Just a short tip for descent into the underworld:
Although playing on apprentice makes it easier, this is no guarantee to finish it easily.
What i did is use the Wanderer Fate from the wildcards DLC, this allows you to move to allready discovered tiles without using any food for the move.
For weapons, i prefer the blood crescent sword since it can instantly kill (for a small portion of your health) any enemie AND you instant kill enemies on the ground with a downward strike (good for the small creeps).
Every other equipment is not specifically necessary, however i want to write down a certain combination of a curse and a ring that basically makes you invincible.
If you have the midas appetite curse active (where you consume money instead of food) and the emergency ring, you can enter a combat and as soon as your health reaches zero, you are completely healed to the amount of money you own. This goes on infinitely, so you are basically unkillable.
This combination can aid you in ANY hard encounter, however it is luck based as well