Duke Nukem 3D Hints

Can I have some general strategies?

  • Well, one thing I don't really like about this game is the difficulty.  When the game throws five Lizard Enforcers at you at the same time, even on the easiest level, it just doesn't seem fair.  You could try and edit the USER.CON to lower their strength, or you could also try to think when attacking the enemies.

    The best thing to remember is NEVER to go face-to-face with an enemy.  Strafe back and forth, and fire.  Run backwards if necessary.  Shotgun ammo is usually abundant, so you're be best off using this weapon the most.  Hiding behind walls and pillars provides some cover, so you can peek over the edge to look for anything to shoot.

    I found the best way to play the game is a combination between mouse and keyboard.  I used the keyboard with my left hand to move Duke, and my right hand to aim, fire, and open doors.  Using a Gravis Gamepad isn't too bad either, especially when you need fast response time you can't get with the keyboard.

    Remember that going to the bathroom and drinking water will increase your life.  If you're low on health, shoot a fire hydrant, and drink from it.  Doing so will increase your health by one each time.  If you stick around long enough, you can get full health!

    Whenever you find Laser Tripbombs on the wall, don't bother running through -- you'll be toasted, or at least very injured.  Instead, take a Pipebomb and throw it near the beams, then detonate.  This will trigger the beams if you tossed it right.  If you don't have any Pipebombs, shoot the bomb (not the beam) with a rocket. Try ducking under it if you don't have either of those weapons.  Or as a last resort, lure an enemy through the lasers.

    If you suddenly start taking damage, and you don't know why, press the Backspace key.  You'll twirl around at 180 degrees, so you can check who's on your six.  Very useful, since you don't have that little Marine-face indicator you may have gotten used to in Doom.

    Many of the enemies in this game duck and start to fire.  This makes your shots do less damage.  Basically, just do the same things they do -- hit the dirt and fire back.