Good call on this one Gary, haven't seen this in many years. After I failed to put together a working 16-bit computer to run Windows 3.1 so I could play Castle of the Winds, my quest for another roguelike began. It's based off of D&D 2e, so I picked that right up.

This game is still supported, which is amazing.

Still getting used to the game and the commands. I found out that I could die of starvation when I.... died of starvation...

haha, yes i did the same

i suggest watching a lets play to understand some of the basic controls

the game is also completely unforgiving - i played a char for a few days to lvl 25 and died a retarded slow death on floor 20 because i didnt have immmunity to paralysis

also recently had my AC (armor class) raped by mobs with frost damage (they damage your gear, permanently)

have you figured out how to set up term windows? i have one for monster and item details, monster recall (you remember previous fights to see what kind of damage the monster does / xp rewards / etc), and recent activity ofc

some more beginner suggestions - pick up all rods and staves, they sell for a lot

press CTRL + F when you go to a floor, to get the "feeling" if it will have good loot or not (takes a little while)

press SHIFT + I to examine equipment, (then '/' for inventory) to see how much damage your weapon does

shift + F to refuel your light source

shift + E to eat (i suggest buying scrolls of satisfy hunger - 'r' to read a scroll)

'g' to pick up whats on the ground

the black market (shop #2 i think) resets every few thousand turns (forgot exactly), usually sells stuff beyond your current capability

be extra careful of jellys ('j') - they can reduce your stats indefinitely (until you level up)

z to zap a rod (look for door/stair and treasure location)
q to quaff a potion (cure light/serious/critical wounds are hp pots, better ones also heal some ailments like confuse/blind)
shift + arrow key to run in that (general) direction until theres something worth stopping for
ctrl + arrow key to tunnel (* asterisks are treasure locations)

ive also only played a half troll warrior (innate better health regen), so i dont know much of anything about range or magic yet

Haven't figured out much configuration yet. Good tips though, going between the game and guides to figure out what to do. I'm kind of expecting some things to be like other roguelikes and D&D based games, not everything is though.

That's what I'm using.

Using these:
http://www.thangorodrim.net/TANG/index.html#magitems
http://rephial.org/wiki/UserManual

Guide says that it is important to have free movement at 1000ft, I have not encountered an item that involves that at all. Any advice on that?
edit: found a ring of free action on the black market

Also, are there any items that prevent confusion? I have a Rod of Curing that is useful, but I keep encountering Umber Hulks that are a pain in the ass.

This post has been edited by Zodijackyl on Fri - Sep 16 2011 - 14:20:42

You feel the Cutlass in your pack is average.

Found a large wooden chest, its trapped, no idea what to do with it. put it in my house for now.

drop it and press o to open it

yes, thats how i died on a level 25 character

immunity to paralysis is no questions asked totally necessary

hmm, if its trapped i guess try shift d to disarm first?

ooof i would rather play a text game...

ie http://www.play.net/gs4/

the one i play

Got it, it contained a lantern and a ring that makes me afraid of combat.

I have been finding a few nice weapons of slay demon, slay dragon, slay undead. Will these become more useful as I get down to lower floors where there are more undead?

For reference:
Current weapon: Broad sword of Frost (2d5) (+5, +16)
Possible weapon: Katana of *Slay Demon* (3d5) (+10, +5)
Possible weapon: Katana of Slay Dragon (3d5) (+4, +9)



RL m8 plays gemstore, can't get into it.

Oh dear does that mean what I think it does :stare:

look at this guy trying to bond with gary now that he's a moderator so he could get m++

nice try idiot

shift i -> / -> a, to view your weapon damage

also forgot to mention press k to squelch items (like potions and scrolls that harm you or assist monsters, and shitty gear)

Awesome, it gives me the average damages. Didn't realize that. Got the basic commands down pretty well, game guide is a pretty clunky though. Still figuring out resistances and stuff. I find myself escaping with phase door and teleportation a lot, plus random monsters wrecking my gear with acid.

Current jewellery: Amulet of resist acid, Ring of free action, Ring of the dog (immune to fear).

Current weapon: Broad sword of Frost (2d5) (+5, +16) Avg: 90.2 v non-cold-resistant / 64.8 others
Possible weapon: Katana of *Slay Demon* (3d5) (+10, +5) Avg: 147.7 v Demons / 56.8 normal
Possible weapon: Katana of Slay Dragon (3d5) (+4, +9) Avg: 111.6 v dragons / 66.6 normal

Sold the Katana of Slay Dragon since I hardly run into dragons, keeping the uber demon slaying one, might try weapon-swapping

fyi, you can inscribe items which helps you be able to create macro/keybinds to do multiple commands

i dont have a tutorial though

i think its { to inscribe, for example a rod - name it @z0

then press = and go to keybinds, bind F1 with "z0" , $ to save

then when you press F1 you will zap the rod with the inscription you made

I need to start doing this, F keys on my laptop are a pain in the ass though (they are secondary functions, remapping is practically impossible).

any key that doesnt have an action in game is fine, f key was an example

thanks

Just found out that level 50 is the max for a character. All my stats are 18/100 and maxed with race/class bonuses (stat-boosting potions are really overpowered)

I'm on floor 66, I guess that means run towards the end now. Just killed 100+ dragons on one level and all the drops were terrible.

i cant get passed level 30 without dying

not patient enough

you are a half troll warrior, correct?

how can you handle those high level mobs? are they the ancient dragons? they 2 hit you as far as i know

Half troll warrior ofc



Mix of young/mature/ancient. I went back and leveled up and found items, made sure I have all the resists, and use potions before each mob. I use staves/scrolls of mapping and rods of detection to look ahead and I get them lined up in a hallway/doorway where I only fight one at a time. Though I can't keep all of them stocked up at the same time, I try to carry:

Potions of heroism, speed, berserk strength, resist heat/cold/poison
Scrolls of Holy whatever prayer
Scroll/staff of teleportation (emergency escape)

I'm wearing a ring and boots of speed so I'm at base +18, so +28 with a potion, which allows me to heal up as needed. I also have a sling and whatever ammo I found so I can range some things before they get to me, especially xp-drainers, since restore life level pots are hard to come by. Permanent stat-raising potions are insanely overpowered though, since they basically can't drop stats below 18 once they are there, so I maxed everything by floor 40 or 50 this time.

I completely explored every earlier level and made an effort of finding items to give me resists. I also made frequent trips back to town to sell shit, bought the best I could in the black market. Got a ton of gold, stocked up in my home on potions that I could, figured out what items I would never use and sold them. Died a lot too, learned from it. The key is using items to map + look ahead so I always know when to prepare. Anything that has killed me lists in the monster log if it breaths fire/cold/poison/whatever so I know what potion to use so I don't die again.

Still getting hurt pretty badly by nether/chaos/shards since I can't keep those resists and the others, but I usually don't see those as much and I can run away, range, avoid, and get my inventory burned up and shattered and discharged, which is a huge pain.

Current stats:
Level 50
HP 1184
AC 204
All stats base 18/100
Str 18/***
Int 18/40
Wis 18/80
Dex 18/200
Con 18/***
Chr 18/50

It's worth adding that before I started saving up cash and carrying a bunch of potions, I died a lot around level 30. Black Market can be awesome if you clear a level, check it for useful potions/scrolls, repeat.

Also kicked the habit of item/gold hoarding, so once I had a bit of gold, I started filling up my squelched item settings. Makes the game a hell of a lot faster when I don't go to town after every level, just when I need potions or something.

Monsters that are going to kill me (F70): Azriel, Angel of Death

Monsters that are going to kill me (F70): Gabriel, The Messenger

The hydra (offscreen) breathes fire. You die.

Cleared everything around with a sling before I got close enough to fight, left enough room to drink all my potions/read scrolls first. Fire resistance from equipment + resist heat potion saved me when a 9-headed hydra popped up. Both of them could summon things. Used a few each of Healing and *Healing* potions, found one of each from the resulting kills. I almost died, didnt have an emergency escape, then something teleported me away and I had a few turns to drink Cure Critical Wounds. I also have an awesome artifact amulet that heals 500hp when activated, that saves me a lot. They summoned a bunch of minions too, tough ones that earned 4k-15k xp each. Total battle 100k+ which is useless at level 50.

top dog boss stuff

im still a small time scrub @

I'm overdue to die right now.

if you've seen this, but its pretty helpful

On Important Depths:
There are certain depths in the dungeon beyond which it is important to have a certain resist or attribute. The depths given here are guidelines, and should not be taken literally. However, if you decide to go past the depth without the attribute, be very careful and don't complain if you get the dreaded "It breathes -more- You are dead" message.

1000': Free Action, See Invisible
1250': Basic four Resistances
1900': Maxxed Stats, Confusion Resistance, Blindness Resistance
2000': Poison Resistance
2500': Hold Life
2700': Chaos Resistance, Nether Resistance
3000': Permanent and Temporary Speed of +20 or greater
4000': Permanent + Temporary Speed of +30 or greater
4950': As much as you can get. Sustains, Speed, every resistance,

dove too far

how much time on that char?

last death was the 16th, so ~10 days.

Got back to level 25, floor 20 last night. All my items suck atm.

Playing v3.3.1 now, I see some items that I don't think I had seen before. Apparently there is a serious bug with "slow monster" that requires a v3.3.2 within a few weeks. Never used that anyway.

I found a Whip of Westernesse on floor 18, that should get me to the point where I start finding decent weapons.

Picking up here. Got three of the four basic resists and the three potions, time to charge down past floor 20.

anonymous advice from notabot3:

save your mushrooms of vigor for when youre level 50

and you can buy potions of restore life levels for cheap

Interesting, I hardly find mushrooms of vigor beyond the early floors.

Restore life levels are ofc, I am carrying ~20 of them despite the weight because I occasionally get hit with a ton of life drainers. Probably only need 6-10 at a time though.

Level 33 now, store has loaded my house with resist fire/cold + restore life level potions. Need to avoid death mold + black wraith at all cost, died to both of those while rushing through.

This post has been edited by Zodijackyl on Thu - Sep 29 2011 - 20:06:08

Is there any way to easily find mushrooms of vigor? I suppose running through floors 1-10 might yield some, and I might see them in the black market occasionally.

notabot3: grinding lower floors is best i've found
notabot3: which is easy to do FAST later

Ran through 1-20 and went back and forth between floors with detection scrolls, probably cleaned 40-50 floors and only found two of them, on levels 14/15. Might try this more later.

Now that I think of it, my gear sustained all of my stats before I died at level 50.