Universal Shattered Pixel Dungeon (by Evan Debenham)

Finally completed a run. Hunter with maxed out ring of marksmanship, augmented bow with electricity enchant felt a bit OP until final boss but still managed to complete. Great game!

 

25 is the bottom of the dungeon. It took me quite a few runs to make it that far (and even then I died on the boss my first time... that hurt) but now I'm at 29/91 success rate. The game gets much more consistent once you figure out the optimal strategies to get through the first 10 levels, but luck can definitely play a big role with warrior and rogue if you don't happen upon a good weapon by the time you're into the caves.

 

Great Game. Very hard. Best level 23, Rogue/Assassin. Very frustrating. Almost quit.

I came up with a new strategy of using my strength upgrades to bring items down to my level instead of increasing my own strength to use them. I have strength of 13 and I'm using a Battle Axe +3 and Scale Armor +5. Maybe someone can confirm if this is a winning strategy, but I'll find out soon enough.

Edit: It worked. I finished the game with the help from a couple of Augmentation stones. Hold on to those until level 20. Now I’m 1/67!

Here's my problem, I finally made it to the Blacksmith with two known items that are worth converting into "something better" ( I hope that's not a spoiler, but I don't know how to create the spoiler box). I have:
Battle Axe +3 (strength 12)
Battle Axe +1 w/kinetic enchantment (strength 15)

If I convert these two and the base strength needed to wield the result is greater than 13, then I'll be dead on the next level because I won't have a weapon. Does anyone know what is likely to happen if I do this?

EDIT: Found the answer online:
"The Troll Blacksmith will take the item with the most upgrades and increase the level on that item by one while the other item is destroyed. This upgrade is exactly like using a Scroll of Upgrade so there is a 1/level chance (100 % if level=0) that the enchantment/glyph is kept. However, a broken item will be both fixed and upgraded unlike the Scroll of Upgrade. If both items have the same level, then the item in the left slot is the item that will be upgraded."

So I gave him both axes and got back :
Battle Axe +4, base strength 12. It upgraded without lowering the base strength.

Also, I have two Rings of Tenacity, and one of them is +2. Does anyone know if their effects add up, or is the +2 ring the only one operational?

 

Congrats on your first big finish! Once you crack the code it becomes more reliable, but it's a huge breakthrough those first few wins.

For the strength reduction from upgraded items, yes it can be very relevant but I still like to conserve scrolls of upgrade to dump on to one key weapon most games (and ideally a tier 5 weapon). That said, you still use strength potions on yourself to raise your strength while the scrolls of upgrade you use on items lower the strength requirement, so you do both at the same time. I think +1 items get -1 str requirement, +3 get -2 and +7 get -3. I often like to use the troll blacksmith to forge together two sets of plate mail armor (hopefully one of them is +2 if I'm lucky) to get a +3 that is easier to wear and lasts until the end of the game in most cases.

For the troll blacksmith, he just upgrades the two items to a level that's equal to the highest you currently give him +1 more. So in your case if you gave him a battle axe +3 and a battle axe +1, you'll get a battle axe +4. Strength reductions work as noted above, so a +3 and +4 axe both only get -2 strength reduction. Glyphs sometimes transfer but not always, so I won't comment on that mechanic in detail as I don't know how it fully works.

As for rings, yes they all stack. If you wear a +2 ring and a +0 one, you'll get the effect of +3. Wearing a +2 and a +2 will give +5 total. I had an insane game with the Huntress where I found a ring of sharpshooting early and dumped all 15 upgrade scrolls on it, and then got another +4 ring in the very late game. +20 to all ranged weapons!