Quick Delve! tips and instructions

  • Only four players are allowed to play at a time. If the game's full, you'll have to wait a few minutes for someone to die or leave. Use the watch command to observe the game while you wait.
  • If the game's not full and your downloads are complete, click or type the join verb to enter the game. Only one player may use each class at a time, so not all classes will always be available.
  • Be careful when picking your class, as there are some serious differences between them. As a beginner, it's recommended you pick a powerful, straightforward class such as the Soldier or Barbarian, but feel free to experiment. Here's a quick rundown on the classes: 
         Knight: Very high armor, good attacks, slow speed
     Elf: Good speed and magic, low armor and weak hand-to-hand
     Barbarian: Awesome attack power, low armor and very low magic
     Wizard: Excellent magic, good shot power, low armor and horrible hand-to-hand
     Thief: Very high speed, but mediocre on other stats
     Monk: Above average in most regards, but very weak shot power
     Soldier: Nice combat ability and armor, low magic
     Ninja: Awesome missile attacks and good speed, but no armor at all
     Ranger: Perfectly balanced in all respects
     Templar: Good armor and high magic, slow speed
  • Once you're in the game, make sure you have numlock turned off on your keyboard. Use the arrow keys or number pad to move around. Press 5 on the numpad to fire at monsters, but avoid hitting players. Numpad divide (the / key) will cast any spell you're carrying, and use numpad multiply (*) to throw any bombs you pick up. Numpad add (+) will cycle through status displays in the "Players" panel. These keys together allow you to play the game while virtually never needing to switch panels.
  • Never underestimate the usefulness of magic. Once you pick up a spell scroll, you keep it until you die or pick up a new spell. Your character has a limited pool of magic points (shown on the "Players" panel) that regenerate over time. Don't go hog wild with spells, but don't be afraid to throw a fireball or two if things get hairy.
  • Bombs are effective weapons which cover a wide area, but don't use them haphazardly--their explosions will damage you just as much as they'll damage foes. You can plant them sitting if you're up against a wall, or throw them otherwise to hit foes far away, or bounce them off walls for hard-to-reach enemies.
  • Don't freak out if your character dies. Delve! is a fast-paced action game, and death is commonplace. When you die, you lose your inventory and you'll be out of the game for the remainder of the current level. Your bombs and keys can be picked up by other players, but your spell is lost forever. If you've got an important and powerful spell, dying can be a major setback... but if you don't, don't worry about dying! Remember, when you rejoin next level you'll have a full 500 health--healing supplies are limited, so that free health can be an important boost for the party. But remember--if everyone dies, you'll have to start the game over. So long as the whole party doesn't die, death is mostly just a minor inconvenience.
  • Sometimes, if you're lucky, you might open a chest to find a random artifact, a magical item which you can equip and use in place of spells. Artifacts are useful and powerful, but they have limited charges, so be careful of using them up. The most important attribute of artifacts is that they are the only items which are saved. Spells, bombs, and keys will all be lost between games (or even deaths)... but once you find an artifact, you can hold on to it for as long as you want, and you'll always have it regardless of what character you use, until you use it up. So if you're lucky enough to get ahold of an artifact, save it! Even if you've got charges left over at the end of one adventure, they'll still be there for you next game.
  • Delve! is a cooperative game--if you work together with other players effectively, you'll have incredibly more success than if you play every-man-for-himself. Save food and healing potions for wounded players, and try and let players with high magic scores have first dibs on important spells.
  • If the default controls are uncomfortable and you understand the basics of Dreamseeker's macroing capabilities, feel free to experiment with alternate control setups.
  • If you find Delve! interesting or want more info on the game, visit the full Delve! homepage at www.oocities.org/eternalglade/index.htm.