Shattered Pixel Dungeon: A Quick Guide

Intro: Choosing Your Character
                 Because Shattered Pixel Dungeon is a rouge-like a lot of elements in this game are totally RNG dependent. The most important ones would be the amount of scroll of upgrades, potions of strength and healing items you get in the early game. Getting high tiered weapons and armor also factor into your chances of winning the game. Personally, I always choose the Mage because the weapon you start with (Staff) is the weapon you end with. So the only thing you have to worry about is getting high tiered armor for the rest of the game.


Levels 1-5:
For Mage:
It is a good idea to put all your upgrades into your staff and it would give you a major advantage in terms of damage and this first level should be easy for you. I recommend focusing on upgrading your staff for levels 1-10, it would give you a major advantage against the first two bosses, Slime and Tengu. 

For Rouge:
It is important for you to maximize the usage of your cloak of shadows since a specific number of uses will upgrade the artifact. The Assassin's blade is obviously the best weapon for this class, combining it with the cloak and choosing the Assassin class  makes him very deadly

For Warrior:
The Broken Seal is one major benefit of the Warrior, acting as a transferable single upgrade and also provides a small shield, making the Warrior more tanky than the other classes. The throwing stones would  give him a strong start in the early game, use them as quickly as possible.

For Huntress:
Huntress is the class that I use the least mostly because she usually does range-based damage with her boomerang. Although this is useful in the early game it would start to loose its usefulness toward the end because there are certain enemies that do more damage with their ranged attacks (Gnoll Warlock, Dwarf Warlock, Scorpion, Evil Eye)

Sewer Side Quest: Sad Ghost
The mini boss that you would have to fight depends on what level you meet the Sad Ghost (2: Fetid Rat, 3: Gnoll Trickster, 4: Giant Crab). Defeating the mini bosses is pretty straight forward, the ghost gives you hints on how you can kill the mini boss if you talk to him the second time. The reward you get depends on what you currently have (if you need better armor or weapons) but for the mage always go for the armor since you're not going to use a weapon. The sad ghost usually gives tier 2 stuff like quarterstaff or leather armor but if you're lucky you can get high tiered equipment or have an enchantment/upgrade on the equipment he gives you.

Sewer Boss: Black Slime
This boss is easy enough. Always try to fight him near/on water because his attacks can sometimes afflict caustic ooze. Healing items like the dew vial or healing potion is recommended, since he could deal a considerable amount of damage. Also always avoid it when its pumping, worst case scenario, it could kill you in one hit or if you're lucky, it would miss. The Rogue should have an easy time with this boss because using Cloak of Shadows while the Goo is pumping will cause it to cancel its attack. I do not recommend fighting the goo with slow weapons like the spear because it is possible for one attack with the spear to equal to two turns, making it easier to get hit by its pumping attack.

Levels 6-10: Prison
1st Merchant:
It is important to buy the Ankh and container for each merchant. Although, it is recommended to have at least two blessed ankhs in your inventory in case you mess up but other than that its better to keep a full dew vial to act as a healing potion. It is also good to get healing potions and the two rations of food if you have extra money, this would save time instead of searching for food in the later stages, which is harder to get. The Scrolls of Magic Mapping should also be a priority because they are very useful for the Demon Levels.

Side Quest: Wizard Dude
Just like the last side quest, it changes depending on what floor you meet him. He will ask you to get one of the following: corpse dust, fresh embers, rotberry seed. The fresh embers is the fastest, as long as you have an item that can freeze/chill then you would always one hit the fire elemental but if you don't then be careful because the blue fire elemental has the same stats as the fire elemental in levels 16-20. The worst/slowest one you could get is the rotberry plant because you have to fight the vines that surround the plant and every time you hit the rotberrry plant, it would emit toxic gas.

The reward you get from completing his mission is choosing between two leveled wands. Although it seems like only the Mage can benefit from this, having a wand that deals damage is useful against the Tengu's (2nd boss) first phase. 

Prison Boss: Tengu
Recommended items:
 - Range based Weapons
 - Wands
 - Potion of Mind Vison

1st Phase
The first phase is easy for Rouge since he can sneak attack, Huntress since she has a boomerang and Mage since he has a staff. Just throw any ranged attack you can, you only need to put him at half health to trigger the 2nd phase.

2nd Phase
Although it seems like a hard and confusing maze, the entrance is always located on the upper left corner, entering the door will trigger the second phase. This is where the Potion of Mind Vision would be really useful since you are put in a very large room with small circular rooms. This battle can take very long because you have to find him and every time you do a specific amount of damage to the Tengu, he will teleport to a different location. You're basically playing a dangerous game of hide and seek. Using a Potion of Mind Vision would save you a lot of time.

Your reward is the Tome of Mastery and these classes, in my opinion are the best. For the Warrior - Gladiator, Rogue - Assassin, Mage - Battlemage, Huntress - Sniper/Warden
 
Levels 11-15 The Mines
In this level there are almost no range based enemies in this level, the gnoll warlock can spawn here but this is uncommon.

Side Quest: The Blacksmith
Unlike the last two side quests, this one only has two variants, mine 15 dark gold ore or kill a bat using the pickaxe. If you have good armor and strength then the kill a bat would be easier and faster than going around the level finding gold ore. Although he is only useful if you have two copies of the equipment you want to upgrade, so most likely you would have to go back to him once you get it. The level he appears in is also random so if you get him on level 14 then it would be easier to come back to him. Although going back an forth is not optimal in a speedrun, an additional upgrade to your weapon or armor can increase your chances of survival. 

The Mines Boss: DM 300
Recommended Items:
- Potion of Purification
- Seed of Earthroot/ Greaves of Nature/ Potion of Shielding

The best strategy is to simply tank his damage and attack him up close since attacking him at a range can cause him to move on a triggered trap tile which heals him and risk a chance of being hit by his rockfall attack, which stuns and deals a lot of damage. Using items like Earthroot or Greaves/Boots/Sandals of Nature can help tank his damage and avoid using a lot of healing items, and the potion of purification to counter his toxic gas.

Levels 16-20 Dwarven Levels
By this level you should already have your final weapon and armor. If at this point you don't have a plate armor, then it is better to put a lot of upgrades into your scale armor because enemies like the golems and dwarf monks can deal a lot of damage.

Side Quest: The Ambitious Imp
This quest takes the longest to complete among the rest because it involves killing a specific amount of enemies because of this, the side quest should not be your top priority. The objective would either be to slay 8 Dwarf monks or 6 Golems, doing this will reward you with a random leveled cursed ring and unlock the 4th merchant in level 21. Meeting the Dwarf early in levels 17 or 18 is good because you don't have to go out of your way to find more golems or monks, a process that could take very long. That's why it is recommended to have everything you need in case you need to skip this side quest.

 Dwarven Levels Boss: Dwarf King
Recommended Items:
- Potion of Toxic Gas
- Bombs
-Other ranged based weapons

To start of the battle, you need to throw a potion of toxic gas in the middle of the throne room because this are is where the Dwarf King always moves to and the toxic gas does a lot of damage to him, 10hp per turn. Make sure to kill the dwarf skeletons that he spawns because they can stun you and put you in a very long stun lock and deal a lot of damage. Once you kill him, he will drop the armorer's kit, take it and apply it to your armor.

Level 21 The Ambitious Merchant
In this level, you will meet the ambitious imp again if you completed his sidequest. He acts as the 4th merchant of the game.
For the Demon Levels it is important/recommended that you have theese items:
- Torch (Very Useful)
- 3 Scrolls Of Magic Mapping (Very Useful)
- Ethereal Chains (Very Useful)
- A lot of Potions of Mind Vision (Very Useful)
- Potion of Invisibility (Useful)
- Potion of Paralytic Gas (Very Useful)
- Potion of Haste
- Seed of Fadeleaf
-Seed of Earthroot/Greaves of Nature
-Stone of Blink
-Stone of Deepened Sleep

Level 22-25 The Demon Levels
In my opinion, navigating the Demon Levels is harder than fighting the last boss, Yog-Dzewa. In order to increase your chances of surviving, you must quickly get to the stairs as fast as possible and disturbing the least amount of monsters as possible. Scrolls of Magic Mapping is an absolute must in the Demon levels to quickly find the lower levels and dodging any traps.  If you have the ethereal chains with you then it would be much easier for you because you can pass through walls. Do not waste time exploring you might get killed or exhaust all your supplies fighting the monsters, your goal should be to reach level 25 as fast as possible.

Demon Level Boss: Yog-Dzewa, Burning Fist and Rotting Fist
It is recommended that you use a Potion of Mind Vision and Magic Mapping if you can, this will allow you to snipe with your wand or other range based weapons. The strategy here is very simple, first isolate the Burning Fist and Rotting Fist, do not fight them together. Simply throw a potion of paralytic gas, this only affects the Burning Fist, the Rotting Fist is immune to paralysis. Once you isolated them, fight the rotting fist on water since he can inflict caustic ooze and seed of earthroot/greaves of nature to tank his damage.Once the rotting fist has been defeated, hide behind a wall or out of range of his spells to force the burning fist to come close to you, defeat him then move on to Yog-Dzewa. Every time you physically hit Yog-Dzewa, he will spawn larvae to attack you. Just like the dwarf skeletons, these larvae can stun you and deal a lot of damage. It is recommended to spam you wands at him or alternate attacking him and the larvae to avoid getting surrounded. Yog-Dzewa himself cannot deal damage.

Level 26: The Amulet of Yendor
Once you defeat Yog-Dzewa, continue to level 26 and claim your prize, the Amulet of Yendor. Once you get it you will be presented with two options, the first one will end the game and the second will continue the game to unlock the happy ending (go back to level 1 of the dungeon).

Thanks for reading and I hope this guide helps you!! :)

The Complete Newb Adventurer's Guide by Supernewb52

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wnWo3D7HLQfrwhyE0UQkOM_ZnfINjiAr/view?usp=sharing

Name	Author
Shattered Pixel Dungeon: A Quick Guide	SodaPuffin 6 years ago
The Complete Newb Adventurer's Guide by Supernewb52	stocchi 3 years ago