I AM SO TIRED OF THE ABYSS

[Grimm]

I was damn XL 20 and I still died - swarmed by hell hogs, doused in liquid fire, all consumables used up. Farthest I'd ever gotten.

I always die in the damn Abyss. I am sick of it.

How in the name of all that is unholy do you people do it?

[Shade]

I was damn XL 20 and I still died - swarmed by hell hogs, doused in liquid fire, all consumables used up. Farthest I'd ever gotten.

I always die in the damn Abyss. I am sick of it.

How in the name of all that is unholy do you people do it?

Usually some combination of swift, fly, haste, levitate, invisibility, and / or a lantern of shadows, and most importantly a liberal use of premature teleportation. Stealthy gear is a plus. The old standard advice of run on a slight diagonal has held true for me. Run is the imperative word there. Don't get bogged down in any fight you can avoid, and use fly / levitate and deep water / lava where you can. Teleport at the prospect of trouble not when you get in trouble. If you have to rest find a good nook.

I've died plenty of times in the Abyss, but so long as my level is in the double digits I can usually worm my way out. With that being said, the best way to survive the Abyss is to not get sent there unless you want to go...

[Grimm]

See I WAS running from all fights, on a diagonal. Then a pack of hell hogs jumped me and I burnt to death. No rF. Speed potions didn't stop the burning.

[Grimm]

[joellercoaster]

I got this tip from the previous forum, and it is: carry a ring of teleportitis around just in case of inadvertent banishment.

But yeah, I suck at the Abyss too, my survival rate is probably about 50% overall. Having said that, unlike many I actually quite like the place

[Jeremiah]

My XL26 minotaur berserker with around 250 HP very nearly died in the Abyss - I think I was down to 1 HP when my teleport kicked in.

I got swarmed by multiple ancient liches and hell hogs, converging from 3 sides, then summoning executioners and other nasty stuff.

So yeah - even high level characters who can clear Zot are at risk in the Abyss.

[Shade]

So yeah - even high level characters who can clear Zot are at risk in the Abyss.

Indeed. All you can do is hope Xom (and / or the RNG) takes mercy on you and do your best to play as optimally as you can for the Abyss. In the last while (.7 and beyond) I've gotten out (somewhat) more often than not, but that doesn't actually mean I'm 'good' at the Abyss...

edit: And I can't emphasize the 'teleport at the mere prospect trouble' bit enough. Don't wait a turn or two. Don't wait for actual trouble. Don't mess around. Just teleport.

[galehar]

The old standard advice of run on a slight diagonal has held true for me.

Running is good advice, but the slight diagonal is irrelevant. I've learned recently that the Abyss doesn't wrap around anymore like the wiki says. It was changed like 6 years ago! We should really updated the abyss wiki page. So just run in a straight line in any direction.

[Grimm]

I keep thanking you without meaning to. Anyway:

So just run in a straight line in any direction.

AND STILL DIE

[Shade]

I keep thanking you without meaning to. Anyway:

So just run in a straight line in any direction.

AND STILL DIE

I'll thank him again just to be sure.

[Galefury]

In my experience the abyss is really not all that bad. Then again, I try to keep an eye on my MR so I don't get sent there in the first place.

But I sure am hoping difficulty will scale with depth of banishment in 0.9. Or with some other meaningful indicator of what you should be able to handle. Spell power of the banishing monster could also work.

[mageykun]

The key to the abyss is speed. If you're fast, you're pretty much guaranteed to survive. I've had spriggans safely run the abyss and nab the orb as low as lvl 10!

So play a spriggan, or a centaur. Wear boots of running. Cast swiftness with flight or lev, and haste. Speed is key.

[pratamawirya]

Running is good advice, but the slight diagonal is irrelevant. I've learned recently that the Abyss doesn't wrap around anymore like the wiki says. It was changed like 6 years ago! We should really updated the abyss wiki page. So just run in a straight line in any direction.

What the hell.... At least I now know.

[absolutego]

how does it work then? it simply regenerates after a while/when you hit the border of the map?

[galehar]

how does it work then? it simply regenerates after a while/when you hit the border of the map?

I haven't checked the source, but I have been told that when you hit the border, some new abyss is generated and the map is shifted.

[XuaXua]

Running is good advice, but the slight diagonal is irrelevant. I've learned recently that the Abyss doesn't wrap around anymore like the wiki says. It was changed like 6 years ago! We should really updated the abyss wiki page. So just run in a straight line in any direction.

What the hell.... At least I now know.

Apparently no one knew.

[eharper256]

Hmm, that explains why the map seemed so big, then... Its a new map entirely! I remember thinking, 'so this really wraps around?' the first time I survived awhile in the abyss.

[Grimm]

If you're fast, you're pretty much guaranteed to survive.

Which means that if you're normal, you're pretty much guaranteed to die, which is my ragesource du jour. I hadn't got Spellcasting up yet and when my speed potions ran out I was doomed. There was literally nothing I could do. Waaaaaaaah.

the only significant danger to your life in Abyss will be Executioners

I found a pack of hell hogs to be a significant threat. YMMV.

Blinking in the Abyss will cause an instant, full teleport one out of three times (and do nothing the other two out of three). This is so effective that if you have the spell or a +Blink item, you may as well not have been banished at all.

This is my pick for useful tip of the week. Thanks.

[Tezcatlipoca]

I don't find the abyss to be that hard, except at low-level. Apart from running try to avoid the open areas and use dig/wand if cornered in the closed areas.
If the map is mostly open teleport until a new level is generated.

And be careful of liches, they may summon nasty demons.

[Girafales]

Being banned to the Abyss by a Zot trap saved my life when I was surrounded in Zot 5, already with The Orb on my inventory.
I think it was the only time I got happy by being banned.

[QTQuazar]

priorities before taking on anyone or thing that can banish you:

Best: Swift+Fly, or Boots of Lev+Control Flight, or Haste (unlikely), or Wand of Haste, or (if nothing else) some mode of Berserk (though if you don't get far enough, you're finished--maybe just buys you time to try a few other last ditch maneuvers). any kind of transform form that lets you move faster, although it's unlikely you'll have these yet. Swiftness and blink are two early game extremely high priority spells for me--they pay off again and again and again.

Surprisingly useful others: Dig/Disintegrate/Wand of Digging + Ring of Teleport (or anything allowing Tele or Blink). corner yourself in a hidey-hole, and spam disappear. even better if you can flood your tunnel with fog or summons (either magical or evoked). if you're stuck in the open, summon a mass of butterflies or whatever cheap itty-bitties or other summons you have --then you need only worry about smiters. hopefully you have a fog or clouding ability to help if there are any around. be like the squid (or Giant Kraken, i suppose). if you're missing a resistance, dig a 90 degree diagonal turn out of a wall so that only one of those fire piggies can line you up.

waste whatever resources you have if you're there before your time. your potions and scrolls are likely to be destroyed by sth coming along anyway, and they're not that useful in the late game.

if you're in the Abyss prematurely and can't handle it, esp. without speed, STAY OUT OF THE OPEN.

nemelex and lugonu have their own solutions, and any gods offering summons also provide you with decent escape fodder.