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.
Contents
Generation
Orcish heroes in roles that start with chain mail will receive orcish chain mail of the same enchantment instead, though no roles start with chain mail for this substitution to apply.[1]
Chain mail makes up 33⁄500 (6.6%) of all armor that is randomly generated on the ground, in general shops or as death drops. Used armor dealerships and antique weapon outlets can also stock chain mail.
Some monsters can be generated with chain mail:
- Chieftains, pages, roshi, and warriors have a 2⁄3 chance of generating with chain mail.[2]
- Pelias, the quest leader for the Barbarian quest, is always generated with +5 chain mail.[3]
- Player monster barbarians, knights, clerics, and valkyries each have an effective 33⁄287 chance (roughly ~11.5%) of being given chain mail in place of their initial body armor.[4][5][6][7][8]
Description
While worn, chain mail provides 5 base AC and MC1.
Strategy
Chain mail is a decent set of armor, though it is heavy and blocks spellcasting. Roles looking to shore up their AC early can make good use of a set of chain mail until they can either obtain some form of dragon scale mail or else find other armor that is lighter (e.g., dwarvish mithril-coat and elven mithril-coat) or more conducive to spellcasting (e.g., enchanted studded leather armor).
History
Chain mail first appears in Hack 1.21 and Hack for PDP-11, which are based on Jay Fenlason's Hack, and is included in the initial list of armor for Hack 1.0. From this version to NetHack 3.2.3, the Cleric role (then known as the Priest) starts with +0 chain mail—beginning in NetHack 3.3.0, Priests start each game with a robe instead.
The chain mail worn by Pelias is added in NetHack 5.0.0 as part of commit 20cbadcf, which makes it so that a hero killing their quest leader no longer makes the game unwinnable and strengthens all quest leaders accordingly.
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 in NetHack are derived from its appearance in Dungeons & Dragons.
Variants
SLASH'EM
In SLASH'EM, the Undead Slayer has a 1⁄4 chance of starting with chain mail as their body armor.[9] Orcish Undead Slayers that would start with chain mail as their body armor receive orcish chain mail instead, making use of the existing substitution code from NetHack.[10]
A set of chain mail appears on the goal level of the Yeoman quest, where it is placed on the altar of the lawful temple during level creation.
Upgrading orcish chain mail will produce regular chain mail, and vice versa.[11]
dNetHack
In dNetHack, notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack, chain mail grants 2 base AC, 3 DR and MC1 while worn, and its weight is reduced to 150 aum.
Dwarven Binders always start with uncursed and thoroughly rusty +0 chain mail, while dwarven Nobles start with non-cursed +1 chain mail, and half-dragon Noblewomen start with blessed +1 chain mail. All non-Incantifier Knights start the game with non-cursed +1 chain mail, including dwarf Knights—incantifier Knights are given a robe instead.
Soldier ants and queen bees that are generated on the Lawful Quest have an effective 3⁄25 chance of generating with chain mail.
xNetHack
In xNetHack, Croesus has a 7⁄8 chance of generating with golden chain mail.
EvilHack
In EvilHack, chain mail can be generated as part of various kits for player monsters, including centaurs (who can wear body armor in EvilHack). aligned champions and ronin have a 1⁄3 chance of generating with chain mail. Skeleton warriors have an effective 2⁄5 chance of generating with chain mail.
Chain mail can be created at a forge by combining two sets of ring mail. Chain mail can be used to forge a few items:
- Chain mail can be combined with splint mail to create plate mail.
- Chain mail can be combined with scale mail to create splint mail.
- Chain mail can be combined with a dwarvish roundshield to create dwarvish chain mail.
- Chain mail can be combined with an elven shield to create elven chain mail.
Hack'EM
In Hack'EM, giant Undead Slayers that would start with chain mail start with low boots instead, while tortle Undead Slayers receive leather gloves in place of chain mail.
In addition to EvilHack details and forging recipes, upgrading orcish chain mail will produce regular chain mail and vice versa, as in SLASH'EM.
References
- ↑ src/u_init.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 243
- ↑ src/makemon.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 297
- ↑ dat/Bar-strt.lua in NetHack 5.0.0, line 74
- ↑ include/objects.h in NetHack 5.0.0, line 556-L579: 1⁄2 for barbarians and other mentioned roles to get random body armor within the range of objects from plate mail to chain mail in objects.h, using normal generation odds
- ↑ src/mplayer.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 169-L170: body armor for barbarians
- ↑ src/mplayer.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 195-L196: body armor for knights
- ↑ src/mplayer.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 208-L209: body armor for clerics
- ↑ src/mplayer.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 235-L236: body armor for valkyries
- ↑ u_init.c in SLASH'EM 0.0.7E7F2, line 220
- ↑ u_init.c in SLASH'EM 0.0.7E7F2, line 342
- ↑ potion.c in SLASH'EM 0.0.7E7F2, line 2289
