On a run playing a paladin

[Sideways]

That area I'd have to teleport to get to has me pretty worried. If I did, I suspect I'd be in the middle surrounded by nasty things 1 shotted the first round.

You can't enter a vault by teleporting. You have to find a spot where there's a hole in the permanent wall, and dig there.

Also, if it's a murderous greater vault, it will likely have monsters capable of doing much more than 100 damage in one turn.

[Petoften]

That is indeed a greater vault. (Most of the wall for it will actually be permanent rock.) If you go there without detection (or ESP) and a source of teleport other, you will probably die.

Since it's one big room, it looks like I'd be surrounded by likely 8 squares, plus whatever is ranged that can hit me, with no corridors.

Best cases would be teleporting on the edge to it's only 5 squares plus the ranged, or a tiny chance of a corner square with 3 squares plus ranged.

From the monsters I've seen this level, even two can be too much and take me down over 100hp in a round, so more could 1 shot me.

[Petoften]

That area I'd have to teleport to get to has me pretty worried. If I did, I suspect I'd be in the middle surrounded by nasty things 1 shotted the first round.

[Pete Mack]

That is indeed a greater vault. (Most of the wall for it will actually be permanent rock.) If you go there without detection (or ESP) and a source of teleport other, you will probably die.

[Petoften]

But exhausting your supplies on a single non-unique monster with no drop makes no sense. The answer is to stay away from monsters that hit to confuse (nightmare, Ethereal drake, titans, cat lord--there aren't many of them.)

Ya, it'd have made sense to get away from that if the CSW weren't on the 'get rid of them' list from the other poster's comment.

[Petoften]

Just found my first ring of damage this game - 12 - and it took my damage from 282 against certain creatures to 354 against them. Yay.

[Pete Mack]

But exhausting your supplies on a single non-unique monster with no drop makes no sense. The answer is to stay away from monsters that hit to confuse (nightmare, Ethereal drake, titans, cat lord--there aren't many of them.)

[Petoften]

So far the murderous level hasn't been all that bad though two more ancient dragons came at the same and I had to teleport again.

What I am seeing is one decent size area on the map, which for the first time I've seen seems not to have a corridor to the rest of the dungeon.

There's a wall of 'permanent rock' blocking it off. So I suspect maybe that's the vault you're mentioning, and I have to teleport to get there.

One unfortunate thing, I got rid of my basic spellbook to save room so no longer have 'detect evil' to check it. Guess I should get that back.

[Petoften]

On the night mare - using the caution we discussed, he was confusing every round on top of the rest, since it was advised to get rid of the CSW potions I used them freely - I teleported and went to the stairs, and continued battling him, ready to go down if it got too dangerous - I was in the 100's, but drinking a CSW each time he did confuse, in about 15-20 rounds of combat I finally got him - for some gold.

[Pete Mack]

There is no level feeling worse than murderous. However, this often coincides with a high object feeling as well, when there is a greater vault. In that case, it's worth investigating, and spending an Enlightenment potion, if you have one--and if you have Teleport Other. Greater vaults are almost always impossible without TO. Many lesser vaults are too.

[Petoften]

One thing, with sense surroundings it's harder to tell what parts I haven't been to yet.

Had another trap summon a bunch of nasty stuff (like an ancient dragon) and killed it, but then found a night mare that is pretty hard and teleported.

[Petoften]

Don't ignore the danger. It can kill you. It can also be an opportunity, though, so what you could do is investigate the danger - find why the level is so dangerous, detect constantly to avoid blindly running into it, and see if there's a vault with valuable items you can grab without getting killed.

(Or you can avoid it.)

OK, so don't just say 'murderous' (or worse), avoid it - rather, use caution and be ready to get out, but it can be worth doing.

[Petoften]

Do 'locate treasure' rods have any use when I have the sense surroundings spell?

[Petoften]

In general though, "murderous" almost certainly means either a vault or a pit, which should be detectable.

I just did a 'sense surroundings' spell and it mapped the level and almost looks barren without any groups of anything, or even large rooms.

[Sideways]

Ya, I meant more, what are people's opinions about the more dangerous levels - ignore the danger, or try to avoid it by regenerating the level?

Don't ignore the danger. It can kill you. It can also be an opportunity, though, so what you could do is investigate the danger - find why the level is so dangerous, detect constantly to avoid blindly running into it, and see if there's a vault with valuable items you can grab without getting killed.

(Or you can avoid it.)