I am being repeatedly slaughtered!
Yes, that is a common problem. Do you have some specific cause of death that claims you every time, or are you just exploring the myriad pathways of doom this game offers?
Myself, I got some stuffing kicked out of me with those hellfire-happy elven high priests, but finally got them with some summoning decks. The elven hoard was pretty neat. No quick blades here, but I found a staff of energy, which means that as long as I can be arsed to take my shield off first, I can cast spells hungerless. Which pretty much removes the ONLY notable source of hunger for spriggans. Also, there was this randart amulet I haven't identified yet, but that apparently gives +6 to EV and +5 to Str and features a guardian spirit. I'm always open to more stat points and evasion, but I've never gotten the hang of guardian spirit. It seems to me that if I'm facing an enemy that can seriously hurt me, having it punch all my mana away is one of the worst things that can happen. I guess it's situational. For a melee fighter guy, this thing would be the best thing ever.
I also got my second and third books of Power. I bet what will happen now is that I will sacrifice these to Nemelex, and then somehow lose the last copy, just when I could use to learn some spell recorded in it.
So, Elf is conquered. I've never managed this before, either. Where to next? The last floor of Snake? I think my progress in Vaults was halted by Saint Roka. Or was that the main dungeon? I should start using the notes system.
*FRANTIC UPDATE*
I found a bazaar in the Vaults. Never seen one of those before. In an antique armour shop there, I found a randart dragon armour worth 3135 gold. I have 3527 gold, so I could afford it, if I was willing to blow most of my savings on it. Of course, I have no way of telling what it is before I buy it. Could be a cursed -27 dragon armour of "haha fuck you". Also, it would just about demolish my casting capabilities. That's not devastating, I have cards, but I've successfully played a diverse do-everything character up to now, and I'd feel sad about stopping.
Not too sad to use the armour if it turned out to be great, of course.
So, should I buy it? Am I likely to find more worthy causes to spend all my orc-mined money on?