Dwarf Reknor ending too hard without stairscumming

[Canderel]

You can realistically not be lvl 4. Pretty much always lvl 3.

If Nordor is still alive, you may have a chance without stairscumming. Without him, you stand very little chance without using stairscumming tactics.

[Timlagor]

I found it helpful to tell Norgan to stay in one spot while I cleared out hte first level.

But why wouldn't he be alive?

[Aussiemon]

It's definitely possible without stairscumming, just don't give up!

If you can kite him with ranged weapons, do it. To keep your companion alive, I usually let him do the fighting then switch tiles with him when his health is getting low. You can do the same for the boss, but he will usually target you primarily. For most melee characters, if you can stun him, you've pretty much won. If he's still alive, use a wild infusion and back out of there until your cooldowns have recharged and you can heal. It also helps to use a regen infusion when your health is about halfway down.

[bricks]

Occasionally Norgan just gets absolutely wrecked by Brotoq; might be an AI thing. Between dual-wielding one-handed weapons, Weapon Mastery level 2, and Rend level 2, it's not surprise that he hits so hard. I think he should have more health but less damage potential.

[reverend]

Hm. Dwarf Berserker was the first character I tried and I managed to finish Reknor without getting Norgan killed. So it's definitely doable. Just take it slow, consider your options every step and you will make it.

[lukep]

I have had several Dwarf Cursed a few betas ago where I'm pretty sure it actually was impossible to beat him. I didn't find good items, which is bad luck, I couldn't find a way to fight due to insane amounts of damage, I couldn't run away fast enough to not die from diseases, I couldn't stairscum because I couldn't run, and I couldn't think of anything else to do. One bad thing is that the area is dark, simply giving him a light radius of one would help immensely.

[Grey]

Perhaps the boss should only have a single weapon? He already has quite a strong main weapon; giving him a second weapon results in potentially overkill damage, especially if he ends up with a strong ego on it.

[fearoffours]

He's more challenging than most entry level dungeon bosses, but it's not impossible.
Be boring if they always went down no every attempt! This is a roguelike, you can expect leaps in difficulty at points

[Avianpilot]

Perhaps the boss should only have a single weapon? He already has quite a strong main weapon; giving him a second weapon results in potentially overkill damage, especially if he ends up with a strong ego on it.

A one-weapon Reaver? That's kind of against the design of the class. Perhaps he shouldn't have egos on his weapons, but removing one of them to lower his damage doesn't feel right.

[Canderel]

I cannot kite him with ranged attacks if i am a fighter beserker, rogue, shadowblade, marauder, brawler. There may be more.

Dwarves are a race available from the first install of the game, and may easily be many peoples first experience, as a fighter or zerker.

I know its possible, but i, a guy who've won the game, don't have a high success rate without stairscumming.

The biggest issue is more his ranged and disease than his melee ability. Giving him a light radius like the orcs will make it much easier to evade the early ranged damage.de the early ranged damage.

[edge2054]

Yeah, a light radius would be nice.

My strategy usually amounts to pillar dancing but the first moments of the fight are often the most intense, when I inevitably get diseased by a boss I can't see.

*edit* Also a tough boss that you have no knowledge of coming out of the darkness to kill you sounds like something that could discourage new players. If they can at least see him first they can go... oh crap, it's a boss! I better prepare myself!

[marvalis]

Yes, this boss can be troublesome. The real problem is that you have to do the other levels before this boss. If you have bad luck and it takes a while to find the stairs on all levels, and if you die after this at the boss - that really sucks. If your luck is bad and you play a melee class then you can pretty much forget you chance to kill this guy.

If, for whatever reason, your companion is dead, then this boss becomes impossible (when playing a melee char).

The main problem I found was his damage output.

So any/all of these:
* Make the levels smaller, so the stairs are found faster. If the player dies then restarting will not take to long.
* Another idea is to make a 'road' between the two exits, so the player will always find the stairs reasonably fast.
* Nerf his damage output.

He is definitely do-able, but I do not like the luck / bad luck random aspect on it.

[Aquillion]

You can realistically not be lvl 4. Pretty much always lvl 3.

If Nordor is still alive, you may have a chance without stairscumming. Without him, you stand very little chance without using stairscumming tactics.

It depends on your class. My summoner had no real problem with him.

(Also, do you actually have to beat that boss? I always thought it was possible to just dash past him to the Iron Throne exit, and come back later if you really want to kill him.)

Strictly speaking you can reach level 4 by dashing straight for the stairs and going down each one without fighting any enemies at all, grabbing the free level-ups to level 3, then going back and killing enemies. But granted, you shouldn't have to do that (and it'd be pretty tough to keep Nordor alive while doing that.)

[Timlagor]

Yes, this boss can be troublesome. The real problem is that you have to do the other levels before this boss. If you have bad luck and it takes a while to find the stairs on all levels, and if you die after this at the boss - that really sucks. If your luck is bad and you play a melee class then you can pretty much forget you chance to kill this guy.

If, for whatever reason, your companion is dead, then this boss becomes impossible (when playing a melee char).

The main problem I found was his damage output.

So any/all of these:
* Make the levels smaller, so the stairs are found faster. If the player dies then restarting will not take to long.
* Another idea is to make a 'road' between the two exits, so the player will always find the stairs reasonably fast.
* Nerf his damage output.

He is definitely do-able, but I do not like the luck / bad luck random aspect on it.

Wow you have a strange approach. The *last* thing I want to do is have fewer enemies to level up and get loot from before the boss. You do know you can rest and recover all your health and stamina right?

With a fighter I just barged into melee with him (yay Rush!), made sure I wasn't blocking Nrgan from swinging too and defeated him handily (both times I got there). If he hurt me badly I'd back off and let Norgan hold hi a moment; if he ran off I chased (and maybe blocked Norgan to give him a break). Barbarians might be more problematic...

[Jules]

I think there are two related problems here.

One is that Norgan can die (!). Stating the obvious, but whilst I agree with the poster who said it's quite possible to keep Norgan alive, it is certainly also possible for Norgan to die. And if he does die, this boss fight is really very hard indeed. Boss that does reasonably high damage *and* inflicts diseases which do 10hp/turn for 20 turns and you are unlikely to have a counter for at level 3.

I would say it's doable by ranged chars with enough infravision or light radius to kite him, and it's doable by chars with a Stun effect and moderate luck, but it's very very difficult for, e.g. Wyrmic or Cursed who has lost Norgan.