Hard dungeons that I find to be exceedigly difficult

[Darvin]

WEYTWUT alone doesn't help.

It's not as good, but it works fairly well. You can easily sequester monsters for later consumption, and if you think ahead on where to place them you can set things up so that when you do kill them Rexx will appear in non-threatening locations. You will end up over-exploring, but it's a lot better than nothing.

Maybe I'll do a video of Labyrinth with a JJ prep to demo this... if I can get a nice video capture setup working.

[Sidestepper]

Yeah, I've complained about Labyrinth before. The mapping algorithm basically creates one long snake with a few minor branching dead ends. Your spawn point clears out a large area in the center and the idea seems to be that this central confluence will give you a choice about how to explore. The problem is that sometimes the spawn area only clears out a self-contained loop and you end up with 75% of the dungeon being just a long hallway. Rex isn't even the problem anymore. You lose the game the first time two strong monsters appear without enough space in between them.

I feel that Purist runs in this dungeon are too luck dependent. I'd like it if some of the monsters dropped those goblin mining bombs.

[Lujo]

goblin mining bombs.

Are a way too underused element. Hilariously so when you consider that what you can scum up is actually far more powerfull than them.

[paplaukes]

Darvin, Sidestepper pretty much summed it up. If it's snake layout, then I'm certain WEYTWUT alone isn't enough - I did try today as pqi sent me in as purist halfling wizard. Found the glyph on start. You just don't get enough mana to keep shoving them out of the way. And if you just kill - say hi to Rex.

[The Avatar]

Totally agree on the goblin mining bombs. What an awesome concept. It's a shame they don't give stoneskin (right?) because then they would be really good. Still, the point is they're underused, cool, and useful but not OP.

[FDru]

Rex basically becomes Bleaty at half hp; will one-shot kill anything but extreme HP / resist builds.

His damage is way below Bleaty. Anyone with maxed-out stoneskin should be able to survive him if they're a decent level for boss-fighting. If you're about level 8 and have your resources in place, Rexx is a push-over. It's getting your ducks lined up for this battle that's tough.

Well, maxed out stoneskin qualifies as extreme resists doesn't it?

Cursed Oasis is definitely annoying, but I wouldn't put it above any of the other nasty hard-difficulty dungeons. I'd put it behind Slime Pit, personally, which is basically just a cess-pool of debuff monsters and fatty bosses.

Slime Pits was a contender, but upon thinking about it I almost never fail that dungeon. Having 2 static bosses makes it a lot simpler, and GG trivializes one of them so that just leaves the SMM which can be a hassle for low damage classes (but can be easily regen fought by most). Slime Pits might be one of the more difficult dungeons for Purist runs, but I think prepping GG basically guarantees victory. I just did a Dwarf Paladin Warmonger run there thanks to GG prep. I even used the massive HP pool to chug a few health pots near the end (some indulgences helped but weren't really needed).

Prep Binlor; he'll clear a path for you on the maze dungeons.

And for Vampires?

[Sidestepper]

I also put Slime Pits below Cursed Oasis. I used to really fear that palce, but ater PQI kept dragging me towards it, I found that it isn't so bad. My impressions were mostly from the old version, where the monsters were tougher and weakening and corrosion were incurable. There's this really neat strategy I found using a DR stacking Wizard that lets you easily melee Super Meat Man down. This was before the Platemail nerf, but also before Wizards gained the burning bonus and lost the melee penalty, so it might still work.

[Darvin]

Well, maxed out stoneskin qualifies as extreme resists doesn't it?

Temporary resistances are easy to max out. Permanent resistances is where it gets extreme.

Secondly, even with maxed resistances surviving Bleaty is a challenge. With Rexx, if you're a high enough level to be seriously considering a boss fight you should be able to survive him if you have maxed stoneskin.

Slime Pits might be one of the more difficult dungeons for Purist runs, but I think prepping GG basically guarantees victory.

The same can be said for Binlor on Labyrinth (moreso than GG on Slime Pits, IMO)

And for Vampires?

Bear Mace and hope for ENDISWAL

[The Avatar]

Still, Cursed Oasis I rate as the hardest hard dungeon. That's probably due to lack of experience, because I'm pretty sure VHoS is supposed to be giving me a harder time.

[Sidestepper]

I think that part of it is that Cursed Oasis was created late in the development process and so the devs had a firmer grasp of what kind of strategies we've been relying on. The monster roster badly interferes with resistance stacking and regeneration tactics.