stv@qantel.UUCP (Steve Vance) (07/17/84)
This note refers to rogue 5.3.
Apparently you aren't guaranteed an amulet on every level below 20, as I
had been led to believe. I am getting so that I can get that low about
ten percent of the time, so its only a matter of time before I see the
damn thing, I guess. A couple of games ago, I searched every square of
level 21 (yes, I'm sure, I had a map that I had been saving) and killed
every monster on the level (according to my potion of see monster), and
the amulet just wasn't there. I had to leave level 22 before I searched
it completely, but I did a pretty thorough job on level 23, and no
amulet there either. Is there any level below which you're guaranteed
to have an amulet somewhere?
By the way, Jabberwocks seem pretty wimpy to me, an easy 3000 experience
points. They're ususally asleep, and a half a dozen arrows usually
kills them before they can even reach you. Am I just lucky? Actually,
the honor roll here lists me as having been killed by one, but it was
actually a Medusa sneaking up behind me that did me in, the Jabberwock
got lucky that time.
I disagree with those notes that say rogue is mostly luck (like, roll a
couple of big dice until you get snake eyes), there is a lot of know-how
involved in doing well at rogue. Otherwise everybody would be winning
all the time. I see new players reach a "Centuar Plateau", where they
can't get past Centuars, then a similar plateaus with Trolls, Black
Unicorns, and Medusas. This is kind of like "getting past the snake" in
the original Colossal Cave Adventure game. Once you know what you're
doing, you can get past the snake every time. Well, I guess there is
more of a luck factor in rogue, since I still get nailed by a Centuar
occasionally. But mostly luck? I don't think so.
Steve Vance
{ucbvax,ihnp4,zehntel,onyx}!dual!qantel!stv
Qantel Corporation, Hayward, CA