Newbie question - Giant Mice

[Odsoc]

What's the best way to deal with these. I keep getting killed by them, hardly heroric!

[Derakon]

They aren't especially aggressive, what with the normal speed and erratic movement. You should be able to just run away if their numbers get out of control. Close doors to contain them.

Of course, ideally you don't let them explode in the first place. Stealth helps, prioritizing them if you notice them helps, and ranged attacks (Stinking Cloud for preference) are better than running up to them to engage in melee, because they give fewer turns for the mice to breed.

[Odsoc]

Thanks. I had no time and was completely surrounded. Is there one in particular that does the spawning or do they just keep multipling as long as there is one left?

[Derakon]

Any monster that breeds explosively has a chance on its turn to create a copy of itself in an adjacent open tile. So as long as there's one left the entire group can repopulate.

If you get surrounded, use Phase Door. You should always carry a stack of PD scrolls with you. Also, try not to get surrounded in the first place.

[Odsoc]

Any monster that breeds explosively has a chance on its turn to create a copy of itself in an adjacent open tile. So as long as there's one left the entire group can repopulate.

If you get surrounded, use Phase Door. You should always carry a stack of PD scrolls with you. Also, try not to get surrounded in the first place.

Everyday's a lesson.

[wobbly]

also carry wands of stinking cloud for as long as you can fit it in your inventory. It is the simplest breeder cleaning device.

[Pete Mack]

If you see a group of them, run. Try not to let yourself get surrounded in the first place: with normal speed breeders, it should be a rare occasion. Lice ('l') are more of a problem, as they're double-speed. Later on, there are a number of insects ('I') that are really bad news; then you have to teleport out of the room as soon as you see them breeding:
Hummerhorn: hit to confuse
Giant Firefly: hit to blind
Neekerbreeker: shriek for help(!!)
All of these you should avoid like the plague if you have detection.
If you don't, zap them before they breed.
If that doesn't work, close the door and walk away.
If THAT doesn't work, teleport out of there.
If THAT doesn't work, quick read recall before you're confused/blind. Hope your !CCW doesn't run out before you die.
If THAT doesn't work, well, you die. Time to reroll.

[kandrc]

Neekerbreeker: shriek for help(!!)

This is even worse than it sounds, as shrieking not only wakes up bad guys, but also hastes them.

[Philip]

Just as a quick reminder, when fighting melee confusers and blinders and already confused, if you're lucky you can sometimes get a turn of non-confusion by chugging !speed and then !CCW. Of course, if you're in the middle of a room surrounded by Hummerhorns, it's not particularly likely to help, but it's better than waiting to die.

Fortunately, breeders tend to start out sleeping, and won't breed until they know about you anyway, so keep your stealth high and don't stick around levels for too long and you should be ok.

Hummerhorns and Fireflies are some of the more compelling reasons to carry around a Staff of Teleportation, since it will take them a while to kill you, probably long enough to successfully use it.

[NimrodPE]

On low character levels you may want to consider the exp gain by letting them breed and killing them off by "button-mashing-walking" through their horde but beware: This can kill you! Especially with Hummerhorns or Neekerbreekers.

On low cl's I always flee as soon as I see them, they really aren't worth the trouble.