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 wand of wishing will never be generated for a hero in a role that starts the game with a random wand (i.e. Wizards).[1] A game started in explore mode will start the hero with an uncursed wand of wishing that has 3 charges.[2][3]
Wishing for a wand of wishing has a 9⁄10 chance of creating a pre-charged and cancelled wand of wishing, and will otherwise generate a pre-charged wand with zero charges.
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.
Normally-created wands of wishing are always generated with 1-3 charges.[4]
The following information pertains to an upcoming version (NetHack 3.7.0). If this version is now released, please verify that the information below is still accurate, then update the page to incorporate it.
Per commit 615edb1c, wands of wishing generate with only one charge.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]
A wand of wishing can hold a maximum of 3 charges, and can only be recharged once:[9] the wand will explode for a minimum of 2d12 damage if a second recharge is attempted, or else if a recharge would set the wand's charges above 3.[10][11][12]
The following information pertains to an upcoming version (NetHack 3.7.0). If this version is now released, please verify that the information below is still accurate, then update the page to incorporate it.
Per commit 615edb1c, wands of wishing can only hold one charge, and recharging the wand will only add one charge. This is done as part of spreading wishes out through the late stages of the game.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. If you have no pet or are otherwise unable to do this, you may choose instead to wish for gold. See the wish article's section on early wands of wishing for detailed instructions, and check the article's strategy sections in general (linked at the top of this section) for ideas on what to use a wand of wishing on.
Charging
If the scroll of charging is not yet identified, the standard first wish from a randomly-found wand of wishing is typically 2 or 3 blessed scrolls of charging for most roles: the only other source of charging is the Platinum Yendorian Express Card, which only a Tourist can use for blessed charging, and Tourists cannot wish for their own quest artifact; a non-Tourist should only wish for the card if they are expecting to maintain illiterate conduct. Tourists themselves may choose to delay wishing for charging with randomly-found wands of wishing until they complete their quest, depending on when it was found, and post-quest Tourists will not need the scroll as urgently.
A player should always maximize the amount of wishes they get from the Castle wand or a randomly-found wand if at all possible: use blessed recharging when the wand is at 0:0 to get another 3 wishes, and once those are used, zap the wand repeatedly to wrest the last charge, for a total of 5-7 wishes. To that end, they should always make sure that the wand is not cursed and the hero's luck is at least positive, since there are few worse feelings than wasted wishes.[13] Identifying the wand is highly convenient and prudent in order to minimize the very rare chance of accidentally wresting the last charge from a wand you meant to recharge.
The following information pertains to an upcoming version (NetHack 3.7.0). If this version is now released, please verify that the information below is still accurate, then update the page to incorporate it.
As part of the effort to spread wishes out among the later stages of the game, the following changes have also been made:
- Per commit 3fd30c4e, the throne in Vlad's Tower will only disappear if it gives a wish, guaranteeing that it will eventually grant one—however, sitting on it can also cause a variety of powerful, unresistable, and mostly negative effects, which are covered in-depth on that article.
- Per commit b92b0bbc, there is an equal probability of a magic marker or a magic lamp being generated somewhere in Orcus-town.
- Per commit 308c5ab2, the Amulet of Yendor grants a wish upon initial pickup.
The ramifications of the above changes means that a hero will have to prioritize wishing for different items over the course of a game, and the scroll of charging in particular is not likely to be as high-priority of a wish candidate for players that find a random wand of wishing: the lowered cap on charges mean that fewer wishes can be obtained from a singular wand of wishing, but at 3 wishes each they provide their wishes more consistently (one before recharging, a second after charging and a third via wresting), and such wishes should be tailored towards the hero's most immediate needs. Though this is already the case with prioritizing wishes in NetHack 3.6.7 (and previous stable versions), the nature of the upcoming changes mean that a hero is much less likely to "solve" their ideal kit immediately upon finding a wand of wishing or be left with several "spare" wishes after using some of the charges.
Combined with several other changes made to specifically balance wishes and the game's difficulty in general, a hero that reaches the Castle should usually still have sufficient enough resources to proceed into the later stages of the game, and players should adjust their strategies accordingly in order to lean much less on having an excess of wishes to ascend. Additionally, this gives an incentive to use the wand's wish on a good/necessary item immediately and then wait for a source of charging to use the other wishes later, depending on how urgently they need it—in the case of a hero finding a random wand of wishing, if they have no pressing needs and do not know the scroll's label, wishing for 2-3 uncursed or blessed scrolls of charging can be sufficient.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.[14][15] 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.[16][17]
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 998
- ↑ src/u_init.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 194
- ↑ src/u_init.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 871
- ↑ src/mkobj.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1020
- ↑ 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/read.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 478-L479
- ↑ src/read.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 501-L503: calls wand_explode()
- ↑ src/read.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 521
- ↑ src/read.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1849-L1866: wand_explode() function
- ↑ RGRN post: Why paranoia is not a bad thing via Google Groups
- ↑ 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
