Challenges are optional modifiers that make the game more difficult.
The Amulet of Yendor must be obtained at least once for challenges to become available.
The Challenges screen can be accessed by going to the Hero selection screen and tapping on the trophy at the center of the screen.
The challenges present in the game are:
- On diet
- Faith is my armor
- Pharmacophobia
- Barren land
- Swarm intelligence
- Into darkness
- Forbidden runes
On diet[]
The only food you have is the one ration you start off with. All other food is replaced with coins.
Tips[]
- Overpriced ration is replaced by 20 gold coins, ration of food by 10 gold, and mystery meat by 5 gold.
- Starving is only a problem in the early game, as the damage dealt by starvation is always 1 at a fixed rate, meaning that you only need a much smaller amount of healing than normal.
- Playing as a Warrior or Mage is generally harder because the eating perks are nearly completely invalidated.
Faith is my armor[]
The Hero starts without armor. In later versions, no armor is available in the game at all. The armor normally sold in shops is replaced by gold that you may take.
Tips[]
- Upgrading your weapon or wand to a high level is vital, as letting the enemy hit you can easily lead to death in much fewer hits.
- The armor that the Sad Ghost usually rewards the Hero with will be a -1 cloth armor.
Pharmacophobia[]
No healing potions. Even drops from flies, vampire bats, and Alchemy Pots are replaced with gold.
Tips[]
- Don't waste seeds of sungrass on an Alchemy Pot. They will generate piles of gold instead of potions of healing, whereas seeds left intact allow Heroes to heal instead of using potions of healing.
- Vampiric weapons are much more helpful in this challenge, as they can replace healing from potions with a just as reliable healing.
Barren land[]
No dew and no seeds ever spawn or drop from tall vegetation.
Tips[]
- The Dew Vial can only be filled with a Well of Health.
- Due to the lack of seeds, no potions can be brewed.
- Wand of Regrowth can be used as a way to root most enemies in place and break their line of sight, as well as making them weaker to fire and allowing you to perform surprise attacks.
- Don't trample grass unless necessary or unless you are playing as a Warden, as the tall vegetation allows performing more sneak attacks as well.
Swarm intelligence[]
When an enemy is alerted to your presence (i.e the '!' sign appears above its head), all enemies are attracted towards the Hero's location. Works like a Scroll of Challenge.
Tips[]
- Wand of Amok excels in this challenge, as several enemies are often encountered at the same time.
- Swarm intelligence makes enemies come to you faster as you wait on the sacrificial fire, speeding up the sacrifice process.
Into darkness[]
Vision is restricted to 3 tiles. At nighttime, your vision will be reduced to one tile in each direction, as if you were blinded.
Tips[]
- Limited vision to only 3 tiles ahead.
- Vision in dark levels is further reduced to just 1 tile ahead. Especially combined with swarm intelligence, this is a deadly situation to be in and a good reason to not play during the night at all.
- Potion of mind vision allows you to circumvent darkness effect, allowing you to also be able to see enemies attacking you from afar.
Forbidden runes[]
The only scroll that spawns is the Scroll of Upgrade, with its normal generation rate. The badge for identifying all scrolls cannot be obtained.
Tips[]
- The Scroll of Upgrade can be used as a substitute for the Scroll of Remove Curse on a single item.
- The Seed of Fadeleaf can be used as a substitute for the Scroll of Teleportation.
- Try to identify potions using logic: Do they appear in a depth with special rooms? Do they appear from a chest or from the shop? If you gather several potions early in the game (Stage 1), think about frequency: 2 potions in one stack is possibly a Potion of Strength; more than 2 potions in a stack is not a Potion of Strength; the highest amount of potions in a stack is most likely a Potion of Healing (also look at the potions in the shop - it almost always contains a Potion of Healing).
- Be careful with cursed items - each mistake will cost you 1 scroll (or a short and miserable life).
Gallery[]
History[]
| Update | Change |
|---|---|
| 1.7.2 | ADDED to the game |
| 1.7.3 | Added: New challenge - "Forbidden runes"
Changed:
|