Copper

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Copper is a material that appears in NetHack.

Description

Copper material consists of a family of similarly-colored, copper-alloyed metals which are susceptible to corrosion but not rust. All forms of copper can be eaten by metallivores. In-game, copper items are referred to as "copper", "bronze", or "brass".

The following items are made of copper:

Polypiling enough copper objects may create either a stone golem or a clay golem.[1]

Strategy

Depending on which rings they represent, copper rings may be worth eating for their intrinsics.

History

Copper items were introduced in Hack 1.0 with the inclusion of copper and brass as randomized appearances for wands and rings.

Origin

Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from Latin: cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. Copper is used as a building material and a component of various metal alloys, and copper compounds are used as bacteriostatic agents (which stop bacteria from reproducing), fungicides and wood preservatives. Variants of NetHack often incorporate this quality for copper items, giving them a damage bonus against fungi, molds and anything that has a disease attack.

Copper is one of the few metals that can occur in nature in a directly usable metallic form, which led to very early human use dating back as far as around 8000 BC. In the Roman era, copper was mined principally on Cyprus, from which the material's name is derived (from Latin aes cyprium, "metal of Cyprus", later corrupted to cuprum).

Copper was the first metal to be smelted from sulfide ores, cast into a shape in a mold, and the first to be purposely alloyed with another metal. Bronze usually refers to copper-tin alloys, but can refer to any alloy of copper such as aluminium bronze, while brass is an alloy of copper and zinc. Copper used in buildings, usually for roofing, oxidizes to form a green patina of compounds called verdigris. Copper is sometimes used in decorative art, both in its elemental metal form and in compounds as pigments.

Variants

Variants often add other items made of copper, and the object materials system used in many variants incorporates copper as a potential material for metallic objects.

GruntHack

In GruntHack, copper is a slightly heavier material than iron, and objects made from copper are priced roughly the same; copper armor is slightly weaker than iron armor of the same type, providing 1 less point of AC (minimum 0).

Iron and wooden objects have a small chance of being made of copper, and elven armor and weapons are commonly made of copper.

dNetHack

In dNetHack, the following items are made of copper:

The Cuprilach Rilmani are monsters that have an affinity to copper and bronze.

xNetHack

In xNetHack, copper weapons deal bonus damage to fungi and monsters with disease or decay attacks. Copper armor provides 1 less AC than its iron counterparts, but can sometimes prevent you from catching sickness with a 15 chance; this chance stacks with each piece of copper armor worn.

All elven weapons, including Sting and Orcrist, have a base material of copper, and players elves in roles that normally start with iron items will have them replaced with the copper equivalent.

SpliceHack

In SpliceHack and SpliceHack-Rewrite, copper weapons also deal bonus damage to fungi and monsters with disease or sickness attacks. As in other variants, copper armor provides 1 less AC than its iron counterparts.

Standard iron and wooden objects have a small chance of being made of copper. 'Shiny' and 'resonant' items (e.g. shield of reflection, resonant shield, bugle, etc.) have a significantly higher chance; elven helms, horns and firearms also have better chances to be made of copper.

EvilHack

In EvilHack, copper armor provides 1 less AC than its iron counterparts. Secespita is an artifact weapon knife made of copper.

Standard iron and wooden objects have a small chance of being made of copper, while dwarven and orcish items cannot be made of copper. Elven items are more likely to be made of copper compared to other items.

References