Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site pucc-h Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxj!ihnp4!inuxc!pur-ee!CS-Mordred!Pucc-H:rsk From: rsk@pucc-h (Rich Kulawiec (Vombatus Hirsutus)) Newsgroups: net.games.rogue Subject: Middle-Dungeon Strategies Message-ID: <1345@pucc-h> Date: Thu, 11-Oct-84 18:32:07 EDT Article-I.D.: pucc-h.1345 Posted: Thu Oct 11 18:32:07 1984 Date-Received: Sat, 13-Oct-84 07:15:51 EDT Organization: Purdue, THE Indiana University Lines: 110 I sent this off to dataio!bossert this morning; it later occured to me that it might be of general interest, so here it is. His question was basically, "How does one deal with the tougher monsters, such as T, U, J and so forth (in 5.3)?" __________ (It's early in the morning, and this is off the top of my head, so caveat emptor, but here goes...) Most of the really nasty critters will nail you if you stand toe-to-toe with them and slug it out. This is nearly always true if your attributes are, say, Str 16, AC 6, +2,+2 mace, or thereabouts. I've been creamed when at Str 20, AC 8, +1,+1 two-handed sword... Therefore: 1. Remember that thrown weapons do a reasonable amount of damage. Shurikens are especially nasty; darts don't do much damage. If the monster is sleeping when you encounter it, back up all the way across the room and start throwing things at it. In the case of arrows, make sure to (1) wield the bow before throwing them; it increases the probability of hitting the target, and increases the damage when you hit and (2) make sure to switch back to your mace/sword when the monster is still one square away from you, so that you're wielding it when he moves up next to you. 2. When exploring a new level, always follow passages to their end, even if they look like an obvious loopback; a lot of them aren't; or at least, aren't until you "s" them a few times. These loops can save your life. When fighting a beastie, remember that you can retreat and regenerate; of course, Trolls do this too [I think another monster does, but can't recall offhand] so that you have to think carefully when retreatng from a Troll. 3. Locate teleport traps; usually if you teleport away from one beast, you have a few moves (at least) respite before he or somebody else finds you. 4. Don't be afraid to drop a level if you're about to get croaked; sure, you're now even deeper without the extra Exp. Points you'd have had if you'd nailed him, but on the other hand if you had stuck around, you might be dead... 5. Magic. Forget the rings of dexterity, protection, and add strength; Next to useless. Put the ring of slow digestion on. Hang on to the rings of regeneration (!!), see invisible, and stealth. When exploring a new level, wear the ring of stealth, so that you see the critters and have time to back away (without waking them up). When you decide to go into combat with a monster, switch to the regeneration ring, and have at it. Retreating through corridors is especially helpful when wearing the ring of regeneration. Use the ring of see invisible to fight Phantoms...don't worry about finding them, 'cause you'll occasionally bump into them. When you do, run 5-6 squares away, and since P's are slightly confused, the chances are rather good that he won't follow you; now put on your ring of see invisible and wait for him. Of course, these ring-based tactics all depend on how much food you've got-- or having the ring of slow digestion. 6. More magic. The staff of slow monster is very effective; I once used it to kill a Jabberwock with my bare hands. Basically, you get two moves to his one; so it's hit&retreat, hit&retreat. BE CAREFUL! Some monsters are smart enough to pause for a turn in this dance, and then when you try to move forward to hit--he's not there! and you're now next to him, and he can hit you. The staff of teleport away can be used to whisk the beastie off somewhere when you're about to get croaked. 'course, if you're trying out an unknown staff, it's easy to mistake the staff of invisibility for this one.. Staffs of fire, cold, lightning work rather well on most beasties. The staff of magic missile is mostly useless, except against nymphs. The staff of polymorph is sometimes a lifesaver; other times you turn the critter into something even worse. 7. More and more magic. The scrolls of hold monster, teleportation and scare monster are obviously very useful; create monster can be useful to help you run up your Exp. Points when you're in good shape; like, say, standing on a scare monster scroll. The scroll of magic mapping should be used when you go down to a new level; it can save you a lot of moving about. Enchantment scrolls are of course very nice; but don't save them too long. In other words, if you've got 3 enchant weapon scrolls, and are waiting to find a two-handed sword, and you're now on level 15, you might think seriously about reading them on your mace, 'cause otherwise you may not get much further. 8. Still more magic. Quaff healing potions when at full HP to raise that total by 1; they're next-to-useless in a fight. Save Extra Healing potions for combat. Quaff see invisible potion when entering first level with phantoms; it lasts several hundred turns and may help you kill one or two of them. Save a "restore strength", if possible for deep dungeon levels where traps may knock off several points. If you find a gain strength potion, quaff the restore immediately followed by the gain, thus always making your strength as high as it can be. Use monster detection potion on new level to not only find critters, but to guess layout of level. Use potion of haste self to deal with critters in the same way as staff of slow monsters; but be careful, 'cause it wears off. My fingers are now officially tired; good luck rogue-ing! Rich Kulawiec -- ---Rsk UUCP: { decvax, icalqa, ihnp4, inuxc, sequent, uiucdcs } !pur-ee!rsk { decwrl, hplabs, icase, psuvax1, siemens, ucbvax } !purdue!rsk "It'll definitely improve our reputation as a party school." --anonymous Purdue student, on TV-18 (local) news, Saturday, 10/6/84 after a Friday night of spontaneous rioting.