Gold (material)

Gold is a material that appears in NetHack. It is an inherently erosion-proofed type of metal.

There are few items made of gold in the game outside of the gold pieces used as currency for zorkmids - rings with the randomized appearance of "gold ring" are made of gold, as is the Candelabrum of Invocation; spellbooks with the randomized appearance of "gold spellbook" are still made of paper like most others. Metallivores can eat any gold item minus the Candelabrum, and polypiling enough gold items may create a gold golem.

A noncursed scroll of gold detection will reveal all gold pieces and gold golems on the level; a blessed scroll will additionally detect other items made of gold.

Strategy

Eating gold tends to occur in the form of rock moles eating any gold they encounter while tunneling through the dungeon, and later xorns doing the same while phasing; while eating gold coins has no real application, eating gold rings can be a factor in eating jewelry while polymorphed into a metallivore.

Variants

Variants often add other items made of gold, and the object materials system used in many variants incorporates gold as a potential material for metallic objects. Leprechauns in some of these variants can also steal items made of gold as well as the player's money. Croesus is often given a set of gold armor, and sometimes a gold weapon as well.

GruntHack

In GruntHack, iron objects including those of dwarvish make have a very rare chance to be made of gold, as do elven weapons and shields. Gold is a heavy material and tends to be impractical as armor - gold armor has 2 less AC compared to its iron counterparts (minimum 0).

xNetHack

In xNetHack, gold is similarly 50% heavier than iron and gives 2 less AC as armor - however, blunt weapons made of gold gain a +2 damage bonus.