How do you safely progress in this situation?

[Laraso]

OK, this has been happening to me very often lately. I get to the Lair, clear it out, no problem. I clear out Orc, no problem. I clear the dungeon, no problem. However, now I'm forced to complete a branch, and I still haven't found the proper tools I need to make it through them. I don't have clarity/flight/rMsl for Shoals, I don't have rPois/Blink for Snake/Spider, and I don't have rNeg/MR+ for Elf. I could try to make it through one of these branches, and I might be able to do grab the rune, but it will be much harder than normal and I can't feel confident while making my way through them.

Is there any safe way to handle this situation?

[Amnesiac]

you can clear elf:1-2(run if you meet a sorc or demonologist), maybe elf:3 outside the vault, some more of D, maybe. Invisibility or spells(e: ranged spells like conjurations or maybe even enchantments) for shoals if possible, maybe a good polearm you can use without skill invesment for sirens? Something like that. Make sure you didn't miss anything in shops.

[Arkhan]

Other than that, being super careful with micromanagment in fights you're not fully equipped for might be the reality. Drawing everything to stairwells, avoiding revealing fog of war during combat, running very early, stuff like that. It's easy to deal with things when you have the intended answer to them, the trick of the game is inventing answers when you can't. Any fight you can walk away from is a good one, right?

e: a snapshot/dump of a current character in this predicament would be great, since it'd allow us to give more directed advice based on what their current strengths are.

[Hirsch I]

but general advice is pretty good too, as a good amount of characters dont win, at least he learned something good about the game.

[1010011010]

It's completely possible to do the those lair branches without rPois, blink etc. It does mean being more careful and snake/spider will make you use up some permafood, but still doable. That said, If i found a ring of resist poison in shoals,I would leave and go to snake.

Also; no one is asking you to clear the level, just get the rune.

[Laraso]

e: a snapshot/dump of a current character in this predicament would be great, since it'd allow us to give more directed advice based on what their current strengths are.

Well, it isn't like this is any one specific character. It's happened to the last three or four characters I've had clear Lair, most were using melee, but it also includes at least one spell-casting character.

I had actually made a separate topic for that spell caster. The caster wasn't in as bad of a situation as my melee dudes, because I had learned some pretty serious poison spells which were more than capable of one-shotting everything in Spider. The problem with Spider was that I had to use those poison spells to have any chance of getting through, and they had a hunger cost of #####., which inevitably led to me blowing through a big chunk of my permafood and I eventually died to a hasted Wiglaf. If you want to see that character, click here. (Do note that since I've made that thread, I have cleared Shoals, so it is no longer "unfamiliar territory".

Also; no one is asking you to clear the level, just get the rune.

Well, of course. That does not, however, mean that grabbing the rune is easy, and it's always safer (when possible) to have cleared the floors before the floor with the rune to make the trip back out much safer.

[moocowmoocow]

"Safely progress" is a myth.

[Laraso]

"Safely progress" is a myth.

"Safely progress" in this instance means "progress optimally".

[HenryFlower]

However, now I'm forced to complete a branch, and I still haven't found the proper tools I need to make it through them.

You aren't forced to complete a branch -- you can always do Depths, which is dangerous as hell, but at least gives you the choice of 4 dangerous options.

[tedric]

In this kind of situation I tend to dip into each of the available branches, running away at the first sign of something I'm not prepared for and hopping to a different branch. Often this gives me a window to find loot or get a spell online that helps me get a little further in one of the branches. Lather, rinse, repeat.

[Lasty]

If you aren't strong enough to complete Spider w/o rPois, you'll probably have a hard time in Vaults as well. Taking Spider slowly and cautiously is almost certainly better than doing Elf:3, Depths, or any other option.

[Sar]

You don't need rPois in Snake or Spider (it's more useful in Snake, though, due to PArrows flying around). There are very little resistances in Crawl that you really need to win.
Amnesiac's advice about doing Elf sounds pretty bad to me, btw.

[Senban]

I often find that Regen more than covers lack poison resistance, even against red poisoning from a sea snake I've had characters health go up instead of down. This may depend on the source of regen and the character concerned though.

P.s. anyone know how regen works in relation to stacking, is it worth wearing troll armour with a ring of regen casting the nec 3 regen spell and then drinking lots of blood as a vampire (as a slightly uber example) or do returns diminish at some point?

[and into]

I often find that Regen more than covers lack poison resistance, even against red poisoning from a sea snake I've had characters health go up instead of down. This may depend on the source of regen and the character concerned though.

P.s. anyone know how regen works in relation to stacking, is it worth wearing troll armour with a ring of regen casting the nec 3 regen spell and then drinking lots of blood as a vampire (as a slightly uber example) or do returns diminish at some point?

Regen stacks and, as far as I know, does not undergo a stepdown or diminishing returns.

According to wizmode: ring of vitality plus normal ring of regen on an alive vampire with max HP of 267 (level 27, fighting 27, +ring of vitality) who casts regeneration spell while wearing a troll leather armor regenerates 3 HP per 10 auts. (cue NBC "The More You Know" music)

[wheals]

To get more, you'd want a PbD demonspawn with 7 corpses in view and the regen 3 mutation somehow wearing the moon troll leather armour.

[tedric]

From the Knowledge Bots (http://crawl.develz.org/wordpress/bots):

  Code:

regeneration
1. Increases the rate at which you regain HP per turn, at the expense of more nutrition. Different sources stack and vary in effectiveness. ...
...
5. If a character cannot regenerate passively (this means DD or bloodless Vp or any character with slow healing 3), items or spells that increase regeneration rate won't help. Trog's Hand will though!

No stepdown, each of those sources will add to the rate. In practice, whether it's actually "worth" stacking all of them together is up to you.