When not upgraded, armor blocks between 0 and X, but blocking increases with upgrades as +1/+tier. In addition, evasion means a hit can be avoided entirely.
One thing I'd add to all the good advice here: positioning is crucial. You should avoid facing more than one mob at a time. Use doors to your advantage: when a mob enters a door square, you will surprise it and get a guaranteed hit. Use hallways to force mobs to get to you one at a time. Be careful when you're in an open, large room, since a ranged mob can kill you very quickly.
Congratulations! It does feel good to keep improving every game.
Awesome, thanks! I was missing the possibility of getting +2 for the wand and +1 for the staff from the troll.
Luckily, there was a hallway (behind the mage in the picture) that allowed me to take the mobs one at a time. I was also able to position them so that the evil eyes in the back targeted multiple enemies.
BTW, the loot in that room was 300 gp :-)
How do you get the staff to +21? The most I can figure out is +18: get a wand of lightning +3, upgrade it to +18, and imbue it in the staff.
This was level 21 -- I'm glad to report that the mage made it all the way to the amulet.
Because it takes a long time... but it's not a bad idea, I've done that in other runs.
Yes, just food drops, potions of healing and dew. This particular seed has an ample supply of food as well. In general, I used to struggle with food management, but lately I've improved this aspect of the game and seldom run out of food. Some ideas:
Yes -- it had a shocking enchantment. Super useful!
Not a bad idea, but a bit against the tradition of Rogue-likes, which tend to be punishing. On one hand, the game can be really frustrating (it took me 60 tries before winning, and I still lose in very frustrating ways). On the other hand, maybe the game is just not for everyone?
The scale armor was augmented for evasion; not even the scorpions could hit me. I waltzed through the demon halls without worries.
I also had a RoW +1 and a robber's armband, and at some point had more than 10,000 gold. I had never had more than 3,000 before. Overall, I collected almost 21,000 gold; all my previous wins hovered around 14,000.
There are three (!) stones of enchantment, not even in hidden rooms. And five experience potions!
Ascended with a score of 242,000, my best yet.
Seed: BSC-DPD-VGR
Yes, that was the case. I was surprised because it had never happened before that the stairs were behind a secret door.l
I can't find the way down! Am I going blind? Can the stairs be behind a secret door? I don't have any mapping spells or clairvoyance stones. Level 7, seed KXK-ZML-VGR. The room at the bottom of the map is closed.
Update: backtracked to a store and sold some stuff to get a spell of magic mapping. There were two secret doors on the west room woth the two columns. This is the first time this happens!
It's by far the part of the game I like the least... there's always a couple of gold nuggets I can't seem to find. It's boring, and also frustrating to see my food supply dwindle.
First time! It's not too difficult, but just as the rest of the game, one mistake can mean game over (I was down to 4 HP at some point). I decided to try with the rogue first, since I think it's the easiest hero to play with, and the most powerful.
I've managed to win once with each hero!
From my limited experience, I'd say the rogue was the easiest to win with. Still, a lot depends on getting the right equipment, and not making any mistakes.
Interestingly, I've only played once with the rogue and the warrior, and a handful of times with the mage and duelist. Most of my games have been with the huntress, which remains my favorite hero.
It was cursed so bad, it crashed the game 😅
Rogues are super fun to play! Invisibility on demand is so powerful.