ToME: the Tales of Maj'Eyal

Edit: See post 4

So I've fighting the Weirdling Beast and for some reason found it more difficult than I ever have before. Had to run away a couple of times but this time I was sure I'd got the breakthrough, only to miss an unlucky sequence of hits. In my zeal to get the kill I pushed heroism perhaps a little too far and now, having had to run away once again, I've realised I'm in a very awkward situation.

My health is currently -48 and heroism ends in 4 turns. I regen about +7.7 health a turn and so I won't be back above 0 health before the end of the infusion. I don't have a regen infusion, or any healing infusion/items.

I was quite excited when I realised that I have Last Stand, which allows me to keep standing until -128 health - then gutted to realise I don't have enough stamina to activate it. I guess there's a question there: if my stamina is 10/196 and Last Stand has a sustained stamina cost of 30, will it reduce my stamina to 10/168 or not work at all?

I've got Battle Shout, which increases my stamina and life bars - but it's on 13 turn cooldown. Second wind 21. Heroism 18. Shield 5 (although I guess that would only help if I was losing life, not now I'm below 0?).

I have a couple of items in my inventory that grant an additional +1 regen but not enough to get +12 even with my healing mod, and presumably I lose a turn putting each one on?

So yeah, does anyone have any idea of how I can rescue myself from impending doom?

Screenshot:
https://i.imgur.com/XAo9tfH.jpg

Edit: argheheghsghsg. I thought I was saved when I found a shield in my inventory that gave me +40 life, but it just added to the max rather than raising my current health, which I guess makes sense now I think about it, but also means I'm now one turn closer to death

If your health is below zero when you lose die-at threshold it is set to your new die-at threshold. If a heroism infusion runs out when you have -489 life, your life is set to zero, rather than you suddenly exploding.

Well that was a long and ultimately anti-climactic post.

Thanks!

Sadly I got a bit too cocky with my heroism infusions after that close call, and ended up pushing things a little too close. Weirdling Beast 1 Me 0.

So, i started a new game as a Skelly Archer. And got my revenge! Weirdling Beast 1 Me 1.

However, I've now found myself at another crossroads and why not use this thread again to get some opinions.

I'm in Dreadfell battling The Master. I managed to whale on him pretty well at the start, but then he got back at me with walls of minions and it was pretty rough at one point. I've managed to flee and I'm currently standing on the stairs trying to decide whether to change level or not.

On one hand, I've got him down to 30% health, which I'll lose if I change level. He's also got a lot of minions who are presumably going nowhere.

On the other hand my stamina is pretty low and I don't want to have narrowly escaped death just to die on the stairs. My shield will be pretty much gone by the time he gets here and my second shield isn't ready yet.

So yeah, I'm interested to know how other people would deal with this situation. Fight or flight?

Screenshot here: https://i.imgur.com/7zRBjF6.jpg

Remember, flight back up the stairs isn't your only option! It's the safest, to be sure, but if you're careful, you can probably go run south if there's a door or hallway down there, and escape into the rest of the level. Flee for long enough to recover some stamina and let some things come off CD, and re-engage with a fresh kit full of talents. If you haven't cleared most or all of the rest of the floor yet, though, this could prove very dangerous, so be careful.

Realistically, I'd be more worried about what looks like a nasty looking Mindslayer rare up there - the Master is easy enough to destroy, but you don't want to fight him with something else dangerous nearby. The two of them together are likely to do some real damage to you, especially if that rare has ranged attacks or can get up next to you.

Personally, I'd retreat farther into the same level - run south and disappear into some hallways. If one of them chases you, excellent. If both of them chase you, use your pins and stuns as necessary to try to separate them, and burst down the rare before focusing the Master. Remember that fighting in hallways is a sound tactical decision, particularly for classes - like your archer - that aren't melee-centric. Tanking one guy and shooting him in the face is always better than tanking six guys and trying to shoot one when you get surrounded.

Going back up the stairs is a fine decision though, and is much more likely to result in your survival. You can reset the fight as many times as you like that way, so long as you can get to the stairs and you can wait out any debuffs / the kill-timer.

Thanks for the comments!

I took your advice and ran further away, and it worked well. The Master ended up sneaking around behind me but he was alone and I managed to take him out before he got any more minions on the go. It had never occurred to me to move further back into the level because I was running away from guaranteed safety in the stairs and I assumed everyone would follow me - which they didn't. Could have been nasty if that mindslayer spire dragon had turned up but he didn't, so I'll go and search him out instead! Cheers.