Small shield
[ small shield 
| |
|---|---|
| Appearance | wooden shield |
| Slot | shield |
| AC | 1 |
| Special |
|
| Base price | 3 zm |
| Weight | 30 |
| Material | wood |
A small shield is a type of shield that appears in NetHack. It is made of wood, and appears as a wooden shield when unidentified.
Contents
Generation
Knights and Clerics start each game with a +0 small shield.[1][2] Valkyries start each game with a +3 small shield.[3] Other heroes will not start with knowledge of the small shield, unlike most forms of armor that are not magical.[4]
Lines of code are present that give dwarven, elven and orcish heroes in roles that start with small shields a race-appropriate shield instead, though only the line regarding orcs and orcish shields is not commented out and it also has no applicable roles.[5][6][7]
Small shields make up 3⁄500 (0.6%) of all shields that are randomly generated on the ground, in general shops or as death drops. Used armor dealerships and antique weapon outlets can also stock small shields.
Mercenaries have a 2⁄3 chance of being generated with small shields that count for 1 point of their target AC.[8] Aligned clerics, high clerics and the Arch Priest always generate with a small shield.[9]
Description
While worn, a small shield grants 1 base AC. The spellcasting penalty for a worn small shield is much lower than most other shield types, due to its low weight.[10]
Strategy
The small shield is one of the better shields for heroes that are spellcasters and/or have a low carrying capacity—characters in other roles or builds that do not utilize two weapon combat may consider sticking with a highly-enchanted small shield in the long term if they have reflection covered by other slots. A Valkyrie's starting small shield is worth wearing for a long time due to its high enchantment, though many players eventually ditch the shield in favor of two-weapon combat.
An elven shield may be a superior option for certain builds depending on the character's exact needs: it has higher base AC and can be enchanted safely from +5, in exchange for weighing 10 more aum and inhibiting spellcasting more than the small shield. The shield of shock resistance and shield of drain resistance also cover valuable and/or rare resistance properties while possessing the same weight and lower spellcasting penalties as the regular small shield—the small shield is also the easiest of the three to informally identify, as it is the only one of the wooden shields to have a different base cost at 3 zm and the only one that auto-identifies when bought or sold in shops.
History
The small shield first appears in NetHack 3.0.0: it replaces the shield from NetHack 2.3e and previous versions that is somewhat similar, but is metallic rather than wooden and thus susceptible to rust.
From NetHack 3.0.0 to NetHack 3.6.7, including some variants based on those versions, the small shield lacks an unidentified appearance and is also the only shield to have a lower spellcasting penalty.[11] The introduction of the shield of drain resistance and shield of shock resistance in NetHack 5.0.0 adds the "wooden shield" appearance that it shares with them.
Variants
NetHack variants created prior to NetHack 5.0.0 will generally retain the small shield as the only shield of its type.
In NetHack variants with object materials systems, shields larger than the small shield may be exempt from additional spellcasting penalties if they are made of a lightweight, non-metallic material such as bone.[10]
SLASH'EM
In SLASH'EM, Priests start the game with a blessed +2 small shield, while Valkyries retain their starting +3 small shield.[12][13] Knights are given a large shield instead of a small shield.[14]
Player monster valkyries, priests and priestesses are always generated with a small shield.[15][16]
dNetHack
In dNetHack, notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack, the small shield is renamed to the buckler, due to object sizing allowing for the existence of small-sized shields.
xNetHack
In xNetHack, small shields are surpassed as the ideal shield for spellcasting by elven shields, since they work identically due to spellcasting system changes—the small shield's slightly lower weight is one of its few advantages in comparison.
SpliceHack
In SpliceHack, a small shield can be combined with an amulet of reflection at a furnace to create a shield of reflection.
EvilHack
In EvilHack, all racial replacements for roles starting with small shields are commented out.
Mercenaries that are not elves, drow or orcs have a 2⁄3 chance of being generated with small shields.
A small shield can be created at a forge by combining a dagger and a helmet. A small shield and an elven dagger can be combined at a forge to create an elven shield.
SlashTHEM
In SlashTHEM, in addition to SLASH'EM details, Warriors and Paladins start each game with a +0 small shield. Dwarvish, elven and orcish heroes in roles that start with small shields will start the game with a race-appropriate shield instead, making use of the existing substitution code from vanilla NetHack.
Hack'EM
In Hack'EM, upgrading a small shield will produce an elven shield, and vice versa.
Elven Knights can upgrade their starting small shield into an elven shield with relative ease.
References
- ↑ src/u_init.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 95
- ↑ src/u_init.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 117
- ↑ src/u_init.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 163
- ↑ src/u_init.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 609: heroes that know weapons and armor will not know the small shield's appearance
- ↑ src/u_init.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 232
- ↑ src/u_init.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 241
- ↑ src/u_init.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 249
- ↑ src/makemon.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 659
- ↑ src/makemon.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 726
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 src/spell.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 2265-L2275: extra shield penalty only applies for shields heavier than 30 aum
- ↑ src/spell.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1802: extra shield penalty doesn't apply for small shields
- ↑ u_init.c in SLASH'EM 0.0.7E7F2, line 153
- ↑ u_init.c in SLASH'EM 0.0.7E7F2, line 231
- ↑ u_init.c in SLASH'EM 0.0.7E7F2, line 110
- ↑ u_init.c in SLASH'EM 0.0.7E7F2, line 531
- ↑ u_init.c in SLASH'EM 0.0.7E7F2, line 594
