Solo Leveling

[Ninth Hour]

After 47+ hours, I finally managed to get my mage to level 13. He now has 18 in all stats and, being of Good alignment, can convert to a Lord.

It occurred to me that, to speed up the process of leveling, I could simply run the Lord solo through the first several floors. With a full range of mage spells and eventually a number of priest spells, he would be as self-sufficient a character as anyone can get, able to heal (eventually), cast the odd Makanito or Tiltowait if need be, and of course fight. The only thing he can't do is disarm traps (Calfo would allow him to identify them).

Even creatures on the fourth floor give you a good chunk of XP if you are on your own. And the encounters can be generated readily by activating the alarm. And if I wanted to gamble, I could eventually look for Frost Giants, Will O'Wisps, and Poison Giants on floor 10 for even greater power leveling.

Granted, his equipment isn't the top tier yet but should suffice: +2 Longsword, +2 Plate, +2 Shield, Copper Gloves, + 2 Helm, and the ring/amulet (I don't recall which) that casts Makanito (if I need a back up source of the spell). He even has the jewel that casts DUMAPIC, to help him navigate.

The first few levels might be kind of rough, since he gets reset to base stats and, as he is a gnome, his physical prowess is lacking. However, the Longsword + 2 gives 3 attacks and +6 to hit by default, so perhaps it will be feasible.

Solo leveling might be a nice break from the tedious grind with a full party. Has anyone done something like this before?

[Abscondrel]

yes i enter dungeon with 2 or 3 fairly regularly. as for the first few levels, you could use a baby-sitter and then solo. it would be quite brave to do more than farm the alarm with only 1. retrieving a single body would be easy though.

[Wizardsmana]

Tried it once in the 80's with my first powerful class change. It was all great until getting ambushed by vorpal bunnies and taking a critical hit...I hate those bunnies!!!
Ninjas are notorious for doing the same to solo adventurers during an ambush.

[Ninth Hour]

Originally posted by Wizardsmana:

Tried it once in the 80's with my first powerful class change. It was all great until getting ambushed by vorpal bunnies and taking a critical hit...I hate those bunnies!!!
Ninjas are notorious for doing the same to solo adventurers during an ambush.

That's why my solo Lord has Makanito. As long as he isn't ambushed, he should be able to prevail. But you can't ever avert disaster- only minimize the risk. Hopefully, his good AC will protect him in case he is suprised.

[Ninth Hour]

My experience so far:

My level 1 Mage/Lord, gimped as he was, had no problems clearing out the first floor (sans Murphy's Ghost, which I resolutely decided not to grind). It was really gratifying to earn 2000-3200 XP per battle with Rogues, Bushwackers, and Orcs. And when you are alone, enemies will never run, no matter how many of them you kill.

In just 30 minutes, I earned 23,500 XP. This is even better than the average XP gain with a full party on floor 10 (outside of the odd encounters with Frost and Poison Giants).

And notwithstanding his 7 strength, he had no problems, with a Longsword +2, hitting and killing anything in one hit. To speed things up, I let loose with the Mahalitos, Lahalitos, Daltos, and Makanitos at my disposal. I wasn't even above using Tiltowait.

Instead of returning home to level up, like a sensible person, he then proceeded to Floor 2 and, in an encounter with Creeping Cruds, got surprised and poisoned. Even with AC -7, a solo character is far from impervious to physical attacks. With the sheer number of rolls that the enemy gets, they get those lucky 5% hits with uncomfortable frequency.

Thus afflicted, the fledgling Lord attempted to make his way home, only to encounter 4 Gas Clouds. Because of his low Agility, he was last in the initiative order. One of the clouds put him to sleep and whaled on him for several rounds without hitting him. I was waiting to see if he would wake up but, before that could happen, one of them paralyzed him and ended his crusade.

The first lesson: overconfidence is a swift and decisive killer.

Second lesson: Agility is important and so is AOE magic.

Fortunately, he was not difficult to find and resurrect.