I completed a 4-chal ascension a while back, and I thought I was done with challenges, but recently I got the itch to complete a five-chal run. I just wanted to prove that I could ascend with more than half of the challenges active.

It took me 25 or 30 tries, but I finally did it! (I like to play random seeds and let fate decide what equipment I get). I also had to find a combination of challenges that was feasible for me; for example, combining Pharma and Barren Land is brutal. Respect to those who can win with those challenges active!

One funny thing is that I ended up with a lot of food (that’s the sniper at the foot of the stairs leading up out of the dungeon):

It turns out I could have eaten a lot more food! (I also had five potions of cleansing, believe it or not.) I spent almost the entire game with 20-40% health. Other equipment notes:

• I spent most of the game with a +2 Sickle I got from the ghost. This seed has very few upgraded weapons.
• I got a lousy wand of prismatic light +1 from the wizard, which was used along with a +0 wand of corrosion to upgrade the wand of disintegration to +3. I didn’t find any more wands.
• I found the chains early on, but they were cursed. I was unable to equip them until the early jail levels. Still, a lifesaver for sure.
• The armor is Scale +1, reforged and with three SoU.
• The RoH was found at +0 in the sewers, upgraded with the game’s last three SoU.
• The RoSS was found at +1 somewhere in the jail.
• The shuriken has a troll upgrade plus reforge, and the remaining two SoU.
• (Edited to add that I played without any ankhs, given the discussion on ankhs in the comments.)

The sniper is awesome, and I don’t know if I could complete five challenges with other classes. Dispatching a scorpion in one round, without spending any charges or energy or anything, is amazing.

I’m pretty sure I won’t do six or more challenges, as the game gets so hard it’s no longer much fun. But I’m happy to have gotten good enough at this game to do five challenges!