Originally Posted by
Xcode_t
So, I have been playing the original ADOM for a few months now, but I have only become really interested this past week. The second ADOM looks amazing, but does not have as many classes and options as I feel it needs to. I'm sure that is already part of a heated-discussion so I will simply move on to the questions.
1. I have become quite attached to the dwarves recently due to their strength and the mining skill, but I have not actually been able to find a pickaxe, so I cannot actually do the mining. When and where can I get a pickaxe for early game?
Dwarves are a good choice, but don't be afraid to branch out. Drakelings are another good choice--if you get in trouble, you can spit acid with the m button, though it does cost food, and they have similar starting stats to dwarves. In the early game, the most important stats are Toughness (To), Health (HP), and Protection (PV) and raw weapon damage.
2. A few classes are really appealing to me, such as the farmer and the mindcrafter, but I also want to try something different this week. The barbarian caught my eye, but how is it different from the fighter?
Farmers and mindcrafters are quite hard to play. For best results, remove all your armor and switch to berserk (F1) tactics (seriously). You will get a massive bonus to your weapon damage. Once you pick up a couple pieces of decent armor, you can start re-equipping yourself again. Barbarians are a strong offence class; fighters are more defensively oriented. You might want to pick a class with the Healing skill early on, as it will make it easier to survive early fights. Dwarf or drakeling paladins are a good choice for solid defense + decent offense + healing skill.
3. I have never made it out of the starting valley because I cannot find the things the quests are talking about, I always starve to death before getting to the left edge, and I always get ambushed by wandering wizards near the river and can never escape. Any advice on how to ensure my character doesn't starve do death?
Avoid the wilderness, you use food a lot faster there. Get in a dungeon quickly. From the starting town, there is a dungeon northwest (somewhat difficult), a dungeon closeby in the southeast (appears once you talk to the village elder or druid), a dungeon in the far southeast corner, and a dungeon in the northeast (appears once you talk to tiny girl). The Food Preservation skill will give you more corpses once you raise it above 60. Make this a priority if you're having food problems. Most corpses are safe to eat, though a few (notably kobolds) are quite harmful--you'll need to experiment a bit; corpses are a major food supply early on. Avoid being strained or burdened. These will greatly increase your food consumption. Once you get to the main dungeon (centre of the map), you can buy cooked lizards in large quantities that will pretty much solve your food problems for the rest of the game.
Hoping to win with every class, doomed. Archer, Barbarian, Bard, Beastfighter, Druid, Elementalist, Farmer, Fighter, Monk, and ULE Priest down.