NetHackWiki:Ask an expert/Archive6

NetHack can be a monstrously complicated game, so it's not unnatural to seek help from time to time. Conventional sources of wisdom are:

• The Oracle - the intended source of information for unspoiled players.
• rec.games.roguelike.nethack
• #nethack on irc.freenode.net

Additionally, a number of knowledgeable players are active on this wiki, so feel free to ask a question below and somebody is sure to answer it eventually. If you want to discuss a topic that is not about NetHack, please discuss it at the community portal.

Archives of this page: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

Start a new section on the bottom of this page for each question.

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The path to ascension

I haven't gotten THAT far yet, been playing for about a month now, and the furthest I've gotten to is Dlevel 22 with a lvl14 Babarian. (I just found out yesterday how to use the #enhance command. No I am not joking, I actually played about 50 hours without knowing how to raise my skills).

Alright, basically, could someone give me a slight guide to the Dungeons? Like, you start in the DoD and around level 3-5 you can go to the GM, there is the big room in between... etc.

Just a general guide as to where you go through ever since you begin the game, until ascension.

As always, the answer's "it depends". I tend to go to Minetown as early as possible to buy protection before leveling up too much, but many others do Sokoban first and so on. The article about Standard strategy might be a start. Also some roles' quests are easy and gain you much so should be done early, whereas others are mostly useless and best delayed, so best read the article dealing with your role. Also helpful: a map in ASCII, and a hand-drawn one: http://modcult.org/image/150 --62.80.22.186 10:54, September 14, 2010 (UTC)

I learned with Maniac's Ascension Guide.Tjr 15:51, September 14, 2010 (UTC)

Keeping a pet

What would you say is best? Having a tame Large dog/Cat/Warhorse, no pet, or pet monster?

I find keeping a Dog/Cat to be more trouble than it's worth. First, they attack peacefuls and creatures you'd rather keep alive. They also eat bodies you'd possibly like to eat (floating eyes, normal bodies when you're hungry, etc).

They also kill shopkeepers, priests and guards in Minetown.

They get lost constantly, and you have to keep going back to get them before you go down a level.

A leash is annoying as it keeps the pet too close to you and can interfere in several situations.

They can trigger some awful traps which can hurt even you.

And they can even turn feral if you're not careful.

Now, the only upside of keeping a standard pet, is the BUC identification, and some help when fighting (usually they don't, the end up chasing a grid bug when 5 trolls are rushing you). Oh, and stealing from shops, though that's limited (they can't get big stuff), and there are other ways to steal anyway.

So the question is, is it worth it keeping a pet? Especially at low level?

Or should you dump the pet and tame a decent monster?

In a non-conduct game, keep the pet until you are sure you can survive without, then abandon it. As a pacifist, your life depends on your pets. Keep 3-4 of them, and shove them on a polytrap to improve them before you go much farther down than say dungeon level 10. It pays off to learn the art of luring pets, and credit cloning.Tjr 18:04, September 14, 2010 (UTC)

Also, a magic whistle massively cuts down on the problem of having to go back to get pets, and is useful for keeping them away from peacefuls you want alive (although other than the minetown priest and (sometimes) shopkeepers, it doesn't really matter if they wipe out peaceful monsters). As for which pet is best, by far warhorses: they're fast, have a higher level than dogs/cats, and don't eat desirable corpses other than lichens. The downside is that you have to keep them fed on vegan food, but there's usually enough of that in the dungeon. -Ion frigate 22:00, September 14, 2010 (UTC)

Each stage of the game its pet choice. Warhorses are good before you find a polytrap, but they die very quickly in Gehennom.

Tjr 04:48, September 15, 2010 (UTC)

Yes, I should have been clearer; I meant of the starting pets/easily tameable ones (i.e. cats, dogs, horses), warhorses are the best. -Ion frigate 06:48, September 15, 2010 (UTC)

Rogue ranged preference

What is the prefered ranged choice for Rogues?

Daggers are my usual choice, as the rogue can level up the Dagger skill quite quickly, but I was wondering whether there are any alternatives. Like, besides carrying daggers, you could carry a crossbow with poisoned bolts? Because I generally think melee should be avoided when playing a Rogue, unless you have a crazy enchanted main artifact.

What are your opinions?

Daggers are probably best: they're plentiful, relatively damaging, and they are never destroyed on impact. If you want to go for a poisoned weapon, go for darts instead. You can get a lot of them out of dart traps, whereas bolts are often quite hard to find, and the damage gained from them isn't that much. Also, not having to switch weapons when monsters get within melee range (and they will) can be a lifesaver, particularly against fast monsters.

As for melee with rogues, they can always get Stormbringer, either from crowning or sacrifice. Combined with skilled proficiency in broadswords, it's pretty deadly and for my rogues eventually becomes their main weapon. But in the early game, yes, melee is better avoided if possible. -Ion frigate 17:10, September 19, 2010 (UTC)

Trapped in Sokoban

Oh boy. I'm in quite a mess. I'm playing a lvl 10 Knight, and I'm currently stuck on the first level of Sokoban. How? I completely forgot that the two scrolls there are Earth scrolls, and the boulders trapped me in a corner. I tried jumping away with no sucess. I also removed all my clothing and dropped everything and tried to fit through, nothing. I had a wand of magic missile but it's out of charges. I have a wand of lightning but it doesn't destroy boulders. I tried praying, but it was too early and he was displeased.

Now, I think the only way to get out of here, is to pray, but I'm unsure whether my god can do anything about it. I can post my inventory if you'd like, but I don't think I have anything that can get me out of there. Right now, I think I should just wait and try to pray later. I have a few food rations that should make me last for quite a while.

What can I do otherwise?

EDIT: Nevermind, YASD. I prayed, and he teleported me near the entrance, sorrounded with monster. I killed most of them, but they backed me against the wall, and since I had used most of my items trying to escape, I had no way to survive... Except jumping, which I only remembered I could do just after I got killed. Oh well.

Advice on how to proceed

So, this is the farthest I've ever gone, so I'm going to take it nice and slow.

Lvl 12 Barbarian, Chaotic. Intrinsics: Poison, Shock, Cold, Speed, Telepathy.

125hp. Wielding a +5 two handed sword. Wearing +0 crystal plate mail, +0 high boots, +0 leather gloves. AC is 0. Plus I'm wearing an amulet of reflection (I had better equipment but... polymorph trap :/

Got a wand of death and a a few others, a couple of scrolls of teleportation, a ring of teleport control (wearing it) and like 6 unidentified rings.

Now the question is, should I go further down? I'm in dlevel 23. Can I take on what's down there? I think I should probably go up and try and get some better armor, but there's nothing in Minetown... I haven't done Sokoban and Mine's end, maybe I should do those first and hope to find something good?

What do you guys think?

If you can handle d23, then you can definitely finish Mine's End and Sokoban. You already have reflection so the Sokoban final reward might be redundant, but even the items all over the lower floors may be useful. Just watch for more poly traps in the lower levels.

Your biggest priority should be magic resistance. Try to find a kill a gray dragon for the scales. Your AC also needs to be lowered; DSM will help with that. Try to secure some enchant armor scrolls and bless them. Also, get a cloak. Elven cloaks are the best that can be easily obtained; you'll need MC3, especially if you switch to DSM. Check the wiki for how to get DSM; reverse genocide is usually the best. Stand on burned Elbereth and you;ll be fine, since you have reflection. -- Qazmlpok 15:20, September 22, 2010 (UTC)