NetHack - This cockatrice corpse tastes terrible!

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > NetHack - This cockatrice corpse tastes terrible!

McNerd: Aug 28, 2007

Fury1671 posted:

Thats why we don't eat eggs. And you still had time to pray/snack on a lizard corpse.

That's also why we look up weird scary messages. "Slowing down" should have been the first clue, but "limbs are stiffening" definitely meant it was time to stop pushing buttons until you figured out what was going on. That's assuming you don't mind massive spoilers, but if you do then you're in the wrong thread.

I'm surprised though, I thought eating a cockatrice egg was an instadeath for sure. Touching a cockatrice is, isn't it? I thought its combat ability was the only delayed stoning in the game.

McNerd fucked around with this message at 16:16 on Mar 20, 2009

# ¿ Mar 20, 2009 16:08

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# ¿ May 15, 2024 11:38

McNerd: Aug 28, 2007

Darth l33t posted:

Being hit by a wielded corpse also causes stiffening. I think the delayed deaths were implemented because dying instantly from eating an unidentified egg, or being hit by a corpse you didn't see wielded, would be patently unfair. If you bite a cockatrice as a vampire lord, or assign its corpse to the 'y' key and then try to eat something off the floor, that's your own drat fault so you die instantly.

Get your fairness out of my Nethack. If I didn't want to die in ridiculous and unavoidable ways, I wouldn't be in a dungeon wearing a Hawaiian shirt.

McNerd fucked around with this message at 16:46 on Mar 20, 2009

# ¿ Mar 20, 2009 16:43

McNerd: Aug 28, 2007

tripwood posted:

Dumb question but how do I restore a saved game in NethackW.exe?

Use the same character name you used before. If you forgot what that was, it should be in the filename of the save file.

# ¿ Mar 20, 2009 17:06

McNerd: Aug 28, 2007

Sounds like to me like you might be descending too quickly. Depending what qualifies as "useful equipment," I'd think you should have some by the time you're looking for Sokoban. Are you exploring each level thoroughly? Maybe I'm wrong. I'm not sure how I got past the skill level where I constantly suffered lame leocrotta/killer bee/fire ant/rothe deaths; they just sort of stopped happening.

Also, you have to be pretty unlucky to get your wizard killed like that. Force bolt is terrific in the early game. But sometimes the RNG screws you.

On an unrelated note, is there a reason I've never seen a woodchuck? I've played for years and ascended several classes. Are they on a Quest level or something?

McNerd fucked around with this message at 16:41 on Mar 24, 2009

# ¿ Mar 24, 2009 16:34

McNerd: Aug 28, 2007

Golbez posted:

5) Anything you're putting in an icebox)

Do people actually find iceboxes useful? Aside from the goodies that spawn inside, I always thought they were up there with the grappling hook and iron chain, as worthless items went.

I guess if you run across one in the early game when starving could actually be an issue, but I've never seen this happen. Are you actually carting fire giant corpses to an icebox? It'd make a good c corpse storage facility, I suppose I can understand that, but what other use are the drat things?

Argon_Sloth posted:

I can't remember if tinning makes soiled food safely edible.

The answer is yes. I love eating tins of giant zombie meat.

# ¿ Mar 25, 2009 18:49

McNerd: Aug 28, 2007

tripwood posted:

Don't forget cobras, which always give poison resistance. Very useful for melee classes!

Very interesting, didn't know that. Still, just to clarify, you can still lose STR by eating them since the poison kicks in before the resistance starts, right? I can definitely imagine situations where I'd decide not to eat it, although in most cases it'd probably be worth it. Depends a lot on how high your STR already is.

McNerd fucked around with this message at 22:27 on Mar 25, 2009

# ¿ Mar 25, 2009 22:24

McNerd: Aug 28, 2007

ToxicFrog posted:

Nethack Wiki on ice boxes.

Heh. I love that they can spawn with something inside that's too heavy to remove in any way, or to allow the icebox to be moved.

quote:

That said, it's generally easier to kill things near the altar than it is to kill them far away from the altar, box them, drag them back to the altar, and sacrifice them.

This is exactly the problem. Even an empty icebox weighs a ton; almost nothing you can do with a corpse is worth that hassle, especially since having to get the corpse to the icebox quickly means keeping it near you all the time. Admittedly I'm lazy about keeping proper stashes of any kind; I hate hauling chests between floors, and I usually just deal with weight management issues instead. Maybe if you don't mind that sort of thing, an icebox isn't much worse?

McNerd fucked around with this message at 18:36 on Mar 27, 2009

# ¿ Mar 27, 2009 18:33

McNerd: Aug 28, 2007

Can you hit objects with a teleportation ray/beam/whatever? I thought only monsters. Of course you can't pick up the box in order to teleport yourself while carrying it.

Also, I don't think you can #offer something inside a container.

# ¿ Mar 27, 2009 21:45

McNerd: Aug 28, 2007

The precautions seem excessive. I don't normally see a nurse until I'm nearly in full-on endgame god mode (perhaps a better player could get to that point while weaker?) I guess if you reverse-geno them at a lower level, you might need these precautions. But otherwise, with telepathy and a blindfold (which you can wear while playing with nurses), green molds are the only instakill you have to worry about, right? And those aren't found in many places, nor do they move very quickly so you're probably safe for a while if you check the area out. The next biggest danger I can think of would be giant zombies: plenty of time to take the blindfold off, realize what you're dealing with, and at worst use a wand of teleport.

Add to that warning, which many classes are almost certain to have by this point, and if you're careful you'll be almost perfectly safe.

EDIT: ouch. I guess I normally genocide L in a hurry, so it's not usually on my mind. Good point.

I feel dumb here, but do master liches have touch of death? Or did you just mean they'll gently caress you up in a hurry, which is certainly true.

McNerd fucked around with this message at 20:12 on Apr 2, 2009

# ¿ Apr 2, 2009 20:03

McNerd: Aug 28, 2007

SoupyTwist posted:

anything with a wand of death, really

Yes, but normally to use a wand of death you have to be intelligent, which means you show up on telepathy. That means if you play smart (which, I guess we've established, I don't) there's enough time to put on an amulet of reflection or what have you. I forgot lichs were an exception.

EDIT: poo poo, yeah, green slimes. Not an instadeath, but a weird one that you might not be prepared for. (The spoiler I picked up a lot of basics from had a category of so-called "delayed instadeaths," so that stupid terminology has stuck in my head.)

McNerd fucked around with this message at 20:24 on Apr 2, 2009

# ¿ Apr 2, 2009 20:19

McNerd: Aug 28, 2007

psykelus posted:

I am interested in your strategies and would like further tips.

Hmm. I'll take this as sarcasm.

Yeah, my advice is pretty unsound. I guess it seems to me that the level of effort required to turn a 99% probability of surviving to the Sanctum into 99.9% is too drat much. I have to imagine everybody cuts some corners. Personally, I refuse to hunt a nurse down and lock it in a room, only to see it teleport away before even boosting me by 1 HP. Combined with the ten commands or so it takes to disrobe and rearm every time, this is a ridiculous hassle (I usually skip some of those commands as well, for example not putting my T-shirt back on every single time). You should certainly lock the door if you can stand it, as with all other precautions.

McNerd fucked around with this message at 16:05 on Apr 10, 2009

# ¿ Apr 10, 2009 16:00

McNerd: Aug 28, 2007

stubblyhead posted:

You can actually remove everything you are wearing/wielding with a single command. Hit 'A' for the take stuff off menu; hit , to select all. Fun fact; this also allows you to remove your armor or shirt without removing the layers over it (like a cloak for instance).

I realized this right after I typed it, then decided that this brought it closer to ten commands total for robing and disrobing, so I just let it stand.

For the record, lest any newbies be confused: of course this command does actually remove the cloak before taking off the armor and put it back on for you. It's a shortcut for a bunch of W and T commands, not a magic take-your-underwear-off-through-your-pants spell. I don't see how this misunderstanding is likely to kill you, but I'm sure there's a way.

Actually the newbies will find this out for themselves from the "A" command confirmation messages. But I like the idea of a magic take-your-underwear-off-through-your-pants spell, so I'll just let it stand.

McNerd fucked around with this message at 19:58 on Apr 10, 2009

# ¿ Apr 10, 2009 19:55

McNerd: Aug 28, 2007

stubblyhead posted:

I like it too. In fact I like it so much that I thought that feature was buggy and did exactly that. I did some testing in wizmode, and it took me like 11 turns to take off a hawaiian shirt with plate mail and a cloak on top of it, but it only took 2 to remove it with only a cloak, which is still one turn faster than doing things manually. I'm not much of a source diver, but can anyone verify that?

Weird! I just got the same result wearing ring mail and a T-shirt: 10 turns to take the shirt off with the A command, 11 doing it manually. Of course still not as fast as taking off the lone T-shirt (takes one turn).

I also tried taking off my T-shirt through my cloak of magic resistance while a goblin zapped me every turn with death rays, and I survived. So I guess I was actually wrong: you're not taking off the outer layers. Now if only the underwear trick gives a bonus regarding incubi, the devteam truly will have thought of everything.

I really should just stop opening my mouth, for the good of all who might be foolish enough to listen. But this game's more fun to talk about than to play: I can't resist.

EDIT: Also, wizard mode is fun. I'd actually never really tried it before. My +20 helm of brilliance is just terrific.

# ¿ Apr 11, 2009 07:11

McNerd: Aug 28, 2007

Darth l33t posted:

Any form of stoning resistance would work. An amulet of life saving will save you from the stoning, but I think that makes you stop eating.

Also, I think other golems turn into stone golems instead of dying from a cockatrice.

# ¿ Apr 13, 2009 20:55

McNerd: Aug 28, 2007

Greybone posted:

Also my dumb dragon got stoned by a cockatrice, so I assume those should always be jousted from afar.

This is a danger when you're riding, but otherwise I believe pets are smart enough to avoid cockatrices, barring conflict/blindness/confusion/etc.

# ¿ Apr 16, 2009 05:22

McNerd: Aug 28, 2007

Pound_Coin posted:

Do you wish you quaff from the fountain? y

You wanted "n."

Using fountains at low levels is a bad idea if you're not ready to die. Though I'll go against conventional wisdom and say that for beginners who are likely to die early deaths anyway, the small chance of a wish can be pretty awesome.

# ¿ Apr 21, 2009 00:36

McNerd: Aug 28, 2007

Darth l33t posted:

It's not really all that complicated.

What does an amulet of unchanging do? I imagine it simply freezes the poly timer for as long as you're wearing the amulet? Or does the timer actually reset to the beginning, so that you could stay polymorphed forever by simply putting the amulet on briefly once every hundred turns or so?

# ¿ Apr 23, 2009 19:02

McNerd: Aug 28, 2007

Always Shirtless posted:

times charged:uses left

To elaborate on this, wands tend to explode if you try to charge them too many times. This really doesn't come up that often, unless you have a really good wand and a magic marker (or the Tourist quest item), and you're really trying to get the most out of it.

Wand of wishing is a special, very important special case which DOES come up often. You can recharge it only once; second time it will explode for certain. Blessed recharge will get you three wishes for sure. And zapping a wand with no charges gives you something like a 1/150 chance that you'll get one last use out of it, finally destroying the wand in the process (so after you've charged it and used your three extra wishes, just sit there hitting "zap" hundreds of times until it finally works for one more).

Thus the first thing you wish for with a wand of wishing is a way to charge it, if you don't already have one. 2 blessed scrolls of charging (though you'll only use one) or if you've already seen a scroll of charging, a magic marker to write your own. This way, even a wand that only has one charge when you find it will guarantee you four wishes (not counting a free scroll or marker, the latter of which is valuable enough to be worth wishing for even if you have the charging thing covered!)

I guess magic markers are another exception: like /oW they can only be charged once. You always want to do this; if you know how to write a charging scroll, it's stupid not to write one and recharge the marker with it. For the wand of wishing it's important the charging scrolls be blessed, however you acheive this, but for the magic marker I forget whether it matters.

McNerd fucked around with this message at 15:53 on Apr 24, 2009

# ¿ Apr 24, 2009 15:46

McNerd: Aug 28, 2007

quote:

Personally, when I get the castle wand I never wish for scrolls of charging; by the time I get there I'm never in that dire a need for multiple immediate wishes, and it's almost guaranteed you'll find one eventually. Even if you don't, at max luck you'll have around a 33% chance of writing one, so you're probably better off wishing for a marker and trying to write charging until it works. The only time I'd wish for the charging scrolls is if I lucked out and found a /oW very early in the game.

To me it seems like if you haven't found a charging scroll by the time you beat the castle, by the time you actually find one you probably won't be desperate for that one extra wish. Even just four wishes from the castle wand, plus sacrifice artifact, luckstone, Sokoban item, and dragon scale mail that you can make yourself, should get you everything you really need (special circumstances, like not having candles, might override this). I'd just as soon get fully outfitted immediately and not have to worry about a stupid death in Gehennom or the Quest; this goes double for "beginners" who are surprised they made it even this far. Once you're good enough to be comfortable without the boost three or four wishes gives you, this is probably a matter of personal preference. But such people don't care about my advice anyway.

McNerd fucked around with this message at 18:38 on Apr 24, 2009

# ¿ Apr 24, 2009 18:28

McNerd: Aug 28, 2007

Darth l33t posted:

Then once you've built your ice bridge, you'll probably slip every other square.

Won't you be flying?

# ¿ Apr 24, 2009 20:10

McNerd: Aug 28, 2007

Mr Right posted:

It isn't important unless you're role playing. My advice is get a Ki-rin. Much more fun thinking of a Knight on an Angelic Angel horse thing.

This (actually, the linked article about the creature it's based on) on makes me want to play a knight or valkyrie and try some major role playing. Normally I wouldn't blow a wish on a saddle, but suddenly it seems worthwhile.

# ¿ May 15, 2009 03:53

McNerd: Aug 28, 2007

Lazerface posted:

Marvelous! I'm not sure what I did wrong, pretty sure I haven't eaten any pets in a while. Oh well, looks like I am going to have to hang around a bit more and wait for something worthwhile to spawn nearby.

This is weird since if your god were angry when you tried to convert the altar, you would have instead converted yourself to the other god (which screws you over, making the game unwinnable). So it must have been after that.

I think maybe sacrificing a coaligned unicorn would piss him off? I don't remember how that works, but I know it's a bad idea.

Having to convert the altar is generally a nonissue; it's a little bit of a hassle but you can always do it eventually. The only time it's dangerous is if there's a priest, since they'll attack you and they can be nasty.

You're guaranteed a coaligned altar with or without a priest in some classes' Quest Levels, if you were interested. You're also guaranteed one with a priest on the Astral Plane, but if you're on that altar you shouldn't be in need of holy water!

Ray Mears Bushcraft posted:

See if you can find a bag of tricks or wand of create monster in the mines, because those can get you from pissed-off God to happy, gift-giving God in mere minutes.

This is good advice, but since you said you're not far in the game I'd like to qualify it by stating the obvious. Those wands can be dangerous. If you're not prepared to deal with four or five rothes, or a swarm of killer bees, exercise extreme caution if you must do this.

McNerd fucked around with this message at 17:23 on May 18, 2009

# ¿ May 18, 2009 17:20

McNerd: Aug 28, 2007

Ogmius815 posted:

Seriously secret doors are the dumbest poo poo in the universe and the #1 factor that takes away fun from the game.

Yes, secret doors are stupid, a pointless attempt to include every possible D&D rule without regard to fun (though a couple of exceptions, like the vault portals, are okay). But you'd have to make every door in the game secret to make it less fun than Gehennom mazes are.

# ¿ May 18, 2009 21:23

McNerd: Aug 28, 2007

Contra Duck posted:

I wouldn't say that it's startscumming, but it is kinda a dumb thing to do.

It's dumb if you're good enough to have confidence without a wish: it'll get you killed on Dlvl 2 where good players shouldn't be dying. If I had to give a rule of thumb...If you reach the point where getting to Minetown (maybe even Mine's End) safely doesn't surprise you anymore, you're good enough that the fountain crap is probably holding you back. But it's more a personal call: you decide when you're sick of dying early deaths and it's not worth it.

If you're new to the game, quaffing from fountains, reading random scrolls, drinking random potions, etc. is a way to learn. It'll more likely kill you than help you, yes. But be honest: you're not gonna last long anyway. Dragon scale mail might give you enough of an edge to make the game more fun, and let you see an area or two you otherwise wouldn't; wishing for other good items you wouldn't otherwise find will give you some experience using them, and wishing for artifacts can be fun if you know what you're doing. Certainly I wouldn't call it startscumming, and I also don't think it'll make you worse at the game at this point.

Safer than quaffing is dipping for Excalibur ASAP (experience level 5), if you're lawful and have a (non-katana) longsword. It can still get you killed, but it's a much better gamble and the payoff is still terrific. Just don't get too cocky when you have an artifact weapon: you can kill faster and it's awesome but you can still die just as fast!

With that being said, if you already got a wish from quaffing, for god's sake quit while you're ahead. One wish is the beginning of a good game: don't throw it away with more recklessness.

McNerd fucked around with this message at 06:11 on May 20, 2009

# ¿ May 20, 2009 05:48

McNerd: Aug 28, 2007

MysteryVortex posted:

YAFAP!

Congrats! It was the same for me: my first time to Gehennom was my first ascension. The Planes can be scary, but the early game is definitely the hardest part.

A good cheap trick on the Plane of Air when your health gets low is to let yourself be engulfed by something weak like a fog cloud and just chill out. You'll regenerate health faster than you lose it, especially if you have regeneration. The only downside I know of is wasting time if you're low on food: gotta keep a stockpile for Famine.

# ¿ May 21, 2009 19:51

McNerd: Aug 28, 2007

Lorem ipsum posted:

Getting killed over and over by fountains doesn't really help you learn not to die. Also, even if you get that dsm you are probably going to eat a rotten corpse and die or something if all you do is quaff fountains.

Well looking back to my beginner days, I guess my strategy never was "Drink from every fountain as many times as possible." You guys are right, that would lead to some awful lovely games, and I shouldn't give the impression that it's a good idea.

I used to see a fountain and maybe drink, maybe not, depending on my mood or how well the game was going. Probably a handful of drinks per game at most. It may not be optimal, but it's not going to lead to "I've never made it past Dlvl3 or had to eat a corpse because I always died before my hunger level could get past Weak." And it added a little of that "lottery" excitement to a game that otherwise tended to be short and sometimes monotonous: "Ooh, this time I got a dwarven helm before I croaked!" Honestly I think it's important to experiment and have fun. Playing by the book is tedious at times even for good players; I couldn't imagine doing so 100% as a beginner when I didn't get the reward of reaching better areas and better equipment.

quote:

Honestly, unless you are playing a tough class one wish probably won't help you out that much at the beginning to be worth it.

This might be, but I still think experimenting is important. And if we're giving "sound advice," beginners should be playing tough classes anyway. But we encourage "unsafe play" to the extent that we recommend beginners play with the more difficult classes. And I'd suggest a fountain sip now and then for the same reason: fun and variety.

# ¿ May 21, 2009 21:09

McNerd: Aug 28, 2007

Speakeasy posted:

I don't watch other people play so I wanted to ask here:
How often are the best players using Elbereth? Do they spam it in every battle, or do they try to hold off on it?

I don't watch either so I can't answer your direct question, but it never hurts to abuse it if you're even remotely in danger.

Sartak posted:

My wikihack page is occasionally vandalized to include hundred of Elbereths, if that means anything to you.

This is hilarious.

# ¿ May 21, 2009 21:53

McNerd: Aug 28, 2007

Contra Duck posted:

doing it in every battle seems like a waste of time to me.

Same with me, but this is one reason I'll never be a championship Nethack player. To play a flawless game of Nethack requires this degree of patience in the face of extreme tediousness that I can't imagine stomaching. So if anybody wants to know how much they should use Elbereth, the correct answer is "As much as you can without putting a gun to your head." Or alternatively use my much-more-fun criterion: "When you're scared as poo poo."

McNerd fucked around with this message at 03:58 on May 22, 2009

# ¿ May 22, 2009 03:49

McNerd: Aug 28, 2007

fitsfadda posted:

And not only did I not genocide h, I went back up with the amulet after being brainsucked so I only remembered very few levels.

Wow, sounds like quite a game! I really need to play a no-genocide game one of these days, or at least quit playing so carefully; I probably would have gone back up and remapped those levels, and drilled holes through the walls while I was at it. I feel like I'm missing out on some fun.

And if you can't post a YAAP/YAFAP in a Nethack thread, we might as well not even have one. There're only so many screams about the RNG we can endure before we need some good news in the thread!

# ¿ May 23, 2009 07:00

McNerd: Aug 28, 2007

fitsfadda posted:

Also, do other classes need to depend on their pets much more? I didn't really care about it playing as a valk, but I was trying a rogue and I seem to keep dying although it doesn't help that I keep forgetting I'm not a valk.

They definitely have to depend on something. Pets are a big help and highly recommended though there are other options such as Elbereth, heavy use of ranged attacks, Tourist's camera, etc.

Valkyries are tanks; they have great HP and, due to the shield, as soon as they get some junk armor they have the best AC in the early game. (Samurai, for instance, have better AC on turn 1 but practically need mithril to upgrade significantly from there). Long sword isn't a bad starting weapon, either. Valkyries can hack and slash through the game in a way that many classes can't.

Playing a rogue like a valkyrie will indeed get you killed plenty. Honestly I've never gotten the hang of rogues, or rangers either really. But for sure you want to do as much damage from a distance as you can, and expect a bit more of running from fights and letting your pet do the work and so forth than valkyries have to deal with.

McNerd fucked around with this message at 07:16 on May 24, 2009

# ¿ May 24, 2009 07:05

McNerd: Aug 28, 2007

Ogmius815 posted:

I have a +4 mummy wrapping. In all your opinions is the +4 or being invisible more valuable? Armor class is -10 with -14 without.

First off, are you wearing mithril? You want the highest level of magic cancellation (3rd level, not related to magic resistance which of course you also want ASAP); this is far more important than either the +4 or the invisibility at this point. Most cloaks provide this: even dwarven cloaks suffice. But armor usually doesn't, except mithril, so if you're not wearing that then the mummy wrapping is out of the question.

Second, what cloak would you wear instead of the mummy wrapping? An elven cloak gives you +1 so you wouldn't be losing as much (and stealth if you don't already have it; this goes nicely with invisibility). If you have a robe or something, then the +4 is really looking more like +2 and not worth it.

Beyond that, I'd personally go with invisibility anyway but I don't have quite good enough of a feel for AC to say for sure. Like you say, maybe factor in other opinions.

Worst case, at least you don't have to fear getting caught with your pants down in a shop!

EDIT: And on an unrelated note, I found out why you can't let yourself get bored of digging through the loot. Going through a series of open water levels, I was getting bored of going around to look at every crappy item sitting on the ground. I saw some crappy ) sitting halfway across the screen and half of me didn't want the hassle of going to look. Turned out to be someone's silver saber named Grayswandir.

I'm a healer so can only get basic, and I'm exactly one floor away from the Staff of Aescapalius (if I don't die, though I've taken fully six accidental swims by forgetting my ring of levitation so expect YASD soon). So I won't be using it as a primary weapon, but it'll sure be nice in Gehennom!

McNerd fucked around with this message at 06:11 on May 25, 2009

# ¿ May 25, 2009 03:13

McNerd: Aug 28, 2007

Update: got the staff and escaped with no further water in my lungs. It got a little scary when I realized I wasn't protected from level drain, but I put him to sleep and killed him to death. It's pretty awesome having the Staff of Aescepalius and also a pet vampire lord (with YDSM!) Cheap kills by level drain are fun; now I can double my pleasure!

bavid posted:

I've got myself pretty stuck and figured I'd see if anyone has an idea that can save my valkyrie. I'm on the top level of the wizards tower, wearing a ring of levitation that got cursed while I was up there.

Usually, that would be fine, but I just (for the first time, of course) blew up my bag of holding with a wand of cancellation. It had my remove curse scrolls and holy water in it (and 3 amulets of life saving, but they're a little less important now). I thought I'd use the orb of fate to teleport out to somewhere I could pray, but I must have put it in the bag of holding right before blowing it up since it's sitting on the ground beneath me. The only scrolls I've got are light and confuse monster, and I don't have a wand of lightning. There's no sink, since I'm stuck in the middle of the wizards tower.

The only thing I can think of is waiting around for a nymph to show up, dropping all my other items, and having it steal the ring before it teleports away. I've got a ring of slow digestion and 8 food rations, so I can certainly wait a while, but I figured I'd see if anyone had other ideas.

It'll be pretty painful to starve to death in the tower. Between my 4 amulets of life saving, 700 HP, and a boatload of nice gear, I had figured this would be my first ascension!

Edit: I realized I had an oil lamp I hadn't ID'd yet, so I tried rubbing it. Killing that angry djinn was the worst thing ever.

You got quite a pickle there. I assume you didn't accidentally say "wizard's tower" instead of "Vlad's tower," where oddly enough you are allowed to pray? Otherwise I can't think of much, although you haven't listed all your items so maybe there's a miracle to be had.

EDIT: vvvv Man, a bat almost screwed me in the early game this time: giant bat from a magic trap when I was at level 1. Though I can't complain; I played the "Get to the Minetown altar without reaching level 2 for cheap protection" game, and surprisingly this was the only rough patch on the way.

McNerd fucked around with this message at 07:13 on May 25, 2009

# ¿ May 25, 2009 07:03

McNerd: Aug 28, 2007

TotallyGreen posted:

The only real issue I had was not having a BoH until the castle. Inventory management was fun, and I felt like a bad person blowing a wish on a BoH.

Meh, I do this often. It's pretty hard to manage without one, and if you don't find one you don't find one.

# ¿ May 25, 2009 17:36

McNerd: Aug 28, 2007

bavid posted:

I didn't know he could do that.

Yeah, he can steal any of the invocation arguments as well as the amulet.

# ¿ May 25, 2009 19:13

McNerd: Aug 28, 2007

Darth l33t posted:

Both of those creatures respect Elbereth, so you might as well have used a /oDi/F/Ln. Pretty much anything that's a substantial threat and ignores Elbereth is either not affected by cancellation or has enough MR to resist it most of the time.

It's still very handy, although if I were prone to putting it in bags accidentally I might reconsider (never done it so far). Even minor things like eels and disenchanters; it just removes a lot of hassle from the game. Fighting on an Elbereth square can be a pain.

# ¿ May 25, 2009 20:19

McNerd: Aug 28, 2007

Darth l33t posted:

You didn't mention your alignment, but once you reach 41 HP, a quest artifact might be a good choice. The (wizard) Eye is the best choice for neutrals, and the Scepter is pretty good if you're lawful.

I hear the Orb of Fate is good too for neutrals: half physical as well as spell damage is quite nice when you can't wear armor, though you don't get the magic resistance. Might be worth considering? I don't know.

# ¿ May 26, 2009 02:27

McNerd: Aug 28, 2007

Grisly Grotto posted:

So now my question is: is there a safe way to teleport back from way deeper in the dungeon than you should be? I know a cursed teleport scroll or cursed levitation would have been useful, but I had nothing like that.

Instead of cursed levitation, I believe what you're thinking of is a cursed potion of gain level which takes you up one floor. Not a very big help in your situation. They're also rather hard to come by: enemies tend to drink them (and all gain level potions) before dying, and personally I don't want to curse one myself if I can avoid it.

# ¿ May 26, 2009 05:40

McNerd: Aug 28, 2007

Ogmius815 posted:

I both love and hate this game so much. That random Valkyrie I drew looks like it's going to make it but playing isn't very interesting-I think I have the formula for ascending down to the point where playing straight up Melee roles is a waste of my time (indeed, I only played this one at all to prove I could do it without finding 2 wands of wishing on the floor before level 10 like I did on my first Valkyrie).

Try some conducts; I'm considering that for the first time now. My healer is going so smoothly I was going to try wishless and genoless...until I realized how much I hate reading "The master lich escapes upstairs." Now we'll see if I can scrounge up a scroll of genocide or if I'll have to break wishless as well (it's going to be tough without speed boots anyway, at this rate). Or I'll just go up there with a c corpse; we'll see.

McNerd fucked around with this message at 21:59 on May 26, 2009

# ¿ May 26, 2009 21:40

McNerd: Aug 28, 2007

Darth l33t posted:

What's really impressive about this one is that he pulled it off in under a month.

What's impressive about it is that it's not his highest score, by a factor of 10.

Also I want the story behind this:

quote:

2 2147483647 Zadir-Pri-Hum-Fem-Neu died on the Astral Plane.
Killed by overexertion. 4140 [4140]

# ¿ May 27, 2009 15:03

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# ¿ May 15, 2024 11:38

McNerd: Aug 28, 2007

BARON BONGHITS posted:

That one's a bit more interesting and a lot more stylish (overexertion is loving to death. loving to death on the astral plane altar.) http://groups.google.com/group/rec.games.roguelike.nethack/msg/beddbbf83d4a369d?pli=1

HA.

Also,

code:

                                                           ! !    [ 
                                --------------- 
                                |?``%[%[/(*=*)| 
                                |?[---------%(| 
/ 
                                |`(|)=```"?|()| 
  ---------------   
|(`|*)/[*)`|[?|               --------------- 
  |)!`[)%)[??[[!|               |![|?[[$)(`|`?| 
|%[*![)!_()%[?| 
  |%)---------[%--   ---------   
`)|`/?%[(`|[`|  ---------   --`(---------)?| 
  |)*|)!("[/)|[))-- --!_[)[/_--   
|`+|`(?[)`*|[*| --`%[_?[+-- )-(*%|`))(/(`|*?| 
  |((|)_?!*__|*[=_---=([`[((??--|)/----)----[*|--!?[[_*_!*---)[%(|!()``)%|?)| 
  |*)|)$!!*_!!?*_(+`)*`/?([)[[/||%[)(/`%[+`[**||(+)(__)=*(%/?_)*)%/) 
_/`_|%?| 
  |!%|!/%=_(+|/_?_---_%%__!"[(-----%`[[?%)_*-----%(%_!/[?=---?![(|%)!````|?%| 
  |(%|`*=_)+%|![?-- --/)?[)+[--   -----)-----   --*%?!=!?-- --[%%|=%/I`@&|_/| 
  |[!---------[*--   ----!----    --[))[/_(--    ----*----   --==---------=?| 
  |)?+_[=%?[%[))|      |+(/--------%([)_!`![--------_()| 
|?*?%[=?()[%=%| 
  ---------------   
|+`_%_?(!%|*![%[[[?(/(|?*_![/!/(|      --------------- 
                       -------**[--%?)[_[=/(--%(`------- 
                             |[?!%--[[!**??--(/+)| 
                             ---!"`----!----=!_--- 
                               |?))[[[)[_+%**([| 
                               ----------------- 
Note: That mess of items is the result of zapping a wand of teleport > at a pile of 20,000+ items, not recommended)

HA.

# ¿ May 27, 2009 16:24

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > NetHack - This cockatrice corpse tastes terrible!

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