Google Groups no longer supports new Usenet posts or subscriptions. Historical content remains viewable.
Dismiss

NASTY EELS!

4 views
Skip to first unread message

JJ Mifsud

unread,
Mar 15, 2002, 10:52:51 PM3/15/02
to
Argh!

I just died twice in the same spot of the Barbarian Quest.

Any way to get past those nasty eels?

ring of levitation?

any other ideas?

Thanks :)

~JJ


Rob Ellwood

unread,
Mar 16, 2002, 12:27:22 AM3/16/02
to
JJ Mifsud wrote:
>
> Argh!
>
> I just died twice in the same spot of the Barbarian Quest.
>
> Any way to get past those nasty eels?

Return to the main dungeon. Collect rocks. Go back
to the quest. Use ESP to spot the eels. Do not stand adjacent
to the water (*). Every time an eel goes by, throw a rock.

After maybe 40 rocks, you'll run out of eels.


(*) Unless you enjoy drowning.

--
Rob "and a kitten helps a lot against the trolls" Ellwood
Homer Rob: "Mmmm, rocks!"

Jason Short

unread,
Mar 16, 2002, 12:37:21 AM3/16/02
to
Rob Ellwood wrote:
> JJ Mifsud wrote:
>
>>Argh!
>>
>>I just died twice in the same spot of the Barbarian Quest.
>>
>>Any way to get past those nasty eels?
>>
>
> Return to the main dungeon. Collect rocks. Go back
> to the quest. Use ESP to spot the eels. Do not stand adjacent
> to the water (*). Every time an eel goes by, throw a rock.

And remember: levitation is enough to levitate *you*, but not enough to
levitate a thousand-pound eel.

Ditto with water walking.

--
Jason Short

Yeti Pino

unread,
Mar 16, 2002, 4:24:03 AM3/16/02
to
"JJ Mifsud" <n...@no.com> wrote in message
news:nkzk8.6636$YTg....@news1.bloor.is...

If you have never ascended before and ascension is your main goal then
you should consider genociding them. If you are so far in the game scrolls
of genocide shouldn't be too hard to get by.

Yeti


Luke Sweatlock

unread,
Mar 16, 2002, 5:20:18 AM3/16/02
to
"JJ Mifsud" <n...@no.com> wrote in message news:<nkzk8.6636

> Argh!

Eels...
1) Detect & kill them from a distance
-or-
2) Wear something they can't grip

; aren't that much of a problem once you learn (perhaps the hard way)
to be careful.

Levitation alone won't help, they can still drown you. I guess they
can grab your head and pull it under even if your boots are still
above the surface.

-Luke

nyra

unread,
Mar 16, 2002, 10:36:13 AM3/16/02
to
JJ Mifsud schrieb:

>
> Argh!
>
> I just died twice in the same spot of the Barbarian Quest.
>
> Any way to get past those nasty eels?
>
> ring of levitation?

Levitation won't save you; it makes avoiding them easier, though
(with telepathy and a blindfold).

> any other ideas?

Amulet of magical breathing - if you don't need air to survive,
getting pulled under water won't kill you.
Oilskin cloak or a greased cloak - so they can't get a grip on
you. Grease is likely to wear off.
Distance weapons and all sorts of wands, from death to cold to
polymorph.
If you're stealthy, chances are that they'll fail to notice you
in the first place.

Geoduck

unread,
Mar 17, 2002, 10:34:07 AM3/17/02
to
On Sat, 16 Mar 2002 03:52:51 GMT, "JJ Mifsud" <n...@no.com> wrote:

>Argh!
>
>I just died twice in the same spot of the Barbarian Quest.
>
>Any way to get past those nasty eels?

One thing you can do in the specific instance of the BQ is use a wand
of cold to freeze a pathway across the 'moat'. If you put it in the
right place, near the top or the bottom of the screen, you can make it
only two squares wide and be able to walk across without the eels
touching you. Just don't forget they are there when you are beating on
all the ogres.
--
Geoduck
http://www.olywa.net/cook


David Damerell

unread,
Mar 18, 2002, 12:24:42 PM3/18/02
to
JJ Mifsud <n...@no.com> wrote:
>I just died twice in the same spot of the Barbarian Quest.
>Any way to get past those nasty eels?

Telepathy. Stand 1 space away from the water, activate your telepathy, and
pelt them with rocks or spells - or your multibarreled wands of megadeath,
if you're impatient. I prefer rocks, since they're free, but another
alternative is to teleport them out of the water and kick them to death as
they wriggle helplessly on the ground.

>ring of levitation?

It'll levitate you, but not a huge eel. Water walking boots are the same;
your feet stay on the surface, _but_...
--
David Damerell <dame...@chiark.greenend.org.uk> flcl?

Mikko Parviainen

unread,
Mar 18, 2002, 2:56:17 PM3/18/02
to
David Damerell <dame...@chiark.greenend.org.uk> wrote:
>>I just died twice in the same spot of the Barbarian Quest.
>>Any way to get past those nasty eels?
> Telepathy. Stand 1 space away from the water, activate your telepathy, and
> pelt them with rocks or spells - or your multibarreled wands of megadeath,
> if you're impatient.

I usually just whack them to death, in situations where it is impossible
to go around them.

Admittely, I play Valks until I get one ascended, but Barbarians
should have some hitting power, too...

(The current one seems like ready to ascend, although with only lvl 18
and 185 hit points. AC -31, ascension kit seems ready, still two
wand wishes and one spare magic lamp to go. Next thing is to get the
remaining stuff and the Amulet, and, well, just ascend...)

--
+++++++++[>+++++++++<-]>-.<+++++[>+++<-]++>++.<++[>++++<-]+>+.<++[>----
<-]>-.>+++[>++++++++++<-]++>++pa...@iki.fi<+[>++++<-]>+.->+[>++++[<<--->
>-]<-]<.>>+++++++[<++++++++++>-]++++[<+++++>-]<-.>[-]>+++[>++[<<<---->>
<>>-]<-]<<.+.>[-]++[<++>-]<.++.[-]>[-]++++[<++>-]<++.>>++[>++[>-<-]<--]

Eva R. Myers

unread,
Mar 19, 2002, 4:58:10 AM3/19/02
to
Mikko Parviainen <mvpa...@cc.hut.no.ei.ole.invalid> writes:

> David Damerell <dame...@chiark.greenend.org.uk> wrote:
> >>I just died twice in the same spot of the Barbarian Quest.
> >>Any way to get past those nasty eels?
> > Telepathy. Stand 1 space away from the water, activate your telepathy, and
> > pelt them with rocks or spells - or your multibarreled wands of megadeath,
> > if you're impatient.
>
> I usually just whack them to death, in situations where it is impossible
> to go around them.

My refinement to the "whack them to death" strategy is that as soon as
you see "The giant eel swings itself around you!" you _must_ zap it
with a wand of teleportation.

Disclaimer: although I have never been drowned using this strategy, I
am not sure whether it is safe in 3.3.0 and 3.3.1. With the current
speed system, it may be possible for an eel to get two consecutive
moves against a very fast and unburdened character, and these two
moves could be to swing itself around you and drown you. Perhaps
someone who understands the speed system can work out whether this is
possible.
Eva.

--
Eva Myers, Computer Officer, Statistical Laboratory, University of Cambridge
Email: erm...@cam.ac.uk WWW: http://www.statslab.cam.ac.uk/~eva/
Ignorance and deception can't save anybody. *Knowing* saves them.

Dylan O'Donnell

unread,
Mar 19, 2002, 6:23:50 AM3/19/02
to
erm...@tcm16.phy.cam.ac.uk (Eva R. Myers) writes:
> Mikko Parviainen <mvpa...@cc.hut.no.ei.ole.invalid> writes:
>
> > David Damerell <dame...@chiark.greenend.org.uk> wrote:
> > >>I just died twice in the same spot of the Barbarian Quest.
> > >>Any way to get past those nasty eels?
> > >
> > > Telepathy. Stand 1 space away from the water, activate your
> > > telepathy, and pelt them with rocks or spells - or your
> > > multibarreled wands of megadeath, if you're impatient.
> >
> > I usually just whack them to death, in situations where it is impossible
> > to go around them.
>
> My refinement to the "whack them to death" strategy is that as soon as
> you see "The giant eel swings itself around you!" you _must_ zap it
> with a wand of teleportation.

If you have a spare wand of teleportation, a better strategy is just
to zap it at them to start with, then go over to wherever they've gone
to finish them off. They're harmless out of the water.

(This works better on the Barb (or Tourist) Quest than it does on
places like Medusa's level, of course.)

--
: Dylan O'Donnell http://www.spod-central.org/~psmith/ :
: "Are not gross Bodies and Light convertible into one another [...] ?" :
: -- Sir Isaac Newton, "Opticks", 1706 :
: "E = mc^2" -- Albert Einstein, 1905 :

John Harris

unread,
Mar 24, 2002, 11:18:07 PM3/24/02
to
This strategy (get the eels out of the water where they're harmless) is
the subject of one of my favorite Nethack tactics, which is:

Reverse Genocide Eels on a dry level!

Why? Because, since eels have that instakill ability, they're worth an
extra 1,000 experience points apiece. At low levels, when this can mean
a level per kill, this can make a mediocre game a contender.

- John Harris
HIDDEN GLADE
Inexplicable Weekly Fantasy Webcomic
http://www.hiddenglade.com/

Toni Lassila

unread,
Mar 25, 2002, 10:13:54 AM3/25/02
to
On Sun, 24 Mar 2002 23:18:07 -0500, John Harris <jo...@hiddenglade.com>
wrote:

>Reverse Genocide Eels on a dry level!
>
>Why? Because, since eels have that instakill ability, they're worth an
>extra 1,000 experience points apiece. At low levels, when this can mean
>a level per kill, this can make a mediocre game a contender.

Or cause YASD, as gaining levels quickly in the beginning is not
considered very wise. And why bother with EXP when you can revgeno
wraiths, or better yet nurses.

--
Killed by a burning book.

Matt Olson

unread,
Mar 25, 2002, 12:30:09 PM3/25/02
to
Toni Lassila (to...@nukespam.org) wrote:

> And why bother with EXP when you can revgeno
> wraiths, or better yet nurses.

Or foocubi, if your CHA is decently high. Might as
well have some fun while you're stuck in a dungeon.

(YANI:
* Lawful deities get annoyed when you consort with
a foocubus on their altar.
* Better results from foocubi when you're carrying
a bullwhip and an iron chain. ;-)

Cheers,
Matt (killed by a succubus)
--
Matt "deranged lemur on crack" Olson, speaking for himself.
One tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor.

Meagen AKA SailorM

unread,
Mar 27, 2002, 10:21:45 AM3/27/02
to
Użytkownik "Matt Olson" <ol...@csu401.cs.ualberta.ca> napisał w wiadomości
news:slrna9unl2...@csu401.cs.ualberta.ca...

> (YANI:
> * Lawful deities get annoyed when you consort with
> a foocubus on their altar.
> * Better results from foocubi when you're carrying
> a bullwhip and an iron chain. ;-)
>

Yes, yes, and wile wearing certain colors of dracon scales
yadda yadda yadda, We've heard this joke already... ;)

Meagen

Kassandra Velez

unread,
Mar 30, 2002, 1:02:11 AM3/30/02
to
Matt Olson said into the tin can on that end of the string:

>Toni Lassila (to...@nukespam.org) wrote:
>
>> And why bother with EXP when you can revgeno
>> wraiths, or better yet nurses.
>
>Or foocubi, if your CHA is decently high. Might as
>well have some fun while you're stuck in a dungeon.

Foocubi have to be summoned or chased after. They can't be genocided (&,
remember?), therefore they can't be reverse genocided.

0 new messages