Chris: First draft of low-complexity roles

2026-06-18T04:21:22Z

First draft of low-complexity roles

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== "Vanilla" ascension kit ==

This article assumes that the vanilla ascension kit consists of a strong artifact weapon, an optional shield, some sort of magic cloak, dragon scale mail, magic boots, gauntlets of power or of dexterity, some form of greased headgear, an amulet of life saving, and a collection of magic rings.

Unlike in vanilla, '''gray''' dragon scale mail is the default and silver dragon scale mail should never be chosen. For low-complexity roles an early wish should probably be spent on gray dragon scale mail. For wishes obtained after MR has already been obtained orange dragon scale mail (for free action) or red dragon scale mail (for flying) might be chosen instead.

Unlike in vanilla, the most commonly-chosen boots are boots of flying, unless the PC has acquired flight some other way.

== Low-complexity roles ==

These roles start out strong, good first gifts, have vanilla-style quest difficulty, aren't forced to interact with the optional insight mechanics, and perform well with a Vanilla-style ascension kit. As in vanilla, it's generally best to be [[lawful]], though in dNethack it's because being lawful grants easy access to the [[law quest]].

=== Barbarian ===

The Barbarian role is by far the lowest-complexity role for learning dNethack. Barbarians begin with a strong two-handed weapon and the first gift is a 2x damage variant of the same thing that, while not optimal, is a perfectly fine weapon to ascend with. Generally, acquiring magic resistance is the most dangerous part of the run, so an early wish should probably be spent on magic resistance, even though it will be duplicative with the quest artifact. Thoth Amon is a spellcaster, so it's best to have MR before challenging him, and barbarians can't start lawful so the law quest isn't peaceful to them.

The barbarian quest is much the same as in vanilla, and the quest artifact notably grants MR, Half magic damage, reflection, and drain resistance and can be invoked to remove curses.

=== Kensei (any other than lawful incantifier) ===

The [[Kensei]] role really wants you to learn the movement-based commands for launching its special moves, but even without the moves kensei is a strong melee fighter and the moves don't target friendly monsters, so the initial learning curve is manageable. Otherwise, each kensei variant (race, role, and alignment) has a single weapon or class of weapons it's dedicated to, each with a strong first gift that is intended to be your primary weapon for the entire game. Kensei can't wear heavy armor without suffering from a monk-style to-hit penalty, but dragon scale mail is medium armor so Kensei will perform well with a vanilla ascension kit.

The kensei quest is about on par with the vanilla monk quest.

=== Knight (any non-silverfish) ===

Knights begin with good armor and a versatile longsword. Their first gift is a 2x damage lance, which most races will find difficult to use due to mounts being tricky to keep alive, but centaur knights specifically can use this lance for the rest of the game.

The knight quest is different from vanilla should now be handled with caution.

=== Samurai ===

Samurai begin with good armor and either a katana (male samurai) or a polearm (female samurai). The first gift is an upgraded version of the starting weapon, dealing +1d12 damage per hit. It is not typically used as an endgame weapon. The Tsurugi of Muramasa is now a 2x damage weapon and can be used in the endgame. Finally, a level 22+ samurai can name any long sword the Kusanagi no Tsurugi, but this does not result in an endgame weapon unless a particularly good long sword is used as the base.

The samurai quest is much the same as in vanilla.

=== Valkyrie ===

Valkyries start with pretty bad armor and a weapon that is a definite downgrade from the knight's longsword, but with higher starting stats than are possible for other roles. Their weapon choice is a bit complicated: their first gift, Mjollnir, deals lightning damage and can be thrown, they claim a fire-damage two-handed sword from the quest, recieve a frost-damage bow from crowning, and can upgrade any +5 spear to a high accurate non-elemental weapon by praying at an altar while wielding it. Overall, then they can deal with any foe but must switch weapons frequently.

Their quest is much like their vanilla quest.

== Medium-complexity roles ==

These roles have many, but not all, of the same traits as low-complexity roles.

=== Archeologist ===

=== Caveman ===

=== Monk ===

Monks lack a guaranteed first gift,

=== Noble (other than female drow) ===

=== Priest ===

=== Pirate ===

=== Rogue ===

=== Ranger ===

=== Wizard ===

== Hard roles ==

=== Convict ===

=== Healer ===

=== Tourist ===

=== Troubadour (Bard) ===

== High-complexity roles ==

=== Binder ===

=== Madman ===

=== Silverfish knight (silverknight) ===

=== Female Drow Noble ===

=== Undead hunter ===

User:Chris/dNetHack/Role complexity - Revision history

Chris: First draft of low-complexity roles