h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Got a new top score today! All right, it's still total rubbish, but I feel better!

I got Owl-Val-Dwa-Fem-Law to Mines' End, and died there with a final score of 24752. Well, I'm happy anyway...

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Nice one. I can remember my first venture down that far. I was very please

How did you die?

A vampire read a blessed scroll of create monster as a sort of "suicide note" ... that was the end of me!

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Oops Always helps to have some sort of teleport escape route for that sort of eventuality - if you've found any yet of course.

The bottom of the Gnomish mines is mainly a problem because of Polymorph traps I find.

There are three different endings to the mines, according to Psmith's spoiler, but I didn't get to see much of it before dying.

But I agree with you I HATE polymorph traps (they're OK if one is a Monk because praying usually sorts out the problem)...

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There are ways and means around them. Getting immune to them is my main priority really at the early stages of a game. If you are immune to them then they become fantastically useful

Nethack 3.4 seems to have jazzed up the mines from previous versions. I've only noticed a couple of endings at the bottom mind you It's the shopping mall bit that's changed mostly. I chopped down a tree there once and was most disappointed when not much happened. (My pet had annihalated all the guards first of course )

By coincidence I just completed the mines with a Knight yesterday. A game with much potential, I have a pet Black Dragon (although still a baby it's killed a Shopkeeper already) and have the Sword Excalibur. I'm also cold resistant and magic resistant My horse died earlier in the game, when I get back to the scene of its demise I shall do my favourite Nethack thing and saddle up my dragon. Nothing I like more than riding around the Dungeons of doom on a Winged Dragon

How would one go about acquiring a decent pet like that? A scroll of taming?

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That's one way. A blessed scroll will work for sure but some bad-ass creatures are immune to taming scrolls. It doesn't work on Balrogs for sure (I've tried it) and I suspect other major demons would be immune. You've also got to be powerful enough to get close to the creature without dying first.

Beware of relying on the spoilers too much by the way - I didn't look at them at all until I was around 2 years experienced as a hacker and wanted to see if my own ideas were the same as those down in the spoilers.
Some are, some arent. I was particuarly pleased (though not surprised, you only have to meet an ArchLich or a mindflayer once or twice before deciding) that my choices in Genocide were the same as in the spoilers.
I think they detract from creative hacking (ie. coming up with your own ways of doing things) which for me is the essence of the game. Also there is nothing like discovering methods of identify stuff and the like on your own. I never have to worry about scrolls of punishment or the like any more but I used to have loads of fun lugging the ball and chain about as an inexperienced hacker.

I may have hinted above by the way, as to maybe another way of acquiring a powerful pet

I'm not clever enough to work out your tips

I don't use the spoilers unless I'm getting annoyed about something. Things like the hints in the Guidebook... I knew the identify scroll was the cheapest one, but I wanted to know exactly _how_ cheap it should be and so on and so forth...

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Cool, I just saw on another thread that you'd mentioned reading them.

You'll get to know to ID scrolls by price through experience - make sure you're aware of your charisma value though, it affects the prices drastically. Beware expensive scrolls

Hehe I'm starting to get the hang of that now...

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I just got my top score ever... OK it was on Slash'EM, but I reckon I could (perhaps) have got somewhere similar in a game of NetHack even without the monk techniques.

1 79653 Owl-Mon-Hum-Mal-Cha died in The Orc Caverns on level
14. Killed by a fire elemental. - [66]

I think it's my fault for exploring the Orc Caverns at all... Am I right in thinking that they don't appear anywhere in NetHack? I did kill Grund the Orc King too (one #technique pummel sorted him out) and got my monk to Grand Master level in martial arts.



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Well put it this way, the Orc Caverns are new to me, never heard of them before Good score.

I once had a Monk that got to the Wizard of Yendor. Unfortunatetly he got no further Not a bad game though . I don't think I've ever had a healer, archeologist or rogue get that far... Monks are definitely one of the more interesting characters to play.

Yeah. Monks/Wizards/Flame Mages/Ice Mages are much more interesting in Slash'EM than they are in NetHack, as the spells system (as well as the #technique command) is something the Slash'EM devteam have worked on the most. No-one starts with spells that have a fail-rate of 0% ... it takes a lot of practice to get them to that level. #technique are like spells but are learned as you increase in level, and can only be used once every so-many turns. It's definitely worth a go at Slash'EM if you're a NetHack fan, even if it's just for the many more different kinds of mold that can grow out of corpses.

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