Quick Diving versus "Recommended Depths"

[Wraitheist]

What kind of player are you? Do you dive as quickly as possible regardless of clvl and resistances/stats or do you wait around to max stats and such? And with your style, have you "won" the game, yet? I've tried it both ways and I've there are definitely pros and cons to both. So what is your strategy, so to speak? And if you don't mind, feel free to post any advice or tips that you have...I could use all of the help I can get! (I know the basics, recommended resists, etc.)

[pav]

I'm the Beachboy type. I hang around a certain depth until I feel comfortable and slightly bored by it. That's indication I should drop a floor or two.

[Djabanete]

I take the first down stairs I find, unless there's easy loot to be had. I haven't won this way but I think all my deaths have been avoidable.

[Rizwan]

I like to clean floors of any and all scum before descending with frequent recall to town to sell off unidentified scrolls and potions (I never drink potions or read scrolls unless they have been identified)

[Atarlost]

I tend to clear levels unless I feel they're too dangerous, but I don't pay any attention at all to reccomended depths. I don't even know what the depths for various resists are in V, much less in the variant I'm playing at any given time. I also don't make frequent trips back to town.

Unfortunately that's a play style that kind of relies on plentiful ID and clear pseudo. It's not working well for me in Un because ID is expensive and the {unusual} stuff I drag back is so often bad and doesn't recupe the cost of IDing it.

[takkaria]

What kind of player are you? Do you dive as quickly as possible regardless of clvl and resistances/stats or do you wait around to max stats and such? And with your style, have you "won" the game, yet? I've tried it both ways and I've there are definitely pros and cons to both. So what is your strategy, so to speak? And if you don't mind, feel free to post any advice or tips that you have...I could use all of the help I can get! (I know the basics, recommended resists, etc.)

I used to clear levels, but thesedays I go for (almost) a first-stairs-down strategy. I die a lot more, but I find it a lot more rewarding.

[Big Al]

I used to clear levels, but thesedays I go for (almost) a first-stairs-down strategy. I die a lot more, but I find it a lot more rewarding.

This pretty well sums it up for me too.

[Svladd Cjelik]

I play Z, always a human mage, always Trump + whichever else suits me at the time.

(i) I scum for a floating eye, melee it (great saving throws against paralysis), which will take me up a level.
(ii) Fast dive till 1450' and scum for stat potions and spell books.
(iii) Return to town and scum for a staff of perception.
(iv) Venture on to greater depths.
(v) It breathes. You die.

[will_asher]

I used to dive very slowly and would usually die between dL8 and dL20. I dive a lot faster than I used to but still slow compared to some people, and I get to stat gain a lot more often than I used to. (though have still never gotten past dL60) I pay attention to recommended resists at certain levels but by no means keep them as a rule. I usually ignore lack of SI if I'm a priest or paladin because of the detect evil spell, and I try to keep track of which monsters can paralyze so I just watch out for them when I go past dL20 without FA.

I still have Vanilla 3.0.5 or 3.0.6 on my stone age laptop because it doesn't have internet or a CD drive and I haven't got around to updating by floppy disk (it takes two disks). I don't usually use it for Angband, but currently I have an elf ranger who's on clvl39 and dL43 which is my third best ever according the oook ladder. I think one reason I've done better with this character is because I've been playing it less often for shorter amounts at a time then I play on the other computer.

[Djabanete]

(v) It breathes. You die.

Amen.

[Psi]

I tend to play high stealth characters, stay near the stairs, kill only what will benefit me (and I know I have an escape from if it turns nasty) and keep dropping with no regard to recommended levels (they don't apply if you avoid the relevant monsters).

This is my strategy in FA, haven't played V since 2.9.2 when I was a lot more cautious, but I have won both.

[Mondkalb]

I have been used to clear levels and dive at clvl=dlvl speed. Recently I have tried some faster diving but tended to die more often.
My first and approved strategy lead to two paladin winners, but it took me years to manage this.

[Narvius]

Warrior:
Just go down till you die.
Mage:
Go to 500' and scum there for Level 11, money to buy the four buyable spellbooks and useful gear.
Go down and die.

[Nystul]

I tend to work my way down at a fairly slow pace. I'm more likely to leave a given level by recalling to town and selling loot than by diving to the next level. If a level generates a good feeling or stronger (autoscum off), it would bother me to leave that level without finding something that would cause that feeling. If I do find a vault, it would really bother me to not clear it. If I find a unique, my first instinct is to get him one on one and take him out. Stealth is apparently not my thing, and all of my winners to date have been dwarven paladins.

[Dragonboneman]

I mainly play V. I occasionally hover around some of the recommended depths, especially 2000'. However I have been known to dive from time to time, usually only stopping if I detect a worthwhile "target" such as a unique or vault which contains obvious artifacts or important consumables.
I tend to lose momentum again if I think I might actually win, spending a very long time at 4900' gathering way too much healing, scumming for uniques and finding kit to cover any remaining resistance holes. My last winner's turncount was in excess of 8 million, and a fair chunk of that was at 4900-4950.