A few days ago I obtained the amulet using only tier-3 equipment (https://lemmy.world/post/18859193). I've been trying to win with tier-2 items, and today I finally made it! (No challenges active).

My rule is simple: items identified in their description as tier 3, 4 or 5 cannot be equipped, ever.

I tried ten times or so with a gladiator, but the leather armor is just too weak. I couldn't make it past the first couple of floors in the dwarven city; I was taking too much damage, and was drinking potions of healing as if they were water in the desert.

I realized that a melee play style is unsustainable with leather armor. I decided to try to keep enemies away and kill them using ranged weapons. This means, of course, a sniper.

In this run, I was lucky to get:

• a grim enchantment for the bow
• entanglement on the armor
• an elastic handaxe
• a bumper wand
• a ring of arcana
• the ethereal chains

I'm not sure I could have won without that combination. Despite having a leather armor (blocking a laughable 4-12 damage), I ended up with 14 potions of healing.

One of the main difficulties of a tier-2 run is that there is simply very little tier-2 equipment in the dungeon! In some runs I wouldn't find a leather armor, or a good weapon, or neither. I think the best bet is to pray the ghost drops something useful, but more often than not, the drops are either not upgraded or higher tier.

Anyway, it was fun! I may decide to do a tier-1 run sometime, but I need to take a few weeks rest from SPD first.