Crystal plate mail

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[   crystal plate mail   Crystal plate mail.png
Appearance crystal plate mail
Slot body armor
AC 7
Special
Base price 820 zm
Weight 450
Material glass

Crystal plate mail is a type of armor that appears in NetHack. It is made of glass and weighs 450 aum like other plate armor (i.e., plate mail and bronze plate mail).

Generation

A set of crystal plate mail is guaranteed on the second floor of Vlad's Tower.

High-ranking mercenaries such as lieutenants and army and watch captains have a chance of generating with crystal plate mail. Player monster barbarians, priests and valkyries have a 12 chance to force a random body armor with at least 5 base AC instead of dragon scale mail[1][2][3] - that armor has a 18 of being crystal plate mail, for an effective chance of 6.25%.[4][5]

Description

When worn, it provides 7 AC and MC2, similar to plate mail. Being made of glass, crystal plate mail does not inhibit spellcasting and is immune to erosion.

Strategy

Crystal plate mail is the second-best armor in the game that does not inhibit spellcasting, after dragon scale mail. However, it has little practical use due to its weight: roles who would most benefit from a high-AC armor that doesn't inhibit spellcasting are precisely those who cannot afford to carry a heavy weight, since most spellcasters start with low strength. Wizards and other casters that could raise their strength to a sufficient level where this armor would be worth considering will typically either have: A) a means of obtaining dragon scale mail, or B) a low enough AC that the additional protection is not worth the weight penalty.

Even characters with high strength will usually prefer a mithril-coat until they obtain dragon scale mail; a dwarvish mithril-coat is 300 aum lighter (nearly a third of the strongest character's carrying capacity) while providing only one fewer point of AC. Characters who can't afford to use metallic armor will usually prefer a studded leather armor.

As crystal plate mail is fragile and easily broken unless worn, be careful when handling it. In particular, beware of using force bolts or a wand of striking in a shop selling crystal plate mail - it is expensive enough that most early characters will not be able to pay off the shopkeeper if they break any.

History

Crystal plate mail is introduced in NetHack 1.3d.

Variants

UnNetHack

In UnNetHack, the Knight gets a weight reduction for any body armor heavier than studded leather armor, making crystal plate mail a somewhat more feasible option for them.

dNetHack

In dNetHack, there is now crystal armor for each part of the body - crystal armor doubles enchantment bonuses (adding full enchantment to both AC and DR, rather than half to each) and can be enchanted to +7, so a fully enchanted crystal plate mail can provide high defense.

Crystal plate mail still does not inhibit spellcasting, and its weight is also reduced to a more tolerable 250 aum, but it no longer provides any magic cancellation. A set can still be found in the same place within Vlad the Impaler's dwelling, which is now the Windowless Tower.

For Samurai, crystal plate mail goes by the name "jade o-yoroi".

EvilHack

In EvilHack, crystal plate mail is changed considerably. Its weight is reduced to 150 aum, and its base material is gemstone instead of glass, making it shatterproof. It is also immune to disintegration and the revamped destroy armor monster spell. EvilHack also applies a spellcasting penalty to all roles for any worn body armor, with crystal plate mail as the sole exception to this rule.

References