Completely new to ADOM

[MrCrazy]

Sorry if this gets asked all the time but I'm really new to this game, and rogue-like games in general. I'm having alot of fun so far but in the 30 odd characters I've made I've never got past level 8. It seems that sometimes I just get an unlucky turn of events and there is nothing I can do to keep myself from dying. I'm sure this isn't really the case so I came to the forums wondering if there was a good guide to how to get started in the game, and etc.

I'm slowly working my way through the manual, and I always refer to the keyboard bindings to see if there is something I"m missing. But in the end I'm still pretty lost. Is there a good reference guide I could use? Thanks.

[Twinge]

There's a few 'Let's Play' style guides and Andy's Guidebook, which has a bunch of general purpose spoily info but isn't really set up as a walktrhough for newbies. I don't really know of any introductory tutorial out there myself. A few general tips:

Never worry about answering questions for your stats, since it takes time and your characters will die so often at first anyway. I'd suggest trying out some troll characters (Barbarians, Beastfighters, etc.) - they are very strong early game; they do have to worry about getting more food, but otherwise are generally very tough and survive the early game well. Also look at Archers and Wizards (probably not paired with Troll), which are strong classes good throughout the game.

Some talents can help your early game survivability significantly as well. The speed talents or Long Stride can give you that little extra oumph to run away from a threat before it kills you. Also, avoid running around burdened or strained if possible, since that lowers your speed. One more way to get a speed boost to escape early on is to switch to Coward tactics when your HP is at 1/3 your max or less.

There ARE some cases where death is unavoidable, but it usually is. Learn to recognize threats, and act accordingly (throw potions, run away, etc.) Don't be afraid to use expendable items like wands or potions as needed; a live PC with fewer items is better than a dead PC with a full pack =) (*Not that I usually take my own advice here. Must... keep items... for "later"...)

[foxfire29]

Hi MrC

I was in the same boat as you not so long ago(In fact who am I kidding Im still a newbie ) and theres alot of people on here know their Adom, I know with the advice I got it really helped me enjoy the game.

Just out of curiosity which dungeons are you generally dieing in and what order of quests do you do?

If you outlined this Im sure people would be willing to sling in more advice its just at least in my opinion theres a certain order you want to do the quests in at the start of the game. (As an example the puppy cave is vey dodgy for new characters )

Also what characters and classes have you mostly done best with?

[Dudley]

My recommedation
Try dwarves, dark elf, trolls.
Dwarven paladins start with uber PV.. That makes the early game easy.
Dark even beastfighter start with ok PV and lots of good skills. the downside is that you must never use a stupid weapon/shield. But their raw power gets rapidly incredible.
Troll healers. They just rock. They also kill. They survive through the UD quite well, which is the place to go if you want to learn most things about adom special thingies.
Gnomes : fast level up. I would recommend gnomish healers for that, their level up will get you rapidly nice bonuses.

[Maul]

I wouldn't really recommend a newb to play a troll to be honest. If they really want to play a buff char let them play an orcish barbarian or a drakish healer.

And one more thing - create a play-along thread. If we get a detailed log of how you play we can give you more specific advice on how to improve.

[Dudley]

trolls to get the trend. then back to more.. intelligent guys.

[MrCrazy]

I always click random character generation, since I'm still at the 'experimenting' with different characters point. My #1 playthrough so far was actually a trollish merchant specializing in wands. Which I assume is somewhat odd haha.

As for which dungeon I do first, I talk to the village elder of Terinyo, and go down and fight the carpenter. I've beaten him maybe 3-5 times but I always die soon after (when I go to the dungeon NW of terinyo where there is a scroll and a tomb on the ground which tell me its dangerous).

Thanks for the info so far, it's very helpful.

[Silfir]

Consider solutions that do not include killing the carpenter. It might pay off...

[da1edwin]

I always die soon after (when I go to the dungeon NW of terinyo where there is a scroll and a tomb on the ground which tell me its dangerous).

Pay attention to that scroll of warning. Entering the Small Cave after you've leveled up some can be suicide if you don't know what you're doing. Don't wander around there after you've reached level 6 or so, unless you've gotten far enough to have tricks that would let you get through alive.

However, there are a few guaranteed items in there - and an entrance to the Unremarkable Dungeon - that may be useful. Consider entering that cave near the beginning of the game, when you have few exp points.

[MrCrazy]

So in general is there any particular place I should go? I guess I just figured it was close so it should be easy, but it wasn't. Is the best thing to do simply go to a new area every game to find out where everything is?

Do alot of dungeons get harder as you level? or is that an exception?