-A secret room, accessible only with Dig/Passwall is directly south of the entrance.
-In general, turn off defensive skills, as they don’t seem to make much difference-- you still die in two-three turns maximum. You can micromanage Spellcasting/Conjurations/Fire Magic, but that doesn't seem to matter, either-- just get your best starting spells (in this case, everything but Inner Flame) usable, quickly. Pump INT.
*You're at the mercy of the RNG for the first two enemies. Kill Ijyb with the Berserk potion. Train Throw Flame.
*Open the next door at an angle, back away, kill the ogre with Throw Flame and Flame Tongue. Consumables can be used as insurance, but they're difficult to replace; it’s better to just die and restart quickly. Train Conjure Flame and Sticky Flame.
-Rest next to Sigmund's door to reveal a secret gold room. Kill Sigmund using Sticky Flame and Flame Tongue. Note that for some characters the scythe can come in handy, but not usually for this Race/Class. Train Fireball.
-Go south. Nuke the jelly with Fireball. Whatever happens, don't let it flee-- it'll swallow doors and wake up enemies you aren't ready for.
?-Sometimes, you'll find the doors all opened early, and it's basically an automatic death as enemies roam freely. Don't know why this happens.
-Search four squares south to find a secret room with some minor loot. Go west and lure out the elephant slug using Conjure Flame and Sticky Flame. The other room just has loot.
-Go back northeast and kill the Amoeba using Fireball; Sticky Flame and run away when it gets close. Loot the next room. The one after has two Kobold Demonologists and a Giant Eyeball-- nuke them with Fireball. They can wait (I usually save them for after the Rock Troll), but regardless don't go any further in this direction.
-If Zin is available, worship him. If not, go Vehumet or Sif. Last resort, use TSO or Mahkleb and train Invocations enough to make their summons useful.
-Go south and nuke Sonja with Fireball. A secret door is to the west. If Zin, you can safely clear the next room of Shining Eyes. If no Zin, don't even think about entering.
Afterwards, convert to Vehumet, Sif, or TSO if they're available.
-Clear the room to the south of Sonja's. Back up and try to blow up the giant spores, but it's (usually) no big deal if you get hit and confused. Just rest, then take out the ballistomycetes with Sticky Flame. I’ve died here maybe once.
-Kill the Rock Troll to the east by using Conjure Flame and repeatedly closing the door on him. He'll stand in it until he dies. In the middle of his room is a secret door north, and in the next room there's another one.
*You can nuke the Centaur Warriors with Fireball, but you're really at the mercy of the RNG here-- use the Potion of Speed if you still have it, and duck behind the corner if both are shooting at you.
-Kill the wasp and Oklob Plant with Fireball.
*The next room is filled with dangerous Trapdoor Spiders. The best you can do is to approach cautiously, use Sticky Flame, and hope for the best. At the southern end lies two doors.
-The northernmost door leads to two Unseen Horrors, who can be surprisingly deadly. The southernmost door leads to a room with a Giant Eyeball and lots of Pulsating Lumps and Necrophages. Fireball should clear it handily.
-Check the shops. In general, you're looking for Clarity, rPois, rFire, and useful books (especially if not worshipping Sif/Veh). Ignore those tempting unidentified artifacts, but pick up cheap blue items in hopes of getting Boots of Running, Cloak of Preservation, and Robe of Resistance. Weapons can be ignored, but the protection brand is nice. Potions of curing/heal wounds/speed are great, as are scrolls of blinking. Buy rations if they’re available and you have the extra cash. If not, take extra care to not use high-hunger spells. In an emergency, you can check the room south of the Shining Eyes for rations, but the resulting mutations can ironically turn the map into even more of a race against time. Unlike normal Crawl, starvation is a real threat.
-You’re gunning for high-level conjurations, and want at least one for fire-resistant enemies (Poison Arrow, Iron Shot, and Orb of Destruction are all good choices). If you want to go for Fire Storm, get a source of Wizardry. Even if you don’t find high-level spells, pumping Conjurations/Fire to raise your Fireball’s effectiveness is probably the way to go.
-Go back north, to the room where you killed the Demonologists (hint: it should be the only available path). Use your consumables liberally to clear out the fast-and-deadly demonic crawlers, then proceed east, handily clearing the Guardian Serpent, Hogs, and Hydra/Giant Eyeball.
***Here the game splits into four paths, from west to east:
Path A) Optional. First, a room of poison clouds and a Metal Gargoyle. I recommend at least killing him off for easy experience. Beyond lies Norris, safe behind metal grates, and a nasty demon. If you can get past them (and I usually can’t), there’s a lot of loot to be had.
Path B) An daeva behind metal grates smites you, while to the south Unseen Horrors can quickly overwhelm you. Not recommended if you’re following Sif or Veh, at least not without plenty of firepower (literally—using Fire Storm is not out of the question to safely kill the Unseen Horrors). Beyond lies a room filled with deadly Fire Giants, and the Orb of Zot (guarded by metal bars, with Tiamat behind them). The Fire Giants will probably kill you.
Path C) A Mermaid who (if you don’t kill her very quickly) mesmerizes and draws you towards a swarm of wasps. Worse, just behind the corner is a deadly Deep Elf Annihilator, protected from melee by a moat of deep water—not a problem for this character, but his attacks can quickly cut you down nonetheless. Focus your attacks on him, and use your consumables to stay alive. Behind the second corner, an Oklob Plant and Mummy Priest. If you safely killed the Deep Elf and wasps, these two shouldn't be a problem. Overall this room is probably the way to go.
South from here lies the Lernaean Hydra, and behind it lies a metric fuckton of loot (which you probably don’t need if you can kill the Lernaean Hydra- I only know about it because I checked in Wizard Mode), and southwest lies Lom Lobon (in a room of debilitating miasma clouds) and the Orb of Zot. Further south still lies a Deep Elf Master Archer, more loot and another (secret!) path to Lom Lobon.
Path D) Optional. A secret passage south of the westernmost room filled with steam leads to a Golden and Shadow Dragon, guarding a fitting amount of loot.
Thursday, 15th November 2012, 03:12 
