HellFire quests

[LemmingofGlory]

Now I read a lot about Hellfire and tot he best of my recollection, Theo appears on Adria's little island after you've ventured into the Hive. But I've made it as far as dlvl 3 in the Hive and I can't find Theo anywhere.

Celia appears on Adria's isle if you have theoquest in your command.txt. Theo is her teddy bear (Theodore), which is dropped by the Hork Demon. If theoquest is not enabled, Hork Demon gives you a random magical amulet.

On top of that Lester has disappeared. Is he involved in the plot somehow, or does he simply disappear after you've been in the Hive. If it's the latter, I think Sierra could have done a little better with that particular NPC.

Sierra could've done a "little better" with all sorts of things. Lester doesn't have any gossip fer cryin' out loud. But, yes, Lester disappears after you get your reward from him and re-enter the dungeon.

By the way, what's the best way to kill the Necrobombs (the floaty tenticled things).

Necromorbs. The ideal way to kill them largely depends on your class and clvl. Since they're unlikely to cause much trouble to ranged classes, I'll assume you're a meleer.

They're the biggest pain in the ass to blocking characters. Blockers always try blocking (blockable) spells in vanilla HF, regardless of resists. As such, in normal diff a warrior may try using a bow. It gets around spellblock and you don't have to do so much chasing. (Or you could download Hellfire: Fixed, which fixes spellblock.) Monks, Barbs, and Bards are awful with bows, however. Equip one and see for yourself.

With Monk/Bard, depending on your magical aptitude, you may try using spells. Fire Wall or Lightning work fairly well for normal. Try Fball or CL if you have it.

If all that fails, or if you're a Barbarian, chase them. Corners work well, but Orbs are fairly slow, so you might catch one every so often. Or:

Code:

_______________
           X  
           |
           O
           |
           |
           |
           Y

Legend:
_, wall
|, chase path
X, goal
O, orb
Y, you

This technique involves lining the creature up with a wall and backing away to the point where they stop fleeing and start attacking.* Charge directly into them as the chase path shows. They'll flee up to the wall, stop, and have to change direction. That's your window of opportunity: strike! Whether you swing directly at the X or to either side of the X depends on what the monster's movement indicates. If where it flees is still ambiguous (i.e. it hasn't confirmed which direction it will go) always attack the X directly: a successful hit will knock it back onto the X tile even if it starts trying to escape.

*Disclaimer: ASCII Diagram indicates ~3 space distance. However, diagram is not drawn to scale. Test for yourself.

[o: *LEMMING* :o]