Quarterstaff
) 
| |
|---|---|
| Name | quarterstaff |
| Appearance | staff |
| Damage vs. small | 1d6 |
| Damage vs. large | 1d6 |
| To-hit bonus | +0 |
| Weapon skill | [[quarterstaff]] |
| Size | two-handed |
| Base price | 5 zm (+10/positive enchant) |
| Weight | 40 |
| Material | wood |
A quarterstaff (plural quarterstaffs or quarterstaves) is a type of weapon that appears in NetHack. It is a two-handed melee weapon that uses the quarterstaff skill. It is made of wood and simply appears as a staff when unidentified.
The quarterstaff is the base item type for the artifact The Staff of Aesculapius.
Generation
Wizards start the game with a blessed +1 quarterstaff.[1]
Quarterstaves make up 11⁄1000 (1.1%) of all weapons that randomly generated on the ground, in general shops or as death drops. Used armor dealerships and antique weapon outlets can also stock quarterstaves.
Some monsters can be generated with a quarterstaff.
- Arch-liches have an effective 1⁄117 chance (~0.85%) of being generated with a quarterstaff, but they lack any weapon attacks and so will not use it in combat.[2][3]
- Neferet the Green, the quest leader for the Wizard quest, is always generated with a +5 quarterstaff.[4]
- Player monsters that are not monks and are generated on the Astral Plane have a chance slightly lower than 1% (111164, or ~0.95%) of generating with a quarterstaff as their initial weapon before role-based replacements are applied:[6][7]
- Healers have a 3⁄4 chance of their initial weapon being made into a quarterstaff.[8]
- Wizards, including Newt from the Wizard quest, have an effective 3⁄8 chance of their initial weapon being made into a quarterstaff.[9]
Wood golems may leave behind wooden objects as a special death drop instead of a corpse that each have a roughly 1⁄2 chance of being a quarterstaff.[10]
Quarterstaff skill
| Quarterstaff | |
|---|---|
| Max | Role |
| Basic | |
| Skilled | |
| Expert | |
Only quarterstaves use the quarterstaff skill.
Description
A quarterstaff deals 1d6 blunt damage to all monsters, and provides a small bonus to the hero's spellcasting while wielded[11]—wielding a cursed quarterstaff does not block the hero's spellcasting. As a two-handed weapon, the hero gains a 3⁄2 damage bonus from their strength when attacking with a quarterstaff in melee, and has a chance of performing a shattering blow that destroys the target's weapon and may cause them to flee.[12][13]
In terms of monster weapon preference, monsters that are not wearing a shield will prefer a quarterstaff to a javelin, and will prefer a bullwhip or better to the quarterstaff.[14][15]
Strategy
The quarterstaff is a more than adequate starting weapon for a Wizard, but at 1d6 damage it is much less effective in general melee combat for a hero than other two-handed weapons (e.g., a battle-axe or two-handed sword). A Wizard in the early game may still consider enchanting theirs to survive.
History
The quarterstaff first appears in NetHack 3.0.0. From this version to NetHack 3.6.7, including some variants based on that version, wood golems always leave behind a pile of 2-8 quarterstaves as a special death drop instead of a corpse.[16] NetHack 5.0.0 changes the wood golem's death drop via commit e5c73d01 to add other wooden items. Additionally, wielding a cursed quarterstaff blocks the hero's spellcasting in versions up to NetHack 3.6.7—NetHack 5.0.0 changes this via commit 780d30ec so that a cursed quarterstaff does not block spellcasting while wielded, and adds the wielded quarterstaff's bonus to spellcasting via commit 780d30ec, with both features adapted from variants such as NetHack Fourk and FIQHack.
The Wizard's starting quarterstaff is introduced in NetHack 3.3.0, which merged the influential Wizard Patch against 3.2.X versions into the mainline game[17]—in NetHack 3.2.3 and previous versions, including some variants based on those versions, their starting weapon is a +1 athame.[18] This is likely intended to counterbalance the Wizard's increased power from the redesigned spellcasting system, which allows more frequent casting of spells, and also has the effect of removing most of the Wizard's ability to engrave a semi-permanent Elbereth with only their starting equipment.
Neferet the Green's quarterstaff is added in NetHack 5.0.0 as part of commit 20cbadcf, which makes it so that a hero killing their quest leader no longer makes the game unwinnable and strengthens all quest leaders accordingly.
Origin
A quarterstaff is a simple weapon consisting of a sturdy wooden pole, occasionally augmented with iron spikes or bands but often plain, of six to nine feet in length. The origin of the term quarterstaff is uncertain, but Renaissance-era references to a "quarter ash staff" suggest it refers to the method of manufacture. A likely (albeit unproven) explanation is that such staves were quartersawn, or cut radially from the tree trunk: such a method produces wood with a finer and more consistent grain, making the staff stronger for use in combat.
Despite popular media depicting quarterstaves as being used with the hands wide apart in the middle of the staff, that form is not attested before the late 1800s. Period manuals (from the 1500s and 1600s) describe the weapon as being held with both hands close together (no more than 1.5 feet apart) at one end of the weapon, using a form similar to that of a two-handed sword. Per such manuals, the weapon was used in a broadly similar manner to a sword, albeit with a focus on downward-moving cuts intended to take advantage of the weapon's great weight. Perhaps counterintuitively, quarterstaves were also effective thrusting weapons, and such usage is attested in period manuals. While they usually lacked a sharp end, the high amount of mass and force concentrated in the relatively small tip could easily break bones and incapacitate an opponent, even through armor.
In modern fantasy and other fiction, magic users are often depicted wielding staves, with said implements sometimes acting in a similar manner to wands; indeed, early versions of Dungeons and Dragons as well as Rogue have magical staves and wands functioning in nearly identical manners. The wizard's starting quarterstaff in NetHack is a nod to such portrayals, and variants of NetHack may grant quarterstaves the ability to enhance casting and/or implement special staves that boost the success rate of certain spells. The reason that staves came to be associated with magic users is uncertain, but this may be related to deities such as Hermes being depicted with them, as well as staves of office that traditionally symbolized authority.
Variants
NetHack variants based on versions up to NetHack 3.6.7 may implement the spellcasting bonus for a wielded quarterstaff that is implemented in later versions.
SLASH'EM
In SLASH'EM, Flame Mages, Ice Mages and Necromancers start each game with a blessed +1 quarterstaff as well as the Wizard.[19][20][21][22]
UnNetHack
In UnNetHack, cutting down a tree will leave behind 1-3 quarterstaves and/or clubs.
A very burnt quarterstaff can be found along with the corpse of a wizard and a burnt robe on the second level of the Ruins of Moria: this is a clear homage to the wizard Gandalf from J.R.R. Tolkien's works set in Middle-Earth.
dNetHack
In dNetHack, the quarterstaff is one of several "monk weapons" that Monks can perform special techniques with, and they can also jump by vaulting with a wielded quarterstaff.
The adventuring wizard of the enemy party that collectively acts as the default Noble quest nemesis will always generate with a quarterstaff.
NetHack Fourk
In NetHack Fourk, a wielded quarterstaff increases the success rate of spellcasting, similar to a robe.
FIQHack
In FIQHack, a wielded quarterstaff improves spellcasting, and a cursed quarterstaff that is welded to a character's hands does not block spellcasting.
xNetHack
In xNetHack, the quarterstaff provides the same benefits as in FIQHack, improving spellcasting success rates and not blocking casting if wielded while cursed. This effect does not stack with other items that provide the same benefit (i.e., the robe and the wand of nothing).
SpliceHack
In pre-Rewrite SpliceHack, The Power Pole is an artifact quarterstaff that acts as the Dancer quest artifact.
notdNetHack
In addition to dNetHack details, notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack add The Poplar Punisher, an artifact quarterstaff that has +1d4 to-hit and +2d6 damage.
EvilHack
EvilHack changes the base item of Magicbane to a quarterstaff.
SlashTHEM
In SlashTHEM, in addition to SLASH'EM details, the Acid Mage and Electric Mage start each game with a blessed +1 quarterstaff.
The adventuring wizard of the enemy party that collectively acts as the default Noble quest nemesis will always generate with a quarterstaff.
Encyclopedia entry
So they stood, each in his place, neither moving a finger's
breadth back, for one good hour, and many blows were given
and received by each in that time, till here and there were
sore bones and bumps, yet neither thought of crying "Enough,"
or seemed likely to fall from off the bridge. Now and then
they stopped to rest, and each thought that he never had seen
in all his life before such a hand at quarterstaff. At last
Robin gave the stranger a blow upon the ribs that made his
jacket smoke like a damp straw thatch in the sun. So shrewd
was the stroke that the stranger came within a hair's breadth
of falling off the bridge; but he regained himself right
quickly, and, by a dexterous blow, gave Robin a crack on the
crown that caused the blood to flow. Then Robin grew mad
with anger, and smote with all his might at the other; but
the stranger warded the blow, and once again thwacked Robin,
and this time so fairly that he fell heels over head into the
water, as the queen pin falls in a game of bowls.
References
- ↑ src/u_init.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 168
- ↑ src/makemon.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 762-L764
- ↑ include/monsters.h in NetHack 5.0.0, line 1891
- ↑ dat/Cav-strt.lua in NetHack 5.0.0, line 59
- ↑ include/objects.h in NetHack 5.0.0, line 174-L392
- ↑ src/mplayer.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 150: 1⁄2 to get a random weapon—the designated range of objects covers weapons from the spear to the bullwhip inclusively in objects.h, and uses normal generation odds[5]
- ↑ src/mplayer.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 199: monks will always have no melee weapon
- ↑ src/mplayer.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 183-L184
- ↑ src/mplayer.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 239-L240
- ↑ src/mon.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 674-L678
- ↑ src/spell.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 2199-L2200
- ↑ src/uhitm.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 966-L1011
- ↑ src/uhitm.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 1467-L1469
- ↑ src/weapon.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 698
- ↑ src/weapon.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 733-L736
- ↑ src/mon.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 400
- ↑ u_init.c in NetHack 3.3.0, line 161
- ↑ u_init.c in NetHack 3.2.0, line 156: no direct source for 3.2.3 on the wiki
- ↑ u_init.c in SLASH'EM 0.0.7E7F2, line 63
- ↑ u_init.c in SLASH'EM 0.0.7E7F2, line 93
- ↑ u_init.c in SLASH'EM 0.0.7E7F2, line 135
- ↑ u_init.c in SLASH'EM 0.0.7E7F2, line 242
