Trying to do the Math: AC vs. -DFE?

[lyyn]

Both nice armour, but if I had enough DEX I usually prefer fast block shield+weapon backup, and or KB bows

Usually I don't worry about AC that much. I feel doing enough damage to stun is my best defence, so I am free to wear a Shirt Of whatever stat I happen to need. It's just that without stunning I feel naked, but the s/s setup takes care of that and raises the damage (76) to survivable levels.
Now all I have to do is NOT try my next telekill attempt against 9 Snow Witches in uncertain territory

But as you know, it really just comes down to how many monsters you wake up. If you keep that under control then you will be fine with whatever equipment.

You just mentioned one of my bigger problems.
Generally speaking, I get the concept of “go slow”/”be careful” but I sometimes have the feeling that in unknown territory, especially if you can't see the walls yet, the practical application of that concept is
“go exactly 1 tile... wait 10 sec... repeat...”
Is there a better way? Because sometimes, depending on the day I had, I can take only a couple of minutes of that before I get impatient and do something stupid. Or do I just need to be more disciplined about that?



lg