Getting a million+ score was the last badge I was missing. Took quite a few attempts to get it. In the end I got it with just 6 challenges and a single demon spawner left alive in the demon halls.
Leaving the Hostile Champions off made the run a lot more predictable and the ascension a breeze.
With 6 challenges it is easier to list which one I left off. It was Hostile Champions, Faith Is My Armor and Pharmacophobia.
I am surprised you left Into Darkness out of your list. I consider this one to be the easiest challenge of them all. It limits the view, but also adds a torch to every level to pretty much cancel it out. In my view getting a Censer Trinket is more of a challenge than this one. If you done the 5-challenge with your set I think you can easily add this one to the set without any increase in difficulty.
Barren Land is also pretty easy and is off from your list. You still get the seeds, you just have to use them for alchemy instead of plants and that’s all. And if you are not playing the Huntress, then not wasting time cleaning up all the tall grass is a bit of a benefit on its own. Almost cancels out the negative effect as well.
With my setup I was pretty much always hungry, only consuming food before the boss levels and when the timing was good for the full hunger cleanup (with the meat pie or potion of cleansing). Just sustaining myself on healing potions.
I guess the big one is Hostile Champions. I like it because it makes the game a lot more interesting, but it is extremely difficult. Getting a ranged snake or a giant fly on the early levels could be an instant game over on its own. I usually play with it just for the fun of it, but I turned it off to get the highest score.
I’ve been out of phone reception all weekend.
Thanks for your well thought out reply.
OK, so I have tried Into Darkness previously. I thought it was themed as an eye-curse that could not be negated by a torch. Excellent tip about using torches, thanks.
Not sure which one is the Censer trinket.
Lol. I just tried Barren Land and forgot that you can not plant seeds. Had 50% health, dropped down a well-room, couldn’t plant a green seed, dead.
Barren Land does seem easy though, if I can get energy another way. Well-rooms are usually the only time I plant a seed.
I had also thought it meant no-dew-drops == no blessed-ankh, but now I remember about filling your water-bag in a well of health.
I still leave Hostile Champions and it weeds out the weak-drop runs in the first 6 levels. If the character has not gained a decent wand or weapon by that time, they are toast.
Helpful advice all round, thank you.
The Censer is one of the trinkets, it is not a challenge. But its random nature quite often creates more problems than it solves. I called it a “challenge” jokingly - it was not supposed to be a challenge, but it ended up being one. At least for me.
“Into the Darkness” together with the regular Dark level results in the hero seeing just one tile all around. So you have to use a torch on that level. If you clear the level before the torch runs out, you get no extra problems. And you can save the torches from the early floors - rooms are small enough there that you do not have to have the full vision yet.
When doing challenge runs it is at times crucial to leave some of the puzzles unsolved. I often skip well-rooms if I do not have a Feather Fall or another way to counter the damage (heal potion, Hourglass). Sure I am missing on some goodies, but the danger of dying is just too high. When I am “On Diet” for example, I never solve the poison gas room. The Potion of Purity that spawns as a solution to it is way more useful when upgraded to Potion of Cleansing than the gold in that gas room. (Potion of Cleansing removes the hunger effect - acting way better than many other food sources you have access to with that challenge). And I almost never fight stone statues for their loot. If they have good enough weapon for me to want it - they can kill me with that weapon.
When going for the high score I also left many puzzles unsolved - but I solved them on the way back up to get the score. It is also way easier to solve the sacrificial fire on the way up - the Amulet is actually helping with that by luring the enemies towards it when you are standing there.
For me learning to just leave some of the puzzles unsolved even when I know the solution to them was probably the key to get better at challenge runs.