Help with level 13 Wizard

[Guest]

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

I've been playing this game for about six months now, and I've gotten
two characters to Medusa's level (but not over the water) and to the
quest (but never actually into the quest).

My first died YASD trying to level up, and now I have a second
character that I'm trying to get to level 14 so I can start the quest.

I am stuck a bit with leveling up, don't have any wishes at my disposal
(used one for GDSM and one for gauntlets of dexterity), I'm starting to
forget my spells, and my spellbooks are far away (or ones I wrote with
a magic marker and then dipped into a fountain to get a new spell ... I
didn't know I would forget it after 20k turns ...), and I'm starting to
be a bit weaker than I would like.

My AC is around -16, but I really need to figure out how to get past
level 13 so I can start the quest and move forward. Likewise, I don't
know how the heck I am going to get across Medusa's moat.

Any suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Guest]

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

mr.proxxxy@gmail.com wrote:
>
> I am stuck a bit with leveling up, don't have any wishes at my disposal
> (used one for GDSM and one for gauntlets of dexterity),

Armor is not needed to level up. By the time you're a
level 13 character, fighting becomes less and less
important as well. The points needed grow too fast at
each new level. Other ways to level up - a type of
potion and at least two types of monster.

> I'm starting to
> forget my spells, and my spellbooks are far away

Far away is not an issue. Go there. You've tunneled
out easy paths from stair to stair on a lot of levels,
right? That is not even needed to go to your stash.

> (or ones I wrote with
> a magic marker and then dipped into a fountain to get a new spell ... I
> didn't know I would forget it after 20k turns ...),

Now you know so next game you will be less tempted to
wash books. Think carefully what spells you want and
what spells you don't, then wipe books selectively.

> and I'm starting to
> be a bit weaker than I would like.

There is a tool that fixes this problem. Do you want
to know which tool and how to do it or do you want to
remain unspoiled?

> My AC is around -16, but I really need to figure out how to get past
> level 13 so I can start the quest and move forward. Likewise, I don't
> know how the heck I am going to get across Medusa's moat.

Water freezes or boils. Freezing generally works better.
Freeze a path across the water.

Levitation makes water irrelevant for terrain but not
irrelevant for monsters. Rings, boots and so on.

There is also a type of amulet that makes you not drown.

 

[Guest]

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

Yes, that's right. I have run across that amulet before; I also have
run across some beehives so my actual "strength" is ok.

I didn't know they programmed in water freezing in this game. I have
a wand of cold, so this will work.

I think I'll remain unspoiled on the strength (rot 13) V'ir nyernql
svtherq bhg gur tvnagf, zbivat obhyqref naq eblny wryyl, qba'g xabj vs
gurer'f nabgure jnl gung V jnag gb qb. Naljnl, V'z n jvmneq jvgu n +6
dhnegrefgnss, qba'g guvax V arrq zhpu zber fgeratgu.

And no, I didn't tunnel. I'm a dork for that. Now I know that you can
forget spells, I'm going to make sure my stashes are in good places. I
had a bad habit of just dropping things when i didn't need them (or I
got burdened) because I didn't realize I would forget things ...

It also seems kind of silly that you would forget a spell you're
constantly casting; that 100% failure rate "create familiar" seems like
it would fade really quickly, though.

 

[Guest]

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

Yes, that's right. I have run across that amulet before; I also have
run across some beehives so my actual "strength" is ok.

I didn't know they programmed in water freezing in this game. I have
a wand of cold, so this will work.

I think I'll remain unspoiled on the strength (rot 13) V'ir nyernql
svtherq bhg gur tvnagf, zbivat obhyqref naq eblny wryyl, qba'g xabj vs
gurer'f nabgure jnl gung V jnag gb qb. Naljnl, V'z n jvmneq jvgu n +6
dhnegrefgnss, qba'g guvax V arrq zhpu zber fgeratgu.

And no, I didn't tunnel. I'm a dork for that. Now I know that you can
forget spells, I'm going to make sure my stashes are in good places. I
had a bad habit of just dropping things when i didn't need them (or I
got burdened) because I didn't realize I would forget things ...

It also seems kind of silly that you would forget a spell you're
constantly casting; that 100% failure rate "create familiar" seems like
it would fade really quickly, though.

 

[Guest]

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

mr.proxxxy@gmail.com wrote:
>
> Yes, that's right. I have run across that amulet before; I also have
> run across some beehives so my actual "strength" is ok.

Ah. You know ways to increase your current strength
but not ways to recover lost strength. Check. Read the
newsgroup and it appears often if you want to know how.

> It also seems kind of silly that you would forget a spell you're
> constantly casting; that 100% failure rate "create familiar" seems like
> it would fade really quickly, though.

Spells had to be made an expendible resource or they
would be too powerfull. Counters already existed in
the code. Too easy to combine those two facts.

 

[Guest]

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

Fair enough.

My wizard just got grabbed by an eel and drowned. I got a message that
an eel had wrapped itself around me --more-- the eel misses! So I
figured I was safe.

No dice.

DYWYPI?

 

[Guest]

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

mr.proxxxy@gmail.com wrote:
>
> My wizard just got grabbed by an eel and drowned. I got a message that
> an eel had wrapped itself around me --more-- the eel misses! So I
> figured I was safe.
>
> No dice.
>
> DYWYPI?

Messages mean something so pay close attention to the
ones you don't expect. Also each message comes from
its own action. Wrapped around you is an event that
does not cancel until you get a message about escaping.
The eel misses! Those are the eel trying to bite you
in addition to pulling you into the water.

Eels are not a problem once you know how to deal with
them. More to fighting than face to face.

 

[Chuck]

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

mr.proxxxy@gmail.com wrote in
news:1122318915.979667.245460@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com:

> I've been playing this game for about six months now, and I've gotten
> two characters to Medusa's level (but not over the water) and to the
> quest (but never actually into the quest).
>
> My first died YASD trying to level up, and now I have a second
> character that I'm trying to get to level 14 so I can start the quest.
>
> I am stuck a bit with leveling up, don't have any wishes at my disposal
> (used one for GDSM and one for gauntlets of dexterity), I'm starting to
> forget my spells, and my spellbooks are far away (or ones I wrote with
> a magic marker and then dipped into a fountain to get a new spell ... I
> didn't know I would forget it after 20k turns ...), and I'm starting to
> be a bit weaker than I would like.
>
> My AC is around -16, but I really need to figure out how to get past
> level 13 so I can start the quest and move forward. Likewise, I don't
> know how the heck I am going to get across Medusa's moat.
>
> Any suggestions or help would be greatly appreciated!
>
>

Where did you leave your spellbooks. I generally ferry stuff to within ten
levels of where I'm going to be "hacking" so to speak and keep such things in
a chest at the stairway I went down.

 

[Guest]

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

On Mon, 25 Jul 2005 13:33:09 -0700, mr.proxxxy wrote:

> My wizard just got grabbed by an eel and drowned. I got a message that
> an eel had wrapped itself around me --more-- the eel misses! So I
> figured I was safe.
>
> No dice.
>
> DYWYPI?

Ouch. Live and learn, I suppose. A non-spoilery tip in case you ever find
yourself confronted by multiple grabby monsters: Names are not just for
pets! My barbarian, Robar the Fierce, got drowned after being attacked by
four ;'s. I was able to kill the first one or two that tried to drown me,
easily, being a death-dealing combat wombat with a nasty weapon. But when
the rest crowded around me I suddenly realized one turn too late that I
didn't know WHICH sea monster to wail on in order to prevent drowning. If
I had named them I could have saved myself from wasting time killing the
wrong one. I could have also E-worded it, but it wasn't a barbarian's
style, and I clobbered the first so handily I wasn't afraid. (Which is
a huge mistake in itself, where nethack is concerned!)

These days, I'll sometimes hand out names even to groups of orcs. It
helps to know that Stinky is the one drinking a !oGL, Ugly's firing
poisoned arrows, and Smelly's waving some kind of wand around. Especially
if they're all crowded together and moving from place to place.

 

[Guest]

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

Mantar, Feyelno nek dusa wrote:

> If I had named them I could
> have saved myself from wasting time killing the wrong one. I could
> have also E-worded it, but it wasn't a barbarian's style, and I
> clobbered the first so handily I wasn't afraid.

Even if you hit hard and accurate, you might miss sometimes, or you
could be grabbed by two eels simultaneously.

Therefore, you really should resort to ranged combat. Pick up some rocks
somewhere and *throw* the eels to death. A bit cumbersome and much
slower than hitting it two or three times, but completely safe if you
remember not to stand on the shore.

Boudewijn.

--
"I have hundreds of other quotes, just waiting to replace this one
as my signature..." - Me

 

[Guest]

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

Boudewijn Waijers wrote:
>
> Therefore, you really should resort to ranged combat. Pick up some rocks
> somewhere and *throw* the eels to death. A bit cumbersome and much
> slower than hitting it two or three times, but completely safe if you
> remember not to stand on the shore.

Sticks and stones can break my bones but words can never
hurt me - Wise old saying that is false in Nethack

Words are spells. Freeze the water square an eel is in
and it works very well. If the eel moves and survives
the number of places it can go is smaller.

Rocks beat other missiles for dealing with water monsters.
There's a nearly unlimited number of rocks, enough that
you never need to care how many you leave in which wet
square. Leave several blessed fireproof +5 elven daggers
in a water square and you could easily care enough to want
to retrieve them. Leave 25 rocks and who cares.

 

[Guest]

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

On Tue, 26 Jul 2005 01:30:43 +0200, Boudewijn Waijers wrote:

>> If I had named them I could
> Even if you hit hard and accurate, you might miss sometimes, or you could
> be grabbed by two eels simultaneously.

Yeah, but my original plan was not to engage them at all. Hand-to-hand is
what happend when the original plan went pear-shaped. (V qvqa'g xabj gurer
jnf n cvg genc ba gur oevqtr ba gur oneonevna dhrfg yriry.) I should have
E-worded it, but oh well.