Difference between revisions of "Potion of holy water"

From NetHackWiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
m (→‎Confused remove curse: Undoubling participles)
m (pothole)
 
(30 intermediate revisions by 8 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
−
{{wikipedia|Holy water}}
 
 
{{potion
 
{{potion
 
  |color=cyan
 
  |color=cyan
Line 7: Line 6:
 
  |cost=100
 
  |cost=100
 
}}
 
}}
−
A '''potion of holy water''' (unidentified, a "blessed clear potion" if BUC is known) is the [[blessed]] version of a [[potion of water]]. You can use it with the #[[dip]] command to remove curses or bless [[object]]s. Objects dipped into a potion of holy water do not become [[wet]].
+
The '''potion of holy water''' is a [[blessed]] [[potion of water]], and appears as a "blessed clear potion" when unidentified.
  
−
* Dip a [[cursed]] object into holy water to make it [[uncursed]].
+
==Generation==
−
* Dip an [[uncursed]] object into holy water to make it [[blessed]].
+
All [[Priest|Priest(esse)s]] start the game with 4 potions of holy water, and [[Wizard]]s have a chance of starting the game with holy water as one of their random potions.
−
* Dip a [[blessed]] object into holy water, and you get message "Interesting..."; the potion is not consumed. A useful way to verify that a certain potion is blessed before quaffing it (for example).
 
  
−
''[[NetHack]]'' provides a few other ways to [[curse removal|remove curse]], but holy water is the main way to provide the "blessed" status to objects.
+
In addition to random generation, Shops sell holy water in 14.4% of all non-[[Tourist]] dungeons.  
  
−
Quaffing a potion of holy water cures [[lycanthropy]] and, for non-[[chaotic]]s, cures all [[sickness|illness]]es. It does damage to chaotics. Holy water can be [[throw]]n at (or [[wield|wielded]] against) [[demon]]s, [[undead]], and lycanthropes to cause 2d6 damage (i.e. more than early-game weapons, but normally not by enough to matter). However, most of the time holy water is used for blessing objects.
+
A [[horn of plenty]] may occasionally produce a potion of water when [[applied]], which will also be blessed if the horn is blessed.
  
−
==Obtaining holy water==
+
==Description==
 +
[[Quaff]]ing a potion of holy water cures [[lycanthropy]] and, for non-[[chaotic]]s, cures all [[illness]]es; chaotics will take 2d6 damage instead of having illnesses cured.
  
−
===Starting with it===
+
You can #[[dip]] an [[object]] (or stack of objects) into holy water to uncurse or bless them, using up one potion of holy water; objects dipped into holy water do not become [[wet]]. A cursed object will be uncursed, while an uncursed object will be blessed; dipping a blessed object into holy water will simply produce an "Interesting..." message, and the potion is not consumed.
  
−
A [[Priest|Priest(ess)]] starts with 4 potions of holy water, and a [[Wizard]] sometimes starts with holy water.
+
Inhaling vapors from a potion of holy water reverts you to human form if you have lycanthropy, but does not cure it; monsters hit with [[throw]]n or [[wield]]ed potion of holy water take 2d6 damage if they are a [[M2_DEMON|demon]], [[undead]], or lycanthrope, and lycanthropes are additionally shifted to their human form.
  
−
===Dipping water into holy water===
+
==Strategy==
 +
Holy water is one of the many methods of [[curse removal]] ''and'' one of the few means of blessing objects, so it is considered essential for almost any player to have. When blessing and/or uncursing objects, always be sure to #[[adjust]] them into a single stack first. If necessary, use #[[name]] to remove names from any named objects so that you can stack them for dipping.
  
−
Once you have some holy water, you can easily #[[dip]] uncursed potions of water into the holy water. ''The entire stack'' of uncursed water will become holy water, and you will only lose the one potion of holy water.
+
===Blessing and uncursing items===
 +
From the mid-game on—especially if you are frequently using [[two-handed]] weapons—consider keeping holy water and other forms of [[curse removal]] in small caches on the current level, or other levels, that you can easily access. If wielding a cursed two-handed weapon, you can retreat to a cache in order to get it uncursed. You can also dedicate a separate container, such as a [[sack]], to holding holy water and other curse-removing items; as of [[3.6.0]], you can #[[tip]] containers, allowing you to get holy water in order to uncurse the two-handed weapon.
  
−
Before doing this, make sure the potions of uncursed water are stacked in your inventory. If they are not (for example, if you were diluting them), then use the [[extended command]] #[[adjust]] to adjust all of those potions to a single inventory slot -- this will make them stack onto that slot (alternatively, drop all the scattered waters and pick them back up, which is faster but consumes two in-game turns).  
+
Even once your primary tools and kit are blessed, you will benefit from keeping a few potions of holy water on hand, often to bless any useful items found later on, and especially to deal with [[curse items|curse-slinging]] [[monster spell|spellcasters]]. Even for items that would display little to no real difference in function (such as most [[armor]]), blessing them can still offer vital protection—blessed objects targeted by a cursing effect will only become uncursed.
  
−
Note that using that method with [[potion of unholy water|unholy water]] will only change it to uncursed water, so you will need to use two potions of holy water to turn a stack of unholy water into a stack of holy water.  However, unholy water does have some uses, so it might be beneficial to keep it.
+
===Identification===
 +
In [[shop]]s, holy water can be easily [[Price ID|identified]] since uncursed potions of water have a base price of 0, and holy/unholy water has a base price of 100; a [[pet]] can easily reveal the beatitude of a 100zm clear potion.
  
−
===Praying at a co-aligned altar===
+
Dip-testing can be used to informally identify the BUC of water, and is best done after [[pet testing]] for any unholy water. Use a blessed, non-[[iron]] item to do so - holy water will only produce a message without consuming the potion, while uncursed water will wet the item without consuming it (which also rusts iron objects). In theory, potions can be dipped to test if they are blessed before quaffing them, but this risks diluting the potion(s) and using up the water in the process; this is also not practical for testing if other unidentified items are blessed, as such a blessed item is usually discovered this way by accident.
  
−
# Obtain some [[potion of water|potions of water]] (cursed or uncursed, it doesn't matter).
+
===Obtaining water===
−
#* You might find potions of water in the dungeon somewhere.
+
There are multiple other ways to obtain or produce holy water, each of which require other potions of water on hand, and all are discussed in the sections below. Potions of water can be created by some of the following methods:
−
#* You can convert other potions into water. [[Cancellation]] of potions makes water or [[fruit juice]]; you can also [[wet]] potions by dipping them into bodies of [[water]]. Also, dipping a [[unicorn horn]] into a potion of [[potion of blindness|blindness]], [[potion of confusion|confusion]], or [[potion of hallucination|hallucination]] will produce a potion of water.
 
−
# Go to an [[altar]] which matches your own [[alignment]].
 
−
# Drop the potions of water onto the altar.
 
−
# Now #[[pray]].
 
  
−
Provided that you can #[[pray]] safely, all of the water dropped on the altar should become holy water; you can test this by taking the water and dropping it again to check for the flash.
+
* #[[Dip]]ping another potion(s) into a [[fountain]] or [[moat|body of water]] twice will first dilute it, and then convert it to an uncursed bottle of water regardless of its original BUC.
 +
** Dropping potions in your inventory into a pool of water or walking into one with potions in your inventory works the same way, though both actions are much riskier. You will need a way to retrieve the potions afterward or a way to prevent water damage to the rest of your inventory.
 +
* [[Cancel]]ling will turn many potions into uncursed water; some other potions, such as [[potion of sickness|potions of sickness]] [[potion of booze|and booze]], will instead become [[fruit juice]]. See that article for more details.
 +
* Dipping a [[unicorn horn]] into a [[potion of blindness]], [[potion of confusion|confusion]], or [[potion of hallucination|hallucination]] will turn them into potions of water.
  
−
Note that you will still get the regular results of prayer in addition to making the water holy.
+
====Prayer and altars====
 +
By standing on a co-aligned [[altar]], placing nonblessed potions of water on it and #[[pray]]ing (while it is safe to do so), all of those potions will be blessed in addition to the regular results of a successful prayer; doing this at a cross-aligned altar will create unholy water instead and [[anger]] your god. While prayer is not always readily available, praying to make holy water has the benefit of immediately blessing unholy water without using up other resources.
  
−
===Confused remove curse===
+
====Dipping into holy water====
−
For example, if you are carrying 10 non-stacked uncursed potions of water, reading a blessed [[scroll of remove curse]] while confused gives you a 94.3% chance of holy water. You might want to unequip any uncursed armor, weapon, jewelry, or leashes first.
+
If you have at least one potion of holy water, you can #adjust all your uncursed potions of water into a single stack, then dip them into the holy water to bless the entire stack. This can be used to produce holy water more quickly and reliably than prayer, especially for a [[crowned]] player, at the slight cost of using up one of the potions; unholy water takes two such dips to unbless, and prayer is preferable for converting unholy water that you do not plan to use later.
  
−
Reading a blessed [[scroll of remove curse]] while confused has a 25% chance of blessing, 25% cursing, and 50% leaving alone each uncursed item in your main inventory, and an uncursed one affects uncursed wielded (or in-use) items.
+
====Confused scrolls of remove curse====
 +
Reading a blessed [[scroll of remove curse]] while confused has a chance of either blessing or cursing each uncursed item or stack of items in your main inventory. Each has an independently calculated chance of either being blessed (25%), cursed (25%), or left alone (50%); additionally, all uncursed items will lose formal BUC identification. For example, if you are carrying 10 non-stacked uncursed potions of water, reading a blessed [[scroll of remove curse]] while confused gives you a 94.3% chance of holy water.
  
−
If you have a magic marker, but none of your scrolls of remove curse are blessed, you can blank any other blessed scroll and write remove curse.
+
This method is often used to create both holy and unholy water, and requires the player to drop and/or stash their uncursed inventory, including any [[armor]], [[weapons]], [[jewelry]] or leashes. Once done, you can use the #adjust command to stack each of the potions and re-identify their beatitude by using an altar, [[pet testing]] them and/or dip-testing using a blessed non-iron object as mentioned above. For [[atheist]]s, this is one of the most reliable ways to obtain holy water and bless other items; using an altar in anyway will break the conduct.
  
−
===Shops===
+
===Conserving holy water===
−
Sometimes a potion of holy water will be randomly generated. In particular, an expensive potion of water in a shop must be either holy or unholy. If your [[pet]] steals it or moves over it non-reluctantly, it's holy. Shops sell holy water in 14.4% of all <!-- non-tourist-->dungeons.
+
Which items 'deserve' blessing the most depends heavily on the player and their approach; there are still certain items that serve a ubiquitous purpose, sometimes to the point of frequently appearing in [[ascension kit]]s. It is often very important to establish what items you will bless ahead of time in order to conserve the amount of holy water used. The following items are among the most common targets for blessing:
−
 
 
−
===Blessed horn of plenty===
 
−
A [[horn of plenty]] will sometimes produce potions. If the horn is blessed, any clear potions it produces will be holy water. However, horns generated on the floor of newly-visited levels are always uncursed. If you can bless a horn, you can usually make holy water directly.
 
  
 +
* A blessed [[bag of holding]] will divide the effective weight of its contents by four, comparing to an uncursed bag halving its contents' weight; this confers a great advantage in how much you can carry, lifting upwards of 200 units of weight off your back.
 +
* A blessed [[scroll of charging]] gives a recharged item more charges on average than an uncursed scroll, and thus has a better chance of restoring it to its maximum capacity of uses. This is most useful for saving a "2 blessed scrolls of charging" [[wish]] from a [[wand of wishing]].
 +
* If you use [[ranged weapon]]s, which have a chance of disappearing, blessing them drastically lowers the chances they will do so.
 +
* A blessed [[horn of plenty]] will produce blessed food and potions, useful for [[foodless]] conduct.
 +
* A blessed [[scroll of identify]] will usually identify more than one item, sometimes even your entire inventory.
 +
* A blessed [[potion of gain level]] advances your level and puts you part way to the next level, while an uncursed one only advances you to the bottom of the next level.  Early on, this can be quite useful.  Later, the XP requirements for advancing a level become so steep it doesn't help much, as advancing a level naturally would still require considerable farming.
 +
* A blessed [[scroll of genocide]] will wipe out an entire [[monster class]] as opposed to only one species. The more monsters in the class, and the more dangerous they are, the better; [[Lich]]es are an especially common target.
  
 
===Conduct considerations===
 
===Conduct considerations===
Line 75: Line 82:
 
|}
 
|}
  
−
This is an exhaustive list of ways to make holy water. 53% of all games randomly generate holy water in the [[mines]] or the [[dungeons of doom|main dungeons]] down to Medusa's Island. Water made by [[dilution]], [[cancellation]], [[unicorn horn]], or [[alchemy]] is always uncursed. Randomly generated horns of plenty are always generated uncursed, too.
+
This is an exhaustive list of ways to make holy water; 53% of all games randomly generate holy water in the [[Mines]] or the [[Dungeons of Doom|main dungeons]] down to [[Medusa's Island]].
  
−
[[Unholy water]] can be made similarly, but also by the [[curse items]] effect from [[fountain]]s, [[Monster_spells|spellcasting monsters]], [[throne]]s, [[Wizard of Yendor|Rodney]] harassment, or angry gods. Only annoying gods violates any [[conduct]].
+
==History==
 +
All potions of water were introduced in [[NetHack 1.3d]].
  
−
==Holy water conservation==
+
==Messages==
−
''Any number of stackable items'' can be dipped into ''one'' potion of holy water. So, if you have, say, 12 [[Scroll of identify | scrolls of identify]] that you want to bless, but they are scattered across various inventory slots because some are cursed, some are uncursed, some are of unknown status, and so forth, you will save holy water by first B/U/C testing them all at an [[altar]], which will cut your number of stacks down to two. Then, dip all the cursed items in one potion, and you will have a single stack of uncursed items. Dip all of them in a second potion, and they will all be blessed.
+
{{message|You feel full of awe.|You quaffed a potion of holy water, and are lawful or neutral.}}
 +
{{message|This burns like acid!|As above, but you are chaotic.}}
 +
{{message|<[[foo]]> glows amber.|You dipped a cursed object into a potion of holy water, and it is now uncursed.}}
 +
{{message|<[[foo]]> glows light blue.|You dipped an uncursed object into a potion of holy water, and it is now blessed.}}
  
−
When you are manipulating items in this fashion, you may need to un-#[[name]] items or use the [[adjust | #adjust]] command to force NetHack to merge identical items into a single inventory slot, or drop the items and pick them up again.
+
After receiving any of the above message, you will be prompted to type-name the potion if you had not already identified it.
  
−
==Strategy==
+
==Origin==
−
From the mid-game on, it is a good idea to leave a potion of holy water openly on the floor of some level you can quickly level- or branch-port to. In case you do accidentally wield a cursed two-handed weapon, you'll have a hard time retrieving it from your bag.
+
{{wikipedia|Holy water}}
−
 
+
The religion-related functions of holy water, and the fact that Priests start the game with some, are derived from the religious practices of water being blessed by a member of the clergy or other significant figure (or conversely, derived from a well or spring that considered holy). Said water is typically used for cleansing prior to baptism and spiritual cleansing in several religions, from Christianity to Sikhism; the use of holy water as a sacramental for protection against evil is common among Lutherans, Anglicans, Roman Catholics, and Eastern Christians.
−
Which items deserve blessing the most depends heavily on the player, but there are certain items that are great targets for blessing because of the advantage it confers:
 
−
 
 
−
* A blessed [[bag of holding]] will cause items within to weigh a quarter as much, as opposed to half as much in an uncursed bag; this confers a great advantage in how much you can carry, lifting off upwards of 200 units of weight off your back.
 
−
* A blessed [[potion of gain level]] advances your level and puts you part way to the next level, while an uncursed one only advances you to the bottom of the next level. Early on, this can be quite useful.  Later, the XP requirements for advancing a level become so steep it doesn't help much, as advancing a level naturally would still require considerable farming.
 
−
* A blessed [[scroll of genocide]] will wipe out an entire [[monster class]] as opposed to only one species. The more monsters in the class, and the more dangerous they are, the better; [[Lich]]es are an especially common target.
 
−
* A blessed [[scroll of charging]] always gives a recharged item its maximum number of uses. This is most useful for saving a "2 blessed scrolls of charging" [[wish]] from a [[wand of wishing]], allowing you to use it on something more useful.
 
−
* If you use [[ranged weapon]]s, which have a chance of disappearing, blessing them drastically lowers the chances they will do so.
 
−
* A blessed [[horn of plenty]] will produce blessed food and potions, useful for [[foodless]] conduct.
 
−
* A blessed [[scroll of identify]] will usually identify more than one item, sometimes even your entire inventory.
 
−
 
 
−
==SLASH'EM==
 
  
−
[[SLASH'EM]] offers two additional ways to obtain holy water.
+
==Variants==
 +
===SLASH'EM===
 +
In [[SLASH'EM]], there are additional methods to obtain holy water:
  
−
*The [[Potion of amnesia]] can be dipped into any water source, diluting it into a potion of water immediately. Unlike normal dipping, this does not change the beautitude, and can be used to create (un)holy water. Potions of amnesia can have some other useful uses however.
+
* The [[potion of amnesia]] dilutes into a potion of water immediately when dipped into any water source. Unlike normal dipping, this does not change the beatitude, and can be used to create (un)holy water.
−
*Some shops offer an "uncursing service", at 150 zorkmids (+various modifiers). If you are hallucinating, there is a 1/4 chance the shopkeeper will be distracted and accidentally bless the item.
+
* Some shops offer an uncursing service with a base price of 150 zorkmids before modifiers. If you are [[hallucinating]], there is a 1/4 chance the [[shopkeeper]] will be distracted and accidentally bless the item. This is best done with an on-demand source of hallucination (e.g. the potion or tins of [[yellow mold]] or [[violet fungus]]), a good deal of credit with the shopkeeper, an engraved or burnt [[Elbereth]] to avoid accidents, and a unicorn horn to cure the hallucination after. Remember that hallucination in [[SLASH'EM]] also messes with viewing your inventory 0 don't forget the inventory letter for your potions of water.
 +
* Occasionally upon [[sacrifice]] at an [[altar]], your god will bless the object in your primary or off-hand. This can be used with wielded potions of water; press {{kbd|x}} to swap them, and sacrifice until they become holy.
  
−
If you want to create holy water with a shops service, you should first get a good deal of credit with the shopkeeper. Then engrave or burn [[Elbereth]], to avoid accidents. And of course, having a [[unicorn horn]] to cure the hallucination in the end.
+
===dNetHack===
 +
In [[dNetHack]], you can also use shopkeeper services in the same way as SLASH'EM to create holy water. Additionally, a [[Binder]] that binds [[User:Chris/dNetHack/dNethack Roles/Binder/Marionette|Marionette]] is forbidden from drinking holy water.
  
−
To induce hallucination on demand, a [[potion of hallucination]] is the most convenient way. Otherwise, you can eat a [[yellow mold]] or a [[violet fungus]], you can farm them near by with rotting corpses.
+
[[User:Chris/dNetHack/Windowless Tower|The Windowless Tower]] has a niche with four potions of holy water on its second floor.
  
−
Don't forget that hallucination is [[SLASH'EM]] also messes up your inventory. So don't forget the inventory letter for your [[potion of water]].
+
===EvilHack===
 +
In [[EvilHack]], [[player monster]] [[Priest (player monster)|priests]] and (less commonly) [[Wizard (player monster)|wizards]] can be encountered carrying holy water.
  
 
==Encyclopedia entry==
 
==Encyclopedia entry==
Line 137: Line 142:
  
 
==See also==
 
==See also==
−
* [[unholy water]]
+
* [[Unholy water]]
−
* [[potion of water]]
+
* [[Potion of water]]
−
{{nethack-343|offset=1}}
+
{{nethack-364|offset=1}}
 
{{featured}}
 
{{featured}}
 
[[Category:Potions|Holy water]]
 
[[Category:Potions|Holy water]]

Latest revision as of 05:21, 12 February 2024

! Clear potion.png
Name holy water
Appearance blessed clear potion
Base price 100 zm
Weight 20
Monster use Will not be used by monsters.

The potion of holy water is a blessed potion of water, and appears as a "blessed clear potion" when unidentified.

Generation

All Priest(esse)s start the game with 4 potions of holy water, and Wizards have a chance of starting the game with holy water as one of their random potions.

In addition to random generation, Shops sell holy water in 14.4% of all non-Tourist dungeons.

A horn of plenty may occasionally produce a potion of water when applied, which will also be blessed if the horn is blessed.

Description

Quaffing a potion of holy water cures lycanthropy and, for non-chaotics, cures all illnesses; chaotics will take 2d6 damage instead of having illnesses cured.

You can #dip an object (or stack of objects) into holy water to uncurse or bless them, using up one potion of holy water; objects dipped into holy water do not become wet. A cursed object will be uncursed, while an uncursed object will be blessed; dipping a blessed object into holy water will simply produce an "Interesting..." message, and the potion is not consumed.

Inhaling vapors from a potion of holy water reverts you to human form if you have lycanthropy, but does not cure it; monsters hit with thrown or wielded potion of holy water take 2d6 damage if they are a demon, undead, or lycanthrope, and lycanthropes are additionally shifted to their human form.

Strategy

Holy water is one of the many methods of curse removal and one of the few means of blessing objects, so it is considered essential for almost any player to have. When blessing and/or uncursing objects, always be sure to #adjust them into a single stack first. If necessary, use #name to remove names from any named objects so that you can stack them for dipping.

Blessing and uncursing items

From the mid-game on—especially if you are frequently using two-handed weapons—consider keeping holy water and other forms of curse removal in small caches on the current level, or other levels, that you can easily access. If wielding a cursed two-handed weapon, you can retreat to a cache in order to get it uncursed. You can also dedicate a separate container, such as a sack, to holding holy water and other curse-removing items; as of 3.6.0, you can #tip containers, allowing you to get holy water in order to uncurse the two-handed weapon.

Even once your primary tools and kit are blessed, you will benefit from keeping a few potions of holy water on hand, often to bless any useful items found later on, and especially to deal with curse-slinging spellcasters. Even for items that would display little to no real difference in function (such as most armor), blessing them can still offer vital protection—blessed objects targeted by a cursing effect will only become uncursed.

Identification

In shops, holy water can be easily identified since uncursed potions of water have a base price of 0, and holy/unholy water has a base price of 100; a pet can easily reveal the beatitude of a 100zm clear potion.

Dip-testing can be used to informally identify the BUC of water, and is best done after pet testing for any unholy water. Use a blessed, non-iron item to do so - holy water will only produce a message without consuming the potion, while uncursed water will wet the item without consuming it (which also rusts iron objects). In theory, potions can be dipped to test if they are blessed before quaffing them, but this risks diluting the potion(s) and using up the water in the process; this is also not practical for testing if other unidentified items are blessed, as such a blessed item is usually discovered this way by accident.

Obtaining water

There are multiple other ways to obtain or produce holy water, each of which require other potions of water on hand, and all are discussed in the sections below. Potions of water can be created by some of the following methods:

  • #Dipping another potion(s) into a fountain or body of water twice will first dilute it, and then convert it to an uncursed bottle of water regardless of its original BUC.
    • Dropping potions in your inventory into a pool of water or walking into one with potions in your inventory works the same way, though both actions are much riskier. You will need a way to retrieve the potions afterward or a way to prevent water damage to the rest of your inventory.
  • Cancelling will turn many potions into uncursed water; some other potions, such as potions of sickness and booze, will instead become fruit juice. See that article for more details.
  • Dipping a unicorn horn into a potion of blindness, confusion, or hallucination will turn them into potions of water.

Prayer and altars

By standing on a co-aligned altar, placing nonblessed potions of water on it and #praying (while it is safe to do so), all of those potions will be blessed in addition to the regular results of a successful prayer; doing this at a cross-aligned altar will create unholy water instead and anger your god. While prayer is not always readily available, praying to make holy water has the benefit of immediately blessing unholy water without using up other resources.

Dipping into holy water

If you have at least one potion of holy water, you can #adjust all your uncursed potions of water into a single stack, then dip them into the holy water to bless the entire stack. This can be used to produce holy water more quickly and reliably than prayer, especially for a crowned player, at the slight cost of using up one of the potions; unholy water takes two such dips to unbless, and prayer is preferable for converting unholy water that you do not plan to use later.

Confused scrolls of remove curse

Reading a blessed scroll of remove curse while confused has a chance of either blessing or cursing each uncursed item or stack of items in your main inventory. Each has an independently calculated chance of either being blessed (25%), cursed (25%), or left alone (50%); additionally, all uncursed items will lose formal BUC identification. For example, if you are carrying 10 non-stacked uncursed potions of water, reading a blessed scroll of remove curse while confused gives you a 94.3% chance of holy water.

This method is often used to create both holy and unholy water, and requires the player to drop and/or stash their uncursed inventory, including any armor, weapons, jewelry or leashes. Once done, you can use the #adjust command to stack each of the potions and re-identify their beatitude by using an altar, pet testing them and/or dip-testing using a blessed non-iron object as mentioned above. For atheists, this is one of the most reliable ways to obtain holy water and bless other items; using an altar in anyway will break the conduct.

Conserving holy water

Which items 'deserve' blessing the most depends heavily on the player and their approach; there are still certain items that serve a ubiquitous purpose, sometimes to the point of frequently appearing in ascension kits. It is often very important to establish what items you will bless ahead of time in order to conserve the amount of holy water used. The following items are among the most common targets for blessing:

  • A blessed bag of holding will divide the effective weight of its contents by four, comparing to an uncursed bag halving its contents' weight; this confers a great advantage in how much you can carry, lifting upwards of 200 units of weight off your back.
  • A blessed scroll of charging gives a recharged item more charges on average than an uncursed scroll, and thus has a better chance of restoring it to its maximum capacity of uses. This is most useful for saving a "2 blessed scrolls of charging" wish from a wand of wishing.
  • If you use ranged weapons, which have a chance of disappearing, blessing them drastically lowers the chances they will do so.
  • A blessed horn of plenty will produce blessed food and potions, useful for foodless conduct.
  • A blessed scroll of identify will usually identify more than one item, sometimes even your entire inventory.
  • A blessed potion of gain level advances your level and puts you part way to the next level, while an uncursed one only advances you to the bottom of the next level. Early on, this can be quite useful. Later, the XP requirements for advancing a level become so steep it doesn't help much, as advancing a level naturally would still require considerable farming.
  • A blessed scroll of genocide will wipe out an entire monster class as opposed to only one species. The more monsters in the class, and the more dangerous they are, the better; Liches are an especially common target.

Conduct considerations

Violates Method
Atheist Water prayer
Pacifist Death drop, e. g. pudding farming
Illiterate Confused scroll of remove curse technique
Polypile Polymorph blessed potions (e. g. from throne farming) (to accomplish this without breaking any other conducts, identify blessed potions by comparing the sizes of your potion stacks and making use of the fact that uncursed potions are 6 times as likely as blessed ones.)
Wishless Wish for it directly (or for a blessed horn of plenty)
"Scumming" Find it, e.g. in starting inventory (wizard 3.6% chance, priest 100%), in shops, or in bones files.

This is an exhaustive list of ways to make holy water; 53% of all games randomly generate holy water in the Mines or the main dungeons down to Medusa's Island.

History

All potions of water were introduced in NetHack 1.3d.

Messages

You feel full of awe.
You quaffed a potion of holy water, and are lawful or neutral.
This burns like acid!
As above, but you are chaotic.
<foo> glows amber.
You dipped a cursed object into a potion of holy water, and it is now uncursed.
<foo> glows light blue.
You dipped an uncursed object into a potion of holy water, and it is now blessed.

After receiving any of the above message, you will be prompted to type-name the potion if you had not already identified it.

Origin

Wikipedia
Wikipedia has an article about:

The religion-related functions of holy water, and the fact that Priests start the game with some, are derived from the religious practices of water being blessed by a member of the clergy or other significant figure (or conversely, derived from a well or spring that considered holy). Said water is typically used for cleansing prior to baptism and spiritual cleansing in several religions, from Christianity to Sikhism; the use of holy water as a sacramental for protection against evil is common among Lutherans, Anglicans, Roman Catholics, and Eastern Christians.

Variants

SLASH'EM

In SLASH'EM, there are additional methods to obtain holy water:

  • The potion of amnesia dilutes into a potion of water immediately when dipped into any water source. Unlike normal dipping, this does not change the beatitude, and can be used to create (un)holy water.
  • Some shops offer an uncursing service with a base price of 150 zorkmids before modifiers. If you are hallucinating, there is a 1/4 chance the shopkeeper will be distracted and accidentally bless the item. This is best done with an on-demand source of hallucination (e.g. the potion or tins of yellow mold or violet fungus), a good deal of credit with the shopkeeper, an engraved or burnt Elbereth to avoid accidents, and a unicorn horn to cure the hallucination after. Remember that hallucination in SLASH'EM also messes with viewing your inventory 0 don't forget the inventory letter for your potions of water.
  • Occasionally upon sacrifice at an altar, your god will bless the object in your primary or off-hand. This can be used with wielded potions of water; press x to swap them, and sacrifice until they become holy.

dNetHack

In dNetHack, you can also use shopkeeper services in the same way as SLASH'EM to create holy water. Additionally, a Binder that binds Marionette is forbidden from drinking holy water.

The Windowless Tower has a niche with four potions of holy water on its second floor.

EvilHack

In EvilHack, player monster priests and (less commonly) wizards can be encountered carrying holy water.

Encyclopedia entry

"We want a word with you," said Ligur (in a tone of voice
intended to imply that "word" was synonymous with "horrifically
painful eternity"), and the squat demon pushed open the office
door.
The bucket teetered, then fell neatly on Ligur's head.
Drop a lump of sodium in water. Watch it flame and burn and
spin around crazily, flaring and sputtering. This was like
that, just nastier.
The demon peeled and flared and flickered. Oily brown smoke
oozed from it, and it screamed and it screamed and it screamed.
Then it crumpled, folded in on itself, and what was left lay
glistening on the burnt and blackened circle of carpet, looking
like a handful of mashed slugs.
"Hi," said Crowley to Hastur, who had been walking behind Ligur,
and had unfortunately not been so much as splashed.
There are some things that are unthinkable; there are some
depths that not even demons would believe other demons would
stoop to.
". . . Holy water. You bastard," said Hastur. "You complete
_bastard_. He hadn't never done nothing to _you_."
"Yet," corrected Crowley.

[ Good Omens, by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett ]

See also

This page may need to be updated for the current version of NetHack.

It may contain text specific to NetHack 3.6.4. Information on this page may be out of date.

Editors: After reviewing this page and making necessary edits, please change the {{nethack-364}} tag to the current version's tag or {{noversion}} as appropriate.

Retrieved from "https://nethackwiki.com/index.php?title=Potion_of_holy_water&oldid=162080"