first good run over/how do i handle crytsal caves as skeleton and conjurer?

[shamowow]

very new player here (all my best run only went till level 7 up until now) and i just had a very good run as skeleton conjurer, got until crystal caves and level 40!!
But i was wondering, cokatrices seemed really strong and very plentiful (4-5 each level).
My mana was running out constantly and in melee both me and my minions had big problems (my minions both kept pace with me level-wise i think around lvl40 when i was in caves). The kobolds and golems were a non-issue honestly, but the cokatrices were super annoying, very resource intensive. And they also chase for a long time, often finding my minions, so avoiding them is not as easy as the golems.

How do you guys tackle crystal caves? should i have been leveling polearms/block more? or just rush for exit?

I pretty much ignored weapon skills in favour of sorcery and thaumaturgy (managed to learn lighting very early and later magic missle, also divine bastion). Even with the baron (did NOT expect the game to continue haha), the fight was over in like 10 seconds! I felt pretty over-powered, had 6 minions at the time. But then at the inn almost all died cause of racist ungrateful humans turning on their undead saviour
Crystal caves after that was surprisingly pretty tough.

Skeleton as caster feels pretty strange, having so low mana regen makes it frustrating to use. Sure i could leave the game running afk for an hour or so to regen but that seems a bit boring, i would rather play. Otherwise its veeery slow. Made the mistake of not taking a pipe with me in ruins, it was cursed and i figured i didnt need it. In retrospect woulda been very useful. (i think? can skeleton even smoke?/ use it?)
Honestly i only got killed cause i got impatient with waiting for regen haha (used fountain while very low and an incubus spawned ouch). Is there maybe a way to speed the game up for that?
So how do you guys play skeleton? more as melee? or more range attacks?

I thought about using range but i hardly could level it even with good bows- it often showed that i only got glancing hits. Is that why it did not level? or do i have to use quivers to level?

Any advice would be appreciated!

[LazyTavi]

Congrats on the run!

Skeleton conjurer is just hard in general, especially when you get to the caves and the enemies have a huge jump in difficulty. If you really want to play conjurer, I would recommend a human for now. Having base mana regen is really helpful, and a follower build can benefit a lot from lugging food around.

If you're gonna play skeleton, I'd say that both ranged and melee are totally fine choices— just not mages. Having a large mana reserve is a huge part of playing skeleton, and if you're constantly casting spells with mana, it's gonna be hard to compensate for your low regeneration rate through intrinsic revival.

Wish I could help with cockatrices. Sometimes I can beat em, sometimes I can't I think staves of slow and stoneblood work on them, so you can use them to escape if you have to. If you can, try luring them into boulder and spike traps, or maybe an angry shopkeeper

[Grandpa Crack Pipe]

Generally, the best way to play Skeleton is to pick another class or disable racial abilities, but I respect your chutzpah.

A skeleton mage is a very tough thing to do. Their already very throttled mana is usually best saved for their lifesaving passive, unless you're cool with taking advantage of that 'no hunger' thing and waiting eons for it to recharge.
Generally, skeletons want to use alternate methods of damage dealing. Summons, allies (ghouls are pretty strong), tinkering traps, melee, ranged, stuff like that.

Skeleton Shaman is actually tremendously effective. Unless they've changed it, you get normal regeneration while shapeshifted (with actually boosted mana regen, thanks to the mask) but still retain the lifesaving passive. You can be the strongest spellcasting skeleton rat.

Magic resistance ramps up hard in the Crystal Caves, which is why it's always a good idea to be training up a physical skill as you play. My recommendation for a wizard? Mace.
Sharur is guaranteed at the Hamlet if you've brought the green orb, so it's always obtainable, and its passive greatly boosts mana regen. It's a mages' best friend and the best way to get 1-2 second mana regen time.

A few things to note about Cockatrices: they don't like all the enemies on the floor any more than you, so it might be a good idea to lure enemies to them as distractions while you sneak in some blows. While they have a massive resistance to magic, you could count on half a hand how many enemies you'd rather be getting smacked by, so whittling them down as much as you can with ranged attacks before going in for the kill is a good idea.
But whatever you do, you better do it quick and you better do it clean. And RUN if you see it raise its arms.

[shamowow]

thank you for the advice guys!
luring enemies into the cocatrices i did not think about, gotta try.
the mana regen mace sounds very interesting gotta try that!

[Mr. Squirrelpants]

Originally posted by LazyTavi:

Congrats on the run! :mhwgood:

Skeleton conjurer is just hard in general, especially when you get to the caves and the enemies have a huge jump in difficulty. If you really want to play conjurer, I would recommend a human for now. Having base mana regen is really helpful, and a follower build can benefit a lot from lugging food around.

If you're gonna play skeleton, I'd say that both ranged and melee are totally fine choices— just not mages. Having a large mana reserve is a huge part of playing skeleton, and if you're constantly casting spells with mana, it's gonna be hard to compensate for your low regeneration rate through intrinsic revival.

Wish I could help with cockatrices. Sometimes I can beat em, sometimes I can't :awkward: I think staves of slow and stoneblood work on them, so you can use them to escape if you have to. If you can, try luring them into boulder and spike traps, or maybe an angry shopkeeper :cocochan2:

You need to win a run as Skele Conjurer to unlock Conjurer as a universal class.

[Mami The Beer Baron]

Originally posted by shamowow:

very new player here (all my best run only went till level 7 up until now) and i just had a very good run as skeleton conjurer, got until crystal caves and level 40!!
But i was wondering, cokatrices:angry_seagull: seemed really strong and very plentiful (4-5 each level).
My mana was running out constantly and in melee both me and my minions had big problems (my minions both kept pace with me level-wise i think around lvl40 when i was in caves). The kobolds and golems were a non-issue honestly, but the cokatrices were super annoying:angry_seagull::angry_seagull:, very resource intensive. And they also chase for a long time, often finding my minions, so avoiding them is not as easy as the golems.

How do you guys tackle crystal caves? should i have been leveling polearms/block more? or just rush for exit?:chatter::chatter:

I pretty much ignored weapon skills in favour of sorcery and thaumaturgy (managed to learn lighting very early and later magic missle, also divine bastion). Even with the baron (did NOT expect the game to continue haha), the fight was over in like 10 seconds! I felt pretty over-powered, had 6 minions at the time:WH3_clasp:. But then at the inn almost all died cause of racist ungrateful humans turning on their undead saviour:cozyspaceengineersa::cozyspaceengineersa::er_angry:
Crystal caves after that was surprisingly pretty tough.

Skeleton as caster feels pretty strange, having so low mana regen makes it frustrating to use. Sure i could leave the game running afk:bonfire2: for an hour or so to regen but that seems a bit boring, i would rather play. Otherwise its veeery slow. Made the mistake of not taking a pipe with me in ruins, it was cursed and i figured i didnt need it. In retrospect woulda been very useful. (i think? can skeleton even smoke?/ use it?)
Honestly i only got killed cause i got impatient with waiting for regen haha (used fountain while very low and an incubus spawned ouch). Is there maybe a way to speed the game up for that?:er_uwu:
So how do you guys play skeleton? more as melee? or more range attacks?

I thought about using range but i hardly could level it even with good bows- it often showed that i only got glancing hits. Is that why it did not level? or do i have to use quivers to level?

Any advice would be appreciated!:praisesun:

did you make sure to mass grind swimming in the jungle?

[shamowow]

hm? grind swimming? thats not a skill in my list?

[Mami The Beer Baron]

Originally posted by shamowow:

hm? grind swimming? thats not a skill in my list?

they might have removed it at some point, you used to be able to improve swimming, and when its at max level, you could walk over water and lava like jesus

[Tiny]

Originally posted by Mr. Squirrelpants:

You need to win a run as Skele Conjurer to unlock Conjurer as a universal class.

You don't have to win as skeleton conujurer to unlock the class. You have to win as the skeleton race.
It doesn't matter what class you choose to play as. If you beat the game (not-classic mode) as skeleton, you unlock the conjurer class for other monster races,

Humans have all dlc classes unlocked by default (provided you own the dlc). So it doesn't matter if you've won as skeleton, you can still play human conjurer.

Originally posted by Mami The Beer Baron:

they might have removed it at some point, you used to be able to improve swimming, and when its at max level, you could walk over water and lava like jesus

The swimming skill was removed as part of the instruments of destruction part 1 update. Also notibly, they reworked the magic skills and appraisal/lore at the same time.

[Mami The Beer Baron]

i've been going for a mix of both melee and range, mainly focusing on axe since parashu (obtainable as early as the first few levels) really scales well later on, especially with its ability to slow enemies down, making it way easier for you to deal with the cockatrices.
also got really lucky in my run with an early tinkering kit so i could grind that to hell and back early on for some easy tinkering levels so i could aim to potentially repair my parashu later on (it's worn due to the fact that i was able to find a scroll of repair weapon early on that wasn't cursed)

[Siegbrecht]

Honestly, if you can RNG yourself into Arcane Mark and are aware of and capable of completing the secret levels (skip Cockatrice secret level) then do them. The gear and resistance reduction on enemies will carry you to an easy run.

If you can get a repair scroll and snag the secret level in the swamp/jungle biome that gives you the +Mana regen mace it's a decent way to offset the skeleton passive regen reduction. Remember that you can command your summons to move and therefore eat traps for you. That or polymorph and blessed meals for mp regen.