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Thread: Deep diving in the ID

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Posts
    118

    Default Deep diving in the ID

    For the first time, I decided not to leave the Drakalor Chain after I closed the gate, and instead take my level 50 dwarven paladin and see how deep I could make it into the ID. I decided not to use stairhopping except in emergencies. In other words, I can only go back upstairs if I'm about to be killed, not just because an upcoming fight looks really tough. At this point I'm down to level 335, and it's getting pretty hairy. Here are a few things I've learned:

    - With enough magic mapping, monster detection and teleportation, most levels are easy. But if I used them whenever I felt like it, they'd run out in a hurry. So I only detect monsters when I know there's a tension/threat room and every hallway ends in a door.

    - Sources of healing that don't get used up are very important. I kept the rapid healing corruption, and (even though it's a pain to keep switching back and forth) I put on my necklace of rapid healing, bracers and crown of regeneration after most fights.

    - Monster power levels are definitely increasing faster than the 'uber' effect. I've gotten hit by ice vortices for more than 200 hp on two occasions, and orcs and cavemen are critically hitting me frequently.

    - Encounters are skewed more towards heavy hitters, but not as much as I expected. I've seen plenty of greater molochs and ghost kings, but only one balor, two doppler kings and two emperor liches.

    - Trouble can come from unexpected combinations. For example, ghost kings aren't hard to kill if you can move freely and nothing else is attacking you. But one of the toughest spots I was in came from needing to clear out a lich king to get to the down staircase. He summoned a bunch of swamp hydras and I had them in the bottleneck of a corridor so I could kill them one by one. I was still taking a lot of damage, because swamp hydras 300+ levels down are nasty, but it was manageable. Then Mr. Lich decided to summon some giant raccoons, normally not a problem at all, and they started digging through the walls until the hydras were double- and triple-teaming me. Ouch.

    So, I don't know how much deeper this character will make it. I haven't had to pray for healing yet, but both of my pairs of seven league boots have gotten destroyed and I've only got one ring of the clear mind left. I figure sooner or later I'll get confused and then swarmed by some powerhouse monsters. It's going to be interesting to see how this plays out.
    Your armor weakens, oh my!

  2. #2
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Location
    Texas
    Posts
    9

    Default

    What level are you on now?
    A mouth appears on the wall and says: "Remember to write something on this cookie.".

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Posts
    118

    Default

    I just got to 391. My biggest problem so far was on 373, where the first room I walked into had an emperor lich that summoned five balors. On top of all the other monsters running around that level, it was tricky for me to keep maneuvering safely. It was lucky that I'd found a spellbook of Ethereal Bridge a little bit before that, because I had to teleport a lot. I also used up about half of my slaying ammo, and what's left doesn't stack very well. At this point I'm almost out of monster detection, and once it's gone, things are going to get tougher. But I've managed to find four carrot rooms, so I'm really good at seeing monsters approaching. If I can make it to level 400, I'll be happy.
    Your armor weakens, oh my!

  4. #4

    Default

    Wow, what are your stats and HP/PP? Are you trying to evade every monster you can, even things like rats?

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Posts
    118

    Default

    My stats are nothing special for a gate-closing character.
    DV/PV:102/42 St:47 Le:31 Wi:30 Dx:24 To:44 Ch:23 Ap:12 Ma:28 Pe:45
    Sp:145 H:943(943) P:399(418)

    And I do a lot of running away, but not all the time. Since the monsters get tougher, but they don't increase in quantity, there are still plenty of times when I find a (relatively) weak monster alone. I kill them for item drops and to have a pathway to retreat into. Mostly with missiles. At this point a melee with nearly any monster ends up costing me some hit points.

    I've made it to level 465 now. 457 was nasty. I hit a tension room of ghost kings, and I'm out of magic mapping, so I had to teleport back and forth and back and forth until I found the stairs. I had one stupid moment where I managed to walk into a master mimic and get myself paralyzed... but I recovered before I got taken out.
    Your armor weakens, oh my!

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jun 2008
    Posts
    474

    Default

    Is finding food a problem? With fewer monsters killed, there must be less corpses and edible item drops available.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Posts
    118

    Default

    So far, food isn't a problem. With Food Preservation at 100, under normal circumstances I would generate a lot more edible corpses than I need. At this point, I'm gradually working through my supply of lizards, but I went in with a huge stack and I still have 70 left. I guess they could get destroyed at some point, but I'm trying not to think of that...

    I just made it down to level 500. I had some trouble on 487 with a hostile ki-rin guarding the down staircase. I can't afford to go chaotic and lose my piety, so I had to lure it away. But the only way I could get it to move away from the stairs was by standing directly in its line of fire. Those energy blasts could do more than 300 hp each, and it would fire three or four, take a leisurely step in my direction, then fire three or four more. I'm just glad nothing came up behind me while I was dealing with that.

    I've learned that (unfortunately) a lot of different monsters can smash doors, including ones I never saw do it before, like black slayers and annihilators. The best news is I found a new pair of seven league boots. We'll see how long they last.
    Your armor weakens, oh my!

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Posts
    118

    Default

    Down to level 525. I just found out that dwarven chaos knights can shrug bolts, including death rays. At least they can down here. I never needed bolts to kill one before. And I really hate summoners. There was a down staircase with a wererat, and as I was cleaning that out, in came a werewolf king who summoned werewolf lords who... you get the idea. On a different level, a lich king summoned skeletal kings, and I had to let one of them go downstairs with me before more nasty stuff closed in. And then he summoned skeletal warriors and each of them got to take a poke at me. Monsters get a lot of attacks per turn down here. But I'm still going.
    Your armor weakens, oh my!

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
    Posts
    5,739

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    Mind posting a .vlg?
    Hoping to win with every class, doomed. Archer, Barbarian, Bard, Beastfighter, Druid, Elementalist, Farmer, Fighter, Monk, and ULE Priest down.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Posts
    880

    Default

    That sounds like fun. I also started diving with my regular winning orcish ranger - he's down at level 100 now and there's not much difficulty so far. Unfortunately I lost my awesome 5/7 +5 str gauntlets to some trap

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