MY thoughts on stuff!

[The Avatar]

Cheap. He wasn't one when I did had to do it. For some reason, the game always spawned SMM for me. He cam with the Indomitable 5 or 6 times in a row.

[Darvin]

Actually, on further reflection, I think the biggest issue for beginners will be clearing the Ick Swamp, Halls of Steel, Shifting Passages, and Labyrinth to get the trophies that only appear in those dungeons. For veterans like us we already know the weak points in every dungeon and how to exploit them, but to a beginner I'd imagine it'll take quite a while to beat all four (plus all the prerequisite levels needed to reach them!)

[The Avatar]

Personally I hate Ick. I really do.
I never know what class to bring because I always get walled in by corrosion/Barbing plants as a berserker. And my flame's been there for ages. I prefer any other dungeon

[xspeedballx]

I am going to have comments specifically on that coming soon, I just want to play through them with the new god design to see how it feels. But spoiler: Ick Swamp is the least friendly required hard mode.

[Halion]

Actually, on further reflection, I think the biggest issue for beginners will be clearing the Ick Swamp, Halls of Steel, Shifting Passages, and Labyrinth to get the trophies that only appear in those dungeons. For veterans like us we already know the weak points in every dungeon and how to exploit them, but to a beginner I'd imagine it'll take quite a while to beat all four (plus all the prerequisite levels needed to reach them!)

With the added inconvenience of having to kill the bosses in a certain order. Rex can get pretty annoying after a while, but if you want his trophy you have to kill him second. (A detail that a new player may not realise).

[Darvin]

Hmmm... that's true. Being weak to magic/poison, both Rex and Indomitable make good candidates for the first boss to kill, so grabbing their trophies can be needlessly difficult at times. In the case of Labyrinth, you really don't have the luxury of choosing which boss to fight first since exploration is at such a premium. Itsaama as a weakener and Evolvia as a teleporter, however, will almost always be your second kill, so that's not an issue with them.

That said, I'm loving the gold infusion that the first boss gives you. It really lets you go on a shopping spree for the end-game. Namtar's first two forms also drop gold now, so the difficulty of Namtar's Lair isn't quite as high as it used to be (still screams "play as a Warlord!" though, since CYDSTEPP is the only attack that doesn't get gimped by at least one of his forms)

[The Avatar]

Yeah, that's about the only strategy. Although a JJ Gnome Assassin could probably do it. Oh wait, his last few forms have counter fireball!