Balrogs

[Nystul]

Speaking of this, I think non-mage warriors need real luck to beat the Skeleton King in a first game (I haven't tried with a "mage warrior" - one who trains first only in MAG).
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I used to think this was true a long time ago, but Ironman experience has proven otherwise. More often than not, a warrior who clears the first 3 dungeon levels by himself in his first game can successfully kill Leoric in melee (without going to level 4 first), on the first try, even without buying anything from town.

If you are building a warrior to kill Leoric in your first game, the best method is usually to put all stat points into dexterity until it is maxed or Leo is dead. Leoric's toughness comes from his ability to steal life, healing him whenever he hits you. With maxed dexterity plus the warrior's first game blocking bonus, you can greatly reduce the amount of times Leoric hits you. You can always max dexterity by clvl 9, and it is not uncommon to reach this level by the time you clear dlvl 3. If you have to face him at clvl 8, you will usually still win, but it becomes a much tougher battle.

Within the last week or so, I've been playing a lot of IM warriors. I think I died to Leoric once, and killed him about five times. Once, I killed him without drinking a potion. Once, I killed him using only one small red potion. The other times required probably 5 red potions on average. Weapon used ranged from plain club to plain flail... usually a morning star.