Hi all,
Is there a way to know which kind of gear I should put on *before* going into a dungeon? If so, what is the best way to do it? I find myself getting spanked pretty hard, and my Tier 3 cobalt armor just isn't cutting it. I want to start itemizing better for the dungeon I'm going into.
Thanks!
"There are also the large strata icons on the totem pole, but I'm not quite sure what those signify and how they relate to the specific level construction."
All or most stages in that stratum will have that element or primary enemy type.
If the top stratum icon is a lightning bolt, you know the first three stages will have each have a different enemy type but they will all have Shock effects. If you see the second stratum has claw marks, you know Depths 5-7 will be full of Beasts but each individual stage could have a different elemental affiliation. (Unless it's the Gloaming Wildwoods, which happens to be Stratum 2 full of Beasts.)
I'd suggest checking out the Wiki page on gates:
http://wiki.spiralknights.com/Gate#Level_Icons
When you interact with a gate before going down, you can see the levels you may go through. The level picture tells you what "world" you'll be in, the foreground colour tells you what enemies you'll be facing (though not exclusively) and the background colour tells you what "element" the level will be, meaning whether you'll be fighting fire zombies or ice zombies or poison zombies, just as an example. There are also the large strata icons on the totem pole, but I'm not quite sure what those signify and how they relate to the specific level construction.
Also, once you're inside the actual shaft, you can bring up your menu (gear icon) and check Gate Progression from there to see what's coming next.