Is there any good strategy against the Geomancer without killing the Sappers?
It always feels disproportionately difficult, particularly compared to the Yog fight. If you don't kill the spawners, you will have a harder fight, but you won't get combo'd to death in a few turns from bad luck. I was at ~40 hp before my last move.
All of the geomancer attacks are telegraphed, if you mash the attack button he'll get ya for good. Do a hit check for the next attack of the geomancer. The rockfall almost always has a place you can stand.to evade the attack. The rockslide can hit you if you are in a tightly position so destroying some rocks before getting close. And clear the map before starting the fight other mofos can come and fuck ya.
I mean, I know they are choreographed; that's not the issue. The question here is specifically about not killing the Sappers ahead of time so you can get the 'complete' fight, so to speak. When you have rockslides on consecutive turns or even two on the same turn, it's nigh impossible to avoid getting hit (sometimes literally).
I don't understand the question. You want to fight the boss while his minions are up, and you want advice on how to do that better? For like, the challenge of it?
one thing I'm seeing here is probably more rocks than I would ever want for geomancer, making moving hard. How many times in your fight did rocks block your path forcing you to take a hit? I spend at least half of my turns in geomancer just clearing rocks to make evading rock hits safe. Same with trap disarming- I see three traps there, is there any chance you were forced to choose between eating the trap and taking a hit?
Since you insist on fighting the geomancer with his minions, there's a way perhaps you could use this to your advantage. With careful positioning, and perhaps the use of, say, a wand of blasting for either you or minion or both, or a pre-planted yellow seed, or tele rune, you could cause the minion to eat a flying rock, getting two birds stoned at once. Could also knock the minion into one of the traps with careful positioning and the blast wand. Probably not, but maybe geomancer eats minion hits too?
Weird question that will seem like a non-sequitur unless you've played it- have you ever played into the breach? It's exactly the kind of resource-limited chess-like strategizing I think you'd need to successfully navigate the landscape of the puzzle you've set up for yourself.
You might also try just killing all but one or two minions, leaving the rest alive, and see if other strategies don't generate organically as you gradually increase your difficulty by decreasing minions killed before starting.
I prefer the getting the Geomancer since it can clear out the mine for me and save some time(hunger) having to mine, as well as find some of the rooms.
Once I spot it, I'll engage it right away. Clearing any mobs in the immediate vicinity first of course. If gnolls turn up during the fight, I'll take them out before reengaging. The geomancer's attack has a range so I'll lure any guards out of sight so the fight is easier.
But I don't bother clearing any rocks during the entire fight. Even with a sapper nearby. Typically, you can dodge either of his attacks, as well as the sapper's. Sometimes that's not the case. But I'll charge in and take the unlucky hits even without a backup, like chains or the hourglass. I play with 5 challenges and usually I'm not pressed for resources that I can spend the time to clear out rocks during the fight, but maybe taking a hit or two from the geomancer is an acceptable alternative. I think with more experience, you'll find the geomancer ain't so bad.
Be wary of standing by pitfall traps since the rock throw attacks can activate it.
I won't go down the dungeon if my armor is lacking. If I have mail+2 or better than I'm good to go. Maybe leather+3.
Buffing your move speed and attack speed surely makes it easier to fight while not getting caught by the rock attacks. Perhaps you would also look into damage resistance actions like Iron Stomach or the stasis from the Hourglass?
i haven't tried doing geomancer without killing the sappers first, but blink stones and haste potions (and/or their exotic) could be a big help in getting out of the way quick. a scroll of affection or rage might be good too to distract the minions from hitting you. you might want to save the bees for the actual bosses but they could probably work here too on the minions.
Seems like something you'll only be able to do with the right equipment. Maybe try stocking up on haste potions or shrouded fog, or have an artifact like the hourglass or chains to help avoid the rocks better.