tif (09/16/82)
What I'd like to know is how to consistantly beat trolls. I'm 3-0 against umber hulks, 4-1 vs vampires, but 2-200 against those damn trolls (the only time I've passed level 19 is when I genocided them). The tactics I've utilised vs the first two (ie find a two-handed sword, enchant the hell out of it, and use up seven suits of armor fighting rust monsters) appear not to be sufficient against the third. Am I just unfortunate, or is their something I should know? Why do I enjoy success against the "terrors" of the deep and fail so completely vs trolls? Please help! Thomas I. Faison
rodolf (09/16/82)
My method for fighting trolls is pretty straightforward. I save all my sticks and wands and use them on trolls. If I can get past the trolls, I'll take my chances with the Umbers and Xorns. Rick Lindsley uwvax!rodolf
jls (09/16/82)
A staff of Drain Life will do them in if you have at least twice the necessary hp to kill them. A staff of Slow Monster will allow you to hit them while they can't hit you as long as you have a sufficient defined distance to move. A staff of Striking is very effective against anything and with a staff of Teleportaway you can move them elsewhere. If you happen to have a ring of Stealth they won't wake up and munge you. When I have a staff of Light I usually light the 13th level rooms from the door to find Trolls before bumping into them. It is then possible to thunk a few arrows into them before doing hand-to-hand. Lastly, although they regenerate their hp while chasing you, they do not regenerate as fast as you can if you are at a sufficient experience level to normally continue an existance on level 14 and beyond. Almost forgot the staff of Polymorph. With one of these you can convert a Troll into an Umber Hulk!! In general, much of the game is luck but experience helps. I've been told that your PID is somehow involved with the random number generator of the game and past experience seems to bear this out. I have had games going where I could cruise right through I's, X's and T's with hardly a scratch, saved the game and was wiped out by the first monster I encountered without scoring a hit. (cancel last period) when the game was restarted. The experience part has to do with knowing what to do with whatever is available and perhaps in knowing how to identify things without using an Identify scroll. I should keep track but I would guess that in 1 of 10 ganmes I can get down to the U's level and less frequently down to, maybe level 21 or 22. Then my staffs are all empty and it's RIP time. This should probably have been mailed but I tried that once and never got any reply. That was to Chris Woodbury, so if your out there, I tried.
bratman (09/16/82)
If Trolls have the same attributes in rogue as they do in D & D, then they have the ability of natural hit point regeneration. This means that if you hit one and run away from it, it will be back to full hit points when it catches up to you. Therefore this tactic with Trolls is not good. The easiest time I ever had with Trolls was when I had a +1 ring of Dexterity and a ring of Regeneration. When I spotted a Troll, I put on both rings. I hit just about every time with a +3 +4 mace, and averaged 3 hits to kill them. Also, while they regenerated a percentage of hit points between attacks, I regenerated the same number of hit points due to the ring. Without such magic, I've found a two-handed sword adequate to dispatch most Trolls, although I really believe that in 5.2~ there ARE invulnerable monsters here and there, Trolls and Hobgoblins to name two.
will (09/19/82)
Gee, guys, I save my sticks for Umber Hulks. Tonight with 55 h.p., a +1,+3 mace, a strength of 19, and an armor class of 9 (yes, 9) I had no problem at all with trolls, killing atleast 10. ...oh, and I was level 9. I was able to hit about 3 out of 4 times, and that was all m4took. I think the lowest I ever went was 22 h.p. The Headhunter