Hello.

[Whippy]

Aspiring hero here wishing he knew how to properly play ADOM :p

My favorite Race is the High Elves and my two favorite classes are Wizard and Paladin.

I've been playing ADOM on and off now for about 2 years and I've only just started to learn how things work in the game. Currently, I have been playing for around 6 months non stop every chance I get. It is a great game and it is easily one of my favorites even though I can't seem to get past a level 12 character and always seem to die by some stupid ways.

I am slowly learning and been reading some posts on this forum and I have now realized that this isn't going to be an over night job!

Looking forward to sharing some stupid deaths and (eventually) a victory post or two :)

Whippy.

[Blasphemous]

Welcome to the community, Whippy.
I've been playing adom for close to 15 years and I keep dying stupid deaths all the time, among the few precious victories.
Get used to it ;)
The forum is a nice place to have a discussion about anything game-related so be sure to ask whatever questions you have.
Also consider playing on the server (http://www.adom.de/forums/showthread.php/12270-Public-ADOM-servers-%28SSH-accessible%29) and signing up to our unofficial irc (irc.freenode.org) #adom channel. There's usually somebody there that will gladly spectate as you play and perhaps throw in a hint or two.

[GordonOverkill]

Hi Whippy! Welcome to the board and good luck on your adventures!

[Stingray1]

Welcome. It does take some time indeed for an unspoiled player to get past level 12 with an ADOM character, but keep at it. It will happen. Don't read too many spoilers though, for me it was great fun to figure out the game by myself and discover what items do and so on. It took me only between 2-3 years to get my first win and there are people playing 3+ times longer than that without a win that has read a lot of spoilers.

So, my suggestion to all members is: don't spoil it for yourself. Have fun.

[Esoteric Rogue]

I've been playing since pre-wilderness, on and off, without a win. I think the first 12 years without spoilers was a waste :D. I hope to win someday, too. Good luck and well met, Whippy.

[Stingray1]

I stumbled onto one of your recent videos and I agree that the 12 years was a waste for you, but luckily the 3 years it took me was definately not. You are doing a lot of things wrong for a veteran and I know what the reason is.

[Esoteric Rogue]

I stumbled onto one of your recent videos and I agree that the 12 years was a waste for you, but luckily the 3 years it took me was definately not. You are doing a lot of things wrong for a veteran and I know what the reason is.

Well, all I know is every time I take a year or two off I apparently forget everything -- starting with basics like it once again surprised me that there are talents.

That there could be just one reason that I am doing a lot of things wrong intrigues me, but I wouldn't want to hijack Whippy's thread. I am in IRC, if you want, thanks.

[Stingray1]

Well, this is good for Whippy and others to know too. You hit the nail on the head there, by stating that you do not remember. With that problem playing spoiled or unspoiled won't make much difference. You need to somehow force your brain into becoming cognitive. The best and first thing I can suggest is to completely stop making backups of your savefiles, the second is to start reading in-game information and perhaps even the manual again would do good. Try to always think what would be the best thing to do now, instead of just mashing on.

Some things I noticed and still recall( it was a few weeks back) are that you do not change tactics, you do not equip some items when found, you do not use missile combat and many more, but doing what I said above will make all these things come naturally over time.

[Tyrnyx]

My suggestions: Religion, Missiles, and Fear are all you friends. Personally, I underutilize just about all of those suggestions. Also, early artifacts can make a big difference.

My biggest mistake: not backing off when I can get in trouble.

I recently lost a character on the last level of the game for the sole reason of me not waiting. That's it, all I had to do was wait and I probably would have survived.

I even more recently lost another on the second to last because even though I knew the risks I didn't back off. It's only after that I think about it, realize I had a simple solution and ignored it, and hate myself a little.

However, I've won more than once, so it's definitely possible to bash your way to victory stubbornly. Might take a few more years and since your unspoiled a few more years on top of that but it's definitely doable. In fact, in some very few ways unspoiled is better. Between my first and second win I realized that I was doing waaay too many things that were utterly unnecessary just because I knew they could be done.

Good luck.

[Stingray1]

In fact, in some very few ways unspoiled is better. Between my first and second win I realized that I was doing waaay too many things that were utterly unnecessary just because I knew they could be done.

Well, I'm inclined to say that in very many ways unspoiled is better. I remember when I eventually read some spoilers a year ago, my games became extremely tedious for a few months, because there was nothing new, I thought. Until I started challenging myself and now I'm discovering new things all over again and that is great fun. Reading spoilers takes away so much, it is much more exciting to learn things yourself and figure things out and discovering new places than boringly reading it somewhere. As a bonus you get to be a better player and smarter too. ;)

[Esoteric Rogue]

Well, this is good for Whippy and others to know too. You hit the nail on the head there, by stating that you do not remember. With that problem playing spoiled or unspoiled won't make much difference. You need to somehow force your brain into becoming cognitive. The best and first thing I can suggest is to completely stop making backups of your savefiles, the second is to start reading in-game information and perhaps even the manual again would do good. Try to always think what would be the best thing to do now, instead of just mashing on.

Some things I noticed and still recall( it was a few weeks back) are that you do not change tactics, you do not equip some items when found, you do not use missile combat and many more, but doing what I said above will make all these things come naturally over time.

Now, I just lost my reply post. I swear I must just be becoming feeble. This will be shorter.

Thanks, but that doesn't sound like me. My first video this weak, I swear most of my dialogue was counting 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 because I was using T+/- rather than the function keys. I glanced the first in that series from 11 months, which was the last time I played. I saw some rocks and some tactics, so without getting too deep into it, maybe he was just a troll that wasn't worried about melee in the early game. I also have missile weapons well-ingrained, going back to Angband.

Not to say I'm free from noob mistakes of course. I've had very little wizard play, and I spent a fair bit of time embarassing myself on the server Monday. ( You know, it turns out you don't have to tunnel around locked doors if you have a knock spell. )

Was wondering if you wanted to expand on not equipping items. I'm not afraid of cursed items, and generally expect to be almost all red by the time I get to Dwarftown. If I think it might be better, I generally wear it, so idk.

Hey, the backups I must clarify are only for backup purposes in case of a crash. As mentioned in my current rant thread, I lost a nice archer to a backup, and didn't even bother to reload that because it was at least an hour old, and would feel like cheating to play through the same level. Fully agree that you can't learn much if you cheat the consequences of your actions.

But spoilers? I want to hedge some: I wish there was a good way to implement spoiler levels. (It's been tried). I think what made me cross-over was altars. I had be smited enough times that I completely avoided them for years. I feel there are plenty of little things that almost have to be spoiled. After hundreds of games I had never known the normal use for potions of holy water, because I had preconceived notions that were wrong. I doubt I would have ever happen upon the easier way to learn the swimming skill. And now I can see how to figure out herbs, but I never bothered to figure out, because without knowing their effects I never invested in herbalism and so always had bad herbs which is like negative reinforcement. :) Or maybe I couldn't have figured all of herbs out, since there are different methods to use them.

Feel free to spectate me. I think I'm going to stick to the server (but apparently I still have to disable the 'Q' key *sigh*). But I do tend to play slowly, wouldn't want to bore anyone without warning. :cool:

[Stingray1]

I think it was a Troll Healers yes, going into the SMC as a first dungeon. For the record, I also never knew about swimming or how to use some of the herbs. Moss and morgia I couldn't figure out and I never really bothered with trying to get stable herbs patterns. In fact, in the year of playing prior to my first victory I never even harvested herbs.

There is many things in ADOM you don't need to know and can still win. Knowing these things maybe helps me now, but I still think I would have preferred to still be somewhere in the midst of mystery.

Playing slow as a struggling or new or experienced player is a good habit in my view, maybe I'll spectate you the weekend, when I have slightly more time. Life is very busy.

Edit - Wrt to hedging spoilers, there is some good spoilers(hints) in the game, maybe they can be expanded a bit yes.

[Stingray1]

irc (irc.freenode.org) #adom channel.

This link doesn't want to work for me, is it correct?

[Esoteric Rogue]

I happen to be using https://kiwiirc.com/client/irc.freenode.net (https://kiwiirc.com/client/irc.freenode.net/)/ web client.

[Deathwind]

This is the current link https://webchat.freenode.net/ but I had issues with it disconnecting so I just installed mirc again.

[Stingray1]

I should add here, after watching a bit of Esoteric Rogues's latest video. I did say, you should equip and try out more items found, but one must still consider whether it is a good idea to use or equip this item now. Equipping and using items blindly can have dire consequences, especially with low piety/methods of uncursing, etc. This is not only for you Esoteric Rogue, but applies to everyone. Being "all red" when reaching Dwarftown is not promoted. In ADOM there is no need to take unnecessary risks. Rather play it safe.

[Whippy]

There seems to be one problem I face more often than not. Water. With my current character, I am in the druid dungeon 6 and there is like a stretch of 4-5 tiles of water before I can reach the other side. Usually I would just swim through and not give regards to most of my equipment or HP but I want to start progressing to better things instead of constantly dying when I reach the PC.

Do I wait? leave it until I have some other means of protecting my equipment... This could mean that when i reach DD7 then it could be quite difficult later in the game?
Do I just plow through giving no cares about what happens to reach the next level.

I've rolled a decent attribute set with a High Elven Paladin born in Dragon. already got 22 strength (I would imagine great for a high elf) and got 20 Dx

[Stingray1]

Rivers are a pain in the ass, but they are part of many an early game. Believe it or not, but they have actually been made more early game friendly.

There is a few options depending on your character, piety, items, dungeon features. If there isn't a way to cross, don't risk death. The rewards for killing the Druid are not essential.
They are nice. Personally I don't do that quest until my Character is pretty buff anyway. Wrt a waterproof blanket, there is an early game character that knows the whereabouts of one. But heed the warning.

[Whippy]

Well, yesterday I had another paladin (died, oh what a suprise :P) I literally touched ONE tile of water and a blessed mithril sword and a blessed scroll of identify went straight away.

[Stingray1]

There are some items that are particularly vulnerable to water damage. Must you enter the water with them? Are you sure about the sword?

[Whippy]

Ahh well, doesn't matter now <_< The paladin died.

[Stingray1]

Ahh well, doesn't matter now <_< The paladin died.

Not true, the lessons his controller learned during his life and death will make the life of other characters longer. :)

[Whippy]

Thing is, I seem to be making the same mistakes over and over again. I think my number one death cause is getting pinned into a corner on low health or pinned in a corridor by two stupidly powerful monsters

[Stingray1]

Where are you encountering these stupidly powerful monsters?

[Whippy]

Well I dunno if they are stupidly powerful but its just usually two monsters I can't kill. I mostly die in the Puppy dog cave. I have only reached level 13 once out of a good 400+ characters LOL.

[aerol]

You can try not starting in the puppy cave outright (and knowing when to flee when you do get there), or ignoring the quest completely.

[Stingray1]

Losing hundreds of characters is nothing out of the ordinary when starting to play ADOM. As the first line in the 'How to start' section in the manual says: "ADOM is not an easy game." There's quite a lot of things that you do during gameplay that determines the success of your character. The more you die the more you learn. Persevere and your deaths will decrease, but never become impatient.

[Deathwind]

The puppy cave is a bit of a trap, to complete it in the time limit you will need to be rather low leveled compared to it's spawns. I'd recommend skipping that quest till you have a bit more experience. Go slow, grind a few floors of the infinite dungeon to earn levels if need be.

[LFk]

When you mention being trapped by the "2 monster trap", I always think lack of damage. Chances are, you are running into a monster, realize after a few rounds of combat that you cannot inflict enough damage to penetrate their PV. Thus, you (very reasonably) decide to flee, and while moving down a hallway, you encounter another high PV monster, or one you cannot dispose of in time before you die. Monsters like goblin chieftains, fire beetles, displacer beasts and gnoll chiefs are common sources of this problem. These are either monsters that are difficult to hit, difficult to damage, or are just pretty tough and pack a wallop for an early game PC. To boot, they are also quite common. Even large gnolls and ogres can take a few rounds to bring down, which might be a few rounds more than you can afford when trapped.

I might suggest playing a race that has a few built in offensive skills at the start of the game. (thus still allowing you to play whatever class you like)

Some ideas are:
Hurthlings - They are very proficient with thrown rocks, the most plentiful early ammunition. Try to remember to set yourself in 'Berserk' when you are engaging in ranged combat (as long as the opponent cannot shoot back), and you'll be surprised how easily monsters drop. A skill level 4 in thrown rocks yields +8 to-hit, and +6 damage. Extremely powerful in the early game, and very few monsters that spawn in PC will have the PV to completely deflect a Hurthling-thrown rock. The black market in bandit town might sell rocks, and they are usually cheap. If there aren't any there, you're almost guaranteed to find a goblin rockthrower. Set yourself to coward and dance around him for a little while.

Drakelings - The racial spit skill, activated by 'm', is quite powerful in the early game. Remember that it costs satiation to use, but at 2d6 at level 1, it can be more powerful than your weapon attacks. It also becomes stronger as you level, adding a bonus (level / 2) damage as well as changing the number of dice rolls to (level /3).

These skills can really get you out of a jam in the early game. Failing that, playing a Troll will make you extremely strong and tough, but you'll run into issues leveling up, learning spells, and they also have a very short lifespan. Even if you run into problems late, a troll of any sort should bash his way through all the early dungeons without much thinking, and you'll get to see a bit more of the game.

Obviously, it can be assumed that I'm also saying the obligatory "play carefully, learn when to run and come back later, etc. etc." :) I think having more offensive tools handy can really help prevent that corridor trap as well!