Wizard mode ascension - Revision history

Umbire the Phantom: /* Big room */ clarify slime stuff

2024-11-02T21:21:24Z

‎Big room: clarify slime stuff

Umbire the Phantom: potholes et. al.

2024-05-22T14:14:14Z

potholes et. al.

Umbire the Phantom: pothole

2023-12-10T12:10:22Z

pothole

Umbire the Phantom: /* Starting to explore */ potholes

2023-11-07T20:13:03Z

‎Starting to explore: potholes

Umbire the Phantom: /* Moloch's Sanctum /

2023-07-27T06:33:15Z

‎Moloch's Sanctum: *

Umbire the Phantom: tweak

2023-07-04T13:27:53Z

tweak

Andrio Celos: Since the introductory paragraph mentions Fort Ludios, let's put it in the article proper.

2020-04-10T06:43:11Z

Since the introductory paragraph mentions Fort Ludios, let's put it in the article proper.

Andrio Celos: /* Armor */ Magic resistance doesn't stop level draining.

2020-04-10T06:26:26Z

‎Armor: Magic resistance doesn't stop level draining.

Ardub23: /* One-turn wizard mode ascension */ Unlike en dashes, em dashes (—) are generally unspaced

2020-01-07T09:17:59Z

‎One-turn wizard mode ascension: Unlike en dashes, em dashes (—) are generally unspaced

Umbire the Phantom: /* One-turn wizard mode ascension */

2020-01-07T05:42:16Z

‎One-turn wizard mode ascension

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 Since we've got some space in this big room after you've cleared it of monsters, let's pause for a bit more fun. Take off all items you're wearing, type <tt>#polyself</tt>, and turn yourself into a blue dragon. Aside from being a very powerful, carnivorous, magical creature, there's one additional thing you can do since you're a female dragon (all Valkyries are female; if you're male, an [[amulet of change]] can permanently change your gender), use the <tt>#sit</tt> command to lay an [[egg]] on the ground. Pick it up and repeat to get three eggs in your inventory. These will be identified in your inventory as yours with a "(laid by you)" tag. You are able to eat them for a tiny nutrition gain if you get really hungry, but for now leave them in your inventory. If you wait long enough, some baby dragons will pop out of your backpack and cry "Mommy!" These hatchlings will of course be [[tame]] to you, and in-game this is one of the better ways to get high-powered pets.
-But now you're stuck as a blue dragon without the ability to use most of your equipment. You can <tt>#polyself</tt> back to your own form (though this will [[Polymorph#Polymorphing into your own race|shuffle your attributes and level]]), let it wear off on its own, or run out of hit points so that you revert instead of dying. So, let's shift again to something more practical: a [[master mind flayer]]. Mind flayers are humanoid enough to be able to wear any armor, are devastatingly effective (even unarmed) against creatures with brains (oozes, zombies, and other ilk of that nature aren't affected), and have a psychic blast [[Monster (command)|special attack]]. If you would like, you can stay in this form for the rest of the game (just put on an [[amulet of unchanging]])—but in that case watch out for [[cockatrice]]s that will [[petrify]] you and [[green slime]]s that will [[Sliming|turn you to slime]].
+But now you're stuck as a blue dragon without the ability to use most of your equipment. You can <tt>#polyself</tt> back to your own form (though this will [[Polymorph#Polymorphing into your own race|shuffle your attributes and level]]), let it wear off on its own, or run out of hit points so that you revert instead of dying. So, let's shift again to something more practical: a [[master mind flayer]]. Mind flayers are humanoid enough to be able to wear any armor, are devastatingly effective (even unarmed) against creatures with brains (oozes, zombies, and other ilk of that nature aren't affected), and have a psychic blast [[Monster (command)|special attack]]. If you would like, you can stay in this form for the rest of the game (just put on an [[amulet of unchanging]])—but in that case, watch out for [[cockatrice]]s that will [[petrify]] you. [[Green slime]]s can also [[Sliming|turn you to slime]], though they have no effect if you have unchanging.
 Once your dragon children hatch, they will follow you around as pets. For added effect, try wishing for a <tt>blessed [[saddle]]</tt>, apply it to a dragon while standing in an adjacent square, then <tt>#ride</tt> that dragon (force the ride check to succeed). Now you've got a mount with some intimidation force! Unfortunately Valkyries weren't made to ride, and you start out as unskilled in riding, which means that while riding you can't pick things up off the floor. To fix this, type <tt>#enhance</tt>, and then yes to the prompt to advance skills without practice. Advance your riding skill to at least basic and you will be able to function just fine on dragonback. Just don't forget to ride over a fresh corpse every once and a while to let your dragon eat. You can also wish for a [[wand of speed monster]] and zap your dragon with it to let the pair of you move faster.

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 Once you've collected the gems from this vault, make your way back up out of the mines into the "regular" dungeons again, to the level that has the two down staircases, and take the other fork. Go down a few more levels on this fork and you should find a level that includes a large room with a smaller room inside it, and several statues around it.
-== Oracle ==
+==Oracle==
-{{main|The Oracle}}
+{{main|Oracle (level)}}
-This is the area known as the [[Oracle]] level. If you travel to the inner room, you'll find four fountains and the Oracle herself. For a modest fee, she'll give advice. Unlike a non-blessed [[fortune cookie]], her consultations are always correct, albeit often cryptic. Since you can just wish for money, feel free to blow some change on her advice before heading onward. Continue down to the level immediately below, where you will find two "up" staircases.
+This is the area known as the Oracle level. If you travel to the inner room, you'll find four fountains and [[Oracle (monster)|the Oracle]] herself. For a modest fee, she'll give advice. Unlike a non-blessed [[fortune cookie]], her consultations are always correct, albeit often cryptic. Since you can just wish for money, feel free to blow some change on her advice before heading onward. Continue down to the level immediately below, where you will find two "up" staircases.
-== Sokoban ==
+==Sokoban==
 {{main|Sokoban}}
 In the level with two "up" stairs, one is the one you just came from, and leads back up through the dungeon. The other leads up into [[Sokoban]] tower, a series of smaller levels that transform ''NetHack'' into a modified game of ''Sokoban''. If you've never been up here before, take a look. In this offshoot of the main dungeon, you are unable to teleport (except in wizard mode), and the walls cannot be dug or passed through. The goal of this puzzle is to push the large boulders around to fill up the holes in the floor so that you can get to the stairwell to climb the tower. The end level includes a "[[zoo]]" room (a room filled with piles of gold and sleeping creatures), and your reward for completing the tower is either a [[bag of holding]] or an [[amulet of reflection]]. (You probably don't need either, but in a real game, either prize is an excellent find.) If you want to quickly make your way through the levels, you can wish for a boulder, which will put it in your inventory, you can then drop it where you want and push it about. Also, if you push a boulder against a wall, or try to push against a boulder that can't move, you can break it with your wand of striking or use <tt>#polyself</tt> to transform into a [[fire giant]], which can move onto the same square as it, preventing you from getting stuck. But try not to break boulders or cheat this way in a real game—it will bring bad [[luck]]. There are two scrolls in the first level that are guaranteed to be [[Scroll of earth|scrolls of earth]], which can also be used to create boulders around you.

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 * <tt>blessed [[wand of lightning]] (0:99)</tt>
 * <tt>blessed [[wand of polymorph]] (0:99)</tt> – It's not for you; you can polymorph with <tt>#polyself</tt>. This is for if you encounter a monster you really wish was something else (hopefully easier to fight).
-* <tt>blessed [[wand of digging]] (0:99)</tt> – so that you don't have to carry around a [[pickaxe]]
+* <tt>blessed [[wand of digging]] (0:99)</tt> – so that you don't have to carry around a [[pick-axe]]
 * <tt>blessed [[wand of striking]] (0:99)</tt> – to get rid of [[boulder]]s in your way
 * <tt>blessed [[wand of fire]] (0:99)</tt> – to permanently engrave [[Elbereth]]

@@ Line 87: / Line 87: @@
 == Starting to explore ==
-Now, this walkthrough is going to assume that you've at least played ''NetHack'' a bit before jumping into this guide. So you should be familiar with moving around the Dungeons of Doom, and hopefully have made it down a few levels on your own. But, we'll take a quick moment to get familiar with the more powerful tools available to you in wizard mode. Hit {{kbd|Ctrl|f}} to reveal the layout of the first level if you haven't already. Put on your towel and you should be able to see all the monsters in this level (ESP will not reveal [[zombie]]s and other mindless creatures, though there are likely not that many on the first level). Travel over to a monster and revel for a moment in how easy it is to slay first level creatures when you're level 10 and wielding Frost Brand! You can at this point just walk over to the down staircase (now that the map is revealed and you can see it), or have fun bashing all available monsters and watching them fall.
+Now, this walkthrough is going to assume that you've at least played ''NetHack'' a bit before jumping into this guide. So you should be familiar with moving around the Dungeons of Doom, and hopefully have made it down a few levels on your own. But, we'll take a quick moment to get familiar with the more powerful tools available to you in wizard mode. Hit {{kbd|Ctrl|f}} to reveal the layout of the first level if you haven't already. Put on your towel and you should be able to see most of the monsters in this level - ESP will not reveal [[Zombie (monster class)|zombies]] and other [[mindless]] creatures, though there are likely not that many on the first level. Travel over to a monster and revel for a moment in how easy it is to slay first level creatures when you're level 10 and wielding Frost Brand! You can at this point just walk over to the down staircase (now that the map is revealed and you can see it), or have fun bashing all available monsters and watching them fall.
 Once down on level 2, do another {{kbd|Ctrl|f}} to reveal what you're doing, and find the next down staircase. Again, tarry if you'd like, but you've no need to loot fallen monsters for additional stuff, as what you have is much better than what you'd get here. Extra potions or wands can be fun, though. If you do pick up stuff, remember to {{kbd|Ctrl|i}} to identify it and verify its BUC status before playing with it.

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 == Moloch's Sanctum ==
 {{main|Moloch's Sanctum}}
-This is [[Moloch's Sanctum]], where the real [[Amulet of Yendor]] is hidden. In a real game, magic mapping will not work here, but that isn't a problem in wizard mode, and the layout is almost fixed anyway. There is a temple at the west side housing the [[high priest of Moloch]], but the door is hidden. The Bellof Opening (if it still has charges), a [[wand of secret door detection]], or the {{spell of|detect unseen}} spell can be used to find the door (but wizard mode mapping also reveals it for you). When you enter the temple, the high priest of Moloch will start attacking you. Kill him and grab the real Amulet. Once you have it, it is a good idea to immediately [[Name|<tt>#name</tt>]] the amulet: this will allow you to tell it apart from fakes.
+This is [[Moloch's Sanctum]], where the real [[Amulet of Yendor]] is hidden. In a real game, magic mapping will not work here, but that isn't a problem in wizard mode, and the layout is almost fixed anyway. There is a temple at the west side housing the [[high priest of Moloch]], but the door is hidden. The Bell of Opening (if it still has charges), a [[wand of secret door detection]], or the {{spell of|detect unseen}} spell can be used to find the door; wizard mode mapping also reveals it for you). When you enter the temple, the high priest of Moloch will start attacking you. Kill him and grab the real Amulet. Once you have it, it is a good idea to immediately [[Name|<tt>#name</tt>]] the amulet: this will allow you to tell it apart from fakes.
 == Ascension run ==

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 == Fork in the road ==
-Okay, so you've had a few levels to play and find out the extent of your powers, right? If on the off chance that you can't find the level with two down staircases (it's always between the 2nd and 4th levels, and using {{kbd|Ctrl|f}} should reveal them on any specific level), enter <tt>#wizwhere</tt>. This will show you where certain key levels are at in the current game. The fork in the road we're looking for is the "Stair to The Gnomish Mines". Find that entry in your list, and it will be followed by a number. That's the "Dlvl" you need to get to ("Dlvl" is shown in the lower left hand corner of the display). Use the stairwells to get to that dungeon level (or if you're truly lazy, hit {{kbd|Ctrl|v}} and when it asks "To what level do you want to teleport?" put in the number you saw after the "Stair to The Gnomish Mines" entry), and look again, and you should be able to find two stairwells. If you still can't, odds are there's an object sitting on the stairs. Press [[Travel|{{kbd|_}}]] then {{kbd|>}} repeatedly, or go visit all objects on the ground and move them to see if there's a staircase under them.
+Okay, so you've had a few levels to play and find out the extent of your powers, right? If on the off chance that you can't find the level with two down staircases (it's always between the 2nd and 4th levels, and using {{kbd|Ctrl|f}} should reveal them on any specific level), enter <tt>#wizwhere</tt>. This will show you where certain key levels are at in the current game. The fork in the road we're looking for is the "Stair to The Gnomish Mines". Find that entry in your list, and it will be followed by a number. That's the "Dlvl" you need to get to ("Dlvl" is shown in the lower left hand corner of the display). Use the stairwells to get to that dungeon level (or if you're truly lazy, hit {{kbd|Ctrl|v}} and when it asks "To what level do you want to teleport?" put in the number you saw after the "Stair to The Gnomish Mines" entry), and look again, and you should be able to find two stairwells. If you still can't, odds are there's an object sitting on the stairs. Press the [[travel]] command ({{kbd|_}}) then select stairs ({{kbd|>}}) repeatedly, or go visit all objects on the ground and move them to see if there's a staircase under them.
 So now you're on the "Stair to The Gnomish Mines" level. Before we choose a fork in the path, let's take some time to do some fun things that usually takes a lot of work in the real game, but we can easily experiment with in wizard mode:

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 Once inside, be careful about walking on the lava. Your fireproof water walking boots make it safe, but otherwise that's a sure way to get killed (not that you have a problem with that, choose "no" if asked if you want to die). It may also destroy your scrolls and potions unless they are hidden in your bag of holding. If your pets are not too smart, likely some of them will get killed in these levels; keep a close eye on them (or use a [[leash]] if you want), or just see above on how to get more pets. Eventually you'll get to the palisade that is Lord Surtur's lair. On two sides of it there are [[drawbridge]]s to get inside it. Several [[fire giant]]s guard this level, and one of them is {{monsymlink|Lord Surtur}} himself. He's slightly easy to identify as he possesses the ability to teleport and will use it to run around the level after he picks up the Orb from the middle of his lair. Defeat Lord Surtur (he is vulnerable to cold and your wand of death) and look at the objects that he dropped, one of which is "a [[glass orb]] named [[The Orb of Fate]]". Another thing he dropped is "a silver bell". Strange, slightly mundane thing for a fire giant lord to have, no? Pick it up and identify your pack, and you'll find it's actually the [[Bell of Opening]] with three charges in it. Keep that, you'll need it later. Meanwhile, head back up and [[chat]] to the Norn. The Norn will applaud you, return and identify the Orb, and tell you to continue with the ultimate quest of the game: finding the [[Amulet of Yendor]].
-Use the portal to return to the main dungeon, and continue down until you reach a level that's filled with water.
+Use the portal to return to the main dungeon, and continue exploring down.
 == Medusa's lair ==

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 * <tt>blessed fireproof +125 [[water walking boots]]</tt>
-The red dragon scale mail grants [[fire resistance]], so you won't take damage from fire; the shield will make most magic rays and cones [[Reflection|bounce]] off of you, while the cloak will [[Magic cancellation|cancel out most other magical effects]] including monsters' special attacks and level draining. The helm will boost your [[intelligence]] and [[wisdom]], and the gauntlets boost [[strength]] (so you can carry more stuff), and finally, the boots let you not be hampered by mundane things like [[water]] or [[lava]] in your way. Once all those items are worn, that should take you down to a rather impressive [[AC]] so you won't have to worry about getting hit by creatures until much deeper in the Dungeons.
+The red dragon scale mail grants [[fire resistance]], so you won't take damage from fire; the shield will make most magic rays and cones [[Reflection|bounce]] off of you, while the cloak will [[Magic cancellation|cancel out most other magical effects]] including monsters' special attacks and some traps. The helm will boost your [[intelligence]] and [[wisdom]], and the gauntlets boost [[strength]] (so you can carry more stuff), and finally, the boots let you not be hampered by mundane things like [[water]] or [[lava]] in your way. Once all those items are worn, that should take you down to a rather impressive [[AC]] so you won't have to worry about getting hit by creatures until much deeper in the Dungeons.
 === Weapon ===

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 {{main|1-turn ascension}}
-There is also a different meaning to wizard mode ascension — using all the quirks of wizard mode to ascend in a single turn. This is most commonly done by [[levelport|level teleporting]] to the [[Astral Plane]], [[wish]]ing for a co-aligned [[altar]], and [[Offer|<tt>#offering</tt>]] the [[Amulet of Yendor]]. However, this is not a particularly noteworthy achievement.
+There is also a different meaning to wizard mode ascension—using all the quirks of wizard mode to ascend in a single turn. This is most commonly done by [[levelport|level teleporting]] to the [[Astral Plane]], [[wish]]ing for a co-aligned [[altar]], and [[Offer|<tt>#offer</tt>ing]] the [[Amulet of Yendor]]. However, this is not a particularly noteworthy achievement.
 ==See also==