Well I've been an F2P for quite some time now, and here's my current loadout:
Vog coat
Wyvern scale helm
Dark Thorn shield
DA - gremlin low
Cryo driver
Virulent catalyzer
Jalovec - Beast high slime med (GOT THIS ON A WHIM DO NOT JUDGE ME)
I avoid devilite levels like the plague because I lack shadow defense and piercing damage and also because my ping is so bad, once I see them raise their floppy disks I've been hit. Beast levels are sometimes annoying for me, especially wolver masses.
I very much like slime levels and run JK often, and construct levels are also quite a breeze.
I'd very much appreciate it to know the community's opinions on this set, which is very much based for solo play.
Thanks!
Your loadout is interesting and not bad. Here's what I see:
* Armor: Normal, piercing, elemental, elemental. Fire.
* Shield: Normal, piercing, sword bonus.
* Weapons: Normal, elemental, elemental, shadow.
So I agree that fiend levels should be difficult for you. Beast levels are difficult, if you use your elemental weapons; at least beasts are neutral to your normal and shadow weapons. Construct levels are easy, because you have solid elemental weapons. (You already know all this; I'm just pointing out, to anyone else reading, that your damage types explain quite well, why some things are easy and other things are difficult.)
In the shallow strata of the Clockworks, monsters do mainly normal damage. As you go deeper, monsters increasingly deal their preferred damage type (e.g. piercing for slimes). But even on Stratum 6, there is still a significant amount of normal damage being dealt. So you might want to get a little more normal armor. This is why split non-normal armor pieces, such as Dragon (Wyvern) Scale Helm, are unpopular. And of course get some shadow armor. It would be nice to have some shock and freeze protection too.
In my opinion, your highest priority should be to replace your Troika with a piercing sword, particularly Final Flourish or Barbarous Thorn Blade. Many of us feel that these swords are the most overpowered weapons in the game. They will totally change your view of fiends and beasts.