toma@fluke.UUCP (02/28/84)
I was recently amazed at the number of people clamoring for hints on playing the (highly addictive) game of rogue! Perhaps the claim of the manual is true - that few, if any, are widely known to have snared the Amulet and staggered to freedom and glory. Here at Fluke, such is not the case - several people managed to win version 5.2 (the last to have floating eyes, umber hulks, etc.). Now that we have version 5.3 and 4.2bsd Unix, the scores have been purged and the battle has begun anew. While it is easily as difficult as the previous version, it still appears to be conquerable. Having won version 5.2 twice (in not as many games), perhaps I should reveal some secrets of the lower levels. Those of you who wish to earn your wings the hard way, read no further. Here is some of the wisdom culminating from the adventures of several Fluke wizards (notably Dave Van Ess, Joe Murphy (no longer at Fluke, now at Sun, I think), and myself): PART 1: HOW TO KILL DRAGONS Yes, dragons can be killed with brute strength and excellent armor. However, this is not a recommended practice unless you have achieved a very high experience level (> 11). For those of you who have never encountered one, dragons have one very annoying characteristic: they have extremely bad breath. So bad, in fact, that it withers the skin. This gives rise to rule #1 in dealing with dragons: Rule #1: Never try to run away from dragons in a hallway. There are only two exceptions to this rule, and that is when you are running in a hallway that is two squares wide (a hallway that has wrapped back on itself), or when you have zapped the beast with a staff/wand of cancellation. Dragons do not always move to keep up with you, so at first you may think you are outrunning them. Don't be fooled - they can breath on you enough times before you are out of range to turn you into a potato chip. (Note: Those of you with version 3.6 rogue will wonder what this is all about. (I don't know about versions between 3.6 and 5.2, if such were ever distributed.) Dragons in version 3.6 were shy, retiring creatures with a propensity to hide in hallways just outside the doorway; rather irritating in rooms with only one door.) Dragons can be quenched with a staff or wand of cancellation. If you are lucky enough to have one of these, by all means use it. They should then be treated much the same as you would treat a purple worm. (If enough people are interested, I'll follow up this little treatise with a summary of effective techniques to use on purple worms and fire-proofed dragons.) Dragons are usually encountered in rooms. Unlike the case with umber hulks, this is exactly where you want them. By the time you run into one, you probably have sufficiently good armor and a potent enough weapon to take one on. If you are lucky, you can turn the dragon's flame against it. First, zigzag over to a wall by making a series of diagonal moves until your back is up against the wall. By moving diagonally away, the dragon will be unable to flame you since it can only aim in the eight cardinal directions. If you want an "escape hatch", stop just outside a doorway, so that you can try to run for it if things get really grim. Don't bother to try this unless you are really near death, since it won't work anyway. Your best bet is to just stand there and pound away. Eventually, the dragon is going to sneeze gasoline fumes. While I can't back this up with hard evidence, it always seems that the accuracy of a dragon's blowtorch is degraded by being too close - in any event, I have frequently been missed in this position, whereupon the flame bounces off the wall or doorway, misses again (you hope), bounces off the dragon, and will continue bouncing off the doorway and the dragon until it either hits you or runs out of range. I have never had the flame miss the dragon, which is the key to this whole maneuver - the flame has rather ill effects on the dragon's health. If you win the encounter, the worst thing that can happen is that the dragon actually kills itself; in that event, you don't get credited with the mega-experience points that dragons accrue. Otherwise, you get all those points for a joust that was probably little more difficult than killing a xorn (as if those were easy). The above strategy is really your only choice when you are stuck with a rather unfriendly dragon and no magic to speak of. This scenario becomes increasingly likely the longer you spend in the deeper recesses. However, you may be fortunate enough to be in possession of a scroll of scare monster. This can be used to great advantage: First, it pays to know that scrolls of scare monster can be moved back onto if you are carrying too much stuff to pick it up (turning it to dust. Version 5.3 removes the need to walk around like a carpet-bagger, allowing you to move onto things without picking them up.) So, if you run into a dragon and know where the doorway is, don't drop the scroll. First, zigzag over to the doorway (as above), and try a couple of hits. You should already have some idea how tough a pretzel you are, and you'll know even more after a few blows. Never let yourself be taken down to less than 35 to 40 hit points before dropping the scroll. The general idea is to save the scroll for later use if you can (after all, you're out to win the game, not just get past the dragon), so drop the scroll only if you haven't been able to weaken the dragon considerably before he does the same to you. (Count the number of times the flame bounces off the dragon.) Immediately after dropping the scroll, step out into the hallway and rest up from the dance - the scroll is now acting as a cork! (Yes, dragons can still breathe down your neck while you're perched on the scroll.) If you are careful, it's pretty hard to lose it here. And if something horrible wanders up from the other side, step back into the room and kill the dragon first. The scroll cork technique once worked magnificently here at Fluke, enabling a player to polish off two dragons and a vampire. Without it, doom was certain. It is impossible to list all the ways to kill dragons - imagination is your greatest asset, along with a general knowledge of the mechanics of the game. For example, it may actually be feasible to run from a dragon in a passageway possessing a tight kink if you have either a staff of slow monster or a potion of haste self. As you probably know, monsters cannot negotiate kinked passageways that require them to move to a square that is a greater geometric distance from you than the square they are currently on. Thus, it may be possible to trap a dragon while you dash for the passageway down. Another possibility is to use a staff of `teleport to' to bring a more palatable monster next to you to follow you around, in the event you can see both a dragon and some other monster heading your way in a lighted room (I've never tried this). If anybody else out there has a novel dragon-slaying method, I'd love to hear about it. Also, if anyone is interested in any of the other rogue madness developed here, let me know and I'll put together another essay. Tom Anderson John Fluke Mfg. Co., Inc. Everett, Wa. ... fluke!toma
mcewan@uiucdcs.UUCP (mcewan ) (03/01/84)
#R:vax1:-51500:uiucdcs:34500007:000:2083
uiucdcs!mcewan Feb 29 19:47:00 1984
I'm amazed that not one of your total winners knows the correct way to
fight dragons (what is "correct" is, of course, my opinion, and subject
to change if someone suggests a better way.) I'm a total winner several
times over, so I think I have the necessary credentials.
*********************** SPOILER ***************************
This is somewhat more general advice that applies to fighting U's as
well as D's.
When wandering around on any level >=18, when you first enter a new
room:
Case 1: You do not have a ring of stealth. Do NOT enter the
room. Instead, slam the door several times. You slam the door
by entering the doorway and stepping back into the corridor.
This wakes up sleeping monsters in the room. Now, if a U comes
to the door and confuses you, you are in a good position to
fight it. Being in the corridor, every move will either cause
you to hit the U or to move away from it.
If a D comes to the door, STAY IN THE DOORWAY! The D will hit
you, causing great damage, but every second or third move it
will try to blast you with flame. Flame cannot go through a
doorway, so it will ALWAYS bounce. If you don't have very high
level or very good armor, you will need to use some magic to
survive (a couple of healing potions will usually do), but you
will have a very good chance of defeating the D.
Case 2: You have a ring of stealth. Put on the ring just before
entering the room (don't wear it all the time - you'll starve
to death!). Search the room in the most efficient manner possible.
If there are monsters you don't want to mess with - leave the
room and immediately remove the ring.
If there are monster(s) you want to kill - Take off ring, handle
monsters as normally.
If there is a U or D you want to kill - get near the door and wake
up the monster by throwing something at it, then fight as above.
***********************************************************
The opinions expressed are my own and not
necessarily those of any sane person.
Scott McEwan
pur-ee!uiucdcs!mcewan