Chain mail
[ chain mail | |
---|---|
Appearance | chain mail |
Slot | body armor |
AC | 5 |
Special | |
Base price | 75 zm |
Weight | 300 |
Material | iron |
Chain mail is a type of body armor that appears in NetHack. It is made of iron, and provides MC1 and 5 base AC when worn.
Contents
Generation
Player monster Barbarians, Knights, Priests, and Valkyries have a 1⁄2 chance to force a random suit of body armor instead of dragon scale mail, and a 1⁄8 chance for that body armor to be chain mail - effectively a 7⁄128 or ~5.47% chance to be generated with one.[1][2][3][4]
Strategy
Chain mail is a decent set of armor, but additionally blocks spellcasting and is heavy as well. Roles looking to shore up their AC early can make good use of a set of chain mail until they find options that are lighter (e.g., mithril-coats) and/or more conducive to spell casting (e.g., studded leather armor or dragon scale mail).
History
Chain mail has been present in the game since Hack 1.21, one of the first variants of Jay Fenlason's Hack.
Origin
Chain mail is made of small metal rings interlocked to form a mesh, and was widely used in Europe, Asia, and North Africa, from pre-Roman times until as late as the 19th century. In medieval sources, this type of armor was described simply as "mail" - the use of the term to describe other types of armor (and the invention of "chain mail" to distinguish it from those ) began in 19th-century historical fiction.
The stats for chain mail are derived from its appearance in Dungeons & Dragons.