On Fri, 20 May 2022 13:22:49 +0200, Janis Papanagnou wrote:
> On 20.05.2022 06:49, B. R. 'BeAr' Ederson wrote:
>>
>> If a horde of monsters is following you (that are faster or might be
>> catching up with you later on, anyways), it is often a good idea to
>> clear out as many as possible from range before running in the opposite
>> direction. - That, at least, is my usual style of playing...
>
> A horde, and if they are faster(!); you have less chances to escape
> if you waste turns for (ranged or other) attacks. Sounds not to be a
> good idea, rather the opposite.
Depends. If you are near the exit of a room and monsters just enter
from a door on the other side of the room (the entry point being in
a straight line from your current position, which makes monsters move
straight into your line of shooting), you can reduce them a good
deal (if you are sufficiently skilled with ranged weapons), before
retreating in the exit corridor and finishing the last few, that
arrive shortly afterwards for hand-to-hand combat.
> In that case the first goal would be to reach a place (like a corridor)
> where you cannot get surrounded
If the corridor is straight for a long way, it is possible to use above
approach just in reverse. (Which I often do.) But if the corridor is not
straight (and maybe even is linked to a second door), the first approach
works better in my experience.
The first approach is also statistically safer, when the retreat is /not/
known to be monster-less, because when you directly run into another enemy,
the /whole/ process will become a fight hand-to-hand. - First, against the
new monster(s), shortly later against the whole original horde, which will
arrive beside you, while you are fighting the new monster(s). - Although
one after another, if you are in a straight corridor.
Of course, /starting/ with ranged fight may /also/ proof fatal, if the new
monsters are tough and manage to pour outside the intended exit door in
great numbers.- Everything is possible with Nethack... ;-)
> If you are confident to kill all creatures by ranged attack then you'd
> just do it and collect your thrown missiles when the job is done.
I usually try to carry enough ranged weapons to not being a major part
of the over-all weight, but also to not being missed when not being
recollected, immediately.