Advice please: Icy stuff on Swamp:5

[beikul]

I'm still very new at the whole 'crawl' thing but finally seem to have a character on a roll: a Level 16 MiFi who has managed to clear Orc, Lair and a Labyrinth. I've now got to Swamp 5 and seem to have rolled the 'icy' level. I've cleared most of the map and I'm left with some sort of building where the entrance has been marked as 'travel-excluded' (I've attached a screenshot) and it's producing clouds of freezing vapour.

I've not encountered freezing vapour before and don't have any cold resistance yet so I'm nervous about charging in. How dangerous is this likely to be? Should I go and get cold resistance before proceeding? (There is a robe with cold resistance in a shop somewhere but I'm nervous about taking off my plate mail).

Character is below in case it's useful. Any advice would be great.

  Code:

 Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup version 0.10.0 character file.

Zeal the Executioner (Minotaur Fighter)            Turns: 44196, Time: 06:35:37

HP 149/149       AC 42     Str 29      XL: 16   Next:  0%
MP  22/22        EV 15     Int  8      God: Okawaru [*****.]
Gold 1436        SH  0     Dex 11      Spells:  3 memorised, 10 levels left

Res.Fire  : + + .   See Invis. : +    a - +5,+3 executioner's axe (elec) {god gift}
Res.Cold  : . . .   Warding    : + .  e - +10 plate armour of the Kettle-Drum {god g
Life Prot.: + . .   Conserve   : .    (no shield)
Res.Acid. : . . .   Res.Corr.  : .    C - +3 crown of Dyrovepreva {god gift, Hunger
Res.Poison: +       Clarity    : .    q - +3 cloak of Flash {+Lev EV+4}
Res.Elec. : +       Spirit.Shd : .    s - +2 pair of gauntlets {Str+3} (curse)
Sust.Abil.: + .     Stasis     : .    (no boots)
Res.Mut.  : .       Ctrl.Telep.: .    N - brooch of Shielding {Ward AC+4 EV+4}
Res.Rott. : .       Levitation : .    E - ring of poison resistance
Saprovore : . . .   Ctrl.Flight: .    G - ring of sustain abilities

@: somewhat resistant to hostile enchantments, extremely unstealthy
A: retaliatory headbutt, horns 2
a: Heroism, Finesse, Renounce Religion, Evoke Levitation


You are on level 5 of the Swamp.
You worship Okawaru.
Okawaru is exalted by your worship.
You are not hungry.

You have visited 5 branches of the dungeon, and seen 33 of its levels.
You have visited 1 Labyrinth.

You have collected 2974 gold pieces.
You have spent 1558 gold pieces at shops.

Inventory:

Hand weapons
 a - a +5,+3 executioner's axe of electrocution (weapon) {god gift}
 b - a cursed short sword of flaming
 r - a +2,+6 dwarven battleaxe of chopping
 t - a cursed bloodstained dagger (quivered)
 W - the cursed battleaxe of the Last Blessings {god gift, chop, +Rage rN+}
   (Okawaru gifted it to you on level 14 of the Dungeon)   
   
   It inflicts extra damage upon your enemies.
   
   It protects you from negative energy.
   It lets you go berserk.
   It has a curse placed upon it.
Armour
 e - the cursed +10 plate armour of the Kettle-Drum (worn) {god gift, rF++}
   (Okawaru gifted it to you on level 4 of the Orcish Mines)   
   
   It greatly protects you from fire.
   It has a curse placed upon it.
 q - the +3 cloak of Flash (worn) {+Lev EV+4}
   (You found it in a Labyrinth)   
   
   It affects your evasion (+4).
   It lets you levitate.
 s - a cursed +2 pair of gauntlets of strength (worn)
 C - the +3 crown of Dyrovepreva (worn) {god gift, Hunger rElec Int+2 SInv}
   (Okawaru gifted it to you on level 3 of the Lair of Beasts)   
   
   It affects your intelligence (+2).
   It insulates you from electricity.
   It enhances your eyesight.
   It speeds your metabolism.
 R - a +1 pair of elven gloves of dexterity {god gift}
Magical devices
 c - a wand of hasting (4)
 g - a wand of fireball {zapped: 1}
 j - a wand of polymorph other (8)
 l - a wand of slowing {zapped: 1}
 u - a wand of cold
 B - a twisted wooden wand {zapped: 1} {tried}
 D - a wand of disintegration {zapped: 1}
 H - a wand of fire {zapped: 1}
 K - a wand of polymorph other
 Q - a wooden wand {zapped: 1} {tried}
 S - a wand of fire {zapped: 1}
 X - a wand of slowing
 Z - a wand of disintegration {zapped: 4}
Comestibles
 v - 4 honeycombs
 w - a royal jelly
Scrolls
 d - 2 scrolls of identify
 h - a scroll of detect curse
 i - 2 scrolls of magic mapping
 o - 6 scrolls of enchant armour
 x - a scroll labeled SCHICV FRO LIX
 y - 3 scrolls of remove curse
 A - 7 scrolls of teleportation
 T - 5 scrolls of blinking
Jewellery
 f - an uncursed amulet of clarity
 n - an uncursed amulet of resist mutation
 E - a ring of poison resistance (right hand)
 G - a ring of sustain abilities (left hand)
 N - the brooch of Shielding (around neck) {Ward AC+4 EV+4}
   (You found it on level 6 of the Dungeon)   
   
   [amulet of warding]
   
   It affects your AC (+4).
   It affects your evasion (+4).
   
   Back in the good old days, every adventurer had one of these handy devices.
   That, and a pony.
 Y - an uncursed ring of protection from fire
Potions
 k - 3 potions of restore abilities
 m - a gluggy white potion
 p - 2 potions of invisibility
 z - a metallic blue potion
 F - 3 potions of speed
 I - 3 potions of heal wounds
 J - 4 potions of curing
 M - 2 potions of might
 P - a potion of agility
 V - 3 potions of berserk rage


   Skills:
 + Level 17.8 Fighting
 * Level 23.7 Axes
 + Level 16.4 Armour
 - Level 1.9 Dodging
 - Level 1.0 Stealth
 - Level 0.7 Stabbing
 - Level 3.7 Shields
 * Level 7.5 Traps & Doors
 + Level 2.3 Unarmed Combat
 + Level 8.2 Invocations
 - Level 2.3 Evocations


You have 10 spell levels left.
You know the following spells:

 Your Spells              Type           Power        Failure   Level  Hunger
a - Summon Small Mammals  Summ           #....        100%        1    Choko
b - Fulsome Distillation  Trmt/Necr      N/A          100%        1    Choko
c - Mephitic Cloud        Pois/Air/Conj  #........    100%        3    Honeycomb


Dungeon Overview and Level Annotations

Branches:
Dungeon (15/27)            Temple (1/1) D:6             Orc (4/4) D:10
    Elf (0/5) Orc:4          Lair (8/8) D:9           Swamp (5/5) Lair:2
 Shoals (0/5) Lair:3        Slime (0/6) Lair:7     
 Vault: D:14-19     

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

Shops:
D:5: !  D:8: %%*  D:12: %  Orc:4: !!/[

Portals:
Hell: Lair:8

Annotations
D:3 sewers
D:5 sandy tomb
D:8 shops
Lair:2 stash, 1 exclusion
Swamp:4 remember axe is cursed!


                    Innate Abilities, Weirdness & Mutations

You reflexively headbutt those who attack you in melee.
You have a pair of horns on your head.



[chrysalis]

Simply put I'd wait.

You have a moderate amount of HP with no ice resistance. I'm sure you'd make it through the freezing cloud hallway, especially if you just use a scroll of blinking. I'd be more concerned about the ice type creatures (ice dragons and the like) that are guarding the rune. Come back when you have a couple of ice resist items or when you are confident you can spank some ice dragons with your back against the wall.

You seem to have a great char going and I see no reason to rush it now.

[pivotal]

I wouldn't advise going in there without rC+ at a minimum. That vault is full of hydra simulcra which can deal up to 52 damage *per head* (14 dmg + 13-38 cold dmg). One pip of cold resist will halve the cold damage, making them a bit easier to deal with. Wands of fire and fireball come in handy here.

[Night2o1]

Truly there is no point in going into the vault now, however you should consider.. just how hard headed is a minotaur? Do minotaurs like to feel like.. cowards who turn tail at the sight of some floating ice cubes!?!?

[beikul]

Thank you all for posting. The consensus seems to be come back later, which I'm happy to do

Any suggestions for where to go next? My options are Elf (which I was going to avoid due to lack of magic resistance), Shoals, Slime or continue down the dungeon (I've got to level 15 far).

[Happy Corner]

Continue down the main dungeon.

Shoals can be tricky to someone who's never been there before (you have levitation, though, which will be very handy there). Slime is even more dangerous without corrosion or mutation resistance. You could probably progress in the Elf Halls, but not having conservation there will be painful for your items. Also, the vault at the end (Elf:5) always has a crowd of powerful elf enemies (mostly casters), and it helps to have as many levels under your belt as possible first.

[BlackSheep]

A flaming battleaxe would also be helpful for tackling that Swamp end vault.

[njvack]

A flaming battleaxe would also be helpful for tackling that Swamp end vault.

Wands of fire, even more so. Meleeing hydra simulacra is never gonna be fun, and almost certainly never necessary.

[XuaXua]

Charm Undead, then 't' and 'w' works wonders to clear out that vault.

Remember, Simulacra are considered undead.

[beikul]

Well, this eventually turned into my first YAVP (https://crawl.develz.org/tavern/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=3969) so thanks again to those who posted, it turned out to be sound advice!