Cloak of protection
[  [  [  [  cloak of protection | |
|---|---|
| Appearance | random |
| Slot | cloak |
| AC | 3 |
| Special | |
| Base price | 50 zm |
| Weight | 10 |
| Material | cloth |
A cloak of protection is a type of magical cloak that appears in NetHack. It is made of cloth and has a randomized appearance when unidentified—the default one associated with it is a "tattered cape".[1]
Generation
Cloaks of protection make up 11⁄1000 (1.1%) of all armor that is randomly generated on the ground, in general shops or as death drops. Used armor dealerships and antique weapon outlets can also stock cloaks of protection.
Some monsters can be generated with cloaks of protection.
- Aligned clerics, high priests and the Arch Priest each have an effective 2⁄21 chance of generating with a cloak of protection.[2]
- Player monsters other than monks that are generated on the Astral Plane have an effective 77624 chance (~12.34%) chance of generating with a cloak of protection as their initial cloak before role-based replacements, with cases specific to the helm listed below:[4][5]
Description
While worn, a cloak of protection grants 3 base AC and MC3. Wearing or taking off a cloak of protection will auto-identify it.
Strategy
The cloak of protection is the only item that grants MC3 entirely by itself, making it a strong option for heroes without strong ranged attacks to defend against certain attacks such as the disenchanter's bite attack (but not its passive disenchantment) and the level drain attacks of wraith and vampire monsters. Heroes that have sources of magic resistance outside of the cloak slot and can do without a cloak of displacement may consider this cloak a viable choice for their ascension kits, e.g. pairing the cloak with gray dragon scale mail and an amulet or shield of reflection
Identification
A cloak of protection is trivial to identify by wearing it once it has been either curse-tested using a pet or verified as not cursed at an altar. For price identification, both it and the cloak of displacement have a base price of 50zm.
History
The cloak of protection first appears in NetHack 3.0.0. From this version to NetHack 3.4.3, several other pieces of armor provide MC3, including four other cloaks—the cloak of magic resistance in particular is the preferred source of MC3 for these versions, with its magic resistance providing much more value compared to the cloak of protection's +2 extra base AC. NetHack 3.6.0 makes adjustments so that the cloak of protection is the only piece of armor to give MC3 while worn.
The cloak of protection's generation probability has also fluctuated over its appearances: from NetHack 3.1.0 to NetHack 3.3.1, the cloak makes up 1⁄100 (1%) of all randomly-generated armor, while from NetHack 3.4.0 to NetHack 3.6.7, it makes up 9⁄1000 (0.9%) of all randomly-generated armor.
Variants
NetHack variants based on NetHack 3.4.3 and earlier versions may maintain similar magic cancellation values for the cloak of protection and some other pieces of armor as those versions do, while others may reduce the amount of cloaks that grant MC3 and/or armor granting MC3 in general to make the cloak of protection more useful. Some NetHack variants based NetHack 3.6.0 and later versions typically retain the cloak of protection as the sole cloak that grants MC3, and may also introduce additional sources of MC3 for other slots.
SLASH'EM
In SLASH'EM, the cloak of protection is one of six cloaks that grants MC3 while worn.
Upgrading a cloak of protection successfully will produce either an oilskin cloak or elven cloak with equal probability, while upgrading either an oilskin cloak or elven cloak successfully has a 1⁄4 chance of producing a cloak of protection.[8][9]
SporkHack
In Sporkhack, the cloak of protection is one of five cloaks to grant MC3, and the list of armor that does so is unchanged from NetHack 3.4.3.
Wizards start each game with a cloak of protection instead of a cloak of magic resistance.[10]
dNetHack
In dNetHack, notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack, the cloak of protection grants 3 base AC, 3 base DR and MC3 while worn, and can be safely enchanted to +7. Combined with splitting damage reduction and other changes to the AC system, this makes the cloak far more useful beyond solely being a source of MC3 (which several other items can grant): a dragonhide cloak of protection is a valuable wish candidate for defense, providing 9 AC and 10 DR at an enchantment of +7.
Amm Kamerel wizard leaders will always generate with a cloak of protection.
A cloak of protection can be used to repair the ballistic base layer of imperial elven body armor, granting half physical damage while that armor is worn.
SpliceHack
In SpliceHack, the cloak of protection is the sole armor item that grants MC3 while worn, as in NetHack 3.6.0 and later versions.
A cloak of protection can be created at a furnace by combining a plain cloak and an amulet of guarding.
EvilHack
In EvilHack, all non-giant Infidels start the game with a cursed and fireproof +0 cloak of protection. EvilHack also introduces the gauntlets of protection: they are a set of gloves that offers MC3 and higher AC, and can be worn by giant heroes (who cannot wear a majority of torso armor) and tortle heroes (who cannot wear any torso armor).
The Archbishop of Moloch has a 1⁄3 chance of generating with a cloak of protection. Player monster infidels that are not giants are very likely to generate with a cloak of protection, and the cloak is also used in several kits for level 20 player monsters (minus giants and tortles).
SlashTHEM
In addition to SLASH'EM details, SlashTHEM introduces Blackshroud, a neutral artifact cloak of protection that grants warning, drain resistance and acts as a luckstone while it is worn.
References
- ↑ include/objects.h in NetHack 5.0.0, line 637
- ↑ src/makemon.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 721-L725
- ↑ include/objects.h in NetHack 5.0.0, line 623-650
- ↑ src/mplayer.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 152-L153: Default equipment; the helm is chosen from within the range of oilskin cloaks to cloaks of displacement inclusively in objects.h, using normal generation odds[3]
- ↑ src/mplayer.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 201: monk playermons will always have robes
- ↑ src/mplayer.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 210-L211: chance of robe for cleric playermons
- ↑ src/mplayer.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 241-L245
- ↑ potion.c in SLASH'EM 0.0.7E7F2, line 2312
- ↑ potion.c in SLASH'EM 0.0.7E7F2, line 2324
- ↑ src/u_init.c in SporkHack 0.7.0, line 164
