Uruk-hai shield
[ Uruk-hai shield 
| |
|---|---|
| Appearance | white-handed shield |
| Slot | shield |
| AC | 1 |
| Special | (none) |
| Base price | 7 zm |
| Weight | 50 |
| Material | iron |
The Uruk-hai shield is a kind of shield. When unidentified, it is a white-handed shield. (This is not an error for "white-handled"—the shield does not have a white handle but the image of a white hand, which is reflected in the default tileset image for the item. Compare the red-eyed shield.)
Since Uruk-hai tend to be more dangerous than Mordor orcs, because of their use of poisoned arrows, one might expect the Uruk-hai shield to be superior to the orcish shield used by Mordor orcs, but in practice the two shields are identical in all but name and appearance.
Generation
As its name suggests, the Uruk-hai shield is usually encountered as part of the starting inventory of Uruk-hai (with about a 2/3 chance).[1] Orc-captains may start with an Uruk-hai shield or an orcish shield, with a 1/3 chance of each.[2]
Mythology
The white hand is the symbol of the wizard Saruman, one of the antagonists of The Lord of the Rings, who raised an army of Uruk-hai in an attempt to rival the titular "Lord of the Rings", Sauron. The white hand was a deliberate imitation of the red eye used by Sauron.
Strategy
The high weight and poor armor make this a bad choice for almost all players. Even players who desperately need a shield should replace an Uruk-hai shield with any alternative shield they find. The Uruk-hai shield is mainly useful for role-playing, and for the racial armor unofficial conduct.
UnNetHack
Uruk-hai shields are considered racial equipment for orcs, for purposes of the racial AC bonus in UnNetHack[3].
