GAME SOLUTION: Rogue

From: Len Stys (aa399)
Date: 02/23/90-11:47:35 PM Z


From: aa399 (Len Stys)
Subject: GAME SOLUTION: Rogue
Date: Fri Feb 23 23:47:35 1990





                                     ROGUE

         Part 1


               The primary goal in ROGUE is to get down to the 26th
         level, get the Amulet of Yendor and return again to the
         surface safely. The secondary goal is to accumulate the
         greatest amount of gold and the most valuable items. When you
         have successfully returned to the surface, your items are
         automatically "sold" for you and the gold added to your total
         gold. Until you have the Amulet of Yendor, you have no choice
         but to go downward. Only the Amulet will allow you to go back
         upstairs

              Saving your character is one of the most valuable things
         you can do. Once you save a character, copy it to another
         disk so it is safe for future use. ROGUE is copy protected
         (on the IBM version, at least), but you can copy the disk to
         and play from your hard disk. The only requirement is that
         you must have the original ROGUE disk in your floppy disk
         drive. This requirement is worth it, though, since playing
         from your hard disk makes the game run faster and speeds up
         the restoring of saved character files. Always make a
         duplicate copy of your saved character

              All characters start out with the same Strength, Hit
         Points, Weapon, Armor and Experience Level. Not every
         character you play will have a chance of winning. What makes
         ROGUE so playable is that every time you play, the dungeon
         levels, treasures, monsters, EVERYTHING is different

              Therefore, it may be necessary to start five or more
         characters before you find one who really has the potential
         to win; once established, though, much fun lies before you

              It is best to explore all of a level as completely as
         you can before descending to the next level. This is true up
         until about the 20th level, at which point the monsters you
         come across are so deadly that it might be necessary to
         switch your strategy to getting down to the next level as
         quickly as possible

              In ROGUE you will find, not only gold, but POTIONS,
         SCROLLS, WANDS or STAVES, RINGS, WEAPONS, and ARMOR. Some of
         these are helpful, some are dangerous. I will cover each of
         these items separately. You will not know what each of these
         items does until you either use them or can identify them
         with an Identify Scroll. Some items are so arcane they can
         only be understood by using an Identify scroll. Once
         identified, the item will always be known to you

              SETTING YOUR OPTIONS (IBM Version)  A nice feature of
         ROGUE is the ability to create a customized "reference file"
         for your character and to change the names the game will call
         the food items and the "Juice" potion. Also, the Option file
         allows you to set up one macro on the F9 key. I think the
         most useful thing you could do with this macro is to set it
         up to perform ten Searches. When you're searching for a
         hidden door in a room, using the F9 key will search the wall
         ten times or until the door is found

              Currently, your food rations are called simply Food or
         the more descriptive "Slime Mold" (yuck!). Wouldn't you
         rather find a Pizza lying about? Of course, whatever you
         choose to call your food ration will also determine what name
         is given to the See Invisible Potion. For instance, if you
         call your food ration "Bubble Gum", your See Invisible Potion
         will taste like "Bubble Gum Juice". As you can see, some
         interesting things can be done with this

              Also contained in the Options file is a default
         character name. By all means, unless you don't mind some
         unknown person copping all your fame and glory in the ROGUE
         Hall of Fame, change the default character name. When the
         game starts, you're given the chance to type in your
         character's name; but if you've got a favorite name and have
         put it in the Options file, simply hitting a return will use
         the name from the Options file

                                     ROGUE

           Part 2

                POTIONS: Gold value 100 to 200 average  There are many
         interesting potions, some good, some bad. Among the best of
         the potions are: Raise Level Potion, Healing Potion,
         Extra-Healing Potion, Gain Strength Potion, and Detect Magic
         Potion. If you use either of the Healing Potions when your
         character doesn't need healing, your Hit Points will be
         increased by 1 by the Healing Potion and 2 by the
         Extra-Healing Potion

              Most of the bad potions have only temporary effects. Two
         big exceptions are the Poison Potion and the Blindness
         Potion. The Poison Potion affects your character's strength,
         but it can be counteracted by the Restore Strength Potion.
         The first time you quaff Restore Strength, it is described as
         making you feel warm all over. The Blindness potion can be
         counteracted by either of the Healing Potions or by the
         "Juice" Potion (see SETTING YOUR OPTIONS in Part 1 of this
         walkthru). The "Juice" Potion is actually a potion of See
         Invisible

              Here are some typical Potion descriptions (potions are
         described by color; the color and the purpose of the potion
         will change from game to game):  HEALING (You feel better);
         EXTRA-HEALING (You feel much better); RAISE LEVEL (You feel
         more skillful); DETECT MAGIC (You sense magic) <$'s and/or
         +'s will appear on your screen indicating where the magic
         item is. $'s indicate good magic; +'s indicate bad magic.> --
         or DETECT MAGIC (You have a strange feeling) <This means
         there is no magic on this level.>; WATER (This potion tastes
         extremely dull); SEE INVISIBLE (This potion tastes like
         <fruit> Juice); POISON (You feel sick); SPEED (You feel
         yourself moving much faster) <This potion allows you to
         either hit a monster twice to their once, or to run away two
         moves to their one.>

              You can see by the above list that it is not always
         apparent what the purpose of a potion is

              Although you wouldn't want to keep the bad potions for
         quaffing, potions can be wielded like weapons. First wield
         the potion, then throw it in the direction of the monster
         you're attacking. NOTE: You must be adjacent to the monster
         in order for the potion to hit. Throwing a Poison Potion at
         the monster reduces its strength, etc. Just be certain you
         don't throw a Gain Strength or Raise Level Potion at it!
         SCROLLS: Gold value 50 to 150 average  Some scrolls, like the
         potions, can only be truly identified using an Identify
         Scroll. Do not waste your time writing down the names of the
         scrolls before identifying them or trying them. The names
         will change from game to game and you will be none the wiser
         for your efforts

              Among the most useful of the scrolls are the Magic
         Mapping Scroll and the all-important Identify Scroll. The
         Teleportation Scroll can get you out of a tight spot when
         your hit points drop too low or too many monsters attack you.
         It moves you to another location on your current dungeon
         level, and, consequently, away from the monster(s) attacking
         you

              Food is a critical necessity in this game and the Food
         Detection Scroll can save your life. Some scrolls seem to do
         nothing at all when you read them. To find out what they do,
         you must use an Identify Scroll

              Here are some typical Scroll descriptions (Scrolls are
         identified by oddly spelled words; the names will change from
         one game to the next.):  DETECT FOOD (Your nose tingles at
         the scent of food) <The symbol for food will appear on the
         screen.> -- or DETECT FOOD (You hear a growling noise nearby)
         <There's no food on this level. That was probably your
         stomach growling.>; REMOVE CURSED ITEMS (You feel someone
         watching over you); CONFUSE MONSTER (Your hands glow red);
         ENCHANT WEAPON (Your weapon glows blue); VORPAL WEAPON (Your
         weapon gives off a flash of white light); ENCHANT ARMOR (Your
         armor glows blue); CREATE MONSTER <No description here,
         except you suddenly find a "friend" by your side.>

              Enchant Weapon, Enchant Armor and Vorpal Weapon are
         extremely helpful in adding to your character's ability to
         fight monsters. Excessive use of the Vorpal Weapon scroll can
         cause your weapon to disappear in a puff of smoke

              WANDS and STAVES: Gold value 150 to 500 average  Among
         the most useful of these are the Wand of Slow Monster (works
         like the Potion of Haste Self); Staff of Teleport Away (moves
         the monster to a different area on the current dungeon
         level); Wand of Polymorph (turns the monster into a different
         monster <CAUTION: it could turn the monster into something
         worse!>); Staff of Drain Life (drains the monster's hit
         points); Staff of Light (illuminates dark rooms); and the
         Wand of Cancellation (releases you from the grips of the
         Medusa). To be avoided are the Wand of Haste Monster (works
         like throwing a Self Haste Potion at the monster) and the
         Staff of Teleport To (moves you to a monster's side)

              Some Staves and Wands can be identified just by trying
         them once; others must be identified with a scroll. Staves
         and Wands have a limited number of uses. To find out how many
         uses they have, you MUST use an Identify Scroll

                                     ROGUE

           Part 3

                RINGS: Gold value 25 to 600 average  There are many
         good and bad rings. It's difficult, though possible, to win
         the game without the Ring of Slow Digestion. The Ring of
         Maintain Armor will protect your armor from the ravages of
         Aquator, which exists between levels 5 and 18. The Ring of
         Sustain Strength will protect you from the rattlesnakes,
         which live on the upper levels and from the poison darts that
         exist on all the lower levels

              There are rings that increase (safe) or decrease
         (cursed) the damage you inflict on the monsters, decrease
         (safe) or increase (cursed) the damage you receive from a
         monster's blows, and rings that add temporary strength (safe)
         or remove strength (cursed <permanent until you remove the
         ring>). There are also rings that aggravate monsters or
         teleport you wildly around the dungeon levels (both cursed)

              There is a Ring of Stealth that allows you to sneak
         around monsters and a Ring of Searching that will help you
         locate hidden doors and traps. There is also a Ring of
         Regeneration which will restore hit points at a much greater
         rate; but wearing this ring also causes your character to
         consume food much faster. My personal favorite combination of
         rings to wear are the Ring of Slow Digestion and the Ring of
         Sustain Strength. Other combinations are also good. The Ring
         of Searching can help you avoid many traps. Always try to
         wear a Ring of Slow Digestion before wearing a second ring

              If you inadvertantly put on a Ring of Teleportation,
         Aggravate Monster, or one of the other cursed rings, you must
         read a Remove Cursed Items Scroll before you can remove it.
         Once the "curse" has been removed from the item, you can put
         it on and take it off at will

              WEAPONS: Gold value 200 to 2000 on improved weapons
         average  The best of all the weapons is the Two-handed Sword.
         It's wise to identify a new weapon before you wield it
         because some weapons are cursed. Using the Enchant Weapon and
         Vorpal Weapon Scrolls will increase the damage that your
         weapon inflicts upon the monsters. Vorpal Weapon Scrolls will
         improve a weapon faster than the Enchant Weapon Scroll; but
         indiscriminate use of Vorpal Weapon can destroy your weapon
         altogether. The Enchant Weapon Scroll will never do this as
         far as I know. Currently my own character has a Two-handed
         Sword which started out as a +0,+0. It was built up to
         +17,+27 by using only Enchant Weapon Scrolls

              ARMOR: Gold value 200 to 1000 on improved armor average
         The strongest Armor is Plate Mail; but without the Ring of
         Maintain Armor, the Aquator can easily ruin its protection.
         The Aquator is unable to harm Leather Armor. With Scrolls of
         Enchant Armor it is possible to build up the strength of any
         Armor. The best plan for most games is to find uncursed
         Leather and Plate Mail Armor and to wear the Leather Armor on
         the levels with the Aquator. My current character is wearing
         Class 43 Leather Armor. This was built up with the use of
         Enchant Armor Scroll from a Class 3 Leather Armor

              My character, which I have mentioned in the section on
         weapons and armor, is not typical, nor is he the result of
         luck. He was carefully built with stategic use of the items
         available to him

                                     ROGUE

           Part 4

                STRATEGY  If you want to win this game without sheer
         luck you will have to establish a means to save your game. A
         second disk will allow you to safely back up this saved game

              To begin with you will be exploring each level trying to
         improve your character and finding useful Rings, Wands and
         Staves, Weapons and Armor. When your character is delevoping
         well, save the game and back it up. If something terrible
         should befall your character after you resume play, you have
         him saved safely and can restore the game

              You should try to explore every level completely as you
         descend until you come to about the 20th level; then it's a
         good idea to head for the stairs and avoid as many monsters
         as possible until you can get to the 26th level and get the
         Amulet of Yendor. By all means: SAVE your character on the
         26th level in case he should accidentally fall through a
         trapdoor and fall to the 27th level. If this happens, you
         won't be able to retrieve the Amulet and will be stuck
         forever in the dungeon!  Once you have the Amulet, you have a
         choice to make: you can start heading for the surface with
         whatever you have; or you can decide to build your
         character's stats and gather more gold

              Whichever you decide, the handiest thing to have at this
         point is a Scroll of Magic Mapping. If you save your
         character often you can read the same scroll of Magic Mapping
         over and over without ever actually using it. For example:
         Save your game as "A", copy "A" to "A.SAV"; resume your game
         (ROGUE A). Now go up or down the stairs, read the Scroll of
         Magic Mapping, explore the path to the stairs for traps and
         monsters. Quit the game, copy "A.SAV" to "A", resume your
         game (ROGUE A), go directly to the stairs and stand on them.
         Now save your game as "A", copy "A" to "A.SAV". You know what
         your current level looks like, and you still have your Scroll
         of Magic Mapping to use on the next level

              Save your game on the stairs BEFORE you go up or down.
         If you do not like what you find on the next level, you can
         change the next level simply by moving your character before
         you go up or down the stairs. It will be necessary for you to
         remember exactly what you did if you expect to reach the same
         new level when you restore your game

              I tend to not move my character from the stairs but
         merely do a search, keeping track of the number of times I
         use the Search option. By using this technique, I have
         maximized my character. By taking the time to do a little
         "dancing" with the save file, I have kept my character safe,
         built up his Hit Points, Armor Class, and Weapon, and
         collected more and more gold

              An average score for winning ROGUE is slightly over
         13000 gold pieces. It's possible, however, to do much better
         than this using this strategy system. I have done better than
         70000 gold pieces. The only drawback to having such a high
         score is that it destroyed my Guildmaster's Hall of Fame and
         my player's results were not recorded. I took the time,
         though, when bringing him back to the light of day, to print
         the screen when it listed the value of the items and the gold
         that my character brought up, so I have a record of my
         character's achievements.

 

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