> I'm trying Level 8, except I keep getting slaughtered as soon as I step off the elevator. Stupid dragons.
>
Perhaps you should build up some experience and level up a bit on 5, 6 and 7 before going down to 8. Level 8 is a major step up in monster quality, which I attribute to the lack of physical barriers to entry on that level.

> The question is: which is better, AC or Speed? Both my knights up front have a base Speed of 3 and 4, but I've sacrificed this for Iron everythings for high AC (40+), and Flail +2's for High WC. However this doesn't seem to help protect them against dragon's bad breath. If only I had a pack of Halls. ;-)
>
From what I can determine, AC makes physical attacks miss. This seems to have no effect on breath or spells, which require resistance to fire, cold or poison as applicable. Items of Specialness that give you that is hard to find, and complete resistance is 65 AC and 20 in the other resistances, all virtually unattainable with only Items of Specialness.

> My rogue, on the other hand, has speed 4 and AC of only 27, which is comparatively low. Should I try to re-equip my knights so they have the speed? This will probably bring them down to AC's of less than 30.
>
Higher Speed allows you to hit for more damage. Speed 5 is a major threshold because it allows you to fight more than one monster at a time. Speed 12 allows you to hit 9 monsters at a time, which essentially makes your fighters more useful in battle than Sorcerers on deep levels. Some HP will make up for the lack of AC, and your spells will eventually help you deal with the agony of paralysis and crit hits.

A special bonus is that if your fighters are really agile and fast, the monsters will never get a chance to hit back. Max out Agility for all six characters and get Speed of 12 or higher for your front three fighters, and three groups out of each battle will never touch you. If you ambush them, you won't take a single hit.

> POOLS.
>
> I am so fed up with them. They do more damage to my characters than all the monsters on Level 4, and all I have to show for it is Leather Caps. I've even had my most important character float to the surface of a pool, dead. Hmph.
>
> Any help/advice/hints would be appreciated!

Vitality will help you survive the pools. Make sure you send your guy with the highest Vitality diving, and make sure he has at least around 100 HP before he takes the plunge. Deeper pools pay off bigger, though I have found Cloth Slippers in pools on level 10. It's all worth it when you find an Item of Extra-Specialness. Some sell for over half a million at Teralt.

^v^:)^v^
FB