> I have now traversed most of level 2 and am now trying to see what level 3 is like. My party of 3 is now all level 9, and they can fight most monsters quite happily without even having to resort to spells or scrolls. I figure this might change on level 4 or 5, but I don't yet know what dangers lurk there.
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> WARNING! SPOILERS BELOW!
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> There is some sort of teleporter pad which allows me to teleport between levels 2, 3 and 4. (I'm not telling you where it is, it would spoil the game too much.) Is this the preferred way to get to those levels? I haven't tried it to level 4 yet but it seems to transport me to level 3 in a pretty safe place.

(( SPOILER ))

DEFINITELY. Five of my six party members got poisoned on level 4 and my wizard was out of spell points. It was a mad race to that elevator (or teleporter, however you view it) to get back up to Perinn before they all died; I barely made it to town with about 5 HP left on my weakest character. The elevator is marvelously convenient and a life-saver as well. :-) I haven't explored enough to determine this yet, but it may be that parts of the lower levels are only accessible by elevator while others are accessible by stair. I sort of expect Sam to make us go up and down via different routes to access the entirety of a level.

By the way, expect to use a lot more Sorceror spells on level 4. There are plenty of firebreathing monsters that travel in groups down there, and I find the best thing to do is wipe 'em out a.s.a.p. with some group-damage spells before they each get a turn to blow flames on the party.

Iss "slightly singed" achar