[6mian]

https://pixeldungeon.fandom.com/wiki/Shattered_Pixel_Dungeon is a great resource if you are new to the game and genre, although I suggest first trying discovering everything by yourself (prepare to die a lot) and start reading the wiki after getting through the first boss on lvl 5.

I've been playing SPD for years now and for me the best strategy to win the game is to keep Scrolls of Upgrade until you get a hold of a weapon of at least tier 4, same goes for armor. This makes the initial levels much more risky, but if you survive it's a matter of not making mistakes or getting yourself into high risk situations. Using this method I get to the Amulet in about 30% of the runs. Since the recent updates getting back to the ground has become a much more fun challenge.

Besides postponing the use of Scrolls of Upgrade, here are a few things that work for me:

  * You don't have to identify potions and scrolls right away, often you can keep them until you gather more information. For example, killed flies sometimes drop health potion and they are on early levels, so you can learn the color without using it.

  * Before you get the Scroll Holder that protects the scrolls from fire, it's a good idea to stash all the scrolls in water at the beginning of each level and retrieve them back before going to the next one. 

  * Scrolls of Mapping are absolutely crucial on levels >20 because of the traps and they are relatively cheap in the first two shops. 

  * Summoning trap rooms are great to gather a lot of xp if you have potions of paralytic gas and fire/toxic gas. After the level is cleared, you just open the doors by throwing something at it, go as far away as possible, throw paralytic and then fire/toxic potions. And run to the next level.

If you like the game, consider donating to the project, you can do this directly in the game, at least in the Android version.

[lupire]

HN markdown doesn't want you to indent bullet lists.

> killed flies sometimes drop health potion and they are on early levels,

Stuff like this feels a little game breaking. Maybe potions should have no color until consumed (though this conflicts with the (arguably maldesigned) inventory system where duplicate objects have 0 encumbrance).

There's a delicate line between "learning how to play the game" and bypassing the intentional design that certain facts are not supposed to be known before a run starts.

[ourmandave]

(prepare to die a lot)

No thanks. Repeatedly punishing you for stupid shit isn't a fun game.

Like the Sims will burn you alive for not buying a smoke detector and then having the audacity to make toast.

[ohwellhere]

This may not be the genre for you, then. And that’s fine!

[ourmandave]

No, it's my genre.

Just some have a dial where the default isn't Ultra Nightmare mode.

[skyyler]

I don’t say this to be mean but if you think Pixel Dungeon is “Ultra Nightmare” mode, games like Nethack or Caves of Qud would probably cause you actual physical pain.

Pixel Dungeon is one of the most beginner friendly roguelikes, widely considered the “next step” in difficulty after the Mystery Dungeon series. (I often recommend it to people that enjoyed Pokémon Mystery Dungeon but find Nethack and DCSS too intense)

[6mian]

I see it as a different model of building knowledge about the game than most other genres. Dying early is part of the process, because each time you die you got to this point in a bit different way, learning other things on the way.

If you were hand-held to the very end you'd only see a a narrow path you went through, which is also ok. It's just a difference in the journey, similar to Breadth-First Search and Deep-First Search in graphs.

Another thing is game fairness. In my opinion, SPD is fair, there's no "you stepped on something you couldn't detect if you tried and died". If you pay attention you will see enough information to identify threats after the initial die-a-lot period :)

[Cerpicio]

Sounds like Elden Ring. I started playing it recently and got annoyed at how often I died. But I realized that's part of the learning process. It's still annoying but at least I can see it for what it is.

[plagiarist]

The traps just happen randomly throughout. The best run I had going ended instantly when I hit an alarm trap. It's impossible to recover. I cannot even escape lone enemies without a ring of haste.

Yeah, I could have detected that on a search, but I'm usually struggling to stay fed in the first place.

[chongli]

If you’re struggling to stay fed, try these tips:

* Don’t eat right away when the game says you’re hungry. Wait until you’re starving and below 50% health. This makes each food ration last way longer!

* Don’t eat pasties or meat. When you find an alchemy pot, use the recipe that combines one food ration, one piece of meat, and one pasty to make a meat pie. The meat pie is way more nourishing and gives you a “well fed” health regeneration buff.

* Try to be efficient with your movement and exploration. If you’re not careful you can end up wasting a huge amount of time wandering around not accomplishing anything. This also leads to more monsters being generated which means you take more damage, taxing your resources.

* Along those same lines: always try to fight dirty. If you see an enemy coming towards you try to hit them a bit at range (throw stuff or zap wands) then retreat behind a closed door or around some tall grass. When the enemy comes through the door or around/through the grass, hit them with an attack. You should see a yellow ! mark on the enemy indicating a surprise attack. Now retreat behind another obstacle and repeat. As long as you keep breaking line-of-sight and then hitting the enemy immediately when they reestablish line-of-sight (this also works with ranged attacks) you’ll get guaranteed surprise hits. This lets you defeat enemies more quickly without taking as much damage standing there missing all the time.

* Don’t overdo it though. After you’ve gained some levels and find you easily outclass an enemy then kill them quickly. Leading enemies all over the place takes more time (costing food) and can end up getting you surrounded, causing even more damage!

* Throw stuff down pits instead of carrying it around. This applies mostly to weapons, armour, and scrolls (before you get the scroll holder). Anything you throw down a pit will show up on the next level. This is a great way to avoid running back and forth swapping items when you’re low on inventory space and you want to sell things or do alchemy. Don’t throw potions though, they break (but do throw them at enemies or obstacles when the situation calls for it!)

[plagiarist]

I've been trying many of those but the meat pie is new to me! Thank you, I'll give it another go some day soon :)

[lupusreal]

In addition to brewing pies, you can also prepare excess meat easily by freezing or burning it. Throw it at traps, use wands, or even potions if you're using one anyway (otherwise don't waste a potion like this.) If you can easily kill fish (archer class) then you can get a lot of excess meat.

[6mian]

Yes, traps are put in random places. At least they can't be placed on water, grass or ash, so are safer sections to go through without doing search before each step.

That's why it's a really good idea to collect 4 Scrolls of Mapping for levels 1-24.

[devit]

With the exception of NetHack, which is famous for it, current roguelikes generally don't end the run for stupid shit (e.g. instead of killing you if you accidentally step into lava, they just don't let you do it), but more for wrong strategy or tactics.

[nottorp]

Dying is not dying in computer games. Think of it as a game mechanic.