Armor - Revision history

Umbire the Phantom: detail

2026-07-20T06:49:02Z

detail

Umbire the Phantom: Undo revision 205253 by Crunch (talk) not true, blessed armor is the only type to have a chance of resisting at all in terms of erosion

2026-06-06T18:06:05Z

Undo revision 205253 by Crunch (talk) not true, blessed armor is the only type to have a chance of resisting at all in terms of erosion

Crunch: blessed armor has higher, not lower, chance of resisting erosion(?)

2026-06-06T05:02:00Z

blessed armor has higher, not lower, chance of resisting erosion(?)

Prowler: Set a more proper template for the call to further update the page for 5.0.0.

2026-05-23T20:31:46Z

Set a more proper template for the call to further update the page for 5.0.0.

Prowler: Update source code reference

2026-05-23T01:53:01Z

Update source code reference

Prowler: Partial update for 5.0.

2026-05-23T01:08:27Z

Partial update for 5.0.

Show changes

Umbire the Phantom: potholes

2026-05-18T22:43:15Z

potholes

Tomsod: /* List of armor */ shield of refl. appearance typo

2026-05-08T12:07:47Z

‎List of armor: shield of refl. appearance typo

Umbire the Phantom: some more brushing up - what i really need to do is figure out the table...

2025-02-07T22:02:56Z

some more brushing up - what i really need to do is figure out the table...

Umbire the Phantom: /* Description */ fix upcoming

2025-02-07T18:42:12Z

‎Description: fix upcoming

@@ Line 43: / Line 43: @@
 * Blessed armor of all types has a low, luck-based chance of resisting erosion.
-* Blessed boots and gloves deal +1d4 damage to [[undead]] and [[major demon]]s when [[kicking]] and fighting with [[bare hands]] or [[martial arts]], respectively.
+* Blessed boots add +1d4 damage against [[undead]] and [[major demon]]s when kicking via [[Kick (command)|the command]] or the [[kick attack]] [[Attack type|type]].
 * Armor that is generated as blessed has a chance of positive enchantment and a higher chance of a high one, while armor generated as cursed has a chance of a negative enchantment.
 * Blessed armor is also somewhat harder to curse, though this applies to all blessed items by virtue of the effect usually removing blessed status first before it can make an item cursed.

@@ Line 42: / Line 42: @@
 A piece of armor's effectiveness can be partially determined by their [[beatitude]]:
-* Blessed armor of all types has a higher chance of resisting [[Erosion]].
+* Blessed armor of all types has a low, luck-based chance of resisting erosion.
 * Blessed boots and gloves deal +1d4 damage to [[undead]] and [[major demon]]s when [[kicking]] and fighting with [[bare hands]] or [[martial arts]], respectively.
 * Armor that is generated as blessed has a chance of positive enchantment and a higher chance of a high one, while armor generated as cursed has a chance of a negative enchantment.

@@ Line 42: / Line 42: @@
 A piece of armor's effectiveness can be partially determined by their [[beatitude]]:
-* Blessed armor of all types has a low chance of resisting erosion.
+* Blessed armor of all types has a higher chance of resisting [[Erosion]].
 * Blessed boots and gloves deal +1d4 damage to [[undead]] and [[major demon]]s when [[kicking]] and fighting with [[bare hands]] or [[martial arts]], respectively.
 * Armor that is generated as blessed has a chance of positive enchantment and a higher chance of a high one, while armor generated as cursed has a chance of a negative enchantment.

@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 '''Armor''' is a type of [[item]] that appears in ''[[NetHack]]''. The [[hero]] and [[monster]]s can [[wear]] armor to improve their [[armor class]]. There are 7 slots for armor: [[helm]], [[cloak]], [[Body armor|suit of body armor]], [[shirt]], [[shield]], [[gloves]], and [[boots]].
+{{todo|The list is up to date (but could benefit from double-checking), but a lot of 5.0.0 changes are still unaccounted for: new DSM extrinsics, nerfed max AC for magic armor, nerfed monster spell of destroy armor, probably a lot of other things. }}
 ==Generation==

@@ Line 101: / Line 101: @@
 ==List of armor==
-Source code reference: {{refsrc|src/objects.c|310|version=NetHack 3.6.6}}
+Source code reference: {{refsrc|include/objects.h|416|version=NetHack 5.0.0}}
 {|class="prettytable sortable"
 ! Item

@@ Line 262: / Line 262: @@
 | Dex      || Adds armor's enchantment to your [[dexterity]].
 |-
-| Displ    || Gives [[displacement]].
+| Displ    || Gives [[Displacement (property)|displacement]].
 |-
 | ESP      || Gives [[telepathy]].
@@ Line 324: / Line 324: @@
 *Helm of [[helm of telepathy|telepathy]]/[[helm of brilliance|brilliance]] or [[elven leather helm]].
-*Cloak of [[cloak of magic resistance|magic resistance]], [[cloak of displacement|displacement]], or [[robe]]; [[oilskin cloak]] in [[sack]]. CoD is used if and only if you already have [[magic resistance]] from some other source.
+*[[Cloak of magic resistance]], [[cloak of displacement|displacement]], or [[robe]]; [[oilskin cloak]] in [[sack]]. CoD is used if and only if you already have [[magic resistance]] from some other source.
 *Either [[gray dragon scale mail|gray]] or [[silver dragon scale mail|silver]] [[dragon scale mail]].
 *Either [[shirt]]; no great difference.

@@ Line 223: / Line 223: @@
 | [[large shield]]      || [[shield]]     ||   10 ||  100 || 2 ||  50 ||  7 ||  14 || [[iron]]    ||                ||   ||  7 ||     || — || 0
 |-
-| [[shield of reflection]] || [[shield]]  ||   50 ||   50 || 2 ||  25 ||  7 || 7.1 || [[silver]]  || Reflect        ||   ||  3 || Yes || polished silver || 0
+| [[shield of reflection]] || [[shield]]  ||   50 ||   50 || 2 ||  25 ||  7 || 7.1 || [[silver]]  || Reflect        ||   ||  3 || Yes || polished silver shield || 0
 |-
 | [[low boots]]         || [[boots]]      ||    8 ||   10 || 1 ||  10 ||  6 || 1.7 || [[leather]] ||                ||   || 25 ||     || walking shoes || 2

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 {{languages}}
 {{items}}
 '''Armor''' is a type of [[item]] that appears in ''[[NetHack]]''. The [[hero]] and [[monster]]s can [[wear]] armor to improve their [[armor class]]. There are 7 slots for armor: [[helm]], [[cloak]], [[Body armor|suit of body armor]], [[shirt]], [[shield]], [[gloves]], and [[boots]].
 ==Description==
-Wearing a piece of armor lowers the wearer's armor class by a value equal to that armor's base AC and any additional [[enchantment]], and some types of armor may also provide effects such as [[magic cancellation]] on top of their AC bonus. [[Taking off]] a piece of armor causes its effects to no longer apply, and armor underneath a suit or cloak must have the armor over it taken off first.
+Wearing a piece of armor lowers the wearer's armor class by a value equal to that armor's base AC. The armor's [[enchantment]] can increase or decrease the amount of AC gained from wearing it, and can increase or decrease the wearer's own AC accordingly. [[Erosion]] can lower the amount of base AC granted by worn armor, with a reduction of one point for each stage of erosion to a minimum of zero. Some types of armor may also provide effects, such as [[magic cancellation]] or a property, on top of their AC bonus. [[Taking off]] a piece of armor causes its effects to no longer apply&mdash;armor underneath a suit or cloak must have the armor over it taken off first.
-Metallic gloves, boots, helms, and suits of armor reduce the hero's ability to [[Spellcasting|cast spells]] successfully, as well as shields of any kind.
+Metallic gloves, boots, helms, suits of armor, and shields of any kind reduce the hero's ability to [[Spellcasting|cast spells]] successfully while worn.
 {{upcoming|3.7.0|Per {{commit|d611da42ccc8fcbb07ebd09d4ed6dc2c0a467512}}, enlightenment will display whether or not the hero's spellcasting is impacted by their worn suit of armor and/or worn [[robe]].}}
@@ Line 19: / Line 48: @@
 * Finally, a worn helm or piece of outer armor or that is cursed and [[greased]] will only protect from attacks targeting the head or body {{frac|2|3}} of the time&mdash;this also applies to a worn cursed [[oilskin cloak]].
 A hero cannot take off a worn piece of cursed armor normally, with its cursed status being identified if necessary when the hero attempts to take that armor off. Cursed armor will also prevent the hero from [[putting on]], [[removing]] or taking off any items or armor underneath it: cursed gloves prevent the wearing or removal of [[ring]]s, while a cursed suit of body armor prevents unequipping shirts, and a cursed cloak prevents the unequipping of suits and shirts.
 ===Armor and magic===
@@ Line 45: / Line 74: @@
 |}
-===Generation===
+Worn armor that is at an enchantment of at least +4 may evaporate and be destroyed when positively enchanted further, with a {{frac|X}} chance of surviving where ''X'' represents the armor's current enchantment{{refsrc|src/read.c|1089|nethack=3.6.7}} &mdash;for example enchanting a +4 [[orcish helm]] has a {{frac|4}} chance of the helm not being destroyed in the process. [[Elven item|elven armor]] is considered "special" and must be enchanted from at least +6 to risk being destroyed, and the [[cornuthaum]] is similarly considered "special" and can be safely enchanted from +5 if the hero is a [[Wizard]].{{refsrc|src/read.c|1075|nethack=3.6.7}}
-Other randomly generated armor is generated with the following odds: 12.31% cursed, 78.96% uncursed, and 8.72% blessed.{{refsrc|src/mkobj.c|1000|nethack=3.6.7}}
+This means that the maximum enchantment a piece of armor can be safely enchanted ''from'' with a scroll of enchant armor is +5 for elven armor and +3 for other armor, with the sole exception of the cornuthaum for Wizards as noted prior&mdash;phrased alternately, special armor can be enchanted safely ''to'' +7 (specifically if using a blessed scroll). Enchanting armor beyond those thresholds also prints a message, which always occurs for "special armor" and occurs with a {{frac|7}} chance for 'normal' armor.{{refsrc|src/read.c|1151|nethack=3.6.7|name="safetybuzz"}}
-Below is a table describing the total probability of beatitude and enchantment:
+Similarly, worn armor with a negative enchantment of -4 or lower may evaporate and be destroyed when negatively enchanted further with the cursed scroll:{{refsrc|src/read.c|1088|nethack=3.6.7}} this uses the same probabilities and the absolute value of the armor's enchantment, i.e. a -4 orcish helm has a {{frac|4}} chance of not evaporating if targeted by a cursed scroll.
 ==Monsters and armor==
-Some types of monsters can wear armor. A monster can wear armor if it is not [[tiny]], has [[hands]], and is not an [[animal]].{{refsrc|nethack=3.6.7|src/worn.c|479}} A [[mindless]] monster can wear armor only if it is a [[mummy]] or [[skeleton]] putting on armor that it was created with.{{refsrc|nethack=3.6.7|src/worn.c|481}}
+Monsters that are [[Intelligent monster|intelligent]], have [[hands]], and are not [[tiny]] can wear armor.{{refsrc|src/worn.c|479|nethack=3.6.7}} [[Mindless]] monsters can only wear armor if they are created with it on at the time of their generation, i.e. a [[mummy]] or [[skeleton]].{{refsrc|nethack=3.6.7|src/worn.c|481}} A monster that is polymorphed may retain some of its previous form's armor if it has the appropriate anatomy, even if its new form cannot put on or remove any armor.
 A monster that wears magical armor can profit from a subset of its magical capabilities.{{refsrc|src/worn.c|320|nethack=3.6.7|comment=function update_mon_intrinsics}} [[Pet]]s are of main interest here.
@@ Line 315: / Line 317: @@
 The "magical" property some armor has is only important to [[polypiling]]: non-magical armor will tend to stay non-magical, and vice-versa.
 ==Strategy==

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 Metallic gloves, boots, helms, and suits of armor reduce the hero's ability to [[Spellcasting|cast spells]] successfully, as well as shields of any kind.
-{{upcoming|Per {{commit|d611da42ccc8fcbb07ebd09d4ed6dc2c0a467512}}, enlightenment will display whether or not the hero's spellcasting is impacted by their worn suit of armor and/or worn [[robe]].}}
+{{upcoming|3.7.0|Per {{commit|d611da42ccc8fcbb07ebd09d4ed6dc2c0a467512}}, enlightenment will display whether or not the hero's spellcasting is impacted by their worn suit of armor and/or worn [[robe]].}}
 ===Armor and beatitude===