Ridiculous death due, in my opinion, to flawed design.

[Lord Fell]

I was just thinking about my first win... and this was so long ago that I honestly can't remember if it was Moria or Angband that that this win was achieved. So, I was "just a kid" at the time, I'd done enough power diving and serious playing that I knew the score.

I still wasn't someone who'd actually check the Monster Memory for every creature I came across. I didn't want to burden myself down with Probing staffs or rods. But, I did clue in that there were a lot of different resistances, and I'd better have them all. I descended quite slowly, hauled and sold as much loot as humanly possible, and by the time I faced off against Morgoth (oh, wait. It must have been Angband) my gear was immaculate, and virtually all the uniques he might summon were dead. I went through Morgoth like a chainsaw through a kitten (or so I remember it).

What I think this means, is that you can beat the game with patience and grinding even if you don't entirely know what you're doing... at least as long as you learn the most basic rules.

[Pete Mack]

@Vogrim --

A couple points.
1. If you're facing the Lernean Hydra without Poison resist, you've pretty much got the hang of the game. Yeah, it's a real pain in the ass to be 20 hours invested into a character to lose it to a lack of knowlege.
2. On the other hand, if you are playing with less than perfect knowlege, you have to be careful: either make sure you aren't vulnerable to instadeath (this means rPois or 800+ HP, rNether, or 550+ HP, and 500+HP at depth > dl 50 in any case.)
3. Even the most experienced players lose strong characters from time to time, though not usually to the Lernean Hydra. The usual suspects are the Tarrasque (how I hate it!), Azriel, Vecna, And Carcharoth. (Famous last words: he breathed nether for How Much?)
4. True roguelikes are a game where you have to plan for the worst: that is you will eventually die. In this respect, angband does't qualify: a careful player can essentially always win. (The original rogue has something like a 50% death rate even for optimal play.) This means,
a) don't invest too much effort in any one character and
b) take strategic risks, while minimizing tactical risks. This is the key to enjoying the game, in my opinion. Start a new character, (e.g., a High-Elf rogue) and focus on winning. That is: get to dl 100 as fast as possible, and thenkill Morgoth.

Yeah you took a brutal loss on this character, but in the end, it's still just another dead character. In fact, you are extremely close to your first true win.

[Vogrim]

I think it's time to locker this game, considering I just lost a level 26 mage because I held down the right arrow button for too long on a level that I thought was empty. I would suggest that the programmers implement something to prevent those types of deaths, but I'm sure a dozen fanboys will jump to defend that "aspect" of the game as well.

[Therem Harth]

There is. The '.' key will make your character keep walking (down a twisting corridor, through a room, whatever) until disturbed. This should probably be documented better though.

[Derakon]

You can also hold the shift key down when using the numpad to move.

[Djabanete]

It's called the Shift key, and it's essential. Shift+direction moves you in a direction until disturbed.

[Lord Fell]

It boggles my mind that someone could play a 39th and also a 26th level character both without learning about auto-move. I'm even more shocked that someone would have the patience to put in that much play time single-stepping through Angband's enormous dungeons.

Are you sure you're not Trolling us?

[Djabanete]

I'm pretty sure he's not. Angband is a sufficiently fun game that people will work through some truly tortuous self-imposed UI restrictions before realizing that the interface is actually smart. My friend beat the game with a Ranger before learning about macros, for example.

Vogrim, I'm guessing you've been holding down arrow keys? That's a recipe for death if there ever was one. Shift will make your life so much easier!

[chris]

Vogrim, I'm guessing you've been holding down arrow keys? That's a recipe for death if there ever was one. Shift will make your life so much easier!

This has killed many a spectre of mine ... The run code does not work with passwall. Usually, Babbles and The Destroyer can get me before I can react

[tigpup]

I think it's time to locker this game, considering I just lost a level 26 mage because I held down the right arrow button for too long on a level that I thought was empty. I would suggest that the programmers implement something to prevent those types of deaths, but I'm sure a dozen fanboys will jump to defend that "aspect" of the game as well.

The game gives you everything you need to avoid this death. Detection, ESP, probing and the run (shift) command.

It's not possible for "programmers implement something to prevent those types of deaths"; those types of deaths can only be prevented by the player. You've had some very good advice from great players in this thread. I'd suggest you stop mourning, and start reading.

Good luck

[Adley]

My friend beat the game with a Ranger before learning about macros, for example.

I learnt about macros when bridging a chasm to reach the oute wall in Un...

[fyonn]

I don't consider myself to be an expert, but I would say I'm relatively experienced having played the game for about 15 years and having won twice. that said, I just lost my clvl 47 hobbit mage on dlvl 71.

a scroll of deep descent dropped me next to a pack of ether hounds. decided they were a bit too dangerous so I teleported away and landed next to a pack of time hounds who were all awake. without even getting the chance to move I got time breathe'd to death.

that felt to me as somewhat of an inevitable death that I could little about, but it's the nature of the game. sometimes bad things happen. what can you do?

dave

[fizzix]

that felt to me as somewhat of an inevitable death that I could little about, but it's the nature of the game. sometimes bad things happen. what can you do?

after dlevel 50 (or whatever the native depth of gravity hounds are) you should consider teleself to have something like a 0.01-0.1% chance of insta-death, unless you've banished Z or destructed the sides of the map. It used to be higher before the frequency of hounds were reduced.

So yes, it's a bad break, but it should happen about once very 1000-10000 teleports. Happened to me with gravity hounds twice in my career.

[d_m]

And the frequency only gets higher as you get deeper and add in things like druj and black reaver.

[LostTemplar]

that felt to me as somewhat of an inevitable death that I could little about, but it's the nature of the game. sometimes bad things happen. what can you do?

T.level, destruct, create doors, etc. I actually completely stop using teleport self at some point, usually when I got my first *Destruction* item.