Holy Demogorgon Batman!

[Gherkin]

Archived from groups: rec.games.roguelike.nethack (More info?)

Well, for the first time tonight I lost a character post-castle (that
is, for the first time since I figured out how to ascend). It was
completely my fault- I decided it was time to see some of the rarer
demons (Geryon and Dispater). Now I know that these two can be
summoend by Asmodeus and Baalzebub, so I spent about 400 turns letting
them bounce harmlessly off of me until Dispater finally showed up. I
took him down one level and found him surprisingly difficult- he
actually took some HP off of me and summoned in a few nasties. A few
turns later as I was about to kill him and the rest of his horde I see
another purple &. I got nervous, although I was sure it would just
turn out to be Geryon. Of course it was not. As the rest were dead,
or already summoned, that only left Demogorgon. To the best of my
recollection it is the first time I have seen him, but I knew I was
horribly underprepared. My Samurai had already cleared Gehennom and
was just on his way back up to an altar to lower my ac, pray a bit etc,
when I decided to make this little sidetrip. I had all the means in my
BOH to make an ascension-ready character (WOW untouched, POfoo-H, ?EA
etc.) but I always seem to wait until I have cleared Gehennom of all
loot so I can use as few wishes as possible (ideally 0, usually 2-4).
So there I was, Boots-of-speed-less, ac a mediocre -20, and altogether
blind-sided.
The keys to my dying (quite quickly at that) were my slow speed, my
non-blessed unicorn horn, no ring of free action (VERY important when
you are constantly ill) and my slightly inadequate weapon (+5 Tsurugi
is no joke, but its no
two-weaponed silversaber, frostbrand, excalibur or whatever).
More importantly than all this, I was under the impression that
Demo could not be summoned by Dispater or Geryon because they were
lawful demons... If I had known there was even the slightest
possibility of him showing up I would never have stuck around to find
out. So for all of you who had this same impression, learn from my
mistake before you make it yourself! GOod-bye Smokey the Samurai...
Atleast I finally have a Demogorgon on my high score list.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.roguelike.nethack (More info?)

Gherkin wrote:
> My Samurai had already cleared Gehennom and
> was just on his way back up to an altar to lower my ac, pray a bit etc,
> when I decided to make this little sidetrip. I had all the means in my
> BOH to make an ascension-ready character (WOW untouched, POfoo-H, ?EA
> etc.) but I always seem to wait until I have cleared Gehennom of all
> loot so I can use as few wishes as possible (ideally 0, usually 2-4).
> So there I was, Boots-of-speed-less, ac a mediocre -20, and altogether
> blind-sided.

An interesting strategy, but as you demonstrated, perhaps flawed in
terms of ensuring safe passage. Gehennom does often provide items I have
wished for before entering, but I consider that to be a source of backup
equipment rather than a wasted wish. How am I to know that I'll find
what I want if what I want is a key to survival in the first place?

> The keys to my dying (quite quickly at that) were my slow speed, my
> non-blessed unicorn horn, no ring of free action (VERY important when
> you are constantly ill) and my slightly inadequate weapon (+5 Tsurugi
> is no joke, but its no
> two-weaponed silversaber, frostbrand, excalibur or whatever).

Another key to your death may have been a failure to employ a useful
tactic. If you had a charged wand of fire/lightning and no aversion to
the E-word, you might have been able to keep Demogorgon at bay easily
while giving yourself the chance to regroup. If you're playing without
the E-word, you should mention it so you won't get this particular
suggestion.

-Ken

 

[Gherkin]

Archived from groups: rec.games.roguelike.nethack (More info?)

Ken Cuvelier wrote:
> Gherkin wrote:
> > My Samurai had already cleared Gehennom and
> > was just on his way back up to an altar to lower my ac, pray a bit etc,
> > when I decided to make this little sidetrip. I had all the means in my
> > BOH to make an ascension-ready character (WOW untouched, POfoo-H, ?EA
> > etc.) but I always seem to wait until I have cleared Gehennom of all
> > loot so I can use as few wishes as possible (ideally 0, usually 2-4).
> > So there I was, Boots-of-speed-less, ac a mediocre -20, and altogether
> > blind-sided.
>
> An interesting strategy, but as you demonstrated, perhaps flawed in
> terms of ensuring safe passage. Gehennom does often provide items I have
> wished for before entering, but I consider that to be a source of backup
> equipment rather than a wasted wish. How am I to know that I'll find
> what I want if what I want is a key to survival in the first place?
>
Possibly, but until this game I have had little trouble doing
this. The only real danger I worry about in Gehennom is
master/arch-liches and in this case they were genocided (if they were
not, I would have probably burned a wish on speed-boots and maybe a
magic marker to lower my ac...). I guess there is always a miniscule
chance of Demogorgon showing up in the normal course of a game, but I
have never seen him before this game and from reading this newsgroup I
have come to understand that he is quite rare. Really all I am trying
to do is work towards wishless conduct. I have found hoarding "backup
equipment" quite useless (I once found a helm of brilliance,
speed-boots and gauntlets of dexterity in Orcus' town, but then, the
RNG is mysterious and capricious...). Once you have ideal armor there
is very little chance of losing it (I know all or most of the ways that
it could conceivably happen, but they are low-percentage). I often
carry around extra speed-boots gauntlets of Dex/power dragon scales etc
but end up throwing them out when I get burdened and need room for more
potions and other stock. In worst case scenarios even if I have thrown
them out I can always go back to look for them.

Since my first ascension I quickly reached the point where I more or
less considered the game won once I hit the castle and had MR and
reflection (I know, I know, obviously this is not the case...). Hell
is already tedious enough without doing it with an ascension-run-ready
character. I prefer to take a risk and have fun rather than mindlessly
hack my way through every single time.
>
> Another key to your death may have been a failure to employ a useful
> tactic. If you had a charged wand of fire/lightning and no aversion to
> the E-word, you might have been able to keep Demogorgon at bay easily
> while giving yourself the chance to regroup. If you're playing without
> the E-word, you should mention it so you won't get this particular
> suggestion.


Yeah this would have kept me alive for a while but I am not sure what I
would ahve done after engraving. ALthough I am quite spoiled, I am not
100% spoiled and no longer run to rgrn or a spoiler site whenever I am
in a tight spot. I was not sure if Demo would respect Elbereth and I
was not sure if I could engrave it in one turn with wands of
fire/lightning/digging. I guess I will now do my own testing to
discover if they all engrave equally well...

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: rec.games.roguelike.nethack (More info?)

"Gherkin" <gherkinz@hotmail.com> writes:
> More importantly than all this, I was under the impression that
> Demo could not be summoned by Dispater or Geryon because they were
> lawful demons...

He can't be gated in by them in the standard fashion. However,
Dispater is a spellcaster, and (as you'd already seen) can cast
"summon nasties"; in Gehennom, there's a 1/200 chance that this spell
can summon _any_ demon prince.

--
: Dylan O'Donnell http://www.spod-central.org/~psmith/ :
: "Its habit of getting up late you'll agree / That it carries too far, :
: when I say / That it frequently breakfasts at five-o'clock tea / And :
: dines on the following day." -- Lewis Carroll, The Hunting of the Snark :

 

[James]

Archived from groups: rec.games.roguelike.nethack (More info?)

In article <1119855386.744853.129700@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>,
Gherkin <gherkinz@hotmail.com> wrote:

>Atleast I finally have a Demogorgon on my high score list.

Some guys get all the luck. Everybody that can summon Demogorgon died
quickly in my current game, and I've been hoping for a way to meet him
ever since (200,000 turns later!). Even tried Lich summoning in hell,
which was fun, but it used up a lot of my equipment so now I'm building
up to try it again. Sooner or later someobdy must summon Demogorgon for
me. I don't care if I have to extinct every monster, reverse geno
liches over and over, or fight rodney with a weilded fortune cookie:
I wanna fight Demogorgon!