TomeNET

(8.3) Surviving critical situations                                             
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Not getting into a critical situation:
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Best thing is to not get into a critical situation at all.
To help you estimate the threat of a particular dungeon floor, there are
'feelings' your character may get when you enter the floor:
When you've spend some time in town or on a dungeon floor, your depth number in
the bottom right corner will turn light-blue. This means that you will get a
special feeling on the next dungeon floor you enter, displayed in yellow.
That feeling will tell you about the threat of that particular floor, so you
may consider leaving it again if it sounds too nasty. See (4.8) for details.


Map structures:
---------------
There are certain situations and constellations that will occur often in a
very similar manner. Here are some of them, together with some advice how
to manage it.

-A pack of approaching monsters (here orcs), often orcs or trolls:

#########   #  #
#  ooooo#   #  #
#  ooooo#####@ # <- stand there to intercept the incoming orcish horde.
#   ooooo oo   #    As soon as three or four of them stand on adjacent fields
#        o     #    move up one field to limit the attackers to 3 at a time.
#############  #    Sometimes the AI is very smart and monsters will try to
            #  #    surround you anyways. Phase door scrolls will help you out
                    then.

-Usually, animal packs will retreat if you chase them in hallways, and will
 only attack if you enter a room or if your hit points are around 50% or worse.
 You might want to just take them out with a bow or another ranged weapon
 instead of chasing them.
 If you decide to chase them to the next room make sure you have enough phase
 door scrolls and healing pots to win a fight where you are attacked from all
 sides at once.
 If you try to chase them through corridors, use the 'Sprint' fighting
 technique in case your character has learned it (see (7.12)).

-If you prefer close combat over ranged and your character can use fighting
 techniques, make sure to use the 'Sprint' or 'Taunt' technique to catch
 annoying monsters like shamans or priests that otherwise try to keep a
 distance.

-The range of your missile weapon (slings, bows, crossbows, boomerangs) is
 often greater than your own range of sight when it comes to dark hallways.
 Just by shooting into the dark you can take out monsters, if you know they're
 there.

-If you open a door, especially doors to pits with unknown content, be very
 careful and open the door diagonally to have as little creatures as possible
 see you from inside the pit. If you open the door to a so-called "jelly pit"
 (contains icky-things, jellies, mold, mushroom patches) you might be
 insta-killed otherwise. Here is how to open the door:

#######
#jm$,m#
#$m,jj#
#ijmm,#
#,mjjj#@ <- stand here and open the door diagonally
#j$m,i+  <- don't stand here or more monsters will see and immediately
#######     target you from inside

Prepare to close the door again as quickly as possible, it might be needed
(or just teleport away). In general you should leave jelly pits alone.
Coin pits (lots of '$' inside) can also contain very powerful mimics!

-If you fight monsters that can cast ball spells or breathe on you, be aware
 that they might target a field adjacent to you and hence still hit you (thanks
 to the radius of the spell around the actually targetted grid) even if they
 cannot target you directly!
 Similar goes for monsters who can cast summoning spells.

-Pack monsters can be very nasty if those farther away from you can still
 shoot or cast spells over the heads of their comrades in the front line, from
 behind, novice paladin packs come to mind at low levels.
 In that case you should make sure that only very few of them can see you at a
 time. If your health suddenly drops, teleport away at once, or at least
 retreat behind a corner.

-Sometimes it might be a good idea to use a "Stone-to-mud" or "Trap/Door
 destruction" spell to open a door from a distance.

-For weaker characters it might be a good idea to stay around 1000..1500 ft
 and try to get enough stat potions (potions that raise your six primary
 stats, STR INT WIS DEX CON CHR) until they have a considerably high amount
 of hit points and/or combat potential before they dive deeper!

-If you fight a monster that is capable of casting powerful summoning spells,
 teleport at once if any summoned monsters appear around you!
 Don't hesitate for a split second, just to "check whether that was actually
 a dangerous summon or whether you might just take on all of them on".
 Hesitating in order to do so may well be your death sentence.


Some monsters that people often get killed by are:
--------------------------------------------------
-At very low levels there are especially 2 death causes:
 a) Pack monsters that have ranged attacks and fire at you all at once. See
    the map structures section above.
 b) Monsters that are simply a little bit faster than you so you can't run
    away if you decide that you can't beat them.
    Don't forget to use your 'Sprint' or 'Flash Bomb' fighting technique if
    you have learned it, might be useful to get away, or even to kill your
    opponents instead.
    See (8.1) and (8.2) how to equip yourself to minimize risks.

-Sometimes you will encounter a 'Spectral' ego monsters very early. These are
 very rare, so you are just a bit unlucky in that case.
 They can paralyze you if you lack free action, which makes them deadly for low
 level players, as those usually don't have FA yet (except for gnomes).
 Your best bet is to dps it down as fast as possible with strong ranged attacks
 or to teleport out on sight if you already have a means of teleportation.

 If you are in a team and have ranged attacks, these should pose no problem
 though, as long as the player with ranged attacks isn't the one getting
 paralyzed. Just don't let them touch you, or they will drain your experience
 big time.

-If you recognize that you cannot win a fight and it will likely end deadly
 it might be a good idea to read a scroll of Word of Recall as early as
 possible and then try to survive until it kicks in and carries you to safety.

-Druid ego monsters, for example druid snotlings or druid kobolds. They can
 appear at very low level and they are able to cast firebolts that insta-kill
 you (instantly kill you).
 Again you should try to utilize fighting techniques if you can.

-Runemaster ego monsters, basically same as Druid ego monsters mentioned above
 but can use a wider variety of elemental spells of high damage potential.

-Elite Uruks, they fire extremely sharp arrows, always posing a high threat.

-Chieftain/Warrior/Monk/Unbeliever monsters of any kind. You will often see
 someone being killed by a hill troll monk or forest troll chieftain for
 example.. Prepare to hit your phase door macro if you spot a shimmering
 extraordinarily fast moving monster within a potentially dangerous mob.
 Especially dangerous are such ego versions of a base monster type that has
 elementally branded melee attacks. You should quaff a potion of resistance
 when fighting those to reduce the elemental damage part of their melee
 attacks.

-Veteran archer/Master archer monsters of any kind can pose a very high
 threat. Better get reflection ability if you are planning to fight these in
 a ranged duel.

-Hounds with breaths that need a high resistance or that cannot be resisted at
 all. For example..
 At lower levels: Air hounds, Nexus hounds, Vibration hounds, Impact hounds,
                  Inertia hounds, Aquatic & Water hounds (avoid aquatic &
                  water hounds especially; the others still give very good
                  experience at a reasonable danger exposure.)
 At higher levels: Plasma hounds, Gravity hounds, Time hounds, Aether hounds,
                   Hounds of Tindalos (beware of Gravity & Time hounds
                   especially, Aether hounds can also give you some surprise).

-Dark-Elven Warlocks. These belong to the few monsters that can cast mana
 bolts, which inflict very high damage. Even worse, DEW (Dark-Elven Warlocks)
 appear in packs. Beware!

-Will o' the wisps are very hard to spot and catch, their curses are
 devastating.

-The Glass Golem drives everyone insane whom it manages to hit, high AC helps.

-Drolems. A constructed dragon that will breathe poison for high damage and
 takes a lot of hits before ceasing to function.

-The Stormbringer, an animated blade that bears mad wrath within. It swings
 so powerful that it can knockout its enemies with ease. Defeating it,
 however, will make it usable to its vanquisher (unless you are royalty, in
 which case it will not drop)!
 If you dare wielding this weapon be prepared that it will defy you and even
 attack your own allies, possibly killing them! Only towns are safe zones.

-Ulik the Troll. He is so strong that his hits cause earthquakes and he cannot
 be stopped by (non-permanent) walls. Beware his prowess in melee combat!
 Also he moves surprisingly swiftly!

-Dracolichs and Spectral Tyrannosaurs. They have high hit points and are able
 to breathe nether, which means their damage will be maxed out.
 A dark/light green blinking D is actually a Death Drake, and although it can
 also breathe nether it is much less dangeours than a Dracolich because of its
 low hit points. Dracolichs and especially Spectral Tyrannosaurs can occur on
 fairly low levels (usually 55 and 46) which makes them a very nasty surprise.

-Wyrms. The base element variations of these (hell, ice, storm, bile and swamp)
 as well as the multi-hued one do look exactly like ancient dragons, but are a
 magnitude stronger. So make sure to 'l'ook at that "dragon" before waking it
 up or it might be too late. In particular you *need* potions of resistance,
 of speed and of healing to take on a wyrm.

The most powerful representant of each class:
-Ranger chieftains are tough opponents who can nail you on the spot and
 use magic attacks as well as summon.
-Knight Templars, powerful paladins who are immune to holy attacks and
 are even able to call an angel for support.
-Patriarchs, these unfaltering priestlords can summon and curse rapidly.
-Master Mindcrafters, their ability to summon mighty support and to smash
 your brain by psi attacks is feared.
-Old sorcerors are able to summon ancient dragonkind and wyrms, beware!
-(Grand) Swordsmasters, most skilled swordsmen that will disarm you easily.
-(Grand) Master mystics, most powerful martial artists. With their special
 moves they can manage to stun you easily. Best remedy is high AC so
 they won't hit you in the first place. Alternatively you can quaff potions
 to remove any stun effect.
-(Grand) Master thieves, very fast and stealthy they steal your possessions!

-Unique enemies. If you see a monster blinking in different colours, before
 trying to kill it you should consult other players or 'l'ook at the monster,
 to find out whether it is an unique monster. If so, then you should examine
 it by pressing  ~ 7  in game to look up its abilities and make sure you are
 prepared to fight him. If possible, consult fellow players for their opinions.
 (You can also check r_info.txt, see (8.4) for more info about spoiler files.)

-If you see an enemy that you don't know anything about and that could pose a
 threat (especially if it's inside a vault!), STAY AWAY and consult either an
 experienced player or look it up by pressing  ~ 7  to find out what the
 opponent is capable of.
 The safest (and most boring and least rewarding) way to play is to avoid
 vaults! Vaults can contain an enemy against whom you don't have the slightest
 chance of winning. Vaults however can also contain great treasure!
 (See (4.6) for more information about vaults.)

-The most powerful monsters of the demon realm, the dragonkind and the
 heavenly planes, namely Star-spawns of Cthulu, Great Wyrms of Power,
 balance keepers of the skies, sun and stars (Blades), Nether Realm guards.

-Blinking 'A' (unique angels) or 'U' (powerful or unique demons) as well as
 bright coloured 'U' (greater demons) and blinking 'W' (zephyr lords or
 Nazgul) always pose a high threat. While Zephyr lords aren't that strong on
 their own they are able to summon packs of hounds which can mean a swift doom
 if those have dangerous breathing attacks.
 Some other dangerous demons are..
 Servitors of the outer gods, Lords of Change, Greater Balrogs,
 Bloodthirsters, Pit Fiends, Great Unclean Ones, Keepers of Secrets.

-High undead can also pose a high threat and are responsible for many a death,
 those are Nightwalkers, Nightcrawlers, Nightwings and their likes.

-Nazgul have quite some chance to destroy your melee weapon if you hit them!
 In case your melee weapon isn't your main way of fighting you could inscribe
 it @Ox before fighting a Nazgul to avoid auto-retaliation and then use
 spells or whatever to destroy it. If you rely on melee weapons get an
 artifact since these resist Nazgul greatly!
 However, you probably still don't want to risk your best artifact weapon,
 so try to get a worse artifact which you can solely (ab)use for fighting
 Nazgul. Some people are rumoured to defeat Nazgul with nothing but their
 ability to read, although they aren't even remotely magically talented..
 (Compare (1.3a).)

-Unique 'P's are often very dangerous, some say the most dangerous next to
 Morgoth himself is Nodens, Lord of the Great Abyss.
 He has the TPORT (teleport) spell and is therefore able to teleport WITH YOU
 when you try to teleport away from him, provided you are within melee range
 of him when you teleport.


Mistakes / Carelessness:
------------------------
-Further, players are often killed if they lack resistances and/or free action
 (against paralysis) but nevertheless dive down into the dungeon very
 quickly.

-Teleport out of trouble
 If you are not an anti-magic-user, you should buy a staff of teleportation as
 soon as possible since it can take you out of dangerous situations.
 However, the staff is no guarantee :)
 After you bought it, try if you can actually use it well or if you keep
 failing! If you're not good at magic devices you might have to spend points
 into your 'Magic Device' skill.
 I recommend to always have at least 3 charges in the staff before diving into
 the dungeon.
 Another possibility is to use a Scroll of Remove Curse (buy it in the temple
 ie the green '4') on a Ring or Amulet of Teleportation. Try to activate one
 of them.

-Quaff potions of cure critical wounds or healing if you get (heavily) stunned
 to prevent a lethal knockout in the next round! Further you can't use martial
 arts special moves while stunned, cutting your damage a lot.
 Get sound resistance to not waste potions to cure stun effects from
 water/sound/gravity/ice/plasma attacks.

-Don't wait till you are a '1' or '0' before you try to teleport out.
 If you want to be on the safe side, teleport out when you are a '4' or '3'.
 Remember that your teleport staff may fail sometimes.

-Before AND after a larger fight, check your inventory if you can carry on
 or if you have to return to town to stock up. A common problem is that some
 monsters can drain charges from or burn up your teleport items, which you
 might overlook.

-If you are surrounded by huge piles of loot from dead monsters you might be
 tempted to drop cheaper items like phase door scrolls to make room for the
 precious loot, and go /afk to wait for pseudo-ID. However, know that you
 _can_ all of a sudden be ambushed during that time by enemies. By enemies
 that _require_ you to use phase door..

-I do not recommend to drop food nor oil in exchange for loot if you're not
 planning to recall instantly after you picked up the loot.

-If you team up, make sure that you stick closely together all the time.
 Wandering off usually greatly increases both players' risk of death!

-Learn from your mistakes. If you die, think about if you were taking too high
 a risk, and check if you overlooked anything, maybe you were missing
 essential items (cure critical wound potions to get rid of confusion and
 blindness).
 Next time, be more careful. Playing TomeNET means learning a lot about the
 monsters/items.


Teamplay:
---------
-Team up with fellow players that are approximately at your character level.
 This means more fun and less danger. Your teammates can save your life and
 support you with helpful spells, items and knowledge.
 A player in a party gets a share of experience points from the kills of other
 party members if they are within 7 levels to the player.
 A character cannot gain any exp from a monster which has previously
 encountered a player more than 8 levels higher than this character himself.
 (So there is 1 level tolerance towards sharing experience.)
 For winners (queens/kings/empresses/emperors) the range in which they share
 experience is as far as 11 levels.
 Winners don't share experience with non-winner characters.
 If a party member gets reduced experience because his level is too high
 for the dungeon floor, this penalty will affect all of his team mates on this
 floor too, even if their level is lower. This means the party should always
 dive at the optimum depth for its highest member.
 See (7.9) for details about partying!

-Good combinations are the classical meat shields / damage dealers /
 supporters. Mages usually make a great team with whomever they team up.
 Keep your teammates in mind and don't teleport out if it meant
 certain death to them while you could still take some hits.

-Make sure you stick together with your team mates. If you wander off instead
 of staying close you will greatly increase your risk of dying to something.


Manage your spells and items:
-----------------------------
It can happen often that you die in a specific situation that you could have
survived had you actually used everything at your disposal, that you forgot
about, either because..
-you panicked or because
-you expected a new, strong opponent to perform just as weakly as the other
 hundred monsters you slew before even though it gives away that it is special
 by its blinking colour or by being represented by a symbol/letter that you are
 not familiar with and haven't seen before in that dungeon.

Some examples:
-Forgetting to apply a buff, such as a berserk strength potion or resist heat
 against strong fire breathers (which are one of the early threats in the game)
-Neglecting to use a protective/defensive spell before engaging in a fight
-Not casting 'damage-add' spells, ie spells that don't deal high damage but
 that deal _additional_ damage to your main damage spells, which is a welcome
 bonus that can make a difference. Examples are mainly storm-type spells but
 can also be cloud spells, ie all spells that continue to deal damage over time
 after being initially cast, allowing you to cast direct damage spells in
 addition to them being active, increasing your total overall damage output.
-Not using items because you weren't aware of their beneficial uses. Such as
 throwing a potion of salt water at a pack of monsters that is trying to
 surround you, to temporarily blind them (which has the same result as applying
 confusion state to them), allowing you to either escape or kill them while
 they're groping around blindly, even though it only lasts for a moment.