Maze Master: Diminishing returns

Level 4 has a lot of empty space in it.

 

Level 3 is mapped out, and as I've cleared it of weaker encounters, my experience level has steadily risen. Monsters that used to be total party kills remained challenging, and towards the end I still could only endure one or two fights before being forced to retreat to the surface, but it's a noticeable improvement from when I started this level.

Gold XP Base A Wolves 34 12 B Orcs 36 12 C Lurkers 38 12 D Ogres 40 16 E Werewolves 48 16 F Maze Shadows 50 16 G Trolls 44 20 H Ogre Magi 54 20 I Mercenaries 58 20 J Stone Giants 56 24 K Wights 62 24 L Fire Dragons 60 28 M Spectres 66 28 N Green Dragons 72 32 O Gorgons 78 32 P Fire Giants 74 36 Q Clue R Stairs up S Stairs down

The XP rewards have gotten better as well, letting me level up every two or three sessions. My characters' core stats are maxed out, except for Fred's intelligence which he wasn't using anyway. The wizards' spell points have gotten high enough that I can finally afford to cast the AC-boosting Shadow Shield magic before combats, though combat boost spells still seem not worth it when group-targeting damage spells almost always kill half the mob or more.

 

Next, as I map out level 4, with 42 spell points between my wizards, the loop is a little different.

1. Enter the maze and cast Shadow Shield (5 SP).
2. Teleport to an unexplored portion of level 4 (5 SP).
3. Cast Cat's Eye (2 SP).
4. After any fight, teleport back to the surface. Be quick about entering coordinates - taking too long can trigger the infinite monsters bug. If I haven't got enough SP to teleport back, then just explore the level suicidally.
5. Restore any dead characters.
6. Update the codes of the survivors.

 

This is 17 points for utility magic, which leaves 25 for combat. That's enough for four firestorm spells, and any combat encounter that can't be cleared with four firestorms isn't going to be winnable with any other tactics. There's no reason not to return to surface after each combat either; a return is a free heal and SP recharge. Continuing just means your next encounter might be a total party kill that erases your gains.  If I can win a fight with just two firestorms, then I might press my luck and keep exploring until I fight another, but otherwise, it's one fight per session.

Survivable combats get me an average of 250XP/character, so I'm leveling up basically every four of these microsessions.

I've also bought everyone a $1500 Ring of Accuracy. Not the most useful upgrade, as magic is my main damage dealer, but meaningful equipment upgrades past that start at $4000 now, which will take some time to earn; combats down here are earning me $60/character on average.

Other items remaining include:

• $4000 - Wrathblade. The ultimate melee weapon.
• $5000 - Staff of Light. No description, but sounds useless if it doesn't do anything that Cat's Eye doesn't do.
• $5000 - Amulet of Healing. Also no description, could be great, could be useless, depending on how much healing it does.
• $6000 - Mithril Coat. The ultimate armor.
• $10000 - Hawk Blazon. No description.

 

You can't pool or transfer gold, so every character has to save up on their own.

 

Even at the end of the level 4 expedition, with over 28,000 XP accumulated and only the floor's strongest monsters remaining, my success or failure against them depends on luck. If I get to go first, then I thin their ranks with a pair of firestorm spells and likely finish them off unscathed the next turn. If they go first, then whether I survive the first turn or not is entirely up to the RNG deciding how many of them hit and how hard.

Level 4 is now completely mapped, and each character has over 30,000 XP accumulated.

One unique floor feature here is that the lower-left corner contains unending monster encounters, but this is not a bug.

Gold XP Base A Maze Shadows 50 16 B Ogre Magi 54 20 C Mercenaries 58 20 D Stone Giants 56 24 E Wights 62 24 F Fire Dragons 60 28 G Spectres 66 28 H Green Dragons 72 32 I Gorgons 78 32 J Fire Giants 74 36 K Ogre Kings 80 36 L Minotaurs 84 40 M Black Dragons 100 40 N Black Wolves 92 44 O Samurai 112 44 P Ice Giants 108 52 Q Clue R Stairs up S Stairs down T Infinimonsters

 

One floor left. The Balrog awaits. Hey, at least it's only five levels and not fifty.