Game stages

Nethack can be thought of to be made up of several stages of gameplay.

The Early Game

The first stage is the early game where survival and sometimes securing food is of supreme importance.

Early Game Threats

Ranked roughly in order of danger from most to least.

• Team a: As a rule of thumb, any monster represented by an a is a huge threat to an early character. They have high speed, and get multiple attacks on each of their many turns. To top it off, all of these monsters are generated in groups. Engrave Elbereth at first sight with these creatures. Using attack wands is not out of the question either.
  • a Soldier ants and a Killer bees can poison you to reduce your strength, hit points, or even cause instant death if the RNG hates you.
  • a Fire ants cannot poison you, but instead can light you on fire, causing scrolls to burn, potions to boil, and some armor to smolder.
  • a Giant ants are mercifully much weaker than their soldier cousins, but are not to be underestimated; many a character has been killed by these insects.
  • a Giant Beetles are an exception; they are very slow and have only one attack. Characters can easily use hit and run tactics to defeat them.
• q Leocrottas: They are fast enough to get 3 turns for every 2 of a character without speed, and have three highly damaging attacks. They thankfully lack any resistances and have low MR, meaning that attack wands are quite useful. They respect Elbereth.
• uuu Unicorns: Unicorns have potent attacks, but will try to remain a knight's move away from you. A hapless player with speed can end up adjacent to one however, and it will continue attacking until one of you dies. Use Elbereth or pacify it by throwing a Gem at it, which may also alter your luck; see the main article for details.
• @ Lycanthropes: Were-creatures such as the Werejackal and the Wererat are likely to be the first shapeshifters encountered, and are thankfully limited to just two forms. They are still a threat however, due to their infectious bite and ability to summon up to five normal animals to tear you to shreds. Elbereth will only work on werecreatures while they are in animal form. Should you be infected with lycanthropy, you should soon eat a Sprig of wolfsbane or quaff a Potion of holy water to cure it; if you have neither, you should pray as soon as it is safe to. Note that for one turn after a werefoos transformation to animal form, it will ignore Elbereth, giving it an opportunity to infect you.

These monsters require special precautions but are not especially dangerous if handled correctly.

• u Ponies d Dogs and f Housecats: The three starting pets. All of these species are much faster than characters, and have strong attacks. They can be tamed by throwing food they like at them (they will eat it) or pacified by throwing any other type of food. You might consider saving some tripe (for cats and dogs) and fruits or vegetables (for horses), but even a food ration or tin will make them stop killing you. Eggs, melons, and cream pies will usually be destroyed by throwing them, preventing them from taming or pacifying your target. See diet for details. As usual, they respect Elbereth.
• e Floating Eyes: Floating eyes are very slow and cannot directly damage you. They are still very dangerous, due to their passive attack - should you fight them in melee, you will often be paralyzed for several hundred turns, during which you are a sitting duck. Attack them with ranged weapons or apply a Polearm, or simply ignore them. If they leave a corpse, be sure to eat it, as intrinsic telepathy is valuable.
• m Mimics: Pose as items in shops and kill unsuspecting players. They hit very hard and can grab onto you but move very slowly. See the mimic page for advice.

The Mid Game

In the middle game survival is less of a pressure and the game is about completing an ascension kit. The distinction between early and mid game isn't clear, with definitions ranging from reaching having reached Sokoban and Minetown, to collecting the Sokoban prize, to the point at which you no longer fear team a. The floors between the Quest portal and Castle are almost certainly midgame territory.

The Late Game

In the late game, survival is almost guaranteed (bar those YASDs that an amulet of life saving could have saved you from), and the goal is to get the Amulet of Yendor and resurface. The late game is generally said to start either when you get the wand of wishing from Castle, or when you beginning exploring Gehennom; the difference being that some players in some roles (e.g. Samurai) do the Quest after the Castle.

The Ascension Run

Finally, on the run your final death is a possibility again and you must fend it off while racing to ascend. This stage of the game begins by recovering the Book of the Dead.

It's worth noting that most players treat "end game" as a synonym for "Ascension Run", but Nethack itself reserves the title "End Game" for the Elemental Planes and the Astral Plane (though it uses "Elemental Planes" internally for the Astral Plane as well as the other four planes). Most players refer to those as just "the Planes".

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