H's Minotaur Fighter Guide - Revision history

Hordes: /* Notable Threats */

2026-05-10T19:50:54Z

‎Notable Threats

Hordes: /* Notable Threats */

2026-05-10T19:47:16Z

‎Notable Threats

Hordes: /* Other Gods */

2026-01-19T07:14:43Z

‎Other Gods

Hordes: /* The Strategy */

2026-01-18T05:56:23Z

‎The Strategy

Hordes at 03:48, 18 January 2026

2026-01-18T03:48:09Z

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Hordes: /* Immolation Torment Javelins */

2026-01-12T05:16:14Z

‎Immolation Torment Javelins

Hordes: /* Notable Threats */

2026-01-12T05:15:05Z

‎Notable Threats

Hordes: /* Specs */

2026-01-12T04:19:38Z

‎Specs

Hordes: /* Other Gods */

2025-11-09T08:38:27Z

‎Other Gods

Hordes: /* Other Gods */

2025-11-09T08:37:05Z

‎Other Gods

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 ===Notable Threats===
 *[[File:hydra.png]] '''[[Hydra]]s''' are the big bad of any Axe playthrough, if a bit overhyped. Axes cleave, which also cleave hydra heads, which causes the hydra to grow two more in its place. They are ''actually very powerful against any melee player'' at this stage of the game, but with some luck you'll have a few tools for them:
-**Run away: Unless they are camping the only staircase, you can simply not fight them. Hydras are 10-speed enemies while on land.
+**Run away: Unless they are camping the only staircase, you can simply not fight them. Hydras are 10-speed enemies while on land. If you aren't already in melee range you can come up and come down a different staircase.
-**[[Throwing]]: Even with 0 natural Throwing skill, Heroism boomerangs can take half or more of a Hydra's HP. Javelins hit 1.0 delay at 10 skill, so you should aim for 5 skill before Heroism. With 10 (post-Heroism) skill, even boomerangs will severely weaken hydras before they get to you. You can still throw at melee range, but if the hydra's not at red HP then don't take the risk of going in melee with a hydra. Make sure to always always have an escape route planned early!! If you are forced to take that risk, make sure to have Finesse up, as well. Reminder to train Throwing to 5.0 if you got javelins.
+**[[Throwing]]: Even with 0 natural Throwing skill, Heroism boomerangs can take half or more of a Hydra's HP before it enters melee range. Javelins hit 1.0 delay at 10 skill, so you should aim for 5 skill before Heroism. With 10 (post-Heroism) skill, even boomerangs will severely weaken hydras before they get to you. You can still throw at melee range, but if the hydra's not at red HP then don't take the risk of going in melee with a hydra. Make sure to always always have an escape route planned early!! If you are forced to take that risk, make sure to have Finesse up, as well. Reminder to train Throwing to 5.0 if you got javelins.
 **[[Flaming]] weapon: Flaming cauterizes the wounds, meaning the hydra will lose heads and won't grow them back. Hydras with 6+ heads are still scary to fight so... I wouldn't, not until you've done a few floors of Lair. Reminder to use Heroism.
-**[[Potion of lignification]]: Drink the potion, take off your weapon, and fight. This potion prevents you from moving or even teleporting, but with just Heroism, tree form can take out a lone hydra. Be extra careful of other monsters coming in!
+**[[Potion of lignification]]: Drink the potion, take off your axe or use throwing weapons, and fight. This potion prevents you from moving or even teleporting, but with just Heroism, tree form can take out a lone hydra. Be extra careful of other monsters coming in!
 You also want to keep note of their heads; hydras naturally spawn with 4-8 of them. An 8-headed hydra hits twice as much as a 4-headed one!
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 ** You can charm torpor snails to slow enemies, though they have very high willpower. [[Scroll of vulnerability]] helps. If you don't have charm, both polymorph and paralysis wands stop them from slowing.
-*[[File:Cane_toad.png]] [[File:black_mamba.png]] [[Cane toad]]s are another fast, poisonous enemy. If you fight them right on hitting Lair:1, I would Heroism to make sure that you can actually fight one on one. Otherwise they aren't so much of a threat on their own. Same with [[black mamba]]s, though you usually fight them a bit later (and still use Heroism a little later). Much easier to fight with rPois, but it is not ''required'' per-se.
+*[[File:Cane_toad.png]] [[File:black_mamba.png]] [[Cane toad]]s are another fast, poisonous enemy. If you fight them right on hitting Lair:1, I would Heroism to make sure that you can actually fight one on one. Otherwise they aren't so much of a threat on their own. Same with [[black mamba]]s, though they aren't as likely to appear on the upper floors. Much easier to fight with rPois, but it is not ''required'' per-se.
 *[[File:Death_yak.png]] [[Death yak]]s are mostly a humbleness check to people mindlessly tabbing. They are standard melee threats, though with high willpower. Weak to curare and/or throwing blunt weapons, and please don't fight more than one at a time (use the stairs!).
-*[[File:Skyshark.png]] [[Skyshark]]s are fast death yaks, which can get even stronger. If they hit you in a blood-filled form, they will gain [[might]], and then [[berserk]]. You really don't want to fight a berserk skyshark. If they haven't gone might/berserk yet, you can use a [[potion of lignification]] to counter them (trees don't have blood). Skysharks have somewhat low willpower, and not resistant to [[curare]].
+*[[File:Skyshark.png]] [[Skyshark]]s are fast death yaks by default, which can get even stronger if they hit you in a blood-filled form. If they attack a living creature, they taste blood and will gain [[might]], and then [[berserk]]. You really don't want to fight a berserk skyshark. If they haven't gone might/berserk yet, you can use a [[potion of lignification]] to counter them (trees don't have blood). Skysharks have somewhat low willpower, and not resistant to [[curare]].
 *[[file:Catoblepas.png]] [[Catoblepas]] fire a piercing line of petrifying clouds. If you're standing on one and use your first turn moving away, then you will not get petrified. Beware of hallways! Animals will also walk into the petrifying clouds, making them easy pickings (the catoblepas itself is a fairly strong enemy).

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 * [[file:orc_wizard.png]] [[Orc wizard]]s have the same spellset as Sigmund. Without the scythe, power, or durability, they are easier to manage. However, they can still confuse you, and if you get confused multiple times in a row, you're dead. It's best if you have a potion of curing on hand and identified before fighting one. It's kinda risky to fight hand to hand, but it's riski''er'' to run away unless you are already 7 tiles away. Like priests, they are also often found with other orcs.
-* [[file:grinder.png]] Most [[unique]]s are extra powerful "boss" monsters. There is way too many to list, and most of them are designed to be challenging for your level. But you could always right click or '''x''' '''v''' to see what they do. [[Grinder]] is easily the scariest due to the [[Paralyse]] spell, which reduces EV and SH to zero  and makes you unable to do anything. This lasts for up to 5 turns (7 in earlier versions). Most uniques from this point forward are going to be omitted for brevity's sake.
+* [[file:grinder.png]] Most [[unique]]s are extra powerful "boss" monsters. There is way too many to list, and most of them are designed to be challenging for your level. But you could always right click or '''x''' '''v''' to see what they do. [[Grinder]] is easily the scariest unique in D:3 due to the [[Paralyse]] spell, which reduces EV and SH to zero  and makes you unable to do anything. This lasts for up to 5 turns (7 in earlier versions). Most uniques from this point forward are going to be omitted for brevity's sake.
 ==Items and Gear==

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 Other gods are fine with MiFi if you don't wanna do Oka.
-For optimal play, tend to prefer earlier altars and [[faded altar]]s unless the god actively harms you (Chei, Xom, Jiyva, Beogh, Qazlal), or if the early game benefits aren't good; the three magic gods aren't good for Minotaurs either. If you want raw variety you can just pick the first god you see.
+For optimal play, tend to prefer earlier altars and [[faded altar]]s unless there's a chance to get a god that actively harms you (Chei, Xom, Jiyva, Beogh, Qazlal), or if the early game benefits aren't good; the three magic gods aren't good for Minotaurs either. If you want raw variety you can just pick the first god you see.
 Here's a bunch of gods that I personally like:

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 One strategy: every time there are a few monsters next to you, go up the stairs, which brings up to 8 guards at a time. Do this over and over to stairdance them. There is a major threat that ''prevents'' this from working (hint: [[vault warden]]s), which you should have javelins for, but this is the basic strategy involved. Rebuff yourself with Okawaru abilities the first few times you go down, at least until the initial entrance party (guards + first set of monsters that wander in) ends. If you can't go up the stair use the other strategy.
-The alternate strategy relies on getting to a random location and rolling with it. Usually this uses a [[scroll of teleportation]], but an [[escape hatch]] (the wooden stairs down) or [[shaft]] will do the trick. Try to get to the corners and plow things. You'll want to start teleports way early, when things are getting too crowded. Once you can rest safely in a corner, then Vaults:5 becomes much easier.
+The alternate strategy relies on getting to a random location, either with a [[scroll of teleport]] or [[escape hatch]], then continuously teleport until you can reach one of the corners, after which you can plow through enemies. Highly recommended to buff up before entering. You'll want to start teleports way early, when things are getting too crowded. Once you can rest safely in a corner, Vaults:5 becomes much easier.
-Thanks to the random placement and types of monsters, there isn't a process like there is for TRJ.
+Thanks to the random placement and types of monsters, there isn't as strict of a process like there is for TRJ.
 =The Final Stretch: Zot & the Orb Run=

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 ===Immolation Torment Javelins===
-This is a strategy that most characters can do (excluding the javelins part).
+This is a strategy that most characters can do (javelins can be replaced by other types of ranged attack).
 '''Required:''' Potion of haste, potion of lignification, scroll of immolation, scroll of torment, a piercing/AOE ranged attack

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 ===Notable Threats===
-*[[File:Alderking.png]] [[Alderking]]s can [[constrict]] you, then if you're in range 2, inflict [[torment]] and heal themselves Lignification can make yourself immune to torment. Both are big threats on their own, and together they make for a very threatening enemy.
+*[[File:Alderking.png]] [[Alderking]]s can [[constrict]] you, then if you're in range 2, inflicts [[torment]] while healing themselves. Both abilities are big threats on their own, and together they make for a very threatening enemy. Lignification can make yourself immune to torment.
 *[[File:Wyrmhole.png]] [[Wyrmhole]]s are strong enemies that inflict the hostile Tele status that teleports you near hostile monsters. This is very dangerous if it goes through; reading a [[scroll of teleport]] clears their Tele status.
-*[[File:Caustic shrike.png]] [[Caustic shrike]]s are the killer bees (hornets, water mocassins) of Depths, coming in fast in swarms and just having really high stats. Bring rCorr as it stacks up really quickly, and hopefully fight them one at a time. As of 0.28, they can't see invisible, so use a potion of invisibility if need be. They also aren't resistant to poison, so Condenser Vane, Scroll of Poison work well.
+*[[File:Caustic shrike.png]] [[Caustic shrike]]s are the killer bees (hornets, water mocassins) of Depths, coming in fast in swarms and just having really high stats. Bring rCorr as it stacks up really quickly, and hopefully fight them one at a time. As of 0.28, they can't see invisible, so use a potion of invisibility if need be. They also aren't resistant to poison, so a scroll of poison will work well.
 *[[File:Juggernaut.png]] [[Juggernaut]]s move incredibly quickly, and hit (slowly) for a ton of damage per strike. Thankfully, they are still weak to  [[curare]]. Curare + Heroism should be fine with heavy armour. Heroism + Finesse can also take them out.
 *[[File:Walking crystal tome.png]] [[Walking crystal tome]]s summon spells that deal 3d40 ''each'', and it casts 2 spells at once. Block the spells with some mob or something and rush it down ASAP.

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 : Notes: Axes are useful against invisible opponents; you can attack with '''ctrl-direction''' and still attack pesky [[unseen horror]]s. Axes also cut [[hydra]] heads, a single enemy which this guide will plan for later.
-All these traits make MiFi^Axes quite the meme throughout the DCSS community, only surpassed by MiBe ([[Minotaur]] [[Berserker]]). The reason we aren't playing MiBe? Because I said so. MiFi also opens up god choice for an easier (if not more powerful) deity to deal with the later potions of the game.
+All these traits make MiFi^Axes quite the meme throughout the DCSS community, only surpassed by MiBe ([[Minotaur]] [[Berserker]]). The reason we aren't playing MiBe? Because I said so. MiBe is more consistent and ''much'' stronger in the early game, but MiFi opens up god choice for a more relaxed mid-/late-game.
 =Dungeon:1=

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 Here's a bunch of gods that I personally like:
-* [[Gozag]] = god of gold. Lots of Potion Petition, a random but strong and cheap ability. Bribe Branch also clears Zot:5. Of the "generically strong for most characters" group ([[Ash]], [[Hep]], [[Ru]], and Gozag), the greed god is my preferred choice. The other three are good too!
+* [[Gozag]] = god of gold. Lots of Potion Petition, a random but strong and cheap ability. Bribe Branch also clears Zot:5.
-* [[Fedhas]] focuses on summoning stationary plants. Early game is weak. Has a strong mid-Dungeon onward game due to the 3* Ballistomycete having a very high confuse chance, and confuse stops all abilities, also the 2* ability can block the paralysis/banish spells, and stop you from being push/pulled.
+* "Generically strong for most characters" group: Consisting of [[Ash]], [[Hep]], [[Ru]], and Gozag, they're all very good, I like Gozag the most.
 * [[Zin]] is a "winmore" defensive god. MiFi is great in the power curve all game, and Zin provides defensive abilities to defend against the worst of situations.
-* [[Trog]] is good for melee, although you'll be better off starting as a MiBe.
+* [[Trog]] is good for melee of all types, although you'll be better off starting as a Berserker than using an altar.
 [[Category:Character_guides]]