How to Beat the Despair Difficulty in Golden Krone Hotel

Struggling to overcome Despair mode in Golden Krone Hotel? Need a better understanding of the game’s mechanics? This guide aims to provide insights into the intricately designed systems of the game, specifically focusing on its highest and appropriately named difficulty level.

Overview:

I have created this guide based on my personal experience of conquering the game on Despair difficulty with all 18 classes. Beating the game at this level required a significant amount of savescumming due to its incredibly challenging nature. However, I also managed to achieve a completely legitimate Despair victory with the Assassin class.

Key points to consider:

• Spoiler Alert! This guide contains numerous spoilers. Additionally, many of the tips provided are only relevant for difficulties below Despair. If you’re a beginner, I recommend skipping this guide, diving into the game blindly, and starting on Easy mode. Switch to this guide when you find the game too easy or when you feel you’re no longer progressing or enjoying it.
• The guide assumes the usage of WASD-movement, as I haven’t played with diagonal numpad movement. Therefore, the tips are tailored accordingly.
• Please note that this guide does not aim to cover every aspect comprehensively. If I have nothing specific to mention about a character, spell, monster, or area, it won’t be discussed.
• Writing this guide required a significant amount of effort. If you find it helpful or derive any benefits from it, I would greatly appreciate your feedback. Writers often crave feedback and appreciate any comments you may have.

Game Progression

The Win Condition

• In total, there are 9 rings available: 7 obtained from branches and 2 obtained from the Underworld.
• To achieve victory, you only need to acquire any 4 of these rings.
• As a result, it is possible to skip certain side branches, including the entire Underworld, if you choose to do so.

The Difficulty Curve

• In Despair mode, the risk of dying is already high even on the first floor.
• Generally, the game reaches its highest level of difficulty in the initial floors, although it remains challenging as you progress.
• As you ascend the Hotel or venture into side branches, enemies and obstacles become increasingly formidable.
• Therefore, a crucial objective is to match or surpass the escalating level of danger in order to survive.

How can I get stronger?

• Your character experiences permanent enhancements through various means, including level-ups, improved stats from leveling or stat tomes, better equipment, enhanced abilities obtained from grimoires or vampire abilities from demon blood, and the acquisition of rings from defeating branch bosses.
• Additionally, temporary buffs and effects from spells, abilities, or potions, as well as strategic utilization of the environment, can provide your character with temporary boosts. These temporary enhancements can be instrumental in defeating branch bosses or overcoming challenging situations.
• The Hawkers, who serve as shopkeepers, offer the opportunity to augment your character’s power as needed. You can mark items of interest for future reference and purchase them later as a vampire, even if it requires descending a few floors. This allows you to acquire the specific power boosts required for your build.

Should I climb the hotel, or enter side branches?

• Generally, it is advisable to prioritize ascending the main hotel rather than venturing into the side branches, as the latter often pose significant threats and are highly dangerous.
• However, certain side branches can be exploited or easily conquered with specific character builds. For instance, if you possess the Glaciate spell, it is recommended to explore the Baths early on. As a Vampire, you can also obtain valuable equipment from the Mausoleum with minimal risk. Detailed information on side branches can be found in the respective sections of this guide.
• Additionally, some characters begin the game with combat-related potions, such as the Berserker with the Big Potion. In such cases, clearing a branch boss early on can be considered.
• If you are unable to exploit the side branches, it is advisable to tackle them once you reach floor 6 or 7. By this point, the Hotel itself becomes considerably challenging due to the appearance of formidable monsters like Vampire Nobles, Vampire Knights, or Ruby Golems.

Core Gameplay Mechanics

Controls

• In principle, one can move faster via the Shift key. In practice, I think that just gets you killed.
• I recommend mostly unbinding the Rest key, and binding those keys to Wait instead. Resting works decently well as a human, but gets you killed as a vampire.

Stats

What basic stats are there?

• Strength (Str) directly influences your Attack and Defense capabilities, determining the amount of damage you deal and the amount of damage you can withstand.
• Dexterity (Dex) has an impact on your Accuracy and Evasion, affecting your chances of successfully hitting enemies and avoiding their attacks.
• Intelligence (Int) plays a role in several aspects, including determining your maximum mana capacity, enhancing spell effectiveness, reducing hunger costs associated with spellcasting, and providing defense against Psychic damage.
• Your equipment significantly influences your Attack and Defense attributes, contributing to your overall combat effectiveness.
• Vampires, although unable to benefit from swords, shields, or pistols, can utilize plate armor and leggings. To offset this limitation, vampires possess higher base stats, particularly in terms of Dex and speed, granting them inherent advantages in combat.

What other stats and mechanics are there?

• Speed: The speed attribute determines the frequency of your movements relative to other monsters in the game. If a monster has a lower speed than you, you can either flee from it or land more hits on it compared to the number of hits it lands on you. Conversely, if a monster has a higher speed, it can pursue you more effectively and gain additional opportunities to strike. It’s worth noting that most monsters tend to have higher speed than humans.
• Resistances: Resistances in the game range from 1 (indicating vulnerability) to 2 (normal) and can go up to 5 (indicating immunity). A resistance of 1 implies that the entity is susceptible to specific damage types, resulting in a 50% increase in damage received and a higher chance of suffering from related status effects like poison. On the other hand, a resistance of 5 indicates complete immunity to the associated damage. For instance, humans are immune to Sunlight, while vampires are vulnerable to it.

Stat points and how to spend them

A winning 4-ring run ends around player level 9 or 10. (Level-ups are also capped at 15, but that’s a purely theoretical limit.) So while level-ups yield a lot of extra hitpoints and mana throughout a run, you can only expect to get up to ~9 extra stat points that way.So how to spend those stat points? As a baseline, I like the recommendation of level-up strategies: alternate Dex-Str in a 1:1 ratio for melee builds, or alternate Int-Dex in a ratio of 2:1 or higher for spellcasters.

Adjust these recommendations based on the equipment you find. For example:

• The Warp Mage class is inherently inclined towards being a spellcaster, as reflected in its base stats (-1 Str, -1 Dex, +2 Int). However, if you find no grimoires early on, investing stat points into Intelligence will not provide immediate benefits, and you may face difficulties surviving without a combat spell. In such a situation, it is advisable to allocate the first 1-2 stat points into Dex instead and later transition into investing in Int once you acquire grimoires.
• The Assassin class receives a significant boost of +4 Dexterity when in a hidden state. Consequently, it is recommended to allocate the majority of stat points into Strength, capitalizing on the character’s inherent strengths.
• If you happen to come across a powerful great sword early in the game, obtaining it is akin to having invested extra points into Strength. As a result, it becomes logical to distribute stat points relatively more towards Dex in this case. It’s important to note that vampires cannot utilize swords, but they possess their own Strength bonus, providing alternative advantages.

Time Limits & Clocks

The Three Timers

• The basic timers in the game are the human food clock, the vampire soul gauge, and the vampire’s life loss.
• The food clock is important early on. But it can be removed by clearing the Hive or Icehouse. And sometimes one can even skip these side branches by finding enough food, or by buying extras from Hawkers.
• The two vampire-related effects are essentially turn limits: one can survive for a while as a vampire, but must eventually return to being human to rest. And only a small number of Soul Essences are available to revert to becoming human.

Spellcasters vs. the Vampire Soul Gauge

The game warns you not to cast too many spells because of the hunger mechanic. But in Despair mode, my impression is that the vampire soul gauge is even scarier: spellcasters put most of their stat points into Int and hence want to spend little time as vampires, but there may not be enough Soul Elixirs to do so. So what can they do?

• Don’t explore the huge floors 8-9 in their entirety. That just takes too long and costs too many resources.
• If you have enough food, it might be worthwhile to use teleportation spells like Blink and Teleport to move around, i.e. to trade soul gauge for hunger. Movement just costs too much time otherwise.
• Buy extra Soul Elixirs from merchants.
• If the Pharmacopoeia branch is available, then that yields a lot of extra potions, including extra Soul Elixirs.

The Unintuitive Details of Vampire Life Loss

• You lose life more quickly the more life you have.
• You cannot die on 1 life. Or at least my level 1 vampire survived waiting to turn 1500 in Despair mode.
• I’d previously thought that I had to use a heal effect once I reached low health, even if an area was free from danger; but that’s not the case.
• So once you’ve cleared a few floors as a vampire, you could in principle always wait until it’s night, take all the time you need to walk around between shops etc., and eventually either heal up via a health item, or use a Soul Elixir to rest.

Combat Tips

Fight where you’re strong

• Try to always get the first hit. Most enemies have higher speeds than you do, which means that they occasionally get a free move towards you. In that case, they can hit you before you get a chance to react. Against those enemies, once they’re 1 tile away from you, move backwards: they’ll move towards you, eventually close the gap due to their superior speed, and then you can get the first hit.
• Try to never fight more than one monster at once.
• As a vampire, stay in the shadows. This grants the “hidden” status and allows actual stealth gameplay (see below).
• As a vampire, try to fight in areas where you can reach spilled blood, i.e. not in corridors.
• Never fight in water, even as a human. This causes the Submerged status, which slows you down and gets you killed. (However, it’s fine to flee from vampires into water, where they can’t follow you.)

Fight where enemies are weak

• If you’re faced with monsters which cause fire damage (like bombs, Magma Golems, Imps), and you’re a human, you can briefly touch water for the Wet status, which yields 5 turns of increased fire resistance.
• Lure monsters without night vision into darkness so that you can use stealth combat (see below). You can even do this as a human, where it’s most useful against some bosses.

Use stealth combat

• Here’s how stealth works: Monsters without night vision (like humans or golems) display a ? or ! above their heads. If they see you and you move into darkness, they move towards the last tile where they’ve seen you, then stop. So you can ambush them there.
• However, even such monsters *will* notice you if you move into melee range next to them.
• If you want to lure a stationary monster towards you so you can get the first hit from darkness, there are a bunch of options: briefly step outside the darkness, so it sees you and moves towards you; or hit or shoot something to produce noise; or briefly toggle a nearby torch on and off again.

Use the pistol and ranged spells to reduce damage taken

• Kill particularly damaging low-health enemies with your Revolver or a ranged spell: e.g. Worker Bees, which deal a *lot* of damage via poison; or the exploding goblin.
• Bullets are really strong. Besides the above, another great use for them is to damage enemies so you can kill them in fewer hits. For example, if a monster requires two hits to kill, and you can ensure the first hit, then the fight will progress as hit-get_hit-hit-win. In contrast, if you shoot first, you can just shoot-hit-win, without taking damage at all.
• If you die with lots of bullets in reserve, something has gone wrong.

Beware of powerful monsters

• Inspect enemies before you fight them. Here are some indications for whether a monster is dangerous: the description says so; it has a level-3 spell which deals damage and can’t be played around; you have a much lower chance to hit it than it does to hit you.
• Each floor has a chance to spawn monsters “above its level”, e.g. a Vampire Noble can spawn several floors before you’d ordinarily expect one. Treat such monsters with extreme care.
• If a monster seems dangerous for some reason, then treat it as such. Be very careful, ensure a line of retreat, use potions and ranged abilities, or evade them entirely if possible.

Use support abilities at a distance

• Do not use potions or spells in melee range unless you must, because that costs a whole turn. Giving enemies free hits is the fastest way to die. It’s much better to prepare in advance, at a distance.
• Vampire abilities cost 0 turns, so they’re fine to use in melee range.

Characters

Recommended Characters

• In my experience, the strongest or easiest characters in Despair mode are those with the best combat stats, i.e. ones capable of winning battles in melee combat.
• This includes the Assassin, who can have +4 dex in all fights.
• And the Berserker, who starts with +2 str and -1 dex, and has the Enrage for more stats. She can also beat a boss via the Big potion, and has a Nostrum as essentially an extra life.
• And finally, the Shapeshifter, who can stay in permanent Werewolf form once you find the Focus spell.

On specific Characters

• Apothecary has poison damage and poison resist, which gives her the perfect damage type and resistance for the Hive. Also, as of v1.10.1, Miasma can hit through honey comb awlls. Overall, if you have Miasma 2 and turn off the torches in the Hive, the floor should be easy to clear.
• Ice Mage can only get Ice spells, i.e. only the four spells Encase, Tempest, Ice, and Glaciate. While I don’t like Encase, the other three spells are a good set of spells, enough to beat the game, and the limited spell selection guarantees that you’ll get to level up those spells to a high level. Glaciate can by itself trivialize the Baths; Tempest plus Glaciate is a valid win condition; Tempest by itself is great against vampires; and Ice is a good damage spell which also slows down enemies and thus weakens them for melee combat. Beware of the Menagerie and the Icehouse, though: Ice Bears and Ice Golems are immune to Ice damage.
• Light Mage: On paper this character sounds like a mage. But the Focus spell is also well-suited for a brawler build: it’s already powerful on level 1; it only costs 4 mana; and it’s too situational to be relied on by a spellcasting build. Permanent glow is annoying for a vampire, but it’s manageable.
• Revenant has an interesting peculiarity: While you can neither regen health nor mana, you also don’t lose any health as a vampire. So you can remain a vampire indefinitely and profit from the improved combat stats, i.e. higher speed and strength.
• Shapeshifter: I initially didn’t understand how the Shapeshifter was supposed to work, given that she starts as ravenous. But werewolves have a 40% crit chance and get “satiated” (reduce their hunger) from crits. Also, once you get the Focus spell, you can just cast it whenever you’re not standing in sunlight, which instantly turns you into a werewolf. The ability to permanently be a werewolf (with extra stats and insane crit rate and speed) is enough to easily win the game, so if you can’t find the Focus spell in grimoires, that’s reason enough to buy extra Grimoires and Legendary Grimoires.
• Warp Mage: This character is so weak that all combat is a struggle. I don’t have any great tips here; just try to survive and dodge monsters until you find a spell that helps you win fights. Damage spells are ideal, but in a pinch, even something like Stupefy will do.

Monsters

General Tips

• Regular monsters follow you up and down staircases. This can be a blessing or a curse – a blessing because you can separate monsters, or a curse because those monsters get a free action. In any case, however, branch bosses cannot be brought through staircases.

Specific Monsters

• Artificers are reasonably easy to kill as a vampire (and naturally hostile to them). But beware: they can spawn a Sunstone Golem next to you, which is disastrous.
• Harpies (flying monster in the Baths): I didn’t understand these for a long time. They flee from you when they’re alone, and swarm you when another monster is in the vicinity. To lure them, an easy method is to walk outside the melee range of a shark.
• Naiads (water fairies) have the Tempest and Glaciate spells, turn their surroundings into water, and then freeze it. They’re a bit tricky to kill as a vampire. Two strategies that work against them are to either flee until they run out of mana. Or even better, to flee on top of a staircase, which cannot be submerged by the Tempest spell.

Spells, Abilities, and Potions

When selecting your initial spells, it’s essential to determine whether you intend to build a spellcaster or a melee-focused character. This decision may be evident for certain classes (e.g., the Scholar is clearly designed as a spellcaster), while it might be less obvious for others (e.g., the Vagabond can adopt either approach). For melee builds, prioritize acquiring support spells that enhance your combat capabilities (e.g., Enrage, Haste), provide healing (e.g., Heal), facilitate escapes to safety (e.g., Blink, Teleport, Disappear), or offer similar benefits. In contrast, spellcasters should aim to obtain at least two damage spells, as each damage spell often has limitations or encounters enemies immune to specific types of damage. Additionally, having one escape spell is generally sufficient for spellcasters. Consider your playstyle and the role you want to fulfill within the game to make informed decisions regarding your spell selection.

Spells:

• Bomb: While not primarily a damage spell, Bomb serves as a versatile utility spell. It has the ability to destroy walls, offering various strategic advantages throughout the game. For instance, you can use it to break windows (although pistols may be more effective for this purpose), demolish Crystals in the Gallery to acquire additional resources at the cost of a spell slot and unused potions, create openings in the Hedge Maze or Menagerie (though it’s often unnecessary or undesirable), free imprisoned golems in the Workshop, or escape from pursuing golems by blasting through walls. In the Great Hall, you can also obtain Arcane Hammers using bombs (though monsters can also drop bombs in that area).
• Heal: Heal is a useful spell that serves multiple purposes. It can restore your health, which is crucial for reading grimoires and primers. Additionally, it can cure bleeding effects. If you are uninjured, Heal can even be used to heal adjacent allies.
• Miasma: Initially overlooked due to its perceived dangers, Miasma can be a potent damage spell when utilized effectively. It excels in dealing impressive area-of-effect (AoE) damage, making it a viable choice for building a spellcaster-focused character. However, Miasma does have two significant drawbacks: many enemies are immune to its effects, and it inflicts damage upon the caster as well. The spell functions by creating an explosion in front of the targeted obstacle, releasing a cloud of miasma that spreads in all directions. In open areas, the cloud covers a 3×3 grid centered on the explosion, ensuring safety if the targeted enemy is at least 3 tiles away. However, in enclosed spaces or corridors, the miasma can reach the caster even if they are 1-2 tiles further away. To mitigate risks, it is essential to cast Miasma from a safe distance, preferably in open areas. In situations where enemies are nearby, having a secondary damage spell and escape spells like Blink or Teleport are advisable. In desperate situations, the Fetter spell can also be utilized to create distance between the caster and enemies.
• Quills: Quills is an intriguing spell that combines elements of healing and damage. It serves both defensive and offensive purposes. Notably, Quills’ effectiveness scales with the caster’s hitpoints and, consequently, their level. This characteristic ensures its relevance and usefulness throughout the game, unlike other damage spells that may become less effective in the late stages.

Abilities:

• Aura: Initially not favored, the Aura ability can prove valuable against spellcasting bosses without Summon effects, such as the Gorgon or the Princess. These bosses possess high damage potential but rely on mana and cooldowns. By using Aura, their resources are depleted, rendering their attacks less threatening.
• Frenzy: Frenzy functions as a potent shield effect similar to Quills. Although it reduces your health to 1, it can be effectively employed against enemies that cause bleeding. The quick regeneration of health through bleeding offsets the apparent health cost, making it more akin to a healing effect rather than a health reset.
• Wring: Wring enables the extraction of blood from furniture and environmental objects. While most furniture has limited hitpoints, yielding minimal blood, Wring’s area of effect allows for potential net lifegain. However, certain furniture items possess significant hitpoints, such as pots or organs, while others come in large quantities, like the bushes in the Greenhouse, tombstones in the Graveyard, or chairs and tables in the Library.

Potions:

• Potion of Bounty: Considered to be exceptionally powerful, the Potion of Bounty has the potential to be a game-changer. When consumed, it grants an amount of money roughly equivalent to your current turn counter. If used after turn 1000 or later, it provides substantial funds, enabling the purchase of nearly any item available from the Hawkers.

Side Branches [A-Ga]

Baths:

• Lighting: The Baths are illuminated by torches, and there are no windows.

How it can kill you:

• The shark is a powerful enemy.
• The eel has a rapid and unlimited ranged attack that can be difficult to evade.
• Harpies initially flee from you but will swarm and attack when another monster is nearby.
• The Rusalka bosses use the Entrance 3 spell to pull you into their pool and drown you. When Entranced, your character automatically moves towards the closest Rusalka within sight after taking an action.

How it can help you win:

• The Baths are filled with fountains that last for 100 turns once discovered. Fountains provide identified potion effects, allowing you to avoid drinking from potentially harmful ones, and also identify the corresponding potion type.
• The area can appear early on (as early as floor 3), can be exploited for experience points, and is relatively easy to cheese.

Tips for survival:

• Each monster in the Baths has specific weaknesses, with many being water-bound and easy to avoid.
• Stay outside the range of sharks and eels if possible.
• Use positioning to lure harpies individually by staying close but out of range of sharks or eels.
• Clear out most of the harpies before approaching the Rusalka bosses to avoid being overwhelmed.
• Creating patches of darkness by turning off torches can be beneficial but challenging.
• If you’re a vampire in a water area and risk being Entranced and pulled into water, consider using a Soul Elixir.
• Ranged abilities are effective against entrancing Rusalka bosses for human characters.
• If you are Entranced, moving out of sight can prevent you from being forced to move. Blinding yourself with a Blindness potion or turning off enough torches can also prevent movement.
• The Rusalka pool is surrounded by four pillars, and standing diagonally behind one can obscure the Rusalkas and provide a temporary safe space.
• If you are Entranced and too close to the Rusalka pool, use utility spells and potions like Teleport or Blink to escape. Cleanse can remove the Entranced status entirely.
• Bullets can finish off injured Rusalkas, but their high HP and pistol accuracy decreasing with distance make it challenging to eliminate them all.

Cheese strategies:

• Rusalkas can be cheesed since they cannot follow you. By alternating between casting ranged damage spells at maximum range, moving backward if Entranced, and taking brief rests to regenerate mana, you can effectively deal with them.
• Glaciate, the spell that turns water into ice, can completely cheese the entire Baths area. Consider choosing this spell if you know you’ll encounter the Baths, as Rusalkas become harmless once the area is Glaciated. Beware of harpies, though.

Dungeon:

• Lighting: The Dungeon is lit by lamps or similar sources. The dungeon-wide lighting can be toggled using a button in the center of the Dungeon.

How it can kill you:

• The Dungeon is filled with spikes.
• All monsters in this area are suited for the spike-filled environment. Some can fly or attack from range, while others can cast Levitate or Vortex.
• The human boss can be dangerous if it chases you into the spikes before you can deactivate them.

How it can help you win:

• The Dungeon contains several Tomes of Anguish. Reading these tomes grants +1 stat, +1 tome level, and shuffles your stats and spells. This can provide significant advantages, particularly if you find multiple Tomes.
• Demonic imp monsters in the Dungeon drop demon blood, which can yield vampire abilities.
• Multiple Iron Maidens can be found in the area, and the allies within can assist in defeating other bosses. However, avoid opening the Iron Maidens until after disabling the spikes, or your allies will perish immediately.

Tips for survival:

• Spikes trigger every three turns, but there are safe zones where you can avoid them.
• Due to the presence of ranged enemies, being a human character with bullets or ranged spells is advantageous.
• Levitate spells or potions can be helpful but are not necessary.

Cheese strategies:

• Surprisingly, you can kill the boss while human with minimal risk. Once you reach the boss and the “control center,” deactivate the spikes. Use a Cape or similar item to temporarily gain levitation, turn off the lights, wait for the boss to move into a spike area, and then reactivate the spikes. Stay close to the boss and wait for the spikes to eliminate them.

Gallery:

• Lighting: The Gallery is lit by torches.

How it can kill you:

• The Gorgon can turn you to stone and then hit you with a Blast 3 spell, dealing over 100 damage.
• The floor contains several monsters that have been turned to stone, but their stoned form lasts for a limited number of turns.

How it can help you win:

• The Gallery contains powerful items encased in Crystals.
• Crystals can be destroyed using Blast 3 or 4 spells or by using bombs.
• It is possible to open the Crystals by taking hits from the Gorgon’s Blast spell. This method is not advised unless you can survive a hit dealing over 100 damage, such as with the vampire’s Aura ability.

Tips for survival:

• Turn off the lights, even as a human character.
• Avoid giving the Gorgon a clear line of sight. The stoned form only lasts for a few turns, so keeping distance from the Gorgon can buy you time to break free.

Side Branches [Gb-K]

Graveyard:

• Lighting: Fireflies and a few torches, mostly darkness.

How it can kill you:

• Skeleton monsters, including ranged archers, pose a threat.
• Blood sources are scarce.

Tips for survival:

• Surprisingly, skeletons don’t have night vision, so turning off the torches can make it easier to navigate the area.

Mausoleum I & II:

• Lighting: Few torches, mostly darkness.

How it can kill you:

• Tons of vampire enemies, including powerful vampire nobles.
• Limited blood sources.
• The boss swarms you with vampire minions.

How it can help you win:

• The Mausoleum contains high-powered equipment.
• Mausoleum II has guaranteed equipment inside the boss arena, “locked” behind water, usually meant to be reached as a human after defeating the boss.

Tips for survival:

• The boss, Vlad (Strigoi), has mana and cooldowns, so picking off his summons one-by-one can be a viable strategy if you can’t cheese the boss.
• Cheesing strategies include using Celestial Essence to transform into a human and kill both the boss and summons, utilizing the Tempest spell to flood the area with water, or using the Vortex spell to pull vampires into the water.
• If you’re a vampire with the Bat ability or have a Levitate or Bat potion, you can collect equipment in Mausoleum II as a vampire.

Great Hall:

• Lighting: Torches, bombs, and magma.

How it can kill you:

• Swarming goblins, including goblins that blow themselves up if they get close.
• The boss throws lots of bombs.
• Accidentally running into bombs or getting knocked into other bombs or magma.
• The boss spawns a lethal bomb on death, the Big One, which covers the entire level.

How it can help you win:

• The area contains walled-off Arcane Hammers and a locked chest in the center area with magma.

Tips for survival:

• Move slowly and cautiously to avoid accidentally running into bombs.
• A strategy to deal with the Big One bomb is to lure the boss to the staircase, kill him within four turns, climb the stairs, wait for the Big One to explode, and then return to collect the ring.

Greenhouse:

• Lighting: Sunlight during the day (6 am to 6 pm), darkness at night unless it’s a full moon.

How it can kill you:

• Green Men gain buffs in sunlight, making them stronger, faster, and even healed.
• The boss, Varcolac, transforms into a werewolf at night and gains increased healing during the full moon.

Tips for survival:

• Fleeing from a Green Man to the staircase can take away their healing abilities, but they’ll keep their buffs.
• Challenging Varcolac to a melee fight should only be done after using multiple potions, such as the Big Potion and Strength Potion.

Hedge Maze & Hive:

Hedge Maze:

• Lighting: Torches.

How it can kill you:

• Navigating the Hedge Maze can consume time, increasing hunger and the white soul gauge.
• No blood sources for vampires.

How it can help you win:

• Leads to the Hive, which yields honey.

Tips for survival:

• It’s best to navigate the Hedge Maze when you’re a human on a nearby floor and low on health. Use the time you would spend resting to find the entrance to the Hive, even if you’re not ready to clear it yet.
• Rely on the minimap rather than the main screen for navigation.

Hive:

• Lighting: Torches.

How it can kill you:

• Killer Bees are powerful, and Worker Bees come in large packs.
• All monsters on this floor deal significant poison damage.
• The Queen Bee summons larvae that transform into more bee monsters.

How it can help you win:

• The area contains enough honey to make the food clock unimportant.

Tips for survival:

• Turn off the torches to make the bees lose their night vision.
• Keeping the torches on can allow the Queen Bee to see you through walls and start summoning monsters before you reach it, making the Hive more challenging.

Side Branches [L-Z]

Laboratory I & II:

Lighting: Torches, windows.

How it can kill you:

• Laboratory I accelerates time, causing blood to evaporate instantly, hunger and soul gauge to rise quickly, and sunlight patterns to move rapidly. Humans regenerate health and mana quickly, while vampires lose life rapidly.
• Laboratory II decelerates time, causing blood to last indefinitely, but health and mana don’t regenerate.
• The area also induces the Unstable status, making blink or teleport abilities dangerous, and volatile crystals should be avoided.

Tips for survival:

• In Despair mode, the resource losses in Laboratory I are severe, so it’s generally advisable to skip the area unless you have a mapping potion.
• Due to the Unstable status, refrain from using blink or teleport abilities, and avoid hitting volatile crystals.

Pharmacopoeia:

Lighting: Torches.

How it can kill you:

• The branch contains various monsters, all anonymized by a permanent hallucination effect. Monsters can be anything, including dangerous ones like Ruby Golems that can one-shot you from full health.
• Pharmacopoeia II features a fast Faerie boss.

How it can help you win:

• The branch yields numerous potions, including valuable Soul Elixirs.

Tips for survival:

• Turn off the torches, even as a human.
• Stealth can help you survive and identify monsters by whether they have night vision.
• Pharmacopoeia I doesn’t need to be fully cleared before defeating the boss. After defeating the boss, all monsters will be de-anonymized.

Rafters I & II:

Lighting: Few torches, mostly darkness.

How it can kill you:

• Monsters with knockback, such as Brawler vampires and explosive goblins, can throw you into the pit.
• Some monsters benefit from clear lines of sight (e.g., toadstools, spellcasters) or mobility (bats and demon bats).
• Demon Bats are especially dangerous against spellcaster builds that can’t kill them in melee range.

How it can help you win:

• Demon Bats drop demon blood, which grants vampire abilities.

Tips for survival:

• Abilities like Levitation or the Bat potion can be helpful.
• Use caution near enemies with knockback abilities to avoid being thrown into the pit.

Watchtower:

Lighting: Sunlight during the day, torches at other times.

How it can kill you:

• The area contains numerous gargoyles that try to surround you and turn to stone, making them nearly invulnerable.
• The boss has the Quake 3 spell, which deals significant damage at close range.
• Falling off the tower results in instant death, and the boss may have knockback.

Tips for survival:

• The boss is slow, so focus on defeating the gargoyles first.
• Stay out of the boss’s range and use hit-and-run tactics.
• Turning off the torches can make the fight easier by limiting the gargoyles’ night vision.

Workshop:

Lighting: Torches, electricity grids, and various golem varieties.

How it can kill you:

• The area contains artificers and numerous golems, but no boss.
• The ring is guarded by golems behind crystal walls, which are freed once you pick up the ring.
• Blood sources are scarce for vampires.

Tips for survival:

• Spellcasters with ranged spells like Quake or Blast below level 4 can kill the golems from a distance while they’re still imprisoned.
• Melee characters may struggle to fight their way out legitimately, as golems deal significant damage in Despair mode.
• Vampires with the Wring ability may have a chance at clearing the area, but be cautious as powerful golems like Ruby Golems can potentially one-shot you at full health.

Cheese strategies:

• If you possess a Teleport, Blink, or Recall spell or potion, you can make a direct path for the ring and escape that way.
• High-level Blast spells or bombs may also allow you to destroy walls and find an alternate route of escape.