Gehennom mapping - Revision history

Umbire the Phantom: pothole

2024-10-07T02:21:47Z

pothole

Ais523: /* Terraforming */ clarify

2024-06-18T06:13:31Z

‎Terraforming: clarify

Ais523: /* Mapping equipment */ terraforming strategy – this has been my standard for Gehennom and it works very well, even when semi-speedrunning – note that I am writing this based on 3.6, much of the article may need changes for 3.7

2024-06-17T23:07:56Z

‎Mapping equipment: terraforming strategy – this has been my standard for Gehennom and it works very well, even when semi-speedrunning – note that I am writing this based on 3.6, much of the article may need changes for 3.7

Bleem: /* Demon mapping */ note copied from Asmodeus page

2022-08-20T01:16:09Z

‎Demon mapping: note copied from Asmodeus page

Cathartes: Undo revision 143565 by Testbutt (talk) - intent of that is still true, but needed correction to 1/3 instead + refsrc

2021-11-03T05:32:46Z

Undo revision 143565 by Testbutt (talk) - intent of that is still true, but needed correction to 1/3 instead + refsrc

Testbutt: no longer true

2021-11-03T04:20:49Z

no longer true

Actual-nh: /* Scrolls of magic mapping */ Correct link

2021-03-01T04:00:36Z

‎Scrolls of magic mapping: Correct link

Umbire the Phantom at 03:23, 1 March 2021

2021-03-01T03:23:39Z

Actual-nh: /* Manual search */ Link; Grammar

2021-02-19T00:52:29Z

‎Manual search: Link; Grammar

Actual-nh: /* Scrolls of magic mapping */ Grammar/style

2021-02-19T00:50:09Z

‎Scrolls of magic mapping: Grammar/style

@@ Line 77: / Line 77: @@
 Manual exploration time is reduced maybe 25% if you have a [[lamp]], because you can see that bit further and don't need to walk down to the end of every little side passage. A [[magic lamp]] is ideal, since you can just leave it on; an oil lamp is okay, but you want a lamp for the ascension run, so be careful not to use up your last lamp. But if you have a lamp or [[potion of oil]] to spare, just keep your lamp on (except when retracing steps).
-The [[Eyes of the Overworld]] are better than a lamp, but certainly not worth wishing for just to help mapping—a magic marker to write mapping scrolls is a better wish.
+[[The Eyes of the Overworld]] are better than a lamp, but certainly not worth wishing for just to help mapping—a magic marker to write mapping scrolls is a better wish.
 Manual search does have advantages. Firstly, Gehennom has a fair amount of equipment lying around - and if you are short on mapping scrolls and marker charges, perhaps you are short of kit generally. Blessed potions of object detection can be used to detect items around the level & reveal the type of some items; as you are wandering around the level, and the stairs are just as likely to be in one place as another, you might as well start by heading towards any interesting items.

@@ Line 68: / Line 68: @@
 Another approach to exploring Gehennom quickly in realtime is to mostly ignore the intended paths through the level, e.g. via digging through the walls of mazes rather than following the corridors. This is especially valuable when combined with a clairvoyance source – as it enables you to quickly reach the optimal locations to use the spell – but still saves a significant amount of time when exploring manually, because it greatly cuts down on backtracking. It also has the side benefit of making the [[ascension run]] substantially easier because your shortcuts will still exist on the way back up, meaning that it takes less time to recover after being affected by the [[mysterious force]].
-The main equipment you will need for this is a reliable and repeatable digging source. [[Wand of digging|Wands of digging]] are common in Gehennom, but not quite common enough to allow you to dig all the shortcuts you would need to explore optimally, and the [[spellbook of dig|dig spell]] uses too much [[Pw]] to be able to terraform Gehennom efficiently, so this strategy generally either requires the use of a [[pick-axe]], or a hybrid strategy in which you start by using a pick-axe and then discard it in favour of wands later on. Because pick-axes are heavy, it makes sense to [[stash]] your endgame equipment so that you can carry the pick-axe without being [[burdened]] (e.g. you can carry only a small proportion of your [[potion of holy water|potions of holy water]], [[potion of full healing|potions of full healing]] and [[scroll of gold detection|scrolls of gold detection]] around with you while mapping, and then pick them up again once your mapping is complete and you no longer need the pick-axe); many endgame items can even be stashed in the [[Dungeons of Doom]], reclaiming them only after escaping Gehennom.
+The main equipment you will need for this is a reliable and repeatable digging source. [[Wand of digging|Wands of digging]] are common in Gehennom, but not quite common enough to allow you to dig all the shortcuts you would need to explore optimally, and the [[spellbook of dig|dig spell]] uses too much [[Pw]] to be able to terraform Gehennom efficiently, so this strategy generally either requires the use of a [[pick-axe]], or a hybrid strategy in which you start by using a pick-axe and then discard it in favour of wands later on. Because pick-axes are heavy, it makes sense to [[stash]] your endgame equipment so that you can carry the pick-axe without being [[burdened]] (e.g. you can carry only a small proportion of your [[potion of holy water|potions of holy water]], [[potion of full healing|potions of full healing]] and [[scroll of gold detection|scrolls of gold detection]] around with you while mapping, stashing the rest, and then pick the stashed items up again once your mapping is complete and you no longer need the pick-axe); many endgame items can even be stashed in the [[Dungeons of Doom]], reclaiming them only after escaping Gehennom.
 ===Manual search===

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:07, 17 June 2024
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	Note that the [[Amulet of Yendor]] also gives extrinsic clairvoyance when carried. But once you have the amulet, you can't do the alternate level method, and you are being harassed by the Wizard, so most players will prefer to have mapped out Gehennom before that.		Note that the [[Amulet of Yendor]] also gives extrinsic clairvoyance when carried. But once you have the amulet, you can't do the alternate level method, and you are being harassed by the Wizard, so most players will prefer to have mapped out Gehennom before that.
		+
		+	===Terraforming===
		+	Another approach to exploring Gehennom quickly in realtime is to mostly ignore the intended paths through the level, e.g. via digging through the walls of mazes rather than following the corridors. This is especially valuable when combined with a clairvoyance source – as it enables you to quickly reach the optimal locations to use the spell – but still saves a significant amount of time when exploring manually, because it greatly cuts down on backtracking. It also has the side benefit of making the [[ascension run]] substantially easier because your shortcuts will still exist on the way back up, meaning that it takes less time to recover after being affected by the [[mysterious force]].
		+
		+	The main equipment you will need for this is a reliable and repeatable digging source. [[Wand of digging\|Wands of digging]] are common in Gehennom, but not quite common enough to allow you to dig all the shortcuts you would need to explore optimally, and the [[spellbook of dig\|dig spell]] uses too much [[Pw]] to be able to terraform Gehennom efficiently, so this strategy generally either requires the use of a [[pick-axe]], or a hybrid strategy in which you start by using a pick-axe and then discard it in favour of wands later on. Because pick-axes are heavy, it makes sense to [[stash]] your endgame equipment so that you can carry the pick-axe without being [[burdened]] (e.g. you can carry only a small proportion of your [[potion of holy water\|potions of holy water]], [[potion of full healing\|potions of full healing]] and [[scroll of gold detection\|scrolls of gold detection]] around with you while mapping, and then pick them up again once your mapping is complete and you no longer need the pick-axe); many endgame items can even be stashed in the [[Dungeons of Doom]], reclaiming them only after escaping Gehennom.

	===Manual search===		===Manual search===

@@ Line 82: / Line 82: @@
 With Asmodeus next to you, level teleport to the vibrating square level (specifying level 70 should work).  Hit him until he teleports away to the upstairs, and use telepathy to see where he is.  Teleport next to him and hit him until he runs upstairs.  Follow him and repeat this procedure until the stairs on every level are located. It is a good idea to use a [[stethoscope]] to make sure you don't accidentally kill him.
 {{nethack-343}}
 [[Category:Strategy]]

@@ Line 59: / Line 59: @@
 You can also get clairvoyance as an extrinsic or temporary intrinsic. This causes the same effect as the clairvoyance spell, but it occurs at random intervals instead of under the player's control. This doesn't cost any magic power or require any magic skill. The best way to use this seems to be to wander around like you are manually mapping, but don't worry about exploring every corner and instead try to push into new areas so you get more mapped by each random clairvoyance.
-To get temporary clairvoyance, [[donate]] 200*XL to the priest of [[Moloch]] in the [[Valley]] and get clairvoyance for 500-999 turns per donation. Two or three donations can give you enough time to map out a significant portion of [[Gehennom]], especially if you go relatively quickly to minimize the amount of overlap of each automatic "firing" of the clairvoyance.
+To get temporary clairvoyance, [[donate]] 200*XL to the priest of [[Moloch]] in the [[Valley]] and get clairvoyance for 500-999 turns per donation. (You should drop all your gold first and pick it up gradually, because you will not get the effect if you do not give more than {{frac|3}} of your visible gold.){{refsrc|src/priest.c|609|version=NetHack 3.6.6|comment=After donation, you get clairvoyance if your donation was greater than half your remaining visible gold, i.e. {{frac|3}} of your pre-donation gold.}} Two or three donations can give you enough time to map out a significant portion of [[Gehennom]], especially if you go relatively quickly to minimize the amount of overlap of each automatic "firing" of the clairvoyance.
 Wizards can get extrinsic clairvoyance by wearing a [[cornuthaum]]. This certainly isn't worth a wish, though, since you can wish for a marker and write magic mapping instead.

@@ Line 51: / Line 51: @@
 This is the main strategy. Most players will have a magic marker, by finding or wishing; most will also have found 2–3 mapping scrolls by chance earlier in the game.
-Use the alternate level method; to map, use any scrolls of mapping you have first, then write more if you have charges to spare and some blank scrolls. Usually by this late in the game you have already done any armor/weapon enchanting, and otherwise gotten all the stuff you need, so you don't typically have anything else to save marker charges for (except perhaps for [[portal detection methods|portal detection] - don't forget).
+Use the alternate level method; to map, use any scrolls of mapping you have first, then write more if you have charges to spare and some blank scrolls. Usually by this late in the game you have already done any armor/weapon enchanting, and otherwise gotten all the stuff you need, so you don't typically have anything else to save marker charges for (except perhaps for [[portal detection methods|portal detection]] - don't forget this!).
 ===Clairvoyance spell===

@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 This has given Gehennom a reputation as a slow and boring phase of the game. But the amount of work involved can be greatly reduced by good strategy.
-Depending on your [[role]] and equipment, mapping can be made a lot faster, but writing and using a lot of magic-mapping scrolls uses up marker charges, which is a luxury which can't always be afforded. Since fast mapping of Gehennom is a luxury, most players will want to expend minimal resources on it—[[wishing]] up a [[spellbook of magic mapping]] is not cost-effective unless you really have wishes to burn.
+Depending on your [[role]] and equipment, '''Gehennom mapping''' can be made a lot faster, but writing and using a lot of magic-mapping scrolls uses up marker charges, which is a luxury that can't always be afforded. Thus, most players will want to expend minimal resources on it—[[wishing]] up a [[spellbook of magic mapping]] is not cost-effective unless you really have wishes to burn.
 ==Alternate level method==
 This is a way of simply halving the effort required to map Gehennom.
@@ Line 24: / Line 23: @@
 ===Finding Vlad's Tower===
 If the castle is at level C, you may need to map all of C+9 to C+13 to find the upstair leading to Vlad's (which can't be found via the alternate level method). If you aren't short of mapping, do them all as you encounter them; if you are tight for resources, do C+9, C+11, C+13 as per the method, and only go back and do the others if you haven't found the stairs for Vlad's yet.
 ===Known levels===
 If you are happy to be spoiled by reading the [[Gazetteer]], or have played through [[Gehennom]] before, you'll know the layout of the major demon lairs (listed on [[Special level]]). So you know where the downstairs are on those 4 levels, and know roughly where the upstairs are. So you can treat those levels as already-mapped; if you find a demon lair on level N, you can restart the alt level method from there, mapping N+2, N+4 etc.
@@ Line 34: / Line 31: @@
 ===The vibrating square level===
 Most players will want to avoid magically mapping the level with the [[vibrating square]]. So once you are below the fake wizard's towers, switch to just digging down until you hit rock bottom. Hopefully that's in just 1 or 2 levels, otherwise you have a trickier job heading up mapping to find the upstairs (you could level teleport back above after finding the VS and go back to applying the alternate level method, once you know which level the VS is on).
 ==Mapping equipment==
 Depends on the equipment you have.
 ===Spell of magic mapping===
 If you have plenty of magic power, no need to be clever, map every level.
@@ Line 55: / Line 49: @@
 ===Scrolls of magic mapping===
 This is the main strategy. Most players will have a magic marker, by finding or wishing; most will also have found 2–3 mapping scrolls by chance earlier in the game.
@@ Line 61: / Line 54: @@
 ===Clairvoyance spell===
 If you can't afford enough mapping scrolls, next best is [[clairvoyance]]. The spell requires only basic skill in [[divination]] to cast well. In your mind divide the level up into roughly 8x2 chunks, aim to get to the middle of each chunk and cast the spell to minimize overlap in the 10x10 area revealed. It reveals the layout of the maze and reveals any stairs in range.
 ===Clairvoyance extrinsic/intrinsic===
 You can also get clairvoyance as an extrinsic or temporary intrinsic. This causes the same effect as the clairvoyance spell, but it occurs at random intervals instead of under the player's control. This doesn't cost any magic power or require any magic skill. The best way to use this seems to be to wander around like you are manually mapping, but don't worry about exploring every corner and instead try to push into new areas so you get more mapped by each random clairvoyance.
@@ Line 75: / Line 66: @@
 ===Manual search===
 Exhaustive manual exploration. Tedious, but if you don't have the marker charges to spare, this is your fallback.
@@ Line 89: / Line 79: @@
 ==Demon mapping==
 If you have cold resistance, telepathy, teleport control and enough sources of teleports (ideally the [[teleportitis]] intrinsic) then you can let [[Asmodeus]] find all the upstairs and downstairs in Gehennom for you once you have found his lair.  The cold resistance is needed so that Asmodeus can't hurt you as you chase him up through Gehennom.

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 The [[Eyes of the Overworld]] are better than a lamp, but certainly not worth wishing for just to help mapping—a magic marker to write mapping scrolls is a better wish.
-Manual search does have advantages. Firstly, Gehennom has a fair amount of equipment lying around - and if you are short on mapping scrolls and marker charges, perhaps you are short of kit generally. Blessed potions of object detection can be used to detect items around the level & reveals the type of some items; as you are wandering around the level, and the stairs are just as likely to be in one place as another, you might as well start by heading towards any interesting items.
+Manual search does have advantages. Firstly, Gehennom has a fair amount of equipment lying around - and if you are short on mapping scrolls and marker charges, perhaps you are short of kit generally. Blessed potions of object detection can be used to detect items around the level & reveal the type of some items; as you are wandering around the level, and the stairs are just as likely to be in one place as another, you might as well start by heading towards any interesting items.
-Watch out for [[fire trap]]s - if you don't have intrinsic [[searching]], you are likely to get burned a few times. If you have high luck and bless your cloth/leather armor items, they are unlikely to get burnt.
+Watch out for [[fire trap]]s - if you don't have intrinsic [[searching]], you are likely to get burned a few times. If you have high [[Luck]] and bless your cloth/leather armor items, they are unlikely to get burnt.
 ==Demon mapping==