CIP: Hell Help

[mageykun]

I've got my first character who looks about ready to poke his nose into the post endgame content, and I'm looking for some advice.

I've got a really nice little SpAr or Nemelex. Cleared the first 6 rune branches, and Zot, and then left the orb unmolested in it's empty chamber.

I've got got the somewhat ridiculous honor of having maxed spellcasting, and I have access to pretty much every spell in the game right now. Right now my spell list is mostly practical, with all the good buffs, and a few good emergency options. Not much in the way of damage output though- I only picked up shadow creatures as a support spell for when I didn't have a deck of summoning handy. I could rearrange things, pick up a few high level summons, and start playing like a summoner, but I'm really not sure which upper tier summons are worth it. It's kinda late to start into conjurations for a storm spell- you can take the post endgame without one of those, right? Also- is extension worth it? It seems to me to be somewhat of a pain to keep all buffs running continually instead of applying them as needed. Plus there's all that glow and some disquieting text about "fail" every time I cast it. Dig I doubt I need- I just picked it up to carve slime into 3 lane highways.

Biggest problem spell wise is I'm not set up to be a dedicated caster. I've needed the breather room to retreat and regain mp between conflicts- I don't have a good source of channeling right now (no ball, shield blocks staff). And as I understand it, resting mp back in hell is a bad idea. I do have sublimation of blood in my library, but there's kinda a corpse shortage in hell. Is it worth hitting myself with it? (I can have 2 levels or regen on to compensate). Or should I go try and find a crystal ball of energy I didn't feed to Nemelex?

Nemelex has been awesome, and rocketed me through the mid and early game, but he's kinda losing steam. Since Tomb/Zot I'm losing decks of summoning faster than I can replenish them (especially legendary), and it's becoming a less reliable source of damage. Too many of the ornate results aren't strong enough, there's not enough legendary to go around, and too many things can abjure. I'm not planning to give Him up, for sure, but I can't seem to use him to batter through anymore. That said, Foxfire and Crusade are still pretty awesome, as is getting a bone dragon or a 1 and then hasting the sucker.

Since I've eased off the decks of summoning, my +8,+9 quick blade is my main source of damage, +4 slaying from the hat, and buffs when I need them. I had some spare quick blades, so I was making ones of frost/flame to deal with the appropriate hells, though they still need a little enchanting. Haven't done any slinging- those skill levels are all from a manual and burning off Zot:5 xp, but I do have a randart sling of speed stashed, and some ammo. Is range and steel a good idea in Hells? Would certainly make retreat easier if I had too, but I'm not sure how effective it'll be without sweet, sweet Trog ammo.

Really torn over the hat. I hate giving up the two int, but I really need some slaying to counteract my low base damage. So... I wear it and gripe that it prevents my controlled blink from being hunger-less.

The wiki advices a lot of resists, without really prioritizing them. What do I need? Can I substitute royal jelly for sustain abilities? What base amulet is best in hell? It sounds like there are less mutaters there than the abyss or Zot, would clarity to combat mystic force confusion be a better choice? Is my current lack of rN feasible? I did pull the Tomb as is.

Is there an advised order to the hells? Is one easier than another, if not in general, at least for my character as is?

Commencing char dump. Any and all advice on how to proceed welcome.

  Code:

 Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup version 0.7.1-1-g7ce9b19 character file.

Few the Archmage (Spriggan Artificer)                                                 Turns: 224262, Time: 22:19:13

HP 176/176       AC 10     Str 11      Exp: 27/2512272 (3)
MP  49/50        EV 34     Int 25      God: Nemelex Xobeh [*****.]
Gold 14192       SH 24     Dex 18      Spells: 19 memorised,  7 levels left

Res.Fire  : + + +   See Invis. : +   a - +8,+9 quick blade (stab)
Res.Cold  : + + +   Warding    : .   S - +1 troll leather armour of the Bagpipe {St
Life Prot.: . . .   Conserve   : +   C - +3 buckler {rC+ rF+}
Res.Poison: +       Res.Corr.  : +   F - +1 wizard hat of Kikubaaqudgha's Whim {Int
Res.Elec. : .       Clarity    : .   m - +2 cloak {rCorr, Cons} {Nikola's}
Spirit.Shd: .       Stasis     : .   (gloves unavailable)
Sust.Abil.: . .     Rnd.Telep. : .   (boots unavailable)
Res.Mut.  : +       Ctrl.Telep.: .   J - amulet of resist mutation
Res.Rott. : .       Levitation : .   p - ring of Qaufeas {rF++ rC+ Acc+2 SInv}
Saprovore : . . .   Ctrl.Flight: .   P - ring of the Tarantula {rPois rF+ rC+ SInv}

@: studying Stabbing, very quick, incredibly resistant to hostile enchantments, extraordinarily stealthy
A: unfitting armour, see invisible, herbivore 3, speed 3, magic resistance 1, slow metabolism 3
a: Draw One, Peek at Two, Triple Draw, Mark Four, Stack Five, Renounce Religion


You are on level 1 of the Lair of Beasts.
You worship Nemelex Xobeh.
Nemelex Xobeh is exalted by your worship.
You are not hungry.

You have visited 19 branches of the dungeon, and seen 92 of its levels.
You have visited the Abyss 10 times.
You have visited 7 Labyrinths.
You have visited 5 bazaars.
You have visited 6 portal chambers: sewer, ice cave, wizlab, bailey, bailey, bailey.

You have collected 21493 gold pieces.
You have spent 7181 gold pieces at shops.
You have used 140 gold pieces for miscellaneous purposes.

Inventory:

Hand weapons
 a - a +8,+9 quick blade of stabbing (weapon)
 r - a +5,+6 quick blade of distortion
 D - a +2,+7 quick blade of flaming
 E - a +1,+3 quick blade of freezing
Missiles
 g - 11 +0 dwarven darts of dispersal
 l - 24 +3 orcish darts (quivered)
Armour
 m - a +2 cloak of preservation (worn) {Nikola's}
 C - a +3 buckler of resistance (worn)
 F - the +1 wizard hat of Kikubaaqudgha's Whim (worn) {Int-2 Acc+4 Dam+4}
   (You found it in an ice cave)   
   It affects your intelligence (-2).
   It affects your accuracy (+4).
   It affects your damage-dealing abilities (+4).
 S - the +1 troll leather armour of the Bagpipe (worn) {Str+3 Int+3}
   (You found it in a Labyrinth)   
   It affects your strength (+3).
   It affects your intelligence (+3).
Magical devices
 i - a wand of disintegration (10)
 q - a wand of teleportation (9)
 u - a wand of hasting (5)
 x - a wand of healing (5)
Comestibles
 f - a honeycomb
 k - 3 bread rations
 M - 2 royal jellies
Scrolls
 c - 3 scrolls of identify
 v - 2 scrolls of remove curse
 z - 2 scrolls of teleportation
 B - 2 scrolls of detect curse
 N - a scroll of blinking
Jewellery
 p - the ring of Qaufeas (right hand) {rF++ rC+ Acc+2 SInv}
   (You bought it in a shop in a bazaar)   
   [ring of protection from cold]
   It affects your accuracy (+2).
   It greatly protects you from fire.
   It enhances your eyesight.
 J - an amulet of resist mutation (around neck)
 P - the ring of the Tarantula (left hand) {rPois rF+ rC+ SInv}
   (You found it in the sewers)   
   [ring of protection from fire]
   It protects you from cold.
   It protects you from poison.
   It enhances your eyesight.
 T - the ring of the Ten Planets {*TELE rF+ AC+3 SInv}
   (You found it in the Abyss)   
   [ring of teleportation]
   It affects your AC (+3).
   It protects you from fire.
   It enhances your eyesight.
Potions
 s - 3 potions of healing
 G - 3 potions of heal wounds
Books
 H - a manual of Slings   
Magical staves
 I - a +0 rod of discovery (12/12)
   (You found it on level 3 of the Lair of Beasts)
Miscellaneous
 d - an ornate deck of escape {drawn: 1} {god gift}
 e - a legendary deck of escape {drawn: 1} {god gift}
 w - a legendary deck of destruction {drawn: 1} {god gift}
 y - an ornate deck of summonings {drawn: 2} {god gift}
 K - a legendary deck of summonings {drawn: 1} {god gift}
 O - a legendary deck of escape {the Tomb, left: 5} {god gift}
 Q - an ornate deck of escape {drawn: 1} {god gift}
 W - a legendary deck of destruction {drawn: 7} {god gift}


 You have 3 experience left.

   Skills:
 + Level 18 Fighting
 * Level 27 Short Blades
 - Level 14 Slings
 - Level 4 Throwing
 + Level 8 Armour
 + Level 22 Dodging
 + Level 17 Stealth
 + Level 17 Stabbing
 + Level 12 Shields
 + Level 8 Traps & Doors
 * Level 27 Spellcasting
 - Level 2 Conjurations
 - Level 15 Enchantments
 - Level 12 Summonings
 - Level 14 Necromancy
 - Level 20 Translocations
 - Level 6 Transmutations
 - Level 2 Ice Magic
 - Level 7 Air Magic
 - Level 1 Earth Magic
 - Level 1 Poison Magic
 + Level 19 Evocations


You have 7 spell levels left.
You know the following spells:

 Your Spells              Type           Power          Success   Level
a - Apportation           Tloc           ########..     Perfect     1
b - Regeneration          Ench/Necr      ########..     Perfect     3
c - Haste                 Ench           ########.      Excellent   6
d - Controlled Blink      Tloc           N/A            Excellent   7
e - Summon Small Mammals  Summ           #####          Perfect     1
f - Recall                Tloc/Summ      N/A            Perfect     3
g - Abjuration            Summ           #######...     Excellent   3
h - Blink                 Tloc           N/A            Perfect     2
i - Borgnjor's Revivific  Necr           ########..     Excellent   5
j - Shadow Creatures      Summ           N/A            Excellent   5
k - Deflect Missiles      Air/Ench       #######...     Excellent   6
l - Flight                Air/Ench       #######...     Excellent   4
m - Dispel Undead         Necr           ########.      Excellent   4
n - Phase Shift           Tloc           ########..     Perfect     5
o - Selective Amnesia     Ench           N/A            Excellent   4
p - Insulation            Air/Ench       #######...     Excellent   4
q - Summon Butterflies    Summ           #######...     Perfect     1
r - Extension             Ench           ########..     Excellent   5
s - Dig                   Erth/Trmt      #######..      Excellent   4


Dungeon Overview and Level Annotations

Branches:
Dungeon (27/27)            Temple (1/1) D:5             Orc (4/4) D:11
    Elf (7/7) Orc:4          Lair (8/8) D:10         Shoals (5/5) Lair:6
  Slime (6/6) Lair:8        Snake (5/5) Lair:5         Hive (2/2) D:11
  Vault (8/8) D:14          Blade (1/1) Vault:4       Crypt (5/5) Vault:4
   Tomb (3/3) Crypt:2         Dis (1/7) Hell            Geh (1/7) Hell
    Coc (1/7) Hell            Tar (1/7) Hell            Zot (5/5) D:27

Altars:
Cheibriados
Elyvilon
Fedhas
Kikubaaqudgha
Makhleb
Nemelex Xobeh
Okawaru
Sif Muna
The Shining One
Trog
Vehumet
Xom
Yredelemnul
Zin
Beogh
Jiyva

Shops:
D:6: !  D:7: +  D:13: [[[  D:22: *  Orc:2: [  Elf:4: *  Elf:5: *  Snake:3: (  Vault:3: [  Vault:6: (

Portals:
Hell: D:21 D:22 D:23 D:24 D:25 D:26 D:27
Abyss: D:21 D:25
Pan: D:21 D:23 D:24 D:26 D:27
Trove: D:12 (manual of Fighting)
Ziggurat: Lair:2 (7200 gp)

Annotations
D:4 SpPa ghost
D:5 Some kind of vault, exclusion: 26 freezing vapour clouds
D:12 Trove, wants a frigging manual of fighting, argh
D:22 1 exclusion
D:23 exclusion: 68 foul pestilence clouds
Elf:1 exclusion: 9 flame clouds
Elf:6 exclusion: downstairs
Lair:1 1 exclusion
Lair:7 1 exclusion


                    Innate Abilities, Weirdness & Mutations

You are tiny and cannot use many weapons and most armour.
You have supernaturally acute eyesight.
You are a herbivore.
You cover ground extremely quickly.
You need consume almost no food.
You are resistant to magic.


Message History

Search for what [? for help]? silver
Search for what [Enter for "silver", or ? for help]? enchant weapon
Save game and exit?
Level annotation: 1 exclusion
Welcome back, Few the Spriggan Artificer.
Nemelex Xobeh says: It's all in the cards!
Press ? for a list of commands and other information.

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There are no monsters in sight!


[Sometimes]

He's a sprightly little guy! Without rN, stay the hell away from Tartarus, but I would have thought the others were fair game. Dis is probably the easiest- everything is pretty slow- but the open layout of the other two is great for losing trouble with your speed. Hopefully someone more experienced can break them down in detail.

Don't hang around. It's actually surprisingly easy to get OUT of the Hells, particularly with spriggan speed and Translocation skillz. Every down-stair is a gate out on the next floor, so you can bail out entirely as soon as things get rough. Make several runs- don't fight, move as fast as you can, and find the nearest stair down on each level. All the good stuff is on the last floor. Concentrate on finding a nice quick path to the bottom. Once you hit that, poke around a bit and start trying to thin the bad guys out. Bear in mind the last level is usually ferocious but closely themed- bring the opposite element along and go nuts. The moment things aren't going your way, bail, sort yourself out in the Vestibule, dive back in at your leisure. Magic mapping the last floor may save your life in a nasty moment.
Good luck!

[KoboldLord]

You're probably okay. The big risk that you'll run into repeatedly is the sudden spawning of demons around you. These will usually be fodder, but several times per Rune run you'll get a fiend or two of some type, usually the dominant one of the branch. You want to kill these quickly. You'll usually be able to just stab them immediately, but Controlled Blink is an alternative so you can get away long enough to let multiple fiends separate. You will have to deal with both narrow corridors and open areas at different times. Do bring your sling, because you will frequently want to pick off tormentors and hellions before they get annoying.

Explore the first six levels to find a relatively safe and short route downstairs, and return to the entry chamber to rest. You should be able to get all the way down in a couple hundred ticks, if you don't waste time fighting things. You do have access to teleport control all the way down to the 6th level of each, so use it. The bottom levels have some fairly nasty concentrations of monsters, but you can pick them apart while you're searching for loot. Once you've got the Rune, you get teleport control back for the bottom layer and scooping up the rest of the loot gets much easier. Don't bother killing the Rune guardians unless you get a lucky stab; chipping them down is a lengthy process and you want to leave as quickly as possible.

Sublimation of Blood is the best non-god dependent, non-consumable source of mana recovery in the game, and arguably the best source period. The self-damage is mild, and a single cast can fill half your mana bar if you've built up enough necromancy skill. The main advantage of chunks is that your mp recovery is less randomized.

Hunger is no longer an issue, so long as you aren't actually out of rations or honey. You're trying to get the Runes as quickly as possible here, and if you cast a few choko spells to avoid getting bogged down for thousands of turns fighting endlessly respawning waves of demonic trash, it's worth the hunger.

The wiki exaggerates about the need for resistances. Fire resistance and cold resistance are important in Gehenna and Cocytus respectively, but otherwise you want the same balanced resistances you need for every late-game branch. Sustain abilities is much less important now that hitting zero isn't instant death, so royal jellies can substitute just fine. I usually keep my remaining restore abilities potions in the Vestibule to save on royal jellies, and use the potions whenever the stat drain starts getting annoying. Negative energy resistance is basically irrelevant. Even in Tartarus it won't hit you hard enough or frequently enough to dip you below character level 27, and Hell is not really a very good place to victory dance anyway. You best amulet will probably continue to be the rMut, because even if the mutating demons aren't super-common natives in any of the Hells, they still get summoned frequently.

There's no particular order to the Hells. I usually choose based on my resistances, but this won't be especially relevant for you. Dis is filled with slow but beefy monsters that resist everything, and is usually in the top two easiest no matter your resistances. Tartarus is particularly bad nowadays because it has native silent specters, which silence you but not the demons because that's totally fair. Sling them as quick as you can; fortunately they should never be a surprise. Cocytus and Gehenna have the nastiest clusters of enemies on their last level, so be ready to get away even without teleport control.

Bottom line is that Hells are the best-designed post-endgame branch, but unfortunately for your current character that could be bad for his or her health. It should be fun whether you succeed or fail.

[XuaXua]

Did you clear Pandemonium and kill Cerebov? You need his sword for ultimate score.

Stack all your runes on the top exit step with several of those discs of storms.

[mageykun]

Update:

Added sublimation of blood, to use on my poor, fail spriggan health. KoboldLord is right- shaving a bit of hp for a fair amount of mp is a good trade off, especially if you have two sources or regen going. Got into my trove (finally) and created another bazaar, but I didn't get anything that chances anything.

Got up into yellow glow on Dis:7. The rng got a lucky shot through my rMut and gave me... more rMut.

Shadow creatures is actually pretty cool in Hell! I got some nasty things to nuke those poor little mummies I came across.

Mostly unimpressed with Dis' denizens. Everything but the hellions and fiends are pretty much popcorn. Those normally go down quickly, so long as I haste and go after them with the opposite branded quick blade, but every one in a while I get a fiend that just spams torment, or just seems to ignore my rC. Had to burn a stacked elixer and some heal wounds pots to compensate- haven't had to revivification yet (well, in hell. There was once in Elf, and Tomb). Maybe pick up sure blade to prevent the friggers from dodging? (Well, assuming they dodged and didn't just resist low attack rolls).

How am I supposed to get past Dispater? I'm reasonably certain I can't take him in a fair fight, and my magic mapping + detect items tells me I'm going to have to go strait through his throne room to get his rune. Legendary deck summon spam probably won't work since he can abjure, not to mention potential fiend guardians tormenting. I'm kinda stumped. Might try Cocytus- the bots say Antaeus is without rPois or abjuration, meaning I can foxfire him to death with ease.

@XuaXua: No, I haven't killed Cerebov. I'm attempting Hell for the first time and concerned if I'll be able to take the Demon Lords. I certainly haven't already cleared Pan and taken the Pan Lords! I do have some score boosting fixedarts, though. I made sure not to feed those to Nemelex! They're for my collection.

[KoboldLord]

To get past Dispater… you buff up and run for it. His direct attacks don't actually do all that much damage, and you have no reason to stop and fight his summons. Cast Controlled Blink a lot, since that partially overrides the block on teleport control, and when you see the Rune apport the thing and teleport away. Alternatively, you can get him on the edge of your line-of-sight, and once you have his attention take a step back every time he approaches. Once you've lead him far enough away, run in and steal the Rune before he can get back.

This is actually the strategy for every Rune Guardian in both Hell and Pandemonium. Well, except Mnoleg. Because you don't actually need a strategy for Mnoleg.

Pan is easier for your character than Hell, though. I had assumed you'd already done it, or I would have mentioned that already.

[mageykun]

Pan is easier than hell? Really? I would have though the convenient exits to the vestibule and the predefined, predicable monster sets would make Hell safer. That, and the unique Pan lords look scarier than the Hell Lords.

Any advice for what I should do to Pan, then? I wasn't planning on sticking my nose in there till I'd finished hell, but...

Edit: Iron Rune, get! XD

Dispater was actually in a nicer place than I guessed he would be from the magic mapping. I figured he'd be in the convenient indent at the end of the hall, where he could hellfire me as I came in, not locked in a room where I could stab him, apport the rune, and rune my little hasted butt away before he could counter attack.

[KoboldLord]

Pan Lords may be statistically superior to the Lords of Hell, except Mnoleg, but it actually makes a big difference when fiends aren't randomly spawning right on top of you whenever you attempt to rest. Once you clear an out-of-the-way room in a Pan level, it will usually stay pretty well cleared.

[whelen]

I find that Pan can be just as spontaneously generative as the hells sometimes. You don't necessarily get fiends dropped right on top of you, but the enemies seem to thicken far quicker than they would in a normal dungeon level.

Also, my experience in Pan levels is that they come with two or three "default" lesser demonic types, and the rest of the types spawn randomly. For instance, one level might spawn mainly nexoqecs and balrugs, while another level might spawn mainly yocoxiblahblahs and blue devils. This leads to either remarkably straightforward levels or slogging through just trying to find a way out.

[mageykun]

I'm taking the trasnfer to CIP as liberty to blab more. Actual request for advice at the bottom if you wanna skip that.

Icy and Obsidian rune, get!

Cocytus was a walk in the park. The enemy set was fairly gentle, and the ice themed hell effects were downright pillowy, and stole turns from the ones that might actually hurt. I did have one close call with an ice fiend who spammed torment, and had to burn a revification when I discovered tomb won't work over water. I paralyzed and poisoned Antaeus with foxfire, and stabbed him. One down!

Gehenna has been the nastiest hell to walk around in. Flames hurt, especially hellfire, and there are several things that can throw it. I did find a bee room in Geh:6, which was pretty fun. Geh:7 was tough, but not as bad as the wiki made it out to be. It warns of the dangers of being mobbed by multiple serpents of Hell, but I only ever found the one. I'm kind of frustrated by that- I explored the level inch by inch just to make sure I never accidentally trigger a room of the things on me. Maybe I was just lucky- are there alternative layouts with more than one?

I encounter Asmodeus in a 2 wide hallways halfway through the castle. Guess the hellfire woke him up? I kept him busy with some hasted legendary summons, but had to beat a retreat. When I came back, he had wandered earlier into the castle, but didn't notice when I walked right past him (yay stealth!). I made it too the loot chamber unmolested, took what I want, fed Nemelex the rest, and teleported out.

Hell effects and decks of wonder have wrecked merry havoc with my mutations. At least, for the moment, I'm up a point of int, which makes all my spells hungerless (yay!).

  Code:

234372 | Dis:7   | Gained mutation: You are somewhat resistant to further mutation.
253758 | Abyss   | Lost mutation: You are somewhat resistant to further mutation.
255706 | Hell    | Lost mutation: You are resistant to magic.
260594 | Geh:7   | Gained mutation: You are frail (-10% HP).
261775 | Hell    | Lost mutation: You are frail (-10% HP).
261777 | Hell    | Gained mutation: You are somewhat resistant to further mutation.
263510 | Hell    | Lost mutation: You are somewhat resistant to further mutation.
263535 | Hell    | Gained mutation: Your muscles are strong, but stiff (Str +1, Dex -1).
263535 | Hell    | Gained mutation: Your mind is acute (Int +1).
264095 | Hell    | Gained mutation: You tend to lose your temper in combat.
264117 | Hell    | Gained mutation: You can spit poison.
264117 | Hell    | Gained mutation: You have a pair of small horns on your head.
264118 | Hell    | Lost mutation: You can spit poison.
264118 | Hell    | Lost mutation: You tend to lose your temper in combat.
264118 | Hell    | Lost mutation: Your muscles are strong, but stiff (Str +1, Dex -1).

Trying to decide if I should do Tar, or maybe experiment with Pan. I really don't have a good choice for rN. I do have some vanilla rings, one -1 wizard hat, and of course an amulet of warding, but swapping for any of those is expensive. I'm thinking KoboldLord could be right about it not being needed though- it's not like I need to worry about xp at this point, and bolt of draining is subject to dispel missiles. Plus, this is the hell branch the uses executioners. And I eat those for breakfast!

[mageykun]

Hell Clear! XD

Tar wasn't too bad, though shadow fiends seem more torment happy than their siblings, and take longer to go down without an elemental weakness.

I had to put Ereshkigal down- she would just would not let me sneak around her, I so buffed up, summoned and hasted a bone dragon and a giant brown ugly thing, and went to work. The ugly thing got the kill, I think- she wasn't acid resistant, and that hurt her quite a bit.

Taking advice for Pan, especially anything I should bring. After a close call in hell where I discovered my wand of healing didn't fix confusion, I'm thinking a stack of potions of healing would be good to stock up on. I might ditch the sling- I don't have the capacity to carry much ammo, and I didn't find it very useful in hell, except to occasion lure something.

[KoboldLord]

I have no idea why the wiki says to worry about multiple Serpents of Hell. There's only ever the one in all the times I've been down there, and while it's beefy, it has fewer tricks to pull than a golden dragon and will go down under your direct attention as quickly as anything else. More recent versions will put a palette-swapped Serpent of Hell with different attacks in any one of the four Hells, but even then only one SoH will spawn total, and the other three Hells will be clear.

Bring wands of digging and disintegration for Pan. You don't need too many charges, but some of the Demonic Rune vaults there effectively require it to get the Rune. Also a wand of teleport in case you run into a random Pan Lord that knows Silence.

You'll want Air Strike, or otherwise something that can hit things behind transparent stone walls. Refrigeration and Rapid Deconstruction do the job well, too.

Memorize Teleport Self. A wand will run low on charges if you try to use it to loot Cerebov's treasure rooms, and besides which it's helpful to be able to retreat to your safe room at the slightest hint of momentary inconvenience rather than just when things are actually dangerous.

You'll want a way to stack as much fire, cold, poison, and electric resistance as possible. Fire and poison can largely be separate, if need be, but you need cold and electric at the same time.

Mutation resistance is important. Stasis and clarity are not very important, but bring them if you have them.

Bring a big stack of food. A decent amount of food spawns as floor trash, but you might get a bad streak.

Bring your distortion weapon. It isn't too hard or too risky to find an exit to the Dungeon, but going through the Abyss is usually faster. You also don't want to run out of inventory slots right as you hit Cerebov's level.

The preparations I've listed are extreme overkill. As long as you can kill executioners and the four flavors of fiends, and you have semi-controlled blinking from some source, you can clear Pan. I expect Gloorx Vloq will be the most difficult target to get past, largely because of his or her high-quality minions.

[mageykun]

Swapped out spammals, extension, and dig, rotated in tele self, ctele, and airstrike. Added wand of digging.

Airstrike already paid off- I found a glass zig entrance with some angels. Free xp! LRD would have been a bad idea anyways- wouldn't be much help if I ever found myself forced to Tomb + vitrification.

I think I'm going to like Pan. The very First Level was Lom Lobon's. Sucker went down fast. And I even got a stab in.

Edit: Character no longer in progress, so locked. Go here here for the YAVP.