Best ways/places to gain experience at various stages?

[aster]

I think most people agree that the Screamer Room is the first stop to spend some quality time hacking away (and gaining experience in other ways... and areas such as ninja) due to having a Screamer generator nearby and not having to worry about food/water.

Then there's the Level 8 Rat Room, for pretty much the same purposes: rat generator and easy access to food & water.

Plus at Level 8 the experience multiplier is '3' whereas on Level 3 it is just '2'.

Any other good areas once you venture onwards beyond Level 8? Does it make any sense to go to L12 (where the experience multiplier is the highest in the game at '6') for casting spells, making potions or even just punching/kicking at thin air?

[Prince of Elves]

There was a whole thread about this with very detailed info on the what/where. If I remember correctly you can train against the black flames in the down below but I don't remember any specifics.

[jayrshaw]

Yes - Automaton posted some good information about training with the Black Flames a few years ago. It can apparently work quite well as long as you are diligent about keeping your Fireshield up. The problem is that by the time you are down there, you have already essentially completed the game...


--Jay

[aster]

How would ninja training go if you were to just punch n' kick thin air on L12 (experience multiplier 6) vs punching & kicking rats on L8 (only x3 multiplier)?

Also, does the multiplier apply to gaining wizard and priest levels faster? So messing around with potions and casting spells will be more effective on L12 in terms of gaining XP?

[slickrcbd]

There was a whole thread about this with very detailed info on the what/where. If I remember correctly you can train against the black flames in the down below but I don't remember any specifics.

It would help if you linked to the thread.

[Prince of Elves]

Of course it would help, but it's just a thing I remembered reading a while ago - so I'd have to search for it too. Just knowing there is a thread like that should help people who are really interested in the info.

[jayrshaw]

As far as I can recall, you get *much* less experience if you are performing a combat action when you haven't recently been attacked by an enemy, so you are generally better off punching an enemy on an earlier floor than punching the air on a later floor.

Also, you don't actually have to punch the enemy, itself - you just have to be near one so your party is actively being attacked at all times. This even helps with non-combat experience (e.g., casting spells), but I recall the penalty for not being in combat is much worse for combat actions.


--Jay

[aster]

So best to cast those fireballs for instance after you've been attacked as opposed to sending them from a distance before a creature tries to strike you?

[slickrcbd]

Technically yes. Tactically it is not the best strategy.

In any case, back on the original topic the oitus room on level 12 is a place to train, although it's not as safe as the rat room and definitely not as safe as the screamer room. The main advantage is that it's deeper in the dungeon so you get a better multiplier and there are plenty of foes to train against, but it is far more dangerous since you have a good chance of getting trapped. Even fear weapons might not save you if there are too many oitus for the ones near you to get out of the way, which doomed me more than once over the years despite blowing the horn of fear, brandishing the staff of claws, and sending four ON OH VEN in all directions the oitus couldn't get out of the way and I got killed.
Not only is it more dangerous because you can't trap the oitus as easily as you can the rats and control their escape, but there is no easy access to food and water like on the rat room for unlimited resting.

[jayrshaw]

It depends on whether your primary goal is to gain experience or to safely kill the enemy. I generally just used Magic Torch for Wizard experience during my last playthrough, but I generally did try to use it with a weaker enemy attacking me when possible. Once I was done training, I generally just roasted most enemies I encountered with Fireballs as soon as they came into view.


--Jay

[Ameena]

Haha yeah I use Fireball all the time as well. It's the only offensive spell I use except Harm Non-Material Being. Vorpal Blades also give Wizzy exp so those count as well.

[slickrcbd]

I'm surprised so few people use poison bolt. I myself never found much use for lightning bolt or poison cloud except in certain situations.
Supposedly lightning bolt works on animated armor or stone golems, but I honestly don't remember ever killing either of those things with lightning. In every other situation I generally find it inferior to fireball.
Poison cloud on the other hand I do use, but relatively rarely. It's great to make a monster move out of its current square if there is more than one group of monster in the area and you need room to maneuver. Also more reliable than fear. Mummies and swamp slimes are immune however.
It can be useful for cornered monsters or in the screamer and rat rooms since often they can't move around. Also for facing the Red Dragon when you freeze him with a magic box/eye of time.

[jayrshaw]

Yeah - freezing the Dragon and then spamming it with Poison Clouds is just cruel.....


--Jay

[Ameena]

I just step-dance the Dragon to death. It's fun, and there's no risk of being unexpectedly attacked by something else because there's nothing else down there to attack you . I never use any of the freeze items at all, that's just junk to me that I don't bother picking up.
I think the whole "Lightning Bolt works on Knights/Stone Giants" thing is because Lightning Bolt does a combination of both Fire and Physical damage, the latter of which is what hurts those dudes more than the fire, so it's better than Fireball which is entirely Fire damage. I'm just lazy and can't be arsed to cast a whole extra rune for a spell (spending more mana in the process), plus Fireball is easier to click (especially if you're casting at On-level ).

[slickrcbd]

Yeah - freezing the Dragon and then spamming it with Poison Clouds is just cruel.....


--Jay

Actually I almost never use OH VEN on the dragon.
Instead I freeze him and then tribute to him a couple poison bombs I picked up earlier along with all the FUL Bombs I have left. When the green clouds start to dissipate I toss another VEN bomb.

[jayrshaw]

To the best of my recollection, I just let him live during my last playthrough. I killed him once since I had never done so before, but I reloaded and just ran past him on subsequent attempts. In the SNES version of the game, you are basically at a point of no return once you have reached the Dragon and have no way to backtrack to earlier parts of the dungeon.


--Jay

[slickrcbd]

I recall one time I played the dragon was no where in sight and I proceeded to the area with the power gem, only to get hit in the back with a big fireball while examining the power gem as I didn't have any fireshields up.
Good thing there's an Alter of Vi in that same area.