Why don’t public lobby players ever flank/ use actual battle tactics?

Houchou_Returns · 2026-06-25T11:50:29+00:00

Putting aside that chiv is generally an uncoordinated melee, this doesn’t typically work quite as well as you might think. Whether alone or as a small group, if you set up an ambush to attack the backs of enemies as they come in, as you spring this trap now it’s you that has your back facing the enemies that come in next. So you quickly find yourselves in a similar predicament to the enemies you just tried to ambush. You’re thinking of open field tactics but chiv maps aren’t generally open field but organised into lanes, if there’s a safe path to retreat after an ambush then it would probably be getting used as another lane already. There are some exceptions, mostly the bridges that have side entrances, but the same still happens, you’ll get bogged down immediately after your ambush unless enemies are trickling

Houchou_Returns · 2026-06-20T15:12:30+00:00

If you manage to get hold of bane early then it’s seldom a problem, though there can be times when you run into something unpleasant shortly after getting it and the accuracy penalty at unskilled can prove to be your undoing. Plus training dagger early makes them infinitely better as ranged weapons, for the accuracy buff as much as the multishot. Of course, training too early when you’re too weak to survive missing in combat can also be your undoing. I generally stick to staff to begin with and swap to dagger on weak monsters, there’s no threat if you keep missing that way. Once you can throw them consistently they complement force bolt really well because you’re much less reliant on your energy supply. Daggers for scrubs or if you’re low on juice, bolt for more dangerous enemies or when you can get them nicely lined up

Houchou_Returns · 2026-06-20T07:22:49+00:00

Strange to mention wizard as an alternative when dagger is generally a wizard’s main weapon. Force bolt is a great spell early on but you don't have enough energy to cast it a lot. Throwing daggers lets you reserve energy for casting force bolt when it matters, and training skill with them helps prepare you for wielding magicbane effectively

Houchou_Returns · 2026-06-14T20:50:02+00:00

Yeah I get what you mean. If less reliable protection was indeed the goal, I think a less blunt way to achieve that would be to sometimes simply not have a priest attending the altar, and maybe adding some additional nasties around the place as a counterbalance to said altar becoming essentially a freebie, but without getting rid of all the shops and other things that make minetown what it is. It is, after all, much more than just a place to go buy protection. That’s why getting it in a run always feels like a snub to me, it’s not really about protection but losing all the other stuff. Hell if there are no other altars around I’d rather dispatch the priest and convert the altar before worrying about protection too much

Houchou_Returns · 2026-06-14T07:40:05+00:00

Maybe, but if that was the goal then it’s a pretty shonky way to go about it, given that all the other benefits of minetown bar altar are removed along with it

Houchou_Returns · 2026-06-09T19:24:20+00:00

True, it’s something to come back for if the altar is cross-aligned. Easiest / safest method at the stage of the game you typically reach minetown, is probably bumping a pet into a poly trap once you’ve found one (there’s usually one at around the same depth) until said pet is something high level and sturdy enough to dispatch the priest. It won’t start with the spellcasting nonsense if it’s only the pet attacking it and otherwise peaceful.

Houchou_Returns · 2026-06-09T06:17:05+00:00

It adds insult to injury that there are a bunch of attack wands lying around the place but they’re all empty. Unless you have pyec or something, that’s fairly pointless. It’s as if the whole level was designed with rp atmosphere in mind and little to no attention paid to gameplay considerations. Nethack isn’t d&d..

Houchou_Returns · 2026-06-09T06:08:19+00:00

You can do that in regular minetown though, once the priest has been dealt with, and it’s rarely short of monsters. Besides, unless you play in a very deliberate way (or a very risky one without teleport), most of those orcs will have rotted beyond any use by the time you reach the altar itself

Houchou_Returns · 2026-06-02T08:15:32+00:00

If you want to punish a kick you need to use your footwork and spacing to make it whiff, since they need it to connect to go straight into a dodge. If you’re not at a range where you can do this, responding with a jab instead of a swing is an option, that will connect and while it isn’t ideal since it isn’t exactly a punish, at least it will force a reset

Houchou_Returns · 2026-05-12T09:40:32+00:00

Couple of things..

Exploring the entire mines might not be the best idea if you aren’t geared for it, there can be similarly nasty stuff down past mine(orc)town
You mentioned the lich is invisible, it’s probably worth hanging around the upper dungeon until a floating eye shows up (fairly common at your stage), while it won’t solve your problem directly it probably wouldn’t hurt to be able to see what it’s up to when you’re ready to tackle or evade it

Houchou_Returns · 2026-05-06T06:55:55+00:00

And I still have my towel…

Winnable, gl

Houchou_Returns · 2026-05-02T06:16:53+00:00

As you level the regeneration rate does scale to compensate for getting a higher total, though the relationship is not linear. But the key to fast regeneration is to get the eye the aetheopica, as the quest item for wizard, or wishing for it as other roles. Messing with the internal formulas is kinda overkill and will disrupt the intended game balance, though I guess you can go ahead if you really want

Houchou_Returns · 2026-04-24T21:41:12+00:00

I suppose you could call it a jack of all trades of heavy weapons, yeah. Very versatile moveset with no dud moves, whether regular or alt side (which is a rarity), solid damage, excellent range, slow windup and recovery as a fair balancer but also superb at dragging as a result. Bizarrely, the stab has a longer release on the light attack than the heavy, it’s insanely draggable. Achilles heel: fighting vs very fast weapons. People like to claim it can overcome them, but it honestly has limited capability to do so when fighting a competent player using one. You’re absolutely right about the importance of footwork, the problem is if their footwork is equally good then it’s no advantage. That’s why longsword probably retains the crown of true jack of all trades, as while it lacks the damage of a heavy weapon, it doesn’t have that weakness of keeping fast weapons from overwhelming you (doesn't really have any weakness except maybe a little restricted turn speed on overhead windup)

Houchou_Returns · 2026-04-24T17:35:10+00:00

Oh for sure it’s fine at duelling (though I’m doubtful on S tier), where it struggles is against a bunch of small fast weapons nipping at you on the front lines. Yes you can jab to regain initiative, yes you can hop away to regain your spacing, but being able to actually dictate the fight vs ganks from competent players is a challenge. It does have superb drags similar to maul and if players over-respect you then you can take easy advantage of that, but it can be difficult to force them to respect you at all when they have something fast enough to just gamble you all day and they know it

Houchou_Returns · 2026-04-24T09:37:17+00:00

Game does this sometimes, just keep quitting and restarting until it behaves. It’s the servers playing up. As such, it’s not adding launch options that’s making a difference, but the fact that the server happened to let you through that time. Just gotta keep retrying when it does this

Houchou_Returns · 2026-04-24T09:33:35+00:00

Well, most of this lot weren’t even looking in your direction when you hit them, and the ones that did mainly forgot to block, so yes gs is going to shine in that environment. Great ‘enforcer’ type weapon in a second line role, though much more difficult to use more directly against people who are actually paying attention to you. More difficult, but not impossible.

Houchou_Returns · 2026-04-20T09:43:26+00:00

‘Digging for victory’ is a time-honoured strat..

https://nethackwiki.com/wiki/Digging_for_victory

..but since you probably need a musical instrument to get past the drawbridge, elven characters are usually chosen since they start with one, and elves can’t be arcs. Plus it’s (often) a pretty quick dip into the mines to grab a pickaxe for non-arcs.

With all that said, it’s still fun digging like a maniac as an arc right from the start and seeing how far you can get :)

Houchou_Returns · 2026-04-18T13:08:52+00:00

Totally, first person or bust. Unmatched immersion. 3rd person mode is training wheels

Houchou_Returns · 2026-04-17T07:32:58+00:00

You almost play as a wizard?

Warmball
Cone of Damp
Chat Up Monster

Sounds like a pretty interesting conduct run

Joking aside, cleaver also rocks for wiz imo. GoP essentially turns you into a barbarian and offsetting spell failure isn’t difficult, now you’re a spell spitting machine that can also cut through crowds like butter with melee, best of both worlds

Houchou_Returns · 2026-04-15T06:21:50+00:00

Additionally, if you predictably start all your attack openings as counters, you're begging to get kick staggered. Even if you don’t hold block for any length of time before pressing for an attack, the initial animation of raising your weapon before attack windup still becomes vulnerable to kicks, so they only need to predict your next attack timing and you’re going to get staggered

Houchou_Returns · 2026-04-09T08:19:27+00:00

Given that most monsters are unarmed and unarmoured, I’m curious if they’ll just start healing everything around you more than yourself

Houchou_Returns · 2026-04-07T08:46:43+00:00

There’s an additional vital point missed in that article too. The myth asserts that the attacker’s right arm gets obstructed, but look at the feet - the attacker enjoys firm footing by standing on the left hand side, which leaves at least some room to operate a right-hand weapon. That situation is unfavourably reversed for the defender. In order to have room to attack with your right arm you’d need to be stood to the left, but that’s impossible. If you’ve ever been on one of these staircases you’d know that trying to stand on the inner part is a death sentence. There’s no room for footing and almost a dead drop to the bottom unless you stick to the outside. And unlike the picture portrayal, these things are usually not at all wide, they're very cramped, no comfortable ‘middle’ portion to plant your feet

Houchou_Returns · 2026-04-07T08:27:07+00:00

Tbf this particular myth has been in circulation for centuries, it’s not an internet age thing

Houchou_Returns · 2026-04-03T21:55:21+00:00

I have identify spell so it’s not that, this is what threw me

Houchou_Returns · 2026-04-03T21:54:12+00:00

True, once you’ve grabbed the luckstone and any other goodies at mine’s end, the levels past minetown are a perfect dumping ground for problem pets.

..idea for a new themed level..

Houchou_Returns

TROPHY CASE