Herman Gigglethorpe wrote:ddubois wrote:I usually don't enter the lair's rune branches until I've cleared lair, orc, and dungeon. And I usually don't go into the last level (level four with the rune) until I've cleared as much of everything else as possible, including some of the safer parts of Elf.
What are the enemy "danger levels" based on? e.g. "This enemy is easy" and "This enemy is extremely dangerous". Knowing what triggers it might help me out somewhat. Thanks for the advice regarding branch order!
I think it depends quite a bit on your character and gear as well.
There are whole threads about this, but here are some general guidelines imo.
From around D:10 on, the odds of meeting things that are invisible and very mean (unseen horrors) or dangerously good with missiles (cyclops) and may come in packs (centaur gangs) start to increase dramatically. There are some possible uniques or odd vaults that are especially lethal at what they do. Quite a few newer players hit a difficulty spike around D:10 I've seen. Including me back when I wasn't ready for it.
The last level of each branch ups the number and quality of opponents generally. A well-equipped character can often finish off a whole branch at a time... But don't fret backing out and gearing from another route first if you are having a hard time!
Lair can sometimes hurt more if you lack poison resistance (spiny frogs, black mamba, possible snake or spider branch sentries). It becomes easier if you have a weapon of freezing, draining, or generally something that hits really hard. You also sooner or later want something for tackling hydrae that doesn't multiply their heads.
Orc is a pushover if you have a way to tear through living targets quickly, usually... But it will have more hardened targets than Lair (warriors, knights, possible trolls), plenty of regular priests to make AOE/bolts/ranged attacks desirable, and some more potentially nasty magic users toward the end.
Swamp and Spider are often considered easier than the other Lair branches (but they have no chance of shops). Slime is a more advanced place, for much later.
Spider, Snake and maybe Swamp are more difficult without poison resistance (some veterans will debate this, but I think it's sound enough advice to start with). Bringing your own poison to Spider can help if you have it strong enough. Shoals is generally more nasty, unless you have high evasion, perhaps invisibility and some cold resistance -- and decent to awesome offense is almost a must. Shoals just has all sorts of opponents with serious attacks (plenty of ranged, ranged magic, high damage cold magic, heavy melee, speed/flying/groups, attack from deep water).
Elf is a strange case. It can seem pretty easy starting out if you're loaded with heavy anti-personnel weapons (stuff that smashes living or ignores evasion). Although, note some layouts can make even the top level considerably harder to break into -- there are some mean ambushes. Beyond that though: There are quite a few one-shot wonders in Elf that will smash you back if you give them too many chances -- or occasionally, you just get bum luck. One big spell gets through your defenses, or you lack magic resistance and get tossed into the Abyss. There is a massive concentration of more nasty casters and archers on the last level with bigger demons and harder physical attacks, which can make it feel much much worse if you're having a bad day there. Oh, and there are quite a few artifacts on the elves too. Lovely if you can get some, but not so nice while they are used against you.