First ever 2 man group

[Twiggy]

I'm attempting a 2 person run through for the first time at the moment, so we'll see how that goes.

In terms of character selection, I've taken Halk and Stamm (Recarrated) but I was wondering if I'm going to have any issues not having any mana until level 4? I know I won't be able to get through the influence and might door on level 3, but will torches be an issue? Also realised if they get a saw paw they're stuck with it for a while lol

[Sophia]

You can get mana on level 2! Warcry screamers until you get a priest level.

[Twiggy]

Ahhh touche'

I always thought (read: assumed) they were ninja levels. But thinking on it, yeah, they're priest eh. Ah well that makes my life a whole ton easier. I shall stick with my sausage fest then

[Gambit37]

"Recarrated"? What's that?

[Twiggy]

Me avoiding thinking about the spelling of reincarnation at 530 in the morning

[Gambit37]

Oh, right! That's a hell of a typo! I genuinely thought it was a word I'd never heard of

[Ameena]

You can also get some free mana by holding wands or staves in your hand. Once you've gained a level or two in the Wizzy or Priest skills, you should have amassed enough mana to be able to cast stuff without having to equip items .

[Twiggy]

You can also get some free mana by holding wands or staves in your hand. Once you've gained a level or two in the Wizzy or Priest skills, you should have amassed enough mana to be able to cast stuff without having to equip items .

Are there any mana adding items on level 2/3? To be honest I very rarely take Halk/Stamm so I've never really had to pay attention to those kind of things. I only really remember the Teowand.

Oh, right! That's a hell of a typo! I genuinely thought it was a word I'd never heard of

I'd like to pretend I'm smart enough to have strange new words, but alas, no

[Jan]

Ahhh touche'

I always thought (read: assumed) they were ninja levels. But thinking on it, yeah, they're priest eh. Ah well that makes my life a whole ton easier. I shall stick with my sausage fest then

Yeah. It's one of the tricks I've learned from these forums - after 15 years of playing DM. I felt so stupid.

Good luck with your 2 man run - keep us informed on your progress! (well - if you've not finished already)

[Ameena]

Let me see...looking at my guide book...aha, yes, the Wand (no the Teowand, that comes later) is on Level 3,

Spoiler

on the floor in "The Vault", at the end of that section - you use a gold coin in a slot to open the wall beside it and the Wand is on the floor in the revealed section

. The Teowand is on the next level. Stuff like the Staff and various bits of jewellery (I dunno which necklaces give mana as I don't really pay much attention since both my usual characters have enough starting mana to be able to cast at least one spell each from the start) drop later, but hopefully by then your chars will have gained enough mana anwyay to be able to case stuff by themselves .

[Lord_BoNes]

Even if you can only get your hands on 2 mana, you can still manage to get a priest level using UM... regenerate... MA to gain priest xp (because failing still gives you xp, you just keep trying to cast it until it fails... then you don't need a flask). Once you get your first level move up to UM VI. After that, the character should be able to start casting UM FUL, to get wizard xp (and a decent amount of mana per level).

I usually try to get Halk and/or Stamm (I usually have at least 1 of them) to craftsman/adept wizard and journeyman/craftsman priest by the end of level 3 (because that's where I get the wand). Sometimes I'll pick a character with a mana boosting item from the start, that's when I'll get them to those levels before I even leave the Hall of Champions. I prefer to fight with at least an adept wizard... they can hurl off a fair few UM fireballs (or some decent VI potions) without sleeping... hehehe

[Twiggy]

Ahhh touche'

I always thought (read: assumed) they were ninja levels. But thinking on it, yeah, they're priest eh. Ah well that makes my life a whole ton easier. I shall stick with my sausage fest then

Yeah. It's one of the tricks I've learned from these forums - after 15 years of playing DM. I felt so stupid.

Good luck with your 2 man run - keep us informed on your progress! (well - if you've not finished already)

It's refreshing to have your colours lowered occasionally As long as we don't make a habbit of it anyway!

Oh it'll probably take me a week or so to get through it, so I can definately give you updates. I'm in the part of my monthly roster where time doesn't exist outside of work - and I go into hospital later in the week too.... And beyond that, no matter how many times I've played this game, I'm still a chicken and tip-toe my way around the dungeon, because I don't want to get a fright

Let me see...looking at my guide book...aha, yes, the Wand (no the Teowand, that comes later) is on Level 3,

Spoiler

on the floor in "The Vault", at the end of that section - you use a gold coin in a slot to open the wall beside it and the Wand is on the floor in the revealed section

. The Teowand is on the next level. Stuff like the Staff and various bits of jewellery (I dunno which necklaces give mana as I don't really pay much attention since both my usual characters have enough starting mana to be able to cast at least one spell each from the start) drop later, but hopefully by then your chars will have gained enough mana anwyay to be able to case stuff by themselves .

Ah, I thought there was another wand. Was pretty sure I'd used something before the Teo in the past. You know I used to find level 3 one of the hardest levels when first playing this game. 2 was dead easy, but I'd often get overwhelmed in parts of 3. Especially parts with multiple rocks. After 3/4 I found my characters generally strong enough to handle everything else (Until 12 usually). That said sending in Reincarnated people probably doesn't help that lol.

Even if you can only get your hands on 2 mana, you can still manage to get a priest level using UM... regenerate... MA to gain priest xp (because failing still gives you xp, you just keep trying to cast it until it fails... then you don't need a flask). Once you get your first level move up to UM VI. After that, the character should be able to start casting UM FUL, to get wizard xp (and a decent amount of mana per level).

I usually try to get Halk and/or Stamm (I usually have at least 1 of them) to craftsman/adept wizard and journeyman/craftsman priest by the end of level 3 (because that's where I get the wand). Sometimes I'll pick a character with a mana boosting item from the start, that's when I'll get them to those levels before I even leave the Hall of Champions. I prefer to fight with at least an adept wizard... they can hurl off a fair few UM fireballs (or some decent VI potions) without sleeping... hehehe

Yeah i usually walk around casting an insane amount of light/low fireball spells in the first level or 2. I generally want them to be able to spit something worthwhile at worms when I get to them. Think my crowning achievement was being able to get Wu Tse to cast a MON fireball at the end of level 2 once. Everyone was pretty hungry by then though

[Ameena]

My usual duo is reincarnated Hissssa and Wuuf - Wuuf can cast spells from the start, of course. Hissssa has enough mana to select Lo, then wait till that mana point regens and then I select Ful, then actually cast the spell. After a couple of casts/attempts at casting, I normally gain a Wizzy level. The cheapest spell to cast, of course, is Lo Ya, but I don't need that straight away since no-one is low on stamina. However, it is useful to be casting some light because I never bother with torches . Of course, this won't work with Stamm or Halk since if I remember rightly they both start with zero mana.

[beowuuf]

Meh, if you have two tanks as powerful as stamm and halk. melee all the way, priest levels first, and start on wizard levels when you have the mana much later to replace torches

Poison darts are just as good as anything for wasps and giglers, otherwlse just mow down with powerful weapons!

[Jan]

You know I used to find level 3 one of the hardest levels when first playing this game. 2 was dead easy, but I'd often get overwhelmed in parts of 3. Especially parts with multiple rocks. After 3/4 I found my characters generally strong enough to handle everything else (Until 12 usually).

IMHO, the "worm" level is one of the hardest levels in the game (I mean in the sense of fighting, not puzzles) - it's definitely the first really challenging level, and if someone survives this, his is very likely to finish the rest of the game. Of course, there are some nasty places in the levels below, but nothing compares to the "worm" level til the "scorpion" level and than the "spider" level - and perhaps the cross-key-selection (trolins/wasps/water elementals). Man, even after all these years of playing DM, I still save my game and become rather anxious when entering the scorpion-infested area and then the spider-infested one at the ends of the respective levels. And since I've learned the way of by-passing the spider-regenerating section (near the "Cowards will be hunted down and killed") I rarely enter this region.

[Twiggy]

Yeah I hated the scorpion level. I would always run into them while rounding corners and have a hat attack

I just completed level 2. They're now both:
Journeyman Fighter
Apprentice Ninja
Novice Priest
Apprentice Wizard

Halks running around with
Health: 188
Stamina: 149
Mana: 25
Carry Cap - 62kegs

Stamm:
Healt: 170
Stamina: 152
Mana: 29
Carry Cap: 59kegs

I am pleased

[Twiggy]

Wandering around Level 5 now. Really can't remember where I'm going down here lol.

This is hard to play on a laptop without a mouse :/

[Gambit37]

No mouse? Surely it's totally unplayable? How do you pick stuff up in the dungeon?

EDIT: Oh right, you mean an *actual* mouse (you're using a trackpad thingy I guess) -- I thought you meant no mouse functionality at all!

[Twiggy]

Haha yeah I could of worded that a lot better. Yeah rockin that stupid pad in the middle, which if I thump too hard starts trying to scroll things in the background

[Ameena]

Well, technically you can just skip Level 5, since there's nothing in particular you need from there to help finish the game and you can just follow the corridor along from the level start to the next set of stairs down. There is that little corridor, though, I think, around the corner from where you enter the level, where you can unlock another set of stairs up which bring you out right next to the Screamer Room. Or something. But anyway, there's nothing too special on Level 5 unless you really really want the Staff of Claws or something.

[Twiggy]

Yeah I know. Just doing it more so for the sake of doing it/experience

[Jan]

I really really hate the mist / teleporter puzzle on level 5. Really really. I always screw it up somehow and have to start again.

[Ameena]

That one's not so bad - it's the bloody pit room I can never remember the solution to - the one in my book is wrong . I've kinda skipped that level though really, the last couple of times I've played it. That just means I get to Level 6 faster, with all those lovely Beholders .

[sucinum]

I really really hate the mist / teleporter puzzle on level 5. Really really. I always screw it up somehow and have to start again.

Just do it clockwise: right-back-left-forward-right-back. Done.

[Paul Stevens]

Just do it clockwise:

What is this? 2011? And once again I learned
something new about DM.

My solution was MUCH harder to remember!

[Twiggy]

Yeah that's a handy solution indeed. Think it took me about 15 cracks at it. Didn't end up going through the pit room as I didn't need anything in there.

I've been pretty lucky with beholders so far, only been clunked the once when I wasn't looking. I just took the shortcut through most of the level. It's much much easier when you don't need half the objects! Only went after the 2 vorpal blades and some armour. Had to dump a lot of food though

[Ameena]

Ahh, the solution I have to the teleporter room is different - that's a cool route to get through it then . Not that I've bothered going there the last couple of times I've played the game, but still...

[Twiggy]

Finally been able to play briefly again. Just blew over level 8. Hasn't been too hard so far. Closest I've come to death so far is getting barreled by some fireballs on 8 while stuck in a corridor with a ghost.

Lack of mana is an issue, kinda, but nit really. Just bonking everything on the head works just fine lol

[Jan]

The first thing I do on level 8 is that I run accross the hall and turn off the first annoying teleporter that turns the fireballs into the hall. Then I can move around safely.

[beowuuf]

There are some good corners of the place where you can see the blue hazes, and so know where you can dance around without fireball death. As Jan said though, switching off the fireballs is best. The second way to accomplish it is to find the neverending corridor and stop the monsters that generate the fireballs, of course. Some nice items like the delat in that room, too