SOME NETHACK PREFERENCES 1) I prefer what I call "linear roles". Ideally these begin training skills immediately that will serve them for the entire game. Conversely, there are few if any skills for these roles that must wait well into the game to be developed and/or useful. Investing in skills early helps to keep pace with the increasing difficulty of generated monsters. An example might be Rogue. The majority of my ascensions with that role saw me tossing daggers and two-weaponing elven short swords on the Astral. 2) Starting with a high strength that immediately adds damage to attacks significantly enhances early survivability. Copious starting inventories or future theoretical abilities are a poor substitute for simple brute strength in the early going. A peaceful mines can be helpful as well. 3) I prefer to find or be gifted items rather than burning wishes. Essentially, I feel there is no non-invocation artifact that I can't do without. I use wishes for items the game fails to produce at all or only in insufficient amounts. Magic markers would be a classic example. 4) I tend to avoid roles that require a lengthy and possibly tenuous connecting of dots to produce a playable game. A heavy reliance on breakable projectiles or offensive spellcasting might be examples. 5) I generally avoid one-legged or wildly unbalanced roles. Ideally, a role will offer two offensive categories (from melee, ranged or spells) with near equal strength and effectiveness. Note, the new 3.6.1 alkys has expanded the list somewhat. 6) I rarely advance my experience much beyond what is required for the quest and to fully train my skills. No need to help the game generate even tougher monsters. Drain resistance makes this somewhat less risky. every@ma.sdf.org