DCSS: dungeon branches - difficulty chart?
Pixelface
* Bazaar
* Cigotuvi's Fleshworks
* Cloud Mages' Chambers
* Doroklohe's Tomb
* Elven Halls
* Erinya's Garden
* Hall of Blades
* Halls of the Hellbinder
* Hell
* Ice cave
* Iskenderun's Mystic Tower
* Labyrinth
* Orcish Mines
* Ossuary
* Pandemonium
* Portal
* Snake Pit
* The Abyss
* The Crypt
* The Dungeon
* The Hive
* The Lair
* The Realm of Zot
* The Sewers
* The Shoals
* The Slime Pits
* The Swamp
* The Tomb
* The Vaults
* The Vestibule of Hell
* The Ziggurat
* Treasure trove
* Tukima's Studio
* Volcano
* Wizard Laboratory
* Wucad Mu's Monastery
* Zonguldrok's Mausoleum
I would like to know how much difficult everyone is, so that I know
when to enter or not when I see one..
If there were 5 categories (very easy, easy, medium, hard, very hard)
where would you put each branch?
Szanth
Generally my line goes like this:
Sewers, Lair, Hive, Orc, Snake/Shoals if I find it, then I just go
down the dungeon until I feel relatively powerful or at least powerful
enough and with enough defenses for whatever specific branch I might
go into.
JPEG
>
> I would like to know how much difficult everyone is, so that I know
> when to enter or not when I see one..
So it's not a philosophical question? I'm asking because you have some
*very* advanced portal vaults in the list and I'm wondering where you
got the list because once you've got far enough to see them you
wouldn't be asking about the early dungeon anymore. :)
A rough estimate for a branch's danger is the depth you encounter it.
Yes, this varies a bit in that e.g. Lair is usually easier than Orc
though both appear around the same depth, but an early branch or
portal vault (e.g. Sewer) is bound to be easier than a *much* later
one, and I'm talking about 10+ levels difference here.
Branches:
> * The Dungeon
Main dungeon, this is where you start out.
> * The Lair
> * Orcish Mines
> * The Swamp
> * The Hive
> * Snake Pit
> * The Shoals
> * The Vaults
> * Elven Halls
> * Hall of Blades
> * The Slime Pits
> * The Tomb
> * The Crypt
Maybe in that order of difficulty? Not sure how to sort the last four
as I never did more than dip into them.
> * The Realm of Zot
This is the one branch aside from the Dungeon that absolutely must be
entered to win the game. Once you've got the 3 runes necessary for
entrance you're probably strong enough to survive, though you might
want to double back to get some more xp and items before going for the
orb.
> * The Abyss
Is not really a branch you decide to go, unless you are buff enough
you know you'll survive the trip.
> * The Vestibule of Hell
> * Hell
> * Pandemonium
Late-game branches.
Portal vaults:
All portal vaults disappear on leaving, so you just get the one chance
of clearing them. Some of them are temporary and may also disappear
with time, even if you haven't reached them yet. Others are permanent
but have an entrance fee.
> * Bazaar
> * Treasure trove
Are, like the Temple, entirely devoid of danger.
> * The Sewers
> * Ossuary
Easyish, early-game portal vaults.
> * Labyrinth
Not really hard once you're tough enough to deal with a single strong
melee enemy.
> * Ice cave
> * Volcano
Dangerous portal vaults. (Like the Bailey and Spider Nest, that are
not on your list.)
> * The Ziggurat
Very difficult, late-game portal vault. Difficulty scales with depth
(up to 27 levels), and though you can leave after each floor the
entrance fee means you'll probably want to stay a while.
> * Wizard Laboratory
is a type of late-game portal vault that might lead to any of the
following special levels:
> * Cigotuvi's Fleshworks
> * Cloud Mages' Chambers
> * Doroklohe's Tomb
> * Erinya's Garden
> * Halls of the Hellbinder
> * Iskenderun's Mystic Tower
> * Tukima's Studio
> * Wucad Mu's Monastery
> * Zonguldrok's Mausoleum
You also might have fun discussing this on the Crawl forum:
https://crawl.develz.org/tavern/
Cheers,
jpeg
Jukka Kuusisto
> On Jan 14, 4:26 pm, Pixelface <ecafle...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Here are the DCSS special levels:
>>
> <snip>
>>
>> I would like to know how much difficult everyone is, so that I know
>> when to enter or not when I see one..
>
>> * The Vaults
>> * Elven Halls
>> * Hall of Blades
>> * The Slime Pits
>> * The Tomb
>> * The Crypt
>
> Maybe in that order of difficulty? Not sure how to sort the last four
> as I never did more than dip into them.
The Crypt is the easiest of these, IMO. The difficulty of HoB depends
entirely whether you have a means to kill the weapons from afar with
Iskenderun's Mystic Blast, for example, or have a strong and reliable
melee attack that drops most weapons with a single hit. If you have to
let the weapons constantly whack you, you'll get in trouble.
I usually do Elven Halls first, but not the bottom level. Then the
Vaults, but not the bottom level. Then the bottom of Elven Halls, then
the rest of the main Dungeon, if not done yet. Then the bottom of the
Vaults. Going into the Slime Pits, Tomb and Hells depends on character
and equipment. Usually I would do Zot: 1 - 4 first.
>> * The Abyss
>
> Is not really a branch you decide to go, unless you are buff enough
> you know you'll survive the trip.
I'd go there quite late, just before Pandemonium.
>> * Labyrinth
>
> Not really hard once you're tough enough to deal with a single strong
> melee enemy.
My experience is that whenever I've found a labyrinth, dealing with
that enemy has not been a problem.
Disclaimer: The version I last played (and won with) is over a year old.
I'll upgrade when I play again (currently on ADOM mode).
--
Jukka Kuusisto
Michal Bielinski
> Here are the DCSS special levels:
> I would like to know how much difficult everyone is, so that I know
> when to enter or not when I see one..
>
> If there were 5 categories (very easy, easy, medium, hard, very hard)
> where would you put each branch?
I think categorizing branches this way is very misleading and would
obstruct more than help.
It depends what race you play and what your equipment is. Without this
information most of those levels could land in any category.
For example I consider Lair to be medium for combat wombats but if
poison resistance is available difficulty drops down to very easy.
Conjurers generally have Lair at medium but with poison resist it drops
down to "plain" easy. If ring of magical power finds way into my hands
it is very easy then. Stabbers find Lair to be hard task because many
animals rest in packs. Finally it is easy for necromancers regardless
of poison resistance. And so on ...
--
Michal Bielinski