Tower of Doom/Walkthrough

Adventures
There are 14 different Adventures to choose from in Tower of Doom, as follows:

The manual claims these are in ascending order of difficulty, but in practice some of these Adventures are much harder than others, especially long, randomly-generated Adventures.

Some also offer curveballs when playing as the weak, unarmed Waif. For example, Tower/12 has an almost unavoidable battle with a dangerous Stirge that guards the stairs on the first floor, but that floor offers no melee weapons with which to fight.

General tactics
Food is paramount. Even the mightiest adventurer will soon die without food. Try to have at least two food items (or an alternative like the Grail or Rosary) on hand at all times, and wait to use them until absolutely necessary.

He who fights and runs away, lives to fight another day. Combat against strong enemies can easily turn disastrous. Unless you're extremely powerful, it's better to avoid many combats and focus on collecting treasures and staying well-fed.

Three strikes, you're out. Most enemies won't attack you instantly until the third time you encounter them -- the first two times, they'll wait for a bribe, and will hesitate before pursuing you if you flee combat. Use this to your advantage.

Don't kill weak enemies. As long as there's a weak enemy in the room, a stronger enemy won't replace it. Giant Rats are the perfect pets, since they're slow, do little damage, and can always be bought off if necessary with a Boot.

Bribing monsters is mostly useless. Few strong enemies will pay any attention to your offerings, and the ones that reliably do -- the Giant Rat or Skeleton -- aren't much of a threat.

It's easier to run away to the West or South. If you don't want to fight a monster, pressing Left or Down exits battle, and you'll start running in that direction as soon as the screen changes back to exploration mode. This makes it much, much easier to flee to the west or south, whereas fleeing north or (especially) east takes very fancy footwork with the controller -- especially since pressing Up or Right brings you closer to the monster once the battle resumes.

Open doors and take stairs quickly. If you've got an empty room and a door to open, do so immediately, as it's often impossible to navigate the menu in time when a fast monster enters the room. The same goes for stairs: if you dither when deciding whether to go down a level, it can ruin your plans when a Stirge or Wraith enters the room.

Drop items you don't need when things are quiet. It's always best to keep an open spot in your inventory, since it's hard to drop an item when you're being chased by a monster. The game can be remarkably picky about when and where you're allowed to drop an item, especially in narrow corridors -- so if you have an empty room and an unwanted item, get rid of it while you have the chance.

Trap monsters behind doors. Open a door, lead a monster into that sub-area, and then leave the room. The monster will be trapped behind the door when you return. This can be quite handy, and gives you a safe place to rest up and strategize.

Cyan items are bad -- except when they're not. Magical Artifacts that are normally Cyan are almost always bad for you. However, there are exceptions: the Cyan Key can help you avoid an annoying Teleporter, and the Cyan Grail is an extremely powerful item that confers permanent haste and a huge boost in abilities.

Magenta items are good -- except when they're not. Most Magenta items are the most powerful in their class, including the Magenta potions which temporarily give you loads of extra health, and the Magenta Ring which makes you immune from Wand backlash. However, the Magenta Book and Magenta Mortar & Pestle are cursed items that lower your experience and stats (respectively).

He-Man should go downstairs before having dinner. If you've recently used a Magenta potion, eating food will instantly remove the temporary HP boost you just got from it. Don't use a Magenta potion on an empty stomach -- unless you're starving, that is!

Most Mortar & Pestles are cursed. Of the eight kinds of these items, over half have a negative effect, including colors that are normally beneficial like Bright Green and Magenta. The only one that might be special is the Orange one, and that's yet to be confirmed.

Dealing with traps
Traps can be incredibly dangerous in Tower of Doom. A Paralysis or Confusion trap that stands between you and where you need to go can instantly wreck even the best game. Fortunately, there are some countermeasures that work well, many of which depend on the fact that the game won't trigger a trap as long as another sound is playing:


 * Use a treasure - When using a treasure, a long chime sounds. As long as that sound persists, traps are ineffective. It's a really good idea to keep at least one treasure on hand at all times for this reason, as it's the best way to bypass a trap.
 * Get into a fight and escape - If you can get a monster to engage you in battle right next to a trap, then you can often duck past the trap by escaping the battle and running through the trap while the monster's snarl is still audible.
 * Use a Wand or Holy Hand Grenade - Fire one of these items against a distant wall, and duck through the trap while the explosion sound is still trailing off.
 * Use a Key - Not always a viable option since it temporarily disarms you, but traps can be avoided by wielding the corresponding Key in place of a weapon.
 * Dodge them - The Gas traps and Poison (tan ring) trap can be dodged with good timing, and the Fire trap only harms you 10% of the time.
 * Use a Scroll of Trap Removal - This scroll that's normally bright green, whether large or small, will remove all traps in a level.

The most dangerous traps in the short term are the Paralysis and Confusion traps, both of which can't be dodged and can render your character incapable of self-defense.

In the medium to long term, the Life Eater (red ring) is extremely dangerous, since it drains 20 points of Life Force and makes starvation more of a danger.

By contrast, the Fire trap usually doesn't harm you, the Green Gas Cloud does relatively little damage, and the Transporter is merely inconvenient (and can even be helpful).

Best Weapons
Without disassembling the game's code, this can't be established with any certainty, but a few things are clear:


 * Color is important. Items that are gray, cyan, or orange (when unscrambled) are significantly less likely to hit and/or do damage.
 * The Wand and Holy Hand Grenade are powerful, but can be exceedingly dangerous to the wielder. It's perilously easy to double-tap the fire button when opening doors, and the backlash can instantly kill a weak or weakened character. Save these for attacking the most powerful enemies from a distance.
 * The Mace is surprisingly effective, and seems like it might be the best melee weapon in the game next to the Double-Handed Sword.
 * Weapons that can function both as projectiles and as melee weapons, i.e. the Spear, Axe, and Hammer, are useful but easy to inadvertently deplete. In the long run, it's better to have a combination like a Mace and a Holy Hand Grenade, or a Sword and a Wand.

Best Items
While most non-cursed items have some use, there are a handful of standout items that can totally transform a game:


 * Potions:
 * Both Grey Potions heal you. This can be particularly helpful for powerful characters, who can take a lot of damage quickly in combat against strong foes.
 * The Brown Bottle makes your character super-fast for one level, and gives you the upper hand in avoiding combat and exploring quickly.
 * The Brown Flask makes you invisible, so enemies won't pursue you. (The Brown Mortar & Pestle does the same thing.) Of course, you can't see yourself either!
 * The Lavender Bottle, aka PEERCEPTION ENHANCED, lets you see any item in a room without needing to explore it. This saves huge amounts of time. Be sure to use it at the start of a level, as it only lasts for one floor.
 * Both Magenta Potions offer huge (though temporary) health boosts, and can be literal life-savers. Happily, they seem relatively common.


 * Scrolls:
 * The Orange Small Scroll slows a monster down, and the Brown Small Scroll paralyzes it completely. This is extremely helpful when hunting the Wizard, so hang onto it. Be careful, though, as the effects disappear if you enter melee!
 * Both Green Scrolls remove all traps in a level. Very handy.


 * Rings:
 * The Grey Ring hastens your healing, which makes a huge difference in saving time and avoiding long waits while you recuperate (and waste Life Points).
 * The Magenta Ring makes you immune from Wand backlash, which makes wielding the Wand a much less risky proposition.


 * Keys:
 * The Magenta Key is the only one worth bothering with, as it bypasses all traps.


 * Rosaries and Grails:
 * The Pink Rosary confers permanent immunity from traps. (At least one other item -- possibly the Orange Mortar & Pestle -- does the same thing.)
 * The Lavender Rosary makes you never need Food again, which is a huge advantage.
 * The Cyan Grail confers permanent haste and a huge boost in stats. Even as the Waif, it's tough to lose if you have this item.

Remember, these colors will be scrambled when playing certain characters and/or most of the tougher Adventures. Fortunately there are only eight possible color shifts, and they're always consistent within a game: if a Ring that's normally Cyan appears to be Orange, then all items that appear orange will function as if they were Cyan.