Gauntlets of dexterity
[ [ [ [ gauntlets of dexterity | |
---|---|
Appearance | random |
Slot | gloves |
AC | 1 |
Special |
|
Base price | 50 zm |
Weight | 10 |
Material | leather |
Gauntlets of dexterity, often abbreviated to GoD, are a type of gloves that appear in NetHack. They are made of leather, and wearing them provides 1 point of AC and modifies the wearer's dexterity based on its enchantment. Wearing gauntlets of dexterity of any non-zero enchantment auto-identifies them.
Contents
Generation
Player monsters on the Astral Plane that do not generate with a war hammer have a 7⁄8 chance of generating wearing a random pair of gloves, with a 1⁄4 chance for those gloves to be gauntlets of dexterity - effectively, there is a 7⁄32 or ~21.9% chance for a player monster to carry these gauntlets.[1]
Strategy
Higher dexterity improves a player's chances of hitting with spells and attacks, but most players can maximize their chances to hit successfully through other means, particularly weapon skill and Luck. As such, gauntlets of dexterity are somewhat fairly uncommon, especially in ascension kits where leather gloves often suffice. Gauntlets of dexterity can still be of use to spellcasters seeking to improve their hit rates on attack spells such as magic missile and finger of death - Monks may prefer them both for general use with martial arts and to help offset the -20 to-hit penalty should they choose to wear body armor.
Other uses for these gauntlets include hitting with a thrown cockatrice egg or a potion of paralysis, whose odds of hitting cannot be improved by anything but a high dexterity score - even with 23 Dexterity, however, there is a 12% chance of missing, and hitting with a wielded egg or potion in melee is still more reliable, if you can afford it.
History
Gauntlets of dexterity first appear in NetHack 3.0.0.
Variants
SLASH'EM
In SLASH'EM, dexterity improves your AC at higher values, making gauntlets of dexterity much more attractive to the point that they may feature in ascension kits. They are usually not worth spending a wish on, though, since you can obtain them by upgrading leather gloves (which will become either these or gauntlets of swimming).
The Gauntlets of Defense are a pair of artifact gauntlets of dexterity that provide half physical damage and can be invoked to toggle invisibility.
SlashTHEM
In addition to SLASH'EM changes, SlashTHEM adds The Pickpocket's Gloves, another pair of artifact gauntlets of dexterity - they confer stealth and searching while worn, and additionally provide a +20 bonus to stealing from monsters via the borrow extended command.
EvilHack
In Evilhack, thees gauntlets are somewhat more desirable, as dexterity functions similarly to SLASH'EM - though the bonuses only apply while unburdened.
Gauntlets of dexterity are generated as part of various kits for player monsters, including centaurs and monks.[2][3][4][5][6]