Finally managed to get through normal mode after many tries and get a mana build running in endless. Sometimes your very first fight cannot even be blocked perfectly. In many cases, you have to take some beating in order to gain xp because of the new cowardly mechanics. There are many possible deadly combinations of mobs, like 2 sabers in a fight. But worst of all is how high the starting damage for the first few turns can be if you are unlucky.
I basically avoid the blessed swamp now since it is just difficult without much gain. The salamander with 100 hp is simply near impossible to immediately kill, yet it throws a curse at you every single turn.
With the ninja haste interaction gone, I thought of using weak to help myself survive. I also got 2 rags to handle potential poison matchups, which ended up not very useful since I always target them first anyways and it made the game even laggier. I failed to find a mirror shield which wasted a shield forge, and failed to get windmill & legendary hat so I had to keep the armor. With no haste and shield meaning no armor, I simply died to the grandmaster burn.
I saw the new curved arrow and am still unsure how to use it properly. I think a build with 4 electric arrows can do some pretty nice damage, if you manage to get the arrows. The usefulness of the short arrow is also questionable with the nerfed bow. Time for more exploration!
