Shattered Pixel Dungeon achievement guide: Pacifist Ascent

Shattered Pixel Dungeon's onea the more well-known n polished open source games we've tried. 'f ya haven't hearda't, try't out! 'f ur interested in dungeon crawling roguelikes, anyway.

We picked't up again recently, n between us stopping playing n starting't again, the "Pacifist Ascent" achievement was added. For the rest'a the article, I'm gonna assume yk how the game works in general, altho I'll avoid mentioning anything I'd consider a spoiler. So, the achievement has ya ascending w the Amulet of Yendor, without reducing its curse severity. The curse works by first attracting enemies, then hastening them, then slowing ya down while negating all speed-boosting buffs, then directly dealing damage. Independently'a the curse level, enemies in the earlier dungeon regions have their stats boosted, so they're actually a challenge for a high-level character still. The curse level can always be reduced again by killing enemies, but this achievement specifically has ya avoid that. So, as ya can see, this achievement's not quite straightforward'a figure out, since ya gotta somehow deal w both the enemy damage and the curse damage. We looked for guides online, but couldn't find any, but eventually we figured out a build that'd work n figured we'd share't here.

The basics

We figured that'f we only had'a deal w the curse damage n never the enemy damage, we'd stand a chance. So, how to avoid enemy damage? We used the Duelist's Champion subclass, w a Greatshield n an Assassin's Blade, since the Duelist abilities for both those weapons work for completely mitigating enemies' attacks, n the Champion gets faster recharge speed for weapon abilities, n benefits from using two weapons at once. Alternate between the Guard n Sneak abilities so ya can make the most outta the Varied Charge talent, making sure ur always either guarding or invisible whenever there's enemies that can see ya, n use Sneak or the Phase Shift spell for getting past enemies that block the way.

Weapons

'f ur unable'a obtain either a Greatshield or an Assassin's Blade, ya can also use a Round Shield for Guard or a Dirk for Sneak. Either way, having a Tier 4 or higher weapon will be useful for the descent, so ya can actually deal some damage — for the ascent, the tier shouldn't matter at all (altho apparently, Round Shield gives larger Guard duration than Greatshield? Greatshield's much nicer for its damage blocking n dealing potential on the descent, tho). The level does matter tho — a higher upgrade level extends the duration the weapon abilities stay active for. We managed getting the achievement w our Greatshield at +9 (which boosted the Assassin's Blade'a +9, too, via the Twin Upgrades talent). For making sure ya get the right weapons, Scrolls of Transmutation, Guardian traps (altho keep in mind the weapons dropped from Summoned Guardians're always +0), n possibly the Troll Blacksmith's "Smith" favour might help — it's quite the expensive favour tho, n we prefer investing Blacksmith favour into getting upgrades directly (e.g. for the descent, we generally want a +6 or better plate armour as endgame gear, or equivalent).

Talents

Tier 1

For the descent, n especially for getting the right weapons, Adventurer's Intuition's handy (especially at +2). We also like Patient Strike (at +1) n Aggressive Barrier (at +2). The latter can stay slightly useful even at higher levels. For the ascent, none'a these's very relevant.

Tier 2

Max out Focused Meal n Weapon Recharging. Swift Equip's not gonna be much useful for a Champion, n especially'll see no use on the ascent. Lethal Haste can be nice for the descent, n Liquid Agility might even see some use on the ascent — e.g. drinking a healing potion as the Sneak or Guard just wears off.

Tier 3

Max out Varied Charge, n get Twin Upgrades at +2 — +3 's gonna be useless since the weapons w the desired abilities're necessarily at different tiers. The remaining abilities're defensive, so get whatever ya like for the descent — personally, we don't use thrown weapons much, so we'd go for Combined Lethality (e.g. Sneak, then bonk the enemy w ur shield) n Precise Assault.

Tier 4

We don't exactly know'f there's any enchantment where the Elemental Strike ability's useful for the ascent, most'a them're prolly more offense-focused. W Feint, the Counter Ability talent can be useful. Challenge's mostly useful in the fifth dungeon area (i.e. the first on the ascent), where ya can use't on Succubi or Scorpios for stunning Evil Eyes — otherwise, ya risk the Death Gaze killing off other enemies, thus reducing the curse n failing the achievement. In theory, DM-200s also have an ability that can kill other enemies, in practice't rarely does when they're not pinned down. The main talents useful here would be Close the Gap (altho that one can also be detrimental, depending on the situation) n Elimination Match. Invigorating Victory's also very nice for the descent tho, as't can save Healing Items for the ascent. No matter what armor ability ya pick, the Heroic Energy talent's always useful, ofc.

Trinkets

The Blood Vial's extremely useful. Keep't at +0 or +1 for mosta the descent n upgrade'a +2 before ya face the final boss. That way, ya can still barely outperform the curse w ur healing potions even at its strongest, but they'll last much longer. We're guessing it's possible without, we just were lucky enough'a get one for our attempt. Other trinkets that could be useful include the Ferret Tuft (especially for protecting Succubi from Evil Eyes), n the Dimensional Sundial as long as ur playing during daytime, all other trinkets either don't really do anything, or might be actively detrimental (Chaos Censer, Rat Skull, Salt Cube) n should be dropped before starting ascending.

Ankhs

On the ascent, regular Ankhs're not gonna be very helpful given how quickly ur gonna die without ur inventory, but blessed Ankhs might help w getting the last mile done, or when ya forgot taking a healing potion on time.

Consumables

'f towards the end'a the descent ya got enough Starfruits (Blandfruit combined w Starflower seed) n XP potions for gaining 3 levels (typically, after clearing floor 24, we're at level 27), ya can convert the excess XP potions into Divine Inspiration potions so ya can upgrade talents further. Once ur level 27, use XP items for goinga level 30 (the max level), then drink an Elixir of Might for maxing out ur max HP (don't drink't before leveling up!). Scrolls of Teleport can (n should) be converted into Phase Shift spells for getting enemies outta the way. Use Sungrass n Starflower seeds for getting as many XP n healing potions as possible. 'f ya wanna prevent Evil Eyes from using their Death Gaze n thus possibly kill enemies, Potions of Invisibility're also very useful. Use healing potions when ur HP gets too low from the curse, unless ur just bout'a ascend into a boss/region transition floor, since those also give ya a full heal. Scrolls of Passage n Beacons of Returning might seem appealing in theory, but in practice, the Amulet of Yendor blocks teleporting between floors. Scrolls of Recharging or Mystical Energy are a must-have, ur likely gonna run outta weapon ability uses otherwise eventually'f ur weapons're not very highly upgraded; use them whenever ya get low on those. Fear stones n Terror Scrolls can also be used for getting enemies outta the way, just make sure ya don't use Scrolls of Dread since those count as killing the enemy, we think (haven't actually tried on ascent, but on descent, they do give XP once the enemy leaves, t'least).

Wands

We don't feel any wands're particularly useful on the ascent, as using them will break ur Guarding or Invisibility. Blast Wave wands can have a niche use for getting enemies outta the way, but make sure ya don't activate any traps, or knock the enemies into chasms. On the descent, Wands of Regrowth're incredibly useful, as they allow for farming dewdrops n seeds (n they can also be used for blocking enemies' line of sight). Offensive wands also give ya ranged options on the descent, which's nice, ofc. Wand of Corruption can be useful on the ascent, but's also quite risky — inflicting Terrified is cool, infliciting Amok less so.

Challenges

Don't. Altho'f ya really wanna try, Hostile Champions, Badder Bosses, Faith Is My Armor (focus on upgrading weapons instead), Swarm Intelligence n Into Darkness should all be ok for the ascent, they may require using healing potions more frequently on the descent tho, leaving less for the ascent.

Artifacts

The Timekeeper's Hourglass n the Ethereal Chains're prolly the most useful ones here. That said, we only had the Chalice of Blood on our successful attempt (which's slightly useful but very much pales against the high damage the curse starts dealing eventually). The Alchemy Toolkit might also seem some use'f ur on a boss/region transition floor n realize ya forgot crafting some important consumable. Other artifacts're either risky or not very useful.

Rings

Ring of Energy can be useful, we're not sure'f't speeds up weapon ability charge recovery tho — 'f't does, 'tdoesn't say so n we never bothered measuring. Ring of Arcana might see some marginal use — refer'a the following section. As far as we can tell, there's no way for reducing the curse damage; Tenacity or Elements rings don't seema do anything.

Enchantments

Antimagic armour sadly doesn't help w the curse, we think. Affection armor might be slightly useful'f ur outta weapon charges somewhere after all? N w a high-level Ring of Arcana, an Obfuscation glyph can also be nice since't may prevent enemies from blocking the way when they don't notice ya in the first place. Weapon enchantmens don't matter much, go for whatever ya like for the descent; ya really shouldn't be hitting enemies w weapons on the ascent.

N that's it! Hope ya can get the achievement now'f ya had difficulties w that before. Do poke us'f this guide leaves any open questions after all or ur running into trouble w sth. Or maybe ya got other builds that work well for this achievement n ya wanna tell us bout them?