Scale mail
[ scale mail 
| |
|---|---|
| Appearance | scale mail |
| Slot | body armor |
| AC | 4 |
| Special | |
| Base price | 45 zm |
| Weight | 250 |
| Material | iron |
- For armor made out of dragon scales, see dragon scale mail.
Scale mail is a type of body armor that appears in NetHack. It is made of iron.
Contents
Generation
In addition to random generation, general stores and used armor dealerships sell scale mail.
Description
While worn, scale mail confers 4 base AC and MC1.
Strategy
While scale mail is strictly better than ring mail, which weighs the same but provides 1 less AC, both compare poorly with the elven mithril-coat and dwarvish mithril-coat.
History
Scale mail first appears in Hack 1.21 and Hack for PDP-11, which is based on Jay Fenlason's Hack, and is included in the initial list of armor for Hack 1.0. From this version to NetHack 3.4.3, including some variants based on those versions, scale mail does not grant any magic cancellation.
Origin
Scale mail is a type of armor made up of small scales fastened to a cloth or leather backing, with the scales themselves made of metal or other hard materials like boiled leather or animal horn. A related form of armor is "lamellar armor", which has scales stitched together without any need for a backing. Both types were made and worn by many cultures, especially in Asia.
Variants
In variants based on NetHack 3.4.3 and earlier versions, worn scale mail may not grant any MC.
SLASH'EM
In SLASH'EM, a gnoll warrior has an effective 19⁄30 chance of generating with scale mail.[1]
dNetHack
In dNetHack, scale mail grants 2 base AC and 2 DR while worn, and its weight is reduced to 125 aum (half its weight in vanilla NetHack).
Soldier ants on the Lawful Quest have a 3⁄10 chance of generating with scale mail fitted to their body shape, and large dogs have a 1⁄25 chance of being generated with scale mail fitted to their body shape.
EvilHack
In EvilHack, scale mail can be created at a forge by combining a ring mail and a helmet. Scale mail can be used to forge a few items:
- Scale mail can be combined with chain mail to create splint mail.
- Scale mail can be combined with ring mail to create banded mail.
SlashTHEM
In SlashTHEM, in addition to SLASH'EM details, Warriors start the game with non-cursed +0 scale mail.
