# Forum:Early survival (re:archived message)
&lt; Forum:Watercooler

Hey, I stumbled upon the following message at the archives and decided to offer some input in case someone is still wondering...
"I have to be missing something stupidly basic about this game. How do you survive the swarms of monsters (or single strong monsters) that camp out around the up stairs after about dungeon-level 6?
After lots of practice I have gotten my class level as high as 9. That involved killing every single monster on every level, and luckily finding a few potions of gain level."
My theory: your problem is "killing every single monster on every level". The game generates the monsters the first time you enter a level, and they are the tougher the higher *your level* is. So, you have spent a lot of time killing harmless and easy monsters while not finding particularly powerful gear - and the opposition generated is too tough for your starting level equipment. I haven't seen the source code so I don't know if this actually is the case, but it would make sense.