Comment by 🎲 lab6
Re: "I keep reading that the only way to get far in nethack is…"
I guess it’s theoretically possible to win without spoilers but I don’t think anybody has ever done it. There are in-game mechanisms for discovering the in-game mechanisms. For example, if you can get some gold and get down a half dozen dungeon levels or so, you can meet The Oracle and pay for a consultation (using the #chat command). If you do this a bunch of times, you can learn how most of the major game features work.
The Guidebook that comes with the game is also helpful and often overlooked.
But really, the game rewards knowledge, and good play is mostly a matter of knowing a lot of detail and remembering to apply it in the right circumstances.
Also: patience.
Feb 09 · 3 months ago
1 Later Comment
I had been playing on and off for 6 years before I beat my first game. And the moment I realised I had potential, half of my attention was in discussion with the irc chat coaching me away from disastrous mistakes for 3 days until I finished.
It has been over 5 years since then. So I consider my occasional sessions to be early game practice and learning opportunities more than I consider the possibility of beating the game.
Original Post
I keep reading that the only way to get far in nethack is to read spoilers, or spend years dying starting new games. opinions?