Archeologist

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The Archeologist, also spelled as Archaeologist and abbreviated as Arc, is one of the roles available for a hero in NetHack. According to the guidebook:

Archeologists understand dungeons pretty well; this enables them to move quickly and sneak up on the local nasties. They start equipped with the tools for a proper scientific expedition.

Archeologists can be humans, dwarves, or gnomes, and can be either lawful or neutral.

Starting equipment

Each Archeologist starts with the following equipment:

• +2 bullwhip (wielded)
• +0 leather jacket
• +0 fedora
• 3 to 6 uncursed food rations
• +0 pick-axe (alternate weapon)
• uncursed tinning kit (30 to 99 charges)
• uncursed touchstone
• uncursed sack
• a chance of one of the following:
  • an uncursed tin opener (¹⁄₁₀ or 10% overall), otherwise;
  • an uncursed oil lamp (¹⁄₄ or 22.5% overall), otherwise;
  • an uncursed magic marker (¹⁄₁₀ or 6.75% overall, 30 to 99 charges)

The Archeologist's default starting pet is a little dog or kitten with equal probability.

The following information pertains to an upcoming version (NetHack 3.7.0). If this version is now released, please verify that the information below is still accurate, then update the page to incorporate it.

Per commit 9d910773, Archeologists have an increased ¹⁄₅ chance (13.5% overall) of starting with a magic marker that has 19–23 charges.

Intrinsics

Archeologists gain the following intrinsic properties upon reaching the given experience levels:

• XL 1: Stealth
• XL 1: Speed
• XL 10: Searching

The following information pertains to an upcoming version (NetHack 3.7.0). If this version is now released, please verify that the information below is still accurate, then update the page to incorporate it.

Per commit 075c2832, Archeologists start with searching, gain stealth at XL 5 and gain speed at XL 10.

Attributes

The Archeologist's starting attributes are distributed as follows:

Attributes	Strength	Dexterity	Constitution	Intelligence	Wisdom	Charisma	Remaining
Minimum attributes	7	7	7	10	10	7	27
Distribution percentages	20%	10%	20%	20%	20%	10%
Mean w/ standard deviation (human)	12.79±2.15	9.78±1.63	12.50±2.10	15.34±1.86	15.34±1.86	9.51±1.57

Skills

Archeologists have the following skills available to them:

Archeologist skills
Max	Skills
Basic	Weapons: dagger, knife, short sword, dart Combat: two weapon combat, riding Spells: attack, healing, matter
Skilled	Weapons: scimitar, club, quarterstaff, sling, unicorn horn
Expert	Weapons: pick-axe, saber, boomerang, whip Combat: bare hands Spells: divination

Archeologists start with Basic skill level in whips and pick-axes. They use the intelligence stat to cast spells, and their special spell is magic mapping.

The following information pertains to an upcoming version (NetHack 3.7.0). If this version is now released, please verify that the information below is still accurate, then update the page to incorporate it.

The scimitar skill is merged into the saber skill.

Special rules

Archeologists can apply an uncursed touchstone as if it was blessed to formally identify any gem.

Archeologists incur a -1 penalty to alignment record for breaking a historic statue.

Non-chaotic Archeologists incur a -3 penalty to alignment record for digging up a headstone, while chaotic Archeologists instead get a +3 bonus.

The following information pertains to an upcoming version (NetHack 3.7.0). If this version is now released, please verify that the information below is still accurate, then update the page to incorporate it.

Per commit 78289a7f, Archeologists get a +1 luck bonus while wearing a fedora.

Rank titles

The status line displays one of the following ranks for the corresponding experience levels:

• XL 1–2: Digger
• XL 3–5: Field Worker
• XL 6–9: Investigator
• XL 10–13: Exhumer
• XL 14–17: Excavator
• XL 18–21: Spelunker
• XL 22–25: Speleologist
• XL 26–29: Collector
• XL 30: Curator

Gods

The Archeologist pantheon is based on Central American mythology, specifically the Aztecs.

• Lawful: Quetzalcoatl
• Neutral: Camaxtli
• Chaotic: Huhetotl

Quest

The Archeologist's quest sees them fight The Minion of Huhetotl for The Orb of Detection, an artifact crystal ball. While carried, it confers magic resistance, telepathy and half spell damage, and can be invoked to toggle invisibility on or off.

Strategy

Archeologists are often considered one of the harder roles in NetHack, due to their low average of physical attributes as well as starting equipment that is less useful in combat than that of most other roles. However, smart use of their whip combined their starting speed and stealth can aid survival early on, and they can become powerful in the late game.

Character creation

Human Archeologists are not as sturdy as dwarves, and face a hard Gnomish Mines due to their lack of infravision and predominance of hostile inhabitants, but they are also not as fragile as gnomes. A dwarven Archeologist has a peaceful Mines and an HP bonus that makes their poor starting armor more bearable, though their energy growth penalty significantly weakens spellcasting for them in the late game; gnomish Archeologists also have a peaceful Mines and are the best spellcasters, but their poor HP makes them more prone to death in the early game. However, a dwarf's energy growth penalty can make spellcasting difficult or impossible in the late game.

Archeologists are restricted in most of the strong one-handed weapon skills, so the deterministic nature of lawful sacrifice gifts can be an advantage: a lawful Archeologist's first gift will be either Grayswandir, or an artifact long sword that unrestricts the skill and allows the use of Excalibur once another long sword is found. In either case, you are guaranteed a strong artifact weapon that can carry you through the game. Neutral sacrifice gifts are less reliable, and while several of them are viable in the long-term, each also has a disadvantage, e.g. Mjollnir and its combination of low base damage and large bonus damage die, or Vorpal Blade and its low damage bonuses on an otherwise-solid base item.

The following information pertains to an upcoming version (NetHack 3.7.0). If this version is now released, please verify that the information below is still accurate, then update the page to incorporate it.

The base item of Demonbane is a mace, meaning that a lawful Archeologist is not guaranteed to unrestrict the long sword skill with their first gift.

Per commit e8212743, there is only a ¹⁄₃₀ chance of a non-Knight receiving Excalibur by dipping.

Early game

The Archeologist's early game must be played cautiously, since they are more reliant on their starting speed and stealth to avoid or survive combat encounters: they should seek out armor and other equipment as quickly as possible, using their starting sack to store vulnerable items; the tinning kit can be used to slightly improve nutrition of less meaty corpses and make intrinsics such as poison resistance and sleep resistance safer to obtain. An Archeologist identifying gems should save at least one identified cheap gem to throw to a co-aligned unicorn, which gives a +5 boost to luck and may be worthwhile even without a luckstone. Early vaults are also a good source of gold, and an Archeologist that knows where to dig can use their touchstone and pick-axe to quickly set themselves up for credit cloning and buying intrinsic protection.

The Gnomish Mines has random tools, gold and gems embedded in the walls, and a chance at good armor and a dwarvish mattock, and is generally the preferred early goal for most Archeologists; an Archeologist using their speed and pick-axe combined with infravision and/or a light source can also run protection rackets to obtain several points of AC from the aligned priest in Minetown. The luckstone at Mines' End is much more dangerous to shoot for, though it is worth going for once you are better prepared; a luckstone can also generate randomly in the solid rock of the dungeons, making it possible to uncover one while digging. Sokoban does offer opportunities to train strength along with additional food and magical loot, including wands that can give the Archeologist an edge in fights against hostile monsters.

Both the starting bullwhip and pick-axe are poor weapons, but the former can be used to disarm weapon-wielding hostile monsters and make fights more survivable, while pick-axes can be used to dig to lower levels and create pits to trap hostile monsters in. A scimitar from a hobgoblin or group of orcs can prove decent, and any artifact weapon an Archeologist can obtain as a sacrifice gift should be able help them in combat. The aklys is a melee weapon that also doubles as their best ranged weapon by far: it can pull double-duty in melee and at short distances, will return far more often than not due to being a tethered weapon, can be easily obtained from the Mines, and Archeologists can train clubs to Skilled for a substantial to-hit bonus. An aklys or two that is curse-tested can do the work of several daggers for much less weight.

Archeologists should prioritize AC and survival over spellcasting in the beginning stages, wearing any armor they can find and curse test that is reasonably protective and lightweight—the leather jacket is the weakest suit of armor available, while the fedora grants no AC at all and leaves the hero vulnerable to falling rock traps; as mentioned previously, the Gnomish Mines and Minetown can provide some decent-to-good-quality armor. A cloak of invisibility may be of particular interest to an Archeologist: a fast, invisible and constantly-moving target is hard to track down, providing an additional combat edge that the role may appreciate. A ring of invisibility or even a few potions of invisibility can provide similar benefits.

Mid game

Objectives

Archeologists should have poison resistance by the time they attempt the Quest, which is full of poisonous snakes. The starting tinning kit is very helpful, allowing you to safely eat poisonous corpses for the chance of the intrinsic. Stealth can help gradually clear out treasure zoos and throne rooms without waking most of the sleeping denizens - be mindful of pets waking them up instead!

The locate level of the contains three altars, one of each alignment; this guarantees a co-aligned altar may be a good place to wait and sacrifice monsters if you haven't found an artifact weapon yet.

Archeologists planning to use The Orb of Detection as a source of magic resistance should have a reliable backup source, such as Magicbane, gray dragon scale mail or a cloak of magic resistance, in case the Wizard of Yendor steals it or else the player decides to stash it to prevent theft.

Weapons

Because you start with low physical stats and melee penalties, acquiring an artifact weapon is a central concern. It's not a bad idea to camp on an altar you find and sacrifice for a gift. Archeologists have good artifact weapon possibilities, such as Grayswandir, Mjollnir, Vorpal Blade, and Magicbane. Lawful players can also dip for Excalibur if they find a long sword (though it will not be unrestricted unless you have had another long sword gifted to you).

Dwarvish mattocks and silver sabers are good non-artifact weapons, and one or the other should be trained to Expert. If you are planning to get Grayswandir or at least two-weapon with a silver saber, you should begin training saber skill as soon as you find one. The watch captain in Minetown often carries one, so consider getting a pet to kill him for it. If you disarm him with your whip, it will anger him but not the other guards. Remember that if you only plan to use a saber while dual-wielding, you don't need to advance the saber skill past Basic, as Skilled two-weapon combat is unreachable for Archeologists.

Spellcasting

As you progress through the game and level up, spellcasting becomes more of an option. Your high starting intelligence makes you good at reading spellbooks without needing to bless them. You can become proficient in several spell schools, meaning that you can become competent at casting many low-level spells. However, armor usually remains more important than spells through the early and mid game. Don't ditch good metal armor in favor of spellcasting until you're confident you can survive without it.

Late game

Weapons

For Archeologists, the best strategy is to find a good artifact weapon, enchant it up, and stick with it through the rest of the game. Two-weaponing is reliable because your experience level and Luck at this point completely cancel out the the −7 to-hit penalty.

The best artifact weapon for you is Grayswandir, which does double damage and silver damage. It is one of the few artifact weapons you can advance to Expert. The neutral artifact weapons for Archeologists are quite good as well, but Grayswandir is so excellent that you might want to consider wishing for it even if you're neutral.

Spellcasting

In the mid-game and beyond, you may want to advance divination spells to Skilled for casting magic mapping, which is your special spell and can be greatly useful in Gehennom. Detect treasure and detect unseen are also nice to have, and identify is always useful. Don't advance them to Expert unless you really need your failure rates to be lower.

Since most of your useful spells are utility spells, it isn't necessary to avoid metal armor. However, if you're otherwise lacking in ranged attacks, being able to cast magic missile reliably may be more important than a few AC points.

History

The Archeologist first appears in Hack 1.0 as the Speleologist - NetHack 1.3d gives the role its current name, presumably to make room for selecting the Samurai role using S, and converts the former name to one of its rank titles.

In NetHack 3.4.3 and previous versions, including some variants based on those versions, Archeologists start out at basic skill level in sling as a side effect of their starting touchstone, which is considered sling ammunition. This is bug C343-355, and was fixed in May 2008 via commit d5ca34a4.

Origin

Archaeology (or archeology) is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture, with the "archaeological record" consisting of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscapes. Derived from Greek, the term archaeology means "the study of ancient history". Archaeology can be considered both a social science and a branch of the humanities; it is usually considered an independent academic discipline, but may also be classified as part of anthropology, history or geography.

Archaeologists study human prehistory and history, from the development of the first stone tools at Lomekwi in East Africa 3.3 million years ago up until recent decades - it is distinct from palaeontology, which is the study of fossil remains. Archaeology has various goals, which range from understanding culture history to reconstructing past lifeways to documenting and explaining changes in human societies through time. The discipline involves surveying, excavation, and eventually analysis of data collected, to learn more about the past, making it reliant on cross-disciplinary research.

The Archeologist role and starting equipment are based on 1954 film Secret of the Incas, whose main character Harry Steele (Charlton Heston) is an explorer of ancient ruins - this image of the archeologist adventurer was further popularized by 1981 film Raiders of the Lost Ark, which marked the debut of Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford), a character inspired by Secret of the Incas that wore similar clothing and additionally carried an army bag and trusty bullwhip with him.

Variants

The Itlachiayaque patch replaces the Archeologist quest artifact while preserving some of its properties, and is implemented in several variants.

SLASH'EM

In SLASH'EM, Archeologists are given a few additional items, including a spellbook in order to take advantage of their good starting intelligence, and also gain an additional method of identifying items.

UnNetHack

UnNetHack allows Archeologists to safely enchant a fedora past +5 up to +7, and they gain a +2 bonus to Luck when wearing one.

dNetHack

In dNetHack, Archeologists are given a first gift, different weapon skills and a redesigned quest with Itlachiayaque as the quest artifact - they remain one of the harder roles in the variant due to a similar lack of easy methods to get off the ground in the early and mid-game stages.

FIQHack

In FIQHack, archeologists get a +10 bonus to the base searching rate.

Encyclopedia entry

Archeology is the search for fact, not truth. [...] So forget any ideas you've got about lost cities, exotic travel, and digging up the world. We do not follow maps to buried treasure, and X never, ever, marks the spot.

[ Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade ]

References

This page is based on a spoiler by Dylan O'Donnell. The original license is:

Redistribution, copying, and editing of these spoilers, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:

1. The original contributors to any spoiler must continue to be credited.
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