Exploration:
- Explore everything, kill everything. Exploration gives you more items to play with. Yes, some can be bad for you, but the more 'things' you have generally the better off you are. And unless you absolutely know that a particular critter outguns you, stand and kill it if possible. Critters = XP and XP = win.
- The rooms are laid out in a 3x3 grid on the map. Use this to your advantage to try to get into every room on a map before descending to the next level. See above strategy for why you should do this.
- The amount of time your character has ingame is harshly limited by how much food they have. So try to avoid backtracking or doubling over your steps as much as possible.
- Don't immediately head down every set of stairs you come to. Each floor represents a certain amount of xp/loot that you may possibly harvest. If you have the food reserves, then do try to clear a floor before heading downward.
- Each wall will have, at most, 1 door in it.
- Use the map's 3x3 grid form to determine where likely walls are to search. If you are standing in the room in the UPPER LEFT corner, don't bother searching the top or leftmost walls.
- Tolerance for repeatedly searching an area should first and foremost be driven by your current food reserves. Don't waste time if you have 1 food left, move on.
- Don't waste time searching until you are rank 2 or maybe 3.
- Sometimes a hallway just ends. Live with it.
- Don't bother eating until you feel faint. Being hungry has no negative effect and you may as well save your food as much as possible.
- Hoard all treasure, potions, scrolls, everything until you reach about floor 8 or 9.
- Once you have a good collection of items you can clear out a level and find a quiet spot near the exit to start going through the items and learning what they do. Preferably do this right after levelling, that way if you have a potion of raise level you get more use out of it.
- Read all scrolls first, if you find an ID scroll(s) use that on armor, weapons or rings.
- Then drink all potions. Even if you waste something good you will know what it is in the future.
- If you are left with un-ID'ed gear you can go through it to try to determine what it does.
*The above strategy was summed up well by Van Damage: When I arrive at level 8, I've had 7 levels to obtain better weapons or armor. I put on my best armor and wield my primary weapon, then read all scrolls, hoping to get armor protection and/or weapon/armor enhancements. If I don't find armor protection at that point, I read all scrolls I encounter as soon as I find them. - Polymorph wands are more useful the lower you are. If you are facing a bat you don't want to run the risk of changing him into a vampire, however vice-versa is just fine.
- Two rings of slow digestion will pretty much make you immune to hunger. However, you are giving up on any benefits from any other rings.
- Always fight in hallways where you can only be hit by 1 critter at a time.
- "Held" creatures stay so until you hit them. Stand right next to one and rest to heal up. Don't worry, he'll wait.
- Know the bestiary, know which are the really dangerous creatures and which aren't. Wraiths, rattlesnakes, and aquators can all dramatically effect your stats and nymphs can steal items from you. Griffons and dragons just hurt.
- Ranged combat is your friend. USE IT.
- You can 'throw' many weapons out of your inventory with out un-equipping your main melee weapon. Keep three or four spears, axes or hammers and unload those on a ranged target. Once combat is over you can usually recover all of them. And all of that happens while you are still ready for melee if the target can close.
- Thrown weapons will drop again once you kill the critter you threw them at.
- Leprechauns and nymphs may disappear if they close to melee, they will take thrown weapons with them when they do.
- Any potion can be thrown at a monster to trigger it's effect on the critter. Poisons, confusion pots, etc will all have their effect.
- Paralysis and confusion potions are excellent get-away devices.
- Throwing many un-ID'ed weapons may ID them if they hit the target.
- Know the damage tables and which weapons do what. Keep the URL handy for reference if needed.
- Build up a selection of enchant weapon scrolls and use them to build as good of a weapon as you can.
- Vorpalizing a weapon will give it several more points in the general 'to hit' and 'damage' categories, but it will also give that weapon a single 'Zap' to be used against a random species of critter. The 'Zap' is a sure kill, so use it wisely. An additional ID scroll or throwing the weapon at a low-level critter will reveal the species it has been vorpalized against.
- Know the difference between 'enchant armor' and 'protect armor'. Enchant gives a blue glow, improves the armors AC by 1 and removes curses. Protection gives a golden glow, plus 1 AC, removes curses and provides rust protection.
- Know the armor lists and which do what. Elfin and leather do not rust, shozuku is stealthy and spartan cuirass gives you an extra strike.
- Armor will always ID itself when you equip it, you do run the risk of putting on cursed items though.
- A 'Maintain armor' ring and elven chain are redundant, lose the ring.