flinn@seismo.UUCP (E. A. Flinn) (04/03/84)
The following are probably common knowledge, but may save beginners a few hit points here and there: There are several ways to get in the first blow at a monster. When one is awake and approaching you, you can wait for him to come to you rather than moving up next to him. It's good practice to maneuver to a position where you have a clear run to a doorway before hitting the monster, in case of danger (the other day I got killed from 45 HP by two bats!). In approaching a sleeping monster to hit him, don't pick up a piece of treasure next to him before hitting him - that will wake him up and give him the first blow. On level 1 and everywhere below 12 I first locate a closed circuit in exploring a new level, to have room to run from monsters, and zig-zag (bybybyb... or nunununu...) sideways to gain hit points in minimum distance travelled. Incidentally, I don't zig-zag to explore a dark room, just from laziness. You don't pay a great penalty in distance travelled by sweeping the rooms with ^l and ^h, three rows apart, beginning next to the top or bottom if you want to locate doors, or one row away if you don't.