My Dear NetHack Diary

1. p. 74212 Ponderer-Bar-Hum-Mal-Cha died in the Dungeons of Doom on level 9 [max 11]. Killed by a death ray. HP 100 (max 109)

2. p. 34225 Trixie-Mon-Hum-Fem-Law died in the Quest on level 11 [max 12]. Killed by an earth elemental. HP - (max 63)

3. p. 33025 Jesus-Bar-Orc-Mal-Cha was poisoned in the Gnomish Mines on level 6 [max 7]. Poisoned by a rotted yeti corpse. HP 130 (max 130)


I would say my most common reason for dying prematurely, is underrestimating my enemy. NetHack is a devilish game.

Someone tell me, is there any way to survive death ray? It just seems to come totally out of blue. Although, most of the times it seems that the death itself is as sudden as well. Out of nowhere appears a pack of monsters you're not ready to handle yet, a nymph steals all you're supplies...the ways are endless, only death is certain.

One thing that bugs me most, is that usually I would have some way of getting out of fatal situations (well, not when NetHack has decided to kill me), but I just don't realise it at the time, either because I've no knowledge, or because, I forget to see through my inventory.

Then again, maybe my biggest problem is speed. I have too much speed and bump in the middle of a pack of killer bees, try to kill a mindflayer that I thought to be a dwarf king, just because I didn't care to check, OR, I'm so burdened I can barely move and then bump into an angry unicorn...and so on. Once I didn't stop to think and ate a tainted yeti corpse, which led to my death, since god was already angry with me.

Things I've learned so far: Donating all your money to a priest of another alignment doesn't save you from a foodpoisoning.