Dungeon Master Forum

I first started playing DM when I was 8 yrs. old. My addiction to this game came after watching my older brother play on the old amiga. I'm very glad to have access to this game again via RTC...
I'm in 3rd year university now, and of course, I find that I'm much better at playing DM... there's one thing I'd like to know more about however... After reading through these forums (especially the one about the race to the Ful Ya pit in CSB), I realized that many of you know the insides and out of this game. So my question is this, other than the great fireball spell and healing potion spell, which of the other many spells in DM do "experts" use often?
Aside from that, which characters do you usually choose to play with and why? Has anyone ever tried playing with just 4 fighters, ie: does anyone play a DM game with only hand to hand combat?
And how about all the weapons and magical items? Is a sabre better than a rapier? etc.
I'd love to hear about all these little things one can do to improve their gamplay. And I'm not just talking slamming doors down on monsters - what else can I do?

I use fireball spells all the time becouse faster to make and
there the most efactive. I ALWASE get Daroou and Halk
because there the stronggest, Gothmog becouse hes
the best at magic, Hissssa because hes good at caring
things. ALL Items work just fine with me.

There are many different ways of playing this game and strategies to suit the individualities of every player. That's what makes it so good.

My favourite spell is the poison bolt, des ven, as this slays a lot of monsters quicker than a fireball and can be fired through iron doors. Unfortunately it is not so good against multiple targets. Also the poison cloud as it is good at making monsters back off if you are trapped.

As for characters, it depends for me on what sort of game I am playing. If I am going for a time record attempt I tend to take Hawk, Gando or Azizi whilst my 4 men and two men teams differ too. I tend to favour fighting in place of magic as it is quicker to build these skills up and a good fighter can inflict a lot of damage. In fact I have played whole DM games and only ever cast 2 or 3 offensive spells, and these have been my quickest games.

My favourite weapon is the Diamond Edge as I find it to be the most efficient with its 'stab' option. The chop option hits hard too. Berzerk with the hardcleave and inquisitor hits the hardest of all but takes sooo long to execute. Mind you it is the best against golems.

And finally, as a lot of people know, the key to being fast is using the mouse and keys simultaneously and it is this skill that will make your fighting better...

Magic: fireball!!! I love to spell fireball sur the screamers!!!!!!!! hahaha!!!

Characters: mmh... I prefered... heu.... I don't know.... héhéhé

Item: arms of ninja and arms of wizard....

Voilà!

Diamond Edge is a great weapon.

Des Ven / Oh Ven are the best two spells I reckon, they can kill ogres and rock piles very very quickly, and are good for getting monsters out of your way if you don't want to fight them.

I never use lightning bolt, it seems to be a waste of time as fireball is more effective.

Other spells I use are Ful Bro Ku I think it is for strength potion (when I am carrying too much), obviously the standard potions (stamina/strength/antivenin) but apart from those I don't use many of the other spells in the game.

Party selection: http://www.dungeon-master.com/forum/vie ... hp?t=22453
or http://www.dungeon-master.com/forum/vie ... hp?t=22382

You can play the game with all kinds and combinataions of characters, 1 or 4, any of them. There are people who actually play with 4 "fighters" (characters, that have basically more physical prowess than mental one) and use the rear characters as a back up if the front ones are worn out, and as mules for equipment.

I personally prefer the classical 2 fighters + 2 casters combination, i.e. Hissssa + Halk + Wuuf + Tiggy. But keep in mind, that, if you want a truly strong party you have to train all capabilities, physical AND mental for ALL characters.

The weapons: Each weapon has usually 3 combat options, the more devastating ones being only available for fighters at a certain level. The more devastating ones take more time for the character to recover his initiative (capability to strike again) and lower his defense a bit (unimportant). The damage of a weapon is primarily dependant on the combat option used, secondarily on the weapon itself. So there are very good weapons which are reasonably usable only by expert fighters and some good weapons also more suited for less experienced characters. What combat option causes what effect, is listed in the adventurers manual page 5 found at this site at http://dmweb.free.fr/DMAdventurersHandbook.htm .
So I usually change weapons for close combat in the following order (using the latest available from this list):
Torch->arrow->knife->club->mace->morningstar->stone club->Mace of Order->falchion->sword->axe->sabre->samurai sword->bolt blade/Storm->Fury/Ra Blade->rapier->Delta/Side/Splitter->diamond edge->Inquisitor/Dragon Fang->Hardcleave/Executioner
By the time you find them weapons your warriors are probably experienced enough to use them. I always discard lesser weapons at a safe place, 2 of them is all you need. I always keep the diamond edge for it's quick and ninja-training stab-option, and of course the 2 Vorpal Blades for their capability of harming incorporeal creatures.
Armor is the better the heavier usually, but no one knows for sure. Just avoid being overloaded, use armor that does not bring you to a yellow or red load. The mithral chain is probably more than worth it's weight. The armors of darc/light are probably better than ordinary plate armor too. Having a flamebain is nice, but I prefer opening the door to the boots of speed instead, for when your entire party is equipped with them you can actually move faster than normally possible, no other magic can do that. As for the other items, have a few mana- or even level-boosting staffs or amulets, and a few magical boxes for especially difficult situations, all else is rather just some kind of ammunition, with the exception of useful items like lockpicks (in CSB) for example. Don't carry too much of'em, rather make piles of them on certain easily accessible places.

Spells: FulIr-shield is a quite useful shield against melee damage from monsters, it's for the entire party and lasts long enough to be useful. DesVen-poison-bolt is cheaper than FulIr and is also very devastating, can be shot through some doors and is always quick at hand when your casters have prepared just a Des syllable when proceeding through levels with both corporeal and incorporeal foes, the corporeal being shot at with DesVen, the incorporeal ones being shot at with DesEw-banish.
Also FulBroKu-strength-potion is very useful to boost your fighters with against foes that are very resistant to magic, like knights or golems. There are a few spots in the game where OhEwSar-invisibility is useful, and, of course you should use torches only at the very beginning, getting used to make your light with Ful-torch first and with OhIrRa-light later.
Besides, there are many flasks in the game, so you might as well fill them with different potions for emergencies, like ViBro-antidote for example.

Well, that's it so far. For further support pose questions.

Best strategy ever (Butt rape)

When fighting hard monsters in open areas, open areas being pretty much anything where you can maneuver(spelling?) around them, the butt rape strategy never fails. (works great on worms, dragons, knights, spiders, doesnt work on screamers and rockpiles)

The DM "AI" isn't smart enough to turn around on its own, unless provoked. And the only thing that provokes it are projectiles (Anything but melee attacks basically). So if your behind a dragon (looking at his butt), and attacking with swords/axes/handtohand ONLY (no fireballs/throwing), he will continue to either turn 90 degrees (in which you sidestep, forward, turn, and your facing his butt again), or turn 90 degrees and move forward (in which case you move forward and turn and your facing his butt).

It sounds complicated, but if you can get behind a dragon (works best on them), you can be standing next to him the whole time and he will never once attack you.

The problem lies that if you shoot a fireball or lightning bolt, throw a dagger or a piece of meat, or throw any other projectile that htis him, he will immidiately turn around facing you. but if your handtohand only, you have it made

I'm surprised nobody here has posted that because it's gotten me through DM w/o a problem =]

lol, i have just written a small guide showing my style to play, then i see this thread :-)
i play with 2 characters mostly, and next to fireball and healing, i use mainly shields. i play very combat orientated and use magic only when i am in danger or to finish a monster off.
i also sleep very much.

It´s well known strategy. I think, it´s the best trick in DM. When lots of creatures, it´s a little chaotic, but very useful too. A special kind of this strategy is so-called "run around column" (when there is one creature and 1 column, it means e. g. in the room with dragon; and you don´t carry to much..). It´s more safe then in open space. You know - Bang! creature, run around column (the creature is turning to yours 1st position) Bang!, run around the column back (cretaure is turning to yours 2nd position) etc. But, as I said, it can be used only against 1 creature.

Bye, from the Czech Republic (we know. what DM really is, because Chaos rulled here for 40 years: 1948 - 1989 under coimmunist regime..)

(uhh, it was a reply to "rain")

Another thing:
I prefer playing with 1 character. Sure, you can have some problems in several first floors ("resume-attempt-resume" system, but than it´s a garden-of-eden-walkthrough. Another problem is you can´t carry to much, and you must drop your equipment in several locations (and don´t forget where it was!!! it´s very important, I know it from myself..than running through the dungeon and searching for a chest with coins..)

Nobody mentionned the Tao wand yet. Very efficient against loads of monsters, even Chaos.
When there are a lot of monsters, you scare them all then hack them one by one. When they come back, you scare them again.
In CSB it is very useful in the Dragons den.

Does anyone use some weapons with range like bows, crossbows and slings? Does they harm well?

I like to throw axes/executioner/hardcleave, it yields pretty good results to me.

Not only that but i also believe axes, when thrown, give fighter experience rather then ninja experience. Some may argue that the executioner is far too good of a weapon to just throw, but I also argue that berzerk takes far too long to recover from (I much prefer faster attacks like melee or jab).

=]

I never liked bows or crossbows because of the relatively complicated way to use them (compared with the ease with which you can do everything else in DM) - too time-consuming when in trouble. If not in trouble, I can still use other means.

If I remember correctly you can only make three shots (arrows/slayers in right hand !) and then you have to rearrange - bit stupid in a fight I think...

i use slow attacks, in between, i heal or dodge attacks. i dont like toe to toe too much, especially, when i can avoid it.

You have 5 shots: 1 arrow/slayer in hand and 4 in the quiver. But it is still to impractical.

No more impractical than what you'd have to do in real life... I think the bows and crossbows work exactly right and intuitively. The whole point is that if you want to attack at speed, you don't use bow and arrow...

"i use slow attacks, in between, i heal or dodge attacks. i dont like toe to toe too much, especially, when i can avoid it."

I love toe-to-toe, much more of a challenge. =] I'll go toe to toe with anything, whether it be a demon, a dragon, or a group of 4 knights together (the Ku door in CSB, where you fight 4 knights, i'll stand right infront of their face the whole time)

I used to be a dodger like you say, but it makes the game too easy (beating DM getting hit under 30 times is somewhat boring to me)

Also note: You gain fighter experience by getting hurt, and you gain priest experience by making potions (to heal you), so by taking heavy damage, your in a sense, actually training your characters moreso then you normally would. The only drawback is that you have to do alot of clicking =]

Gambit: Speaking of real life: The Difference is, that real quivers aren't that small.