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How To Win As An Adventurer

Updated March 2018

Please note that in more recent versions of KeeperRL, adventure mode has moved from a single map battle to a campaign battle. This has changed the game-play somewhat.

The basics

Keeperrl adventurer mode RPG is hardcore and old style.
It features permadeath. If you die, your save file is deleted. Very unforgiving. One wrong move and it is over very quickly.
Realistically, you won’t beat a map first time you play it (unless you are an expert).
You can face maps generated by another player’s dungeon game.
You are not guided through a story. The story line is made by you.
Nobody has checked to see if the keeper maps are “fair”. You will need to use your own initiative.
If you beat a map that has no wins against it, you are probably the first human in the world to ever do so. You are on your own.
Some of the maps seem virtually unwinnable, but time and again people have found they can still be cracked.
Unlike most modern RPGs, there is nothing forcing you to level up before facing the final boss.
If you try and storm the enemy dungeon at level 3 wielding a knife you will die. Don’t be silly! Don’t complain! The game will let you do it though.

The game set up

Map selection is the single most important choice of the game.
Choose keeper dungeons that someone else has already beaten for a better chance. Look at the stats on the campaign screen.
Scout out the keeper maps you wish to play to get a feel for them.

Staying alive and exploring the map

Rest your cursor on all enemies to judge their stats and level before attacking.
If your enemy has higher defense and attack stats than you, run away.
Alternatively find somewhere to hide and use the h key to escape.
If you think the enemy has a ranged attack, avoid lines of sight where it can shoot you or potion you
Slower enemies without a ranged attack can be shot by you.
When you need to heal, sleep on a bed somewhere, use a first aid kit, or use a healing potion

Game Plan

The game plan may look something like this:

Level 5 - Kit up on all the friendly tribes
Level 5 - Level 6 - Take out all bandits
Level 6 - Level 8 - Take out ogres and orcs and harpies and zombies.
Level 8 - Level 9 - Take out all lizard men
Level 9 - Level 10 - Kill Cyclops
Level 10 - Level 12 - Wipe out the mini dwarf tribes
Level 12 - Level 14 - Take out minor villains
Level 14 - Level 15 - Major villain 1
Level 15 - Level 16 - Major villain 2
Level 16 - Level 17 - Major villain 3
Level 18 - Level 20 - Take out enemy keeper dungeon.

Kitting up

Visit as many friendly tribes as you can find at the beginning.
Collect gold from your allies, they will usually let you take it (Maybe they want the forces of evil dead too?)
Pay for shop items before leaving shops, or the entire tribe will be offended.
Take the most powerful weapon only. Drop the rest. The same goes for each armour slot.
Friendly tribes are not at all interested in buying goods off you, they just don’t do that.
Look out for speed boots and strength gloves and a telepathy helm, these are all very good.

Minor tribes

Neutral and hostile tribes provide bonus score, XP and loot.
Dark elves and gnomes: Shoot to declare war. Loot.
Dark elf lord: Look out for an artifact weapon like a silver sword to slay undead!
Dwarves: Some survivors of the dwarven tribe may exist in lower dungeons but will be hostile. Use for XP/Score.
Vampire Lord (in his coffin), Minotaur, etc: XP. Loot. Only if you can get the advantage in combat.
Cyclops, driads, other minor tribes and creatures. XP. Loot.

Equipping yourself

Equipment is different on each map.

Important potions: invisibility, speed, blindness, sleep, slowness, healing, poison
Important scrolls: teleport, armour enchantment, weapon enchantment, flies, deception, fire sphere
Decent mushrooms: Damage, Defence
Weapons: silver sword artifact, or high stat artifact, use light weapons at low level, bows
Armour: telepathy helm (best), speed boots, dex gloves, high stat armour, low weight armour for speed bonus.
Jewelry: 1 fire ring, 1 poison ring, healing or defense amulet

Line of sight

Potion throwing enemies and archers: Shoot them or avoid direct lines of sight or hit them with slow, sleep, blindness or poison

Collecting Magic

Potions, scrolls and mushrooms are the only way adventurers can use magic. Get as many usable ones as possible.
They are light to carry.
Armour enchantment - Choose a good piece of armour and remove the rest to target the enchantment at the remaining worn armour.
Try to keep a teleport spell for emergencies.
Try to get an invisibility potion to take out the keeper(s) at the end.
If you want to loot potions and scrolls from monsters then you must kill them quickly, before the monster users those items itself.

Making war using magic

The magic available is different on each map. This forces you to improvise.
Going invisble is your single best move. Try to keep one in reserve. Speed is also great.
Blinding enemies with potions seems to be like going invisible but the potion has to hit your target.
If you can’t afford to go invisible, fast or blind them…Put them to sleep, slow them down or poison them (these

are weaker potions).

Scrolls: teleport (You need this whenever you are about to die). Other scrolls may come in handy.
Enchant up your best weapon and armours. When the traps have now been dealt with, use the extra deception, flies and

fire sphere. Fire sphere is also useful in burning down some rooms.

Use Strength and dexterity mushrooms when you most need a buff.
Don’t let yourself die when you still have loads of magic options available to use.

Progressing onto the Keeper dungeon(s)

Systematically work your way up from the weaker tribes to the tougher ones until they are all dead.
Leave the Keeper (if he is at all difficult) until the last.
Before you do anything else, kill all the keepers imp’s so he cant arm any more traps or improve his armory any further.
Tempt them out of the dungeon by knocking down their front door - shoot them when the come out to investigate! (Very occasionally there are no bows and arrows. Throw stuff instead).
With all the imps dead, there is now a limit to the number of traps you will face in the dungeon.

Night beasts

Vultures: Tiny amount of XP and score. Possible to level you up from level 3 to 4.
Kill the keeper’s night animals if you need xp. Right outside the dungeon entrance is the prime spot to do this.
Once you have killed any of the keeper’s army, reinforcements will come in from off the map.
Intercept reinforcements before they enter the dungeon and you will have a supply of monsters to level up on.
Werewolves are the worst of the keeper’s night explorers. Be careful if you meet one.
The price you pay for this is that eventually, the keeper will be left with no night animals and a full population.

Accessing the enemy dungeon safely

It is not normally time to take on the enemy army or keeper yet.
Invisible opponents: Usually, you have 3 options - go invisible yourself, run, or die!
Running is the best option because invisibility spells have a cool-down.
Get the enemy to use all his invisibility potions up during the mid-game.
Web trap: You can still fight from within the web. Teleport if you are webbed and attacked by stronger enemies.
Poison trap: Works in your favor if you have a poison resistance ring
Surprise, alarm and panic traps: Trigger the trap and run away again. Come back later.
Undead: They are tough. You really need the silver sword artifact, or else behead/dismember them
Unarmed traps: If you discover the enemy’s workshop you may find unarmed traps. Take the boulder and web ones for later.
Loot: Potions, scrolls, mushrooms especially. Find the labs and storage rooms and empty them of all the useful items. Check corpses for these items after killing enemies.

Facing boulder/web combos

If there is a boulder trap with a web trap in front and you get webbed, you must use any teleport spell immediately. Without that you will die. If you already know that trap is on the map, then herd neutral or hostile tribes into it. They will die not you. Alternatively, trigger the trap using deception, flies or fire sphere scrolls.

Some maps force you to play “Indiana Jones” with the traps.
Smashing a sleeping potion over a boulder trap will send the trap to sleep, much as if it were a living thing.(not sure this still works)
Lone boulder trap: Often you are able to trigger the trap and then step aside. If not, treat it the same way as a boulder web combo and trigger the trap without stepping near it.

Using room based strategies

Some rooms have things to hide behind. Cages, beds etc. You can hide and sneak attack or just choose enemies to pick off that walk past.
Pigsty - This is a great place to visit. Kill the enemy when he gets hungry and comes for lunch - one by one.
Workshops - Once the imps are dead, these are a great place for goblins to make you traps. The keeper can’t arm them.
Laboratories - Leave little goblins happily making potions. You can usually acquire them yourself later
Dormitories - Catch monsters in their sleep. When you have cleared the dormitory, pick off monsters one by one as they enter for a nap. Finally, burn down the dormitory so the keeper can’t recruit orc shaman healers.
Forges - There is almost always a surplus of weapons and armour. Ignore them. Kill inhabitants. Pick off workers as they enter.
Jewellers - Amulets and rings. Not useful unless you missed these from the start.
Ritual rooms - These undead are often pretty useless to the keeper. Consider leaving the ghosts alone to do their rituals.
Beast lairs - Often no need to kill the weak monsters in here. Werewolves and legendary beasts can cause a problem and are worth killing if you can.
Graveyards - Zombies and vampires tend to train and you don’t want that. Kill them when they go to their grave to sleep. A silver sword is very useful to do this.
Weaken down the army as much as possible before trying to sort out the training room or library.
Libraries: Wooden ones can be burnt to the ground with fire sphere. Vampires and orc shaman here. Vampires are worse. Is sometimes possible to burn the keeper alive if he doesn’t resist fire.
If the keeper is living in the library avoid taking him on surrounded by shaman and vampires.
Training rooms - Often where you find the keeper. Can be full of the worst armed units in the game
Flaming swords are good at burning rooms down during combat, once you have fire resistance.

Defeating the enemy army

Orc shaman: Take them out ASAP because they go invisible and also heal other monsters.
Always consider your enemy before attacking. Rest your cursor on an enemy to judge their stats and level.
Pick them off one at a time.
Fight enemies in corridors in preference to rooms. With multiple enemies, you can fight one at a time.
Try to fix it so that you get the first hit.
Compare their stats to your own.
To be reasonably safe you need attack and defense about 10 points higher than your opponent.
Wounded opponents however, are normally safe to fight.
Also blind and sleeping opponents are safer. When you are invisible, most enemies of a similar level are fairly safe to kill.
Realise when you are about to die and retreat. Use a speed potion if you need to.
Take being wounded VERY seriously. Never just keep on fighting.
Retreat and use a first aid kit. If you are chased, go for a speedy retreat and a heal potion.
Don’t heal yourself in battle, even with a heal potion.

Using the enemy’s population limit against him

Statues and thrones - It is sometimes possible to destroy these. It will decrease his army size. Try scroll of power, force bolt or fire sphere.
Kill off the high level monsters and deliberately clog him up with useless ravens etc.

Planting traps

Use the keeper’s spare traps against him. Pick up the unarmed traps and click apply.
Boulders and web traps are worth arming against the enemy. Try and put them somewhere that you expect the keeper or high level minions to go. Web/boulder combo works against your enemy as well as against you.
Don’t plant a trap while in combat. It will most likely go off straight away and kill you!

Winning the game

Killing the end boss is always dangerous. Don’t come this far and just rush it.
Use up your spare traps and magic to weaken down the keeper’s army.
Send vollies of arrows into the keepers location (often a training room or library)
Don’t get too close to the keeper in his line of sight, or he may use a deadly ranged attack.
You can sometimes execute the tyrant keeper in a ranged attack shootout, although he may still have some army left and he will also heal himself.
When you turn up, the first thing he normally does is to go invisible for about 15 turns. This will wear off and has a large cool-down, so just retreat and come back in a few turns. Make sure you are wearing your telepathy helm if you have one.
Trap him if you can. Choose your moment and take your chance. Go invisible if at all possible. Speed yourself. Buff strength and dex. Go kill him to win the game.

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