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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