Poison, Nexus, Nether and Disenchant, but would have to walk around with a wardrobe and a golf bag to carry it all.

It's a Sounds vs Shards conundrum in regards to the armour. But the weapon choice is even harder.

Unresisted sound breath is almost certain to stun you, which makes you worse at fighting. I also think there's a real risk of getting knocked out (resulting in you helplessly getting killed) if you happen to face a pack of hounds outside of an ambush corridor. Ancient Gold Dragons can probably stun you badly or knock you out too, if you're not careful and I think sound resistance helps against almost all kinds of stunning distance attacks. I don't really remember which attacks that can stun, but I think it is force, impact, inertia, water bolts/balls and gravity. I don't really know how easy it is to get knocked out, as I personally avoid all monsters that could have stunning attacks if I don't have sound resistance. Sound resistance is a sound choice, but remember that it won't protect you from stunning in melee (Master Mystics & Grand Master Mystics are known for killing even well-equipped high level level characters by knocking them out).

Shards aren't that dangerous, it can do quite a lot of hitpoint damage and cause bleeding, but if you just make sure to not face lots of Earth Hounds in open areas and leave Crystal Drakes alone until you're strong enough, you'll do fine without restisting shards. Shard breath isn't known to kill otherwise healthy characters.