I've played Zangband for ages too, probably around 10 years on and off. I'm currently on the latest Z+Angband incarnation.
The furthest I got on old-school Zangband was around DL 95 with a Dark Elf Mage using Chaos and Sorcery. The level quest was to kill the Unicorn of Order but I just couldn't make enough headway against it. Angel-spam + time biting overwhelmed me before I could Doombolt the Unicorn to death. I never actually died but I'd just have to teleport level out of every battle in the end.
I've got fond memories of Zangband, and like the OP I never won although I did get quite deep a few times.
For me, Zangband reached a peak around 2.4 when it had the fixed quests. Does anyone remember those? Things like Orc Camp, Sewer Quest and Haunted House. That must have been about ten years ago now. The fixed quests got removed after 2.4, and I don't think they ever came back which was a shame.
Playing roguelikes on and off since 1984.
rogue, hack, moria, nethack, angband & zangband.
I remember the fixed quests well...in particular, I remember running the Vapor quest over and over again for easy experience and gear.
I lost interest in Zangband once the fixed towns went away. Finding my way through a completely random wilderness didn't really strike my fancy.
Could one farm the Vapor Quest with the same character? I thought the quest entrance vanished after exiting the quest. Or were you saying that you enjoyed the quest on each of your characters?
There was a way to repeat the quests over and over again. I don't remember if it was removed before the quests went away or not, but I definitely remember posting a character dump of a character who had made it to the mid-30's character-level-wise doing nothing but the fixed town quests -- never having entered the dungeon.
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