A run full of good luck has taken back to where I last managed to get myself Death Reaped, the depths of the Old Mine. This is a tricky part of the game that can quickly turn lethal, but usually doesn't give me much trouble. Under ordinary circumstances, I should've utterly cleaved my way through this part of the game, but... well, as you'll see, the status quo is the last thing you should count on in Shiren the Wanderer.
9. The Old Mine
I'm level 7, I have an Iron Shield, a stack of Wooden Arrows, and a Katana+3. This is a pretty badass kit for this part of the game.
It's off to a bad start, though. There's a Skull Mage hanging around the dungeon's exit, and he's already teleported me away from it once. Fortunately, he's wandered off by the time I make my way back, snag a Herb of Strength, and skip on to the next level.
Janus Valley
This is a long bridge, and I walk over it. There, uh, may be some super-secret function to Janus Valley that I don't know about yet, but right now, it's just a thing to walk across. Since it doesn't count as a combat area, I can't rest here to refill my HP.
10. Cavern in the Cliff
This area introduces us to Tigers, beastmen who will pick you up and fling you bodily at other things in the room, even other enemies. This does little damage to you, but its real danger lies in how it makes it hard to fight Tigers at melee range and really hard to control your positioning. There's also a Hidden Eye in the room that's doing pretty heavy damage to me.
I survive, but it drains two uses of the Chiropractic Jar I'm using to refill my HP. Things look a little bad until... hey, the room's loot contains another Chiropractic Jar. Oh, and a Dragon Herb, too! Thank you, RNG. I'm going to need it, this level is thick with enemies. I've already gained two levels and I'm nowhere near finding an exit. By the time I do, I'm so loaded down with treasure that all of my inventory slots are full.
11. Cavern in the Cliff
A lucky find helps me out: a Jar of Holding that I can stuff some items I won't be using yet into. Now I've plenty of inventory room for more loot. The exit is in the next room, and I can step around some sleeping monsters to sneak right on to the next level.
12. Cave Mtn. Spirits
Another area thick with monsters. I'm already up to level 10 from hacking and slashing. Thus far, I'm more than a match for anything I run into...
13. Cave Mtn. Spirits
This is a bad scene. I immediately come upon a Popster Tank and a Pacorepkin. The Popster Tank's projectiles do damage across a 3 x 3 grid area and he kills the Pacorepkin with alarming speed, leveling up to a Dadster Tank. I've never fought this guy before and have no idea what kind of damage he does. I decide my first priority should be retreating and refilling my HP.
It was a bad decision. What I should've done in this situation was immediately read the Scroll of Sleep I had on hand, or use my Dragon Herb and try to score a quick kill. Instead, I botch my dodging pattern as I try to dance out of firing range and end up caught in the explosion from one of Dadster's shots. It does a ridiculous 30 damage (my max HP was 59) and kills me right away.
Next time something like this happens, I'm just going to screw trying to play defense and start throwing around the biggest guns available to try and score a quick kill. The tunnels in this area tend to be narrow and room for dodging an enemy with that kind of attack range just isn't there. I get a new high score out of this death (181139) that's a huge improvement over previous runs, even the one that got into Table Mountain, so I still feel like I'm making progress.
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