Advice for a semi new player?

[Urist]

Started playing this back in December when I felt like playing a roguelike and found it to be exceedingly well done.

Already surpassed 100 deaths though, the farthest I got was on a Dwarven paladin who made it to the big room in CoC before dying to quite literally 40 red worms who broke all of his equipment.

Which areas should I enter in order and what level should I be by then? I can't seem to find any sort of guide like that. What DV/PV you should have there is a nice bonus. I am kind of tired of deaths like trying to find out what the ToEF is.

I only know that cooked lizard is pretty cool.

[Joe]

Here's some simple tips and tricks.

1- Play Drakelings. They are strong and have a life-saving breath attack called 'acid spit' (it reduces your satiation level). If you can make it to the cooked lizards you have lots of emergency ammunition ;) (Dwarves aren't bad either though).
2- Play strong fighters: paladins (literate + healing), barbarians (just awesome). Also priest is friendly for new players due to their 'detect item status' and they can dabble in magic too.

3- Remember your deaths. As you might have noticed, worms are breeding. In large rooms they can be deadly, no matter how puny they are on their own. Other killing monsters: ghuls (paralyse), dark elven priestesses (millions of spiders), ogre magi (invisible + frostbolt). Be wary of the 'you hear a distant wind' message as it means there is a Vortex on the level going to blow you up.
4- Go for speed + sight in dangerous areas. To cross the big room, light torches (if you have them) to extend your sight. Take speed talents + long stride to outrun most monsters and avoid battle in unfavourable areas. In general, avoid battles that you are likely to lose (you find out after your first death).
5- Early game, PV is most important. When playing fighters you generally start with 5+ of it which is pretty good. You got to get a feeling for which kind of items can have good stats and which items don't. Don't try every item out because you'll get stuck with a cursed crappy armor etc. Generally the lighter an armor/weapon is the better (when of the same type). So if you see a sword 40s and one 32s the lighter one is generally better. If you play a priest you never have to worry about item statuses so that's a nice way to test out many items.
6- USE ARCHERY. Mentioned above is acid spit already. But anything which damages your opponent is good. Even throwing rocks (or some potions) can work.

If you made it to the big room you're close to Dwarftown, which is the place for a whole new series of quests ;)

[NMBLNG]

Or, play a wizard.


Learn how to play cautiously while still making progress. That mostly means having a way to escape, and decent spare equipment. Also, having a good gauge of what your character can and can't handle.

[GordonOverkill]

Just take a look at the "Beginner Information"-Sticky in this forum. For example Silfir's ADOM Tutorial is very helpful. Among other information it includes a list how much DV/PV is necessary for different challanges.

[Doorsfan]

Play something you find fun and explore the game.

As you can see, you are going to die. A lot. But the main thing that should keep you having coming back is playing a fun class and sticking to it.

Try to learn some tricks of the trade or just look up some basic information that might be to your benefit, like corpse effects etc.

On the other hand, if you want to keep "clean" and not read the Wiki etc. Just play something heavy armored, generally don't fight surrounded.
Also never be afraid of just going utility. Just as in leveling up weapon skills such as bows or w/e - no matter class. It can be insanely useful.

Beyond this, try playing one of the easier classes overall before trying to progress with the harder ones, even if you like them.
Try monks for instance, they are friendly to play as a new player.

[Stingray1]

Everyone has to die to worms.;) Try not to spend too much time in the big room as a newish player. It is a place that many a character dies.

[Urist]

Ah, thanks for the help everybody.


Just take a look at the "Beginner Information"-Sticky in this forum. For example Silfir's ADOM Tutorial is very helpful. Among other information it includes a list how much DV/PV is necessary for different challanges.

I read most of those but did not see the one about DV/PV. Thank you.