Non-exploitive Maximum Survival Guide
This method revolves around protecting yourself. It assumes you already know a lot about IVAN. Suggestion: use wands of cloning/mirroring to have many many enchant and harden scrolls. They can copy 5 items at a time. Main strategy: 1. Get boots of agility and enchant them madly. Never be burdened and never use armor that lowers stats. This is all so you can run away fast and dodge well. 2. a) Get an ammy of ESP or ring of infravision. b) Eat carrots to gain PER, or find/wish for a Helm of Piercing Perception. Copy a carrot a lot if you have copying magic to spare and a carrot. c) Use LOOK command on any foes that can carry weapons. This is to make sure they aren't carrying ultra-violent enchanted weps or mega-armor. OVERESTIMATE WEAPONS. This is all so you can identify and avoid major threats. 3. Have resistance to fire/electricity. I recommend a +something cloak of electricity resistance and two (2) rings of fire resistance. This is for enemies who can deliver ranged magic attacks or dwarves who hide behind corners. 4. Have a set of awesome special-effect adamantine equipment (or whatever you prefer) for killing bosses. Store it in a chest (monsters can't open them). Otherwise, stick to plain-jane cheapish equipment. This is to prevent monsters from getting too tough. (The AGI boots are an exception.) 5. If you see a scary monster, run the fk away. Zap it with fire/striking wands if you want. 6. Don't do anything stupid or overly risky. Additional tips: Teleport magic and potions of healing (stored in impact-worthy cans) are very nice. Remember that heavy stuff has no negative impact on your groin; a nice trick is to change your belt's material to iron and then harden it. Meteoric steel won't up the difficulty much, but light stuff like phoenix feather will. Cool stuff will get you kilt. Try not to use stuff like whips of thievery (how often will you enjoy the benefits of (maybe) weapon-stealing?), named weapons or special-effect armor. Monsters will get too strong. Avoid using only whips/dagger/short swords or only heavy weapons. They will boost one stat (DEX or STR), making monsters more powerful. But that one stat won't make you powerful enough to deal with those monsters. In the beginning of the game, you don't have much to lose so drink from fountains in hopes of getting a wish. Later in the game, if you have polycontrol, fountains can't really hurt you, either. I would recommend wishing for wands of cloning/mirroring and/or a helm of brilliance. Once you have a wand with 3 charges or more, wish for scrolls of charging instead of more wands. You might want to try making an exception to the cheapo equipment rule for belts of carrying, or even armors of great health. The added END can give you a big boost, and the belt can make you lighter.
This method revolves around protecting yourself. It assumes you already know a lot about IVAN. Suggestion: use wands of cloning/mirroring to have many many enchant and harden scrolls. They can copy 5 items at a time. Main strategy: 1. Get boots of agility and enchant them madly. Never be burdened and never use armor that lowers stats. This is all so you can run away fast and dodge well. 2. a) Get an ammy of ESP or ring of infravision. b) Eat carrots to gain PER, or find/wish for a Helm of Piercing Perception. Copy a carrot a lot if you have copying magic to spare and a carrot. c) Use LOOK command on any foes that can carry weapons. This is to make sure they aren't carrying ultra-violent enchanted weps or mega-armor. OVERESTIMATE WEAPONS. This is all so you can identify and avoid major threats. 3. Have resistance to fire/electricity. I recommend a +something cloak of electricity resistance and two (2) rings of fire resistance. This is for enemies who can deliver ranged magic attacks or dwarves who hide behind corners. 4. Have a set of awesome special-effect adamantine equipment (or whatever you prefer) for killing bosses. Store it in a chest (monsters can't open them). Otherwise, stick to plain-jane cheapish equipment. This is to prevent monsters from getting too tough. (The AGI boots are an exception.) 5. If you see a scary monster, run the fk away. Zap it with fire/striking wands if you want. 6. Don't do anything stupid or overly risky. Additional tips: Teleport magic and potions of healing (stored in impact-worthy cans) are very nice. Remember that heavy stuff has no negative impact on your groin; a nice trick is to change your belt's material to iron and then harden it. Meteoric steel won't up the difficulty much, but light stuff like phoenix feather will. Cool stuff will get you kilt. Try not to use stuff like whips of thievery (how often will you enjoy the benefits of (maybe) weapon-stealing?), named weapons or special-effect armor. Monsters will get too strong. Avoid using only whips/dagger/short swords or only heavy weapons. They will boost one stat (DEX or STR), making monsters more powerful. But that one stat won't make you powerful enough to deal with those monsters. In the beginning of the game, you don't have much to lose so drink from fountains in hopes of getting a wish. Later in the game, if you have polycontrol, fountains can't really hurt you, either. I would recommend wishing for wands of cloning/mirroring and/or a helm of brilliance. Once you have a wand with 3 charges or more, wish for scrolls of charging instead of more wands. You might want to try making an exception to the cheapo equipment rule for belts of carrying, or even armors of great health. The added END can give you a big boost, and the belt can make you lighter.