Rogue 1980 game tips
Rogue Dungeons of Doom
Here u will will find tips how to beat the game.
Top advices according importance
- Rogue plus (check all controls – u can play much faster then, esp. right click functions for shooting, throwing, resting and moving without pick up)
- Maneuver yourself the way the monster needs to go over the scroll before u take it or to hit u standing on the scroll (step with move not pick up command – right click). If monster avoids the scroll or hitting u on the scroll u have identified „scare monster scroll“!
- Throw (if time to shoot) arrows as much as u can (floor 1-12).
- Step back after being hit critically to avoid following malus.
- To save time don’t take gold, go to outer rooms first, then center
- There is probably a bonus fighting near the door and malus fighting in the door.
- What really matters in the game is to find armor 6+ and protect is with shield scroll. It does not matter much, if ur strength is 16 or 23, sword +0 or +3+4 and HP 70 or 80+.
- Unless u have armor 10+, go to stairs immediately from lvl 20+.
Note: sorry if term level (lvl) is mistakenly used for “ floor” (“fl”) in it the text below. Thx for ur ideas in the comment section.
Fl 1-12
Use potions when u have 4 kinds of them to avoid blindness.
Try only strong armors and only when u have enough scrolls (to get armor shield or to get rid of curse) ideally fl 7 or 8 before Aquators
Fl12 u should have identified a couple of scrolls and potions. First try the ones u have more times (that one is left for use).
Fl 13 u meet first Troll and u will probably need some magic or trap to beat that, Fl 17 the same with Urville
Fl 18+ start running from a monster (D, J, M) sooner than ur HP goes under 30 to have time to use magic finding urself between 2 monsters
without armor 6+ run the stairs immediately
Fl20+ is not much magic and quite strong monsters M.J.G,D which u usually can not beat without magic or amulet. Run down the stairs as soon as u can. In Fl 1-17 the game forces u to be super greedy and search all diligently. Then it totally changes and forces u to be a super coward.
e.g. floor 20+ , lvl 11, armor 11, str 18, long sword + u can fight J or G without magic sometimes but u in general are not able to clean the floor. With armor less than 10 and poor magic it is better (or rather to say unusual and unpleasant must) to run to lower fl without full exploring.
After taking the amulet
Amulet on Fl 26 (or higher if u not pick it there on 26). Breaking point where 90% is done. When u once grapped it, even u died next time it will be much easier. Once u grabbed it . Inspect it immediately (not sure it inspection itself does have any effect) – then having it u do not need to eat!!, only with rings. U can go up the stairs (return). Pretty much sure there are no other extra abilities mentioned by other players. When returning from Fl26 there is also much less monsters on upper floors (usually u meet only one before u hit stairs unless u looking for it too long – then u often end up sandwiched. Just go up immediately. If u visit lower floor or higher floor already cleaned – there is no magic. If u carry amulet already and see the stairs and do not go to upper floor, a super spawn mode is probably launched – very dangerous … That is why I would not recommend to try to go for the “Dungeon master – harvest” mode (see later below) in ur first amulet grab. Go for it in a new game so u can say u have beaten the game.
Crowded rooms – Run – some of them will not be able to chase, u return later (when aquator present, let it attack and shoot other monster from behind the corner. Monster sleep scroll or sleeping gas trap to plug the way to follow u (and shoot from the corned the next monster in a line). You can also confuse the monster in the corridor stopping all the others.
Monsters from C higher can release an item after killed (5% chance), all monsters can also rest on an item
A – drop the armor on the floor in 1 move (armor strip takes 2 moves), good for testing wands or shooting on the monster in the line behind it (the corner)
B – do not fight them in corners
Q, C (C 16 lives, sleeping with scroll 32 lives) step field back after being hit
D – each 2,3 moves stays one field behind, with armor 10 and good bow is better to fight it from distance, can attack u on monster scroll with fire, rare does not respawn, max 1 on floor
E – easiest monster
G – moves 2 fields and can not be trapped!, cca 2400 EXP
Hogoblin –sometimes can give u critical hit (then better use bear trap)
I – have at least 3 free fields behind u otherwise frost bounces back, it can also shoot diagonally (even if u should lose one hit), will not shoot trough other monster, but if attacking u and misses, it can freeze the monster behind u
J- always sleeping except newly spawned (keep it sleep), unless u have magic and no monster nearby, cca 3000 EXP
K – when it hits step back
L – takes gold when hit and gives when beaten – do not waste time on it, except testing wands
M — can confuse for 20 moves, confuses either at first melee touch or never, when confused, try to hit her with some bad potion (at first try there is about 80% chance u hit it with the potion, then it decreases) if u wanna spare stronger spells. Confuses in about 60% cases, hits for 0-28!! From fl 18+!! For 200 EXP only! – the most unbalanced and OP monster
N – shoot from distance, can take one of ur nonequipped items if hits (dropping items before fight not worth the time, u can not drop scare monster scroll anyway haha)
O (non attacking has gold sits on gold) it can be worth to kill them anyway sometimes they have food
Phantom – do not rest on 14+level via 10xbutton (right click), no monster warning for P!, they can attack monster scroll, erratic movement (use mango potion), best to fight it is to run in corridor and shoot till it is with u (counter erratic movement :), do not use traps for it u can fell in them alone 🙂
R – takes strength after some hits – if u being hit it probably helps to go back 2,3 moves,
S (snake in rouge+ Slime bob)– most nasty for Fl 0-6 – fight in corridors only to prevent splits, be healed to meet them, cursed things make them split more often (do not fight it), always follows u even after sleep …
T – on the first one on Fl 13 it is recommended to use magic immediately, 20% carry item
U – very nasty, highest AC (12), starts on Fll 17 and u mostly need magic to beat it – do not wait to use magic till low HP use it immediately (like hallucination potion), when more exp. Like lvl 10 u can fight them without magic
V – can decrease ur HP, usually does not do that if u re full health
W – can level u down – (by the way when u kill it and lvl back again u can have higher or lower HP – coincidence), usually does no decrease when u fight him with full health
X – rare, no respawn, easy to kill masks himself for an item or stairs, does not attack first (lvl 20+ check the stairs if it is not xeroc so u later do not run into it)
Y – third easiest, rarely carry item
Z second easiest
Rings
r – regeneration – +1HP , most powerful item in the game allows u save all magic for fl20+ (from lvl 10+ useless as natural healing is faster), consumes 50% more
r of search – u can identify it seeing secret door without searching (+20% consume), on fl 18+ it pays for himself wore nonstop for valuable traps that u can use against monsters
damage – + or -u kill more easily, consumes +20% more food
r of sustain armor (most rarest thing in the game) – handy for fl 8-18 to put it on by meeting an aguator, useless if ur armor is shielded
r of sustain strength – handy to fight rattle snakes, useless on fl 12+
r slow digestion – slows food consumption to 50%
Useless ring s –all other (eat to much food and space), no time to put on, throw them away
r of protection – + or –
r of see invisible – useless – u can easily kill phantom (only do not rest via 10x button rest), 20% consume (quite useless – u usually can kill phantom without seeing it)
r of strength + or – +50% food consume
r of teleportation (unpredictable, always cursed), aggravate (always cursed) monster
and all other rings
Scrolls
Try to find scroll „armor shield“ – armor protection against rust (aquators, water traps), safe it for better armor
identification (u find mostly them)
aggravate monster – „u hear a high pitched humming noise“ rid o fit
strange moment – see magic – super for fl26 to locate the amulet
strange feeling – see monsters – super for fl20+ l when u can not find the stair quickly
magic mapping – super for fl20+ l when u can not find the stair quickly and always super for most risky fl 26
feel strange sense of loss – monster lullaby (they monster sleep until u attack)
remove curse – someone is watching over u (when hallucinated U feel unity with a universal oneness)
nose tingles –detect food
anesthesia – makes u sleep – does nothing good
summon monster – nothing good
confuse monster “Hands glow red” – expires after 1st melee or distant hit and confuses the monster (try to use it first before confusion potions, as after reading monster is still not confused in difference to potions). Longs about 10 or 20 moves.
Shield armor – protect armor against rust (A, water traps), if u identified this scroll u do not need to wait for strong armor to read other scrolls to know them
enchant armor – raise Armor Class, removes armor curse, “Mhm” when no armor equipped
enchant weapon – ads Attack success point or damage, “Mhm” when no weapon equipped (save for 2 handed sword but no loss if u use one for lower weapon to identify the scroll)
scare monster scroll – „u hear maniacal laughter in the distance“– do not read, drop and stand on it – u re immortal except D can fire u, Phantom can attack still sometimes, no items can be dropped in the door! If u try to pick it up again it turns into dust (Rogue plus jump on it with right click to not pick it up), try to put it near the map center or stairs so u can easily return to that
– use with amulet (as u do not need to eat with amulet, only need when using rings– to lvl up), then play mouse only (right click even for fight to avoid accidental misstep and mispick), if medusa there check message history – if u confused do not fight u could step aside (20 time „s“ key), if u step aside confuse try to return right click on m scroll (usually it happens)
Monsters spawn every average 40- 80 moves
str. 19 no with +4+2 two handed sword
Lvl 13 EXP 10 000, Lvl 14 25000, lvl 15 50000 EXP 74hp (with no weapon u hit 80% times, 100% hit rate, medusa 2-3, J 4-6 , no weapon medusa 6-8 handblows, J with 13 blows G 11-12,)
lvl 16 100 000 lives 81 (no weapon str. 19 hit G 11x hit, 90% hit success, J 13hits), heal 1,57 p move
lvl 17 200 000 lives 85-96 avg , no weapon u hit 100% times (enchanted weapon has small effect – only the damage part ..)
on moster scroll lfl 26 u gain about 300 000 exp per hour
two handed +4+2 – str 24 D 4-5hits, G 3-4hits, J 4-5 hits, M2or3, V2, U1-2 – ie str. 19 means (in comparison to str. 24) 1more hit for all 18 fl monsters necessary
Str. 20 J 4,5,5,6 M2(once)34 G4,5,5 V34
lvl 18 399 00 lives 91-103 – heal 1,9 per move (V misess 50%)
lvl 19 1 280 000 live 92-103, heal 2,46 p move (M,G misses 33% with arm 11, J hits almost 100%) – not worth to reach this lvl (3 or 4 more hours clicking)
lvl 20 2 000 000Exp
Potions
Tastes like Mango (see invisible) u can see phantoms and it heals blindness!
Makes u warm all over – restore strength
Poison – monster (even the strongest) misses very after being poisoned – probably permanent or very long period , heals hallucination!
Blindness – about 800 moves, monsters seems to be softer till 8fl, blind monster behaves like confused (u would expect it will try to hit the direction where blows come from, but that is fortunately not truth)
Healing “u begin feel better” “the veil of darkness is lifted” when blind – heals about 15hp, if your hp is max -15 adds 1 hp to max
Extra Heal “u begin feel better much better” heals cca 25 and +2 to max is ur hp is max-25, heals blindness and hallucination!.
Magic detection – does not identify potions and food only magic
Confusion (long 20 moves to u and 10 to monster) drunk hallucinated “what a trippy feeling”,
Hallucination (longs cca 800 moves and 10 or 20 to monster)
+level (try to save that for lvl 10 or possibly 18)
Underestimated are confusion, hallucination (also confuses monster when thrown), blindness, poison – thrown on strong monsters means they safe 1 extra life (good in lit rooms or in corridors if u have distance weapons).
97% hit success ratio, 100% u next to u and u are not confused)
Wands, staffs – just zap it first on weaker creatures or L, or A), do not waste identification scrolls
Polymorph – u can change monster – on lower levels u can use it with scare monster and brutally lvl up but it is not much added value. Save it for Fl 20+, polymorph cancels all previous effects (like when u slowed it down before), polymorphed Nymph does not carry item. Do not hit sleeping monster with this wand!- that is the only case when this program version crashes.
Ice – freezes monster for 4 moves, for J,D do not wait till u near that just zap them immediately
fire, lightning – big damage
magic missile – kills rattlesnakes and nymphs with 1 blow (zap)
slow monster – most power full –zap – then step back, hit, step back etc.
cancellation – shots visible „missile“ like magic missile staff and seemingly do nothing, but it cancels monster special ability like ice monster does not freeze, dragon does not have fire etc
Not useful – haste, make monster invisible, light the room (medusa can still confuse …) – call them (rewrite their names after identification so u do not meet them again)
Floor arrangement – consists of 9 elements – with 3 elements types – room or dead end or maze. Firstly visit the outer rooms, then center.
Monsters can not follow ur run when u re 2 bends ahead
Mazes – lost time – in about 1500 games i found 2 potions and 4 scrolls an 3 stairs there
U can shoot through corridor or dark room, u can not shoot through door
The game (Rogue+) is cheating – when u need some potion or food u often get it (or on next floor u have stars in the front of u which usually means the food is on the next floor). When u have ring and long no food (u probably found and not yet identified and not using ring of slow digestion. When u too strong u go through trapdoors without possibility to get magic from the floor (this is the most painful game cheat). Last monster before lvl up is definitively tougher than usual.
When weak – (10% time to faint) u re fighting worse
When cursed + 25% monster spawn and you probably have some malus to hit the monster (even if armor is the cursed item).
Digestion with no rings 1000 moves hungry + 150 moves weak + 150 moves faint (then irregularly)
Traps – bear trap, sleep and teleport trap means 1 extra life each. Sleeping trap is the most useful. Set it just before the door so u can shoot the monster behind the sleeping monster.
Combat
to hit – ur lvl + 20sided dice roll makes or is higher than
against hit success “monster Armor class” + 10
on lvl 17 u hit 100% cases (G, J, M) – (17+1on dice- 10 makes = 8 which can be max AC for G,J,M)
To be hit if ur armor is 11+ (on lvl 18) J,D hit 90% times (so 1, 2 on a roll is enough)
To defend 10+11
To be hit 2+monster lvl should make 21, which means J and D monster lvl(“attack success power”) shall be 19. That means u would need armor class 11+20= 31 to be untouchable … (or to reach lvl 29 and have armor 20 , it means 1200 hours clicking on scare monster scroll and 1 lvl potion), but when u super lucky u can get armor 13 in one of couple hundred games.
G,M misses about 40% times to 21 they need to throw 8, so their lvl (attack success power) is 13
U can also heal in combat when u are not hit (u stay on scare monster, monster is frozen or in bear trap). U do not heal being hit (Aquator).
Highest values reached in different games HP 103 lvl 18, AC 13, Str. 24, 2 hand Sword +4+3
Average values for 20+ fl str. 19, AC 8, HP 66-70
“Dungeon master harvester” mode
If u lvl up to lvl 18 (with amulet, scare monster scroll and armor 10+), u re pretty much the dungeon master to fl 29. U just harvest gold and magic without spending it. On floor 30+ traps are frequent (sometimes 4 in one room 🙂 and monsters have double speed (hit-hit, run-hit, run-run) so u can not run or heal. The game is pretty much telling u “Get out at fl 29 dude!!… Watch for trapdoors at fl 29 … Without ring of search I recommend to end up at lvl 28 … I my Dungeon master mode I returned from lvl 20 (no way I could die with some magic on lvl 19-) and ended at fl 31 (trapdoor from 30 :)).
To get first time the amulet can take about 150 hours. Had I known it practically ends fl 30 I would not have returned even for the second try. … All u get is the info price of all the items u harvest and bring home and more gold in the table which is maybe worth to decorate the review but not worth 35 hour additional clicking – average time for skilled player to reach the amulet with strong armor and scare monster scroll.
Cons
– the first 5 levels which are really annoying like clicking robot mode). Better if u could start on fl 6 with some random magic
– game in fact kicks you out at lvl 30+ – after u beat it, there is nothing to return to – to enjoy your finesse (it would be nice if the game allows u some kind of “bonus mode” – to play again with all equipment and allows u to find more magic on he floors even for the price the score is not counted)
– required experience to gain lvl for lvl 15+ – e.g. to get from lvl 18 to 19 takes 3 hours clicking on scare monster scroll (immortal) to lvl 20 – 5 hours clicking, it would make better sense to just cap the hero lvl
– game is cheating, at least u do not need to be sorry to use every non realistic advantage the game offers …
Pros
+ u can say I have beaten the most prestigious (widely recognized) game
+ no graphic – ur eyes are not tired
+ no story allows u leave the monitor freely without being urged to stay overtime, but is can still arouse strong feelings and adrenalin
+ a must to exploit every advantage forces to think really hard about methods generally and about next steps in crucial moments
+ it is the old desk DD on PC and u do not have to arrange meetings of bunch of comrades to play
+ no program bugs