ADOM

• The ADOM Guidebook is a historically useful resource, though some information is outdated by now. The ADOM wiki has been maintained over the various patches.

• Paladins are a solid beginner class as they tend to start with good gear, useful skills, Lawful alignment that's easy to uphold and involve both melee and spellcasting. Priests have a similar style but more spellcasting-focused, and they also come with the Detect Item Status skill to help getting stuck with cursed gear. In the long term, Wizards tend to be considered the strongest class for actually beating the game, but also have an especially tough start.

• Don't forget to try prayer if you're in a dire spot! Prayers cost piety which is primarily gained by sacrificing gold, corpses and living creatures on co-aligned altars (Shift-O sacrifices a living creature standing on an altar tile.)

• It's good to always have a ranged weapon equipped for some free shots at approaching enemies, at least some stones to throw if nothing else. In the same vein, even a spellcaster should be prepared having to engage in melee at times.

• Eating corpses can have a variety of effects, some desirable and some not. You can safely eat the corpses of most common creatures, with some exceptions like kobolds and normal rats.

• You can get a rough estimate of an unknown item's quality by checking how much a shopkeeper is willing to pay for it.

• Combat tactics can be changed on the fly with the F1-F7 keys without it consuming an action. Offensive tactics are especially useful when firing a ranged weapon for example, while casters tend to stay on the defense. Note that Berserk tactic prevents improving one's skill with shields, while Very Defensive/Coward tactics do the same for weapons. Coward also makes you move faster while very low on health.

• About starting attributes: Toughness is critical with any character and most also want at least 10 Learning and Perception for guaranteed literacy and decent vision range. Charisma and Appearance have very niche uses and be considered dump stats for most characters. You start with a bonus talent if your starting attributes are divisible by 7 though, so them being cheap to raise can help hit that.

• There are two mutually exclusive quests in the first town, one by the druid and the other by the village elder. While the former can be considered more rewarding and more difficult, the latter is the easiest way for a (non-Chaotic) character to learn the important Healing skill that boosts HP regeneration. The quest involves finding the mad town carpenter from a nearby cave who one should try to bring to the wandering healer found on an earlier level of the cave for the best rewards.

• Before you dive into a dungeon, it can be worth visiting the shop in the outlaw village southwest of the first town. Even if you can't afford anything, walking over the items will permanently identify them for the future.

• Spear and shield is a solid weapon combination for almost every class for their hefty avoidance bonuses when trained. Swords are also always reliable. Be careful of cursed items though, and keep an eye out for items with an irregular weight as they might be made of rarer materials.

• You can make holy water by dropping water (or "watery potion," which is just unidentified water) on the altar of a god who likes you. Anything dipped in holy water will become blessed. A lot of items become much better when blessed, and in a pinch it also allows you to remove (previously) cursed equipment.