Scroll of destroy armor

"Destroy armor" redirects here. For the monster spell, see Destroy armor (monster spell).

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Name	destroy armor
Appearance	random
Base price	100 zm
Weight	5
Ink to write	5-9
Monster use	Will not be used by monsters.

Reading a scroll of destroy armor can destroy, lower enchantment by one, remove erodeproofing from, or erodeproof, one piece of armor.

Identification

This scroll is one reason that randomly read-testing scrolls is typically a bad idea. Wearing only non-cursed, disposable, "junk" armor makes this scroll safe to read. Removing all armor before reading will abuse strength and constitution, which, while not ideal, may be tolerable. If you have the option of price identification, remember that this scroll is in the same category as the scroll of fire, another usually unpleasant surprise.

Effects and messages

The armor affected is chosen by the function some_armor.

• It starts with the outermost layer you are currently wearing. "Outermost" means that a cloak protects body armor which protects a shirt.
• It looks at your helmet, gloves, boots, and shield in that order. For each one that you are wearing, there is a 75% chance the item will be selected over any previously selected item.
• If you are wearing a full set of armor the chances are:

• 0.39% cloak
• 1.17% helmet
• 4.69% gloves
• 18.75% boots
• 75.00% shield

A non-cursed scroll destroys the armor. If a cursed scroll targets cursed armor, it lowers the armor's enchantment by one instead of destroying it (to a minimum of -7) and stuns you for 10-19 turns. Reading a non-cursed scroll while confused removes erodeproofing. But reading a cursed scroll while confused actually erodeproofs a piece of armor. This does not repair it if damaged the way reading a scroll of enchant armor while confused does. See the chart below for full details.

Condition	Effect	Messages
Not wearing armor	Abuses your strength and constitution.	"You have a strange feeling for a moment, then it passes." (beginner not hallucinating) "You have a normal feeling for a moment, then it passes." (beginner hallucinating) "Your bones itch." (confused) "Your skin itches." (not confused)
blessed or uncursed	Destroys one random worn piece of armor.	"Your cloak crumbles and turns to dust!" "Your armor turns to dust and falls to the <floor>!" "Your shirt crumbles into tiny threads and falls apart!" "Your helmet turns to dust and is blown away!" "Your gloves vanish!" "Your boots disintegrate!" "Your shield crumbles away!"
cursed	Selects one random worn piece of armor. If the armor is not cursed, then same effect as an uncursed scroll. Otherwise, you are stunned for 10 to 19 (more) turns and your armor loses one enchantment if it is -6 or greater.	"Your <armor> vibrates."
non-cursed and confused	Removes erodeproofing from one random worn piece of armor.	"Your <armor> glows purple for a moment." (unblind) "Your <armor> vibrates for a moment." (blind)
cursed and confused	Makes one random worn armor erodeproof. Does NOT repair damage	"Your <armor> glows purple for a moment." (unblind) "Your <armor> vibrates for a moment." (blind)

Strategy

This scroll is one of the ways to get rid of a cursed piece of armor; simply remove all but the cursed pieces and read a noncursed scroll.

Reading a cursed scroll of destroy armor while confused will fooproof a random piece of worn armor. This is a good use of the scroll if you are not in need of the other function of it. It will not, however, repair any damage. For that, you could read a confused scroll of enchant armor, but using cursed scrolls of destroy armor saves scrolls of enchant armor for their primary purpose. A scroll of destroy armor also costs less ink to write with a magic marker.

References

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It may contain text specific to NetHack 3.6.0. Information on this page may be out of date.

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