Managing HP

[nordetsa]

I'm just curious whether this method is effective: whenever my character has less than 50% hp, I just press 5 and restore my hp for several turns. Sometimes I spam 5 button to wait for poison/sickness to go away.

Is this effective? I think the time I spend healing my hp gives time for dungeon to make new mobs (I actually saw orc coming out of nowhere in a closed room right next to me), Not to mention becoming hungrier without any chunk of meat to eat to, resulting in having to consume permafood. But I consider this act worth it because having full hp gives me much time to absorb dmg while running away.

If not, would there be a more effective way of restoring hp without spending too much time?

[KoboldLord]

You should rest as much as you need to. Don't worry about the food cost or monster spawns, at least until much later in the game, in special areas like Hell. There is a timer on each level after which stronger monsters start spawning, but it's a very long timer and you are unlikely to trip it during normal play.

The orc you saw that 'appears out of thin air' is most likely actually one that hit a teleport trap elsewhere on the level. New monster spawns usually start at staircases, and start wandering from there.

[inkydood]

I often rest up to about 80 percent health and the rest comes automatically as I travel, but this is situational, mainly for mostly-cleared areas. You shouldn't need to consume permafood so often, but it's unlikely you'll starve either way.

[nordetsa]

The orc you saw that 'appears out of thin air' is most likely actually one that hit a teleport trap elsewhere on the level. New monster spawns usually start at staircases, and start wandering from there.

Come to think of it, there was a stair. Never knew they spawned at staircases.

BTW, so what about hell then? I never been there, but I know resting there for too long might end up getting torment dmg/rot/any other nasty things that can kill your character. Is there any strategy for that place?

[KoboldLord]

In Hell, you try to move as quickly as possible because you'll get more Hell Effects if you hang around. Preparing to move quickly without sacrificing safety is something you start preparing well in advance, because it isn't a trivial part of the challenge of the Hells. Common means include choosing deities that heal you when you kill things, casting Regeneration, equipping rings of regeneration, using quick mp recovery like channeling or crystal balls of energy, using mp-efficient tactics, and so on. It's also possible to just tough it out, but you'll be put through the wringer if you try.

The rush tactics you use in Hell aren't nearly as valuable in the rest of the game, because in the rest of the game you can usually retreat to a safe place and rest normally. The minimal food cost for doing so is much less troublesome than the costs of any other recovery method, if time is not an issue.

[mrbobbyg]

, I just press 5 and restore my hp for several turns. Sometimes I spam 5 button to wait for poison/sickness to go away.

If by this you mean you literally mash the 5 key, that's a bad idea. You're begging for an ogre/hydra/whatever is scary to you to come round the corner and whap you three times before you realize it. Use the autorest function. Which I have as shift + 5, and I think you do as well.

[SchwaWarrior]

In Hell, you try to move as quickly as possible because you'll get more Hell Effects if you hang around.

To elaborate on this: by "Hell Effects", he's referring to a special gimmick in the Hells where every couple thousand (?) turns or so, you might randomly suddenly take massive damage, or a bunch of high-level demons will warp in all around you on the spot, or you might be teleported, or a multitude of other nasty occurrences. The Hells are the only place that do that; they're a crazy challenge because in addition to being filled with the most dangerous monsters in Crawl, you are also prohibited from resting to heal, no matter what, on top of it, thanks to those random "Hell Effects" happening!

But yeah, in the dungeon it's totally okay. In fact, letting more monsters spawn could even be a good thing, 'cause that means there's more things for you to kill and level up on!

The only drawback is that certain deities have a very fast Piety decay rate, such as Makbeb or Vehumet, and they expect you to kill all the time to make up for it. If you overuse resting too much you could expect your Piety to drop a bit when you use those deities, which isn't the end of the world, but don't forget is all.

[Kate]

By "every couple thousand turns" you probably meant "every 20 turns".

[evilmike]

It's a 50% chance every 20 turns (200 aut).