Fearing character loss, players may be inclined to progress slowly and cautiously, gradually building up before descending further. Forum member Ingwe Ingweron crafted an insightful response (quoted here in full) to another forum member explaining how slow and cautious progression can actually be more dangerous than a fast dive, with lovely analogy to alpine vs. siege mountain climbing risk reduction strategies.
The italicized lines are quotes from the post that Ingwe is rebutting. "@", "p", and "P" are used to mean the player character, Sauron, and Morgoth respectively.
There are two schools of thought in mountain climbing. Both are all about risk reduction. Laying siege strives to reduce risk by having every conceivable piece of equipment to deal with any situation that may arise, but it requires a lot of time and exposes the climber to severe risks repeatedly over that time. The alpine speed method strives to reduce risk by carrying only what is necessary for the most common risks and racing to the summit, thereby limiting the time for risks to occur. In taking on the Big Bosses in Angband, it is much the same. So, addressing your questions in turn: 1) It is easier to deal with Morgoth alone than Morgoth AND uniques together. Well, all other things being equal, ...yes..., BUT, things are not equal! To kill all the uniques @ had to be exposed to a very large number of risks. Also, uniques are not the only thing Morgoth summons, nor are all uniques all that dangerous to @ in the end-game. If @ has sufficient means to handle Morgoth's summons (with TO, Banishment, Mass Banishment, and Destruction), has sufficient hit points, has sufficient healing, and has sufficient ability to inflict damage, then there is no reason to continue exposing @ to risks. Go to guns on the Big Bosses immediately. The longer you're on the mountain, the greater the risk of being caught in an avalanche from which no amount of gear or preparation in the world can save you! 2) When you are fighting a unique by itself, you have more opportunities to be in control of the fighting environment, often to the extent of making the kill easy or virtually guaranteed. You have less control over the fighting environment when Morgoth is involved, because he can change it in many ways, from its physical nature to the number of combatants involved. Your contention about fighting uniques is true only if the conditions are right, e.g., @ has the right resistances, the right damage dealing ability, the right speed, and the right terrain. Otherwise, @ is simply being exposed to greater failure opportunities from the RNG or from making a mistake. I view uniques as targets of opportunity. If @ has the right conditions, take them out. If not, avoid them. A case in point is the Tarrasque. Sure, if @ has found The One Ring, or is double fisting Narya and Nenya, and has big damage dealing ability, and has sufficient healing and hitpoints, and has sufficient speed, then the Tarrasque is a "target of opportunity" otherwise, the mean "R" is a recipe for large risks of consumables wasted and @ death. Much easier to simply TO or destruct the sucker if Morgoth happens to summon him. As for control of the terrain in fighting Morgoth, I'll cover that in the next answer. 3) It is a good thing to be as in control of as many factors as possible when fighting Morgoth. I'd say it's good to be in control of enough factors to win. You don't need to control every possible factor. You don't need to kill every unique. You don't need to have every resistance hole covered. You don't need to have every stat sustained. You don't need to have 40 potions of life! What you need is whatever is sufficient for a particular @ to win. Anything more than that and it means @ has to be exposed to greater risks of failure and death from the RNG. My @'s always have sufficient control of the terrain in fighting the Big Bosses. Sauron: @ digs a small cubby-hole so that only "p" can attack and his summons are very limited. If @ has access to a Rune of Protection or Glyph of Warding, @ stands on it. @ buffs up as much as possible. (If not an ironman game, @ buys out the shops of all the !Heroism, ?Prayer, ?Chant, ?Blessing, !Berserk Strength, !rCold, !rHeat, !rPoison, and quaffs or reads them all before attacking Sauron.) @ then uses his best attacks, either missiles, melee or spells until Sauron is dead. Morgoth: Except in a few rare cases where "P" was in a perma-walled vault AND @ could manipulate the situation to advantage, all my winning @'s fought Morgoth in a destructed zone. (Note that fighting Morgoth in a perma-walled vault carries much greater risk of @ being crushed by falling debris as @ has less places to dodge. If @ isn't in a position to control the perma-walled engagement, then better to lead Morgoth out into a destructed zone.) @ has great control over the terrain in fighting Morgoth, even with all the Big-P's summons. First making sure Morgoth isn't in the immediate area, @ destructs the area. If @ has access to Runes of Protection or Glyph of Warding, by all means stand on it. @ buffs up as much as possible (same as with Sauron). When Morgoth shows up, @ uses his best attacks. If Morgoth summons, assess whether the summoned are dangerous to @ (they aren't always a concern). TO, Banish, or Mass Banish as may be needed. In dire circumstances, TO Morgoth and destruct again. If the Rune is broken and @'s hit points are approaching 600 or below, Phase Door (this nearly always gets @ out of line of sight in a destructed zone) and heal. Rinse and Repeat. It is this ability to sufficiently control the terrain of battle that makes hunting down all those uniques a waste of time and an unjustifed risk. UNLESS, you are hunting down all those uniques simply for the fun of it, regardless of the risks. That is the only reason you gave that, in my opinion, had merit. When you get tired of doing that and start entering competitions where turncount matters, you simply won't want to waste the time.Original post here