Doesn't the dark archmage spawn on day 40 or so even if you don't meet the power requirements?

I've blown up crystals with big mines and backpacks of gunpowder before.

You do know that has more to do with your stats than with a particular level.

Aw, come on. Not every game is blessed with a wizard mode that let's you do just about anything

Now that he knows, I'm certain he'll make good use of it. We'll miss the activity

JoKe: If you have heavy explosives, you can blow up the crystals

4zb4: What boss monster? It often has invisible stalkers but I've never seen a boss down there

Leprosy is not recommended. Not only is limb-loss completely random, it'll also hit your stats. Angering Sophos is an interesting approach, and very do-able, points to Zulox for originality. It's really hard to find spell-casters that'll target limbs, and letting them take your limbs is dangerous, they'll probably kill you.

It depends. If you have equal skill with both weapon types, then yes, flaming swords are the better choice. The burn damage can't be blocked, which is great against heavily armoured foes. For whips though, no, not unless it's a whip of thievery.

It is possible, but when destroyed you don't end up with sticks and stones (and lumps), it's just gone.

Change material for equipment first, hands down. You can never have enough armour, as demonstrated by Freelance Berzerker's Dwarven Bite of Death.

As for limbs, again, whatever you happen to need at the time. Personally I'd go legs first, better agility means better maneuvrability.

As for wishing I find myself often wishing for amulets of life saving, I don't often get too far and thus don't have much to clone

As for armour that really depends. If you're using artificial limbs you could even handle adamantine plate mail. Otherwise chain mail provides an excellent middle ground. As mentioned octiron is an excellent material, but there are many other good options. Dragon hide is good for boots and gauntlets if you can't find SoCM and unicorn horn provides good defense for low int requirement. Sometimes you can find ommel bone/tooth plate mail early on, those are excellent. The best are valpurium and golden eagle feather, hands down, but that's obvious

As for ideal weapon set... Well, I tend to go with whatever I happen to find, but my best characters often have flaming swords.

That's true, but scrolls of golem creation tend to be rare. Another excellent method is wands of lightning. Those you'll find plenty of, and they tend to target limbs.