Wand of lightning
| / | |
|---|---|
| Name | lightning |
| Appearance | random |
| Abundance | 4% |
| Base price | 175 zm |
| Weight | 7 |
| Type | ray |
| Maximum charges | 8 |
| Monster use | May be used offensively by monsters. |
A wand of lightning is a type of wand that appears in NetHack.
Contents
Generation
Wizards may be given a wand of lightning as the random wand in their starting inventory.[1]
Wands of lightning make up 1⁄25 (4%) of all randomly-generated wands. General stores and "quality apparel and accessories" shops can sell wands of lightning.
The Cyclops will always be generated with a wand of lightning on his square.[2]
Randomly created intelligent monsters may be generated with a wand of lighting as a offensive item.[3]
Wands of lightning are created with 4 to 8 charges.
Description
Zapping the wand in a given direction shoots a ray of lightning that deals 6d6 shock damage to targets without shock resistance that it hits, blinding them for up to 50 turns and potentially destroying monsters any rings and wands in their inventory.[4][5][6] Monsters can use this wand, and hostile ones will zap it at the hero. A hero that zaps a wand of lightning directly at themselves is blinded for up to 100 turns, abuses constitution, takes 12d6 damage unless they are shock resistant, and wands and rings in their inventory may be destroyed.[7] The wand of lightning is immune to destruction by shock damage.[8]
Like most rays, a wand of lightning's rays will bounce when it hits walls or targets with reflection, and destroys doors hit by the blast. If a bolt of lightning from the wand passes through the hero's square, they are blinded for 6d50 turns unless they are already blind or have blindness resistance, even if it misses or is rebounded by their reflection[9][10] this is not applied to monsters unless the ray hits them.[11]
Engraving with a wand of lightning will burn text into the ground and auto-identify it, as well as blinding the hero for d50 turns if applicable.[12][13]
Breaking a wand of lightning by applying it will create a damaging magical explosion of shock in a 3×3 square centered on the hero, auto-identifying the wand and dealing shock damage equal to (remaining charges)*d16, while also potentially destroying wands and rings in the open inventory of affected monsters.[14]
Strategy
Wands of lightning are a powerful offensive item through much of the game, since very few monsters resist shock damage—however, it is just as devastating to you should you encounter one in the hands of an early-game monster, and can prove to be an annoyance later on if a soldier or another monster surprises you with a bolt that destroys valuable rings such as slow digestion and free action. Reflection is naturally the best defense after shock resistance against monsters with wands of lightning, but both properties are quite rare early on outside of a wish or a it also helps to have a means of curing blindness (e.g. a unicorn horn) and a way to safely stash your magical items.
A wand of lightning can be useful to blast apart annoying wands in a hostile monster's inventory, such as a wand of digging used by a constantly-fleeing opponent; conversely, avoid using the wand on monsters that have wands and rings you wish to preserve, such as a wand of death. Breaking a wand of lightning can be powerful as a means of crowd control, but will also deal immense damage to you unless you are shock-resistant, and will also endanger valuable rings and wands in your inventory. If doing so, be sure to briefly stash whatever vulnerable items you have in a bag or other container, unless you either have none or are otherwise going to die soon.
The wand of lightning is also a very useful tool to engrave a durable Elbereth well into even the late-game, particularly for pacifist conduct where you will be reliant on such engravings to deter hostile monsters. If engrave-testing to identify the wand, you can avoid blinding yourself with the wand by cancelling the prompt when asked what to engrave.[15]
History
The wand of lightning first appears in NetHack 2.3e.
Messages
- You are blinded by the flash!
- You were blinded by a zapped bolt of lightning from the wand.
- Your arm tingles.
- While already blind, a zapped bolt of lightning from the wand missed you.
- Lightning arcs from the wand.
- You engraved with a wand of lightning.
- You hear crackling!
- As above, while already blind.
- Your hair stands up!
- As above while blind and deaf.
Variants
UnNetHack
In UnNetHack, weeping archangels have a 1⁄3 chance of generating with a wand of lightning, which is always paired with an amulet of reflection.
NetHack Fourk
In NetHack Fourk, which incorporates the Wands Balance Patch, unskilled usage of a wand of lightning deals the lesser between 3d6 or 2⁄5 of the target's maximum HP in shock damage, and does not destroy items—the wand behaves as in NetHack at all other skill levels. This also applies to FIQHack.
SlashTHEM
In SlashTHEM, Electric Mages start each game with a wand of lightning.
References
- Jump up ↑ src/u_init.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 164
- Jump up ↑ dat/Healer.des in NetHack 3.6.7, line 239
- Jump up ↑ src/muse.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1613
- Jump up ↑ src/zap.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 3065:
ndis 6 - Jump up ↑ src/zap.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 3711
- Jump up ↑ src/zap.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 3716: zhitm() function
- Jump up ↑ src/zap.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 2295
- Jump up ↑ src/zap.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 5112
- Jump up ↑ src/zap.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 4233
- Jump up ↑ src/zap.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 2646: flashburn() calls resists_blnd() which returns
TRUEfor a blind hero or a resistant one. - Jump up ↑ src/zap.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 4127: the code calls zhitm() only on a non-reflected hit
- Jump up ↑ src/engrave.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 791
- Jump up ↑ src/engrave.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1162
- Jump up ↑ src/apply.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 3365
- Jump up ↑ src/engrave.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1034: cancelling the prompt causes
doengrave()to return early
