Spoiler

Go to directly to small cave and made to lvl 5-6, actually very easy, I survive 90% af characters this point. Then to terinio, buy food and get kenny quest, do it (lvl 11 usually after this), then do keethrax quest, piece of cake at this point for beastighter. Take speed talents to run of the cats, no problem. Taking all stuff potions / wands / rings / scrolls along the way for later identification. After keethrax quest usually lvl 12, 140 - 150 HP, healing 100, climbing > 90, Athletics > 90, herbalism > 90, and pickpockets and ventriloquism at ~50. Don't finish the quest
until have herbalism at 100 to take gardening. Then down to ID and do some item-hunting and take 1-2 levels for fun. Then to CoC, straight to the dwarven quests and little farming in big room. Do all quests and go back to graveyard to uncover some graves. Liches / Master liches zero problem at this point. Take down Nonnak and the dwarf, with little cautios approach easy at this point (lvl ~14-15). Take stuff and go to the pyramid.
Then return to big room and collect herbs for raising some stats. Then go clear darkforge if have enough construct slaying ammo or to the Tomb of the High King to get ring. After this either go to library or to the ID to find stuff needed for tower of flames - ring of ice and ring of the clear mind. Go to clear tower usually around lvl 20-22. Most monster are ventriloquism-vulnerable here so very little problem, only minor problem is
Wyrm, but can be confused so no problem. At this point usually have unarmed at mastery (13), and bows and crossbows at 7-8, defense around 65 / 30 and hit +100 / 50 and over 300 HP. After this usually go back to CoC for farming and crowning,
and before go down under water temple usually go to rob Blub's mom and then down the UD just to see if there are some nice shops and herbs, and go lower to CoC. And then usually die by some very stupid mistake :).

But I found this very efficient way to go through
early stages of game and mainly, very safe way - I'll either die in the small cave, or at lvl 25-30 by some mistake (last time I tried to convert water temple alter and instead change to C and become fallen champion, only to be few round later sacrificed by chaos servant.)

Spoiler
I first buy some rations, then go straight to UD. By the time you hit the bottom you will hopefully have morgia, spenseweed, moss or stomafilla. Then I do puppy cave for vault (exp) and chance for altar. Hopefully with stomafilla you can get precrowned twice and then crowned. If you don't get herbs, you will be put back but just go to CoC and harvest at big room You can do keethrax or ID while you wait to get to 14 for both precrowns.Next thing, gardening will be USELESS. I will say again, COMPLETELY USELESS!!! In my entire gaming career I have found as random drops no more then 3 herb seeds. Go power to get wand and book (you probably can't learn it) After precrowns, (if you haven't found altar, go down to dwarftown and only get one)do pyramid, go in corner and fight the people as they come at you. Should be easy, go do CoC and quests. When you see Khelly come up. Do portal quests, dig things up if you want, RUN if you see anything more then master liches. Those are easy but others are powerful and stat drain. Do darkforge, drink pools or scum gremlins to get AoLS. Throughout all this you should be using bows to get them wounded, pick pocket them (learn from master thief if you can be neutral). If you have found an AoLS go down in CoC. Graveyard is easy, kill everything for exp if you can handle. Stay on some sort of defensive or until you have alot of DV. Otherwise you will be drained. Water temple is easy, use wand of fireball if need be. Find ring of ice, and you've done ToEF. Then rest of game comes and goes.