A Practical Guide to Nethack: The Whole Dungeon Catalog: Weapons Version 2 by R2 Last updated 9-24-07 ========================================================================== ========================================================================== Contents Section I: About This Guide Section II: Guide Layout Section III: Weapon Skills Section IV: Weapon List Section V: A Short Note on Item Damage Section VI: 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 there are a lot of monsters between you and that Amulet, and even if there weren't, you'd need some way to convince the High Priest of Moloch to give it to you. Here's a hint to consider: stab him with something pointy. This guide assumes you're already familiar with Nethack, and 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, [t] means to press the "t" key (to throw an item). [T] means to hold Shift and press the "t" key, just like you were typing a capital letter (to Take off armor). There are some long commands that are preceded by pound signs in the game, and will be transcribed as such. If I say to #name something, that means to use that command to give an item a unique descriptor. If a given item has its own name, then the word isn't used with the pound sign. ========================================================================== ========================================================================== Section II: Guide Layout You need some way to kill things. And the most reliable way to do it is to cut, smash, crush, chop, skewer, or shoot said things until they die. Nearly anything you can imagine can be [w]ielded as a weapon, but some things are definitely more effective than others. Weapons are sorted by class, then by maximum damage. The following information is included in the Weapon description: Weapon Name: What the weapon is called after it's identified. If the weapon has a different name for Samurai, it's listed after a slash. Hit Bonus: Some weapons make it very easy to hit foes, giving a bonus to accuracy. Damage: The range of damage the weapon deals. Many weapons deal different amounts of damage depending on the size of the creature you hit. In this case, there will be two values separated by a slash; the first value is for tiny, small, and medium creatures and the second value is for large, huge, and gigantic creatures. Appearance: What the weapon is called before it's identified. Material: What the weapon is made of. Iron items corrode and rust, but items made of other metal do not. Leather and wood items rot and burn. Silver items do 1-20 additional damage to demons, lycanthropes, and undead. Miscellaneous notes come after the chart. Any blessed weapon gets +2 to hit and 1-4 extra damage against demons and undead creatures. Oddly, all melee strikes and thrown weapons get +1 to hit, while firing a missile weapon (a sling, bow, or crossbow) gives -3 to hit. This is just an innate feature of the game, probably to encourage valor in combat instead of guerilla tactics. ========================================================================== ========================================================================== Section III: Skills Skills cover weapon use and proficiency, including the use of bare fists for combat, striking with two weapons at once, or the use of weapons from the back of a mount. There skills are as such, in the order the game lists them: broad sword, long sword, two-handed sword, short sword, scimitar, saber, polearms, spear, javelin, lance, trident, club, mace, morning star, flail, hammer, quarterstaff, whip, dagger, knife, axe, bow, sling, crossbow, dart, shuriken, boomerang, unicorn horn, pick axe, two-weapon fighting, barehanded combat/martial arts, riding. Under any notes about the weapon class is a list of each role's expertise in a given weapon (or spell, but that's a different guide). These skill levels come in four categories: Unskilled, Basic training, Skilled, and Expert. Roles are organized by the maximum skill level with the weapon category in question; characters often start with basic training for whatever weapons they start with and get practice by hitting foes with weapons in that category. If a role is restricted in using a certain weapon, they will never pass Unskilled level. Characters may only advance in weapon skills by using the #enhance extended command. This requires a certain amount of practice with weapons in the appropriate class and a number of "skill slots". Characters get one extra skill slot each time they gain a level. Characters fighting with a weapon they are Unskilled with suffer a -4 penalty to hit and a -2 penalty to damage. They may advance to Basic training after successfully landing 20 hits with the weapon and expending one skill slot. Characters with Basic training suffer no penalties to hit or damage, but get no bonuses either. They may advance to Skilled training after scoring 60 additional hits with the weapon and expending two additional skill slots. Characters who fight with a weapon with which they are Skilled get +2 to hit and +1 damage. They may advance to Expert training after successfully landing 100 additional hits and expending three additional skill slots. Characters with Expert skill in a weapon get +3 to hit and +2 damage. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bare-Handed Combat and Martial Arts When selecting which weapon to [w]ield, the hyphen key [-] will sheathe any weapons you've got and leave your character bare-handed. Monks and Samurai will then fall back on their martial arts training, while all other roles resort to roaring-and-punching barehanded combat. Barehanded combat and martial arts have six skill levels: Unskilled, Basic, Skilled, Expert, Master, and Grand Master. Barbarians and Cavemen can reach Master level at Bare-handed combat. Archeologists, Knights, Rogues, and Valkyries can reach Expert level. Tourists are Skilled at best. Healers, Priests, Rangers, and Wizards can reach only Basic level. Monks can reach Grand Master level at martial arts. Samurai can only reach Master level. But martial arts give a greater damage bonus to unarmed strikes and [k]icking creatures. Monks also get a bonus to hit with martial arts: add two to his experience level and divide the sum by three. Characters Unskilled at barehanded combat do only 1-2 damage. Twenty hits and a skill slot will buy the character Basic training. Basic training in barehanded combat does 2-3 damage with a successful hit. Monks and Samurai start with Basic training in martial arts, which allows them to do 4-7 damage with a successful hit. 60 hits and another skill slot nets the character Skilled training. Skilled characters do 2-3 damage with barehanded combat -- no benefit over Basic training. But Skilled martial artists do 5-8 damage, a slight bonus. 100 successful empty-handed hits and two skill slots will get you Expert skill. Experts in barehanded combat do 3-5 damage with their fists -- even if you can progress to Master level in barehanded combat, stop here, there's no additional benefit to the training. Expert martial artists are capable of a whopping 7-10 damage instead. Not too shabby! 140 hits and two more skill slots will progress the character to Master level. Bare-handed Masters still do 3-5 damage with their strikes. This would be a useful step up to Grand Master in barehanded combat, except that no role can ever reach that level. If you spent your skill slots to get here, you wasted them! But martial arts are a different story. Martial arts Masters do 8-11 damage with each hit, reliably smashing through one monster after another. Letting your monk punch 280 more monsters and burn three more skill slots will advance him to Grand Master. A Grand Master of martial arts is extremely dangerous. His strikes do 10-13 damage, a maximum that only the largest weapons can surpass and a minimum that no other weapon can touch. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Two-Weapon Fighting Two-weapon fighting is, as the name implies, wading into combat with a weapon in each hand and striking with both at once. Needless to say, it requires the character to use two one-handed weapons and not a shield. Some players swear by it. Other players prefer using a single two-handed weapon, or a one-handed weapon and a shield. The choice is up to you -- do you want to do insane amounts of damage at a penalty in accuracy, great damage at no penalty, or steady damage with a bonus to armor class? When fighting with two weapons, your weapon skills are considered to be the lower of your actual skill with the weapons you use and your Two-Weapon Fighting skill. A character who attacks with two short swords who is Skilled in Short Sword but only Basic in Two-Weapon Fighting is treated as being only Basic in short sword when it comes time to tally accuracy and damage bonuses. When two-weapon fighting, if your first weapon hits, isn't destroyed, and doesn't move the creature from its space, your second weapon hits too. If the first weapon misses, the second weapon has no chance. It's all or nothing. If you attempt two-weapon combat while riding (see below), all attacks are at -2 to hit, regardless of your skill with Two-Weapon Fighting, Mounted Combat, and the weapons involved. Rogues and Samurai can reach Expert level in two-weapon fighting. Knights, Tourists, and Valkyries can reach Skilled level. Archeologists and Barbarians can reach Basic level. Cavemen, Healers, Monks, Priests, Rangers, and Wizards are Restricted from two-weapon fighting. When fighting with two weapons, characters who are Unskilled are at a whopping -9 to hit and -3 to damage with both weapons. After successfully using two-weapon combat 20 times (hitting with both weapons counts as one use) and expending one skill slot, a character may advance to Basic. Characters with Basic training still suffer a -7 penalty to hit and a -1 to damage with both weapons. 60 successful uses and two skill slots will advance the character to Skilled. Skilled characters suffer -5 to hit with both weapons, but no longer take a penalty to damage. 100 successful uses and three skill slots will advance him to Expert. Expert characters have reached the pinnacle of two-weapon fighting skill. They suffer only a -3 penalty to hit, and both weapons get +1 to the damage they deal. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mounted Combat If you have a tame creature that's suitable for riding, you may [a]pply a saddle in its direction to prepare it for riding, then give the #ride command to mount. You and the creature you're riding will occupy the same square in the dungeon, and your mount will attack any creature you attack in melee. If your mount is capable of flight, you're assumed to be flying. Knights are the only role that can progress all the way to Expert. Samurai and Valkyrie can get to Skilled level in riding. Archeologists, Barbarians, Rangers, Rogues, Tourists, and Wizards can only go so far as Basic training. Cavemen, Healers, Priests, and Monks are better off staying on their own two feet -- they're Restricted from riding. If you attempt two-weapon combat (see above) while riding, all attacks are at -2 to hit, regardless of your skill with Two-Weapon Fighting, Mounted Combat, and the weapons involved. Riding has four skill levels, like weapon skills: Unskilled, Basic, Skilled, and Expert. The higher your skill, the more likely you are to successfully get on the creature when you give the #ride command. If you're Unskilled at riding, you're at a -2 penalty to hit anything from the back of your mount. But ride for 2000 turns and spend a skill slot and you'll advance to Basic training. All roles except the Knight start Unskilled. Characters with Basic training suffer only -1 to hit from horse- (or whatever-) back. Another 6000 turns on the back of your mount and another skill slot will buy you Skilled training. Skilled riders no longer suffer a penalty to hit when mounted, and get a bonus +1 to damage. 10,000 additional turns spent on your mount and two skill slots will progress a Knight to Expert level. Expert-level riders get a +2 damage bonus whenever they hit from the back of their mount. ========================================================================== ========================================================================== Section IV: Weapon List -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Weapon Type: Dagger Daggers make fine thrown weapons, especially for Rogues and Rangers. There is a chance in any turn where you [t]hrow a dagger that you throw more than one. You'll always throw one, with the potential to throw another if your character is Skilled in Dagger, or another two if Expert. Rangers and Rogues have the potential to throw another still. Expert: Ranger, Rogue, Tourist, Valkyrie, Wizard Skilled: Healer Basic: Archeologist, Barbarian, Caveman, Knight, Samurai Restricted: Monk, Priest Orcish Dagger Hit Bonus: +2 Damage: 1-3 Appearance: Crude dagger Material: Iron The artifact weapon Grimtooth is one of these. Dagger Hit Bonus: +2 Damage: 1-4/1-3 Material: Iron Silver Dagger Hit Bonus: +2 Damage: 1-4/1-3 Material: Silver Athame Hit Bonus: +2 Damage: 1-4/1-3 Material: Iron Athame are daggers used to gut sacrificial creatures. While this doesn't have any effect on the #offer command, they make fine #engraving weapons. They never dull from scratching into the ground, and can write ten characters in a single round. The artifact weapon Magicbane is one of these, and is likely the only Athame you'll see in a game. Elven Dagger Hit Bonus: +2 Damage: 1-5/1-3 Appearance: Runed dagger Material: Wood The artifact weapon Sting is one of these. Matter of fact, any Elven Dagger you find has the potential to become Sting; just #name it Sting and that's what it turns into. Remember that only one instance of any artifact can exist in a game, so if you lose or break your first Sting, you can't christen another. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Weapon Type: Knife Knives are rarer and generally not as useful as daggers, but if you're playing a Healer, a scalpel or Crysknife will probably be your best weapon until you can get yourself a Unicorn Horn. Expert: Healer, Rogue Skilled: Caveman, Ranger, Samurai, Tourist, Wizard Basic: Archeologist, Knight Restricted: Barbarian, Monk, Priest Worm Tooth Damage: 1-2 Material: Unique This is the tooth of a Long Worm. You'll find one on every Long Worm corpse. Pretty useless by itself, but if you [w]ield one and [r]ead a Scroll of Enchant Weapon, it turns into a Crysknife. Knife/Shito Damage: 1-3/1-2 Material: Iron Stiletto Damage: 1-3/1-2 Material: Iron Scalpel Hit Bonus: +2 Damage: 1-3 Material: Metal Crysknife Hit Bonus: +3 Damage: 1-10 Material: Mineral Read a Scroll of Enchant Weapon while [w]ielding a Worm Tooth and it will turn into a Crysknife. They're a pain to get, but wow! You won't find a better knife-type weapon. Thank you, Frank Herbert. When created, a Crysknife is "unfixed". If you throw it or drop it, or if it leaves your person for whatever reason, it turns back into a worm tooth. If you are wielding a Crysknife, are confused, and read a Scroll of Enchant Weapon, your Crysknife becomes fixed. If a fixed Crysknife leaves your inventory, there's only a one in ten chance it reverts to a long worm tooth. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Weapon Type: Short Sword It's a sword, and it's short. What did you expect? Short swords don't have an amazing damage output, but they're probably the best choice for Rogues until you can find an artifact weapon to use. Tourists find it their best weapon by process of elimination; it's one of only three they can reach Expert level with (the others being dagger and dart). Expert: Barbarian, Rogue, Samurai, Tourist Skilled: Healer, Knight, Valkyrie Basic: Archeologist, Rogue, Wizard Restricted: Caveman, Monk, Priest Orcish Short Sword Damage: 1-5/1-8 Appearance: Crude short sword Material: Iron Short Sword/Wakizashi Damage: 1-6/1-8 Material: Iron Dwarvish Short Sword Damage: 1-7/1-8 Appearance: Broad short sword Material: Iron Elven Short Sword Damage: 1-8 Appearance: Runed short sword Material: Wood -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Weapon Type: Broadsword Oddly, no role in the game can reach Expert level with broadswords. This isn't a major shortcoming, because longswords make better weapons anyway. Skilled: Barbarian, Knight, Rogue, Samurai, Valkyrie Basic: Tourist Restricted: Archeologist, Caveman, Healer, Monk, Priest, Ranger, Wizard Broadsword/Ninja-to Damage: 2-8/2-7 Material: Iron The artifact weapon Dragonbane is one of these. Runesword Damage: 2-8/2-7 Appearance: Runed Broadsword Material: Iron The artifact weapon Stormbringer is one of these. Elven Broadsword Damage: 2-10, 2-7 Appearance: Runed Broadsword Material: Wood The artifact weapon Orcrist is one of these. Like Sting, you can turn any Elven Broadsword into Orcrist by simply #naming it that. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Weapon Type: Long Sword The weapon of choice for Knights who haven't yet mastered use of a lance. Samurai and Valkyrie are no slouches, either. Expert: Knight, Samurai, Valkyrie Skilled: Barbarian, Rogue Basic: Tourist Restricted: Archeologist, Caveman, Healer, Monk, Priest, Ranger, Wizard Long Sword Damage: 1-8/1-12 Material: Iron The artifact weapons Demonbane, Excalibur, Fire Brand, Frost Brand, Giantslayer, Sunsword, and Vorpal Blade are all longswords. If you are of Lawful alignment, at least experience level 5, and #dip any longsword into a fountain or pool of water, there's a 1 in 5 chance that it will turn into the artifact weapon Excalibur. Otherwise you have the normal effects of #dipping -- which might rust the sword. Katana Hit Bonus: +1 Damage: 1-10/1-12 Appearance: Samurai Sword Material: Iron The artifact weapon Snickersnee is a katana, oddly enough. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Weapon Type: Two-handed Sword Two-handed swords, as the name implies, are two-handed weapons. Who would have thought? There's no better weapon for a Barbarian, and Samurai who have declined to take the two-weapon skill path would be wise to get one, too. Expert: Barbarian, Samurai, Valkyrie Skilled: Knight, Rogue Basic: Tourist Restricted: Archeologist, Caveman, Healer, Monk, Priest, Ranger, Wizard Two-handed Sword Damage: 1-12/3-18 Material: Iron Tsurugi Hit Bonus: +2 Damage: 1-16/3-20 Appearance: Long samurai sword Material: Metal Samurai, here is your weapon of choice. Sure it takes two hands, but Samurai are not historically known for wearing shields anyway, right? The Tsurugi of Muramasa, not surprisingly, is one of these. When I say "Samurai, here is your weapon of choice", the Tsurugi of Muramasa is precisely what I'm talking about. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Weapon Type: Club One of the most basic weapons imaginable. You take a big, heavy piece of wood, and you hit people with it. Easy enough. Expert: Caveman, Priest Skilled: Archeologist, Barbarian, Healer, Rogue, Wizard Basic: Knight Restricted: Monk, Ranger, Samurai, Tourist, Valkyrie Club Damage: 1-6/1-3 Material: Wood Aklys Damage: 1-6/1-3 Appearance: Thonged club Material: Iron It appears to be the same as a club, and it essentially is -- it's just better at fighting puddings, jellies, and fiery foes that would rot or burn a wooden weapon. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Weapon Type: Axe Axes do an additional 1-4 damage against wooden creatures. Since there's only one wooden creature in the game (the wood golem), that's not saying very much. Expert: Barbarian, Valkyrie Skilled: Caveman, Knight, Ranger, Wizard Basic: Tourist Restricted: Archeologist, Healer, Monk, Priest, Rogue, Samurai Axe Damage: 1-6/1-4 Material: Iron Battle-Axe Damage: 2-12/3-14 Appearance: Double-headed axe Material: Iron The battle-axe is a two-handed weapon. Because of the unusual way battleaxe damage is determined, it does a little more damage on average than other 2-12 damage range weapons. The artifact weapon Cleaver is one of these. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Weapon Type: Pick-Axe All pick-axe weapons are two-handed weapons. 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. Pick-axe type weapons get +2 to hit against xorns and earth elementals. Because of their good damage output, a dwarvish mattock is probably the best non-artifact weapon choice for an Archeologist. The -1 to hit is bothersome, but by Expert skill level, you'll be okay. Expert: Archeologist Skilled: Barbarian, Valkyrie Basic: Caveman, Knight, Ranger, Tourist Restricted: Healer, Monk, Priest, Rogue, Samurai, Wizard Pick-axe Damage: 1-6/1-3 Material: Iron Dwarvish Mattock Hit Bonus: -1 Damage: 1-12/3-20 Appearance: Broad pick Material: Iron -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Weapon Type: Flail Expert: Priest Skilled: Caveman, Ranger, Samurai Basic: Barbarian, Knight, Rogue, Tourist Restricted: Archeologist, Healer, Monk, Valkyrie, Wizard Flail/Nunchaku Damage: 2-7/2-8 Material: Iron I always imagined nunchaku being made of wood, but sure enough, the ones in NetHack rust. Huh. Grappling Hook Damage: 1-2/1-6 Appearance: Iron Hook Material: Iron 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. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Weapon Type: Polearm Just like in Dungeons and Dragons, there's a long list of polearms with insignificantly different statistics that still aren't as good as nearly any other weapon you can pick. That no role in the game can reach Expert skill with polearms just makes things worse. At least they left out the Hungarian longspoon and glaive-glaive-glaive-guisarme-glaive. If the monster is adjacent to your character when you strike with a polearm, you'll only do 1-2 damage. Polearm-type weapons are best [a]pplied to enemies at a distance. At Unskilled and Basic skill, you can strike only straight north, south, east, or west. At Skilled level, you may attack in those spaces and the spaces adjacent to them -- think of the way a chess knight moves, and those are the extra spaces you can hit. You are always at -1 to hit when [a]pplying a polearm. Skilled: Caveman, Knight, Priest, Ranger, Samurai, Valkyrie, Wizard Basic: Healer, Rogue, Tourist Restricted: Archeologist, Barbarian, Monk Partisan Damage: 1-6/2-7 Appearance: Vulgar polearm Material: Iron Fauchard Damage: 1-6/1-8 Appearance: Pole sickle Material: Iron Glaive/Naginata Damage: 1-6/1-10 Appearance: Single-edged polearm Material: Iron Bec-de-corbin Damage: 1-8/1-6 Appearance: Beaked polearm Material: Iron Spetum Damage: 2-7/2-12 Appearance: Forked polearm Material: Iron Lucern Hammer Damage: 2-8/1-6 Appearance: Prolonged Polearm Material: Iron Guisarme Damage: 2-8/1-8 Appearance: Pruning hook Material: Iron Ranseur Damage: 2-8 Appearance: Hilted polearm Material: Iron Voulge Damage: 2-8 Appearance: Pole cleaver Material: Iron Bill-guisarme Damage: 2-8/1-10 Appearance: Hooked polearm Material: Iron Bardiche Damage: 2-8/3-12 Appearance: Long poleaxe Material: Iron Halberd Damage: 1-10/2-12 Appearance: Angled poleaxe Material: Iron -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Weapon Type: Spear Spears are universally better against bigger opponents. As a matter of fact, any spear gets +2 to hit against all D, H, J, N, and X monsters (dragons, giants, jabberwocks, nagas, and xorns). Expert: Caveman Skilled: Barbarian, Knight, Priest, Ranger, Valkyrie Basic: Healer, Monk, Rogue, Samurai, Tourist, Wizard Restricted: Archeologist Orcish Spear Damage: 1-5/1-8 Appearance: Crude Spear Material: Iron Spear Damage: 1-6/1-8 Material: Iron Silver Spear Damage: 1-6/1-8 Material: Silver Elven Spear Damage: 1-7/1-8 Appearance: Runed spear Material: Wood Dwarvish Spear Damage: 1-8 Appearance: Stout spear Material: Iron -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Weapon Type: Bows and Arrows The damage listed for arrows is for when they're properly fired from a bow. Both bows and arrows [w]ielded in melee do a paltry 1-2 damage. You only exercise weapon skill if you fire arrows from the bow, not in melee. The between the role's skill with the weapon and its damage output, a good bow and arrow set is the ideal weapon for a Ranger. But Elves and Samurai are both excellent archers as well; both get +1 to hit when firing any kind of arrow from any kind of bow (plus extra bonuses detailed below). There is a chance in any turn where you fire a bow that you fire more than one arrow. You'll always fire one arrow, with the potential to fire another if your character is Skilled in archery, or another two if Expert. Rangers have the potential to fire another. And there could be one more if you're an elf firing elven arrows from an elven bow, an orc firing orcish arrows from an orcish bow, or a Samurai firing ya from a yumi. So the most arrows you'll fire in a round is with an Elven Ranger firing elven arrows from an elven bow, with Expert skill in bows. That's a chance to fire five arrows at once! You may #dip any arrow into a Potion of Sickness to poison it. Expert: Ranger, Samurai Skilled: Caveman Basic: Barbarian, Knight, Priest, Tourist Restricted: Archeologist, Healer, Monk, Rogue, Valkyrie, Wizard Orcish Bow Appearance: Crude bow Material: Wood An orc character firing orcish arrows from an orcish bow gets no accuracy or damage bonus, but may fire an additional arrow each round. Bow Material: Wood The quest artifact, the Longbow of Diana, is one of these. Elven Bow Appearance: Runed bow Material: Wood The bow of choice for any elven character. An elf firing from an elven bow gets an extra +1 to hit. This improves to +2 to hit, +1 to damage, and a chance to fire an extra arrow each turn if firing elven arrows. Yumi Appearance: Long bow Material: Wood The bow of choice for a Samurai; thankfully, they start with one. A Samurai firing from a yumi gets +1 to hit. This improves to +3 to hit, +1 to damage, and a chance to fire an extra arrow each turn if firing ya. Orcish Arrow Damage: 1-5/1-6 Appearance: Crude arrow Material: Iron Arrow Damage: 1-6 Material: Iron Silver Arrow Damage: 1-6 Material: Silver Elven Arrow Damage: 1-7/1-6 Appearance: Runed arrow Material: Wood Ya Hit Bonus: +1 Damage: 1-7 Appearance: Bamboo arrow Material: Metal While the best arrow for anyone at +1 to hit and 1-7 damage, the ya is even more powerful in the hands of a Samurai. A Samurai firing ya from a yumi gets a total +3 to hit and a chance of firing an extra arrow each round, which makes him as terrifying as a Ranger. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Weapon Type: Sling Slings just don't have the damage output of bows, or even of thrown daggers and darts. Only Cavemen and perhaps Archeologists should consider using a sling for any lengthy amount of time, and that's only because of their shabby skills in all other realms of ranged combat (except Boomerangs, which are hard to find and use properly). As above, slings do only 1-2 damage when you wield them in melee, you doofus. The damage for stones is for when they're fired from the sling. You only exercise your skill by slinging a stone, not by hitting with one or the other in melee. There is a chance in any turn where you fire a sling that you fire more than one stone. You'll always fire one stone, with the potential to fire another if your character is Skilled in Sling, or another two if Expert. Rangers have the potential to fire another yet another. Expert: Caveman, Ranger Skilled: Archeologist, Healer, Wizard Basic: Priest, Tourist, Valkyrie Restricted: Barbarian, Knight, Monk, Rogue, Samurai Sling Material: Leather Flint Stone Damage: 1-6 Material: Mineral Rocks, Gems, or Glass Damage: 1-3 Material: varies -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Weapon Type: Crossbow Damage for crossbow is 1-2 in melee, damage for bolt is if fired, don't exercise skill if in melee, blah blah blah you've heard it before. Crossbows are okay, but somewhat lackluster. Only Rangers and Rogues have the skills to make the best use of a crossbow, and both classes have better options available. Gnome Rangers start with a crossbow instead of a regular bow, which just means that they should find a regular bow and stock of arrows as soon as possible. Knights have few other options for ranged combat and might have to rely on a crossbow if pressed. There is a chance in any turn where you fire a crossbow that you fire more than one bolt. You'll always fire one bolt, with the potential to fire another if your character is Skilled in Crossbow, or another two if Expert. Rangers have the potential to fire another. You may #dip a crossbow bolt into a Potion of Sickness to poison it. Expert: Ranger, Rogue Skilled: Knight Basic: Monk, Priest, Tourist Restricted: Archeologist, Barbarian, Caveman, Healer, Samurai, Valkyrie, Wizard Crossbow Material: Wood Crossbow Bolt Damage: 2-5/2-7 Material: Iron -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Weapon Type: Whip Aw, snap. Whips don't do much damage, and are almost useless against especially thick-skinned creatures. The base weapon damage and enchantment damage are set to 0 when attacking such a creature with a whip, although other aspects might still damage the creature. Thick-skinned creatures include all m, D, N, and X; all g except gremlins; all q except rothes, leocrotta, and wumpuses; all ' except straw, rope, leather, paper, and flesh golems; earth elementals; skeletons; horned devils; barbed devils; sharks; crocodiles; and salamanders. Whew! Expert: Archeologist Skilled: None Basic: Ranger, Tourist Restricted: Barbarian, Caveman, Healer, Knight, Monk, Priest, Samurai, Valkyrie, Wizard Bullwhip Damage: 1-2/1 Material: Leather Whips are weapons, but are quite useful as tools. If you're in a pit and there's an object or monster nearby, you may [a]pply the whip to the object to pull yourself out of the pit. If you're levitating, you can [a]pply a bullwhip downward to pick up objects on the ground under you (this isn't effective with gold, as you'll only pick one piece out of the stack at a time). If [a]pplied to a monster, you'll attempt to pull its weapon out of its hand. If [a]pplied to your mount, you'll increase its speed for a while but make it a little more unfriendly towards you. Rubber Hose Damage: 1-4/1-3 Material: Rubber Every Keystone Kop wields one. Apparently it's funny to be beaten to death with lengths of hose and cream pies. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Miscellaneous Types These weapons are each their own weapon type and each have their own weapon skill. Sorted by maximum damage, as above. Dart Damage: 1-3/1-2 Material: Iron There is a chance in any turn where you throw a dart that you throw more than one. You'll always throw one dart, with the potential to throw another if your character is Skilled in Dart, or another two if Expert. Rangers have the potential to throw another. Darts are helpful for softening up opposition. Tourists aren't good with much else, and Wizards can use them to save their energy for other fights. Healers use them to kill enemies while staying out of danger themselves. You may #dip a dart into a Potion of Sickness to poison it. Healers, Rangers, Rogues, Tourists, and Wizards are Expert with darts. Barbarians, Cavemen, Knights, Monks, Samurai, and Valkyries are Restricted. War Hammer (weapon class is "hammer") Damage: 2-5/1-4 Material: Iron The artifact weapons Mjollnir and Ogresmasher are warhammers. Barbarians, Priests, and Valkyries are Expert with the warhammer. Cavemen are Skilled. Archeologists, Healers, Monks, Samurai, and Wizards are Restricted. Quarterstaff Damage: 1-6 Appearance: Staff Material: Wood The quest artifact, the Staff of Aesculapius, is a quarterstaff. A staff is probably the best weapon available to Wizards (they can only reach Expert level in staff, dagger, and dart). Not that it matters, taking a Wizard into melee is asking for trouble anyway. Cavemen, Healers, Priests, and Wizards are Expert with the quarterstaff. Archeologists are Skilled. Only Knights and Rogues are Restricted. Javelin Damage: 1-6 Appearance: Throwing spear Material: Iron Rangers are Expert with the javelin. Cavemen, Knights, and Priests are skilled. Archeologists, Barbarians, and Rogues are Restricted. Lance Damage: 1-6/1-8 Material: Iron Lances are considered polearms for all intents and purposes -- they do only 1-2 damage to adjacent creatures and must be [a]pplied to do full damage. The spaces into which you may [a]pply a lance follow the polearm rules. Since Knights can be Expert level with lances, a Knight so trained may attack two spaces diagonally in addition to all the other ways. Lances may be used to joust. To joust, your character must be riding a mount and [a]pplying a lance on a monster. This has a chance to do an extra 2-20 damage based on weapon skill: 20% when Unskilled, 40% at Basic, 60% at Skilled, and 80% at Expert. This might also break the lance, depending on your luck. Knights are Expert with the lance. Samurai and Valkyries are Skilled. Archeologists, Barbarians, Cavemen, Healers, Monks, Rangers, Rogues, and Wizards are Restricted. Mace Damage: 1-7/1-6 Material: Iron The quest artifact Sceptre of Might is a mace, which is probably why Caveman are so great with maces. In fact, a mace is probably the best weapon for a Caveman, considering that they do more damage than clubs or staves. Cavemen and Priests are Expert with the mace. Barbarians, Knights, and Rogues are Skilled. Archeologists, Monks, Rangers, Samurai, and Valkyries are Restricted. Trident Damage: 2-7/3-12 Material: Iron Tridents are particularly accurate against water creatures. Attacking with a trident grants +4 to hit against any swimming creature, and +2 against aquatic creatures out of the water. Polymorph yourself into a metallivore and [e]at a trident. You'll get the message "That was pure chewing satisfaction!", a reference to chewing gum. Barbarians, Cavemen, and Priests are Skilled with the trident. Archeologists, Monks, Rogues, and Samurai are Restricted. Scimitar Damage: 1-8 Appearance: Curved sword Material: Iron Archeologists, Barbarians, Rogues, and Tourists are Skilled with the scimitar. Cavemen, Monks, Priests, Rangers, and Wizards are Restricted. Silver Saber (weapon class is just "Saber") Damage: 1-8 Material: Silver Many players consider a silver saber at a good numerical enchantment, to be the ideal secondary weapon for two-weapon fighting. This is especially true for Rogues, who have the best combined skills in two-weapon fighting and saber. Its initial damage is good, and its silvery sheen does 1-20 extra damage to undead, lycanthropes, and demons -- which are what you fight the most of in the lowest levels of Gehennom. The artifact weapons Grayswandir and Werebane are silver sabers. Archeologists are Expert with the saber. Knights, Rogues, and Tourists are Skilled. Cavemen, Monks, Priests, Rangers, and Wizards are Restricted. Shuriken Hit Bonus: +2 Damage: 1-8/1-6 Appearance: Throwing star Material: Iron There is a chance in any turn where you throw a shuriken that you throw more than one. You'll always throw one shuriken, with the potential to throw another if your character is Skilled in Shuriken, or another two if Expert. Rangers have the potential to throw another. You may #dip a shuriken into a Potion of Sickness to poison it. Samurai are Expert with shuriken. Healers, Rangers, and Rogues are Skilled. Archeologists, Barbarians, Cavemen, Knights, and Valkyries are Restricted. Morning Star Damage: 2-8/2-7 Material: Iron The artifact weapon Trollbane is a morningstar. Priests are Expert with the morningstar, and it's likely their best choice of weapon until they find an artifact to use. Barbarians and Knights are Skilled. Archeologists, Healers, Monks, Samurai, Valkyries, and Wizards are Restricted. Boomerang Damage: 1-9 Material: Wood When thrown, a boomerang travels in a small circle. It flies out in the direction it's thrown two panels. It then moves diagonally into the space to its right on its flight path and continues in that direction for two panels. It then turns again, flies two spaces, and turns again to return to you via the space behind you and to the right of the direction you threw it. If the boomerang hits an enemy, it stops in that enemy's space. When a boomerang returns to your space, you might catch it, drop it onto the ground, or get wanged in the head for a little bit of damage. Striking with a boomerang in melee might break the boomerang. A boomerang does an extra point of damage when it breaks, but you lose the boomerang. Archeologists, Cavemen, and Rangers are Expert with the boomerang. Barbarians, Healers, Knights, Monks, Rogues, Samurai, Valkyries, and Wizards are Restricted. Unicorn Horn Hit Bonus: +1 Damage: 1-12 Material: Bone 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. Healers are Expert with unicorn horns; and it's easily the best choice of weapon for them. Archeologists, Priests, and Tourists are Skilled with Unicorn horns. Barbarians, Knights, Monks, Rangers, Rogues, Samurai, Valkyries, and Wizards are Restricted. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Typeless Weapons Nearly any item in the game can be [w]ielded, but only the items above fall into weapon categories. You'll always be considered Unskilled when wielding the items below, but there are often special effects for doing so. Corpses Damage: 2-8 Cockatrice or chickatrice corpses are unique: they do no damage. They will petrify any monster that is not resistant to petrification, though, leaving only a statue. Eggs Damage: 1 If you [t]hrow eggs, you'll only break one at a time. If you [w]ield them, you'll break the whole stack at once. Breaking eggs that you laid carries a -1 luck penalty for each egg. Cockatrice eggs will petrify enemies they hit, just like using a cockatrice corpse. Many players call this use the "stoning grenade", which doesn't have as much to do with marijuana as it sounds. Clove of Garlic Damage: 1 Hitting an undead creature with a clove of garlic will cause it to flee from you for 2-8 turns. Cream Pie Damage: 0 Hitting a creature with a cream pie will blind it. If you're hit yourself (or [a]pply it to yourself), you may use the #wipe command or [a]pply a towel to get the cream out of your eyes and restore your vision. Blinding Venom Damage: 0 As the name implies, blinding venom blinds the creature that it hits. It's solely the domain of monsters with venom-spitting capabilities (namely cobras); you'll never use it unless you're polymorphed into that monster. If you're hit with blinding venom, use the #wipe command or [a]pply a towel to clean off your eyes and restore your vision. Acid Venom Damage: 2-12 acid Again, spitting acid is a monster ability. It's not for people. Expensive Camera Damage: 0 You'll do no damage and break the camera, genius. Mirror Damage: 1 This will break the mirror, with the typical -2 penalty to luck. Boulder Damage: 1-20 Whether it rolls into you from a trap or is chucked by a monster big enough to lift and throw it, boulders do 1-20 damage when they hit. Boulders that are thrown are at a massive +5 to hit. Chucking boulders is a favorite tactic of giants. Heavy Iron Ball Damage: 1-25, depending on weight Material: Iron This is the iron ball you get from being punished. Iron Chain Damage: 2-5 Material: Iron You'd think it'd be under the domain of the flail or morning star skills, but it isn't. Iron chains are just too clumsy to use effectively, I guess. Anything Else Damage: 1-6, depending on weight Hardly an optimal situation. If you "begin bashing creatures with your" random item you were using for something else -- such as a lamp you had been #rubbing -- you'd better draw a real weapon quickly. The material still counts as whatever it's made of -- wooden items rot, iron items rust, leather items suck against creatures with thick hides, and silver items still do 1-20 more damage against demons and undead. ========================================================================== ========================================================================== Section V: A Short Note on Item Damage Items may be burned, rotted, rusted, or corroded, depending on what they're made of: iron items rust and corrode; leather, cloth, and wood items burn and rot; and bronze and copper items corrode. There are three levels of this damage, and it doesn't matter which applies to the item; the penalties are the same. Damaged weapons are at -1 to hit and damage. Very damaged weapons are at -2 to hit and damage. Thoroughly damaged weapons are at -3 to hit and damage. Only the worst penalty applies. If you're using a "very burned thoroughly rotted quarterstaff", you're at -3 to hit and damage (from having one type of damage at "thoroughly"), not -5 from both. The accuracy and damage penalties for using a damaged weapon can negate any other bonuses. If you strike with a "very rusty +2 longsword", it's just like you were hitting with a normal longsword -- the -2 penalty from the rust negates the +2 enhancement bonus. ========================================================================== ========================================================================== 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.