How do I get past the second level? I beat the first boss, I've made it to the second one a few times but I can't beat it. I read that explosives intantly destroy the legs, but haven't made it back to the boss again because I keep getting killed by the vampires on the way, they just do so much damage, summon bats, and have to be killed twice. Also, if I hit a summon trap I'm pretty much dead immediately. Any tips on getting through the second level?
Maybe you should try to advance your weapon skills first. I for example like a high level Windrush Knife because it allows me to get into a haste state for up to 18 turns (level 10/MAX). In combination with a high level Lightning Sword or other weapons that cause a lot of damage to a certain area or several enemies at once this is a very effective method to deal with several enemies spawning at once.
It makes also sense to hoard a few Lifting Rings for when you try do a run on the second boss. That allows you to enhance the amount of weight you can carry. Sometimes you get even Rings that increase the additional weight you can carry not only by 4 but even up to 7. That depends on the enchantment.
Also, did you exchange your Souls with Doroelle to increase all your levels to the maximum available at the moment? That should also increase your overall strength and chances to survive the onslaught of a lot of enemies at once.
To succeed in this game you have to resort to think more strategic. Certain weapons are more effective against some enemies but weaker against others. You need to pay attention to when a certain damage amount is accompanied by a "weak" statement. This shows the weaknesses of your enemies. For example the vampire girl should be either weak to light or dark manage, probably the first one I think.
I like to have certain different swords with different abilities with me when I run through the dungeons.
And at the end a small cheating trick that works quite well right now when you run into troubles in a certain dungeon. Simply close the game and start it again. That resets you to the starting point of that certain dungeon and you can do it again. You have to do that before the enemy girls finish fucking you in case they manage to beat you. When you do that during a boss fight you'll get to the room right before entering the boss dungeon where the bell is to get back to the base. I'd like to do that when I just want to pass through the dungeons in the shortest way with less encounters with enemies to get to the boss fights.
I managed to finish the second boss with roughly 14 to 16 explosives in stock, a high level Windrush Knife and Lightning Sword and another weapon that did a lot of dark damage. Two to four hits against the legs of the second boss with that sword also proved to be quite effective. Additionally I had a Ring with me that extended my throwing range by another three to four fields. That allowed me to throw the explosives from quite a distance. Additionally I also went for the summoning stone as soon as possible to prevent the further spawning of minions in the early stages of the fight.