Chainhead[edit]
This monster has a range up to 2 tiles, and is quite the bruiser. This is one of the most powerful standard enemies in the game, more so than the gather. As this enemy is simply powerful, though manageable, there really isn't a sound strategy that you can employ to tackle them efficiently every time without item usage. The best advice I can provide, is always mind your movement if you decide to move near these enemies. I can't really stress how many times I have seen players move in haste and then they take an extra hit or two. You don't want your back smashed in by their head for free! You may as well just have fought them at that point. Try to keep in mind that unlike arrows and staff bolts, they can not throw their head around corners. Giving you a slight advantage in that scenario as they are safe to debilitate if on the other side of a hallway corner from you. They also count as cyclops, so bearing the cyclops killer weapon will assist greatly.
Master Hen[edit]
This enemy can move twice and attack once. Higher level versions can also attack twice. The big gimmick to this enemy is that it is a high reward enemy if you can kill it. Providing a solid 400 experience per kill, but only if you actually kill it. Upon reaching critically low health, they instead turn into their level 1 form, the Chicken, and then they run away. The Chicken is completely harmless, though somewhat beneficial because it often blocks other enemies. However, this means you earned nothing except for the damage you took for any engagement you have with a Master Hen. I will discuss a good strategy on how to try and kill the hens without reverting them further down in the guide portion for this area.
Air Devil[edit]
Are you trying to walk forward but you can't for seemingly no reason at all? This invisible enemy is actually floating right before you! These enemies have quite a lot going for them. They are always invisible unless you eat a Herb of Sight or are wearing an Armband of Sight. They have chaotic movement just like the Pacorepkin, so they move and attack randomly. They also have a magical barrier, and will reflect any staff bolt you swing at them back directly at you. This also applies to enemy bolt attacks, such as from Skull Wizards. You can use this to your advantage rarely, but if you absolutely need to staff an Air Devil for some reason, then you need to throw the staff itself. If you are getting hit by this enemy and are alone, a good tactic is to head straight for the hallway and enter it so you are 1 tile outside of the room. Then turn to face the room and just spam attacking. Eventually the Air Devil will come to you and get hit. If there are additional enemies around, it is probably best to immediately move to a better location until you deal with the enemies. The Air devil is not particularly strong, but its damage adds up in tandem with others, and it could get in your way without you knowing it, making dealing with other enemies via item usage, specifically staff usage potentially hazardous to you if you accidentally hit the devil at a crucial moment. Another pro tip is to never rely on speed healing on floors with Air Devils. If you step on a Landmine or Large Landmine Trap and try to speed heal, you may very well get bopped by this entity because you don't know its there with you. Always respect its mere existence and immediately use an item to heal, unless you can see them currently.
Fluffy Bunny[edit]
This monster is probably one of the greatest pains in the ass to deal with. It works in tandem with the various bruiser style enemies on these floors. This monster can jump next to a damaged monster from anywhere on the floor, and then heal it for a hefty amount. This fact forces you to have to deal with the bunny first, because it will out-heal your damage output unless you are insanely geared up. If you are in a hallway and it gets behind a monster, this can be most problematic, but there are some solutions for this problem. Firstly, you can use a Knockback Staff to push the monster into the bunny, which will kill the bunny. Second, consider just using any item you have to disable the monster in question and then walk away from it or ignore it. Silver Arrows also work wonders at reaching the bunny. Outside of that, you would rather find the bunny in an open room, so you can then deal with it however you want.
Ghost Owl[edit]
This enemy never moves from its spot and turns any room it is in into a dark room, so you can only see the 8 tiles around you at any given time. This can be helpful because it also blinds monsters. The Ghost Owl is fairly sturdy, but weak. You can either leave them alone or spend some time taking them out.
N'Dulu[edit]
We have discussed this enemy already, it is the level 2 N'Duba, so be careful when you are messing with new items you pick up on these floors.
Greenwalrus[edit]
We have discussed this enemy already. I do want to mention here though a common tactic for dealing with these enemies. Since they split when damaged, they are actually semi dangerous and can get out of hand, so a common tactic if you see a walrus is to fire an arrow at a wall near it. This is lovingly known as paying tribute in the community, or tax collection. Paying tribute to a walrus can save you a lot of headache later because once they steal the 1 arrow you don't care about, you can just ignore them moving forward or wait to try and abuse them after you go around the floor clearing out most other monsters. If you are low on arrows or out of them entirely, feel free to donate to the walrus fund any one item you don't care about like an Herbs|herb or used up staff by tossing it near them or simply placing the item on the ground and stepping away. Just remember not to hit them with your donations, and to take 2 steps because they will prioritize you if you are next to them and not the grounded item.
Young Tengu[edit]
The last enemy for this area, is a gotcha style enemy. Young Tengu takes on the appearance of any other enemy that is capable of spawning on the floor. It then approaches you as normal trying to attack Shiren, but has low attack and health. The purpose of this enemy is to get you to waste items on it, because you think it is a threat. There are a few ways to counter this enemy. One is to pay attention to the finer details. For example, if the tengu is a walrus, it doesn't care about items on the ground. If it is a hen, it only has single movement instead of double. The other tactic is with the exception of certain enemy types (like walrus,) to man up and always do at least 1 swing at every enemy before you use an item. This is not always viable, obviously but can save your resources. Just pay attention to the damage numbers and enemy behavior and you should be able to realize when you are dealing with a tengu. In a crowd scenario or monster house, just treat every enemy as though the tengu do not exist.
| Monster | Floors | Experience | |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Japanese | ||
| Young Tengu | カラス天狗 | 17 - 18 | 20 |
| Master Hen | マスターチキン | 17 - 19 | 400 |
| Chainhead | チェインヘッド | 17 - 20 | 200 |
| Greenwalrus | みどりトド | 17 - 21 | 30 |
| Ghost Owl | ようまふくろう | 17 - 21 | 50 |
| Air Devil | エーテルデビル | 17 - 21 | 30 |
| Fluffy Bunny | いやしウサギ | 17 - 21 | 8 |
Still climbing Table Mountain by this point? Good, because you finally entered it proper now. These 5 floors are essentially the last trial by fire for what to expect the rest of the game to be like. Alright, quite a mouthful of enemy strategies to review up above yes? All of this knowledge will see you become a stronger Shiren player. As for Table Mountain proper, I wanted to insert some strategy here as a break, because we actually have a few more monsters to discuss. All of the above appear from floors 17 thru 21. Well, we are in Table Mountain proper. Once you reach floor 20, more congratulations are in order, because you are now 2/3rds of the way there. On floors 20 and above, you will see some new additions. Before we get to those though, some Table Mountain strategy to consider.
Firstly, you may have noticed a theme with the monsters, and that is direct combat. With some of the hardest hitting enemies and Fluffy Bunnies combined, these floors can be brutal to tough it out with constant combats. You will need to rest up a lot so the toll on your hunger naturally increases here. So how do we deal with a lot of this stuff?
One thing is to consider using up at least 1 Power Up Scroll. Just one scroll usage should on average see you killing every monster here in 1 less hit. Remember that the Power Up Scroll actually stacks, up to 8 times, but that is entirely unnecessary. The other thing the scroll will help you do is actually kill off the Master Hens so that you benefit from their experience. By this point your level should be at about parity or falling off with the floor, depending on how much fighting you have done up to this point, especially if you did the Rice Changer abuse on floors 5-7. So a Power Up Scroll is very useful here, especially earlier on, floors 17-19 where Master Hens spawn.
The Pain Sharing Staff can be substantial on these floors as well. Allowing you to lesson the combat time with any monsters you are facing. It is also a boon to have on hand Doppelganger Staff or any of the really supportive staffs like Knockback, Paralysis, Postpone, etc. If you ever need some time to take a break, just debilitate a monster in a hallway and walk away to heal for some time.
On that note, remember that Shiren is often times like a survival horror game more so than an RPG. You do not have to fight every single monster you see. This is the point where you will start using up your items you have been hoarding. Ideally, you will want to try and minimize what you use to be no more than what you are replacing it with. If you find yourself constantly passing up on items on the ground due to storage issues, then you're probably not utilizing your inventory enough. That or, you're insanely powerful.
Another tip I want to share at this point is dealing with the multiplication trap. If you ever step on this trap, and I have discussed this idea earlier in this guide but you will want to definitely consider swinging your weapon before taking a step, for every step you make. Doubly so after hitting this trap. These floors can quickly kill you if you fall asleep, turn into a riceball, or explode on a landmine. Take the extra time, even if you are starving and check for traps.