Is it really possible to beat NetHack?

[Victrix]

I beat Nethack in wizard mode, and judging by the last few levels I'd say everyone that claims to have beat Nethack without cheating is a filthy liar. If you think the mines are difficult, you ain't seen nothing yet.

I think the game is easier past about the Quest/Castle or so. By that point, you usually have so much cheese in your pack that deaths tend to be of the oh-I didn't know that was instant variety, or screwing up with something dangerous in your inventory and croaking. That's also about the point I start to lose interest. Gehenna is a boring slog if you're well equipped, and the march back up is just annoying (though there are some cheeses you can do on the wiz to make it easier).

[Paragone]

Here was my most blundering death: I was down in the mines searching around for an exit. Next thing I know five gnomes come out of the dark. I started firing arrows at one of them until the first two got close to me. I promptly pulled out my elven dagger +1 and made quick work of them with minor hp loss, but while I was fighting those two, one of the other gnomes killed Ninja(my dog). I go to engage to the gnome(not an ordinary gnome but a gnome lord) that killed my dog. As I edge my way towards him, another gnome appears and joins into the fray.
So now it's four on one now. The gnome that showed up starts throwing daggers at me while I'm fighting the gnome lord. The daggers go whizing by my head at first, but right before and after I killed the gnome lord, I got hit by two daggers. I was down to about 7HP and running out of options. I considered running but I knew I'd just get a dagger in my back. I considered quaffing an unidentified potion, but knew it would probably do more harm than good. I decided I would take my chances on an unidentified wand. I zapped the gnome closest to me that was coming in to melee me. My luck held up because it was a wand of magic missle. The gnome died, two gnomes left, and then another dagger came whizzing pass me. I zapped the dagger throwing gnome and he died. I was thinking "Yes!". One gnome left; the gnome who had been off to the east of me keeping his distance the whole fight. I get into position to use the wand and I let fly a magic missle. BIG MISTAKE. Turns out that last gnome was a gnome mage. As soon as the magic missle hit him, it promptly bounced off and came right back at me. My HP went to 0 and I was treated to a shot of my tombstone.

Well, I actually think the mines are pretty easy because I get a lot of food. Still, don't know if that's normal, or the mines are easier on UnNetHack (the version I'm playing). Still, as a neutral human barbarian and having a pet at his second or third stage gnomes are pretty easy to kill, and they drop good loot. Also, eating their corpses seem to be much safer than many other creatures. Mines also seem to be a good place to farm some XP.
Still, sometimes some difficult and rare monsters appear (today I found a Unicorn, some Vortex, an big felines, such as panthers and jaguars, but I'm thinking this was due to an unknown potion I quaffed). You also should take care of how many monsters you eat, because you can get food poisoning (without praying you die in less than 10 turns).
For your question of killing it fleeing monsters I recommend you kill everything in the first stages, because after it gets ridiculous.
Also, does someone know why sometimes you can see a "2" where some monsters are? I'm getting that in my run, and I really don't know why...

[Opaque]

Dude this thread is 13 years old, how is it even not locked?

[YellerDog]

I... I don't think anybody's gonna beat Net Hack.

[GohanX]

The only winning move is not to play.

[Finch]

That isn't true...

[dog$]

Also, does someone know why sometimes you can see a "2" where some monsters are? I'm getting that in my run, and I really don't know why...

You have an ESP ability active, most probably through an amulet but it could be from a priest blessing. The digit shows the relative threat level of the unseen monster. If you see a 5, that's a former adventurer's pet Archon which is on the loose.


... I've never installed the game on the PC I've used for the past few years. I know I have dearly loved the game all this time, and I still put it in my Top 10 listings for a while, but I think I've felt a need to reconsider that sentiment. I think the main reason why I gave up playing is because I just can't escape the feeling that I'll "just die anyway" - but the issue I'm having behind that isn't because of the inevitable death itself. Instead, I think I feel like if I were to ever actually win, I would only be able to attribute it to incredible luck instead of it being the realization of any kind of skill I may have acquired in all the time of playing beforehand.

[kingoffighters]

The only winning move is not to play.

Bueller?

[GohanX]