Caster Psyshot [1.7.4]

[LordKarasuman]

This guide is a casual meme build for Insane / Adventure (and probably lower difficulties).
Maybe it can be used for Insane / Roguelike but honestly there are better guides for that.
If you would like a better guide, then you might try looking at GlassGo's guide or bpat's guide.




Ever wanted to play an Alchemist, but hate the fact that you have 3 turns of downtime until you get Windtouched Speed? Want to do some damage during the turns you're waiting for your big spell to come off of cooldown? On top of that, do you want an obnoxious amount of defenses, escapes/fallbacks, and assorted miscellaneous tools that will give you a chance against the biggest things the enemies in the main game can throw at you? Not finding any good guns or ammo to speak of?



Consider playing a Caster Psyshot.



I tripped upon this "build" due to finding extremely poor gear options for optimizing gun damage, and instead found plenty of Mindpower-boosting gear.



Generally speaking, Condensate + Boiling Shot doesn't really scale well as the game goes on. Damage drops off, you can only cast Condensate once at a 5T CD (which means 4T downtime), Boiling Shot's damage goes from WOW I NUKED THE ENTIRETY OF ALL T1 DUNGEONS to hardly very much, and Superconduction doesn't contribute enough when inserted into the rotation. What to do about this? There are damage prodigies that might help, but how about if you don't have the gear needed to get those prodigies? What if you're like me, a complete idiot who accidentally melted down gear for prodigy acquisition, didn't have great guns/ammo, and needed something ASAP or else I'd go completely crazy?




Luckily, CUN is a main stat for Psyshot, which opens up... Elemental Surge.

Psyshot does four different damage types: Nature (off the mindstar), Physical (usually off the gun), Fire (from Condensate), and Lightning (via Superconduction). Additionally, Psyshot gets fire res reduction skills (TWO of them!) which means being pushed towards fire damage, AKA using the anti-T1 talent, Condensate, for the rest of the game. Can Elemental Surge push Condensate and its associated combos towards endgame, or even a completion?

Surprisingly... yes. It is serviceable. Even in an "okay" build your damage can jump from 300 to 900 (every so often due to E Surge's limitations) in the blink of an eye. This is the oomph necessary to push Condensate to a status of usability that isn't completely embarrassing. Combined with copious amounts of Fire resistance penetration and Fire damage mod (Changes Damage: +% Fire), you can even nuke Orc Prides handily.

The first time I tripped upon this build, I barely scraped together a victory. The second time was a lot smoother.
In no way is relying on Action at a Distance meta, but it had more legs than I thought, and I was surprised at how I was able to replicate my success.



What's the gist of our build?
I prefer Cornac but I'm sure there's plenty of other usable options that won't feel terrible.
Thalore, Krog, Doomelf, Shalore, Dwarf, Yeek, etc. etc.
I use Cornac because I want Automated Cloak Tesselation, Mechanical Arms, Molten Iron Blood, and Embedded Restoration Systems active immediately, and that typically isn't in the cards until you have a second Steam Generator, which happens a bit earlier as Cornac.



For category points as a Cornac, I'd recommend...

Antimagic:
Avoidance -> 2nd Steam Generator -> Dread -> Nightmare -> [Free Cat Point].

Magic:
Avoidance -> 2nd Steam Generator -> Dread -> Rune of Dissipation -> Nightmare

Adjust as necessary if you aren't Cornac.

If you are on Normal / Nightmare and you aren't going Antimagic, place Rune of Dissipation earlier because you most likely won't acquire it by the time you end up needing it for The Master in Dreadfell.

If you find a 15+ Steam Gen extremely early and don't intend to utilize Steam-using talents much, you miiiiiight be able to skip the 2nd Steam Generator while still getting all the sustains you need. I don't recommend it though.




Talents

CLASS
Psytech Gunnery: (1/1/0/0 immediately, 5/3+/0+/0+ core)
Psyshot: You'll want to max this out for gun damage eventually.
Boiling Shot: Your finisher, especially in the early/midgame. Actually packs an okay punch even at just L1, but you'll want a few more points in here eventually. Though it's not high priority.
Blunt Shot: Possible battlefield control if you can get the necessary steampower. You won't completely need it considering all the other tools you have at your disposal, but if you want to spare the points it might be possible.
Vacuum Shot: More battlefield control. Again, I didn't find it crushingly necessary, but feel free to put points to taste.

Thoughts of Iron (1/1/3/1 early, 3+/1/3/1 core, 3+/1/3+/1+ luxury)
Molten Iron Blood: Gives a cute amount of melee retaliation and respectable resist all. A key tool in making you tankier, as combined with Thick Skin you can get 30% res all altogether which is nice.
Mind Dones: You can technically put this in rotation if you'd like, but it takes time to effect; personally I am aware it's better than it seems, but I constantly forget to use it. Pretty good tool for helping in inflicting status if you can remember it.
Psionic Mirror: A free mental clear that also places the status cleared onto the closest enemy if possible. As a mindpower class this will happen more often than you think, basically allowing you to flip the situation around on enemies like shouting Berserkers.
Mind Injection: Provides a free Injector at just one point. The very definition of a one point wonder. I typically don't put more than the one point but by jove if you have room and none of the other options interest you, go for it.

Mechstar (0/0/0/0 core, 1+/0/0/0 luxury)
Metalstar: A cute way of pushing people back if you have the steampower for it, and also behaves as a pseudo-stun. Nice to have but not critical.
Bloodstar: Didn't bother.
Steamstar: Didn't bother.
Deathstar: Didn't bother.

Gestalt (1/0/0/0 to start, 1/1/1/2+ early/midgame, 1/1+/1+/2+ luxury)
Gestalt: Kind of an inconvenient source of steampower; it's more important for psi recovery. You might float more than one point into this, but otherwise you'll probably get more than enough psi later that Instant Channeling will probably be enough.
Improved Gestalt: Gives a minor amount of shielding. Isn't terrible.
Instant Channeling: For when you need psi. Usually, having two steam generators means you'll not have steam issues when regaining psi. The issue is having to pass turns to do this, which means the battle might be dragging on a little longer than is comfortable. Unless the fight is intrinsically a slog, take the use of this as a possible sign to rethink your strategy for the current battle.
Forced Gestalt: Proabably the main reason you're in this tree; it's basically a weaker Track. You'll need at least 2 points to make it semi-usable, and if you're a cautious player/on Roguelike you might want this sooner than later.

Action at a Distance (5/2/0/0 immediately, 5/2/2/0 ASAP, 5/5/4+/0 core)
Condensate: The slower brother of the Alchemist talent Throw Bomb, and one of two primary tools for utterly destroying T1 dungeons. .. .and in this build, for getting you through the rest of the game. Now, you might think, "Slower? WTF? That's awful!" It kinda is, but it does grant Wet status which opens up combos with the other two ability in this tree, and its damage, range, and ability to cornersnipe (hit people from around the corner to avoid line of sight) enemies is still perfectly comparable to Throw Bomb. On top of this, you can use a gun, and have more survivability talents.
Solidify Air: A fallback talent that cleanly separates you from an enemy, with few exceptions. It also does surprisingly respectable damage with E Surge, so it can finish off foes in a jiffy if so inclined.
Superconduction: When you have the points to spare for this, you end up using it after Condensate in order to make the Boiling Shot hit that much sweeter. Also most likely one if (if not the only) source for your Lightning E Surge triggers.
Negative Biiofeedback: Haha! No.

Psionic Fog (1/1-2/0/0 immediately, 1/1-2/0/0 core, 1/2+/3+/0+ luxury)
Vaporous Step: 1 point wonder. Your primary method of getting the heck outta dodge. Uses no time either, so it's probably the safest escape/fallback tool you have.
Inhale Vapors: Makes Vaporous Step double as not only an escape, but also a psi/health recovery. 2 points will probably be enough here, but if you can spare the points...
Psionic Fog: Why use this when you have Superconduction? Because it applies Seared every turn; smooths out a subsequent application of Inner Demons.
Uncertainty Principle: Might give you some survivability, and perhaps even has potential for an Out of Phase build. I don't bother with it though, personally.


Avoidance (3/1/0-1/0 immediately, 5/1+/5/0 core, 5/1+/5/4+ luxury)
Automated Cloak Tesselation: Great damage reduction. May not seem like much until you realize its reduction happens during initial calculations, allowing it to block WAY more than you think.
Cloak Gesture: Line of sight blocker. Fine at 1 point but gets much more usable with more points.
Embedded Restoration Systems: A free heal on a 5T CD so long as you can break line of sight, and a lot more situations count as breaking line of sight. It's solid.
Cloaking Device: Having discussed this talent elsewhere, this can actually be a 10 turn pseudo-Evasion because the Stealth you gain from it is SO high and you DON'T break it with actions. You've got lots of other defensive talents though so maybe you don't have room for this.

Nightmare (1/5/0/0 core, 1/5/0+/0 luxury)
Nightmare: Cute talent to throw out, but it doesn't do much more than buy a turn in most cases. If you're hurting for trying to land Inner Demons, then use the Seared debuff off of Superconduction/Psionic Fog.
Inner Demons: Boss killer, especially in the case of having to fight bursty enemies. Will even work on the final boss fight. Will probably proc more often once you get Master of Disasters.
Waking Nightmare: Great debuffer talent, and can proc reliably off of Seared debuff. Even if you're in here for Inner Demons, this can be worth using.
Night Terror: Would probably be more usable on Solipsist; as it stands, you only get one intrinsic sleep talent as Psyshot, which is Nightmare. Not nearly enough to take advantage of this.

Dread (3/0/0/0 early, 3+/1/1/2 core, 3+/1/1/2+ luxury)
Mechanical Arms: Automatically do damage with your mindstars even when you can't see the enemies close to you! Also reduce their damage, which is one of the big things about this talent. The other is the fact that each Mechanical Arms hit also procs stuff, so if you've got Thunderclap Coating you can push enemies away.
Lucid Shot: Potentially something extra to shove into your long term battle rotation as it does respectable damage.
Psy Worm: Maybe another thing to insert into your rotation if you want.
No Hope: An instant speed damage reducer. If you KNOW something can kill super fast and you don't have other defenses up, then this might be the one thing that gets you through the fight. However, the psi cost is PROHIBITIVELY HEFTY. Powerful, but use carefully, and only if you're got the mindpower for it to stick. May require softening up the enemy's mind save first.

GENERIC
Combat Training
Thick Skin (0-3 early or midgame, 3+ core)
Res all is res all. Maybe res is overrated but personally I don't mind having this maxed.

Heavy Armour Training (1 early/core, 3 if you can find good heavy armour)
You won't be putting on Heavy Armour early most likely due to your stats being pulled everywhere, but if and when you do eventually start putting points in Strength, you might find a good Heavy Armour and thus put points in here.

Light Armour Training (2+ early, 0 or 2 core)
You'll have points in here early for hardiness; whether you keep points in here is dependent on how your gear hashes out.

Combat Accuracy (1-2 early, 2 core)
You probably won't have issues hitting enemies to the point that you need more than 2 points.

Weapons Mastery (0 core)
Unless you're doing a build that doesn't use gun and/or mindstar, don't put points in this. There's been some discussion on that though, so who knows.

Dagger Mastery (0 core)
I don't really see it, but I'm all ears if this actually can work.

Physics (1+/2+/1+/0+ core)
Smith: Probably don't need more than one point in this, but 2+ opens up cute tricks like Toxic Cannister Launcher.
Mechanical: The main reason you've got 2 in this is Kinetic Stabilizer and Hook Shell.
Electricity: Grounding Strap, for the most part.
Compact Steam Tank: Could have some use if you're putting more points into Gestalt? Otherwise, probably not necessary as you have two steam generators.


Chemistry (3+/1+/2+/0+ core, 3+/1+/2+/2+ luxury)
Therapeutics: Three points for Salves.
Chemistry: One point for unlock, but 2+ points gives you things like Black Light Emitter, or alternative defensive options to stick onto your varied armor pieces.
Explosives: The first point gives you Thunderclap Coating, which will most likely be your preferred attack tinker. The second point gives you the incredible Ablative Armour, which will replace whatever was previously on your Body unless you can find crit damage reduction elsewhere (which many times isn't likely).
Steam Power: Two points give a hefty amount, but your main forms of attack don't rely on steampower, so you might be better off ignoring this.

Engineering (0/0/0/0 early, 1/1/1/2+ core, 4/1/1/2+ luxury)
Emergency Steam Purge: Another source of AoE fire damage, though I typically don't bother with this until late game; it's more of a bonus thing to add to the rotation.
Innovation: Bit of a minor bonus to your equipment. Not worth investing hard points in, though.
Supercharge Tinkers: Once again, your main stuff doesn't rely on steampower so you don't need to invest in this especially when it is a costly 60 steam.
Last Engineer Standing: Ablative Armour gives you crit damage reduction, this gives you crit shrug. Also the stat boost can help with fulfilling prodigy requirements early, so having 2 points in here and then floating three more can mean you only need 38 base Cunning (before equipment and after this talent at L5) to get Prodigies easily.

Blacksmith (0/0/0/0 core, 1+/1+/1+/1+ luxury)
Massive Physique: Psyshot is one of the few classes stretched for points in stats, so this might be usable for equipping heavier armors when you don't want to spare points for Strength and have no Strength boosting gear.
Endless Endurance: Gives some healmod which is nice, but the real reason you're here is Pinning Resistance.
Life in the Flames: Respectable amount of res towards two relevant (if somewhat common) resistance types. Having fireburn immunity isn't critical though; you're likely to shrug off that kind of damage thanks to Automated Cloak Tesselation on top of resists.
Craftsman's Eye: Crit mult and apr is always welcome.

Survival (0/0/0/0 core, 1/3+/0+/0-1 luxury)
Heightened Senses: Gives you a chunk of see traps and see invis and the ability to disarm traps. Put one point in it as a prereq for later skills in the tree.
Device Mastery: Item-sourced talents are OP, and if you want to abuse them then this is your go-to. Combos well with Spellhunt Remnants, Wintertide Phial, clear mind torques, etc.
Track: Technically, you already have a Track-type skill, but the actual Track is kinda better if you spare points for it.
Danger Sense: Another chunk of see traps. Might combo well with Unstoppable Force Salve due to its interaction with Saves.

Harmony (0/0/0/0 core)
You have better options for cat point spending.

Antimagic (If you sided with Zigur, 1/1/3+/1 early, 1/1/3+/1+ luxury)
Resolve: Nice, hefty res bonus... But only after getting hit the first time. Think of it as a neat boost on a longer fight, but don't invest more points on it as it doesn't prevent OHKO.
Aura of Silence: A reliable Silence effect. If you have this early, then it's one method of making T2's much easier. Use this on Urkis, then watch as your defensive sustains tank Hurricane as you beat him down.
Antimagic Shield: Great for stopping damage especially on top of all your other defensive sustains; will be handy for an early Urkis kill so you can turn Mana Clash into sustain removal.
Mana Clash: Hefty damage, though it probably won't completely stop a caster from casting. The main reason you actually want this is for when it turns into sustain removal after defeating Urkis.

Fungus (0/0/0/0 core, 1+/1+/1+/1+ luxury)
Wild Growth: Might be worth consideration if you play on Roguelike and want more HP, which is basically a bigger buffer against receiving OHKOs.
Fungal Growth: As a Psyshot I typically prefer my inscriptions to be 2 steam generators + 2 injectors, but you could sacrifice one for a Regeneration infusion to make use of this more.
Ancestral Life: Speed! SPEED
Sudden Growth: Backup healing.





Equipment
You want +Life early.

Mid-game Primary Needs:
Fire Resist Penetration (priority)
100% Stun Immunity (priority)
Disarm Immunity
Confusion Immunity
Fire Damage Mod
Crit Chance
Crit Multiplier
Crit shrug (shrugging off enemy critical attacks)
Crit damage reduction (reducing enemy crit damage done to you)
Effects that reduce enemy healing
Different Resists
Res All
Armor

Late-game Primary Needs
100% Teleport Immunity
200% Stun Immunity
100% Confusion Immunity

Secondary Needs
Physical Resistance Penetration
Physical Damage Mod
Armor Penetration



Stats
20-22 Willpower and then 20 Dexterity first for talent unlocking.
38 Cunning for talents, and to put prodigies in unlock range (by floating points into Last Engineer Standing).
Then, enough Dexterity to be able to get Mechanical Arms to 3.
Then, put points into either Willpower or Dexterity (or Strength if you are going Heavy/Massive armor) depending on talent unlock requirements and/or equipment requirements.

Aim for 50+ Willpower (preferably maxed), 50+ Cunning (preferably maxed), 48+ Dexterity, and however much for either STR or CON.
Probably Strength for armors as necessary; note that if you don't see much Strength boosting gear, 48 is a good breakpoint for fixedart heavies and some of the better fixedart Massives in Plate of the Blackened Mind/The Black Plate. If you expect to be using good T5 Massive randarts those will need 60 STR, so consider either more hard points, or look around for STR boosting gear, or even use the first skill of the Blacksmith tree depending on your desperation.



Inscriptions
2 Steam Generators, 1-2 Injectors, 0-1 Dissipation (if you're going Magic), 0-1 potential flex slot (Regeneration, Mirror Image, etc).



Tinkers
Weapons: Thunderclap Coating on both weapons early as you'll probably find it before any of the other major coatings. Pushback gives you breathing space and the coating itself actually does okay damage. Replace later with something better.
Body: Armour Reinforcement early, Ablative Armour later.
Ammunition: Hook Shell for an extra escape option, though there are plenty of other good options in this slot.
Head: T2+ Air Recycler for underwater stages, Focus Lens or Headlamp otherwise.
Cloak: Grounding Strap unless you can find Stun Immunity elsewhere, in which case you pick another based on your circumstances.
Gloves: Iron Grip unless you can find Disarm Immunity elsewhere, in which case maybe something like Fatal Attractor.
Belt: Fungal Web or Alchemist's Helper.
Boots: Rocket Boots early, Kinetic Stabilizer later... unless you can fit The Far-Hand into your equipment, in which case you can keep Rocket Boots.




Strategy
Early game, you will be using Condensate -> Boiling Shot. Hell, I think every Psyshot starting out does this. Maybe use Solidify Air to kill on occasion, and use Psyshot regularly during downtime to recover psi.

You'll want to get Superconduction ASAP to upgrade your wet combo into Condensate -> Superconduction -> Boiling Shot, though you may have to fiddle around with how soon you get access to it when not on Cornac?

Mid game, you might open up with Pain Suppressor Salve. Then, if you see spellcasters and you are Antimagic, you might first open up the battle with Antimagic Zone (for Silence) and then Mana Clash (hopefully with the sustain removal you've acquired from having defeated Urkis for the Storming the City quest). Then your rotation is most likely Condensate -> Superconduction -> Boiling Shot, and then shoot your gun while your stuff is on cooldown, and then try to do Wet status combos. Fire damage and Lightning damage E Surge triggers will do most of the work, but you may occasionally fire off Solidify Air as a finisher. Try to get all your defensive sustains up and running at the same time, as well.

Late/endgame, you will be usually opening up with Pain Suppressor Salve, then using Condensate -> Superconduction -> Boiling Shot, probably relegating Solidify Air back into an escape/fallback unless absolutely necessary. You might still use your Antimagic tools if you wish; if you've got Spellhunt Remnants, you can add that into your rotation somewhere as you see fit when it comes to magic enemies.

At L42 you will have Master of Disasters, and if Inner Demons wasn't proccing prior to acquiring it then it should happen more often now. Whatever doesn't die to Wet combos, you can try Inner Demons on. If you want it to work on the final boss fight try to have 95+ (preferably 100+) effective Mindpower. If you're afraid it still won't stick on anything, use Superconduction or Psionic Fog first.

You have three injectors and Psionic Mirror; this lets you get away with not having 100% Confusion Immunity for a long, LONG time. Careful play means you can possibly get away with not having 150% Stun Immunity for a while, too. Remember that Psionic Mirror can flip statuses towards the enemy who inflicted the status on you in the first place, too; there are corner cases where you could wait until an enemy is closer before using Psionic Mirror. However, this leaves you open to attack as well, so keep that in mind.

Psionic Mirror and Relentless Pursuit (received from Aeryn in conversation once you reach the East and get to the Sunwall/Gates of Morning) can both be used while asleep. Relentless Pursuit in particular will probably be your anti-Sedated tool, as it is a Mental-style disabling effect with Physical effect typing. Additionally, Vaporous Step can be used while asleep.

While I would not recommend using it for specifically this purpose, it is worth remembering that Vaporous Step can cause the Wet effect if you are seeking to have Superconduction/Boiling Shot go off.

If you don't think you have anything to do, just use Shoot to fire your gun; even in a post-1.5.x world, and even if your build isn't expressly focusing on it, your gun still can do amazing damage.

IF YOU ARE GOING ANTIMAGIC, TRY TO GET QUARTZ RINGS FROM ANGOLWEN FIRST.




Escapes/Fallbacks
Vaporous Step is your main means of getting out. Active the Sustain, pick the tile you want to go to, then deactivate the Sustain to teleport.

If you can make distance between yourself and the enemy, Solidify Air will (usually) utterly stop an opponent's pursuit. Getting Solidify Air's duration up might be considered a luxury by some, but it can last long enough to put a lot of things out of cooldown which can be critical.



Rocket Boots is a pseudo-movement infusion. Not as fast, but fast enough in a lot of cases; just keep in mind whether the opponent has their own mobility options. That said, try not to rely on Rocket Boots, as it is entirely possible you will replace it at some point for Kinetic Stabilizer.

Hook Shell is an additional escape option if need be; keep in mind it takes a turn unlike Vaporous Step.

Worth noting that you can get Telekinetic Leap (or its category Augmented Mobility) or Dream Walk (or its category Dreaming) from escorts.

If you are really hurting for escapes/fallbacks, then there's always Movement Infusions (or perhaps Phase Door?) especially in the case of being Cornac.



Teleport runes are a trap on Insane, do NOT use them. You will warp out of trouble only to find even more trouble.




Escort Quests
I don't think Escort Quests are too critical to your gameplan, though if you want to scum/addon for at least your first Escort, then Seer in order to get Nature's Eyes for High Peak is something to consider (given that you already have a Track-like talent).




Alchemist Quest
Elixir of Focus (Agrimley/World Map) -> Elixir of Foundations (Ungrol/Last Hope) -> Elixir of Precision (Stire/Derth) -> Elixir of the Fox (Stire/Derth) -> Elixir of Avoidance (Stire/Derth) for Lifebinding Emerald.




Prodigies
First prodigy choices:
Elemental Surge is better than I thought it'd be. That said, I don't actually think it's the best pick for this particular build of Psyshot; however, it is the most easily attainable and is an easy fallback for when you mess up on storing gear to fulfill prodigies. Hitting quadruple digit damage numbers immediately is a very gratifying feeling.
Superpower is probably solid, but it also probably pushes you away from "casting" and more towards ordinary weapon damage, but frankly just shooting things is pretty OP so if your gear pushes you this way then go for it.


Second prodigy choice:
Master of Disasters will give you another major damage boost on top of ensuring that all your stuff procs; everything from status inflictions off of Action at a Distance (although Superconduction is always supposed to proc) to Inner Demons. Good, safe choice no matter what your first prodigy was.


Choices for consideration:
If you can get mindpower elsewhere, perhaps you can skip Master of Disasters and opt for a survivability choice like Cauterize instead.
If you want to slide more into non-"caster" damage, consider Flexible Combat which will trigger on your mindstar hits from Psyshot.


Bad choices:
Adept isn't good enough for this build. It is an incremental change when you need something that gives immediate impact.





Postgame
Frankly speaking, you need to build your Psyshot differently for this part. Tried Atamathon and got wiped out in like two turns.
I don't think the other major endgame/postgame bosses (Linaniil, Hypostasis of Entropy, Caustic Terror) will end up much better for you either.





Character Sheets
Insane/Adventure (1.7.4): W
Insane/Adventure (1.7.4): W

Cunning/Survival winners, basically back-to-back (ignore the Exploration winner).



Insane/Adventure (1.7.4): W


Steamtech / Blacksmith winner. Had a much easier time equipping gear and getting Thick Skin L5, but I definitely felt the inability to use Spellhunt Remnants twice. Also I was expecting Plate of Blackened Mind and it never materialized, forcing me to use a T3 Body Armor that rolled extremely good combination of Fire-related egos. Got bodied three times on the way up High Peak, though in my defense I only died once prior to High Peak.


Insane/Adventure (1.7.4): W


Another Steamtech / Blacksmith winner.


Insane/Adventure (1.7.4): W


Interestingly enough, for this Cornac I picked Avoidance + Steam Gen at L1 and L10, and then Steamtech / Blacksimth at L20 to make it easier to start wearing Heavy Armors early. Worked out fine, though there were a lot of times I wasn't paying attention due to my newfound armor, and ended up dying 6 times prior to High Peak.

Speaking of High Peak, Cloaking Device's Stealth is extremely high even at just L4, and you can oftentimes walk into view of a stair guardian, watch them abandon the stairs in confusion, and then go to the stairs they just stepped off of in order to leave and go to the next floor. A tactic to think about if you're having trouble with what is essentially the hardest part of the game, consider this strategy.