Is clearing Zot 1-4 silly?

[Sandman25]

I've noticed that many players dive to Zot 5. Is it a good idea?
Zot 5 is much harder than Zot 1-4 and I prefer to get loot and XP from Zot1-4 first. If I find an Orb of Fire on the floor, I always try to kill it (even without rMut) since I always can use teleport or blinking if the fight goes wrong way and I can decide to steal the orb if I see that I have serious problems vs a single OoF.
Also it really helps to have empty floors during orb run (or even allied zombies).

[Eyesburn]

I usually clear Zot 1-4, because I may find resources and get exp for extended. Guess if I ever try speedrunning I would skip it.

If you are all set up and made decision to go for regular 3-4 runes game, think in that case unexplored part of Zot 1-4 should not worry you too much as you found path and all stairs you need to get out of Zot. It may be bad if you want to get out of sticky situation by reading ?tele and dropping into an unexplored part I guess.
Anyway, being that good or bad or silly, I have tendency to clear Zot 1-4.

[jeremie]

If you char is not very good, and you plan on teleport stealing the orb, then it's not worth exposing yourself to the risk of clearing zot, especially if you have no cure mut.

I can imagine someone clearing zot without cure mut and then getting teleportitis or berzerkitis before getting to zot:5. That would suck (and I'm sure some pour soul has experienced it by trying to clear zot 1-4.)

[tasonir]

I generally always clear zot 1-4, I am rarely playing a character weak enough that they'd likely have to ninja the orb, and don't like attempting to ninja the orb in any case. About the only time I did skip some of Zot, I died on Zot:4 holding the orb anyways, so I'm especially not likely to do that again.

[jeremie]

I guess if you play Cheibriados trying to ninja the orb is like suicide because the teleport has to be perfect. I wonder if anyone has ever done that?

[Magipi]

I am rarely playing a character weak enough that they'd likely have to ninja the orb

I always thought that ninjaing the orb is done with super strong characters.

[duvessa]

It's done with all characters. Except formicids are terrible, I guess.

[Berder]

With most characters I dive through zot1-3, then clear zot4 so I have a place of safety in case bad stuff happens in zot5. Although truth be told I rarely need to use it.

[Sar]

I once ninja'd the orb with a HEAM of Chei because I accidentally took a hatch to Zot:5 (it was my first time playing console and hatches and stairs look similar by default, I changed the glyph since then). So I started teleporting, got next to an orb, apported it and won.

[duvessa]

If I had to play a chei game for some reason and couldn't abandon, I would probably ninja the orb, and I say that as someone who almost always killsdudes instead.

[crate]

If you have apportation then teleporting around in zot with chei is not bad (slouch solves a lot of problems since you actually have enough piety to just kill the stuff near the orb with it).

Wouldn't want to have to actually move on top of the orb though.

[Sprucery]

I always clear Zot 1 - 4. I think my DDFi of Ely was my only character who ninja'd the orb by random teleportation.

(Well, also my first winner just control-teleported straight to the orb and back to the stairs but that's irrelevant here.)

[scorpionwarrior]

I usually dive to 5 (mapping helps but is not really that important). Unless theres some stairway shenanigans happening like that horrible vault with draconian hellsmiters behind crystal walls surrounding all three >. I'll take a trap door to z:5 over that shit.

[mopl]

I don't clear Zot always. It often depends on when I'm going into Zot.

If I plan to do extended and I need some XP to get a spell reliable (Statue Form, CBlink, Nmut, DDoor, ...) I clear Zot.

If I care about turncounts, I skip Zot:1-4, and sometimes even a part of Zot. I tend to be extremely slow early game (~50-60k for 3-4 first runes and Depths), and then try to finish the game in ~20k turns (Abyss, Pan, Hell, Zot).

[kroki]

by the time i get to zot i am usually so bored i just dive it to end game quickly. might be worth if you are just trying to get your charms castable before orb

[Lasty]

I used to kill zot 1-4 and also clear Zot, but eventually I realized that if I'm strong enough to safely clear floors in Zot, I might as well just get the orb. Since then, I've map/dived Zot every time, and I've never looked back. Zot floors have monsters that can get dangerous quickly and can force you to drain resources, and I'd rather save those resources for Zot:5.

Also, the novelty of clearing Zot floors eventually wore off. These days when I get to Zot, I'm ready to win and start a new character.

[Sandman25]

I used to kill zot 1-4 and also clear Zot, but eventually I realized that if I'm strong enough to safely clear floors in Zot, I might as well just get the orb.

Orb run is important too. I've run into a pack of holy creatures or multiple pan lords as Mu of Chei. Being able to recklessly teleport helped a lot.

[Moose]

I echo everything lasty said.

Map-dive is the way to go. For a 3-rune game, clearing zot 1-4 is a huge waste of time, and it's quite annoying too, and dangerous. Curse toes can ruin anyone's day really fast.

[Sandman25]

For a 3-rune game, clearing zot 1-4 is a huge waste of time, and it's quite annoying too, and dangerous. Curse toes can ruin anyone's day really fast.

Sorry, I don't understand. "Waste of time" to me is when I am doing something boring/"unfun". But "dangerous" cannot be boring and is hardly "unfun" since solving dangerous situations is what makes me play crawl. Care to explain what is so bad with Zot comparing with other branches? Or don't you like late game in general?

[daggaz]

I have to kill all the monsters. Every single one. Man this fucking abyss level is taking forever.

[Sprucery]

I like to have Zot:1-4 cleared so that I can take the shortest way up from Zot:5 regardless of where I land when I teleport with the orb from the orb chamber. I guess it would suffice to clear areas between all stairs but I actually like clearing those levels.

[Mattchew]

I used to clear Zot because I was worried about getting jumped on the way back up. Now the fun/risk/reward calculation usually tilts the other way and I tend to clear paths between stairs, sometimes a zone around "extra" stairs.

One thing in particular that changed the fun/reward ratios was Depths, which wasn't there when I started playing. I am almost sure to have hit XL 27 by the time I can enter Zot, and have already spent a long time fighting end game beasties (end game for little old 3 rune me, anyway).