Level drainers are some of the more nasty monsters that you find on the lower levels.
Lewt wrote:
1) What penalties happen when someone loses a level? Do they lose hits, do they lose abilities, do they age at all? I have been trying to keep track of all this, but its a bit tricky, so if someone could explain exactly how level drain affects the lucky toon, that would be very helpful...
You lose hits and can lose stats. It is basically the inverse of making a level. It does not age your player.
Lewt wrote:
2) What is the best defense against these vile creatures that do this? I have been spamming my "Holy Cross" by my Priest and that really does wonders, but I do know that some day, I am going to roll that 3% and that fine, lovely Holy Cross is going to become a pile of garbage...
When you get down to the lower levels, you need to have a strategy to take out whole monster groups in the first round, before they have a chance to attack. If you have a high level priest you can use their Minabor (rods) spell to take out a single group. Using dispel is risky because it does not guarantee that you will get them all. If the draining monsters are not the first group, then they will not be able to attack until all the first group has been dispatched which buys you more time.
Of course the ultimate spell is the Mage's controlled fireball which attacks all groups with devastating damage (of course, you will only have a limited number of those).
Another important thing to remember when you meet real baddies. Crank the game speed down to the minimum. That way you will have more time to issue multiple commands before the monsters can attack.
Lewt wrote:
Great game, lots of fun!
Thanks!