Weapon

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In NetHack, a weapon is an item used to attack opponents.

Description

Most weapons are wielded with w and used to hit enemies; you cannot wield a weapon if you are handless or tiny.[1] To attack with a wielded weapon, simply try to move into a monster's space, or use Shift + F to attack in any direction.

Some weapons are missiles that are designed to be thrown with t (or f to fire quivered weapons), and others require a launcher to be wielded in order to shoot them as ammo - still other items are not designed as weaponry, but can be improvised to serve as one, such as a cream pie. Hitting monsters properly with weapons can increase your training in that weapon.

You can ready a second weapon for use, and use x to exchange between your primary and secondary weapons. Some roles can wield both weapons at once using the #twoweapon command. Pressing w, then - will unwield your current weapon and have you fight empty-handed; this is the default for Monks, who excel in fighting without a weapon, and Tourists that start the game without a tin opener.

Weapon generation

Randomly generated weapons have the following total probability of beatitude and enchantment:[2]

+0 +1 +2 +3 +4 >+4
Blessed 4.09% 3.03% 1.01% 0.34% 0.11% 0.06%
Uncursed 73.64% 3.03% 1.01% 0.34% 0.11% 0.06%
+0 -1 -2 -3 -4 <-4
Cursed 4.09% 6.06% 2.02% 0.67% 0.22% 0.11%

Given the BUC status, the chance of enchantment is:

+0 +1 +2 +3 +4 >+4
Blessed 47.37% 35.09% 11.70% 3.90% 1.30% 0.65%
Uncursed 94.19% 3.88% 1.29% 0.43% 0.14% 0.07%
+0 -1 -2 -3 -4 <-4
Cursed 31.03% 45.98% 15.33% 5.11% 1.70% 0.85%

After the type of weapon is chosen, if an artifact matching the base type exists, there is a 5% chance that the weapon is converted into an artifact.

Poisonable weapons are generated as poisoned 1% of the time.

Weapons and erosion

Many weapons are subject to possible erosion from various sources, such as rust traps and monsters with eroding attacks (typically in the form of a passive attack); erosion can significantly reduce a weapon's effectiveness. Most metallic weapons can rust or corrode, while wooden weapons can be burnt.

A weapon can be made erodeproof by wielding it as a primary weapon and reading a scroll of enchant weapon while confused; this also repairs any current erosion on the weapon in question. Some weapons can also have their erosion repaired by dipping the weapon in a potion of oil.

Weapon use by monsters

A monster wielding a weapon will have the damage from a wielded weapon added to the base attack damage.[3][4] For example, a hill orc has a 1d6 weapon attack (as detailed in its infobox); if it attacks you or a monster with an uncursed +0 scimitar, which deals 1d8 damage to small and large monsters, the weapon attack serves as the base damage that is further modified by the weapon damage. In this case, the hill orc deals 1-6 damage, plus 1-8 damage from the scimitar.

Table of weapons and their properties

Weapon Skill Cost Hands Weight Prob (‰) Dam. (S) Dam. (L) Material Appearance Tile Glyph
orcish dagger dagger 4 zm 1 10 12 2 2 iron crude dagger Orcish dagger.png )
dagger dagger 4 zm 1 10 30 2.5 2 iron Dagger.png )
silver dagger dagger 40 zm 1 12 3 2.5 2 silver Silver dagger.png )
athame dagger 4 zm 1 10 N/A 2.5 2 iron Athame.png )
elven dagger dagger 4 zm 1 10 10 3 2 wood runed dagger Elven dagger.png )
worm tooth knife 2 zm 1 20 N/A 1.5 1.5 undefined Worm tooth.png )
knife (shito) knife 4 zm 1 5 20 2 1.5 iron Knife.png )
stiletto knife 4 zm 1 5 5 2 1.5 iron Stiletto.png )
scalpel knife 4 zm 1 5 N/A 2 2 metal Scalpel.png )
crysknife knife 100 zm 1 20 N/A 5.5 5.5 mineral Crysknife.png )
axe axe 8 zm 1 60 40 3.5 2.5 iron Axe.png )
battle-axe axe 40 zm 2 120 10 7 8.5 iron double-headed axe Battle-axe.png )
pick-axe pick-axe 50 zm 1 100 tool 3.5 2 iron Pick-axe.png (
dwarvish mattock pick-axe 50 zm 2 120 13 6.5 11.5 iron broad pick Dwarvish mattock.png )
orcish short sword short sword 10 zm 1 30 3 3 4.5 iron crude short sword Orcish short sword.png )
short sword (wakizashi) short sword 10 zm 1 30 8 3.5 4.5 iron Short sword.png )
dwarvish short sword short sword 10 zm 1 30 2 4 4.5 iron broad short sword Dwarvish short sword.png )
elven short sword short sword 10 zm 1 30 2 4.5 4.5 wood runed short sword Elven short sword.png )
broadsword (ninja-to) broadsword 10 zm 1 70 8 5 4.5 iron Broadsword.png )
runesword broadsword 300 zm 1 40 N/A 5 4.5 iron runed broadsword Runesword.png )
elven broadsword broadsword 10 zm 1 70 4 6 4.5 wood runed broadsword Elven broadsword.png )
long sword long sword 15 zm 1 40 50 4.5 6.5 iron Long sword.png )
katana long sword 80 zm 1 40 4 5.5 6.5 iron samurai sword Katana.png )
two-handed sword two-handed sword 50 zm 2 150 22 6.5 10.5 iron Two-handed sword.png )
tsurugi two-handed sword 500 zm 2 60 N/A 8.5 11.5 metal long samurai sword Tsurugi.png )
scimitar scimitar 15 zm 1 40 15 4.5 4.5 iron curved sword Scimitar.png )
silver saber saber 75 zm 1 40 6 4.5 4.5 silver Silver saber.png )
club club 3 zm 1 30 12 3.5 2 wood Club.png )
aklys club 4 zm 1 15 8 3.5 2 iron thonged club Aklys.png )
mace mace 5 zm 1 30 40 4.5 3.5 iron Mace.png )
morning star morning star 10 zm 1 120 12 5 4.5 iron Morning star.png )
flail (nunchaku) flail 4 zm 1 15 40 4.5 5 iron Flail.png )
grappling hook flail 50 zm 1 30 tool 1.5 3.5 iron iron hook Grappling hook.png (
war hammer hammer 5 zm 1 50 15 3.5 2.5 iron War hammer.png )
quarterstaff quarterstaff 5 zm 2 40 11 3.5 3.5 wood staff Quarterstaff.png )
partisan polearms 10 zm 2 80 5 3.5 4.5 iron vulgar polearm Partisan.png )
fauchard polearms 5 zm 2 60 6 3.5 4.5 iron pole sickle Fauchard.png )
glaive (naginata) polearms 6 zm 2 75 8 3.5 5.5 iron single-edged polearm Glaive.png )
bec-de-corbin polearms 8 zm 2 100 4 4.5 3.5 iron beaked polearm Bec de corbin.png )
spetum polearms 5 zm 2 50 5 4.5 7 iron forked polearm Spetum.png )
lucern hammer polearms 7 zm 2 150 5 5 3.5 iron pronged polearm Lucern hammer.png )
guisarme polearms 5 zm 2 80 6 5 4.5 iron pruning hook Guisarme.png )
ranseur polearms 6 zm 2 50 5 5 5 iron hilted polearm Ranseur.png )
voulge polearms 5 zm 2 125 4 5 5 iron pole cleaver Voulge.png )
bill-guisarme polearms 7 zm 2 120 4 5 5.5 iron hooked polearm Bill-guisarme.png )
bardiche polearms 7 zm 2 120 4 5 7.5 iron long poleaxe Bardiche.png )
halberd polearms 10 zm 2 150 8 5.5 7 iron angled poleaxe Halberd.png )
orcish spear spear 3 zm 1 30 13 3 4.5 iron crude spear Orcish spear.png )
spear spear 3 zm 1 30 50 3.5 4.5 iron Spear.png )
silver spear spear 40 zm 1 36 2 3.5 4.5 silver Silver spear.png )
elven spear spear 3 zm 1 30 10 4 4.5 wood runed spear Elven spear.png )
dwarvish spear spear 3 zm 1 35 12 4.5 4.5 iron stout spear Dwarvish spear.png )
javelin spear 3 zm 1 20 10 3.5 3.5 iron throwing spear Javelin.png )
trident trident 5 zm 1 25 8 4.5 7.5 iron Trident.png )
lance1 lance 10 zm 1 180 4 3.5 4.5 iron Lance.png )
orcish bow bow 60 zm 1 30 12 1.5 1.5 wood crude bow Orcish bow.png )
orcish arrow2 bow 2 zm 1 1 20 3 3.5 iron crude arrow Orcish arrow.png )
bow bow 60 zm 1 30 24 1.5 1.5 wood Bow.png )
arrow2 bow 2 zm 1 1 55 3.5 3.5 iron Arrow.png )
elven bow bow 60 zm 1 30 12 1.5 1.5 wood runed bow Elven bow.png )
elven arrow2 bow 2 zm 1 1 20 4 3.5 wood runed arrow Elven arrow.png )
yumi bow 60 zm 1 30 0 1.5 1.5 wood long bow Yumi.png )
ya2 bow 4 zm 1 1 15 4 4 metal bamboo arrow Bamboo arrow.png )
silver arrow2 bow 5 zm 1 1 12 3.5 3.5 silver Silver arrow.png )
sling sling 20 zm 1 3 40 1.5 1.5 leather Sling.png )
flint stone2 sling 1 zm 1 10 gem 3.5 3.5 mineral gray stone Gray stone.png *
crossbow crossbow 40 zm 1 50 45 1.5 1.5 wood Crossbow.png )
crossbow bolt2 crossbow 2 zm 1 1 55 3.5 4.5 iron Crossbow bolt.png )
dart2 dart 2 zm 1 1 60 2 1.5 iron Dart.png )
shuriken2 shuriken 5 zm 1 1 35 4.5 3.5 iron throwing star Shuriken.png )
boomerang2 boomerang 20 zm 1 5 15 5 5 wood Boomerang.png )
bullwhip whip 4 zm 1 20 2 1.5 1 leather Bullwhip.png )
rubber hose whip 3 zm 1 20 N/A 2.5 2 plastic Rubber hose.png )
unicorn horn unicorn horn 100 zm 2 20 tool 6.5 6.5 bone Unicorn horn.png (

(‰) Relative probability.[5] Figures are given as probability in a thousand, or permille.

() Objects are significantly more common in play than their probability would otherwise imply due to monster starting inventory or certain traps.

(1) When the user is riding, the lance gets an additional 2d10 in case of a successful joust. The victim is also automatically stunned and thrown back a square.

(2) This is a projectile weapon that is meant to be thrown or fired, not wielded, in order to deal damage.

Strategy

A significant part of NetHack strategy comes down to weapon selection. On a basic level, curse-testing any weapons you find before wielding them is ideal, whether it be via a starting pet or an altar.

Erodeproofing

Once you have settled on your main weapon(s), erodeproof them as soon as you can in order to preserve their damage output. The urgency of this varies with your role and weapon(s) of choice: for instance, while most wooden and organic weapons risk being burnt, this is only a risk against monsters with fiery passive attacks (i.e. the fire elemental, fire vortex, and red mold), and fire traps also do not affect weapons.[6] Therefore, you can save scrolls of enchant weapon by switching to a metallic weapon or other burn-proof alternative against those monsters.

Weapons and monster size

Monsters by size
Main article: Physical size

Another aspect of weapon selection is accounting for the physical size of hostile monsters that you will face in the various stages of the game. As shown in the table above, various weapons have different hit dice against monsters depending on whether they are small (medium-sized or smaller) or large (large-sized or bigger).

The majority of monsters in the game are classified as small; this includes most of the monsters you encounter early on, with large monsters being intermittent and often more difficult in comparison. In contrast, the mid-game tends towards a mix of medium-sized monsters and larger; during the late game and end game, a majority of the most threatening monsters you will face - the Wizard of Yendor, the high priest of Moloch, and many of the Astral Plane denizens - are at least medium-sized, and most of the demon princes in Gehennom are large minus the dangerous but rarely-seen Dispater.

Fighting weaponless

In addition to being the preferred combat style of Monks, unwielding a weapon is viable if you must take on weapon-hazardous monsters such as acid blobs or rust monsters in melee, provided you lack a resistant weapon (e.g. a silver weapon or unicorn horn).

Encyclopedia entry

A weapon is a device for making your enemy change his mind.

[ The Vor Game, by Lois McMaster Bujold ]

See also

References

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

It may contain text specific to NetHack 3.4.3. Information on this page may be out of date.

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