Help!

[Asbodia]

Hi Peeps, I just started playing angband again after a break of 6 years woo! So, I'm addicted again, thought I'd sign up here, and see what happened...

Erm...

I died. A lot. Sooooooooo, any advice guys and gals? I can play any class except rogue and comfortably get to levels 20-25, about a thousand feet. With warriors and mages (my faves) I usually get to around 1300-1400ft, levels 30-35. And then die. Usually stupidly (no fa, breath, a trap, my own dumbness) and often quickly. My weaknesses are trying to be superman, Diving too fast (impatience) and that I suck at finding artifacts. Im good at taking out pits/vaults, the ol' shoot and scoot, and being careful about cursed items (eventually-took a few dead mages...)

I usually play half-orc warriors, dwarf priests, half-elf mages and occasionally a high elf mage (which I usually do well with but get impatient)

I don't know much about artifacts or which I should look for, and I do get impatient and start charging around full speed sometimes, which I'm working on...

Anyway, hope this ain't bored you....and any advice is MOST welcome

Peace

Asbodia, the wannabe goblin (WHY can't I be a goblin in the game?!?!?!?!?!)

[Dragonboneman]

If you're getting impatient and dying as a result of doing stupid stuff, you probably need to increase your diving speed in the early stages to help offset boredom.
Death by trap means you're not detecting enough. If you're a warrior you need to carry a "toolkit" of items which compensate for your lack of detection spells, and upgrade it as the game progresses.
Breaths and paralysis deaths indicate the same thing - you need to know more about which monsters are dangerous and why. Study your monster memory.
Don't play in a mindset of trying to "force" the game to cough up artifacts, the RNG is too unpredictable for that.
And ALWAYS have a way to escape, preferably several.

[Bandobras]

sbodia, the wannabe goblin (WHY can't I be a goblin in the game?!?!?!?!?!)

You can, in some variants.

[Rizwan]

My weaknesses are trying to be superman, Diving too fast (impatience)

Well you have done the hard part, identified your weaknesses, now comes the easy part,DON'T.

DON'T try to be superman.
DON'T dive too fast.
DON'T be impatient.

DO run away and often
DO dive slowly checking for traps and monster that can kill you
DO play patiently, uniques and artifacts will come again, you won't.

[Asbodia]

Thanks everyone. New record, High Elf Mage, level 32, died by sheer bad luck (2% spell failure chance happened twice on the bounce) and was in very little trouble til then. Working on a gnome mage now, 2 and rising (or descending....)

Just one more question? Pleeeeeeeeeeeeease? Could someone please give me maybe half a dozen items/artifacts I should REALLY look for?

[Asbodia]

You can, in some variants.

oooooooooooooooooo which ones?

[Bandobras]

oooooooooooooooooo which ones?

I'm only sure about that wonderful variant Unangband, but other Middle Earth variants would also be suspect.

Just one more question? Pleeeeeeeeeeeeease? Could someone please give me maybe half a dozen items/artifacts I should REALLY look for?

I think you don't get responses, because "looking for" doesn't help in any way in Angband. If you just want a list of hot artifacts, that's a totally different matter. E.g. everybody will tell you the sword 'Ringil' and the boots of Feanor are really hot. Myself, I also like the *thanc daggers, but only in variants with throwing quivers. I also like the gloves 'Cambeleg', but not when playing mages (in variants where mages don't melee).

[Dragonboneman]

You can also play as a goblin in Steamband.

[roustk]

died by sheer bad luck (2% spell failure chance happened twice on the bounce)

Note that the odds of a double failure are 1-in-2500. And you are going to be in a lot more than 2500 near-death situations in a game...

[will_asher]

Thanks everyone. New record, High Elf Mage, level 32, died by sheer bad luck (2% spell failure chance happened twice on the bounce) and was in very little trouble til then. Working on a gnome mage now, 2 and rising (or descending....)

Just one more question? Pleeeeeeeeeeeeease? Could someone please give me maybe half a dozen items/artifacts I should REALLY look for?

It's not specific items/artifacts that you look for. What you look for is certain resists and abilities from your various equipment. The beginner's guide on

http://www.thangorodrim.net/

will give you a starter's on that. (I think this or an updated version of this should be on the new Angband site.)

Note that the odds of a double failure are 1-in-2500. And you are going to be in a lot more than 2500 near-death situations in a game...

Good perspective check! 1 in 2500 sounds pretty small, but when you look at that way, you see how important a safer escape method is.

[Nick]

The beginner's guide on http://www.thangorodrim.net/
will give you a starter's on that. (I think this or an updated version of this should be on the new Angband site.)

Right here, in fact. It's still under construction, but there's lots of good stuff in it.