A Practical Guide to Nethack: The Whole Dungeon Catalog: Tools Version 2 by R2 Last updated 9-24-07 ========================================================================== ========================================================================== Contents Section I: About This Guide Section II: Tools List Section III: EoD/Copyright Notice ========================================================================== ========================================================================== Section I: About This Guide So you're going into the Dungeons of Doom to retrieve the Amulet of Yendor. Good for you! But you're going to need more than a sharp blade and your wits to get through this hellhole -- make sure you have the right tools for the job. This guide assumes you're already familiar with Nethack, and was written for NetHack 3.4 for Windows. If you're hardcore enough to use Unix, you're probably hardcore enough to figure out what, from this guide, applies to you and what does not. In this guide, when I'm talking about specific commands, I'll wrap the keystrokes in square brackets. For instance, [e] means to press the "e" key (to eat an item). [E] means to hold Shift and press the "e" key, just like you were typing a capital letter. There are some long commands that are preceded by pound signs in the game, and will be transcribed as such. If I say to #offer something, that means to sacrifice a corpse at an altar. If I say to offer a tripe ration to a hostile dog, that doesn't involve the #offer command. ========================================================================== ========================================================================== Section II: Tools List Tools are helpful to the adventurer, allowing them to approach situations a little more delicately than they would with just a weapon in hand. Tools are usually [a]pplied to do their jobs, but some have other commands that can be used as well. Some tools have a specific appearance before they're identified. If this is the case, the name of the item before it's identified appears in the "Appearance" section of its description. Tools are not separated in your inventory, but they are organized into categories in this list for convenience. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tools: Containers Containers are for storing things in. When [a]pplied in your inventory or #looted from the ground, you may put things inside or take things out. It's often helpful to have a container with you to hold your stuff, if just to keep your inventory from getting overcrowded. There's no limit to the number of items you can keep in a container, but you can only keep 52 items in the knapsack on your person. A creature that steals items cannot steal items carried in a container. I'm not sure if it's possible for such a monster to steal the container itself; it's never happened to me, but I don't know for sure. If kicked, thrown, #forced with weapons that smash the lock off, or dropped from a height, fragile items inside any container but a Bag of Holding have a chance of breaking. Fragile items include potions, mirrors, eggs, anything made of glass, and more. This destroys the item and leaves no trace of what it was that broke. The four bags must be identified before you can tell which is which; but the identities of other containers are obvious. Sack Appearance: Bag Lightweight and easy to haul around, the sack is a fine choice of portable container. A sack isn't waterproof, but if you [a]pply a can of grease to it, that will create a temporary waterproof coating. Oilskin Sack Appearance: Bag Exactly like a sack, but it's automatically waterproof unless it's cursed, which gives a 1/3 chance that the contents inside can get water damage anyway. Bag of Holding Appearance: Bag By the time you get to the end of the game, you WILL NEED a blessed Bag of Holding. No exceptions. A Bag of Holding itself weighs as much as a regular Sack (which isn't much), but when uncursed, the items inside have their weight halved. If the Bag is blessed, the weight of items inside is only 1/4 what they would be outside the bag! The tricky part is keeping your Bag from getting cursed (by a lich or the Wizard of Yendor), because cursed Bags double the weight of their contents and may destroy the items you put inside. The extradimensional space inside a Bag of Holding isn't 100% stable. If you put a Wand of Cancellation, a Bag of Tricks, or another Bag of Holding inside, the Bag will be destroyed and all its contents lost forever. Bag of Tricks Appearance: Bag When #looted, the mouth of this bag will bite your hand for up to 10 damage. If [a]pplied, the Bag will expend one charge to create a random monster. Bags of Tricks are created with up to 20 charges and may be recharged with a Scroll of Charging, if you really want to spend such a precious item on such a lousy one. Large Box You'll often find large boxes of goods in the dungeon, but they're often too heavy to carry around yourself. If a box is locked, [a]pply an unlocking tool or #force the lock to open it. You can [k]ick a box open, but that will probably break any fragile items inside, like potions, as above. Chest Even heavier than the large box, it's possible but not easy to haul a chest around with you. Ice Box Corpses placed inside this chill chest won't age; the cold preserves them and keeps them ready to eat. It's woefully heavy, however, and stashing corpses inside only makes it heavier. It's generally better to keep a stash of Food, C-, or K-Rations as a food source and use a tinning kit to preserve any intrinsic-granting corpses you find. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tools: Unlocking Tools Unlocking tools may be [a]pplied to locked doors, boxes, and chests to unlock them, hence the name. This is universally easier than #forcing the lock open and usually easier than [k]icking the object open. Unlocking is easier for characters with high Dexterity, and easier still for Rogues. The Lock Pick and Skeleton Key are both capable of locking doors, boxes, and chests, assuming the lock wasn't #forced open (and therefore broken) to begin with. Credit Card Despite the name, the credit card is absolutely useless in shops and you don't need it to get credit with a shopkeeper. It's only useful to jimmy open locks, but it takes some finesse to pull off and tends to take several turns. Lock Pick A little easier to use than the credit card, but still takes several rounds to work, especially for non-Rogues with low Dexterity. Skeleton Key Appearance: Key Use of a key virtually guarantees you'll open the lock within a turn or two, regardless of Dexterity or Rogueishness. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tools: Light Sources Light sources will amplify the range at which you can see the surrounding dungeon terrain out to three spaces (from the usual one). There are plenty of dark areas in the Dungeons of Doom, so carrying a light source is a fine idea. If you're engulfed or fall into the water, your light source will go out and will need to be lit again when you get out. Cursed light sources don't always light properly when [a]pplied. Tallow Candle Appearance: Candle Tallow candles will provide light for 200 turns before burning out. Wax Candle Appearance: Candle Wax is a little slower to burn than tallow, so a wax candle will provide light for up to 400 turns. Brass Lantern Lanterns are a little less likely to go out in adverse circumstances, but will still burn all their fuel after 1000 to 1500 turns. Oil Lamp Appearance: Lamp The oil lamp will provide light for 1000 to 1500 turns, then go out. It may be recharged with a Scroll of Charging; if the scroll is blessed, then the lamp will burn for 1500 more turns, if uncursed, the lamp will burn for 750 more. A lamp can also be #dipped into Potion of Oil to charge it -- just make sure the potion and lamp are unlit, or the oil will explode and deal 6-36 damage to you. Magic Lamp Appearance: Lamp The magic lamp will provide light forever and ever -- the magic powering the lamp will keep it lit for an infinite number of turns. Furthermore, if you #rub a Magic Lamp, there's a 1 in 3 chance a djinni will appear! If a djinni doesn't appear, just try again. A djinni that appears from a lamp has five reactions: he can grant you a wish, accompany you as a pet, wander around the dungeon peacefully, vanish, or attack you. There's an equal chance of each if the lamp was uncursed when you #rubbed it; there's an 80% chance you get a wish if the lamp was blessed and an 80% chance it attacks if the lamp was cursed. Therefore, magic lamps are great as a light source until you can get your hands on some Holy Water to bless them and get a wish. After a djinni appears from the lamp, it turns into a regular oil lamp. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tools: Instruments There are usually two items for each kind of instrument: a normal, everyday music-making device, and a magic item. The exceptions are the bugle (which doesn't have a magical counterpart) and the horn (which has four). Tin Whistle Appearance: Whistle Blowing a whistle will wake up nearby sleeping monsters. If you have a pet, it will start meandering in your general direction. You can blow a whistle to identify it: tin whistles make a "high" sound if uncursed, a "shrill" sound if cursed. Magic Whistle Appearance: Whistle Blowing a magic whistle will teleport your pets to your side. If cursed, it will act like a normal tin whistle half the time. You can blow a whistle to identify it: magic whistles make a "strange" sound if uncursed, a "high-pitched humming" if cursed. Bugle When you [a]pply a bugle, you'll be asked whether you want to improvise. If you say yes, you'll just awaken nearby monsters and make any soldiers nearby hostile. If you say no, you'll be prompted to enter a string of notes you want to play; this is used to open the drawbridge at the Castle. Wooden Flute Appearance: Flute When you [a]pply a flute, you'll be asked whether you want to improvise. If you say yes, you'll just make a noise that has a chance to make nearby S creatures peaceful, if your Dexterity and experience level are high enough. If you say no, you'll be prompted to enter a string of notes you want to play; this is used to open the drawbridge at the Castle. Magic Flute Appearance: Flute When you [a]pply a flute, you'll be asked whether you want to improvise. If you say yes, you'll just put nearby creatures to sleep. If you say no, you'll be prompted to enter a string of notes you want to play; this is used to open the drawbridge at the Castle. Tooled Horn Appearance: Horn When you [a]pply a horn, you'll be asked whether you want to improvise. If you say yes, you'll just make a noise that will awaken and scare nearby creatures. If you say no, you'll be prompted to enter a string of notes you want to play; this is used to open the drawbridge at the Castle. Frost Horn Appearance: Horn When you [a]pply a horn, you'll be asked whether you want to improvise. If you say yes, the effect is the same as if you had [z]apped a Wand of Cold. If you say no, you'll be prompted to enter a string of notes you want to play; this is used to open the drawbridge at the Castle. Fire Horn Appearance: Horn When you [a]pply a horn, you'll be asked whether you want to improvise. If you say yes, the effect is the same as if you had [z]apped a Wand of Fire. If you say no, you'll be prompted to enter a string of notes you want to play; this is used to open the drawbridge at the Castle. Horn of Plenty Appearance: Horn This horn makes no sound whatsoever. When you [a]pply the Horn, you pull a random food item out of it. You might get a potion of Water, Fruit Juice, Booze, Acid, Sickness, or Oil instead. The Horn of Plenty is usually created with up to 20 charges. Creating a food item takes one charge from the Horn. A Scroll of Charging will add more charges, up to 50 total. Leather Drum Appearance: Drum This will awaken nearby sleeping monsters and scare monsters away from you. While it's hard on your Wisdom stat, it's good for crowd control. Drum of Earthquakes Appearance: Drum When you beat the Drum of Earthquakes, the whole dungeon shakes! Every sleeping creature on the same dungeon level is awakened, and you scare every creature on the same level as you, too. Nearby peaceful creatures will become hostile (and scared), and you open several yawning pits in the floor around you. A Drum of Earthquakes is created with 4-8 charges. Pounding the Drum takes one charge. A Scroll of Charging may be used to recharge the Drum, up to a maximum of 20 charges. Wooden Harp Appearance: Harp When you [a]pply a harp, you'll be asked whether you want to improvise. If you say yes, you'll just make a noise that has a chance to make nearby nymphs peaceful, if your Dexterity and experience level are high enough. If you say no, you'll be prompted to enter a string of notes you want to play; this is used to open the drawbridge at the Castle. Magic Harp Appearance: Harp When you [a]pply a harp, you'll be asked whether you want to improvise. If you say yes, you'll just make a noise that has a chance to tame nearby creatures. Play it in a crowd to get lots of new pets! If you say no, you'll be prompted to enter a string of notes you want to play; this is used to open the drawbridge at the Castle. Bell If uncursed, the effect of [a]pplying a bell is the same as blowing a tin whistle. But if it's cursed, you might summon a nymph as well! The nymph has a further chance of having her speed increased, or paralyzing you with her entrance. Bell of Opening Appearance: Silver Bell The Bell of Opening is one of the Artifacts you need to open the way to Moloch's Sanctum. But it's created with a few charges you can use for your own devices, as well. If the Bell has no charges, it acts like a normal bell. Even if it has charges, it still makes a sound and will therefore wake creatures. Ringing the Bell will force a monster that has swallowed you to spit you out, as long as it has charges and isn't cursed. If the Bell is uncursed, it will reveal invisible creatures, mimics, secret doors, and traps. If blessed, it will automatically unlock and open all containers, doors, and drawbridges in your visual range, reveal invisible creatures and traps, and unpunish you. If cursed, it summons hostile undead! -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tools: Traps If you manage to #untrap a bear trap or land mine, it turns into an item you can pick up and take with you. You may then [a]pply the item to plant the trap at the place you're standing. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Tools: Miscellaneous Pick-Axe You may [a]pply a pick-axe or dwarvish mattock to a section of wall, door, or boulder to destroy it. If you aim downwards with [>], you'll first dig a pit, then make a hole. The game classifies a pick-axe as a tool, not a weapon. (Even though the virtually-identical dwarvish mattock is a weapon, not a tool. Weird.) Grappling Hook A grappling hook may be [a]pplied to retrieve an object at a distance or hook onto a monster (and drag it towards you if it's smaller than you). But you might also hit yourself! If your skill level in Flail is Unskilled or Basic, the result is random. You'll be asked what the desired result is if you are at least Skilled; the requested action has a 50% chance of working if you are only Skilled, 95% if you're Expert. Unicorn Horn The Unicorn Horn is a powerful healing tool. If it's not cursed, you may [a]pply it to remove several bad status effects from yourself. You can also stab things with it by [w]ielding it as a weapon. Expensive Camera Created with 30 to 99 charges. [a]pplying this to a monster will blind it with the powerful flash. If the item is cursed, you might blind yourself, too. Mirror Appearance: Looking glass If [a]pplied at a monster, you can turn its gaze attack back onto itself; particularly helpful against floating eyes, umber hulks, or Medusa. Vampires cast no reflection; nymphs and succubi will steal the mirror from you. Otherwise, you'll have a four out of five chance to scare any nonhumanoid monster you [a]pply it to -- assuming the monster can see itself (i.e. that it isn't blind and, if invisible, can see invisible). If you break a mirror, you lose 2 points of luck. Crystal Ball Appearance: Glass Orb Scrying by crystal ball takes several turns, but it can be a lifesaver! Crystal balls may be [a]pplied to look for other things in the dungeon. You're asked what symbol you'd like to scry for; this can be any symbol that stands for a creature (like @ or o or D), a piece of treasure ($ or = or !), or some other dungeon features like traps and portals (^). Crystal balls are more likely to work properly if your Intelligence is high; they have an X in 20 chance of working, where X is your character's Intelligence. If they don't work (or are cursed), either nothing will happen; you get confused, blinded, or hallucinate; or the ball explodes! If a crystal ball is simply out of charges, nothing happens when you peer into it. Lenses A rare item, a pair of spectacles will protect you from the blinding attacks of ravens, cobras, and cream pies. They also make it easier to learn spells from spellbooks or [s]earch for objects around you. Blindfold When [a]pplied, your character is blind (this can be beneficial, for instance, to start using your telepathy intrinsic). If the blindfold is cursed, it won't come off! Towel The towel is such a useful item, you'll always want to know where yours is. It can be [a]pplied to wipe grease off your hands or blinding gunk off your face. It can also be [p]ut on to blind you like a blindfold. You can wipe away some [E]ngravings with it. And while there's no appreciable in-game effect, it's probably helpful to dry off with. Cursed towels cannot be [R]emoved and might give you greasy hands or gunk in your eyes when [a]pplied. Saddle When [a]pplied to a tame creature that's capable of bearing a rider, the saddle allows you to ride the creature. Horses are typical steeds, but dragons and ki-rin make great mounts if you can manage to tame them. u , q, D, and J creatures; ki-rin; and couatls may be saddled and #ridden. To take a saddle off of a creature that's wearing one, stand next to the creature in question and use the #loot command. Leash When [a]pplied to a tame creature, it cannot move more than two spaces from you. [a]pply the leash again to remove it. Most creatures don't function well on leashes -- they'll yowl, screech, resist, and generally make things unpleasant while they're leashed. Yanking your monster into a deadly situation with a leash carries a luck penalty, and if the leash is cursed, you might choke your pet! Stethoscope When [a]pplied in the direction of a monster, you'll get some information on the monster's status and possessions -- useful for keeping track of how hungry your pets are, for instance, or checking how many hit points a monster has to go before it drops. If [a]pplied to a panel of wall that holds a secret door or passage, you will immediately discover said door or passage. If you're engulfed, stethoscopes may only be used on yourself or the monster engulfing you. You may use a stethoscope once per turn without spending any time doing it; using it more than that will consume one turn for each additional use. Tinning Kit When [a]pplied to a corpse, either one in your inventory or one in a space where you're standing, you can put the corpse into a tin. These tins are always of Homemade , carrying a nutrition of 50 -- unless the corpse you tin is already rotten, at which point the meat inside will also be rotten (nutrition -50). Some players tin corpses of unique monsters just for the sheer enjoyment of it. Can you imagine finishing the game with tins of Wizard of Yendor meat, or your quest nemesis in a can? Tinning kits create tins with the same b/u/c status as that of the kit. Blessed tins are easy to open, and cursed tins are always rotten. Tin Opener One of the game's least useful items, [w]ielding a tin opener lets you open any tin you eat in a single round. It makes a lousy weapon, so if you use one to eat tinned food, make sure you whip out your real weapon again when you've finished your meal. Can of Grease You can [a]pply grease to items to give them a rustproof, corrodeproof coating. Helpful if you're about to fight a bunch of rust monsters. You can grease your armor suit to more easily slip out of grabbing or constricting attacks, or grease your helmet to more easily resist the brain-sucking attacks of mind flayers. Note that grease will protect your items, but not repair them. To remove rust from an item, for instance, you'll need a potion of oil or a scroll of enchant weapon/armor. When a greased item is used -- a hit with a greased weapon, or a deflected hit from greased armor -- there's a 50% chance the grease is wiped off. Cursed grease will often make your fingers greasy instead of the item you were trying to protect, and greasing cursed weapons means the grease doesn't always take effect. You must have a can of grease (or a Potion of Oil) to #untrap a squeaky board. Figurine Like a statue, but much smaller and easier to carry with you. When [a]pplied, the figurine will come to life and create a single monster of the same kind as the figurine. If the figurine is blessed, there's an 80% chance the creature is tame. If uncursed, an 80% chance it's peaceful. And if cursed, an 80% chance that the creature will try to kill you. Many people wish for blessed figurines -- Archons make great pets, and ki-rin and dragons make great steeds. Magic Marker This marker really is magic! If you have blank scrolls or spellbooks, you can [a]pply a magic marker to write your own. Each scroll or book takes a certain number of charges from the marker to write, and the marker can only be recharged by a Scroll of Charging once. When asked what you want to write, you can ask for either the specific name of the item you want ("scroll of genocide") or the unidentified name ("scroll named VELOX NEB"). But most roles only have a one in fifteen chance to write an scroll or spellbook they haven't identified yet; Wizards get a one-in-three chance. This chance is further increased by luck, up to about one in three for most very lucky characters and virtual certainty for very lucky Wizards. If you're playing a Wizard, you might try to write some of the more obnoxious scrolls (like Amnesia or Punishment) just to identify them, then when you get it right, use water to blank the scroll and write something of more immediate use. The b/u/c status of the scroll or spellbook you end up with depends on the b/u/c status of both the marker and the item you write on. If both source items share the same b/u/c status, the resulting item will have the same status. If one source item is uncursed, the resulting item will have the b/c status of the other source item. If one source item is blessed and the other cursed, the resulting item is uncursed. You can [E]ngrave to write on the floor with a magic marker, but that takes precious charges that could be better put to use writing scrolls and spellbooks. ========================================================================== ========================================================================== Section VI: EoD/Copyright Notice This guide was compiled with information from Nethack spoilers found on the world wide web, such as those by Kevin Hugo, Dylan O'Donnell et al, combined with my own research. This game guide is copyright 2007 Richard Rouse. Feel free to distribute this guide anywhere you like, but crediting me as the writer would be nice.