Is it really possible to beat NetHack?

[Vieo]

Even though the game has been around for what, 15 years?; I've been playing this game for the past year and a half now without much success.

I've heard of people claiming to have beaten it, but I just don't see how that's possible. The difficultly is super insane and theres so many different ways to die, one of them is bound to kill you. Someone told me it's even possible to die by accidently slipping while trying to mount your horse or you can even die by falling downstairs accidently. Ridiculous!


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.

If you play this game, I've got a few questions..

1. How do you stop dying?
2. If your pet dies, can you get a new one?
3. They say killing every monster you come accross is a sure fire way to get killed, but it seems to me that not killing monsters for exp to boost my levels is what gets me killed. Should I try killing monsters and leveling up?
4. How do I get items identified/uncursed?
5. Sometimes when I bash down a door, it turns out there was someone like a shopkeeper who lived there. They get pissed and promptly kill me. Is there a way to knock on the door or a way to tell that you're in a residential area?

That's mostly all I can think of for now.. but I'll probably have more questions later. Is there a good FAQ some where to answer stuff like this?

[Compass]

This sounds like one seriously frustrating game.

[Victrix]

1) Play cautiously, take lessons to heart (ie, never, ever repeat mistakes). RUN. Never ever fight to the death, or get yourself in a position where you are fighting to the death. Don't go so slow that you run out of food.

2) Yes, in ways almost too numerous to count

3) There are a ton of different strategies to handle this. I had good success with diving to the Oracle (skipping the Gnomish Mines), then returning to the mines once I hit the Oracle (or if I encountered a particularly bothersome enemy).

4) Find scrolls of identification. Ideally, bless them. There are many ways to figure out what scroll is id safely (and some semi safely). Find potions of water, get them blessed (drop them on a like aligned altar, pray, etc). Dip items in holy water. You can also drop items on altars to reveal their blessed/cursed status, quite handy. Or play a priest.

5) Not really. Get in the habit of either lockpicking doors (finding a key will let you open and close any door), or don't kick down doors near the edges of the level (where shops are usually found) You'll develop a knack for it.

[dog$]

This sounds like one seriously frustrating game.

Which is exactly why you should play it!

And since it hasn't been brought up in this forum, now's no better time to mention this heartwarming tale of a finished Nethack game.

[Zerodash]

...is this like that Zantar game - where kids pump in quarters to get to the next level...only there is no next level.

Kids know dick.

[Damian79]

So you beat it Vic?

I always get pwned in the mines. Always by poison.

[Victrix]

No - though not from lack of play, effort, or knowledge. For some reason, I got numerous (not one, a bunch!) of characters up to or near the Astral Plane after going through Gehenna and then just... stopped. rofl. I don't know why. Probably still have a few lategame savefiles now, I never delete my installs.

The mid-late game inventory madness kind of bogs me down, but I just love playing the game with various characters.

Check out Adom and Angband (and variants). Adom is a bit imbalanced, but its a load of fun. Angband is... interesting. The vanilla version is long and difficult. Much less zany, wild, and short than Nethack, but you can run a character over the course of weeks (or even months!) if you are careful, gradually growing their power and plumbing the depths of a heinously long and difficult dungeon. Good fun.

To my immense amusement/annoyance, I've taught a few people how to play the various roguelikes, and one of them even beat Angband before I did! Better instructor than player apparently :P I don't take my own advice.

[Damian79]

I am a HUGE ADOM fan, but those hydras kick my ass everytime.

[Saint of Killers]

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.

[Adam Bomb]

Check out Adom and Angband (and variants). Adom is a bit imbalanced, but its a load of fun.

ADOM is my roguelike of choice. Version 1.0.0 is not imbalanced at all, IMO. Version 1.1.1 definitely is; common monsters gain experience too quickly. Interested parties may obtain the executable from www.adom.de.

The only roguelike I ever actually won was Moria (earlier version of Angband, main difference being lack of artifacts). Basically took down the Balrog by stockpiling potions of invulnerability and keeping their effect on throughout the battle. I obtained the real Amulet of Yendor way back in NetHack 3.1.1 with a Valkyrie and made it back up to level 2 before being death-rayed by the Wizard, but that's as close as I ever got.