Gauntlets of power - Revision history

Umbire the Phantom: tweaks

2026-02-04T13:06:45Z

tweaks

Netzhack: /* Encyclopedia entry */ line brk

2026-02-04T13:02:48Z

‎Encyclopedia entry: line brk

Umbire the Phantom: /* Strategy */ welcome Thidwick - bit of detail per the talk page

2025-08-05T17:27:58Z

‎Strategy: welcome Thidwick - bit of detail per the talk page

Umbire the Phantom: word choice

2025-08-05T11:27:00Z

word choice

Umbire the Phantom: bit of copyedit and re-organizing: they're good, but "overpowered" is over-selling it, and I think there's still like 3-4 things minimum most people would recommend wishing for before GoP even with MR/reflection covered

2025-08-05T11:25:08Z

bit of copyedit and re-organizing: they're good, but "overpowered" is over-selling it, and I think there's still like 3-4 things minimum most people would recommend wishing for before GoP even with MR/reflection covered

Thidwick: /* Strategy */ GoP are OverPowered in early/mid game.

2025-08-03T17:47:19Z

‎Strategy: GoP are OverPowered in early/mid game.

Thidwick: /* Strategy */ advantage to wizards

2025-08-03T17:37:08Z

‎Strategy: advantage to wizards

Umbire the Phantom: punc

2025-05-31T02:24:34Z

punc

Umbire the Phantom: /* dNetHack */ pothole to article

2025-05-07T01:46:19Z

‎dNetHack: pothole to article

Umbire the Phantom: copyedit and detailing

2025-04-08T08:16:58Z

copyedit and detailing

@@ Line 11: / Line 11: @@
    |material=iron
 }}
 '''Gauntlets of power''', often abbreviated to '''GoP''', are a type of [[Magical item|magical]] [[armor]] that appear in ''[[NetHack]]''. They are [[gloves]] that are made of [[iron]], and have a [[randomized appearance]] when [[Identification|unidentified]]&mdash;the default one associated with them is a pair of [[riding gloves]].{{refsrc|src/objects.c|501|version=NetHack 3.6.7}}
-{{upcoming|3.7.0|Per {{commit|6ad4b48cebe105c89b7e0df682f0f5cbc3198eee}}, the gauntlets of power are also referred to as '''power gloves'''.}}
+{{upcoming|NetHack 3.7.0|Per {{commit|6ad4b48cebe105c89b7e0df682f0f5cbc3198eee}}, the gauntlets of power are also referred to as '''power gloves'''.}}
 ==Generation==
@@ Line 82: / Line 81: @@
 ==Encyclopedia entry==
-{{upcoming|3.7.0|The following entry is added for all gloves via {{commit|f5bd6950172957b5f6ddc3588c1d870fe4b73831}}.}}
+{{upcoming|NetHack 3.7.0|The following entry is added for all gloves via {{commit|f5bd6950172957b5f6ddc3588c1d870fe4b73831}}.}}
 {{encyclopedia|
 And her old Uncle William used to say a lady is known by her shoes and her gloves.

@@ Line 84: / Line 84: @@
 {{upcoming|3.7.0|The following entry is added for all gloves via {{commit|f5bd6950172957b5f6ddc3588c1d870fe4b73831}}.}}
 {{encyclopedia|
-And her old Uncle William used to say a lady is known by her
+And her old Uncle William used to say a lady is known by her shoes and her gloves.
 |[ Mrs. Dalloway, by Virginia Woolf ]}}

@@ Line 30: / Line 30: @@
 ==Strategy==
 {{main|Strength}}
-Strength helps increase [[carrying capacity]], the [[to-hit]] chance for attacks, the damage of melee attacks and projectile attacks not involving a [[launcher]], and the range of projectiles other than fired [[crossbow bolt]]s. [[Elf (starting race)|Elven]] heroes are among the most likely ones to consider the gauntlets for their kits: heroes of other races can obtain most of their benefits through other means, e.g. they can maximize carrying capacity by raising their [[constitution]] to 18 alongside their strength, and to-hit and damage can be improved through other means such as high [[luck]] or [[scrolls of enchant weapon]]. It may occasionally benefit a hero wearing gauntlets of power to remove them while actively or passively training strength (e.g., solving [[Sokoban]]), unless doing so severely impacts combat performance.
+Strength helps increase [[carrying capacity]], the [[to-hit]] chance for attacks, the damage of melee attacks and projectile attacks not involving a [[launcher]], and the range of projectiles other than fired [[crossbow bolt]]s. [[Elf (starting race)|Elven]] heroes are among the most likely ones to consider the gauntlets for their kits: heroes of other races can obtain most of their benefits through other means, e.g. they can maximize carrying capacity by raising their [[constitution]] to 18 alongside their strength, and to-hit and damage can be improved through other means such as high [[luck]] or [[scrolls of enchant weapon]]. It may occasionally benefit a hero wearing gauntlets of power to remove them while actively or passively training strength (e.g., solving [[Sokoban]]), unless they already have more than 18 strength or else doing so would severely impact combat performance.
 Gauntlets of power are not commonplace in [[ascension kit]]s, and are typically not considered as worth using a [[wish]] on before covering several other essentials such as [[magic resistance]], [[reflection]], other resistances, or more direct carrying capacity upgrades such as a [[bag of holding]]. This does not preclude them from being very useful for the early game, even if a hero does not keep them long-term; heroes in casting-focused roles may consider wearing a pair that they find to survive and maintain their damage output, even if it requires removing them whenever casting becomes necessary.

@@ Line 32: / Line 32: @@
 Strength helps increase [[carrying capacity]], the [[to-hit]] chance for attacks, the damage of melee attacks and projectile attacks not involving a [[launcher]], and the range of projectiles other than fired [[crossbow bolt]]s. [[Elf (starting race)|Elven]] heroes are among the most likely ones to consider the gauntlets for their kits: heroes of other races can obtain most of their benefits through other means, e.g. they can maximize carrying capacity by raising their [[constitution]] to 18 alongside their strength, and to-hit and damage can be improved through other means such as high [[luck]] or [[scrolls of enchant weapon]]. It may occasionally benefit a hero wearing gauntlets of power to remove them while actively or passively training strength (e.g., solving [[Sokoban]]), unless doing so severely impacts combat performance.
-Gauntlets of power are not commonplace in [[ascension kit]]s, and are typically not considered as worth using a [[wish]] on before covering several other essentials such as [[magic resistance]], [[reflection]], other resistances, or more direct carrying capacity upgrades such as a [[bag of holding]]. This does not preclude them from being very useful for the early game even if a hero does not keep them long-term; casters in particular may consider wearing a pair that they find to survive and maintain their damage output, even if it requires removing them whenever casting becomes necessary.
+Gauntlets of power are not commonplace in [[ascension kit]]s, and are typically not considered as worth using a [[wish]] on before covering several other essentials such as [[magic resistance]], [[reflection]], other resistances, or more direct carrying capacity upgrades such as a [[bag of holding]]. This does not preclude them from being very useful for the early game, even if a hero does not keep them long-term; heroes in casting-focused roles may consider wearing a pair that they find to survive and maintain their damage output, even if it requires removing them whenever casting becomes necessary.
 [[Wizard]]s in particular are better-positioned than most casters to offset the penalties from wearing gauntlets of power: a 4% general spell [[Spellcasting#Calculating spell success rate|failure rate]] with 18 [[intelligence]] (or 3% with 19+ intelligence) is typically acceptable at worst if they are not wearing a [[robe]] or any other metal armor, and the boost to accuracy and damage typically doubles their damage with thrown or wielded daggers.

@@ Line 30: / Line 30: @@
 ==Strategy==
 {{main|Strength}}
-Strength helps increase [[carrying capacity]], the chance for attacks [[to hit]], the damage of melee attacks and projectile attacks not involving a [[launcher]], and the range of projectiles other than fired [[crossbow bolt]]s. However, non-[[Elf (starting race)|elven]] heroes can obtain most of these benefits from reaching 18/** strength through other means; the only further benefits from gauntlets of power in those cases are projectile range, and the ability to throw Mjollnir. Maximized carrying capacity is similarly easier to obtain for non-elven heroes, as they can also raise their [[constitution]] to 18 alongside their strength.
+Strength helps increase [[carrying capacity]], the [[to-hit]] chance for attacks, the damage of melee attacks and projectile attacks not involving a [[launcher]], and the range of projectiles other than fired [[crossbow bolt]]s. [[Elf (starting race)|Elven]] heroes are among the most likely ones to consider the gauntlets for their kits: heroes of other races can obtain most of their benefits through other means, e.g. they can maximize carrying capacity by raising their [[constitution]] to 18 alongside their strength, and to-hit and damage can be improved through other means such as high [[luck]] or [[scrolls of enchant weapon]]. It may occasionally benefit a hero wearing gauntlets of power to remove them while actively or passively training strength (e.g., solving [[Sokoban]]), unless doing so severely impacts combat performance.
-Though not commonplace in [[ascension kit]]s, gauntlets of power are game-changing as an early [[wish]] (after [[MR]] & [[reflection]]) and are still a viable choice of armor for the long term. It may occasionally benefit heroes to remove their gauntlets of power while actively or passively training strength (e.g., solving [[Sokoban]]), unless doing so severely impacts combat performance.
+Gauntlets of power are not commonplace in [[ascension kit]]s, and are typically not considered as worth using a [[wish]] on before covering several other essentials such as [[magic resistance]], [[reflection]], other resistances, or more direct carrying capacity upgrades such as a [[bag of holding]]. This does not preclude them from being very useful for the early game even if a hero does not keep them long-term; casters in particular may consider wearing a pair that they find to survive and maintain their damage output, even if it requires removing them whenever casting becomes necessary.
-Although they interfere with spellcasting, [[Wizard]]s in particular may still want to wear them to shore up their strength: a 4% general spell [[Spellcasting#Calculating spell success rate|failure rate]] with 18 [[intelligence]] (or 3% with 19+ intelligence) may be acceptably low if they are not wearing a [[robe]] or any other metal armor; furthermore, +3 accuracy and +6 damage typically results in twice the damage with daggers (thrown or melee) for the average wizard. Less adept casters may experience a much greater increase in spell failure rates, and as such those planning to utilize spells often or in-combat may want different gloves.
+[[Wizard]]s in particular are better-positioned than most casters to offset the penalties from wearing gauntlets of power: a 4% general spell [[Spellcasting#Calculating spell success rate|failure rate]] with 18 [[intelligence]] (or 3% with 19+ intelligence) is typically acceptable at worst if they are not wearing a [[robe]] or any other metal armor, and the boost to accuracy and damage typically doubles their damage with thrown or wielded daggers.
-Conversely, those dedicated to non-magical combat such as [[Barbarian]]s may prefer gauntlets of power&mdash;a strength level of 18/01 or above makes the bonuses of gauntlets of power somewhat more marginal as discussed previously, and is also easy to obtain for non-elven characters. Elven [[Ranger]]s and other elven bow-users that have maximized to-hit, e.g. from high [[luck]], may even consider wearing gauntlets of power to bring up their carrying capacity.
+Less adept casters may experience a much greater increase in spell failure rates that may necessitate removing the gloves to make casting easier, and may want to replace them with non-metallic gloves when the opportunity to do so safely arises. Conversely, those dedicated to non-magical combat such as [[Barbarian]]s may more readily prefer gauntlets of power, though as discussed previously, a strength level of 18/01 or above makes the bonuses from gauntlets of power somewhat more marginal and is also easier to obtain for non-elven characters. Elven bow-users such as [[Ranger]]s that have maximized to-hit, e.g. from high luck, may still consider wearing gauntlets of power to bring up their carrying capacity and offset the to-hit penalty.
 ===Identification===

@@ Line 34: / Line 34: @@
 Though they are neither necessary to the point of using a [[wish]] nor commonplace in [[ascension kit]]s, gauntlets of power are still a viable choice of armor for the long term&mdash;whether or not they wear them long term, it may occasionally benefit heroes to remove their gauntlets of power while actively or passively training strength (e.g., solving [[Sokoban]]), unless doing so severely impacts combat performance.
-Although they interfere with spellcasting, [[Wizard]]s in particular may still want to wear them to shore up their strength: a 4% general spell [[Spellcasting#Calculating spell success rate|failure rate]] with 18 [[intelligence]] (or 3% with 19+ intelligence) may be acceptably low if they are not wearing a [[robe]] or any other metal armor. Less adept casters may experience a much greater increase in spell failure rates, and as such those planning to utilize spells often or in-combat may want different gloves.
+Although they interfere with spellcasting, [[Wizard]]s in particular may still want to wear them to shore up their strength: a 4% general spell [[Spellcasting#Calculating spell success rate|failure rate]] with 18 [[intelligence]] (or 3% with 19+ intelligence) may be acceptably low if they are not wearing a [[robe]] or any other metal armor; furthermore, +3 accuracy and +6 damage typically results in twice the damage with daggers (thrown or melee) for the average wizard. Less adept casters may experience a much greater increase in spell failure rates, and as such those planning to utilize spells often or in-combat may want different gloves.
 Conversely, those dedicated to non-magical combat such as [[Barbarian]]s may prefer gauntlets of power&mdash;a strength level of 18/01 or above makes the bonuses of gauntlets of power somewhat more marginal as discussed previously, and is also easy to obtain for non-elven characters. Elven [[Ranger]]s and other elven bow-users that have maximized to-hit, e.g. from high [[luck]], may even consider wearing gauntlets of power to bring up their carrying capacity.

@@ Line 70: / Line 70: @@
 * [[dNetHack artifacts#Godhands|The Godhands]] are lawful [[Gold (material)|golden]] gauntlets of power that set both dexterity and strength to 25 while worn and can be enchanted to +7. While worn, the Godhands also grant [[drain resistance]], +1d20 to-hit and +1d10 damage with unarmed attacks, do not give any additional spell failure penalty to Monks, and deal extra damage when blessed or cursed: cursed Godhands deal +3d7 unholy damage to unholy-haters in addition to the base item's +2d9 unholy damage, while blessed Godhands deal +3d7 holy damage to holy-haters in addition to the base item's +1d20 holy damage.
 * [[dNetHack artifacts#Grappler's Grasp|The Grappler's Grasp]] is an unaligned set of gauntlets of power that grant +1 to-hit and +1d6 damage while worn, and grabs monsters on a successful unarmed attack&mdash;while grabbed, monsters take at least d6 of crushing damage each turn, with the amount of dice dependent on skill level in [[Bare hands|bare-handed combat]]: 1d6 at Basic skill or lower, 2d6 at Skilled or Expert, and 3d6 at Master or higher, with +1d6 if the hero has the martial arts skill.
-* [[dNetHack artifacts#Great Claws of Urdlen|The Great Claws of Urdlen]] are a chaotic set of gauntlets of power that serve as the [[crowning]] gift for chaotic [[Gnome (starting race)|gnomish]] heroes, and enable them to train martial arts to Grand Master. While worn, the Great Claws of Urdlen grant +1d10 to-hit and double damage to unarmed attacks, along with doubling the base die for unarmed damage to 1d8 and adding their enchantment to that damage; they also set [[constitution]] to 25 while worn, and can be [[applied]] as a [[digging tool]]. [[Invoking]] them causes an [[earthquake]].
+* The [[Great Claws of Urdlen]] are a chaotic set of gauntlets of power that serve as the [[crowning]] gift for chaotic [[Gnome (starting race)|gnomish]] heroes.
 ===EvilHack===

@@ Line 12: / Line 12: @@
 }}
-'''Gauntlets of power''', often abbreviated to '''GoP''', are a type of [[Magical item|magical]] [[gloves]] that appear in ''[[NetHack]]''. They are made of [[iron]], and have a [[randomized appearance]] when [[Identification|unidentified]]; the default one associated with them is a pair of [[riding gloves]].{{refsrc|src/objects.c|501|version=NetHack 3.6.7}}
+'''Gauntlets of power''', often abbreviated to '''GoP''', are a type of [[Magical item|magical]] [[armor]] that appear in ''[[NetHack]]''. They are [[gloves]] that are made of [[iron]], and have a [[randomized appearance]] when [[Identification|unidentified]]; the default one associated with them is a pair of [[riding gloves]].{{refsrc|src/objects.c|501|version=NetHack 3.6.7}}
 ==Generation==
 [[Player monster]]s on the [[Astral Plane]] that generate with a [[war hammer]] will always generate with gauntlets of power, while other player monsters have an effective {{frac|7|40}} chance (~17.5%) of [[Monster starting inventory|generating with]] gauntlets of power.{{refsrc|src/mplayer.c|289|version=NetHack 3.6.7}}
@@ Line 22: / Line 26: @@
 [[Mjollnir]] can only be thrown by a hero with 25 strength, which for all practical purposes requires gauntlets of power.
-Monsters wearing gauntlets of power add 3-6 damage to their [[weapon]] attacks, with no effect on monsters that cannot wield weapons.{{refsrc|src/mhitm.c|987|version=NetHack 3.6.7}}
+Monsters that are wearing gauntlets of power and have [[weapon]] attacks gain 3-6 extra damage when performing weapon attacks.{{refsrc|src/mhitm.c|987|version=NetHack 3.6.7}}{{refsrc|src/mhitu.c|1004|version=NetHack 3.6.7}}
 ==Strategy==
 {{main|Strength}}
-Strength helps increase [[carrying capacity]], the chance for attacks to hit, the damage of melee attacks and projectile attacks not involving a [[launcher]], and the range of projectiles other than fired [[crossbow bolt]]s. However, non-[[Elf (starting race)|elven]] characters can obtain most of these benefits from reaching 18/** strength through other means; the only further benefits from gauntlets of power in those cases are increased carrying capacity, projectile range, and the ability to throw Mjollnir.
+Strength helps increase [[carrying capacity]], the chance for attacks [[to hit]], the damage of melee attacks and projectile attacks not involving a [[launcher]], and the range of projectiles other than fired [[crossbow bolt]]s. However, non-[[Elf (starting race)|elven]] heroes can obtain most of these benefits from reaching 18/** strength through other means; the only further benefits from gauntlets of power in those cases are projectile range, and the ability to throw Mjollnir. Maximized carrying capacity is similarly easier to obtain for non-elven heroes, as they can also raise their [[constitution]] to 18 alongside their strength.
-While neither necessary to the point of using a [[wish]] nor commonplace in [[ascension kit]]s, gauntlets of power are still a viable choice of armor for the long term. Although they interfere with spellcasting, [[Wizard]]s in particular may still want to wear them to shore up their strength: a 4% general spell [[Spellcasting#Calculating spell success rate|failure rate]] with 18 [[intelligence]] (or 3% with 19+ intelligence) may be acceptably low if they are not wearing a [[robe]] or any other metal armor.
+Though they are neither necessary to the point of using a [[wish]] nor commonplace in [[ascension kit]]s, gauntlets of power are still a viable choice of armor for the long term&mdash;whether or not they wear them long term, it may occasionally benefit heroes to remove their gauntlets of power while actively or passively training strength (e.g., solving [[Sokoban]]), unless doing so severely impacts combat performance.
-Less adept casters may experience a much greater increase in spell failure rates, and as such those planning to utilize spells often or in-combat may want different gloves. Conversely, those dedicated to non-magical combat such as [[Barbarian]]s may prefer gauntlets of power&mdash;a strength level of 18/01 or above makes the bonuses of gauntlets of power somewhat more marginal, and is also easy to obtain for non-elven characters.
+Although they interfere with spellcasting, [[Wizard]]s in particular may still want to wear them to shore up their strength: a 4% general spell [[Spellcasting#Calculating spell success rate|failure rate]] with 18 [[intelligence]] (or 3% with 19+ intelligence) may be acceptably low if they are not wearing a [[robe]] or any other metal armor. Less adept casters may experience a much greater increase in spell failure rates, and as such those planning to utilize spells often or in-combat may want different gloves.
-For characters considering replacing their gauntlets of power at a later point, it may benefit them to remove these gloves while actively or passively training strength (e.g., solving [[Sokoban]]), unless doing so severely impacts combat performance.
+Conversely, those dedicated to non-magical combat such as [[Barbarian]]s may prefer gauntlets of power&mdash;a strength level of 18/01 or above makes the bonuses of gauntlets of power somewhat more marginal as discussed previously, and is also easy to obtain for non-elven characters. Elven [[Ranger]]s and other elven bow-users that have maximized to-hit, e.g. from high [[luck]], may even consider wearing gauntlets of power to bring up their carrying capacity.
 ===Identification===
@@ Line 40: / Line 44: @@
 Gauntlets of power first appear in [[NetHack 3.0.0]].
-The extra damage for monster weapon attacks is added in [[NetHack 3.6.1]].{{refsrc|src/mhitm.c|920|nethack=3.6.1}}
+The extra damage for monster weapon attacks is added in [[NetHack 3.6.1]] via {{commit|e408c48bb3610b22c5bc29932f19d55bffd10f34}}, which also introduces gauntlets of power for player monsters generated with war hammers.{{refsrc|src/mhitm.c|920|nethack=3.6.1}}{{refsrc|src/mhitu.c|988|nethack=3.6.1}}
 ==Variants==
@@ Line 47: / Line 51: @@
 The [[spinach]]-filled hidden chest generated behind the secret passage in the southwestern portion of [[Grund's Stronghold]] at level creation has a {{frac|3}} chance of containing a cursed +1 pair of gauntlets of power.
 ===GruntHack===
@@ Line 54: / Line 60: @@
 ===dNetHack===
-In [[dNetHack]], [[notdNetHack]] and [[notnotdNetHack]], gauntlets of power grant 1 base AC, 1 base [[DR]] and set the wearer's strength to 25 while worn.
+In [[dNetHack]], [[notdNetHack]] and [[notnotdNetHack]], gauntlets of power grant 1 base AC, 1 base [[DR]] and set the wearer's strength to 25 while worn. [[Arm blasters]] are incompatible to be worn with gauntlets of power and other metallic gauntlets. [[Samurai]] know the gauntlets as '''kote of power'''.
 There are a few [[artifact]] pairs of gauntlets of power:
@@ Line 65: / Line 73: @@
 ===EvilHack===
-In [[EvilHack]], the [[Gauntlets of Purity]] are an [[artifact]] pair of gauntlets of power made of silver.
+In [[EvilHack]], the gauntlets of power enable a hero to wield any weapon with a weight of up to 200 aum in the offhand for [[two weapon combat]], essentially enabling the use of any appropriate weapon with their main weapon.
 Monsters are capable of making wishes as in GruntHack, and may wish for blessed erodeproofed gauntlets of power with an enchantment from +1 to +4 if they can wear them and are not strong.
 Early wishes for [[Illithid (starting race)|illithid]] characters often include gauntlets of power to offset their low strength and carrying capacity, with [[bone]] and [[wood]] as popular [[Object materials (EvilHack)|choices of material]] due to being lighter and not interfering with spellcasting. [[Stone]] is also viable for the same reasons, and even provides an extra point of [[AC]] in exchange for being a heavier material, though this is somewhat offset by keeping them worn where possible.
 ==References==