Preferred order of branches easiest/hardest


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Blades Runner

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Post Thursday, 15th October 2015, 21:12

Preferred order of branches easiest/hardest

Because I didn't want to get too far off-topic in the Game Design Discussion thread -

What order do you do the branches in? I assume
1) Dungeon to Lair,
2) Lair to end,
3)Dungeon to Orc,
4)Orc to end
5)Dungeon to End
is pretty standard.

And then the lair offshoots. Difficulty-wise, I see it as

Snake 1-4 (easiest)
Spider 1-4
Swamp 1-4
Shoals 1-4 (hardest)

Then go back for the runes. Maybe Elf 1-2 in here.

Then Vaults 1-4
Depths 1-5
Get the third rune Vaults or Slimy or Abyss, depending on gear.
Zot 1-4

Then which branch of hell is easiest? I haven't played extended enough to figure it out. The cold one didn't seem too bad, and the iron one tore me right apart.
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Slime Squisher

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Post Thursday, 15th October 2015, 21:40

Re: Preferred order of branches easiest/hardest

Do you really think the Snake Pit is the easiest lair rune branch?

Sharpshooters, guardian serpents, shock serpents, anacondas, poison arrows, mystic blasts, constriction, invisibility and MR-checking hexes less useful than in other branches...

Difficulty-wise I'd take Spider or Swamp anytime over Snake.
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Blades Runner

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Post Thursday, 15th October 2015, 21:47

Re: Preferred order of branches easiest/hardest

Yeah, that's true. Snake 1-4 are easier (for me, with most characters) than Spider 1-4 or Swamp 1-4, but snake 5 is generally harder than the rune level of either.

Edit: If I have ghost moth protection, I honestly think the rune chamber of spider is the least likely place on the whole map to kill you, because you can't get swarmed unless you're REALLY dumb. But snake:5 has all those nasty teleport tricks, and guardian serpents "blink everything around you" can't even be resisted.
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Pandemonium Purger

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Post Friday, 16th October 2015, 00:47

Re: Preferred order of branches easiest/hardest

Personaly I list lair branches in the order of:
Spider
Swamp
Snake
Shoals

Spider isn't too bad, as a blowgun makes orb spiders easy. Not haveing sInv can make spider more annoying. A good trick for the spider rune vault is to clear the rest of the level, then open the vault, then run away at full health. This makes everything wander so you can come back and take the rune.
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Crypt Cleanser

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Post Friday, 16th October 2015, 01:47

Re: Preferred order of branches easiest/hardest

There are usually easier branches after Zot:4 than Hell. As for their difficulty, it's the same thing you said about 3rd rune: it depends on character and gear.
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Shoals Surfer

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Post Friday, 16th October 2015, 02:17

Re: Preferred order of branches easiest/hardest

I tend to go back and forth from lair to orc
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Ziggurat Zagger

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Post Friday, 16th October 2015, 09:20

Re: Preferred order of branches easiest/hardest

D to 12, Lair, Orc, D to 15, generally Spider -> Swamp -> Snake -> Shoals (depends a lot on character, always Shoals last though), V:1 - 4, Depths to 4 (I just want to save the last level for last), Elf, Crypt, V:5, Depths:5, Zot. If more, then usually Slime before Abyss, the rest depends. I'll save the last half of Zot:5 to the end.

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Abyss Ambulator

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Post Friday, 16th October 2015, 09:34

Re: Preferred order of branches easiest/hardest

I pretty much always take vaults 1-4 soon as I have a rune, simply because there is a pretty good chance of finding some mini-treasure vaults in there. I think Swamp is generally easier than Spider, but some of the new monsters have changed that. Spider is of course greatly simplified if you have rPois and some decent AC. After clearing the first two lair branches, I will usually do vaults 5, depths, then elf 1-3 (because treasure, and because its not as hard as everybody makes it out to be with careful play), then crypts, then Slime, then I clear the vestibule and Zot inluding the orb chamber. At that point, it's either Hells, Pan, or Tome, equipment depending. If they are looking iffy (resists), I will wander the abyss until I hate everybody who made this game. =D
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Shoals Surfer

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Post Friday, 16th October 2015, 15:20

Re: Preferred order of branches easiest/hardest

Shaols is MUCH easier with perma-flight btw

Te/Gr/Dr(black) or evocable flight preferably
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Shoals Surfer

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Post Friday, 16th October 2015, 15:37

Re: Preferred order of branches easiest/hardest

WingedEspeon wrote: A good trick for the spider rune vault is to clear the rest of the level, then open the vault, then run away at full health. This makes everything wander so you can come back and take the rune.


This. An alternative is to engage for a while to clear out the easy stuff, then teleport or run to stairs.

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Lair Larrikin

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Post Saturday, 17th October 2015, 10:43

Re: Preferred order of branches easiest/hardest

Dungeon till 12
Orc
Lair
| Swamp |
| Spider |
Depths till 2
| Spider |
| Shoals |
| Elf |
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Ziggurat Zagger

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Post Saturday, 17th October 2015, 21:54

Re: Preferred order of branches easiest/hardest

D to lair entrance,
Lair 1-8
D to orc (if needed)
Orc 1-4
D to vaults entrance
With rpois: spider/swamp/snake/shoals
Without rpois: swamp/spider/snake/shoals
Vaults 1-4
D to end
If wand of disint and with trog or mr+++ do elf.
If rcorr and rmut and clarity do slime
Do crypts (unless maybe switching to tso later)
If ?fear or ?blink and !haste and one pip of rn, rf and rc, and regen or cloud damage or intrinsic fast movement or just a real bad ass do V5
U1-4
If regen+ and mr ++ and stealth>0 do abyss rune
Re-evaluate elf and slime conditions
do zot 1-4
Maybe do pan
Maybe do hell
Maybe do tombs
Z5
Win
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Dis Charger

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Post Saturday, 17th October 2015, 22:59

Re: Preferred order of branches easiest/hardest

Some people disagree with me, that's fine and I do vary, a lot; but most commonly (list assumes character is fairly weak and doesn't attempt harder branch early AND is going for full extended):

D:12
Orc: 4
Lair: 8
Easiest of [really varies with character] (Snake, Spider, Elf, Swamp) [Rune 1]
Second (Snake, Spider, Shoals, Swamp, Elf) [Rune 2]
Last (Snake, Spider, Shoals, Swamp, Elf)
NOTE: IF Abyssed doing Elf, I generally just get the Abyssal rune. [1/5 of the time I've gotten Abyssal first.]
Vaults:4
Crypt:3
Depths:2 [Go to Abyss now if I didn't get the Rune Earlier; Rune 3]
Slime:6 [Rune 4]
Pandemonium [Rune 5-9]
Depths:3
Hell
Hell Branches; Order Varies with which resistances I have, but generally (Tartarus, Cocytus, Iron City of Dis, Gehenna) [Rune 10-13]
Tomb [Rune 14]
Vaults 5 [Rune 15]
Depths: 5
Zot: 5
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Tomb Titivator

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Post Sunday, 18th October 2015, 03:14

Re: Preferred order of branches easiest/hardest

So I've been playing for a while, but clueless about Tomb, Pan & Abyss. Just not into them yet. Usually I worry about defense. Unless there's an uber weapon in hand, I try not to go into an area until I'm shaving off much of the damage. Generally, back out if the deeper levels of a branch are whopping, and try someplace else. Even back into the main Dungeon a few levels, is often better once you have XP. On the other hand, if you can try and survive at least upper levels, fresh branches often have nice loot and shops that make them very tempting. ;)

D:8 to D:15 (usually D:10 to D:12)

Do Lair, Orc...
Alternate or add some main Dungeon if branch basements are whopping.

Often rest of the Dungeon here.

Swamp and/or Spider. Neither is fun without rPois. Also beware Spider if no Clarity (tarantella!) or no SInv.
Flight and heavy offense helps in Swamp; heavy armor and offensive poison pays off in Spider.

Snake if have rPois (and ideally rF, missile defense or major aoe/ranged offense).

Shoals if have rC, missile defense (Dodge, Repel, fire--> make steam etc.), and general uberness.
Shoals is serious juju. Sometimes go there much later!

If not prepared for other Lair branches, start Elf.

Positively Elf when have good anti-personnel weapons, good combat speed, and some elemental resistances.
Holy weapons, bolt spells, clouds, anti-magic or any high-power disable spells all can help.

Vaults 1 to ?, just not 5.
Clouds are the bomb in Vaults if you got em.

Depths (can alternate parts with Vaults and/or Elf)

Crypt sometime in here if have food, melee defense, Dispel Undead or holy, rN.
It's fine with prep, but sometimes I don't bother on a 3-6 rune run.

Slime -- possibly -- given melee defense, rCorr, rC, rMut, Clarity, clouds/summons/bolt for TRJ

Vault 5

Zot

Hells I've only been a little, but don't be too frightened by the sound of them either. :)
Last edited by stoneychips on Sunday, 25th October 2015, 04:13, edited 1 time in total.
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Vestibule Violator

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Post Monday, 19th October 2015, 13:20

Re: Preferred order of branches easiest/hardest

Pan and Abyss are both easier and more rewarding than hells, FYI. ;)
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Slime Squisher

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Post Monday, 19th October 2015, 23:07

Re: Preferred order of branches easiest/hardest

I usually do:

D to Lair & Orc, or D:12
Lair
Orc
D:15
Spider:4, Swamp:4, Snake:4, Shoals:4 often in this order of preference but depends on gear and skills
Grab 2 runes, or sometimes only 1 if I want to avoid Shoals (or if another branch is giving me troubles)
Vaults:4
Crypt, Elf:2, and Elf:3 if I feel ready and want the loot
Depths
Zot

Then I ask myself if I want to do extended, and it can go almost any way from there, even if I usually leave Hells for after Pan. Tomb tend to come late unless I have some trick up my sleeve (like Kiku support).

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