Usenet 1994 October

home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search

/ Usenet 1994 October / usenetsourcesnewsgroupsinfomagicoctober1994disk2.iso / games / volume13 / nh-spoilers3 / part06 / spoilers.xaf

Wrap

Text File | 1992-01-13 | 48KB | 957 lines

| invisibility | 150 | | levitation | 200 | | poison resistance | 150 | | polymorph | 300 | | polymorph control | 300 | | protection | 100 | | protection from shape changers | 100 | | regeneration | 200 | | searching | 200 | | see invisible | 150 | | shock resistance | 150 | | stealth | 100 | | teleport control | 300 | | teleportation | 200 | | warning | 100 | ---------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ring Effects: Note that all rings except +0 rings increase your food consumptions to varying degrees. Adornment - Will raise your charisma by the bonus on the ring. Cold resistance - You become invulnerable to cold, including backblasts from the wand and freezing spheres. Conflict - Causes monsters to attack each other instead of you if they are next to each other. Fire resistance - You become invulnerable to fire, including backblasts from the wand and (red) dragon's breath. Gain strength - Increments (or decrements if cursed) your strength by the appropriate amount. Increase damage - Increases the damage you do to monsters when hitting them. Poison resistance - You are invulnerable to poison (including poisonous corpses, but not rotted ones, and all poison stings, bites, and potions). Polymorph - Will occasionally cause you to randomly polymorph into another creature. Polymorph control - Allows you to choose what monster you turn into if you get polymorphed. Protection - Increases your armor class and (probably) your saving throws by the appropriate amount. (Or decreases if cursed.) Protection from shape changers - Forces chameleons and other shape changers to take on their true form. Regeneration - Replenishes HP at about 1 a move, but increases food consumption a lot. Searching - Will automatically look for hidden traps/doors. Shock resistance - Lightning/other electrical resistance. Stealth - Monsters don't wake up when you enter a room. Teleportation - Teleports you randomly around every once in a while. Teleport control - Gives you control of teleport destination, no matter what does the teleporting. If you try to teleport into a wall or monster, you get a random teleport. Warning - Will glow different colors when different monsters are near. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Identifying Rings: To figure out what a ring is, again start by figuring out if the ring is cursed or not. If the ring is cursed, don't throw it away! It's a prime candidate for identification through the first method: chuck it down a sink, and see what happens. See the SINK EFFECTS section for more information about what happens when various ring types are thrown down a sink. If the ring isn't cursed, it probably is somewhat beneficial. Try it on. If something happens immediately, you'll know what it is (levitation, for example). Some rings can only be identified after being worn for a while - for example, a ring of polymorph will only polymorph you every once in a while, and a ring of teleport also only works now and then. Other rings can only be guessed at -for instance, if you suddenly can find secret doors easier than you have been, it might be a ring of searching. If you suddenly are killing monsters more easily, it might be a ring of increase damage. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scrolls: Name Prob Cost ------------------------------- | amnesia | 35 | 200 | | blank paper | 28 | 60 | | charging | 15 | 300 | | confuse monster | 53 | 100 | | create monster | 45 | 200 | | destroy armor | 45 | 100 | | enchant armor | 63 | 80 | | enchant weapon | 85 | 60 | | fire | 48 | 100 | | food detection | 25 | 100 | | genocide | 15 | 300 | | gold detection | 33 | 100 | | identify | 185 | 20 | | light | 95 | 50 | | magic mapping | 45 | 100 | | punishment | 15 | 300 | | remove curse | 65 | 80 | | scare monster | 35 | 100 | | taming | 15 | 200 | | teleportation | 55 | 100 | ------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scroll Effects: Cur = cursed scroll (unless specifically mentioned, same as regular) Reg = regular (uncursed) scroll Bls = blessed scroll (unless specifically mentioned, same as regular) Bld = messages given while blind Hal = messages given while hallucinating Amnesia Cur - Complete loss of map and spells. Reg - Partial loss of map and spells. "Thinking of Maud you forget everything else." "Who was that Maud person anyway?" "As your mind turns inward on itself, you forget everything else." (if your character's name is Maud) Bls - Partial loss of map, no loss of spells. Hal - "Your mind releases itself from mundane concerns." Blank paper Reg - No effect. "This scroll seems to be blank." Charging Reg - Charges item to original charges (can charge magic lamps) Bls - Charges item to maximum charges (can charge magic lamps) Confuse monster (effects are cumulative) Cur - You become confused for 1 to 100 turns. "You feel confused." Reg - The next monster you hit will become confused. "Your hands begin to glow red." Bls - Next 2-9 monsters hit will become confused. "Your hands glow a brilliant red." Bld - "Your hands begin to tingle." "Your hands tingle very sharply." Create monster Cur - Creates 13 to 17 random monsters. Reg - Creates 1 to 5 random monsters. Destroy armor Cur - Same as regular, unless outermost armor is also cursed, in which case you are stunned for 11-20 rounds. "Your [armor name] vibrates." Reg - Outermost armor you are wearing is destroyed. "Your shield crumbles and turns to dust." "Your helmet turns to dust and is blown away." "Your gloves vanish." "Your boots disintegrate." "Your skin itches." (if no armor is being worn) Enchant armor Cur - Takes 1 point off bonus and curses random armor you are wearing. "Your [armor name] glows black for a moment." Reg - Adds +1 to bonus and uncurses random armor you are wearing. "Your [armor name] glows silver for a moment." "Your skin glows then fades." (if no armor is being worn) "Your [armor name] glows violently silver for a while, then evaporates." (if enchantment fails) Bls - Adds +1-3 to bonus and blesses random armor you are wearing. "Your [armor name] glows silver for a moment/while." Bld - "Your [armor name] feels warm for a moment." "Your skin feels warm for a moment." (if no armor is being worn) "Your [armor name] violently vibrates for a while, then evaporates." (if enchantment fails) Enchant weapon** Cur - Takes 1 point off bonus of weapon you are wielding. "Your [weapon name] glows black for a moment." Reg - Adds +1 to bonus and uncurses weapon you are wielding. "Your [weapon name] glows blue for a moment." Bls - Adds +3 to bonus and blesses weapon you are wielding. "Your [weapon name] glows blue for a while." Fire Cur - You lose 1 to 9 hit points and maximum hit points. Monsters within three squares take similar damage. Reg - You lose 1 to 6 hit points and maximum hit points. Monsters within three squares take similar damage. "The scroll erupts in a tower of flame!" "You are uninjured." (if fire resistant) Bls - You lose 1 to 3 hit points and maximum hit points. Monsters within three squares take similar damage. This scroll is dangerous! It will burn scrolls and explode potions. Food detection Reg - Detects all food on the level. Genocide Cur - Surrounds you with monster you tried to genocide. Reg - Allows you to genocide one monster type (ex. 'rothe'). Bls - Allows you to genocide one monster class (ex. 'q' for quadruped). Gold detection Cur - As normal, but "gold" detected are actually traps. Reg - Detects all gold on level. Identify Cur - Identifies 1 item. Reg - Identifies 1 or more items (hit 'a' instead of 'y'). Bls - Identifies 1 or more items (better chance). Light Cur - Darkens room you are in. Reg - Lights up room you are in. Magic mapping Cur - Partial map of the level is drawn. "Unfortunately, it is of a very poor quality." Reg - Map of the level is drawn. "On this scroll is a map." Mail Reg - No effect. "This seems to be junk mail addressed to the finder of the Eye of Larn." (The game of Larn sends you junk mail if you win...) Punishment Cur - Creates a very heavy iron ball and chains it to you. Reg - Creates a heavy iron ball and chains it to you, or if you are already being punished, your current iron ball becomes very heavy. "You are being punished." Bls - No effect. "You feel guilty." Remove curse Reg - Removes curses on worn items and will unlock iron balls. "You feel like someone is helping you." Bls - Removes curses on all items and will unlock iron balls. Hal - "You feel in touch with the Universal Oneness." Scare monster Cur - Aggravates monsters when read. "You hear a sad wailing in the distance." "You hear a sad wailing close by." Reg - Should be dropped and stood upon. When read, monsters will flee for a short period of time. "You hear maniacal laughter in the distance." "You hear maniacal laughter close by." Taming Cur - Causes every monster within one square of you to become non-peaceful Reg - Tames every monster within one square of you, and will calm down angry shopkeepers within one square of you. Teleportation Cur - Teleports you randomly to a different level. Reg - Teleports you randomly on the level. Bls - Randomly teleports you on the level if you want to. * Determining your chances for successfully enchanting armor is fairly simple. Your chance for succeeding (and not causing the item to disintegrate due to over enchantment) is totally dependent upon the current bonus of the item. If the current bonus is three or less (five or less for elven mithril coats), you will always succeed. Otherwise, you have one chance out of whatever the current bonus of the item is. In other words, if the bonus is +4, you have a 1/4 or 25% chance of being successful. If the bonus is +8, you have a 1/8 or 12.5% chance of being successful. Thus, it is theoretically possible to enchant armor up to +maxint, but the laws of probability would not favor it! ** Chances for successfully enchanting weapons are far easier. Basically, you will always succeed if the weapon is at +5 or less. Once you're over that, you have a 2/3 chance of being successful each time, regardless of the bonus. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Confused Scroll Effects: All = cursed, regular, or blessed scroll Cur = cursed scroll (unless mentioned, same as non-confused) Reg = regular (uncursed) scroll (unless mentioned, same as non-confused) Bls = blessed scroll (unless mentioned, same as non-confused) Bld = messages given while blind Hal = messages given while hallucinating Amnesia Reg - Complete loss of map and spells. Bls - Complete loss of map, no loss of spells. Blank paper All - No effect. "You try to read the strange patterns on this scroll, but it disappears." Charging All - Puts energy points at max, or at 5-20 points above max if already at max (doesn't up the maximum, though). "You feel charged up." Confuse monster Reg - You become confused for 1 to 100 turns. "Your hands begin to glow purple." Bls - You become unconfused if confused. "A red glow surrounds your head." Bld - "Your hands begin to tingle." "A faint buzz surrounds your head." Create monster All - Creates 13 to 17 acid blobs. Destroy armor All - Picks a random armor you are wearing, and removes any rustproofing. "Your [armor name] glows purple." "Your bones itch." (if no armor is being worn) Enchant armor Cur - No effect. "Your [armor name] is covered by a mottled black glow." Reg - Rustproofs random armor you are wearing. "Your [armor name] is covered by a shimmering gold shield." "Your [shield name] is covered by a shimmering gold layer." Bld - "Your [armor name] feels warm for a moment." Enchant weapon Cur - Removes rust proofing on the weapon you are wielding. "Your [weapon name] is covered by a mottled purple glow." Reg - Rustproofs weapon you are wielding. "Your [weapon name] is covered by a shimmering gold shield." Bld - "Your weapon feels warm for a moment." Fire All - Does one hit point of damage (unless fire resistant). "The scroll catches fire and you burn your hands." "Oh, look, what a pretty fire in your hands." (if fire resistant) Bld - "You feal [sic] a pleasant warmth in your hands." (if fire resistant) Genocide Cur - Surrounds you with whatever you are (i.e. wizards). Reg - You genocide whatever you are. Gold detection All - As normal, but "gold" detected are actually traps. Identify All - No effect. "You identify the scroll as an identify scroll." Light All - Darkens room you are in. Magic mapping All - Creates an incorrect map of the level. "On this scroll was a map." Punishment All - No effect. "You feel guilty." Remove curse All - Will unlock iron balls. "You feel like you need some help." Hal - "You feel the power of the Force against you!" Scare monster All - Aggravates monsters when read. "You hear a sad wailing in the distance." "You hear a sad wailing close by." Taming Cur - Causes every monster within five squares of you to become non- peaceful. Reg - Tames every monster within five squares of you, and will calm down angry shopkeepers within five squares of you. Teleportation All - Teleports you to a different level. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Identifying Scrolls: Unfortunately, there aren't any easy ways to figure out what a scroll is. Short of using and identify scroll (or equivalent) or actually reading it, you can't tell what a scroll is. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Spellbooks: Name Prob Time Lvl Direct --------------------------------------- | cancellation | 12 | 8 | 7 | Y | | cause fear | 25 | 3 | 3 | N | | charm monster | 20 | 3 | 3 | Y | | clairvoyance | 15 | 3 | 3 | N | | cone of cold | 10 | 8 | 5 | RAY | | confuse monster | 37 | 2 | 2 | Y | | create familiar | 10 | 7 | 6 | N | | create monster | 37 | 3 | 2 | N | | cure blindness | 27 | 2 | 2 | Y | | cure sickness | 32 | 3 | 3 | N | | detect food | 37 | 3 | 2 | N | | detect monsters | 45 | 1 | 1 | N | | detect treasure | 25 | 5 | 4 | N | | detect unseen | 25 | 4 | 3 | N | | dig | 22 | 6 | 5 | RAY | | extra healing | 32 | 5 | 3 | N | | finger of death | 5 | 10 | 7 | RAY | | fireball | 20 | 6 | 4 | RAY | | force bolt | 40 | 2 | 1 | Y | | genocide | 5 | 10 | 7 | N | | haste self | 33 | 4 | 3 | N | | healing | 40 | 2 | 1 | N | | identify | 25 | 8 | 5 | N | | invisibility | 32 | 5 | 4 | N | | knock | 40 | 1 | 1 | Y | | levitation | 25 | 4 | 4 | N | | light | 45 | 1 | 1 | N | | magic mapping | 18 | 7 | 5 | N | | magic missile | 45 | 3 | 2 | RAY | | polymorph | 12 | 8 | 6 | Y | | remove curse | 25 | 5 | 5 | N | | restore ability | 25 | 5 | 4 | N | | sleep | 50 | 1 | 1 | RAY | | slow monster | 37 | 2 | 2 | Y | | teleport away | 15 | 6 | 6 | Y | | turn undead | 17 | 8 | 6 | Y | | wizard lock | 35 | 3 | 2 | Y | --------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tools: Name Desc Prob Wt Cost ------------------------------------------------- | bag of holding | bag | 20 | 3 | 100 | | bag of tricks | bag | 20 | 3 | 100 | | blindfold | | 55 | 2 | 20 | | bugle | | 6 | 3 | 15 | | chest | | 35 | 40 | 20 | | credit card | | 5 | 1 | 10 | | crystal ball | | 35 | 15 | 60 | | drum | | 4 | 4 | 25 | | drum of earthquake | drum | 2 | 4 | 25 | | expensive camera | | 5 | 3 | 200 | | figurine | | 35 | 5 | 80 | | fire horn | horn | 2 | 4 | 15 | | flute | | 6 | 3 | 12 | | frost horn | horn | 2 | 4 | 15 | | harp | | 4 | 10 | 50 | | horn | | 5 | 4 | 15 | | ice box | | 5 | 40 | 30 | | key | | 100 | 1 | 10 | | lamp | | 105 | 10 | 50 | | large box | | 40 | 40 | 20 | | leash | | 70 | 3 | 20 | | lock pick | | 55 | 2 | 20 | | magic flute | flute | 2 | 3 | 12 | | magic harp | harp | 2 | 10 | 50 | | magic lamp | lamp | 20 | 10 | 50 | | magic marker | | 15 | 1 | 50 | | magic whistle | whistle | 50 | 2 | 10 | | mirror | | 50 | 3 | 40 | | pick-axe | | 20 | 10 | 50 | | sack | bag | 40 | 3 | 20 | | skeleton key | key | 60 | 1 | 10 | | stethoscope | | 15 | 2 | 75 | | tinning kit | | 15 | 10 | 30 | | tin opener | | 25 | 1 | 30 | | whistle | | 120 | 2 | 10 | ------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tool Effects: Bag of holding - will hold many items, only adding part of their weight to your total pack weight. Blessing and cursing of bags of holding does not currently work correctly. Also, do not put a bag of holding, a bag of tricks, or a wand of cancellation into a bag of holding. Both items and contents will blow up. Bag of tricks - will allow you to create a monster whenever you activate it. Blindfold - makes you blind. Useful when you have telepathy. Bugle - will awaken soldiers on level. Useful for getting into castle. Chest - holds things, but is very heavy. Credit card - can be used to open locked doors. Crystal ball - can be used to detect things on level. Drum - awakens monsters; may scare them away. Drum of earthquake - will initiate an earthquake whose intensity depends on player level. That is, it creates random pits. Expensive camera - can be flashed at monsters to blind them. Can also blind self (useful if you don't have a blindfold). Figurine - when activated will provide a tame pet of the same type as the figurine. Fire horn - when played will act as a wand of fire; a ray of flame shoots out in desired direction. Flute - may calm snakes if player has enough dexterity. Can also be used to get into the castle. Frost horn - when played will act as a wand of cold; a ray of cold shoots out in desired direction. Harp - may calm nymph if player has enough dexterity. Can also be used to Horn - will awaken monsters; range depends on player level. May also scare monsters. Ice box - will prevent monster corpses from spoiling if they are promptly placed within the ice box. Key - differently shaped keys will open differently shaped locks. Lamp - will light up a room when activated. Large box - holds things, but is very heavy. Leash - will keep your pet with you, even if you fall through a trapdoor, teleport, etc. However, your pet tends to get in your way more. Lock pick - used to open locked doors and chests. Magic flute - may put monsters to sleep; area of effect depends on player level. Magic harp - charms monsters; area of effect depends on player level. Magic lamp - if rubbed, a djinni will appear. Djinnis from blessed lamps will always give wishes; from normal lamps may give a wish (random); from cursed lamps they will never give a wish. May be recharged once with a blessed scroll of charging. Magic marker - useful for writing graffiti on dungeon floors. Also can be used to write spells on blank scrolls. Magic whistle - will teleport all of your pets on the level to the same room as you. Mirror - can scare some monsters. Also useful for reflecting gaze attacks. Can be used in conjunction with blindfold to determine relative position of medusa or Wizard of Yendor. Pick-axe - can be used to dig through walls. Also useful as a weapon. Sack - will hold items, freeing inventory space. Skeleton key - will open any locked door or chest. Stethescope - will tell you stats on creature applied to (HP, level, AC, gold, etc.). Tinning kit - allows you to tin monster corpses to take with you. Heavy. Tin opener - allows you to open tins easier. Whistle - when blown, your pets will start heading in your direction. Other monsters may do likewise, though. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Identifying Tools: Once again, make sure that the item is not cursed before playing around with it. Most tools are fairly obvious as to their function. For instance, a blindfold is always a blindfold, with no other magical properties. Certain items (horns, for instance) will have more than one type that appear the same though. Here's how you can figure out what they are: Bags - first of all, drop the bag on the ground and #loot it. If you feel something furry, it's a bag of tricks. Otherwise, load up until you can't carry anything more. Then dump some stuff into the bag (by applying it). If you can then pick up more, it's a bag of holding. Drums - activate the drum. If it's a drum of earthquake, you'll know it immediately from the pits opening up around you. Flutes - try playing the flute when you have several monsters around you. If they go to sleep, it's a magical flute. Harps - try playing the harp when you have several monsters around you. If they become charmed (tame), you have a magic harp. Horns - activate the horn, tell it to improvise, and give it a direction (if it asks). You'll immediately notice the effect if it's magical. Keys - try a key on various locks. If it appears to open all of them, it's probably a skeleton key. (Note, however, that a credit card works just as well, and is lighter.) Lamps - try activating the lamp. If it has no oil, it's a magic lamp. Whistles - try blowing it. If it produces a high whistle, it's normal. A wierd whistling will be a magic whistle. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wands: Name Prob Cost Direct. ------------------------------------------ | cancellation | 45 | 200 | Y | | create monster | 45 | 200 | N | | cold | 40 | 175 | RAY | | death | 5 | 500 | RAY | | digging | 55 | 150 | RAY | | fire | 40 | 175 | RAY | | light | 95 | 100 | N | | lightning | 40 | 175 | RAY | | locking | 40 | 150 | Y | | magic missile | 50 | 150 | RAY | | make invisible | 45 | 150 | Y | | nothing | 25 | 100 | Y | | opening | 40 | 150 | Y | | polymorph | 45 | 200 | Y | | probing | 30 | 150 | Y | | secret door detection | 50 | 150 | N | | sleep | 50 | 175 | RAY | | slow monster | 55 | 150 | Y | | speed monster | 55 | 150 | Y | | striking | 75 | 150 | Y | | teleportation | 45 | 200 | Y | | undead turning | 55 | 150 | Y | | wishing | 5 | 500 | N | ------------------------------------------ ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wand Effects: Reg = regular use of wand Eng = when used to engrave Cur = nothing different, but makes chance for explosion slightly higher. Cancellation Reg - Destroys magical abilities of the monster(s) or item(s) aimed at. demons- cancels ability to summon other demons leprechauns - cancels teleport ability nymphs- cancels magical allure wraiths - cancels level drain Cold Reg - Does heavy damage along a line. Will also freeze over pools of water or sections of the moat on the castle level. Eng - "A few ice cubes drop off your wand." Create monster Reg - Creates a monster right next to you. Eng - Creates a monster right next to you. Death Reg - If it hits, it kills all living things automatically. Eng - "The bugs on the ground stop moving." Digging Reg - Produces new corridor sections. Can be used to dig out of creatures that engulf you. Eng - Identifies the wand. "Gravel flies up from the floor." Fire Reg - Does heavy damage to all creatures along line. Will also evaporate pools of water or sections of the moat on the castle level. Eng - Identifies the wand. "Flames fly from the wand." Light Eng - Lights up the room. Reg - Will light up a dark room. Lightning Reg - Again, heavy damage in a line, may blind you if you get hit. Eng - Identifies the wand, and blinds you. "Lightning arcs from the wand. You are blinded by the flash." Magic missile Reg - Lower damage along a line, but still effective. Eng - "The ground is riddled by bullet holes." Make invisible Reg - Makes monsters permanently invisible. Eng - The engraving vanishes. Polymorph Reg - Will polymorph monster or item(s) aimed at into something else. Probing Reg - Gives stats (hp, hp max., gold) on the monster aimed at. Secret door detection Reg - Discovers all secret doors in room, or in sight if in a corridor. Will also detect hidden monsters in the room (i.e. mimics). Sleep Reg - Causes monsters to go to sleep. (Some monsters get saving throw.) Eng - "The bugs on the ground stop moving." Slow monster Reg - Monster aimed at moves at half normal speed. Eng - "The bugs on the ground slow down." Speed monster Reg - Monster aimed at moves at twice normal speed. Eng - "The bugs on the ground speed up." Striking Reg - Hits the first monster in the direction you aim it. A wand of striking may also be used to destroy boulders, statues, or the drawbridge on the castle level. Eng - "The wand unsuccessfully fights your attempt to write." Teleport away Reg - Monster (or item) aimed at is teleported elsewhere on level. Undead turning Reg - Causes undead creatures (zombies, skeletons, etc.) to run away. Raises corpses from the dead. Note: Many of these wands can be useful to zap yourself with (i.e. make invisible, speed monster). ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Identifying Wands: When identifying a wand, I generally start by engraving anything (usually I use 'xxxxx') on a spot with my fingers (use the '-' key when asked what to engrave with). Next, I try to engrave with the wand. The reason that I engrave something else first is simple: a wand of polymorph will change the writing to something else, thus identifying it. Also, a wand of cancellation or make invisible will make any writing already on the spot disappear. A wand of teleport will teleport the writing to another spot on the level. Barring these four wand types, many wands will be either be immediately identified upon trying to engrave (for instance, a wand of light will light up the room or a wand wishing will give you a wish), and failing that, you can often figure out what the wand is based upon the message that you're given (see WAND EFFECTS above for effects that occur when engraving). If engraving doesn't identify the wand, find a handy monster to zap the wand at (not your pet - they're not invincible). Make sure you're standing on a diagonal from the monster, so the wand won't bounce back at you. Now, zap the wand and see what happens. You'll often be able to immediately figure out what happened. (A brief note here: be careful not to mistake make invisible for teleport - just because the monster disappears doesn't mean it's not still there!) If you still can't figure out what it is, try zapping it when you're near where you think a secret door is (to check for secret door detection) if it's non-directional, or zap it at a doorway (to check for opening or locking) if it's directional. Failing all of these tests usually means it's a wand of nothing. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Weapons: For information about how to compute hit probabilities and possible damage for each listed weapon, see the two sections on HIT PROBABILITY and DAMAGE. Damage vs. Name Description Prob Wt Cost Small Large ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | aklys | thonged club | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1-06 | 1-03 | | arrow | | 37 | 0 | 2 | 1-06 | 1-06 | | athame | | 0 | 2 | 4 | 1-04 | 1-03 | | axe | | 50 | 3 | 8 | 1-06 | 1-04 | | bardiche | long poleaxe | 8 | 3 | 7 | 2-08 | 3-12 | | bec de corbin | beaked polearm | 8 | 3 | 8 | 1-08 | 1-06 | | bill-guisarme | hooked polearm | 8 | 3 | 7 | 2-08 | 1-10 | | boomerang | | 15 | 3 | 20 | 1-09 | 1-09 | | bow | | 24 | 3 | 120 | 1-30 | 1-06 | | bullwhip | | 5 | 2 | 4 | 1-02 | 1-01 | | broadsword | wide sword | 8 | 4 | 10 | 2-08 | 2-07 | | club | | 10 | 3 | 4 | 1-06 | 1-03 | | crossbow | | 45 | 3 | 40 | 1-35 | 1-06 | | crossbow bolt | | 60 | 0 | 2 | 2-05 | 2-07 | | crysknife | | 0 | 3 | 100 | 1-10 | 1-10 | | dagger | | 25 | 2 | 4 | 1-04 | 1-03 | | dart | | 60 | 0 | 2 | 1-03 | 1-02 | | dwarvish mattock | huge shiny sword | 15 | 6 | 50 | 1-12 | 3-20 | | dwarvish short sword | short shiny sword | 2 | 3 | 10 | 1-07 | 1-08 | | dwarvish spear | shiny spear | 12 | 3 | 5 | 1-08 | 1-08 | | elven arrow | runed arrow | 10 | 0 | 2 | 1-07 | 1-06 | | elven bow | runed bow | 12 | 3 | 120 | 1-35 | 1-06 | | elven broadsword | wide runed sword | 4 | 4 | 10 | 2-10 | 2-07 | | elven dagger | large runed knife | 8 | 2 | 4 | 1-05 | 1-03 | | elven short sword | short runed sword | 2 | 3 | 10 | 1-08 | 1-08 | | elven spear | runed spear | 10 | 3 | 5 | 1-07 | 1-08 | | fauchard | pole sickle | 11 | 3 | 5 | 1-06 | 1-08 | | flail | | 40 | 3 | 4 | 2-07 | 2-08 | | glaive | single-edged polearm | 15 | 3 | 6 | 1-06 | 1-10 | | guisarme | pruning hook | 11 | 3 | 5 | 1-04 | 1-08 | | halberd | angled poleaxe | 16 | 3 | 10 | 1-10 | 2-12 | | javelin | throwing spear | 10 | 3 | 5 | 1-06 | 1-06 | | katana | samurai sword | 6 | 4 | 100 | 1-10 | 1-12 | | knife | | 25 | 2 | 4 | 1-03 | 1-03 | | lance | | 8 | 4 | 10 | 1-06 | 1-08 | | long sword | | 60 | 4 | 15 | 1-08 | 1-12 | | lucern hammer | pronged polearm | 10 | 3 | 7 | 2-08 | 1-06 | | mace | | 40 | 4 | 8 | 2-07 | 1-06 | | morning star | | 12 | 4 | 10 | 2-08 | 2-07 | | orcish arrow | black arrow | 11 | 0 | 2 | 1-05 | 1-06 | | orcish bow | black bow | 12 | 3 | 120 | 1-25 | 1-06 | | orcish dagger | large black knife | 10 | 2 | 4 | 1-03 | 1-03 | | orcish short sword | short black sword | 3 | 3 | 10 | 1-05 | 1-08 | | orcish spear | black spear | 13 | 3 | 5 | 1-05 | 1-08 | | partisan | vulgar polearm | 10 | 3 | 10 | 1-06 | 2-07 | | quarterstaff | staff | 10 | 3 | 8 | 1-06 | 1-06 | | ranseur | hilted polearm | 10 | 3 | 6 | 2-08 | 2-08 | | rubber hose | | 0 | 2 | 4 | 1-06 | 1-03 | | scalpel | | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1-04 | 1-03 | | scimitar | curved sword | 6 | 4 | 15 | 1-08 | 1-08 | | spear | | 55 | 3 | 5 | 1-06 | 1-08 | | short sword | | 6 | 3 | 10 | 1-06 | 1-08 | | shuriken | throwing star | 30 | 0 | 5 | 1-08 | 1-06 | | silver arrow | | 8 | 0 | 2 | 1-06 | 1-06 | | sling | | 40 | 2 | 20 | 1-04 | 1-06 | | spetum | forked polearm | 10 | 3 | 5 | 2-07 | 2-12 | | trident | | 8 | 4 | 15 | 2-07 | 3-12 | | two-handed sword | | 40 | 5 | 50 | 1-12 | 3-18 | | voulge | pole cleaver | 8 | 3 | 5 | 2-08 | 2-08 | | war hammer | | 15 | 3 | 5 | 2-05 | 1-04 | | worm tooth | | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1-02 | 1-02 | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Artifacts: Artifacts, also known as named weapons, are the most powerful weapons in the game. They can be wished for, granted by your god, and some of them can a longsword in a fountain (see FOUNTAIN EFFECTS), and Sting or Orcrist can be obtained by naming the appropriate weapons. Polymorphing a regular weapon into an artifact is no longer possible. Artifacts may also have special features. These special features are explained below. Finally, all artifacts have an alignment. This affects your chances of getting a given weapon from your deity (i.e. a lawful god will not bestow a neutral weapon). Certain weapons will have a monster listed under the what column. If so, the artifact's bonuses are only gained against that type of monster. Against other creatures the artifact fights as a regular weapon of its type. For more information on how to compute hit probabilities, how much damage an artifact does, and what the relative hit and damage bonuses are, see the sections on HIT PROBABILITY and DAMAGE. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | | | | Name | Weapon type Special | What |Al |---------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Cleaver | Axe 3 | 1 | 2 | | | C | | Demonbane | Long sword | 5 | x2 | | demons | L | | Dragonbane | Broadsword | 5 | x2 | | dragon | N | | Excalibur | Long sword | 5 | 10 | seek, def., search| | L | | Fire brand | Long sword | 5 | x2 | defend, fire | | N | | Frost brand | Long sword | 5 | x2 | defend, cold | | N | | Giantslayer | Long sword | 5 | x2 | | giants | N | | Grimtooth | Orcish dagger | 2 | 6 | | | C | | Mjollnir | War hammer | 5 | 24 | shock | | L | | Ogresmasher | War hammer | 5 | x2 | | ogres | L | | Orcrist | Two handed sword | 5 | x2 | | orcs | L | | Snickersnee | Katana | 0 | 8 | | | L | | Sunsword | Long sword | 5 | x2 | | undead | L | | Sting | Elven dagger | 5 | x2 | warn | orcs | L | | Stormbringer | Broadsword | 5 | 2 | defend, drain lvl | | C | | Trollsbane | Morning star | 5 | x2 | | trolls | L | | Werebane | Long sword | 5 | x2 | | weres | L | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- These are the special abilities: cold - The extra damage done is cold damage, and as a result will not affect cold resistant creatures. defend - This will defend you against whatever special attack type the artifact has. Excalibur and Stormbringer defend against level draining attacks (even though Excalibur can't drain levels itself), Frost brand defends against cold cold based attacks (i.e. gives cold resistance), and Fire brand defends against fire based attacks (i.e. gives fire resistance). drain level - This will drain a level from the creature attacking, effectively making it less powerful as well as removing eight hp from it. fire - The extra damage done is fire damage, and as a result will not affect fire resistant creatures. search - Will aid you in searching, much as a ring of searching. seek - This should (eventually) "aid you in seeking objects." Currently, this ability is unimplemented. shock - The extra damage done is electrical damage, and as a result will not affect shock resistant creatures. warn - Will warn you when more monsters more powerful than you are around, much as a ring of warning. Also, note that Excalibur, if gained via dipping in a fountain or via becoming the Hand of Elbereth, will be rust proof. Stormbringer, if gained via becoming the Hand of Elbereth will also be rust proof. Stormbringer and Excalibur, if gained via other means (including wishing), as well as all other named weapons, are not rust proof unless they are rust proofed by a player character (i.e. you rust proof it yourself or find it on a bones level, and the previous owner had rust proofed it). ---------------------------------------------------------- | Appendices | ---------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nethack Abuse: This section details several scenarios that most experienced players would term "Nethack Abuse." They generally involve characters with specific items and specific methods for quickly going up levels or gaining many items. For previous versions of nethack this section would have been much larger, but the dev team has (quite intelligently) removed many of the more blatant methods of abuse (such as polypiling for wands of wishing). Scenario 1: Sinks can be a wonderful means to gain levels, items of all sorts, and intrinsics. This is all possible because a sink, when kicked, will often disgorge a black pudding, and black puddings divide when attacked. This means that with just a few extra props you can quickly gain all the aforementioned items. First of all, you'll need some way of protecting yourself from the puddings. This is best accomplished by a scroll of scare monster or engraving Elbereth on the ground (either use something that will make a permanent inscription or have a means of levitating over the engraving, because you'll scuff it out otherwise). Do this on a spot adjacent to the sink. Next, find a room with a sink in it. You'll need to carefully prepare this room for your upcoming fun. Shut (and lock if possible) all the doors into the room. If any of the exits don't have doors, engrave Elbereth in the doorway to prevent other monsters from bothering you. Also, make sure your pet is out of the room, and stays out (it'll probably get killed otherwise). Try dropping something cursed in any open doorways. That'll keep it out. Now, go back to the spot that you've prepared next to the sink and kick the sink until it disgorges a black pudding. When the black pudding gets close, hit it. It'll probably divide. Keep hitting the black puddings - you'll often divide them, eventually kill them, and when you run out, kick the sink a few more times until you get another one. Eat the fresh black pudding corpses to gain intrinsics, pick up the stuff that they leave lying around, and soak up those experience points for killing them. Of course, all of this is sweetened immensely if you happen to have an altar nearby. Keep sacrificing the black pudding corpses and you'll get all sorts of wonderful things! Scenario 2: (This isn't really a major "abuse" type, as it does fall under the planned scope of the game, but nevertheless...) Ever found a wand of polymorph and wondered what it's useful for? Many people find one useful for polymorphing ;pets into something nasty, or for polymorphing themselves and hoping to turn into something powerful, but one thing that a lot of people don't know is that you can aim a wand of polymorph at an item or pile of items, or even up to five piles of items lined up in a row, and it will polymorph every item in all the piles. Thus, if you need a particular item, this can be a way to get it - just create it yourself via polymorphing! When polypiling (as the resident nethackers term it), it is important to remember a few things. First of all, all items will remain within the same object class when polymorphed. Thus, a weapon become a different weapon after being polymorphed, a ring will become a ring, a scroll will become a scroll, etc. There are two exceptions to this rule. The first is that a unicorn horn or a worm tooth will become a weapon when polymorphed. The second is that a dragon corpse will become dragon scale mail of that type of dragon when polymorphed. The next thing to remember is that items will retain charges, blessing/curses, bonuses, etc., when polymorphed. Thus, a wand will still have the same number of charges after it's polymorphed, a sword will still have the same blessing/curse after being polymorphed, and will still be plus or minus whatever it was before. Thus, it's a good plan to remove all the curses on items (along with any minuses on weapons) before polypiling. This can be accomplished by zapping a wand of cancellation at the item(s). Just be careful, though, because this will also remove blessings and bonuses that the weapon might have, which you might want to keep. The final rule to remember is that certain "polypile abuses" which used to be quite common no longer work. You can no longer polymorph a wand into a wand of wishing, and you can no longer polymorph a tool into a magic lamp. Thus, you can't gain (basically) infinite wishes. Also, it is no longer possible to gain named weapons (artifacts) via polypiling. Oh, one of the nice things to remember about poly-piling is that corpses will always be turned into a regular type of food, that is not spoiled. So, if you kill off a large room full of monsters, pile up the corpses and zap them all with the wand of polymorph. You'll end up with a pile of food rations, melons, candy bars, slime molds, and the like, which won't spoil, unlike the corpses. This can also be a handy trick to get tins of spinach. Scenario 3: Another classical form of nethack abuse is known as the "Troll Dance of Death." It is named this because of the fact that trolls have the uncanny ability to come back from the dead if the corpse is not disposed of. However, no matter how many times a troll dies, you always get experience points for killing him, and there's always a chance that he'll be carrying something when he dies, even if he wasn't the last time you killed him. Thus, once you have a fairly powerful character, if you want to gain experience points and possibility quite a few good items, find a troll and engage him in the dance of death. Kill him, then pick up anything good you might find on the corpse. Wait for a bit (whilst regaining hit points) until he raises from the dead, and then kill him again. You can keep this up basically indefinitely, and the only precautions you might want to take are to prevent other creatures from entering the room where you're having fun. This can be easily accomplished by engraving Elbereth in the doorways. Have fun! ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Expected In Version 3.1: Many people have wondered about the fabled version 3.1 of Nethack. This new version has been in the works by the nethack "Dev Team" for a period of more than a year now, and it is still hush-hush, with no release date(s) given or projected. We have, however, managed to glean a few pieces of information about version 3.1 of nethack, and have included them here for you. STOP DROOLING! All right then... On to the details: Messages will be more verbose when you are using artifacts. For instance, Stormbringer currently tells you "The black blade drains life from the (insert poor hapless creature's name here)." Fire brand, for instance, might say "The fiery blade burns the (monster)," or, if the monster was immune, "The (monster) seems not to be affected by the flame of your blade." The bug that has been running around for quite some time now which allows bags of holding to hold basically limitless quantities of stuff (by playing with the blessed/cursed status of the bag) will be fixed. Thus, some of the scores that were being obtained by dilithium crystaldiving will be much more difficult to get, because the amount of dilithium you can carry out of the dungeon will be severely limited. The entire vision and display system of nethack has been re-written. Among other things, this will fix the annoying problem of teleported stuff not showing up on your screen or creating blank spots randomly scattered around the screen. Question: Will this mean that nethack will now have an improved line of sight algorithm, similar to the one currently being used in Moria? New ranged effects have been added. This will allow, for instance, fireballs to go until they hit a monster and then explode in a radius around that monster, instead of just going in a line like they currently do. It is also rumored that various other cloud type effects will be included. There will supposedly be several new special levels and/or rooms, although no details as to what exactly these will be are available. Also, nethack's level handling capabilities have been re-written so that it will now be very easy for the Dev Team (and others!) to add in new special levels or new special rooms. It is rumored that some "Nethack Abuses" have been made impossible. Specifically, paralyzing the Wizard of Yendor and taking advantage of kicking sinks have supposedly been fixed or limited.