Wand of wishing
| / | |
|---|---|
| Name | wishing |
| Appearance | random |
| Abundance | 0.5% |
| Base price | 500 zm |
| Weight | 7 |
| Type | non-directional |
| Maximum charges | 3 |
| Monster use | Will not be used by monsters. |
A wand of wishing is a type of wand that appears in NetHack, and is one of the most sought-after wands in the game.
Contents
Generation
A game started in explore mode will start the hero with an uncursed wand of wishing that has 3 charges.[1][2] Outside this circumstance, a wand of wishing will never be generated for a hero in a role that starts the game with a random wand (i.e. Wizards).[3] A wished-for a wand of wishing will have a recharge counter of 1, and has a 1⁄10 chance of having zero charges and a single wrestable wish; otherwise, it will be cancelled and useless.
Wands of wishing are among the rarest wand types, and make up 1⁄200 (0.5%) of all wands randomly generated on the ground, in general shops or as death drops. Quality apparel and accessories shops can also stock wands of wishing.
A wand of wishing is always generated in a chest within one of the turrets of the Castle at level creation.
Other than the explore mode wand, a wand of wishing generates with a single charge.[4]
Description
Zapping or engraving with a charged wand of wishing will auto-identify the wand and allow a hero that has at least zero luck to make a wish, which will increase prayer time out even if the hero does not wish for anything.[5][6][7] Zapping the wand with negative luck has a chance of wasting the charge (and the wish) with no effect, with the chance increasing by 1⁄5 for each point of negative luck.[8]
Recharging a wand of wishing adds a single charge.[9] Attempting to recharge a wand of wishing a second time causes it to explode.[10] Charging a wand over three charges (i.e. the explore mode wand) also causes an explosion[11], but it's safe to recharge an unzapped wand, leaving it at (1:2).
Strategy
If you come across a wand with a base cost of 500 in a shop, it is either a wand of wishing or a wand of death, both of which are well worth purchasing even if you must take the time for credit cloning or gathering junk.
Charging
Before making your first wish, consider how you plan to recharge the wand to access the second one. An obvious solution a scroll of charging, which your character may already have. If not, consider to wish for 2 or 3 blessed scrolls of charging; if your quantity is honored, you can use one to recharge the wand, and have one or two left over to use for other purposes. If you only receive one scroll, however, then your first wish was effectively void.
Alternatively, the Platinum Yendorian Express Card can be invoked to recharge the wand, and a neutral non-Tourist can wish for it. Blessed and uncursed charging are functionally equivalent when recharging a wand of wishing, and the Card is a useful artifact in its own right. Note that the Card will blast you for up to 40 damage (halved with magic resistance) when you receive it, and again when you invoke it. Wishing for the Card may fail if at least two artifacts have been generated already, and receiving the Card may cause further artifact wishes to fail.
Another possibility is to wish for a magic marker and write a scroll of charging; any remaining ink can be used to write other scrolls or spellbooks. A Wizard with at least 11 luck is all but guaranteed to write the unidentified scroll on the first try; for non-Wizards, this will take about three tries, and an average of 36 charges, but potentially more. Consider using your first charging scroll on the marker itself, and then writing another for the wand.
History
The wand of wishing first appears in Hack 1.0.
In NetHack 1.3d and NetHack 1.4f, a wand of wishing can be found underneath an enormous rock within a randomized dead end in each of the maze levels created deep in the dungeon.[12][13] In NetHack 2.2a and 2.3e, the maze level beneath the floor where Medusa is found is guaranteed to generate the wand of wishing and the rock placed atop it, while every other maze level below has a 1⁄10 chance of generating the wand.[14][15]
Prior to NetHack 5.0.0, a wand of wishing generated with 1-3 charges; this was changed in the process of spreading guaranteed wishes out through the late game.
Variants
Many NetHack variants alter wands of wishing to provide fewer wishes per wand and spread those wishes out across the later parts of the game. Some variants may remove the wand entirely and replace them with different wish sources.
UnNetHack
In UnNetHack, wands of wishing are generated as being recharged once (1:x) and thus cannot be charged again. This reduces the amount of wishes that can be obtained from the wand to 1-4, counting the potential to wrest a last wish: wands with zero charges in UnNetHack can only be zapped once before they turn to dust, but in exchange they have a higher chance of successfully wresting a final charge—the chance is 1⁄5 for blessed wands, 1⁄6 for uncursed wands and 1⁄7 for cursed wands.
Additionally, wands of wishing are the only source available for wishes that can create magical items: the shield of reflection is non-magical in UnNetHack so that a source of reflection remains available from other wish sources as well.
dNetHack
In dNetHack, notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack, wands of wishing have been removed and replaced with rings of wishes and candles of invocation.
NetHack Fourk
In NetHack Fourk, random wands of wishing are generated as being recharged once, similar to UnNetHack, but wresting is made easier compared to NetHack and still allows multiple attempts. To compensate for this, Fourk adds a guranteed scroll of wishing to each of Orcus-town, the top floor of Vlad's Tower, and the top floor of the Wizard's Tower.
xNetHack
In xNetHack, wands of wishing cannot be recharged, though their state is displayed as (0:x) rather than (1:x). When they reach 0 charges, they immediately turn to dust, so wresting them is impossible.
They are no longer generated randomly; instead, statically-placed wands of wishing are found in the Castle, the top floor of Vlad's Tower, the Fake Wizard's Tower that lacks the magic portal, the top floor of the real Wizard's Tower, and the northeastern room of Moloch's Sanctum. All of these are generated with 1 charge, except the Castle's, which has 2.
SpliceHack
In SpliceHack, wands of wishing are handled the same as in xNetHack, with several individual wands scattered across Gehennom, although the wand found in Vlad's Castle is cursed.
EvilHack
In EvilHack, wands of wishing are very rare to find randomly, and all wands are always generated as charged once already (1:x).
As of version 0.9.0, there are three guaranteed wands of wishing in the game:
- The Castle's wand is the first wand, and has a fixed two charges (1:2).
- The second wand is obtained by destroying Vecna, and appears in a similar manner to The Eye of Vecna or The Hand of Vecna—its number of charges will be random (1:x), and it will always generate as erosion-proof in case Vecna is destroyed over lava.
- The third and final wand can be found in the crystal chest in the top level of the Wizard's tower, and the chest is placed where the Wizard of Yendor himself is generated at level creation. This wand always has a singular charge (1:1).
References
- ↑ src/u_init.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 194
- ↑ src/u_init.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 871
- ↑ src/u_init.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 998
- ↑ src/mkobj.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 1116
- ↑ src/zap.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 2175
- ↑ src/zap.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 2181: calls makewish()
- ↑ src/zap.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 5286: makewish() function
- ↑ src/zap.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 2177
- ↑ src/zap.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 738
- ↑ src/zap.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 761
- ↑ src/zap.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 781
- ↑ mkmaze.c in NetHack 1.3d, line 49
- ↑ mkmaze.c in NetHack 1.4f, line 48
- ↑ mkmaze.c in NetHack 2.2a, line 68
- ↑ mkmaze.c in NetHack 2.3e, line 49
