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Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84 SMI; site sun.uucp
Path: utzoo!decvax!decwrl!sun!falk
From: falk@sun.uucp (Ed Falk)
Newsgroups: net.games.hack
Subject: Re: need hints
Message-ID: <3246@sun.uucp>
Date: Mon, 17-Feb-86 00:58:54 EST
Article-I.D.: sun.3246
Posted: Mon Feb 17 00:58:54 1986
Date-Received: Mon, 17-Feb-86 07:11:00 EST
References: <1311@osu-eddie.UUCP>
Distribution: na
Organization: Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Lines: 92

The dog is *very* useful, it can save your ass.  To start with:
the dog will usually attack monsters.  Early in the game, I let
the dog take on all of the tough ones rather than risk my own hide
(but if you do this, the dog gets the experience points, not you).
As the dog kills monsters, it accumulates experience just the way
you do, and that makes it very formidable as the game progresses.
As the dog eats, it gets larger -- progressing from "little dog"
to "dog" to "large dog".

The dog won't step on cursed objects, this is how I test an object
before wearing it.

The dog likes to pick things up and bring them to you.  You can
rob a shop this way.  I often sell the same item back to the shopkeeper
several times this way.

Some dead things are always poisonous in some way (Kobolds for ex.).
The dog will never eat an always-poisonous animal.  Pay attention to
what the dog never eats.  This is not to say that everything the
dog eats is good for you.

The dog needs to be fed just as you do.  If it gets hungry enough, it
can become confused and accidently attack you.  A well fed dog will
not eat food rations, a hungry one will get them before you can.

There are whistles that will call the dog.

The dog will follow you up/down stairs iff it is right next to
you when you ascend/descend them.

DONT leave the dog alone on a different level too long, if you do,
it will forget you and stop fighting for you.  It will also not
accept food from you anymore, AND (most importantly) if you 
should accidently hit it, it will turn on you and attack to the
death.  This problem seems to be worse when there's a ghost on the
level you left the dog at.

When you die, the dog remains on your level along with your possesions
and your ghost.  The next person to come along will have to fight it.
A full grown dog can be very dangerous and mean.

When you enter a level and find an alien dog, there's probably a ghost
there somewhere.

Give your dog a name so you can distinguish it from alien dogs.  Dont
use the same name every time.

Rumor has it that the dog can be trained, but I've never met anyone
who knew how.

	other notes

Leprechauns wont rob you unless you're carrying gold.  Whenever I
see a leprechaun, I leave the room, drop the gold and go back to fight
it.  Leprechauns can't teleport until they've robbed you, but thay
can run away.  When you drop your gold, hide it or the Leprechaun
will find it while running away from you.

Shopkeepers don't get angry when you rob them, they just follow
you around nagging you.  They get angry when you hit them.  When
that happens, they don't forgive you and they're *very* strong.
Being followed by a shopkeeper is very dangerous because the chance
of accidently hitting them is high.  Never go down a dead end with
a shopkeeper following you, because then you'll have to fight (and die)
to get out.

To avoid damaging your weapon when attacking an acid blob, either
use your bare hands or use a throwing weapon (such as arrows etc.).
This latter method protects you too.

Dont plunge down too fast, there's some really nasty stuff down
there.  As a general rule, I never go below level three unless
I have twice as many experience points as the the level I'm at.  After
that, I try to have as least as many experience points.  If you fall
through a trap door, get back up as soon as possible -- especially if
you've left the dog behind.  By the way, if the dog falls through a
trap door, it usually (always?) goes into that mode where it doesn't
recognize you.

I usually try to kill all the monsters on a level before I go down
to the next one.  This isn't all that import though, as new monsters
keep getting generated at whatever level you're at.


	now for some questions of my own..

How do you wield a cockatrice without getting turned into stone
yourself?  How do you get past invisible force fields?  What do you
do when an eel is attacking you from the water (you can't attack
back, because the eel might swim away and you'd drown yourself)?

		-ed falk, sun microsystems