Cleric

I've been only able to complete the game with the hunter, but I've just recently managed the same w/ cleric in IMO way too few tries (like 3-4? I may have been lucky). What I like about him:

• you get the "guiding light" from begining. It does some damage and guarantees first hit, you can upgrade it - that is enough for most enemies at least first 5 levels used sensibly.
• you also get the "holy intuition" ability to determine if an item is safe to use - for little cost. This allows me to be much less conservative when using new weapons / armor since I usually don't get to learn how the scroll of remove curse looks like before level 5. That is so much of a gamechanger for me, I'm almost afraid the ability is going to get "nerfed" - at least get costlier .
• around level 5 you get to the "sunray" or something - cheap and practical - lasts like 6 turns -I use it all the time, does some damage and the enemy really doesn't see you until you are one block away. great for ranged enemies. You can blast somebody w/ it and just run away.
• and finally you get "some spear" - I don't really reacall the name - that allows you to "raiders of the lost arch" style one shot pretty much anyone you don't really want to bother with. Quite usefull above level 20. That one is slighlty costlier though.
• and than are the honorable mentions like the ability to walk through fields of traps "devine sense" , and "recall inspiration" that sounds interesting but I've never managed to use it...

Edit: sorry - got carried away - in case of tengu I suspect I've been lucky enough having strong armour (i've identified all of them thx to the intuition feature an wearing it / some scrolls of identify - i don't use spells of upgrade until i get to the metal armour - if i can help it) and as usually I've brought every ranged / throwing weapon i've managed to pick up along the way and had the book charged up and had some potions of health for fighting while being aflame...

So I want to thank all of you guys who commented, I did it!!! @dotplot@lemy.lol @yojimbo@sopuli.xyz @chonglibloodsport@lemmy.world @Riversedgeknight1@lemmy.world #

Some comprehensive responses here which I won’t attempt to one-up. I just have one main question/tip: what kind of armour did you bring to the Tengu fight? Tengu’s shurikens will shred you if you try to fight straight-up with poor armour. Try getting some mail armour (tier 3) and upgrading it to +3 and wearing that. It will carry you throughout the Prisons and make the Tengu fight a lot easier.

Beating Tengu consistently on 0 chal more comes down to resource management and preparation. Phase 1 basically measures 2 things, your survivability and memory. (If you are hitting the traps then that's not a cleric issue). Good gameplay up to this point should have rewarded you with at least 1 health pot, unless you are rocking cloth armor phase 1 will only be an issue for you if you were making poor decisions up to this point.

Phase 2 is understanding how the attack patterns work. Getting mobility in the form of chains, blink stones, or even swiftthistle will help you avoid traps and close in on Tengu. Just time these utilities so you aren't instantly forced away from Tengu when you get close. In the very unlikely event you have found no mobility of any kind up to this point, use your ranged spells to chip away while you shuffle your way on up to smacking Tengu in the face.

Early floor bosses are less about the character you are playing and more about understanding the mechanics of the game. I would argue that the cleric has a higher skill floor than other adventurers, but he certainly isn't weaker.

I am trying out the cleric now for the first time. I am playing as Priest in a 0-challenge run. So far, the Priest seems too strong, despite some bad choices I made earlier in choosing my talents. The tier 2 talent for scrolls is extremely powerful, and the class feels like an OP Mage. So if anything it feels like Priest needs a nerf. Granted, I usually play with four challenges on, and currently I am just playing wtih 0 challenges. My fight with Goo as the Cleric was probably the easiest Goo fight I ever had.