Any tips for a newbie?

[Ingwe Ingweron]

It would be nice if there were a place on the internet where a new angband player could go to get focused, useful advice.

Ah, but there is! Fizzix's "Let's Play Angband" videos on YouTube. Start with the first two series. In the first couple series, he explains a different concept, menu, etc., at the beginning of each video and then you see how the game is played by someone who really knows what they're doing.

I've watched all of the series and I credit Fizzix with providing the largest jump in my playing ability.

[mushroom patch]

It would be nice if there were a place on the internet where a new angband player could go to get focused, useful advice.

[Derakon]

Some popular combinations:

Half Troll - Warrior
Dwarf - Priest
High Elf - Mage
Kobold - Rogue
Dunadan - Ranger
??? - Paladin

Pretty much anything except human/elf/half-elf/gnome makes a good warrior. Hobbits are good at practically everything. Most races that make good rogues also make good rangers; most races that make good priests also make good paladins. Paladins are going to be playing mostly as fighters in the early game anyway; there aren't that many spells they can use effectively until they get a fair amount of levels and stat potions under their belts.

And yeah, race is significant. If you're playing a race with a good CON bonus, you'll need to dedicate a lot less of your equipment towards getting your CON up, for example. And most mages end up wearing a Ring of Constitution for a long time (and possibly even in the endgame) because their CON modifiers tend to be awful, both class and race. Of course, this is neutered completely if you play with maximize off, as all of your stats will cap at 18/100.

[Ingwe Ingweron]

Some popular combinations:

Half Troll - Warrior
Dwarf - Priest
High Elf - Mage
Kobold - Rogue
Dunadan - Ranger
??? - Paladin

[wobbly]

Your hp/lvl before con bonus is also going to be higher on the dwarf/hall troll. I'm just going to mention that the dwarf rogue is another solid choice. The int penalty doesn't really matter when your mainly using magic for detection & they're solid fighters & stealthy. Having RBlind stops those gotcha moments where blind takes away your teleports.

[krazyhades]

I've been wondering, is the choice of race even all that relevant after the early game, considering all the stat potions and artifact boni you rack up?

Actually yes, since it decides your pre-equipment stat caps (EDIT: as in, potions can't raise you above this number). Of course, with enough stat plusses from equipment, you can max out at 18/*** in all stats, but having a racial bonus in a stat means you don't need as many of those plusses to reach that level. It's pretty rare to see somebody fully 18/*** in all of the stats. Or rather, if they do that, they probably should have just gone and killed Morgoth much earlier.

[tumbleweed]

I've been wondering, is the choice of race even all that relevant after the early game, considering all the stat potions and artifact boni you rack up?

[Ingwe Ingweron]

....NB Mushroom Patch's opinions are exactly that: his opinions, and while he states them very forcefully that doesn't mean that everyone agrees with him. I stand by my recommendation of the Half-Troll Warrior. Stealth is very nice, but it is not remotely necessary when learning to play the game. And while High-Elves are a fairly powerful race, they also level incredibly slowly, which just makes the game un-fun for me. Half-Trolls don't have that problem.

Honestly the only races that I categorically do not recommend are elves, half-elves, and humans, none of which are heavily "tuned" towards any particular class. You want a race that complements the class you pick, and those races are simply mediocre at everything.

Whereas, I often prefer humans, possibly because I am one, but also because they level faster than any other race. That being said, I'd have to agree with Derakon that I'd never recommend one to a beginner.

Also, sorry MushroomPatch, but I completely agree with Derakon regarding stealth being far from necessary. Admittedly, there was a time I pursued it religiously, seeking ever to get "Legendary" stealth. But playing the Hobbit with the One Ring comp and several Half-Troll warriors has cured me of any obsession for stealth. As a mage or a rogue, I find stealth a little more important, but other than those two classes I pretty much ignore stealth in favor of other bonuses or resistances.

[mushroom patch]

. . .


blah, nm

[mushroom patch]

It's a monster that has no impact on the game. It appears at high levels and can be easily avoided. It breathes every other turn for high damage, so it's essentially never worth killing.

[Dampe]

What's a Tarrasque?

[Derakon]

How hard is it to kill Morgoth?

You're a long way away from Morgoth. He's not quite the hardest fight in the game (that probably goes to the Tarrasque), but he has a lot of nasty abilities and can deal a lot of damage very quickly. But since you'll be bringing all of your "endgame consumables" with you (including all of your big healing potions), you'll probably have a decent buffer against all that damage.

NB Mushroom Patch's opinions are exactly that: his opinions, and while he states them very forcefully that doesn't mean that everyone agrees with him. I stand by my recommendation of the Half-Troll Warrior. Stealth is very nice, but it is not remotely necessary when learning to play the game. And while High-Elves are a fairly powerful race, they also level incredibly slowly, which just makes the game un-fun for me. Half-Trolls don't have that problem.

Honestly the only races that I categorically do not recommend are elves, half-elves, and humans, none of which are heavily "tuned" towards any particular class. You want a race that complements the class you pick, and those races are simply mediocre at everything.

[Dampe]

How hard is it to kill Morgoth?

[mushroom patch]

You want to maximize damage per round. A lot of that has to do with blows per round, which is determined by a combination of str, dex, and the weight of the weapon. In the early game, you want daggers and main gauches, very light weapons. As you get access to weapons with brands and higher str and dex, you tend to take increasingly heavier weapons that benefit more from those brands and still give you an acceptable number of blows per round. At the end of the game, you want the heaviest weapons you can get with slay evil. You can get statistics on how much damage weapons do by examining them in your inventory/equipment.

Normally what I do, though I don't necessarily recommend it for a beginner, is use a dagger or other light weapon with the best enchantment available until I pick up something with a brand like slay orc or slay troll. I then start looking for fights with monsters of that type to gain xp and loot almost to the exclusion of other monsters (I normally dive to very high depths relative to character level so that the monsters effected by my brand are almost the only thing I can kill). Again, this is somewhat extreme but gives you an idea for how you can play the game. You have a radical degree of control over the battles you choose if you decide to take it. The dominant factor in the quality of loot you get is dungeon level, so there are significant advantages to diving deeply but carefully.

[Dampe]

Thanks for all the advice.
What should I look for when choosing a weapon?