Rat level

In SLASH'EM, the rat level is a room-and-corridor level located between levels 10 and 11 of the Dungeons of Doom, and is home to the Rat King. It has a 50% chance of being generated. Four of its rooms contain three giant rats each, and one contains two rabid rats. The Rat King's room contains, besides the King himself, four pack rats, eight black rats, five giant rats, eight sewer rats, a rabid rat, and five other random r. The room also contains a long sword (which the Rat King will likely be wielding by the time you encounter him), a pair of elven boots, two cheeses, a potion of invulnerability, a random wand, a random potion, and three other random objects; all but the potion of invulnerability and the random items are on the same square.

Strategy

The Rat King's level can usually be easily identified by the fact that you face large numbers of r, and rarely anything else. It's easy to become complacent because rats are not generally tough enemies even in the early game. However, the Rat King himself can be dangerous to low-level characters because he hits hard and often has an attack wand.

A common way to play this level is to stay in the room with the upstair and try to lock all doors but one (or use a scroll of earth from Sokoban to block doors and doorways. Then let the rats file in one by one and dispatch them. When the Rat King approaches, you can melee him if you are strong enough, but if not you can push a spare boulder into the doorway to block it off, then pummel him with ranged weapons (rocks, if you don't have anything better). Another alternative is to burn, dig, scrawl, or write Elbereth in the dust to get him to flee if you get low on hit points, and then run upstairs to heal before coming back down. Be careful, as writing Elbereth in the dust often fails, and the Rat King, at speed 15, is faster than a normal player and may follow you upstairs to finish you off.