What am I doing wrong?

[Philip]

I mean, the armor probably would have been nice, but it's not a huge deal. Rlight and Rdark are nice to have, at least.

+40 HP is infinitely more defensively potent than 17 AC, and due to the way CON bonuses scale, it gets much more powerful the more you add. If you added another +4 CON ring after that, it would give way more HP than +40. The return on investment rises with investment.

You can take on vaults without fighting monsters, if you use Teleport Other a lot. It's quite effective, though you still shouldn't open vaults with monsters that can kill you easily, since Teleport Other can fail.

Luring wall-walkers into corridors only works if you're next to the wall-walker, unfortunately. Still, while it doesn't have line of sight on you while it approaches through the wall, so you have more time than you might expect.

If phase took you closer to a monster, you probably used it too soon. If there is a mess nearby that phase could put you in, you should be teleporting instead, since that mess will make its way towards you soon enough anyway. Scrolls of phase door are cheap, available in stores, and can't fail. Use those when something scary is next to you.

You don't have to avoid all conflict, just conflict that you can't reliably and easily win. If you have good resists (permanent + temporary rBase, for example) and ranged combat, you might find killing dragons at range quite easy and rewarding, for example. Or maybe you have something that slays dragons. Or an immunity to an element. Any of these things can give you a class of monsters that you can easily kill. If those monsters have a drop and give decent xp, there is rarely a reason to fight any of the other monsters. And even avoiding all conflict with monsters within 20 levels of your current depth, you would still get stuff allowing you to take more fights. Maybe the occasional potion of EXP if you're deep enough.

[Philip]

Himring gives rPois, rNeth and rChaos last I checked. After the Base 4 elements, these 3 have the highest damage caps in the game (of elements that can be resisted). Since so much of the game revolves around mitigating maximum damage, taking 266 instead of 800 poison damage is pretty nice. I wouldn't be surprised if you died to a poison breath, honestly. Be careful about it, and cast temporary rPois whenever fighting anything that you aren't completely sure can't use poison. Nether resistance is not too reliable, but it's still great to have.
Himring is one of the better armors in the game. Covering those three resistance in one place allows you to play around with the rest of your gear. The obvious hole is rBase, and there are other slots you can find that.

You don't need anything to protect you from Nexus. It is an exceedingly rare element, and you're immune to its most scary property already.

AC should be borderline useless to you. If AC is important, something has gone horribly horribly wrong. Either the monster is pathetic in melee, in which case low AC doesn't matter, or it's scary in melee, in which case what are you doing in melee? Phase door or teleport away.

If your worst worry is not death but some kind of melee inflicted effect, you're going to die to something unexpected, and probably soon. You should always be worried about dying, and you die to burst damage, not to melee.

In general, if you want to win (as soon as possible) your strategy should be to worry about two things - your character dying, and you wasting time. On your next character, try diving.You'll find that a lot of your characters will die, but it will take a shorter time to get a viable character. 20 characters will die, and then one will get to dlvl 30, but all this will take less time than it would have to get to dlvl 30 by level clearing. You'll probably also have a lot more fun with diving, though I can't know that.

[Moving Pictures]

3 stealth from Radagast is better than rNexus ....
This is contentious, but if you use Radagast, Thorongil will only be giving you SI, which you can do without if you have telepathy and detect invisible. At that point, I would swap it out for one of your other cloaks .

OK. Will try a journey with Radagast and the Elven cloak of stealth.

I guess this is the wrong time to tell you I tossed a black dragonscale armour of stealth, right?

[Moving Pictures]

Right, so when it's about 12 squares away, that gives you about 6 turns, since Nether Ws are fast. One use for those 6 turns is to find a room

Long hallway as a matter of fact.

... and then shoot ranged stuff once it gets out of the wall (if that is enough to kill it).

Wraiths and those freaking weird etherial dragons do not come out of walls, I have found, esp in hallways. And using magic on critters in walls doesn't work. found that out draining a staff of dispel dead, waiting for a wraith in a wall to *&!*(@ die.

Never fear using a ?Phase to reposition, it'll give you at least a little bit of time.

I am beginning to get the sense I have been awfully unlucky. Eight times out of ten, when Phase has worked (which it often doesn't), it takes me CLOSER to the blasted creature, or into a worse mess....

so just reroll the level with Teleport Level.

But I can't go around just avoiding conflict, otherwise I'll be stuck a level 38 forever, never getting anywhere, Making sense?

Every turn should leave you in a better place than the last. Phase a lot.

Phase creates trouble, see above. Just this morning, hit a phase on a scroll, and landed from a corridor, into the middle of being bashed like crap on three sides.

[Moving Pictures]

probably because you haven't cleared enough vaults, either that or you've been really really unlucky.
...

(Though as Philip said, even then, swap in the CON ring.)

OK. Two things baffle.

First, others are espousing the "Run Away/avoid combat" approach. Vaults are inconsistent with this.

Second, my CON is already maxxed. +4 only gives, like, 40 more HP, at the cost of 17 AC and a reasonable ranged attack that comes with an auto resist of like flavour once used. So why would I sacrifice defence for offence, if the advice so far is to avoid offence?

I am genuinely confused.

[Philip]

Right, so when it's about 12 squares away, that gives you about 6 turns, since Nether Ws are fast. One use for those 6 turns is to find a room and then shoot ranged stuff once it gets out of the wall (if that is enough to kill it). Best bet is walking towards a room and then using phase door to get away from the W and hopefully into a room. Phasing into rooms is easy, phasing into corridors is hard.
If that isn't possible for whatever reason, use spells to prepare for the fight, as you did, but this time, say, try to caste Haste Self, which doubles your damage output and improves your manoeuvrability and gives you more time to react to situations as they arise (Shield is a waste of time or sp in almost any situation). Try to figure out whether you're better off trying to pick a melee fight or an arrow/magic fight. If you want to use ranged, lure the W out of the wall by walking away from it (it will follow you into the corridor) and then you can blast it with spells or arrows. Never fear using a ?Phase to reposition, it'll give you at least a little bit of time.
Another use of those 6 turns is to use whatever spell in Mordenkainen is convenient - you have enough time to run through your mana trying, and your INT is high, so just reroll the level with Teleport Level.
You only used two turns to prepare before the fight - I imagine you are losing turns somewhere you weren't thinking about. Every turn should leave you in a better place than the last. Phase a lot.

[Moving Pictures]

[QUOTE=Philip;128388
I don't know how you lost Himring. It's a shame, since it gives 3 good resists and would be very handy now that you have rBase covered. [/QUOTE]

It has, in my experience, been utterly and totally useless, so I left it on the ground in town, becaus I had better armour. Himring,... Doesn't *do* anything. Ghosts and baddies seem to ignore any prot evil, so why bother, when other armour will actually give you a fighting chance?

I keep the ice/fire rings not for the attacks buut to do something about the AC. If I'm getting hammered like crap now, why bother beefing up on HP and lowering the AC, just to be hammered more easily? Seems like a losing situation.

I put the boots aside because I needed something to protect me from Nexus.

[Moving Pictures]

Right, so, taking advice. Loaded up on a wand of teleport other, looking for stairs down.
Using the helm of ESP whatchever. Obstacle in the way. MCG: no monsters. Nothing on ESP. Remove obstacle. Six steps later, see critter about 12 squares away.

Nether wraith.

Can't teleport it; not keen on teleporting self to an unknown. Power up a "shield" which fails, power it up again, and *boom* it's there, coming through the wall. I know from previous experience, I can't throw a spell at it (dispel doesn't work on critters in walls), so all I can do is swat at it ... and next turn, womp, there go a few thousand XP.

Situation freaking normal. And this time I have no restore potions.

[Sideways]

That's basically the painfully slow instakill-avoider that Derakon mentioned, except that it's not buff enough for the actual not getting instakilled part.

Since the painfully slow approach is essentially all about getting your HP up early, see if you can get your CON up; most immediately, by replacing one of your rings with the +4 CON ring like Philip said; though really you want your CON much higher even than that. Your equipment isn't bad for the depth, but it is bad for that combination of depth, clvl and painful slowness - probably because you haven't cleared enough vaults, either that or you've been really really unlucky.

(The other thing you really need more of, in addition to CON, is speed; and at that depth, both +CON items and speed items are most likely to be found in vaults.)

Note that by "needs CON" I mean "your approach needs more CON" and not "your character needs more CON". A lot of people would feel comfortable going much deeper on that character, without any additional CON (or indeed with less CON than you have); which explains the calls for change of approach. (Though as Philip said, even then, swap in the CON ring.)

[Philip]

Mordenkainen is probably the best and most important spellbook in the game. Even if you won't ever have 0% fail, it provides a whole lot of very useful spells to avoid fights. I imagine Teleport Level is already available for you. Use it often, because the longer you stay on a live, the more likely something is to spawn (awake) and murder you. Or something might wake up and murder you.

A good indication that the reason you die at dlvl 40 is because you stay there too long is that your stats are maxed.

3 stealth from Radagast is better than rNexus, IMO. I don't know how much HP +4 CON would give you but swap in the CON ring. The activation on elemental rings is nice, but not worth dying for. If you find any other nice rings, remember that you're a ranger, and if AC starts mattering, something has clearly gone terribly wrong.

If you run out of arrows a lot, fight less and leave levels more. Bring more ammo, unless it burdens you too far.

This is contentious, but if you use Radagast, Thorongil will only be giving you SI, which you can do without if you have telepathy and detect invisible. At that point, I would swap it out for one of your other cloaks. This could give you respectable stealth (+6 gives you 4x more time before anything wakes up) at low cost.

You are taking way too much xp damage (especially if you value Hold Life as much as you seem to). Run away before anything that causes that comes near, especially anything that can do it at range (which is rare). Teleport away if you have to. Teleport level if you have to.

I don't know how you lost Himring. It's a shame, since it gives 3 good resists and would be very handy now that you have rBase covered.

Never ever ever clear a level. If you find yourself near a staircase, and have no important plans on your current level, take the stairs. This will take you steadily downwards, but that's not too bad.

[t4nk]

But again, how do you find reasonable items? In my experience, the good stuff (phials, arkenstones, dragon-scale armour, decent choppy/hacky weapons/bows) are either carried by uniques or nasty critters, or in vaults occupied by Vlad and his sixteen best undead friends.

Simple, you don't need reasonable items to go deep, you can go with bad ones. Most important items are sold in town (staves of detect monster, teleport, etc). And in the depths even weak monsters start to drop good things - snagas dropping stat potions, stuff like that. So I just do without arkenstones

Or, as has happened recently "Oh, crap. I can't handle Ren the Unclean ... *teleport* Oh, crap, I can't handle Vlad, not on 82 HP ... oh, look, my XP is yellow again." And this on a 4-6 dungeon.

Well. Ideally, you should know whether you can handle Ren the Unclean before fighting him (and if you can't, then you don't). Of course, the game doesn't give you info about Ren when you've just met him... it's old school design or something I recall there was a way to get full info by copying monster.txt from some place to another.

[Moving Pictures]

Char dump

For reference: this just after mashing through an L40

  [Angband 3.5.1 Character Dump]

 Name   Leyrunner    Age             38          Self  RB  CB  EB   Best
 Sex    Male         Height        5'6"   STR! 18/100  +0  +0  +0 18/100
 Race   Half-Elf     Weight    8st 11lb   INT! 18/100  +1  +2  +2 18/150
 Class  Ranger       Turns used:          WIS! 18/100  -1  -2  +2  18/90
 Title  Pathfinder   Game       3124778   DEX! 18/100  +1  +1  +2 18/140
 HP     441/441      Standard    291992   CON! 18/100  -1  -1  +0  18/80
 SP     241/241      Resting      18617

 Level                 39    Armor     [45,+117]    Saving Throw     76%
 Cur Exp          1216371                           Stealth         Fair
 Max Exp          1216371    Melee       2d4,+18    Disarming        80%
 Adv Exp          1400000    To-hit       57,+21    Magic Devices     83
                             Blows      5.0/turn    Perception   1 in 23
 Gold              204172                           Searching        30%
 Burden         159.8 lbs    Shoot to-dam    +16    Infravision    20 ft
 Speed             Normal    To-hit       84,+22
 Max Depth    2000' (L40)    Shots        2/turn

 Your father was of the Sindar.  You are one of several children of a
 Yeoman.  You are a well liked child.  You have blue-gray eyes, curly
 black hair, and an average complexion.


rAcid:...+...++.... Nexus:...........+.
rElec:........+.... Nethr:.............
rFire:+.+.....+.... Chaos:.............
rCold:........+.... Disen:.............
rPois:............. Feath:...........+.
rLite:......+...... pFear:.......+.....
rDark:......+...... pBlnd:.........+...
Sound:............. pConf:.............
Shard:............. pStun:.............

Light:.....+....... Tunn.:.............
Regen:............. Speed:.............
  ESP:.........+... Blows:.............
Invis:.......+..... Shots:.............
FrAct:.......+..... Might:.+...........
HLife:....+........ S.Dig:....+........
Stea.:............. ImpHP:.............
Sear.:.............  Fear:.............
Infra:............+ Aggrv:.............


  [Character Equipment]

a) the Dagger 'Narthanc' (2d4) (+9,+12) [+10]
     Found lying on the floor at 100 feet (level 2).
     
     Branded with flames.
     Provides resistance to fire.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, electricity, fire, cold.
     
     When aimed, it creates a fire bolt with damage 9d8.
     Takes 9 to 16 turns to recharge.
     Your chance of success is 96.7%
     
     Combat info:
     5.0 blows/round.
     Average damage/round: 170.5 vs. creatures not resistant to fire,
     and 118.5 vs. others.
     
b) a Long Bow of Extra Might (x4) (+10,+16) <+1>
     Dropped by a Quasit at 1200 feet (level 24).
     
     +1 shooting power.
     
c) a Ring of Flames [+19]
     Dropped by an Ancient multi-hued dragon at 1850 feet (level 37).
     
     Provides resistance to fire.
     Cannot be harmed by fire.
     
d) a Ring of Acid [+15]
     Dropped by a Forest wight at 1850 feet (level 37).
     
     Provides resistance to acid.
     Cannot be harmed by acid.
     
e) an Amulet of Sustenance
     Dropped by a Greater Maia at 2000 feet (level 40).
     
     Cannot be harmed by acid, electricity, fire, cold.
     Sustains strength, intelligence, wisdom, dexterity, constitution.
     Slows your metabolism.  Sustains your life force.  
     
f) the Phial of Galadriel <+3>
     Dropped by Shagrat, the Orc Captain at 1000 feet (level 20).
     
     Cannot be harmed by acid, electricity, fire, cold.
     Radius 3 light.
     
     When activated, it lights up the surrounding area, hurting
     light-sensitive creatures.
     Takes 11 to 20 turns to recharge.
     Your chance of success is 96.4%
     
g) Pseudo-Dragon Scale Mail (-2) [32,+14]
     Found lying on the floor at 2050 feet (level 41).
     
     Provides resistance to light, dark.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, electricity, fire, cold.
     
h) the Cloak of Thorongil [1,+10]
     Dropped by a Banshee at 1600 feet (level 32).
     
     Provides resistance to acid.
     Provides protection from fear.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, electricity, fire, cold.
     Prevents paralysis.  Grants the ability to see invisible things.  
     
i) a Small Metal Shield of Resistance [5,+20]
     Found lying on the floor at 1550 feet (level 31).
     
     Provides resistance to acid, lightning, fire, cold.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, electricity, fire, cold.
     
j) the Hard Leather Cap of Thranduil [2,+10] <+2>
     Found lying on the floor in a vault at 2000 feet (level 40).
     
     +2 intelligence, wisdom.
     Provides protection from blindness.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, electricity, fire, cold.
     Grants telepathy.  
     
k) a Set of Leather Gloves of Agility [1,+1] <+2>
     Dropped by a White wraith at 1450 feet (level 29).
     
     +2 dexterity.
     
l) a Pair of Iron Shod Boots of Stability [4,+9]
     Bought from a store.
     
     Provides resistance to nexus.
     Cannot be harmed by fire.
     Feather Falling.  
     


  [Character Quiver]

n) 9 Arrows (1d4) (+0,+0)
     Combat info:
     Hits targets up to 140 feet away.
     Average damage/round: 150.8.
     35% chance of breaking upon contact.
     
o) 5 Arrows of Venom (1d4) (+4,+11)
     Found lying on the floor of a special room at 2100 feet (level
     42).
     
     Branded with venom.
     
     Combat info:
     Hits targets up to 140 feet away.
     Average damage/round: 421.2 vs. creatures not resistant to poison,
     and 240.6 vs. others.
     35% chance of breaking upon contact.
     
p) 2 Arrows of Wounding (1d4) (+15,+15)
     Found lying on the floor of a special room at 2100 feet (level
     42).
     
     Combat info:
     Hits targets up to 140 feet away.
     Average damage/round: 276.
     35% chance of breaking upon contact.
     
q) 4 Arrows (1d4) (+2,+0)
     Bought from a store.
     
     Combat info:
     Hits targets up to 140 feet away.
     Average damage/round: 150.8.
     35% chance of breaking upon contact.
     
r) 25 Arrows (1d4) (+5,+3)
     Found lying on the floor in a vault at 1950 feet (level 39).
     
     Combat info:
     Hits targets up to 140 feet away.
     Average damage/round: 175.4.
     35% chance of breaking upon contact.
     


  [Character Inventory]

a) 3 Books of Magic Spells [Magic for Beginners]
b) 3 Books of Magic Spells [Conjurings and Tricks]
c) 6 Books of Magic Spells [Incantations and Illusions]
d) 2 Books of Magic Spells [Sorcery and Evocations]
e) 2 Books of Magic Spells [Resistances of Scarabtarices]
     Cannot be harmed by acid, electricity, fire, cold.
     
f) a Book of Magic Spells [Raal's Tome of Destruction] {!d}
     Cannot be harmed by acid, electricity, fire, cold.
     
g) 7 Mushrooms of Vigor
h) 6 Potions of Cure Serious Wounds
i) 7 Potions of Cure Critical Wounds
j) 2 Potions of Healing
k) 4 Potions of Restore Mana
l) 3 Potions of Restore Life Levels
m) 6 Potions of Speed
n) 2 Rods of Fire Bolts {Vampire neutralizer}
o) 7 Rods of Frost Bolts {Hydra Neutralizer}
p) a Rod of Cold Balls
q) 3 Rods of Slow Monster
r) 7 Rods of Curing
s) 4 Rods of Recall (1 charging)
     Cannot be harmed by electricity.
     
t) 2 Wands of Teleport Other (15 charges)
u) 2 Staves of Teleportation (17 charges)


  [Home Inventory]

a) 2 Books of Magic Spells [Mordenkainen's Escapes] {!d}
     Cannot be harmed by acid, electricity, fire, cold.
     
b) 2 Mushrooms of Vigor
c) a Potion of Augmentation
     It can be thrown at creatures with damaging effect.
     
d) 3 Potions of *Healing*
     It can be thrown at creatures with damaging effect.
     
e) 36 Potions of Restore Mana
f) 5 Potions of Restore Life Levels
g) 10 Scrolls of Phase Door
h) 2 Scrolls of Magic Mapping
i) 2 Scrolls of Banishment
j) a Scroll of *Destruction*
k) a Rod of Detection
     Cannot be harmed by electricity.
     
l) 4 Rods of Probing
m) a Wand of Teleport Other (8 charges)
n) a Staff of Dispel Evil (4 charges)
o) a Ring of Constitution <+4>
     Dropped by an Ancient white dragon at 2150 feet (level 43).
     
     +4 constitution.
     Sustains constitution.
     
p) a Ring of Ice [+15]
     Dropped by a Cave troll at 2200 feet (level 44).
     
     Provides resistance to cold.
     Cannot be harmed by cold.
     
q) Red Dragon Scale Mail (-2) [24,+13]
     Found lying on the floor at 500 feet (level 10).
     
     Provides resistance to fire.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, electricity, fire, cold.
     
r) a Cloak of Aman [1,+12] <+3>
     Found lying on the floor at 1950 feet (level 39).
     
     +3 stealth.
     Provides resistance to chaos.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, electricity, fire, cold.
     
s) an Elven Cloak of Stealth [6,+3] <+1, +2>
     Found lying on the floor of a cavern at 1350 feet (level 27).
     
     +1 speed.
     +2 stealth.
     
t) an Iron Crown of the Magi [0,+8] <+3>
     Found lying on the floor in a vault at 1600 feet (level 32).
     
     +3 intelligence.
     Provides resistance to acid, lightning, fire, cold.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, electricity, fire, cold.
     Sustains intelligence.
     Sustains your life force.  
     
u) the Iron Helm 'Holhenneth' [7,+10] <+2>
     Found lying on the floor at 1300 feet (level 26).
     
     +2 intelligence, wisdom.
     +10% to searching.
     Provides protection from blindness, confusion.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, electricity, fire, cold.
     Grants the ability to see invisible things.  
     
     When activated, it detects treasure, traps, doors, stairs, and all
     creatures nearby.
     Takes 56 to 110 turns to recharge.
     Your chance of success is 95.0%
     
v) the Pair of Leather Boots of Radagast [2,+10] <+5, +3, +1>
     Found lying on the floor in a vault at 1600 feet (level 32).
     
     +5 infravision.
     +3 stealth.
     +1 wisdom.
     Provides resistance to cold.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, electricity, fire, cold.
     Feather Falling.  Prevents paralysis.  
     
w) the Broad Sword 'Glamdring' (2d5) (+10,+15) <+1>
     Found lying on the floor at 1150 feet (level 23).
     
     +5% to searching.
     Slays evil creatures, demons, orcs.
     Branded with flames.
     Provides resistance to fire, light.
     Cannot be harmed by acid, electricity, fire, cold.
     Blessed by the gods.  Slows your metabolism.  
     Radius 1 light.
     
     Combat info:
     4.0 blows/round.
     With +3 STR and +0 DEX you would get 4.3 blows
     With +0 STR and +1 DEX you would get 4.5 blows
     Average damage/round: 141.2 vs. evil creatures, 167.2 vs. demons,
     167.2 vs. orcs, 167.2 vs. creatures not resistant to fire, and
     115.2 vs. others.
     
x) an Awl-Pike of Westernesse (1d8) (+6,+10) <+2, +1>
     Conjured forth by magic at 1550 feet (level 31).
     
     +2 strength, constitution.
     +1 dexterity.
     Slays orcs, trolls, giants.
     Prevents paralysis.  Grants the ability to see invisible things.  
     
     Combat info:
     4.5 blows/round.
     With +2 STR and +0 DEX you would get 4.7 blows
     With +0 STR and +3 DEX you would get 5.0 blows
     Average damage/round: 152 vs. orcs, 152 vs. trolls, 152 vs.
     giants, and 108 vs. others.
     


[Player history]
      Turn   Depth  Note
         0      0'  Began the quest to destroy Morgoth.
       461     50'  Reached level 2
      1369    100'  Killed Fang, Farmer Maggot's dog
      1369    100'  Reached level 3
      1684    100'  Reached level 4
      2369    100'  Reached level 5
      2966    100'  Killed Grip, Farmer Maggot's dog
      3983    150'  Reached level 6
      5307    150'  Reached level 7
     11618     50'  Found the Dagger 'Nimthanc' (LOST)
     12564    100'  Reached level 8
     13225    100'  Found the Dagger 'Narthanc'
     16609    150'  Killed Sméagol
     16776    200'  Reached level 9
     18689    250'  Killed Bullroarer the Hobbit
     18689    250'  Reached level 10
     20801    300'  Reached level 11
     23203    350'  Reached level 12
     24777      0'  Killed Farmer Maggot
     26948    350'  Reached level 13
     29366    400'  Killed Wormtongue, Agent of Saruman
     30085    450'  Reached level 14
     30455    450'  Killed Lagduf, the Snaga
     31769    500'  Reached level 15
     31783    500'  Killed Mughash the Kobold Lord
     31933    500'  Killed Orfax, Son of Boldor
     32887    500'  Reached level 16
     33269    500'  Reached level 17
     33342    500'  Reached level 18
     36219    550'  Reached level 19
     38497    600'  Reached level 20
     40711   1000'  Reached level 21
     41195   1000'  Killed Nár, the Dwarf
     41846   1000'  Reached level 22
     44592   1000'  Reached level 23
     44814   1000'  Killed Shagrat, the Orc Captain
     44991   1000'  Found the Phial of Galadriel
     45450   1000'  Killed Gorbag, the Orc Captain
     45732   1000'  Reached level 24
     45983   1000'  Killed Ulfast, Son of Ulfang
     50269   1050'  Reached level 25
     53918   1150'  Reached level 25
     54009   1150'  Killed Grishnákh, the Hill Orc
     54441   1150'  Killed Brodda, the Easterling
     54955   1150'  Killed Lugdush, the Uruk
     55097   1150'  Found the Broad Sword 'Glamdring'
     55898   1150'  Killed Golfimbul, the Hill Orc Chief
     58332   1150'  Killed Bolg, Son of Azog
     58357   1150'  Killed Ulwarth, Son of Ulfang
     59589   1200'  Reached level 26
     62572   1200'  Killed Ibun, Son of Mîm
     68668   1350'  Reached level 27
     70179   1400'  Killed Sangahyando of Umbar
     70216   1400'  Killed Angamaitë of Umbar
     70229   1400'  Found the Hard Leather Armour of Himring (LOST)
     74495   1350'  Killed Khîm, Son of Mîm
     77169   1300'  Reached level 28
     86769   1400'  Reached level 29
     89037   1350'  Reached level 29
     91629   1350'  Reached level 29
     97930   1300'  Found the Iron Helm 'Holhenneth'
     98164   1250'  Reached level 29
    105936   1200'  Killed Ufthak of Cirith Ungol
    117973   1450'  Reached level 30
    121936   1450'  Reached level 30
    124898   1400'  Reached level 30
    127598   1400'  Killed Uldor the Accursed
    132871   1400'  Killed Bert the Stone Troll
    132873   1400'  Killed Tom the Stone Troll
    132886   1400'  Killed Bill the Stone Troll
    135684   1500'  Reached level 31
    139154   1500'  Killed Uglúk, the Uruk
    140405   1500'  Found the Long Sword 'Elvagil' (LOST)
    153713   1550'  Killed Beorn, the Shape-Changer
    162039   1600'  Reached level 32
    164536   1500'  Killed Azog, King of the Uruk-Hai
    171018   1600'  Reached level 32
    173258   1600'  Found the Cloak of Thorongil
    175965   1600'  Killed Boldor, King of the Yeeks
    178588   1600'  Found the Pair of Leather Boots of Radagast
    186579   1700'  Killed Rogrog the Black Troll
    189138   2000'  Reached level 33
    191713   1950'  Killed Castamir the Usurper
    193625      0'  Reached level 33
    207839   1900'  Killed The Queen Ant
    207839   1900'  Reached level 34
    209773   1900'  Killed Mîm, Betrayer of Turin
    217835   1850'  Reached level 35
    229425   2000'  Reached level 36
    231773   2000'  Found the Hard Leather Cap of Thranduil
    237465   2050'  Reached level 36
    239854      0'  Reached level 36
    246287   2150'  Reached level 37
    247641   2150'  Reached level 37
    258004   2200'  Reached level 37
    263576   2150'  Reached level 38
    266704   2100'  Killed Lorgan, Chief of the Easterlings
    268990   2100'  Killed Lokkak, the Ogre Chieftain
    269270   2100'  Reached level 37
    269270   2100'  Reached level 38
    279173      0'  Reached level 38
    288140   2000'  Reached level 39


  [Options]

  [User interface]

Use the roguelike command keyset             : no  (rogue_like_commands)
Use old target by default                    : no  (use_old_target)
Automatically clear '-more-' prompts         : no  (auto_more)
Always pickup items                          : no  (pickup_always)
Always pickup items matching inventory       : yes (pickup_inven)
Notify on object recharge                    : no  (notify_recharge)
Show flavors in object descriptions          : no  (show_flavors)
Center map continuously                      : no  (center_player)
Disturb whenever viewable monster moves      : yes (disturb_near)
Show damage player deals to monsters         : no  (show_damage)
Highlight target with cursor                 : yes (show_target)
Color: Illuminate torchlight in yellow       : no  (view_yellow_light)
Color: Shimmer multi-colored things          : no  (animate_flicker)
Color: Player color indicates % hit points   : yes (hp_changes_color)
Color: Show unique monsters in purple        : no  (purple_uniques)
Show walls as solid blocks                   : no  (solid_walls)
Show walls with shaded background            : no  (hybrid_walls)
Allow mouse clicks to move the player        : yes (mouse_movement)
Use sound                                    : no  (use_sound)

  [Birth]

Randomise the artifacts (except a very few)  : no  (birth_randarts)
Use previous set of randarts                 : yes (birth_keep_randarts)
Monsters learn from their mistakes           : no  (birth_ai_learn)
Force player descent                         : no  (birth_force_descend)
Word of Recall has no effect                 : no  (birth_no_recall)
Halve view and spell distances               : no  (birth_small_range)
Restrict creation of artifacts               : no  (birth_no_artifacts)
Don't stack objects on the floor             : no  (birth_no_stacking)
Lose artifacts when leaving level            : no  (birth_no_preserve)
Don't generate connected stairs              : no  (birth_no_stairs)
Don't show level feelings                    : no  (birth_no_feelings)
Increase gold drops but disable selling      : yes (birth_no_selling)
Start with a kit of useful gear              : yes (birth_start_kit)

[Derakon]

To add onto what Sideways said, there will be individual monsters capable of killing you in 1 turn at some point in your game, unless you take things really painfully slowly. And there will always be scenarios where you are at risk of being killed in 1 turn because of multiple enemies. A big part of being effective in the mid- and late-game in Angband is learning to recognize when those scenarios might potentially develop, and taking steps to avoid them.

Think a few turns ahead and consider what would happen if everything went wrong. For example, what if that dragon decides to breathe next turn? I'd be at low health; do I have healing items that could heal me enough if it decided to breathe a second time? Or can I get out of line-of-sight? If I'm not able to break LOS in one turn, maybe I should spend this turn getting into a position where I can break LOS in one turn, so that if it does breathe, I can just step around the corner and have more time to recover.

On a different note, one of the tools that's been obliquely mentioned in this thread but not emphasized nearly enough is Teleport Other. If you see a single nasty enemy coming for you, you can teleport it away. This is almost always safer than teleporting yourself, since you don't really care where the enemy ends up, while you very much care where you end up after teleporting yourself. No matter what class you play as, you should be leaning hard on Teleport Other to avoid fighting unpleasant enemies.

Also, you mentioned being interrupted during an orc bash. You aren't holding down the direction keys, are you? That's an extremely easy way to die. Better to take an extra 30 seconds killing easy enemies than lose the last few hours' worth of play because something nasty killed you before you could react.

[Moving Pictures]

Looks like you're trying to clear a level before proceeding to the next one. There is no reason to do that (if you want to win, that is).

But again, how do you find reasonable items? In my experience, the good stuff (phials, arkenstones, dragon-scale armour, decent choppy/hacky weapons/bows) are either carried by uniques or nasty critters, or in vaults occupied by Vlad and his sixteen best undead friends.

"Avoiding master vampire" looks like this: you cast detect monsters, see a master vampire and immediately go in the opposite direction, before it wakes up. If it gets too close, you teleport...

Or, as has happened recently "Oh, crap. I can't handle Ren the Unclean ... *teleport* Oh, crap, I can't handle Vlad, not on 82 HP ... oh, look, my XP is yellow again." And this on a 4-6 dungeon.

[Sideways]

And to the previous reply: if I'm being murdered at 40, how is going down deeper going to avoid being murdered?

You get better items deeper down, which will make you stronger and less prone to being murdered; and by completing the game faster you have less time to get murdered in. The idea behind the slow, grinding approach is basically that no monster you run into should ever be capable of killing you in a single turn. The idea behind the diving approach is that you accept some monsters at your depth will be capable of killing you in a single turn, but that by detecting enough you avoid running into them.

If you're deep enough that you're seeing monsters potentially capable of killing you in a single turn (which for non-grinders starts happening after 40), then you're already taking the risk that comes with diving, viz. that a single moment's carelessness might mean insta-death. That's not to say that that risk won't be greater deeper in the dungeon; but the reward will also be greater, and you'll have less time to be careless in. Watch Ingwe and see how he does it.

No matter how you play, at some point you'll have to fight monsters capable of killing you in 2 turns; and it's absolutely critical that your character has a ready, safe, figured-out way to handle fights like that. (This is simplest for a priest: heal every time you take enough damage to be killable in 1 turn.) Depending on how you approach the game (and how much damage you can take), you may either have lots of fights against monsters like that, or only two; but you can't avoid fights like that entirely.

Needless to say, never fight two monsters capable of killing you in 2 turns at the same time.