Re: YASD: Devnull jspeed 10-Conduct Monk

On Nov 29, 11:09 am, mark.d.weinb...@xxxxxxxx wrote:
I've been working on ascending a 10-conduct Monk since Eidolos' June
Tourney (where I tried unsuccessfully to ascend a 9-Conduct monk).
I've played Nethack for years, but I've just recently discovered the
challenges offered by things like conducts and speed ascents. If you
want to take your game to the next level, this is where you want to
go. Be forewarned, if you are used to playing the game with -30 AC
and you've never tried to win with 2 AC, Nethack becomes a different
game.

My condolences on your YASD, I was watching the dev/null website and
hoping that I'd see you on the boards with ten conducts.


Between June and today, I've more or less got the beginning and mid-
game down pat. Give me reflection and the =RoFA and I'm going to
touch the Amulet. However, my end-game is still a work in progress.
I came a long way in the last month in my increasingly successful 3
amulet runs. But getting to end-game reliably is something I've only
managed in the last 2 months, so I still have some learning to do.

Anyway, it would take a long time to fully describe my gameplan, but
the general outline is as follows:

1. Fill out my ascension kit as much as possible from levels 1-8. I
usually do Sokobon first (good vegan food there), then go through all
the shops ... and don't forget to kick the sinks for rings. Don't go
below level 8 due to polymorph traps.
2. Kill Kaen and get the Eyes of the Overworld as soon as possible.
Without magic resistance, there's a good chance of stepping on a
polymorph trap or getting good armor zapped or level teleporting.
Fighting Kaen in the early game isn't as hard as you think. Be
careful to search for polymorph traps on the way down.

In my experience, he is incredibly tough, especially when racing
against the 20,000 turn counter and the loss of the sleep spell. I
have a tough time getting to him with much over 100 HP and I have
found that he can do that much damage in one turn. Do you allow your
spell to expire before visiting him in order to be better prepared
(i.e. HP and AC)?

3. Explore the rest of the dungeon filling out the ascension kit. Get
to HP:500. Get an alternate magic resistence ([CoMR or gray dragon
scales/get to level 30). Get a bunch of /WoD, /WoT, /WoP, !PoFH for
the Planes.
4. Get the amulet and get out of the main dungeon using as few of the
above potions and wands as possible. Cockatrice corpses ... don't leave
home without them. If I meet Rodney and I don't have a cockatrice
corpse, toss him the "AoY, get to another level, and meet him again
when I have one.
5. Get through the elemental planes in the usual way. Put the Eyes in
my bag. Zap Rodney with a /WoD. Don't wait to see the whites of his
eyes.

Excellent point! If Rodney steals a source of MR from you, then
killing him is no longer just a zap away.

6. Handle the initial Astral onslaught (usually Master liches and a
spawn-storm) with a "scare monster" scroll. Use Esp/blindfold to ID
which rider is where. Choose Famine, Pestilence, and Death (in that
order). Put on =RoC. Range attack Rider if he's not blocked. /WoT
or /WoD a path to the Alter. Lather, rinse repeat as necessary.

There was nothing particularly interesting about my Devnull attempts
... no great bones files or shops. So, I'll just cut to the chase:

On my final attempt (last night), I'm standing on Astral. I've
dispatched the first wave of Liches and spawns. I have a fresh
cockatrice corpse in my hand. I have an "AoLS on. I have 5 /WoD, 5 /
WoT, and 5 !PoFH in my bag. I can't ask for a better setup to ascend
right?

I take off my "AoLS to put on "AoESP per my script. I have Death
coming at me from the right. He's in the main lobby so I go left (not
wanting to deal with him and Famine at the same time). I open up the
door and Pestilence and his buddies are at the entrance. Pestilence
is not directly in front of me, and there is an open space in front of
me. I step into the chamber ... I'm going to stone my way to the second
chamber and leave Pestilence in the dust without even fighting him.
He makes me Deathly sick. I unihorn myself ... three times before I'm
cured. All the while, the Priests are beating me down. Whoops, I
forgot to put on my =RoC because I cleaned out the lobby using my
bug. That's OK, still 300 HP left. I'll just step back and regroup.
Whoops Pestilence got me again before I could move. Unihorn once ...
twice ... three times ... four times ... FIVE TIMES. I'm finally cured, but
guess what ... 0 HP and I forgot to put my "AoLS back on. Would I like
my possessions identified?

Ouch. Those Riders are fast. I don't quite understand how you got so
trapped. When relying on wands of death and teleport, I like to allow
the rider to come out alone into the corridor, whereupon I zap him
with a wand of death, jump past, and then go crazy with a wand of
teleport. If lucky, insects are created around me blocking the Rider
from catching up to me.

I guess there's always next year, eh? (Or maybe not, who knows if the
Dev Team is out there making something new?)

--
carl (tenaya)
.

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