HACKHELP is an extensive help file for the game HACK
H A C K H E L P
for HACK version 3.6
(release B)
-)(-
0.INTRODUCTION Introduction to HACKHELP
HACKHELP is an extensive help file for the game HACK, and
includes detailed accounts of monsters, items, treasures, and
a good amount of helpful hints. The author has been working on
it for quite some time now; other data has been compiled from
other HACK help files, such as SCROLL.WIS, or HINTS.HAC. I extend
my greatest admiration to the authors of HACKDOC, however, for
its excellent content and detailed tables.
Later patches include strategies, extra data (as
discovered), and ways to complete the game. Since the original
help file was so long (almost 90K!), I had to break it up into
smaller files, since most text editors can only handle 50K or so
at a time.
Because of the detail and (hopefully) helpfulness of this
file, I kindly ask that readers who find it extremely
entertaining and/or helpful contribute a donation, anywhere from
$1 to $30 and up. (This request sound ridiculous, but keep in
mind - and the more experienced HACK players can vouch for this -
the great amount of time it takes to search out kinks and data in
HACK, and I -do- have to support myself, after all!) If you wish
to contribute, see the address below.
I also need to count on other HACK players for my knowledge of
the game - it's important to hear strategies and ideas from other
players as well! If you have any questions (I'd be more than happy to
answer them, but it may take a while for my response to get through),
comments, discoveries, etc., feel free to write to the address below.
I'd love to hear from you. [By the way: once I get enough responses,
I will begin to post HACKers' hints, solves, and strategies in a
separate file (HACKHELP.NOT), with full credit to the HACKer (or
HACKers).] Please be sure to include your version of HACK, and also
your version of HACKHELP (sometimes even more important).
After going through most of the help files out on the PD
today, I realized that there wasn't one, complete, condensed
volume on HACK at all. There were unorganized (though extremely
helpful) lists and charts and tables, but nothing complete as far
as a text file can go. When I began to compile the data, I
soon realized the tremendous amount of information on HACK; HACK
is a complex game! I intend to continue to add to the file, when
I come across new hints, rumours, or discoveries.
[Thanx to HH, and all the others who have helped!]
"Despite all of the hints possible, HACK is still a difficult
game. To master it, the player himself must tap the keys and make all
the decisions. Even the best character may perish by starvation or by
zapping a wand of death accidentally. Just because you know how to
defeat a cockatrice doesn't mean your character can handle a
cockatrice. At least it's good to know that hints and strategies do
exist in HACK, and that the best way to prevent panic is knowledge."
-HH
This is dedicated to that adventurer who tried just -one last
time- to get that damn Wizard, or the one who got killed trying to
find the Amulet. Good luck. I hope you enjoy HACK, and HACKHELP as
much as I did writing it.
February, 1987
Erik Max Francis
max@darkside.com
..!apple!uuwest!max
-)(-
0.CONTENTS Contents of HACKHELP
Sections are indexed by X.YY.Z, where X is the chapter
index; Y is the section index; Z is the subsection index. Tables
are prefixed with a "T."
Table of contents.
- 0.INTRODUCTION Introduction to HACKHELP
0.CONTENTS Contents of HACKHELP
1.00 General
1.01 History
1.02 Environment
1.03 Graphics and Icons
T1.03-1 Icons
1.04 Commands
T1.04-1 Commands
2.00 Playing
3.00 Food
3.01 Types of Food
T3.01-1 Types of Food
-2 Types of Canned Foods
-2b Distribution of Canned Foods
-2c Weapons for opening cans quickly
3.02 Rotten Food
T3.02-1 Consequences of Rotten Food
3.03 Eating Dead Monsters
T3.03-1 Eating Monsters
4.00 Monsters
4.01 Edible Monsters
T4.01-1 Edible Monsters
4.02 Monster Data
T4.02-1 Monsters
5.00 Objects
5.00.1 Plusses
5.00.2 Stickeycurses
5.01 Weapons
T5.01-1 Weapons
5.01.1 Notes On Weapons
5.02.2 Projectile Weapons
T5.02.2-1 Projectile Ammunitions
5.02 Armour
T5.02-1 Armours
5.02.1 Additive Armours
T5.02.1-1 Additive Armours
5.03 Special (Appliable) Items
5.04 Scrolls
5.05 Wands
5.06 Rings
6.00 Special Rooms
6.01 Shops
6.01.1 Strategies For Dealing With Shopkeepers
6.02 Magical Memory Vault
6.03 David's Treasure Zoo
6.04 The Maze
6.05 Morgues
7.00 Valuable Items
A.00 Appendicies
A.01 Rumour file
A.01.1 Rumour File Summary
S.00 Strategies
S.01 About Strategies
S.01.1 Just Starting Out
S.01.2 Higher Levels
S.02 Cheating (For Fun and Profit)
S.03 Elbereth
S.04 Orcrist
S.05 Points
S.06 Luck
1.00 General
HACK is an excellent representation of Gary Gygax's
"Dungeons & Dragons" game.
Your mission, in HACK, is to descend countless levels of a
dark dungeon in order to find the "amulet," rumoured to be on the
29th level.
As a human, you have a wide choice of what you can be: a
fighter, a cave-man, a wizard, a knight, a spelolegist, or a
tourist. Each class has different advantages and disadvantages:
for instance, a knight has a variety of good weapons and armor; a
tourist has a great deal of food.
HACK is available for MS-DOS machines: IBM PC/XT/AT,
Rainbow, and a few other IBM compatables.
[Warning: HACK has been proven to be mentally addicting to
the user.]
1.01 History
HACK is a "hacked" (i.e., illegally changed) version of the
classic UN*X game of ROGUE. But for anyone who has played both,
they know that HACK and ROGUE are -quite- different, in detail -
but it is apparent that on the basic level, HACK and ROGUE had a
common ancestor: an early version of ROGUE. Those who have
played both can detail the differences. HACK was written
(contrary to popular belief) in Amsterdam, Holland, -not- at
Columbia. The ROGUE -source- code (HACK is written in 'C') was
once posted to the Usenet, but have since been removed.
Actually, there have been a myriad different D&D-type games,
such as WIZARDRY, OUBLIETTE, etc., and some of these might have
been ancestral to them all.
But, HACK certainly is a very good game in its own right,
and (since is in public domain) is free, and is a certainly good
way to lose a few hours. Have fun.
1.02 Environment
You can copy save files to make a backup file of a character
- everything is in standard DOS files. If you get killed, then
you can rename your backupfile, and start again from where the
backupfile had been last saved.
For instance: Before you traverse to another level, you can
save the game (command shift-S, "S"). When HACK returns to DOS,
you can then copy the .SAV file (with your character's name for
the file name) to another extension, such as .BCK or .SV2. Thus,
whenever you die (or something unacceptably bad happens to you,)
you can simply copy (or rename) the .BCK file to a .SAV file, and
resume play. Doing this, I believe, is -vitally- important to
winning the game, or even lasting very long.
1.03 Graphics and Icons
HACK uses standard ASCII characters for play, and indeed,
this is all it really needs. They are not fancy; they do not
really need to be. Walls of rooms are represented by '-' and
'|', corners by '+', floors by '.', and secret passages by '#'.
Monsters (and other creatures) are represent by lowercase and
capital letters; a 'd' (dog) is different from a 'D' (dragon).
Other ASCII characters used as symbols, are:
[Table, 1.03-1: Icons]
@ - a human (you, for instance).
< - up staircase.
> - down staircase.
` - large boulder.
^ - a trap.
) - a weapon.
( - another useful object (key, rope, camera, etc.).
[ - a suit of armor.
] - a mimic 'M' posing as a suit of armor: see Monster
Tables.
% - a piece of food (not necessarily healthy).
/ - a wand.
= - a ring.
? - a scroll.
! - a potion.
$ - a pile/pot of gold.
If, at any time, you are unsure of what a symbol represents
(for instance, if you bump into a monster you do not recognize),
all you need to do is type "/" (see Commands, section 1.04), and
then the icon character you are unsure of, and HACK will display
what that symbol represents; in some cases, it may prompt you
for more information (not necessary, just helpful).
1.04 Commands
HACK boasts a very large array of commands that are
available to the explorer. They are:
[Table 1.04-1: Commands]
? - help. Either long or short. Short displays a list of
commands; long displays a rather complicated summary of
the game.
Q - quit game. You are prompted for confirmation.
S - save game.
< - up. Go up a staircase (if you are standing on it).
> - down. Go down a staircase (if you are standing on it).
kjhlyubn - Go one step in the direction indicated.
k: north y: northeast
j: south u: northwest
h: west b: southeast
l: east n: southwest
You may also change the format of these commands
to the numeric keypad by selecting "O" (Options,
q.v.), and then "IBMBIOS."
These eight commands will be herein abbreviated
as "[direct]".
Shift-[direct] - Move "far" in the direction indicated until
you run into something "interesting."
Interesting things are: monsters, scrolls,
potions, wands, rings, gems, treasure,
traps, doors, and forks in corridors.
m + [direct] - Move in the direction indicated without
picking up any objects.
M + [direct] - Move "far," no pickup.
f + [direct] - Move until something "interesting" is found.
Same as above.
F + [direct] - Move until something "interesting" is found;
but forking of corridors is not considered
interesting.
i - print inventory.
I - print selective inventory.
^ - request trap previously found.
) - list current wielded weapon.
[ - list current worn armor.
= - list current worn rings.
. - rest; do nothing for a turn.
^R (Ctrl-R) - redraw the screen.
^P (Ctrl-P) - reprint last message. Subsequent ^P's print
earlier messages.
/ + [any symbol] - display what this symbol represents.
e - eat something (food, hopefully).
q - drink ("quaff") a potion.
r - read scroll.
w - wield weapon.
T - take off armor.
R - remove ring.
W - wear armor.
P - put on a ring.
t - throw an object, or shoot a weapon. Projectile weapons
are fired by first wielding the weapon, and then
throwing the ammunition.
p - pay your shopping bill (at a shop, q.v.).
d - drop something. "d7a" drops 7 items of object "a."
D - drop several things; has complex prompt.
A complex prompt consists of the prompt, "What kinds of
things do you want to [verb]?" Following the question
is a list of icons. Type one of these icons to
selectively drop items from that category. Type one of
the icons + "a" to drop all of the items in the
category, without asking for confirmation. Type icon +
"u" to drop all of the unpaid (at a shop, q.v.) items in
that category. Press [ESC] to abort.
c - name a certain object, or a class of objects.
C - name an individual monster (for instance, baptize your
dog).
E - write a message in the dust on the floor. "E-" means
write with bare hands.
v - print version number.
\ - give a list of all identified items (scrolls, potions,
rings, wands, gems, etc.).
^T - teleport.
O - options. To turn an option on, type the name of the
option. To turn it off, type "!" + its name. See the
long help file for more detailed information.
! - startup another copy of COMMAND.COM, if memory is
available.
# - introduces a long command; not really implemented.
2.00 Playing
HACK is a simple game to play; but difficult to master.
Essentially, all that one does is move around the dungeon, fight
monsters (by trying to move onto their space), and get objects
(simply by moving on top of them). Other commands are explained
above.
3.00 Food
Food is an essential part of HACK; if you do not eat, you
will die very soon.
The main source of food is a ration. A food ration is a
type of super-food; it can bring you from "fainting" to content
in one munch. But, unfortunately, a player cannot find enough
food rations to survive the game. Therefore, he must find
alternative sources of food.
3.01 Types of Food
The various types of food are as follows:
[Table 3.01-1: Types of Food]
food ration - super food.
tripe ration (dog food) - less than half as nutritious as a
food ration. Has a 1-in-2 chance
of vomiting, therefore leaving you
just as bad off (or slightly
worse) than before you ate it.
Gain one experience point.
pancake - small food value. Nothing special.
dead lizard - small food value. Rumoured to help against
cockatrices ('c'; see Monsters)
fortune cookie - small food value. After eating, a rumour
(tapped from the rumour file) is displayed.
See Rumours.
carrot - small food value. Returns eyesight, if blind.
tin (q.v.) - takes a while to open. Contains random items
(see Table 3.01-2).
orange, apple, pear, melon, banana, candy bar
The last seven items have only a 'food value' of 1, and
therefore, are very unimportant. A 'tin' can contain a random
variety of items:
[Table 3.01-2: Types of Canned Foods]
spinach - good food. Makes you stronger! (Remember
Popeye.) Extremely valuable - strength is
important.
peaches - good food. No special effect.
salmon - good food. Makes hands slippery for 1-15 turns
(i.e., you drop weapons! [Including stickey-cursed
items; q.v.])
apple juice - mediocre food.
unknown substance - -disgustingly- nutritious. It is 10
times more nutritious than food rations.
rotten meat - dangerous. Food value is -negative- 50;
takes away food points!
empty can - no food value, obviously.
[Table 3.01-2b: Distribution of Canned Foods]]
spinach - 1-in-2.
others - 1-in-12.
[Table 3.01-2c: Weapons for Opening Tins Quickly]
axe, crysknife, and dagger
3.02 Rotten Food
Sometimes food that is eaten is rotten. This means that its
food value is one-fourth normal value, and that some consequences
follow.
Normal chances for rotten food (unless fortune cookie, or
dead monster) is 1-in-7.
[Table 3.02-1: Consequences of Rotten Food]
1 in 4 - confusion (2d4 turns).
3 in 16 - blindness (3d10 turns, if not blind already).
3 in 16 - loss of consciousness (1-10 turns).
3 in 8 - no harm.
3.03 Eating Dead Monsters
Since most "normal" types of food are rather rare, players
will have to eat the monsters they kill for food. Some monsters
are -inedible-; they are "tainted." After eating an inedible
monster, you get the message "Ulch -- that meat was tainted! You
get very sick." If you do not have an extra healing potion
(q.v.) or royal jelly, you are dead within a few moves - you die
of food poisoning.
Also, if the monster is not freshly killed (i.e., you killed
him only a few turns ago), then you may also get food poisoning.
A list of edible and inedible monsters follows in the
Monsters section.
Sometimes, after eating a monster, the monster bestows you
with certain magical abilities. These are:
[Table 3.03: Eating Monsters]
acid blob, giant ant, giant beetle, dragon, homunculous,
kobold, snake, vampire - poison (save 1-in-5).
bat - you become confused.
cockatrice - you turn to stone. (Avoid!)
dog, human - you aggravate all monsters. (You get
the message, "You cannibal! You'll pay
for this!")
dragon - you can resist fire.
floating eye - you become telepathic (q.v.).
freezing sphere, yeti - you can resist cold.
invisible stalker, yellow light - you become confused; also
enables you to see
invisible.
killer bee, scorpion - poison (save 1-in-5); you can resist
poison thereafter.
leprechaun, nymph, tengu - you teleport occasionally
(uncontrollably).
mimic - you mimic a treasure chest for 30 moves.
nurse - all your hit points are restored; you aggravate all
monsters.
wraith - you gain a level of experience. (-Extremely-
important!)
floating eye, leprechaun, nymph, orc, purple worm, quasit,
rust monster, umber hulk, unicorn, xan, zruty - you
get sick (and lose 1d8 hit points).
4.00 Monsters
Monsters are the beasties that are represented by the
letters 'a' to 'z' and 'A' to 'Z'. A few monsters' symbols are
punctuation; these are the special ones.
The term "monster" merely means a creature that inhabits the
dungeon; all monsters are -not- necessarily enemies. Some are
even beneficial.
4.01 Edible Monsters
Here is a list of the edible monsters (ones that will not
kill you from food poisoning):
[Table 4.01-1: Edible Monsters]
a - acid blob. (No food value; does damage.)
b - giant beetle.
d - dog.
e - ettin.
f - fog cloud.
i - imp.
j - jaguar.
l - leocrotta.
m - minotaur; probably edible.
n - nurse. (Aggravates all monsters).
o - owlbear; probably edible.
p - piercer.
q - quivering blob.
r - giant rat.
t - tengu. (You teleport occasionally.)
u - unicorn. Edible, but don't kill! This is a good guy.
v - violet fungi.
w - long worm; possible edible.
x - xan; probably edible.
z - zruty; probably edible.
A - giant ant.
B - giant bat; causes confusion.
C - centaur; corpse is very heavy.
D - dragon; corpse is unliftable (but nutritious enough).
E - floating eye; causes telepathy.
F - freezing sphere; gives cold protection.
G - gnome.
H - hobgoblin; good food source.
I - invisible stalker; gives 'see invisible.'
J - jackal; sometimes starts out a bit rotten (not enough to
kill you, however).
L - leprechaun. (You teleport occasionally.)
M - mimic; you mimic a treasure chest for 30 turns.
N - nymph. (You teleport occasionally.)
O - orc; rarely edible.
P - purple worm; probably edible.
Q - quasit; probably edible.
R - rust monster; probably edible.
S - snake; probably edible.
T - troll; probably edible.
U - umber hulk; probably edible.
V - vampire; probably edible.
W - wraith; increases level.
X - xorn; probably edible.
Y - yeti; provides cold resistance.
Z - zombie.
@ - you, a shopkeeper; edible (shopkeeper), but aggravates
all monsters.
Note: "probably edible" indicates that they -should- be edible;
the author has never ran into a corpse long enough to eat it. (A list
of inedible monsters did -not- include these.) "rarely edible" (for
orcs) indicates that the monster is usual edible, but sometimes starts
out slightly rotten. If you do not eat it quickly, then it is
definitely inedible.
4.02 Monster data
Every monster has its own special strength, armour, and
special magical abilities. They are:
[Table 4.02-1: Monsters]
a - acid blob. Never attacks unless confused; but when you
hit it, it may splash you with acid and corrode your
weapons/armour. (Elven cloaks and leather armor are not
affected.) Worth 9 experience points (XP), so good for building
your levels at first. An acid splash can do as much as 8 points
of damage. Slow and easy to fake out.
b - giant beetle. Nothing special.
c - cockatrice. -Very dangerous.- If it hits you, it will
turn you to stone (i.e., you die). Even if it misses, it has a
one-in-five chance of doing so -just- by hissing (e.g., "You
hear the cockatrice's hissing!"). Touching a dead cockatrice is
also lethal, unless you are wearing gloves. If you threw things
at it, do not try to retrieve them until detect food potion says
there is no corpse underneath. Don't even think of eating it.
Gloves are not even foolproof; watch the staircases. Any monster
turned to stone by a living cockatrice (turned to your side
through ring of conflict, scroll of taming, wand of polymorph (on
your dog)) turns into a pile of rocks. Monsters you hit with a
dead one seem to be normal corpses. The wand of cancellation
does -not- stop petrification! There is a rumour that dead
lizards may prevent the process, but it is uncertain. One
untested theory is to wield the lizard and swing at the
cockatrice. Unsure.
d - dog; yours or that of a previous owner (ghost). If you
throw tripe rations or anything else edible (but not rotten
corpses) at a wild dog, it will become tame. If you leave a
tamed dog on another level, it instantly turns wild. A tame dog
(including yours) will not attack you unless confused. He can
starve to death (just like you) and will become confused just
before his demise. ("You feel worried about [your dog]." means
he is getting dangerously low on food; "You have sad feelings for
a moment, and then it passes." means your dog has just died.)
Little dogs grow to become -big- dogs as the game progresses.
There is nothing (except a cockatrice) that a big dog cannot at
least and stand a reasonable chance of killing. He seems to kill
only for food, however, with only a few exceptions (such as acid
blobs or kobolds, q.v.). If you are fighting and he has a high
"loyalty quotient" (q.v.), he may eventually get the idea. Note:
Dogs will not step on a stickeycursed item. [Hint - dogs are fun
to polymorph; ever had a tame cockatrice?] Eating a dog causes
you to thereafter aggravate all monsters. Not sure if this
affect continues through succeeding levels.
e - ettin. In D&D, hard to surprise...in HACK, hard to kill
(meaner than a troll!).
f - fog cloud. Very weak. 24 XP, -real- bargain.
g - gelatinous cube. Occasionally paralyzes by touch (only
when it hits you, though). Not edible.
h - homunculous. Its bite can put you to sleep. Not
edible.
i - imp. Poor attack, but very hard to hit. ...You might
even starve to death trying to kill one.
j - jaguar. Has multiple attacks, but does not inflict much
damage. (Still an annoyance.)
k - killer bee. Always appears in swarms. If you get hit,
you may find that the bee's sting was poisoned (gulp!). If you
haven't already eaten a killer bee or scorpion, eat one fast (see
food hints, Section 3.03). Always created in swarms by scroll of
create monster. Unlike orcs, these are medium-tough monsters,
and there is no 'Orcrist' (q.v.) for them.
l - leocrotta. Master of hit-and-run tactics. Tends to
take three or so hits, and then step back. A real pain when you
are fighting one or more other monsters at the same time.
m - minotaur. The kind of the mazes which exist on the
lowest levels of the dungeon (approx. 27 and lower). One of
these 'bull-headed' monsters can be found in each maze level.
Kill him, and you will find a wand of digging (-very- helpful).
n - nurse. Tends to wear a ring, but not always. Eat to
restore hit points, but you will thereafter aggravate all
monsters, like the dog. The nurse does a -lot- of damage when
she hits if you are wielding a weapon, or wearing any armour at
all (including gloves and shields and helmets). If you are
completely naked (and defenceless), she heals you, restores all
hit points, and raises maximum hit points! ('Elbereth' works to
stop her either way.)
o - owlbear. If he gets a good hit on you, he will embrace
you in a bear hug! You are then unlikely to be able to escape
short of killing it, or teleporting away.
p - piercer. Can drop from the ceiling by surprise. If it
falls and hits you, it might do up to 30+HP damage! Once on the
ground, however, it is not too much of a problem. (Helmets
protect from this: "The blow glances off your helmet!") 10 XP.
A hanging (hidden) piercer may be found by searching.
q - quivering blob. Weak and slow.
r - giant rat. Edible, and one of the prime sources of
monster food in the dungeon.
s - scorpion. Poisonous sting, as for killer bees. Edible
for poison resistance (with poison damage the first time). Like
snakes, scorpions often hide under objects on the ground. While
he's under something, however, you can throw missiles at him from
across the room. (He will hide under the first one, then sit
still for you to hit him with more.)
t - tengu. Tends to engage guerilla tactics, like the
leocrotta. Tengus teleport short distance while in battle, and
may even be able to follow you (!) when you teleport away.
Eating the corpse causes you to teleport occasionally.
u - unicorn. Don't fight! This is a good guy. Throw gems
at it; if the gems are valuable, the unicorn will graciously
accept your gift, and raise your luck by five points (without
notifying you, however)...luck is an internal variable, and deals
with "getting that last hit" on the monster, or how many monsters
on each level, etc. If you throw an unidentified gem, he will
raise it one point (maybe). If you throw glass that has been
identified, you may get killed (unsure of how; rumour).
v - violet fungi. Slow and edible.
w - long worm. Has a long body (each segment appears as a
'~') behind a head (as a 'w'). Only the head can hit you, though
you can hit (and destroy) it at any segment along its length.
Hitting the last segment is by far the best approach. Tends to
hit in long bursts and then pause for a time. (Doesn't seem to
do all that much damage per hit; it's the number of hits that he
gets in.) Be careful when you are hacking away at the worm's
middle; you can split it in half! Each broken segment becomes a
-separate- long worm! (Better to attack from the last segment
and go up to the head.) Worth a whopping 115 XP. [Hint:
looking under the corpse reveals a worm tooth, and enchanting
that (enchant weapon scroll while wielding tooth), produces a
crysknife (!), one of the most powerful weapons in the dungeon.
x - xan. Pricks your leg, and lowers your load capacity
(the amount of objects you can carry without collapsing). Potion
of speed or royal jelly (?) will cure it. A real pain; usually
found under 20th level...good candidate for scroll of genocide.
y - yellow light. if it hits, it will blind you and
disappear. Blindness is temporary; much shorter than the potion
of blindness. (q.v., floating eye)
z - zruty. Nothing special (?). Multiple attacks.
A - giant ant. Poisonous sting can lower your strength.
B - giant bat. Jumps around a lot. Not very powerful, but
fast enough that it can hit you and get out of hand-to-hand
range. Eating corpse causes confusion like the potion, but no
warning message. Good as dog treat, though.
C - centaur. Fast and powerful. Edible, but corpse is
-very- heavy.
D - dragon. Megamonster. Nasty attack, or breathes fire
(!). -The- best reason to own a ring of fire resistance (or have
previously eaten a dragon's corpse) on the lower levels.
Unfortunately, a dragon's corpse is an unliftable object; but can
be eaten while standing over (takes a long time to eat, too!).
Dragons can breathe flame at you -even- through walls, although
they probably won't hit you. (Probably.) Particularly common in
mazes (levels 27+). A dragon at the back of a 'zoo' (q.v.) can
be helpful, flames at you, and fries the intervening monsters.
Dragons can even flame through 'Elbereth'! Fire seems to be
every bit as bad as a bolt of fire - maybe even worse. They and
their breath are unaffected by the wand of cancellation.
E - floating eye. Its gaze can paralyze you, leaving you
game for other monsters. However, it can only do this when you
are attacking hand-to-hand. Eating a corpse makes you sick (you
lose some hit points), but bestows telepathy; whenever you are
blind, you know what and where every monster on that level is.
This turns yellow lights and potions of blindness into near
godsends when you have most of the level mapped out. To get
corpse without getting paralyzed, stand next to it while doggie
gets it. Once he kills it, just step in and grab it before he
can. (Note for tourists: use camera to blind it. Blinded
floating eyes cannot defend themselves.) Or, throw things at it
if you're dog is deceased. Unaffected by wand of cancellation;
wand of invisibility doesn't work, either.
F - freezing sphere. Eating corpse gives protection from
cold, just as the ring, but permanent (but may do poison damage).
Usually gives you a blast when fighting. Exploding freezing
spheres leave no corpses. It is rather easy to kill at a
distance; two crossbow bolts will do the job. Ring of cold
resistance will protect you from explosions, as will having
previously eaten a sphere corpse.
G - gnome. Edible; another of the prime sources of monster-
food in the dungeon.
H - hobgoblin. Edible; the most common of the sources of
monster-food. But a single attack can do up to 8 points of
damage - enough to seriously disable a just-starting adventurer.
I - invisible stalker. Monster is invisible; the letter 'I'
is only what you see with ring/potion of see invisible (or
telepathy while blinded). Eating corpse confuses you, and/or
allows you to see invisible thereafter - not to mention making
-you- invisible for a time!
J - jackal. Usually edible, but seems to start out a bit
rotten. (Not enough to kill you; just to confuse you.)
K - kobold. Not edible. Nothing else special.
L - leprechaun. If it hits while you are carrying gold, it
will do no damage, but teleport away with a lot of your gold!
(Have no fear - he is still somewhere on -that- level.) Can also
pick up piles of gold...even from under your feet. Eating corpse
may do poison damage, but always bestows teleportation as the
ring, but permanently. Usually have a pile of gold on their
person, including any they took from you previously during the
game. Good for building up experience points in the lower levels
- 40 or more XP!
M - mimic. Poses as an object in a shop (q.v.) or
elsewhere. Step outside of the ship, and the items that vanish
are/were mimics. Once they hit you, they can prevent you from
moving of the square you were on until you kill them, or
teleport away. Edible - when eaten, you mimic a treasure chest
for 30 moves! In shops, mimics are usually seen as "inverted"
armour, i.e., if you see a ']', then it is a mimic. (Armour's
icon is '['.) They also often pose as doorways, or chests of
gold. They can be discovered by searching. Wand of cancellation
will also find them out.
N - nymph. "Seduces" you into letting her take some of your
possessions. After she does this, she teleports away (but as
with the leprechaun, she remains somewhere on that level). Kill
her, and you get your possessions back. Eating a corpse is just
like eating a leprechaun's corpse. Ignores 'Elbereth' - it is
not considered -attacking.- (But...q.v. ring of adornment.) You
can ignore her charms if you use the wand of cancellation.
O - orc. Always appear in swarms. See one, and you know
that there are others on the dungeon - probably right behind the
first. Rarely edible. May have personal treasure. Scroll/wand
of create monster (but not polymorph) may create 8 or 9 of them,
surrounding you! [Special note: if you name your weapon
"Orcrist," you get a -hefty- bonus on damage when you hit one of
these - but this only works on orcs.] They can carry around
items that they found on the floor.
P - purple worm. Not that hard to deal with, by the time
that you get to that level. They swallow and digest you (!) just
like the trapper (q.v., explained there)...they digest faster
than trappers do, and towards the (your) end, you cannot hit.
This is their main attack, and it is very dangerous.
Q - quasit. Fast! Can move/attack 3 spaces per turn, but
does little damage per hit.
R - rust monster. Rusts armour when it hits. Items which
will rust are all armour except leather, and helmets. You will
be glad to know that elven cloaks, shields, and gloves are
unaffected. An even cloak will even protect the armour beneath
it from rusting! Note, that once you start taking armour off, he
cannot harm it. Takes no hit points. Try a wand of
cancellation. An item may only be rusted to '-3' (?).
S - snake. Can hide under objects on the floor, like a
scorpion. Nothing special other than that.
T - troll. In D&D and ROGUE, regenerates its wounds. HACK
trolls do not seem to be as nasty as the ones in ROGUE, but are
still quite a formidable enemy. Several hits per turn.
U - umber hulk. Chance of confusing you (as for potion of
confusion) if you "catch sight" of it. Save a potion of
blindness (and a potion of healing, if you can) for the umber
hulk if you detect him before hand. Unlike ROGUE, umber hulks
seem to have more than one chance of confusing you. Alternately,
you can just sit on 'Elbereth' and throw rocks at it as long as
you can. [Note: an umber hulk can -definitely- confuse you even
after you've been fighting it for a while.]
V - vampire. In ROGUE, removed experience levels...in HACK,
does not seem to (but might, however, in other versions). You
can drive it away with one hit while wielding a clove of garlic.
W - wraith. In D&D, drains one level/hit. In HACK, drops you an
experience level if it gets in a good hit. In extreme cases, it
may even take several levels if it hits well several times. When
you kill it, you will go back up one level if you've lost
any...but won't get the extra experience points. Wraiths usually
don't drain levels if you have good armour. Eat corpse to gain
an experience level (!) - one of the main ways to increase levels
in HACK (and, as the game progresses, one of the only ones,
excluding the potion of increase level).
X - xorn. In HACK, a xorn is a rather tough monster,
roughly equivalent to an ettin.
Y - yeti. Large; gives cold resistance, when eaten.
Z - zombie. Edible...nothing else special.
Other (non-alphabetically iconned) monsters, are:
@ - a human. Either you or a shopkeeper. Shopkeepers will
kill you if you get them mad enough without killing them fast.
They are very tough; three or more cold bolts, or -five- or more
fire bolts. They -ignore- 'Elbereth.' If you teleport out with
unpaid items, they will not hold a "grudge" (i.e., they will not
kill you when you return), -but,- they will accept contributions
instead of buying items. See shops for "other" ways of dealing
with them. Don't try to genocide (with scroll) shopkeepers -
you're only human, too! Rumours seem to indicate that
killing/eating humans reduces your luck (an internal variable)
dramatically. It -certainly- kills telepathy (but, you can
regain it again in the usual manner). Eating a shopkeeper
produces the message, "You cannibal! You'll pay for this!"
Every monster on that level (and possible succeeding levels)
heads after you with blood in its eye(s). You may encounter a
shop on a ghost (q.v.) level which has been robbed by the ghost.
In that case, the shopkeeper is likely to take -your- money for
the items stolen by the ghost!
, - trapper. Unlike its AD&D counterpart, the trapper in
HACK does not bother to hide its presence. The trapper does
possess a unique attack capability (which the purple worm also
has) - it simple swallows and digests you. After being swallowed
by a trapper, you will get the message "The trapper digests you!"
every third turn or so. You can still hit him from within, and
stand a fairly good chance of killing him...but if you don't,
after about six such messages, you get the message, "The trapper
digests you totally!" - you die. If you have been swallowed by
a trapper, you may polymorph (with wand) into some other creature
whose digestive tract may be less hostile. [Hint: ever been
inside a nymph?] Wands of digging will blast through his
stomach, leaving him very weak. Might take more than two bolts
of cold (from inside) to kill him, though. When teleporting out
of a trapper, a ring of teleport control will let you choose
where you want to go as usual; but not which level while
choosing! A wand of teleport monster will take you with the
trapper. Note: Digestion seems to be cumulative...so if you
escape a trapper after being digested five times, ve -very- wary
of being swallowed by another - he may digest you totally in one
turn! There may be something that cures digestion, like a potion
of speed cures xan pricks, but it isn't extra healing. Possibly
royal jelly.
& - demon. A monster between the strength of a xorn and a
purple worm. Has very good armour class and magic resistance.
(Note: demons are -not- resistant to fire.) Demons can
-replicate,- that is, one demon will give rise to a second (in an
adjacent space - if there is one!), and then a third, etc.
Either just destroy the replicants individually, or use a wand of
cancellation (?). The wand of undead turning makes them -turn
tail- and run.
~ - lurker above. In HACK, does not seem to do anything out
of the ordinary.
: - chameleon. While the mimic mimics objects, the
chameleon will mimic other monsters. When hard-pressed, a
chameleon may revert to its original form (':'). Also, unlike
the mimic, the chameleon changes form constantly - so if you see
one monster one minute, and the next turn it is different, then
it is probably a chameleon. Warning: chameleons have at least
some of the powers of the monster they appear as! Also,
chameleons can pose as previously genocided monsters...so if you
see a monster that you had genocided in that game, then you got a
chameleon on your hands. Additional notes: chameleons posing as
cockatrices -can- turn you to stone; when they pose as dragons,
they can blow flame; when posing as invisible stalkers, they are
invisible. Chameleons posing as unicorns accept gems!
" ", a space - ghost. Incredibly hard to hit. Does little
damage, but hits relatively often. Always has a "ghost horde"
around (on the level somewhere), which can be obtained by killing
the ghost, or by just sneaking around it. But, all items in the
horde are stickeycursed - but -not- necessarily minus on
protection/to hit! Sneaking around a ghost is much easier than
trying to destroy it - they move slowly. But don't get caught in
a dead end - you'll either get killed, or starve to death (or,
survive, if you're lucky). Note: If a ghost kills you, you
-become- a ghost (i.e., "John Ghost") on the same level, and on
the same spot where you were killed. If many people get ghosted
there, future adventurers could find 5 or 6 ghosts - and their
dogs, too! This can get them killed before they can escape,
which of course aggravates the problem. Ghosts are surprisingly
easy to kill if you have a lot of experience (level 11+). Hack
[sic] away. Worth 175 XP! If you are about to die on a ghost
level (and you know it), drop everything you have - that way,
when you become a ghost, your horde will not be stickeycursed!
5.00 Objects
A very basic part of the game are objects - those things
that you find in the dungeon and use to help you defeat the game.
Most items are plussed (q.v.), and some are stickycursed
(q.v.). Each object you will find has its own particular
strongpoint...i.e., weapons are all wielded ('w') to attack
monsters; armours are all worn ('W') to add to your armour class.
5.00.1 Plusses
Most objects can be "plussed" - that is, they have a bonus
(which is revealed before the name, e.g., "+3 mace")...this means
that they do whatever they do "better"...a +3 mace hits better
than a +1 mace. On the other hand, an object can also be
-minussed-...almost all minussed items are "stickycursed."
(q.v.)
5.00.2 Stickycurses
A "stickycursed" item is one which you cannot remove once
you put on/wield/wear, etc. For example, if you came across an
armour that was stickycursed, when you put it on ('W'), it would
act normally as far as an armour would. But, when you try to
take it off ('T'), you get the message, "You can't. It appears to
be cursed." This means that you will -have- to wear it until you
can find a scroll of remove curse (q.v.). Usually, a
stickycursed item will have a -negative- plus...e.g., -2 plate
mail.
5.01 Weapons
Weapons are, obviously, the things you use to kill monsters
with. Every different weapon has its own unique strength value,
and every separate weapon has its own plus (see Section 5.00.1).
A weapon must be identified (via scroll of identify) before you
know what the plus is - unless you started out with it in the
start of the game.
A list of them are:
[Table 5.01-1: Weapons]
(Listed from most powerful to least:)
ball and chain (via scroll of punishment)
crysknife
long sword
boomerang
spear
mace
two-handed sword
flail
axe
dagger
worm tooth (un-enchanted)
5.01.1 Notes On Weapons
Scroll of enchant weapon. There are two of these. Each one
will increase the plus (bonus) on the weapon that you are
wielding. If you are not wielding a weapon, then it will not
enchant any weapon. The first kind says, "Your [weapon] glows
green for a moment." This adds a +1 bonus to your weapon. The
second is "...glows green for a while." This adds +2 to it.
Crysknives. To create a crysknife, you must kill a long
worm (q.v. under monsters), and then get the worm tooth from
under its corpse (you may have to look under the body). Wield
it, read a scroll of enchant weapon (+1 or +2, does not matter),
and it will instantly become a crysknife: one of the most
powerful weapons in the dungeon...rumour has it only the ball and
chain are better. It will remain as a crysknife until you
unwield it...so beware of accidentally 'w-'ing.
Ball and chain. If you accidentally read a scroll of
punishment (q.v.), a ball and chain (icon '@_0') attaches to your
leg and slows your speed capability. But if you get it and wield
it, it can serve has a devastating weapon. It will kill almost
anything with one blow (?).
5.01.2 Projectile Weapons
Projectile weapons are weapons that can be fired at a
monster without having to get into a space adjacent to it (for
hand-to-hand combat). To fire a projectile weapon, wield ('w'
command) a ranged weapon (i.e., bow, crossbow, etc.), and throw
('t' command) the ammunition. After the battle, you can simply
run around and pick up all the ammo you'd thrown.
A list of them:
[Table 5.01.2-1: Projectile Ammunitions]
arrow
sling bullet
crossbow bolt
rock
dart
5.02 Armour
Armour are the things you use to protect yourself when a
monster attacks you. Each armour has its own special defence
value; measured in "armour class" (AC). The -lower- the armour
class, the better the protective value...for example, bare skin
(no armour at all) has an AC of 10, while leather has one of 8.
Also, any given suit can have a plus or minus (see Weapons,
A list of them (in increasing order of protection), is as
follows:
Armour in general. In addition to each separate type of
armour having its own special basic armour class, they can also
be plussed or minussed...and also, each type takes a certain
amount of time to put on/remove. Therefore, if you are fighting
a monster, and you start taking off your armour, the monster will
be free to hack away at you while you're taking it off. Once you
start either (take off or put on) process, you will follow
through no matter what is happening around you.
[Table 5.02-1: Armours]
none
leather
ring
studded
chain
splint \ Have the same armour
banded / armour class.
plate mail
5.02.1 Additive Armours
Additive armours (those which you can wear over the ones
above) are:
[Table 5.02.1-1: Additive Armours]
shield
helmet
gloves
elven cloak
(All of which decrease [better protection, remember] your AC
by one.)
Elven cloaks. Elven cloaks are magic cloaks which decrease
your armour class by one. Rumour also has it that they protect
you from enchantments. Elven cloaks -do- protect the armour
underneath from rusting (via rust monster attack) or being
dissolved by a splash of an acid blob's acid. They can be
enchanted via scroll of armour enchant.
Helmets. Helmets, like elven cloaks, are prone to being
dissolved by the acid blob's splash, but they protect you from
falling (i.e., hidden) piercers...and from rocks dropping on you
in mazes (if you get that far).
Gloves. Gloves normally improve your armour class by one,
but, by far their greatest advantages is preventing you from
being turned to stone by cockatrice cadavers. Syntax is "a pair
of +3 gloves." Gloves also allow you to pick up cockatrice
cadavers and -wield- them, hitting other monsters with them and
instantly turning -them- to stone! However, if you accidentally
"fall down stairs" (from carrying too heavy a load), you will
accidentally touch the cadaver, and die. (Note, this is also
"inconsiderate" to future players, as if you become a ghost, any
player taking your horde will encounter the cockatrice cadaver
-before- getting the gloves, and therefore (if s/he does not
already have a pair of gloves), will turn to stone.) Also note
that the cockatrice cadaver -does- eventually rot away.
5.03 Special (Appliable) Items
These are objects you can use/apply ('A' command), to make
them do whatever their (usually obvious) purpose permits. These
include blowing a whistle, opening an icebox, etc.
Whistles. When you apply an ordinary whistle (syntax is "a
whistle"), you "produce a high pitched sound," and your dog
(possibly if within a certain range?) immediately heads in your
direction. This is particularly helpful if you are getting ready
to go down a level, or teleporting randomly from eating a dead
leprechaun. Magic whistles (syntax is "magic whistle") produce a
"strange" whistling sound, and your dog is instantly teleported
to you. There seems to be one drawback to this, however, which
is that whenever you blow (either?) whistle, you may wake up
other denizens of the level whom you would rather not see awake -
such as leprechauns, nymphs, etc.
Icebox. This is the box that the spelolegist starts out
with. Corpses promptly placed in it will not spoil! It is,
however, terribly heavy, and you must be carrying -both- the
corpse, -and- the box to use it in this respect. You might want
to leave it on the first level until you've built up enough
strength to handle it easily (such as, after eating some spinach
[q.v.]).
Camera. Tourists start out with this one. Flash in the
direction of a monster, and it will be temporarily blinded!
(Also, Tourists start the game with a tremendous amount of food.)
Keys and ropes. Never seen one. They are mentioned in the
help file (HH.; '?' command), and presumably they can be wished
for (syntax unknown). Rumours indicate that the keys are (as
expected) for locking and unlocking doors - however, I do not
believe any of these exist. There are certainly no doors (known)
in HACK.
5.04 Scrolls
Scrolls (icons are '?') are magical scrolls of paper which
have spells written on them. You read ('r' command) a spell to
invoke its function.
Scroll of identify. Very important. This will identify
-any- object that you possess - including other scrolls. Reveals
the nature of any weapon, armour, useful object, wand, ring,
scroll, potion, etc., including the plus, if there is one (for
instance, "+1 mace").
Scroll of food detection. Briefly shows the location of all
food on the current level, and then returns to the normal
viewing manner.
Scroll of gold detection. As above, but reveals location of
gold. (Note: four gold in a square pattern indicate a Magical
Memory Vault - see special rooms.)
Scroll of fire. Reduces your maximum hit points -
permanently. Not good.
Scroll of genocide. Everybody's favourite scroll. Enter
the icon of the monster you don't want to put up with anymore,
and - poof! - it's gone! Also prevents the creation by scroll or
wand of more monsters of that type. (Note: genociding
cockatrices will -not- remove the cadavers, so keep looking out
for those ghost hoards!) However, you cannot genocide monsters
represented by punctuation marks (chameleons, trappers, demons,
lurkers above). Does -not- prevent you from polymorphing a
monster into the genocided type, or chameleons (q.v.) from
assuming that form. If you try to double-genocide a type, you
lose - no effect, scroll is used up. Genociding humans ('@') is
clearly suicidal.
Scroll of destroy armour. One random item of armour - from
those worn - destroyed: "Your armor turns to dust and falls to
the floor!" A nightmare for most HACKers, but a near godsend for
adventurers wearing stickeycursed armour.
Scroll of enchant armour. There are two types of these.
One of them makes your armor glow green "for a moment," and this
adds +1 one to the plus on the armour. The other makes your
armour glow green "for a while," and adds +2. Removes
stickeycurse from the item if there is one. Don't try to go too
far; armour seems to have a 50/50 chance of evaporating (!) every
time you enchant it over +3. If you have only skin for armour,
you get a strange feeling for a moment.
Scroll of enchant weapon. Same as above, but for weapons.
Also, a worm's tooth (see long worms, in monster descriptions) is
enchanted into a crysknife, one of the most powerful weapons in
the dungeon. If you are not wielding a weapon, you get a
"strange feeling for a moment, and then it passes."
Scroll of damage weapon. Similar to enchants, but -reduces-
the plus by one. Makes the item "glow black." No effect on or
of stickeycurses. If weapon is a crysknife, then it turns it back
into a worm's tooth, and reports that your weapon seems duller.
Scroll of magic mapping. All rooms, corridors, secret
doors, and stairs on level are revealed, and remain on the screen
during the adventure.
Scroll of amnesia. The nemesis of magic mapping: makes you
forget all of the level map (except for your spot and the eight
points directly adjacent to it).
Scroll of taming. Difficult to figure out. If a monster is
in sight (or in the eight cardinal points only?) it becomes tame
(just like your "little dog"), but there is no message. The
monster is then equivalent to a polymorphed dog. Thereafter, the
scroll -is- named in inventory as if identified. Reading it when
surrounded by multiple monsters seems only to affect the ones in
the eight cardinal points. If you abandon a tame monster on a
level (and descend/ascend to another), it will go wild, and will
-not- be pacified by throwing tripe rations to it.
Scroll of remove curse. "You feel like someone is helping
you." Gets rid of -all- stickeycurses on worn items. This
scroll is -very- important! (Also removes the iron ball [q.v.])
Scroll of create monster. One monster in an adjacent square
created, appropriate to level (usually?). Note, that if it
creates an orc or killer bee, it will create a whole -swarm- of
them.
Scroll of monster confusion. "Your hands begin to glow
blue." The next monster you hit with a hand-to-hand blow will be
confused, and your hands will stop glowing. A confused monster,
assuming it survives the blow that confused it, will move in
random directions, attacking anything in its path. This includes
you (or other monsters), so -don't- confuse your dog. It can
occasionally (?) be set off when you kill a monster with a wand,
etc. This scroll has variable effects. Sometimes monsters will
attack at double speed (!), but usually they just wander
aimlessly, or flee.
Scroll of punishment. This cursed scroll outfits you with a
ball and chain, indicated on the screen by '@_0'. The ball, if
left to drag, can slow you down considerably. However, it can
also be picked up, and if then wielded as a weapon, is
devastatingly effective. It is also -very- heavy, however. The
remove curse scroll (q.v.) will set you free; you can drop them -
but it might be a good idea to stick with them, if you're strong
enough. (If you're not, you might want to leave it someplace and
come back for it later.) Also great for getting around fast:
try picking up the ball, and throwing in the direction you want
to go. Great for getting out of shops without paying, but won't
work after the chain is loosened. A rumour indicates that this
scroll may (?) reduce your luck to 0 for the duration.
Scroll of scare monster. If you pick up a scroll that
"turned to dust," it -was- a scare monster scroll that had
already been dropped. If you read this scroll with monsters in
the room, nothing will seem to happen (and thus, can be confused
with taming - see above). You will find, however, that the
monsters try to run away from you!
Blank scroll. This scroll "appears to be blank." Never
having gotten an effect out of it, or heard of anything similar,
I can only assume that it -is- blank. It even identifies as
blank.
Scroll of teleportation. Zaps you to a random spot on the
level. See ring of teleport control. Very useful in shops.
(Needed to complete the game, see Completing the Game.)
5.05 Wands
Wands are another magical item, whose powers are invoked by
zapping ('z' command) them.
Wand of wishing. You usually get three wishes, in which you
enter the -exact- (i.e., 'syntax') name of an object, and you
will get it! Wishing for wands of wishing produces wands with 0
charges left. Syntax is as the object would normally appear in
the inventory. The wand -does not- identify the wished-for
object for you, but if you wish for a wand of something, and you
get a wand, it's probably what you asked for. Wishing for
illegal/non-existent items produces random ones. You can usually
(?) wish for any plussed item up to +3, but above that, you take
your chances. You can wish for one wand or 3 of any other non-
plussed item with each wish. Sample wishes are: "+3 plate
mail," "+3 crysknife," "3 tins," "ring of regeneration," "ring of
teleport control," etc. Do not wish for items when you are too
loaded down, or you will get nothing! Wishing for "a wand of
wishing (3)" will not work, either. Luck may influence the
chance of getting many items.
Wand of death. Kills target creature, but sometimes has
bad side effects: like halving everything elses hit points -
including yours! This is a ray.
Wand of sleep. Puts the target creature to sleep, for a
variable duration, but doesn't seem to work on bats (reason
unknown). Some monsters get saving throws - i.e., chances of not
being affected. This is a ray.
Wand of fire; cold; lightning; magic missile. Do damage to
anything they hit (ray). Cold seems to do the most damage, magic
missile the least, and fire seems to have the longest range.
Wand of striking. Hits the first monster in the direction
you point it, over a considerable (but not infinite) distance.
This is -not- a ray.
Wand of polymorph. Turns the target monster into a random
other monster! New monster could be anything. Of course, most
people would rather turn a dragon to a bat than vice versa. Use
on your dog until you get a monster well above normal for that
level, or even a megamonster. May not change all the
characteristics of the monster (i.e., speed may be unchanged).
Warning: if you polymorph your dog, and leave the level
(accidentally or intentionally), he will go wild and he will not
be tamed merely by throwing tripe rations at him - you must use
the taming scroll. HACK, apparently, forgets he ever -was- your
dog. Although polymorphing your dog is fun, it may be a better
idea to save it for the megamonsters you will be running into
(dragons, demons, trappers)...your dog is a pretty strong monster
in his own right.
Wand of make invisible. Makes monster invisible,
permanently (or while on level?). don't use on your dog, you'll
just keep tripping over him (and attacking him - if you can't see
what you're attacking, you don't get the "Really attack?"
failsafe for friendly monsters). Easy to confuse with teleport
away. No use whatsoever. This is a ray.
Wand of teleport monster. Target monster is teleported to
another spot on the level. Might be a wand of invisibility
instead (note above). Note: the monster (if hostile) usually
heads straight for you after being teleported at top speed. If
he finds you still there, or on the way out... This is a ray.
Wand of haste monster. Target monster moves twice as fast.
Use on doggie, but watch you don't trip all over him.
Wand of slow monster. Exactly the opposite as haste
monster; target monster moves only half as fast. Helpful for
those beasties that have two or more attack per turn.
Wand of digging. This produces new corridor sections, and
doors where the ray intersects a room wall. Naturally, this ray
does not bounce. Rumours indicate that monster cannot enter a
corridor created with this wand. Can dig through boulders, such
as the one the Amulet is under. Also useful for blasting your
way out of a trapper.
Wand of undead turning. Somewhat like fear, but only works
for "undead" monsters; they are: zombies, ghosts, wraiths,
vampires, demons, and possibly others. Destroys weaker undead,
causes bigger ones to turn and flee, including (!) demons.
Wand of create monster. Creates a monster adjacent to you,
just like the scroll. Occasionally (1-in-10?) when you zap this
wand, you are surrounded by monsters on -all- eight sides!
Useful to keep around, if you are desperately low on food, or, if
you just need some experience points after completing a level.
Wand of cancellation. Should (?) cancel the magical
abilities of monsters. Some monsters which are affected:
Nymphs - cancels her magical allure.
Wraiths - cancels life (experience level) draining.
Demons - cancels power of replication.
Vampires - cancels life draining (if they have it?).
Some monsters which are -not- affected, are:
Chameleons - still pose as different monsters.
Rust monsters - still rusts your armour.
Dragons - still blow flame at you.
Invisible stalkers - still invisible.
Trappers - still swallow you.
Cockatrices - still can petrify you (!).
Floating eyes - still paralyze you.
Unknown at present, are: giant ants, xans, leprechauns,
freezing spheres, umber hulks, etc.
Wand of secret door detection. Discovers all room or just
in sight of a corridor. If there are none, a charge is used up,
and the wand seems to do nothing. This is the only non-
directional wand without a message (?). Wand also detects
shape-changers in the room (e.g., mimics, piercers). Usually
comes in 10+ charges.
Wand of light. Illuminates dark rooms. Usually comes in
10+ charges.
Special notes. Ray/straight-line wands are best fired when
you are diagonally aligned with your target, so that ricochets
can't hit you. Ricochets can be used to hit targets that won't
get in line-of-sight (leprechauns, shopkeepers, unicorns, etc.),
or to get two hits on a single target. Shots into corners bounce
straight back out at you! Doors can reflect a diagonal shot back
at you, also, and the wand of fire reflects diagonally back at
you, just for "the heck of it." Wands seem to have differing,
and probably partly random, maximum ranges. For a ray wand, the
beam just doesn't reach, and for non-rays, there is no effect.
5.06 Rings
Rings are put on ('P' command) and then taken off ('T'
command). Rings can be stickeycursed, in that, when you put them
on, you cannot remove them until you read a scroll of remove
curse (q.v.). Some rings are plussed (see individual accounts,
below).
Ring of cold resistance. Makes you invulnerable to cold,
including backblasts from the wand of cold, and exploding
freezing spheres (q.v.).
Ring of fire resistance. As above, but you are impervious
to fire - including backblasts from the wand and dragonflame.
Ring of teleport control. Gives you control of teleport
destination, no matter -what- does the teleporting. Try to
teleport into a wall or a monster and you get a random teleport.
Gives no control of when you go, just where. Combined with a
(un-stickeycursed) ring of teleport, and you -can't- lose.
Ring of regeneration. Regain one extra hit point per round
(but makes you eat a tremendous amount of food!).
Ring of conflict. Causes monsters to attack each other
instead of you, if they are near or adjacent to each other.
Ring of hunger. Usually stickeycursed; increases your
necessary food consumption without doing anything good.
Ring of stealth. Causes monsters not to see you when you
enter a room.
Ring of searching. Finds secret doors/traps more easily,
and occasionally without your even searching! -Not- necessarily
on the first try of searching, however. Also finds mimics and
piercers.
Ring of increase damage. Increases the damage you do to monsters
when hitting them.
Ring of protection. Increase your armour class (q.v.), and
probably your (internal) saving throws. Can be +1, +2..., or cursed:
-1, -2, etc.
Ring of teleportation. Usually stickeycursed. Teleports you
randomly every few moves. Now way to control when, but ring of
teleport control can control where. Without that ring, teleportation
is entirely random on the level. Take it off (if you can!) when
you're trying to get to anywhere, unless you're more than, say,
halfway across the dungeon from it.
Ring of adornment. Useless in ROGUE, but in HACK it can protect
you against nymphs (temporarily) - they're dazzled by it and don't
attack. It only retains this function if it has been identified (?).
Ring of resistance to poison. You are resistant to poison, which
includes poisoned corpses - but not rotted ones -and all poison
stings, bites, and potions. Does -not- protect you from
rotted/tainted meat or potions of sickness.
Ring of gain strength. Just what it says - plusses as ring of
protection.
Ring of protection from shape-changers. Not a plussed item.
Function unidentified...probably (just as the name says) identifies
shape-changers (chameleons).
Ring of warning. Glows in various colours, which are indications
of approaching monsters, traps, etc. White is for monsters; red is
for traps (possibly?). This ring may be a total fake. Even when it
does show that there is a nearby monster, it is still almost useless
(Ex: "Oh, monster coming? Okay...I'll run down here - oops! Wrong
way...")
Ring of levitation. Equivalent to a potion of levitation when
worn. When levitating, an adventurer cannot pick things up from the
ground. Has minor advantages if you wish to avoid traps, etc...but it
is usually stickeycursed, and this can spell the end for your
character! If you are on level one, get out as soon as possible
(before you run out of food!), but if below that, rush up to level one
(if you can) as soon as possible.
Ring of see invisible. Same as potion - enables you to see
anything that is invisible, such as invisible stalkers.
6.00 Special Rooms
"Special rooms" are the rooms that have qualities about them
that make them different from any "normal" room.
6.01 Shops
Shops are part of what make HACK a good game. Shops are
rooms, filled with items which are guarded by a shopkeeper.
Shops may specialize in a particular object (e.g., armour,
weapons, scrolls, wands, rings, potions), or they may be general
("antique shop").
Buying things is simple. You pick up the items that you
want to buy, move adjacent to the shopkeeper, and pay ('p'
command) your bill. Prices for magic (scroll, wands, rings,
potions) are high, but you often may want to buy food or a
weapon, if you aren't equipped to steal. Selling things is
almost as simple. You drop (-not- throw) the items in a space
adjacent to the shopkeeper only when he is standing next to the
door, and if he is interested, he will buy it from you - you get
gold for it. Warning: if he is not interested (i.e., this is an
armour shop and you try to sell him a weapon), he might take the
item(s) without paying.
Stealing is harder. You must kill/sleep the shopkeeper and
get out past him. A nasty buy lucrative tactic is to enter a
shop, sell everything you can to him...then take (not buy)
everything you want to keep - anything of his you can carry - and
steal it all...including the gold he paid you. At the level
which you find the shops, the shopkeepers are probably far too
tough for you to dispatch easily. For them, you will have to
rely on your magic items. Note, the shopkeeper has quite a bit
of treasure of his own, which probably will not appear until he
is dead.
Shopkeepers occasionally hold grudges. If you raid a
shop, and, later, return to that same one, he may accept your
gold as a donation! ...Or, he may recognize you, and kill you
right away.
Shopkeepers have long memories. They will refuse to let you
out of a shop if you have stolen any items from it, -even- if you
are not stealing anything this visit. Shopkeepers are also
crafty enough to stay out of your line-of-fire, unless you are
within two spaces of the door. Make sure you have a means of
escape -before- you try to steal anything; you will have to pay
for or steal anything you use up or get stickeycursed by. If you
know which scroll is teleportation, you can use one of his, but
when trying his scrolls out to find out which one is
teleportation, just make sure you don't get stranded. Trying out
wands in a "walking cane" shop will avoid that problem (since
wands are not (usually) used up in one shot), but if any wands if
fired at, or any ray hits (look out for rebounds) the shopkeeper,
he will get mad (and attack you!).
6.01.1 Strategies For Dealing With Shopkeepers
Teleport out. This is by far the simples, safest method of
getting away clean. The shopkeeper would love to chase you, but
(luckily for you) he has to stay and take care of his shop.
However, since teleporting is random, you might teleport - only
to find you've blinked in on the other side of the shop!
Dig your way out. This method is simple, too, provided you
have a wand of digging. Or, you can apply ('A' command) a picky-
axe (spelolegist only), and give '>' (down) for a direction.
However, if you do this in a space adjacent to the shopkeeper's,
he will warn you ("Be careful, sir, there is a hole in the
floor!"), and if you do jump in, he will grab your backpack, and
you will be left with only what you were wearing or wielding.
(You will have to return later and -pay- for the items he
grabbed.)
Teleport the shopkeeper away. Use a wand of teleportation.
This method is not very good, compared to the above two. Just
don't meet him on the way out (he will be pretty mad)! He -will-
be heading directly back towards the shop the moment he is
teleported, so better get out fast.
Avoid the shopkeeper. Lure him away from the door (when you
have no unpaid for items), then zap him (diagonally, usually)
with a wand of sleep. Tiptoe around him, and you're home-free.
Just take care not to come back to that shop again, however.
Kill the shopkeeper. The most direct approach, but very
often not nearly as easy as it sounds. Wands work the best with
this guy. Killing him, however, may have some bad side effects
(see '@' [humans] in the monster section). They are much faster
than you, and they ignore Elbereth! (You seem to have already
violated it by attacking him in the first place.) If you quaff a
potion of invisibility, he will stand in front of the doorway no
matter -what- you shoot/zap/throw at him. However, he knows
who's attacking him, and if you get too close...
6.02 Magical Memory Vault
And no, this is -not- a myth. This little (two-by-two,
always) room holds the "current balance of the Magical Memory
Bank." It has no doors connecting to it from any room or
corridor on the level. You may locate it in three ways. First,
read a scroll of gold detection. The four piles of gold (in a
two-by-two array) is unmistakable. Second, read a scroll of
magic mapping. Any two-by-two rooms not connected with any
others will be a MMV. Third, get there.
There are two ways of actually getting into a Magical Memory
Vault. First, teleport in. This is the fastest and easiest way
in, but hope you can get out again. Second, use a wand of
digging. (This is usually the best way.)
There is a rumour going around that when there is something
written/burned into the dust, and it reads, "A? ?eu?e?" or
something similar (and you didn't engrave it), it implies that
there is a secret (secret!) passage to a Vault nearby. Just
search like mad until you find a door, enter it, search until you
find a passage, and then follow it down to the MMV. ...This has
not been positively indentified, however.
If you stay in a Vault too long, a guard will come by and
ask you to drop all your gold. The guard never initiates an
attack; he simply waits for you to drop all your gold and exit,
or teleport out. Teleport out (or give up your gold) if you have
a weak character, or, kill him if you have a stronger one.
To deal with the guard, follow this procedure.
One. Drop all your gold ('D$'), and move one step toward
the guard (once he gives you room, you may have to wait ['.'
command]). He will move a step down the corridor.
Two. Take a step back to pick up the gold; the guard will
stay put.
Three. Step toward the guard again, until you are next to
him (don't hit him!). Drop your gold again; he will advance
again.
Repeat this procedure until the guard reaches the end of the
corridor, well he will disappear.
6.03 David's Treasure Zoo
The "zoo" is what corresponds to a monster room in ROGUE.
There are some differences, however: a zoo is packed with
monsters, except for the row facing the door. There are no magic
items - except for what materializes when you kill a monster -
but a pile of gold waits under every monster in the room.
Monsters in a zoo are best dealt with by a ring of conflict, but
zapping a missile wand (fire, cold, magic missile, lightning,
death, etc.) will get a lot of them. Otherwise, you better run
as fast as you can away from the zoo and come back when you are
better prepared. Best thing is to use Elbereth and a strong
wand. Or, you can just wait one step away from the door and
attack (normal hand-to-hand) until each one, in turn, dies.
Better watch the hit points, though.
If there is a leprechaun in the room, he will go around
picking up the gold. When he has gotten all of it, he will
teleport - which is wise of him, since he is carrying quite a bit
of gold! (He will still be on that level somewhere.) Orcs will
also pick up gold, but won't teleport.
6.04 The Maze
The maze is what you find on the lowest levels of the
dungeon. The exact level may vary, depending on your version of
HACK. The maze takes up the entire level, and it is inhabited by
a variety of strong to very strong monsters. One peculiarity of
the maze is that there are no staircases going down. All
staircases in mazes lead up, even if you had just ascended the
staircase from a lower level. The only way to get to the second
(or greater) maze levels is to fall several levels through a
trapdoor. Even then, you will have to repeat the fall if you
want to return (down). You may wish to reserve a scroll of magic
mapping for a maze, especially if you possess a ring of teleport
control. Also useful are potions of object detections (see the
Amulet), monster detection, and blindness (if you have telepathy;
q.v. floating eye under monsters).
Every maze is inhabited by a minotaur ('m' icon) who carries
a wand of digging. You need this to get the Amulet out from
under an immoble rock, crashing through maze walls, tearing
through trappers' bellies, or digging to the Magical Memory
Vault.
The minotaur, by the time you get there, isn't so tough.
There is an Amulet on each maze level. This amulet is always
under a rock in a dead end, so that the rock cannot be pushed off
the Amulet.
6.05 Morgues
These rooms have not yet been confirmed. Some rumours (of
rumours) indicate that they are total fakes; but every once in a
while, upon entering a level, you will get the message, "You get
an uncanny feeling..." Morgues are inhabited by the undead
monsters: ghosts, zombies, vampires, wraiths, demons, etc.
Other than that, very little is known about morgues.
7.00 Valuable Items
Gold. This is a fair part of your score, and of course, you
can buy extremely helpful items from shops with the stuff. But
it seems that the writers of the game were a little...
anarchistic?... even though gold can be an extreme help, it's
also a hinderance: gold weighs quite a bit, and if you have a
lot (as the game progresses, you get loaded with the stuff), you
will lose your ability to carry other things that you -really-
need.
Gems. These are valuable gems, or worthless (or nearly so)
Glass - you can't tell which it is until you identify them (via
scroll). You can throw an indentified gem at a unicorn, and
receive 5 points of luck; you can throw an unidentified gem at
one for 1 point; intentionally throwing glass can get you killed!
The varieties of gems are glass, jasper, topaz, agate, opal,
turquoise, and diamond (the most expensive).
Amulet. This is generally the big part of your final score
(if you have one!). There is an amulet on the lowest maze
level, hidden under an immovable (but diggable) boulder. Other
amulets can be gotten from ghosts. When leaving the dungeon, the
first Amulet scores 5000, and each successive (genuine) Amulet
doubles your score. There are rumours that Amulets cut down on
your need for food. You can wish (via wand of wishing) for an
Amulet, but you get a cheap imitation instead.
A.00 Appendicies
A.01 Rumour file
HACK contains a rumour file (RUMORS.) which is tapped when a user
eats a fortune cookie - it goes through the file, picks a random
message, and displays it.
Important notes. Any rumours leading to the information about a
potion/scroll/wand/ring indicating its colour, etc. and its found name
(e.g., "the ebony potion is healing!") is false - the table of items
and their unidentified labels is randomized at the beginning of each
game. Also, any references to "the next level," "this level," or "the
previous level" are also fakes: the rumour file is tapped entirely
randomly, and therefore has no way of knowing when a certain level is
coming up (or passed). In the interest of space (and sanity), these
irrelevant rumours have been deleted.
The following is a somewhat abridged list of rumours from HACK
version 3.6. Most of the rumours which are unimportant have been left
out, but the important ones are asterisked. The messages in brackets
are explanations.
A.01.1 Rumour File Summary
"A fading corridor enlightens your insight." [Misleading; a wand of
light zapped in a corridor will always cause the corridor to light
briefly and then fade; the charge is wasted.]
"A long worm hits with all of its length." [Sort of true; a long worm
can hit only with its head ('w') segment, not with body segments -
however, it gets one hit for every segment.]
"A ring of adornment protects against nymphs." [True.]
"A rumour has it that rumours are just rumours." [Almost always
true.]
"A spear will hit an ettin." [Sort of true; normal chances as any
other monster.]
"A spear might hit a nurse." [Sort of true.]
"A tin of smoked eel is a wonderful find." [Misleading; no smoked
eels in HACK.]
"A truly wise man never plays leapfrog with a unicorn." [True;
unicorns are good guys.]
"A two-handed sword usually misses." [Sort of true.]
"A unicorn can only tamed by a fair maiden." [Still unknown at
present.]
"A visit to the Zoo is very educational; you meet interesting
animals." [True, but you can also get killed. (q.v. Special rooms)]
"A wand of vibration might bring the whole cave crashing about your
ears." [Misleading; no such wand.]
"Afraid of falling pierces? Wear a helmet!" [True - blow glances off
(q.v.)]
"All monsters are created evil, but some are more evil than others."
[Sort of true - some are even helpful! (q.v. unicorns and nurses)]
"An elven cloak protects against magic." [False; will not protect
against scroll of destroy armour (q.v.).]
"Any small object that is accidentally dropped will hide under a
larger object." [Utter gibberish.]
"Attack long worms from the rear - that is so much safer!" [True.]
"Be careful when eating salmon - your fingers might become greasy."
[True; you drop weapons (even stickeycursed ones!).]
"Be careful when throwing a boomerang - you might hit the back of your
head." [Still unknown at present.]
"Beware of dark rooms - they may be the Morgue." [Misleading - dark
rooms -are- dangerous, but dark rooms are not necessarily the Morgue
(q.v. Special rooms).]
"Beware of wands of instant disaster." [Misleading; no such wand, but
wands -can- be dangerous to try out.]
"Beyond the 23rd level lies a happy retirement in a room of your own.
[Absolutely untrue - beyond level 23 lies Hell! (q.v. Completing the
game)]
"Blank scrolls make more interesting reading." [Untrue.]
"Booksellers never read scrolls; it might carry them too far away."
[True; shopkeepers -never- sample their goods.]
"Dead lizards protect against a cockatrice." [Unknown at present.
(q.v. cockatrice under monster descriptions)]
"Descend in order to meet more decent monsters." [Absolutely untrue.]
"Don't bother about money: only leprechauns and shopkeepers are
interested." [Sort of true. Gold is a large part of your score, and
you can buy/sell valuable items from/to shopkeepers. However, gold
weighs a lot, and carrying a lot of gold wrecks your total load
capacity.]
"Don't forget! Large dogs are MUCH harder to kill than little dogs."
[True.]
"Don't throw gems. They are so precious! Besides, you might hit a
roommate." [False; throwing gems at unicorns are beneficial.]
"Every dog should be a domesticated one." [Misleading, but hinting to
the fact that you can tame (by throwing tripe rations) other dogs you
meet in the dungeon.]
"Everybody should have tasted a scorpion at least once in his life."
[True; gives poison resistance. Actually, killer bees are much easier
to find, and they endow the same gift.]
"Gems do get a burden." [True; leave gem caches at staircases; get
enough and the weight begins to add up.]
"Genocide on shopkeepers is punishable." [True - by death. You're
only human, after all.]
"Hungry dogs are unreliable." [True - he can even go berserk and
attack you!]
"I once knew a hacker who ate too fast and choked to death..." [True,
but not too fast - too much, and you might choke and die.]
"If you need a wand of digging, kindly ask the minotaur." [Sort of
true - don't ask! Kill!]
"If you're afraid of trapdoors, just cover the floor with all you've
got." [Unknown at present - probably false.]
"In need of a rest? Quaff a potion of sickness!" [An outright lie.]
"Inside a shop you better take a look at the price tags before you buy
anything." [Misleading; you can't look at price tags.]
"It is bad manners to use a wand in a shop." [Sort of true...you can
anger the shopkeeper if you zap him.]
"It is not always a good idea to whistle for your dog." [True, you
can wake up other monsters.]
"It might be a good idea to offer the unicorn a ruby." [True!
Increases luck if you do.]
"Keep armour away from rust." [True - rust monsters, that is!]
"Kill a unicorn and you kill your luck." [Very true.]
"M.M.Vault cashiers teleport any amount of gold to the next local
branch." [Still unknown at present.]
"Murder complaint? Mail to 'netnix!devil!gamble!freak!trap!
lastwill!rip'." [Try it!]
"Never ask a shopkeeper for a price list." [True - you can't.]
"Never attack a guard." [True - a guard is just as bad (if not worse)
as shopkeepers.]
"Never kick a sleeping dog." [True; dogs are nasty, too.]
"Never map the labyrinth." [(Refers to maze levels) ...False.
Mapping is very helpful on those levels.]
"Never ride a long worm." [Misleading; you can't.]
"No weapon is better than a crysknife." [False - see weapon tables.]
"One has to leave shops before closing time." [Misleading; no such
thing.]
"Only a wizard can use a magic whistle." [Unknown at present.]
"Opening a tin is difficult, especially when you are not so strong!"
[True]
"Opening a tin is difficult, especially when you are bare-handed!"
[True.]
"Operation coded OVERKILL has started now." [Misleading, just a
joke.]
"Playing billiards pays when you are in a shop." [True; almost the
only way to kill a shopper is by starting with a wand on a ricochet.]
"Reading Tolkien might help you." [True; a little bit, anyway.]
"Reading Herbert will disgust you, but in one case it might be
enlightening." [Second part is true; first part is a matter of
opinion.]
"Savings do include amnesia." [Unknown at present.]
"Scorpions often hide under tripe rations." [True...or anything else
around.]
"Take a long worm from the rear, according to its mate it's a lot more
fun." [Disgusting, but true; a lot safer.]
"The Leprechaun Gold Tru$t is no division of the Magic Memory Vault."
[Unknown at present.]
"The leprechauns hide their treasure in a small hidden room."
[Unknown at present, but probably untrue.]
"The secret wands of Nothing Happens: try again!" [False; a wand for
which Nothing Happens is out of charges.]
"There is a big treasure hidden in the zoo!" [True - lots of gold in
the zoo!]
"There is a message concealed in each fortune cookie." [True.]
"There have been people like you in here; their ghosts seek revenge on
you." [True...]
"There is no harm in praising a large dog." [True...try feeding
(throwing tripe rations at) it.]
"There seem to be monsters of touching benevolence." [True - nurses
(q.v.)]
"They say that a unicorn might bring you luck." [True...throw gems at
it. (q.v.)]
"They say that throwing food at a wild dog might tame him."
[True...it does.]
"They say that you need a key in order to open locked doors."
[Unknown at present...probably misleading (no keys?).]
"Tin openers are rare indeed." [Very, very rare...there aren't any.]
"WARNING from H.M. Gov't: Quaffing may be dangerous to your health."
[True.]
"Watch your steps on staircases." [True...if heavily loaded, you may
fall down.]
"What do you think would be the use of a sword called 'Orcrist'?"
[Tremendous hit bonus for orcs.]
"When punished, watch your steps down stairs!" [True.]
"You can't leave the shop through the back door: there ain't one!"
[True - unless you make one!]
"You offend Shai-Hulud by sheathing your crysknife without having
drawn blood." [Uhhmm...]
"Zapping a wand of Nothing Happens doesn't harm you a bit." [True.]
S.00 Strategies
S.01 About Strategies
Strategies are any little quirk (or maybe even a bug), or just
some easier way of doing something in HACK. There are many, -many-
different strategies, so in this version of HACKHELP, I will only
include some basic ideas; later versions will incorporate HACKHELP
readers' responses into this section.
Most strategies are incorporated throughout the text; but this
section will attempt to consolidate some of the major ones.
S.01.1 Just Starting Out
Starting out, and getting a solid, healthy character is one of
the most difficult things to do in HACK. You will usually need to go
through many adventurers until you get one that can survive for a time
. . . and even then, you may not like him/her enough to keep him/her
for very long.
Food seems to be the big issue here. Can a character -survive-
on just food rations alone? The answer is most definitely "no."
Eventually, you will need to resort to dead monsters (gruesome, but
true . . . hey, they're trying to kill you, anyway!) to get enough
food to sustain yourself. (A list of edible monsters is in the
Food Section.)
Doggie needs to eat too. Try not to steal all his kills (stand
next to him while -he- fights, and when he kills it, step in and grab
the cadaver). If he is starved, he will get confused, and might
attack you unpurposely! Soon after that, he will die. The message,
"You feel worried about the little dog," means he is getting
dangerously hungry. Kill a monster, -find- him in time (sometimes the
hardest part), and throw ('t' command) the food to him.
Let Doggie do your fighting for you when you are badly hurt or
outclassed (the latter is usually the case). He is bigger and
stronger than you. He will eat much more than he needs, but the more
heats, the faster he grows into a big dog. There is no monster
(except a cockatrice, q.v.) that a big dog cannot take on without a
reasonable chance of success.
Keep in mind that Doggie's body is always one assured non-
poisonous food source (morbid, I know, but true). Never kill your dog
out-of-hand! He gets in the way, sure, but he is a powerful ally - he
may save your life once or twice or more. Never eat your dog unless
you are absolutely positive there is no more edible food on that level
and you are already fainting! After you eat a dog, it kills you luck,
and every monster on that level with blood in its eye (or eyes).
There are, for instance, several monsters that Doggie will not attack
(such as shopkeepers), and some others that he won't attack unless he
sees you fighting them (even then, it may take him a while to get the
idea; Doggie is a little thick). On the other hand, he loves to kill
and eat bats and orcs. (Let him; you can't eat them anyway.)
However, wearing a ring of conflict (q.v. under Rings) will make him
fight anything. And don't test out wands on him. He's not -quite-
invulnerable. (And zapping him with a wand of invisibility is
-annoying.-)
If you meet a wild dog (probably won't until level 8+, anyway),
throw food at him - anything you can't eat (unless it's rotten); tripe
rations are by far the best. Also, if you find a 'wild' dog above 8th
level or so, or a named monster anywhere (that you hadn't done
yourself), you are on a ghost level! (q.v.) - watch out for the former
owner. (And name Doggie anything, just so long as it's noticeable [so
others know when they're on -your- ghost level!].)
Don't try to maintain more than two tame animals (dogs or other).
After that, you just begin to trip over them, -or,- they may even turn
on you (seems to be a bug in the software)! Abandon them on some
level (but save tripe so you can get 'em back later [dogs only]).
Dogs are great fun to polymorph (and sometimes a great help), but
beware of accidentally leaving them stranded on a different level, or
falling through a trapdoor; they will become wild again, and will not
be pacified by tripe (but scroll of taming, always). Scrolls of
taming produce monsters which should be treated in exactly the same
way as polymorphed dogs. (Beware of polymorphing/taming cockatrices:
1., you can accidentally bump into them if bare-handed; and 2., every
monster he touches will be turned into a pile of rocks - you can
starve!) Tame monsters all eat a lot (except cockatrices), but that's
(supposedly?) so they get bigger faster, like Doggie.
Don't get careless. A major cause of fatalities (low- or high-
level) is just not keeping an eye on your hit points. If you're low
on HPs, take your hands off the keyboard and -think- - you need to
figure out how to get away. The first thing to do is engrave ('E-'
command; you need to write with your hands) 'Elbereth' (q.v.) and
await developments. Even a puny monster can take you out if you don't
watch your hit points. Hobgoblins ('H'), for instance, can do up to 8
DP per hit (if you're 8 HP or lower, watch yourself around one!), and
acid blob's ('a') splash can also do up to 8 HP. Getting killed by an
acid blob is -really- embarassing; after all, you can only kill them
by attacking them. Don't chase them if you're low on HP, and don't be
afraid to give up on one, either.
Try to eat a floating eye as soon as you can. This is fairly
simple; stand adjacent to it, and wait while Doggie hacks away (will
not attack unless you attack first!). When he kills it (if there is a
corpse, of course), just step in and grab it.
Leprechauns can be a pain. But they're not as difficult as they
seem. When you accidentally hit one (or intentionally), he will come
up to you, attack/grab your gold, and then teleport away. However,
he's still somewhere on that level. {Try giving names to leprechauns
in case there are two (or more) of them on a level. That way, you
won't mistakenly hit a leprechaun that hasn't stolen money yet. -HH}
After he's grabbed some (or all) of your money, and you've gotten rid
of all or most of the monsters on that level, go after him. When you
find him (preferrably in a dead-end room - only one passage out),
cover the passages, leave gold -behind- you (-not- under you; he'll
just nab it from under your feet!), and throw projectiles at him (or
just move hand-to-hand) every time he comes near. He usually won't
teleport. After you kill him, pick up the gold that he stole (and
they'll usually be some extra). Then you can do what you will with
the leprechaun cadaver (q.v.).
Try to conserve your missiles and magic (magic especially). You
can just take it slow, and deal with monsters as leisurely as your
food supply (including their contributions) permits. If you conserve
firepower early, then you can use it against tougher monsters when you
really need it. A partial exception is wands of wishing; wish for one
weapon (crysknife, hopefully), one armour, and one miscellaneous such
as 3 tins (hopefully spinach), or a powerful ring (I'd lean to the
ring part). This applies to wizards, of course - other types should
wish for whatever they are short of (usually magic). If you are
genuinely doing well, then you might save a wish or two or three for
future needs (you -will- get them).
S.01.2 Higher Levels
The big thing for getting to levels above the 8-12 range is to
conserve your expendable magic, that is, potions, scrolls, and wands
(rings don't run out). You will be meeting tougher and tougher
monsters, tougher than you, usually, but you're tougher too. The
sword that slew hobgoblins in one shot takes a while to get an imp or
a jaguar...so what? You have enough hit points, now, so that they are
(fairly) minor dangers, and at least you can afford to take the time
to kill them. The struggle for surviving has passed, now. You are
regaining hit points faster; you know what many of the magic items
are; and hopefully you've built up a fairly good armour/weapon
stockpile. You don't need to kill the orc swarms with a wand; you can
pick them off one-by-one as they come through the door with a sword
named 'Orcrist' (q.v.)! Same for killer bees, but there is no
"Orcrist," per se, for them. But once you've eat one, they lose their
sting (sorry about the pun). Giant ants are a big pain, but, as HH
points out, after you've eaten spinach, they only take -one- point of
strength; same goes for weakness from starving. Once you get poison
resistance (eating a killer bee or scorpion, or the ring), you can let
Doggie take care of them. (He should be getting to be a big dog by
now.) You should have plundered (i.e., stolen from) at least one
store, if the opportunity had presented itself, and so now you have a
relatively large assortment of goodies.
On the other hand, don't get cocky, either. A giant ant can do
some pretty bad damage before you can get the dead bee, or even after.
A swarm of orcs may not seem like much in a corridor with 'Orcrist,'
but when surrounded in a room, their number will tell. Double goes
for killer bees.
Encumberance will be (and probably already has been) getting to
be a problem. Leave your gems in caches by the staircase. Watch out
for carrying a -lot- of gold; gold -does- weigh you down! Don't carry
around corpses, especially inedible or already rotten ones; eat edible
corpses as soon as you find them, and leave the rest (-especially-
cockatrices!) alone. Every so often, check to see whether you've
accidentally picked up a few. Drop definitely cursed or useless
items. If you have a ring of levitation, do you need the
potion?...etc. You may want to use a one wish of a wand for 3 remove
curse scrolls - with all the stickeycurses from the ghosts, you'll
need them.
If you come across a scroll of genocide, use it wisely. In the
very beginning, you may want to use it against a hobgoblin; but pretty
soon, you'll be able to take them on with -no- problem, and you will
have regretted your choice. You can try to genocide cockatrices or
xans or dragons, as the game progresses. Make your choice wisely,
with regards for the future.
The big key for this and higher levels is TO CONSERVE MAGIC!
Even at the 8th level, most monsters can be dealt with my hand-to-
hand; at higher levels, you will meet monsters such as dragons, xan,
trappers, etc., which can be dealt with essentially only by wands, and
have much greater need for those detect items/monsters and healing
potions. Similarly, the longer you wait, the more valuable a potion
of gain level becomes...(around 10th level, the potion, or a dead
wraith, is nearly the only way to gain a level). If you expect to
reach the maze, try to save a potion of detect object and a scroll of
mapping for it. The minotaur will supply the wand of digging. Take
as great advantages of the healing/strengthening powers of nurses as
your food supply (and other monsters) will allow. That is how you get
to 200+HP.
S.02 Cheating (For Fun and Profit)
Cheating is only illegal when you get caught. In HACK, there are
many ways to get around things. Saving, restoring, and backing up a
copy of the savefile of a game isn't cheating; if the authors of the
game didn't want you to do it, they would have developed some method
to prevent you from it (although I can't think of any easy way).
Tired of dealing with ghosts?
Erase BONES files in your HACK directory.
-HH
Wanna be first on the high score list?
Use a text editor and work over the RECORD. file. This I do find
"cheating," but it's certainly not difficult to do. I won't tell you
what each string in the file means, though.
-HH
Don't know what to do with saving games?
Here's the ultimate in cheating. When you are ready to go down
to the next level, get near the staircase (make sure your pets are
nearby), and save ('S' command.) After you have been returned to DOS,
backup the save file ("COPY PLAYER.SAV PLAYER.BCK," substituting your
character's name for PLAYER), and then start again. When you are back
in HACK (you will be where you left off), test all your scrolls,
potions, wands, and rings. Write all the results down. When you are
finished indulging yourself, go back to DOS ('Q' - -Quit- this time),
make a copy of your SAVE file to a .SAV format ("COPY PLAYER.BCK
PLAYER.SAV"), and play again. Now, call ('cn' command) all the items
you discovered during your fun. Save again (and backup again), and
now you have a backed-up, fully legitimate, game of HACK going, with
all of your magic items identified!
This is helpful with a store nearby, too. When you're ready to
leave the current level (with a store on it), save and backup the save
file as usual...then, when you play again to "indulge" yourself, run
into the store and use all of the -items- in the store! Write down
what you found, then quit. Recopy the save file to it's .SAV format,
start again. Go into the store, pick up every object you previously
identified, and call ('cn') what it was. Then drop it. Now you have
a record of what all the objects that were in the shop! (Don't worry;
when the game begins, the wands/rings/scrolls/potions are all assigned
their unidentified names; the names do -not- change through the course
of a game.)
S.03 Elbereth
Engraving with your bare hands ('E-') "Elbereth" on the floor,
and staying on that space, makes every (or almost every: nymphs'
stealing is not considered attacking, and therefore 'Elbereth' does not
protect from it) monster that comes along leave you alone. That way,
in the middle of a fight, you can engrave it, regenerate your hit
points, pause to recatch your breath, etc. 'Elbereth' acts a sort of
sign of peace. If you break the sign - that is, swing at an adjacent
monster, step off the space, etc. - the 'Elbereth' will be violated
and monsters will attack you. (You can just reengrave it, however.)
Other than movement or hand-to-hand fighting, you can do anything on
'Elbereth' - including throwing things, zapping wands, reading
scrolls, etc.! Dragons can still flame through 'Elbereth.'
S.04 Orcrist
If your weapon in hand is named Orcrist, it gets a hefty bonus on
damage (rumoured to be something like +10!) against orcs, but orcs
only. There is no 'Orcrist' for killer bees, unfortunately.
S.05 Points
You get points for gold, gems (if you leave the dungeon with
them), and the Amulet. The first amulet is worth 5000; each
successive genuine Amulet doubles your score. You seem to also get
points for levels descended to (so dungeon-diving, as it were, may
help); magic items identified, or possibly just tried-out (or possibly
even just accumulated)...and also, experience points, seemingly 4-for-
1. Also, mapping out rooms, and possible discovering secret doors.
S.06 Luck
Luck is an internal variable; that is, you never know what it is
or how to change it. Luck can make life in HACK much easier or much
harder. Luck deals with things like getting that last fatal blow the
dragon, etc. Little is known about it, however. Giving gems to a
unicorn ('u') is known to increase your luck - +5 for each -valuable-
gem, +1 for each unidentified gem - but throwing glass can get
yourself killed! Killing shopkeepers, dogs, and nurses is known to
decrease it. Also, there is a very small chance to decrease it by
killing defenseless (blinded, or sleeping) monsters.
-)(-
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