Your typical play sequence

[adom-admin]

My recent ponderings about the new quest to add made me wonder about one more thing: What's the typical progression through quests/maps that you take with your characters? I still have the impression that I'm playing ADOM very differently than other people out there ;-) Any insights are welcome!

[Superteeth]

I typically start in the small cave to get to the High Mountain Village. The shopkeep there usually offers good prices for the junk I have picked up at that point. After that, I go to the Village Dungeon to get healing if I do not have it, and to the Druid Dungeon if I do (sometimes, I go to the VD anyways). After that, I go ahead and retrieve the cute dog corpse and finish that quest.

After doing all these things I start to descend in the Caverns of Chaos. I then do all of Thrundarr's quests (including the Dwarven Graveyard after all of Thrundarr's main quests). After that I descend to the Water Temple if I am feeling confident enough, or I go to the Tomb of the High Kings. Otherwise, the order is reversed for these two places. I hit the Gremlin Cave at random times, I more or less do it when I remember to. I get to the Pyramid around level 15-16, so when I go depends on how many things I have killed. The last (required) thing I do on the surface is the Tower of Eternal Flames.

I then descend past the Eternal Guardian and take the shortcut into Darkforge, which is when I do all the Darkforge things that there are to do. After this is when I typically go to the Assassin Prince's cave, on the way back to the CoC. If I am strong enough at this time, then I do the Bug Temple. The Minotaur Maze is usually avoided, although this time I was able to take a Dwarven Chaos Knight in and come out with the AotME. I also visit the Library at this time. Finally, I do the final descent through the levels of the CoC, only coming back up through the shortcut to store important items.

I wonder you play, Thomas Biskup? I did not even have any idea that you played your own game.

[*invalidname*]

Standard Adventure.

terinyo > *holeinthewall* > smc > VD/dd > Pc > UD > CoC > Pyramid > graveyard > DF > ToHK > ToEF > rest of CoC

[LFk]

Very typical sequence:

1] Terinyo -> Get quests, acquire rations until burdened. If Lawful, lure farmer/goodwife out of Terinyo, kill until neutral.
2] Bandit Town -> view (ID) items in black market -> acquire Pick Pockets from Yeguris.
3] SMC. Attempt to locate down stairs and/or blanket. Weaker characters bail on this at first sign of trouble, stronger characters persist until ~level 5. Leave SMC, NOT through UD.
4] VD / DD. PCs without the means to dispatch Keethrax turns back at DD:7.
5] PC. Clear Vault, unless mixed.
6] CoC to Dwarftown, get thundarr quests.
7] At this point, everything splits off based on PC. Some combination of these things are to be done before ToEF: UD Dive, ToTHK, Water Temple, Griffyard, Pyramid, DF Raid, Thundarr's Quests. Very much based on the items acquired, though Pyramid/GY are the easiest of the above tasks.
8] ToEF.
9] Lower CoC dive, to Casino. Always pass EG peacefully, and raid gift shop. Trade a corruption for money if items are truly remarkable (i.e. 7LB, artifacts, etc.)
10] Hopefully acquire RotMC. Dive lower CoC, do temples in the order they appear, stopping when only Mana is left.
11] At this point, I usually do the side quests, if necessary. Rift, Ultra ending components (if applicable), Bug Temple, Quickling Tree, Unicorn, BDC. In a typical gate closure, many of these are skipped, especially if Mystic gave SoCRs.
12] Mana Temple.
13] D:50.

The vast majority of my games fall into this archetype.
I group these quests together as "sidequest early" : UD Dive, ToTHK, Water Temple, Griffyard, Pyramid, DF Raid, Thundarr's Quests, and complete them to prepare for ToEF.
I group these quests together as "sidequest late" : Rift, Ultra ending components (if applicable), Bug Temple, Quickling Tree, Unicorn, BDC, and complete them to prepare for MT.

My playstyle centers around those two encounters, the ones I regard as the most dangerous in the game. Ironically, I have never died to Nuurag Vaarn OR ACW due to my level of paranoia.
I die far more to carelessness on ordinary dungeon levels, with a randomly generated dangerous monster.

[JellySlayer]

Terinyo -> DD (preferred, kill druid if strong enough, otherwise return after PC) or VD (rarely... I am usually happy to trade healing for herbalism/gardening) -> PC -> CoC -> Visit as far as DH/AF split unless I can go further from Thrundarr quests -> Pyramid -> VDDL for wand if I can get it -> Griffyard -> Darkforge and High Kings, WDC if I'm Raven-born -> Dive to wall of flames, get Water Orb on way up -> ToEF (usually level 18-20) -> Casino (rob, usually) -> Dive to D:46 and check for greater vaults to rob (or, rarely, clear) -> Air Temple -> Earth Temple -> Mana Temple -> Unicorn Quest -> Finish game

For stronger characters or prospective ultras, I may follow other paths (SMC -> UD start, for example), but this is pretty typical for me.

[gut]

bugwil (for xp) > darkforge (for tp control) > terinyo (to kill druid) > darkforge again (shield of raw steel) > dorftown (to open coc gate) > water temple (water orb) > tower (fire orb) > casino (to further break the game) > UL:5 (to kill the ancient karmic wyrm for xp) > air temple (air orb) > earth temple (earth orb) > mana temple (mana orb) > D:50 (close gate) > terinyo (to kill a child and/or goodwife) > exit the chain (to gain a massive score) > post on forums (to relish in nerd companionship and approval)

[Singbird]

Buy food from Terinyo and check the stair situation in the small cave. Then go to either village dungeon or druid dungeon and explore. Keethrax is usually left alive at this point. Then go to puppy cave if the character is strong enough, otherwise go to Caverns of Chaos. After puppy cave get pickpocket from Yergius if I think I need training for climbing of stealth. Then go the unremarkable dungeon if the stair situation is good or if the PC is strong (a low level troll for example) or if I have teleportation. Otherwise it will be left until I have.

With trolls usually the first trip is to the arena to buy cooked lizards, before doing anything else. Otherwise get to Dwarftown after the beforementioned stuff and get Thrundarr's quest. Unless the monster is very rare, hunt it before going beyond the forest. I do all the Thrundarr's quests if I can (the only problem usually being the animated forest), then the pyramid if I'm strong enough, then dwarven graveyard, kill Keethrax, get training from Yergius and go to the unremarkable cavern if that was left out earlier and if I can. Also do Blup quest.

After this explore Caverns of Chaos until the wall of flames, do the Tomb of the High Kings, do Darkforge, get wand of teleportation. After doing the tower, just dive deep and hopefully get the Ring of the Master Cat and see what vaults there are and if it's possible to get any artifacts. Then try to do the earth temple and air temple and get the corpses to Guth'Alak. Visit the library at some point if corruption is an issue. Otherwise just close the gate.

I only do regular endings because I don't know how to do the others really. I also don't visit bug temple/minotaur maze, because in the few times I did I felt like what I got was not worth the risk / hair pulling / corruption (that was long ago though...). Corruption is usually not an issue for me unless I play chaotics (Guth'Alak, mystic, unicorn quest is enough for my normal plays) and corruption removal seems the biggest reason to visit these places.

[asdf]

Terinyo > Lawenilothehl > SMC (blanket only) > PC/VD/DD in no particular order > UD > CoC > Pyramid > Graveyard > ToHK/Water Temple/Darkforge > Maze/Rift/Bugvil for some characters > ToEF > rest of CoC

[GordonOverkill]

1) Preparation:
I enter Terinyo to check my char's stuff, skills, spells etc., read books, equip missile weapons, buy some food if needed etc. Afterwards I go to the outlaw settlement, kill a begger if I feel like trying an ultra, check the black market to identify some stuff, probably learn pick pockets (though I never use it... just wouldn't like to get it from a potion of education ;-)).

1a) With weak or careful chars:
A beginner quest from Terinyo (taked during the earlier visit)... VD if healing is needed of for archers, DD for everyone else. If I feel too weak to engage Kethrax, I do the PC first, otherwise I do it afterwards. When this is done, I check for close stairs in the small cave and try to reach the UD without taking big risks. If it works, I try to reach the HMV and from there on continue to the CoC, if not I usually check the DDL for herbs on my way to the CoC.
If I find a coalligned altar in any of the dungeons, I might grind a little piety boost for some additional healing prayers. If I find a level with herbs in the PC, I might also grind for some pepper petals or spenseweeds.

1b) With tough or daring chars:
I go directly for the small cave, try to pick up the blanket and then go through the UD - eventually skipping extremely big threads - untill I reach the HMV. From there I go directly to the CoC.
If I find a coalligned altar in UD or DDL, I might grind a little piety boost for some additional healing prayers. If I find a level with herbs, I might also grind for some pepper petals or spenseweeds.

2)First CoC dive:
Quick dive through the CoC untill I reach Dwarftown. If necessary I stay a little longer in the arena level to buy cooked lizards. In Dwarftown I get the first quest and check the shop. Afterwards...

2a) With weak or careful chars:
Explore the higher CoC levels that I skipped earlier, maybe secure and farm some herbs or even pacify the big room for intensive farming. If I haven't found the monster of the first dwarven quest after scouting all the levels between D1 and Dwarftown, I go for the deeper levels until I reach the two-downstairs-level. If the second quest was already started, I might go deeper untill I reach round about exp level 15 or 16. Meanwhile I try to finish as many dwarven quests as possible, hopefully reaching the arena quest.

2b) With tough or daring chars:
Directly go deeper into the CoC like explained above. Maybe care about herbs in the big room on my way back up.

3) Back to the surface:
If the quest is already started, try to become arena champion and finish the remaining dwarven quests. After the arena I might go for dwarven graveyard (usually exploiting my spoiled knowledge and asking for the quest though my char doesn't know about the portal yet), the Tomb of the High Kings, Darkforge, the VDDL (for the wand of teleportation), the underwater cave (and afterwards to Bulp), maybe finish some remaining duties in the starting region (if I fled from any of the dungeons earlier)... well, just all the stuff I want to do before the Tower and for which I feel strong enough. During this time I usually increase my char's power massively. If I try an ultra, I would also start with the chaos quests and maybe try to get the phial from the gremlin cave etc. The order of events may differ a little from game to game, but the Pyramid is always first and Darkforge or the Tomb of the High Kings are usually last. If I realize that I am not yet strong enough for any of these challanges, I first return to the CoC ( as explained in 4)) and see how far I can progress there.

4) Back to the CoC:
If not done so yet, I cross the dwarven halls, finish the remaining dwarven quests (untill I reach Khelly), the gladius quest and - if no ultra attemp - try to get crowned (in the new version usually by saccing monsters). Maybe I then do some pool-drinking in hopes of getting a wish to save Khelly. How far I dive depends on the developement of my char. Sometimes I feel strong enough after finishing the dwarven quests and getting crowned, sometimes I rather do the Water Temple first in order to get the orb and increase my equipment a little further. If I still don't have a fireproof blanket or ring of ice at this point, I dive untill I reach the wall of flames. No later than this point I return to the surface again.

4) Tower:
Well, I go inside and hope that I am well enough prepared to finish off the ACW. I do never grind like a madmen for preparation... if I am still missing an important piece after the preparation mentioned above, I just try to do it without.

5) Endgame:
From here on I might already go directly for victory, if my char feels tough enough. Important stations are the casino (which I usually try to rob), the cat lord (which I usually have to fight), the elemental temples and maybe the greater vaults that I find on my way (I usually try to clear giants, red dragons or fire creatures (if I can protect my equipment), rob everything else if possible, maybe just flee from undead vaults).
If I still feel to weak for whatever reason, I might go back to the surface through the shortcut and go for another location at first (library or Minotaur Maze). Then I go for D50 and afterwards try to get rid of my corruptions before I leave the chain.

6) Maybe some notes of the developement of this order with growing experience:
As an unexperienced player I thought that it was easiest to start with all the beginning quests and not progress untill I had finished them. I always thought that it would not make sense to progress if I am not even able to survive these early challanges. That changed when I realized that some of the early quests are a whole lot more dangerous than the early CoC levels (PC, DD bottom level, Kranach and his gang).
Also I realized at one point that quick early leveling gives you quite an advantage compared to slow leveling, because there is actually something like a "point of relative safety" somewhere around level 10-12. When this point is reached, your char is tough enough to survive one or two stupid mistakes. That's when I started going for the UD with strong enough chars in order to minimize the duration of the extremely fragile first levels, duing which a stupid misklick or lack of concentration usually means instant death. Of course that's always kinda risky in it's own way, but on the other hand the risk is calculatable if you know the game well, you just have to keep your concentration at maximum for a shorter time and and it's also really big fun ;-)
Finally I developed a tendency to play more economically. Early UD dives take less real life time than the "traditional" starting quests and shorter play means less chances to make a stupid mistake. Same with dwarven halls compared to the animated forest etc. I also try to minimize grinding processes by farming less and less herbs and avoiding grinding for specific items. I think, the tendency goes towards speed runs, but (being an old pen and paper player) limited by the bounds of reasonable roleplaying.
And last but not least of course there is a growing desire for a change, so I recently started to include various rather "optional" locations into my play sequences like the rift/library, the minotaur maze etc.

Guess that's more or less it. Hopefully it helps you a little.

e: One more thing, I REALLY love ChAoS KnIgHtS, just because they force me to break with this typical routine and do something else, something simmilar to a reduced lithium challange run. It makes them a challanging class, but also extremely fun to play for me.

[Blasphemous]

Terrinyo comes first. I get quests depending on skills. With a duelist for example, I don't have herbalism but I have healing so obviously I will take the druid quest.
I get a few rations (typically 4) and eat them right away. Then I'm off to bandit town to get my first kill, typically a beggar/outlaw leader.
After that it's SMC to generate it at a lower char level. With that done, I head for ID to get a few more basic items and level up till 7-8.
Then it's VD or DD since they are closer to ID, after that it's PC.
Occasionally I will run into rivers that I cannot pass and won't risk swimming so I will abandon the dungeon. I don't do the raider lord quest.
After all that it's SMC -> UD. If I can find down staircase in SMC, I will get all the way to HMV and sell/buy stuff.
If SMC is too difficult and staircase isn't too accessible, I will head for CoC, stopping at dusty dungeon hoping to get altars/shops/pools/herbs.
Also after HMV I will head for CoC, typically around lvl 12-13. From then a lot depends on class/items/hp/spells.
Most commonly I reach dwarftown and get portal quest and kill monster quest, train some stats with herbs in the big room, kill stuff in the arena.
After that it's either precrown (VD/DD/PC typically due to high chance of altar generation) or pyramid.
With amw and ankh I head for the dwarven graveyard and perhaps access some previously inaccessible area (due to rivers) and clear vaults which I could not clear earlier without strength of atlas or blessed girdle of carrying.
This is the point where a lot can happen so I have no set 'directives', I try to adapt.
Occasionally I will find aols at some point during this early game and so I will try to save Khelly if I can reach him safely. I will postpone that however if I can't simultaneously complete thrundarr's animated forest quest.
That depends on what monster he wants slain first, which can be something pretty crazy. Last time it was a berserker prince that I only managed to find around char lvl ~35.
Assuming I can find the monster quickly, I proceed with the second quest and typically take DH path. Occasionally I will find a vault on my way to Khelly.
I typically turn back around banshee level, go to the TotHK, level up a bit there and with lvl 20-22 I will consider if I'm ready for the Tower.
At this point I will either head for the Tower or more often to clear darkforge and have a poolsipping session. With darkforge stuff I'm usually ready for the tower so that is where I go.
After this, it's either library/labyrinth or deep CoC, all the way to greater vaults.