Attribute
An attribute shows some capability of the player.
There are six basic attributes, as in Dungeons & Dragons.
Contents
Strength
Strength corresponds to the ability to have more weight in your inventory. Also, the stronger you are the more damage you do in melee combat and the farther you can throw objects.
Like all attributes, strength ranges between 3 and 25. However, as in early editions of Dungeons and Dragons, strength has the unique property that values between 18 and 19 are given in percentage terms rather than jumping straight from 18 to 19 as with other attributes. For example, a strength of 18/35 means roughly that one is 35% of the way between 18 strength and 19 strength. Depending on race, characters can attain a maximum strength of 18, 18/50 or 18/** (which stands for 18/100) in their natural form, and need Gauntlets of power or a Ring of gain strength to increase strength to 19 or more. However, for gameplay purposes, there are not very many differences between a strength of 18/** and a strength of 25. Specifically, increasing your strength from 18/** to 25 will increase your carrying capacity (but only if your Constitution is less than 17), make objects thrown or kicked by you travel further, and allow you to throw Mjollnir if you have it.
Uses of strength
Strength is required for the following activities:
- To cast spells, you need strength of at least 4.
- To jump or do self-teleportation, you need strength of at least 6.
- To break a wand, you need strength of at least 10.
- To throw Mjollnir, you need strength of 25.
Strength is helpful for the following activities:
- Strength of at least 18 speeds escape from a bear trap.
- Greater strength usually allows you to carry more inventory without being encumbered.
- Greater strength speeds escape from a web.
- Greater strength allows better accuracy when fighting and increases damage per hit, as shown by the following table:
| strength | to-hit | damage |
|---|---|---|
| 3–5 | -2 | -1 |
| 6–7 | -1 | 0 |
| 8–15 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | 0 | +1 |
| 17 | +1 | +1 |
| 18 | +1 | +2 |
| 18/01–18/50 | +1 | +3 |
| 18/51–18/75 | +2 | +3 |
| 18/76–18/90 | +2 | +4 |
| 18/91–18/99 | +2 | +5 |
| 18/**–25 | +3 | +6 |
Reference: Weapon.c#line695.
The to-hit adjustment only applies to wielded weapons. The damage adjustment affects wielded and thrown weapons.
Strength in game formulas
Some of the game formulas require Strength to be an integer between 3 and 25 (without percentages). When that is needed, NetHack will map strengths between 18/01 and 21 as follows:
| A Strength of... | maps to... |
|---|---|
| 18/01–18/31 | 19 |
| 18/32–18/81 | 20 |
| 18/82–21 | 21 |
This mapping is used for:
- Calculating carrying capacity
- Calculating the maximum distance traveled by thrown or kicked objects
For example, the maximum range of a thrown dagger is Str/2 squares. Thus, if your strength is 18/31, you can throw a dagger 9 squares (19/2 rounded down), but if your strength is 18/32, you can throw it 10 squares (20/2 rounded down).
Events that alter strength
Strength may increase when:
- you eat a giant corpse
- you eat non-cursed royal jelly or spinach ("you feel like Popeye!")
- you are at least weak, and eat or pray, and are no longer weak
Strength may decrease when:
- you become hungry to the point of being weak
- you are hit by certain monsters' attacks
- you are poisoned
- you eat cursed royal jelly or spinach
Exercising and abusing strength
There are many ways to exercise your strength. One popular way is to push boulders around. (One possibility: whenever you need to heal, spend your time pushing a boulder back and forth at one of the higher dungeon levels.)
You also exercise Strength when:
- you are stressed or strained
- you have intrinsic regeneration from eating a ring of regeneration (wearing a ring or wielding the Staff does not exercise strength)
- you kick a non-boobytrapped door
- you throw an iron ball or a boulder
- you push a boulder
- you #force a lock using a blunt weapon (using a blade exercises dexterity)
- you attempt to open a door and it resists
- a nurse heals you
- you "feel restored to health" after consorting with a foocubus
- you are polymorphed into a golem and an attack increases your health
- you drink a potion of extra healing or full healing
- you read a non-cursed scroll of enchant armor while not wearing armor
- you fight
Strength may be abused when:
- you are hungry to the point of being weak or beyond
- you are hit or dragged by an iron ball while descending stairs
- you kick and hurt your leg
- you are hurt in any kind of explosion
- you are choked or crushed by a monster's attack
- you are polymorphed into a black or brown pudding and are divided by a monster's attack
- a xan pricks your leg
- you are burned by acid
- you are digested and do not possess slow digestion
- you are pummeled by debris, as by an air elemental
- you "feel exhausted" after consorting with a foocubus
- you break out of your armor when polymorphing
- you read a cursed scroll of enchant armor while not wearing armor
- you read a scroll of destroy armor while confused, or the scroll is non-cursed, and you are not wearing armor
- you sit while trapped in a spiked pit
- you are choked by an amulet of strangulation
- you are hit by a falling rock
- you fall into a pit, spiked or not
- you are hit by a wand of striking or a magic missile
- you are injured by an exploding potion (from fire attacks) or wand (from electrical attacks)
Messages
When you gain a point in strength by exercising, it will say:
You feel strong! You must have been exercising.
When you lose a point in strength by exercising, it will say:
You feel weak! You must have been abusing your body.
Dexterity
Dexterity has a multitude of effects, of which the most significant is probably that it affects your chance of hitting monsters, whether in melee combat or with a missile or spell.
There is no direct way to increase your intrinsic dexterity apart from drinking a blessed potion of gain ability (or the corresponding fountain effect) which increases all stats by one. However, there are ways to exercise it, for example repeatedly picking locks. It is also exercised by fighting monsters, disarming traps, and reading a non-cursed Scroll of enchant weapon while not wielding a weapon.
Be aware that dexterity is easy to abuse. If you are trying to train it up, avoid being satiated and do not allow yourself to become strained or overtaxed. Being stunned, paralyzed, or having wounded legs is also bad for dexterity.
A pair of gauntlets of dexterity magically increases (or decreases) your dexterity by the amount of its enchantment, to a maximum of 25.
| dexterity | to-hit |
|---|---|
| 3 | -3 |
| 4-5 | -2 |
| 6-7 | -1 |
| 8-14 | 0 |
| 15 | +1 |
| 16 | +2 |
| 17 | +3 |
| 18 | +4 |
| 19 | +5 |
| 20 | +6 |
| 21 | +7 |
| 22 | +8 |
| 23 | +9 |
| 24 | +10 |
| 25 | +11 |
Reference: Dothrow.c#line1200,Weapon.c#line705.
Messages
You feel clumsy! You haven't been working on your reflexes.
You have been abusing your dexterity, and you lost one point of it.
You feel agile! You must have been working on your reflexes.
You have been exercising your dexterity, and you gained one point of it.
Constitution
Having a high constitution increases your healing rate and the number of HP you gain when levelling up and allows you to carry more weight in your inventory.
Constitution is exercised by keeping from being hungry and is increased when you sleep with a foocubus and "feel good enough to do it again".
| Constitution | hp/level bonus |
|---|---|
| 3 | -2 |
| 4-6 | -1 |
| 7-14 | 0 |
| 15-16 | +1 |
| 17 | +2 |
| 18 | +3 |
| >18 | +4 |
Reference: Attrib.c#line649.
Above level 9, higher constitution can also help you regenerate more HP every 3 turns.
Intelligence
Intelligence is useful for reading spellbooks, for spellcasting (unless you are a Healer, Knight, Monk, Priest or Valkyrie, in which case it is wisdom that affects your chances of successfully casting a spell) and for encounters with foocubi. Mind flayers have a brain-eating attack that can drain your intelligence; if you are hit by a successful brain-eating attack when your base intelligence is already 3, you die of brainlessness.
Intelligence cannot be exercised but can be increased by drinking a blessed potion of enlightenment or a potion of gain ability. It can also be increased by wearing a helm of brilliance. If you eat a mind flayer corpse, there is a 50% chance your intellegence will be increased by one point (you will get the message "For some reason, that tasted bland." if your intelligence is already at maximum.)
Wisdom
A Healer, Knight, Monk, Priest or Valkyrie requires wisdom to cast spells. Wisdom is not particularly important to other classes, though it affects how fast your power regenerates (hence is fairly important for wizards) and how much power you gain when levelling up.
Wisdom is one of the easiest stats to maximize. Many activities exercise it, including engraving Elbereth and successful searching. It can also be increased by sleeping with a foocubus and getting the "You will always remember the foocubus" message.
When your wisdom changes through exercise or abuse you will receive the message:
You feel wise! You must have been very observant.
If it goes up, and:
You feel foolish! You haven't been paying attention.
if it goes down.
Exercising and abusing Wisdom
Wisdom is exercised by:
- Completing the study of a spellbook[1] (and more so[2] if it refreshes memory of an already known spell)
- Successfully casting a spell[3]
- Chatting to a coaligned priest with a good alignment record but no money[4]
- Donating more than half your gold to a priest, but less than 200 times your level[5]
- Being weak with hunger as a monk[6]
- Being clairvoyant[7]
- Using enlightenment[8]
- Zapping a wand (except at yourself)[9] or casting one of the following spells that duplicates a wand effect (except at yourself): force bolt, sleep, magic missile, knock, slow monster, wizard lock, dig, turn undead, polymorph, teleport away, cancellation, finger of death, light, detect unseen, healing, extra healing, drain life, and also stone to flesh (which the relevant source claims duplicates a wand[10], even though it doesn't).[11][12]
- Attempting to polymorph into a genocided species[13]
- Succeeding in polymorphing into a monster[14]
- In a lycanthropic form, call upon your brethren for help[15]
- Touch your quest artifact for the first time[16]
- Fail to enter the quest due to being too low a level[17] or (except if you are locked out of the quest as a result) too low an alignment[18]
- Unlock the quest[19]
- Discover a trap on an object[20] or door[21]
- Quaffing holy water while not chaotic, nor in an undead or demonic form[22]
- Quaffing a noncursed potion of enlightenment,[23] or getting the effect from a fountain[24]
- Sensing at least one monster[25] or object[26] with the appropriate detection potions, or the equivalent spells
- Detecting gold[27], food[28], or the map layout[29] via any means
- Quaffing a potion of gain energy, even if cursed[30]
- Quaffing burning oil, when polymorphed into a monster that likes fire[31]
- Removing erosion from an object using a potion of oil[32]
- Successfully refilling an oil lamp[33]
- Being told a true rumor[34] (more so if it came from the Oracle[35])
- Getting a non-cheapskate major consultation[36]
- Kicking fruit out of a tree[37]
- Finding a ring in a sink, by kicking[38] or quaffing[39]
- Succeeding in writing a scroll or spellbook, or failing merely because the marker dried out in the process[40]
- Giving a name to all objects of a given type, via #name or when you see the object break[41]
- Being told the amount you will have to pay for using an unpaid item in a shop[42]
- Reading a non-blank scroll[43]
- Getting the "You will always remember the foocubus…" (in addition to the Wisdom gain) or "That was a very educational experience!" result from sex[44]
- Sacrificing a corpse[45]
- As a demon, sacrificing a corpse of your own race[46]
- Successfully converting an altar[47]
- Gaining an artifact from your god[48] or from a fountain[49]
- Attempting to turn undead with a receptive god (regardless of whether the attempt succeeds or fails for other reasons)[50]
- Calling demons as a side-effect of melee attack when polymorphed[51]
- Eating a brain, when polymorphed into a (regular or master) mind flayer[52]
- Finding a gem[53] or coins[54] in a fountain
- Gaining abilities from a magical fountain[55]
- Gaining the see invisible intrinsic from a fountain[56]
- Detecting monsters using a fountain[57]
- Casting the teleport away spell using ctrl + t[58]
- Engraving Elbereth with the correct capitalisation[59]
- Trying to open the Castle drawbridge using music (even if the wrong tune is played)[60]
- Finding a trap[61] (except a statue trap that fails to activate)[62], secret door[63], secret corridor[64], or unseen monster[65] via searching
- Eating a trident[66]
Wisdom is abused by:
- Casting a spell at a location (such as skilled fireball or cone of cold) while engulfed[67]
- Forgetting a spell due to amnesia[68]
- Being hit by divine lightning when attacking an aligned priest[69]
- Being satiated as a monk[70]
- Being confused or hallucinating[71]
- saddling a foocubus[72]
- While trapped, sitting in the trap to extend the length of time you are trapped[73]
- Accidentally trigger a trap while trying to untrap it[74]
- Quaffing a potion of booze[75]
- Quaffing a cursed potion of enlightenment[76]
- Quaffing a potion of oil, except when it's burning and you are polymorphed into a monster that likes fire[77]
- Dipping an object into oil, unless it removes erosion from that object[78]
- Trying to refill an oil lamp while either it or the oil is burning[79]
- Trying to buy a major consultation from the Oracle without enough money[80]
- Trying to write on paper which already has something written on it[81]
- Reading a scroll of amnesia[82]
- Being hit by a mind flayer's intelligence-draining attack[83]
- Receiving the "your senses are dulled" message from an attempt to have sex, in addition to the Wisdom drain[84]
- Being blasted by an artifact[85]
- When not chaotic, sacrificing a corpse of your own race[86]
- Failing in an attempt to convert an altar (in addition to the luck penalty)[87]
- In a demonic or undead form, calling upon a non-chaotic god to turn undead (or any sufficiently angry god in any form)[88]
- Throwing an egg at a monster (except if it's a cockatrice egg or it turns to stone upon impact)[89]
- Dipping for Excalibur when not lawful, if you would have got the artifact if you were lawful[90]
- Losing money bathing in a fountain[91][92]
- Robbing a grave[93]
- Creating undead by engraving on a gravestone[94]
- Attempting to pick up or otherwise aquire a Rider corpse[95]
- Using (non-tonally) a tooled horn[96], bugle[97], or leather drum[98]
Charisma
Charisma is mostly useful for obtaining better prices at shops. It also helps with foocubus encounters, both by increasing the chance of a positive result and by giving more control over whether they remove your armor.
Charisma is a difficult stat to increase, as it cannot be exercised. You can gain charisma by triggering a magic trap, so some players deliberately trigger magic traps until they explode, a strategy known as the "magic trap boogie". However, this can be dangerous - many monsters will be summoned, and the towers of flame will reduce your maximum HP unless you have fire resistance.
| Charisma | Price |
|---|---|
| 3-5 | ×2 |
| 6-7 | ×1.5 |
| 8-10 | ×1.33 |
| 11-15 | ×1 |
| 16-17 | ×0.75 |
| 18 | ×0.67 |
| 19-25 | ×0.5 |
Reference: Shk.c#line1910.
Maximum attributes
You can increase strength, dexterity, constitution and wisdom through exercise, and adjust all six stats through other means such as potions of gain ability. Some magic items, like the helm of brilliance, gauntlets of power and gauntlets of dexterity, allow you to exceed these maximums. In fact, such items are common in ascension kits.
The maximum stats for each race are:
| Race | Strength | Dexterity | Constitution | Intelligence | Wisdom | Charisma |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Human | 18/** | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 |
| Elf | 18 | 18 | 16 | 20 | 20 | 18 |
| Dwarf | 18/** | 20 | 20 | 16 | 16 | 16 |
| Gnome | 18/50 | 18 | 18 | 19 | 18 | 18 |
| Orc | 18/50 | 18 | 18 | 16 | 16 | 16 |
Reference: role.c#line405.
NetHack brass
You can ignore this section unless you play the variant called NetHack brass.
NetHack brass implements different maximum attributes per role. Find your maximum attributes by looking for your role in the next table, then applying the racial modifiers. Humans have +2 to strength. All heroes have a minimum of 3 for each attribute.
| Role | Strength | Dexterity | Constitution | Intelligence | Wisdom | Charisma |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Archeologist | 16 | 10 | 17 | 19! | 18 | 19 |
| Barbarian | 18/** | 18 | 20 | 12! | 16 | 10 |
| Caveman | 18/** | 18 | 20 | 14! | 16 | 15 |
| Healer | 12 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19! | 18 |
| Knight | 18/50 | 13 | 18 | 17 | 19! | 19 |
| Monk | 10 | 20 | 20 | 18 | 20! | 18 |
| Priest | 18 | 15 | 18 | 17 | 20! | 18 |
| Ranger | 17 | 21 | 13 | 19! | 16 | 19 |
| Rogue | 18 | 20 | 17 | 17! | 17 | 16 |
| Samurai | 18/50 | 20 | 19 | 15! | 15 | 15 |
| Tourist | 17 | 15 | 18 | 19! | 19 | 19 |
| Valkyrie | 18/** | 16 | 20 | 12 | 17! | 16 |
| Wizard | 10 | 19 | 16 | 20! | 20 | 18 |
Reference: src/role.c in NetHack brass 040923.
Racial modifiers
To find your maximum attributes in NetHack brass, after finding your role in the above table, you must apply the racial modifiers of the below table. These racial modifiers apply only to the maximum attributes of each player, not the initial attributes.
An elven Ranger of NetHack brass, for example, can reach 19+1 = 20 in charisma by increasing charisma one more time after a human Ranger would have maxed at 19.
For strength modifiers only, a +1 raises 18 to 18/50, while a +2 raises 18 to 18/** or 17 to 18/50.
| Race | Strength | Dexterity | Constitution | Intelligence | Wisdom | Charisma |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Human | +2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Elf | 0 | 0 | -2 | +2 | +2 | +1 |
| Dwarf | +2 | +2 | +2 | -2 | -2 | -2 |
| Gnome | +1 | 0 | 0 | +1 | 0 | 0 |
| Orc | +2 | 0 | 0 | -2 | -2 | -3 |
Wizard mode
The wizard mode of NetHack brass supplies the #rrllududab extended command, a code that gives your maximum attributes to you, a reference to the Konami code.
SLASH'EM
- You can ignore this section unless you play SLASH'EM.
SLASH'EM, mainly due to the changed behaviour of the Gauntlets of power, handles strength between 18/** and 25 differently than vanilla NetHack.
| strength | to-hit | damage |
|---|---|---|
| 3-5 | -2 | -1 |
| 6-7 | -1 | 0 |
| 8-15 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | 0 | +1 |
| 17 | +1 | +1 |
| 18 | +1 | +2 |
| 18/01-18/99 | +1 | +3 |
| 18/** | +2 | +4 |
| 19 | +2 | +5 |
| 20 | +3 | +6 |
| 21 | +3 | +7 |
| 22 | +4 | +8 |
| 23 | +4 | +9 |
| 24 | +5 | +10 |
| 25 | +5 | +11 |
Reference: SLASH'EM 0.0.7E7F2/weapon.c#line900.
Other traits of the player
These are important, though you might choose to avoid calling them attributes.
Source code references
- ↑ spell.c#line336
- ↑ spell.c#line335
- ↑ spell.c#line808
- ↑ priest.c#line472
- ↑ priest.c#line493
- ↑ attrib.c#line327
- ↑ attrib.c#line353
- ↑ attrib.c#line1802
- ↑ zap.c#line1862
- ↑ spell.c#line859
- ↑ spell.c#line869
- ↑ zap.c#line2454
- ↑ polyself.c#line340
- ↑ polyself.c#line565
- ↑ polyself.c#line918
- ↑ quest.c#line90
- ↑ quest.c#line249
- ↑ quest.c#line261
- ↑ quest.c#line266
- ↑ trap.c#line3504
- ↑ trap.c#line3570
- ↑ potion.c#line480
- ↑ potion.c#line529
- ↑ fountain.c#line243
- ↑ potion.c#line647
- ↑ potion.c#line653
- ↑ detect.c#line282
- ↑ detect.c#line384
- ↑ detect.c#line951
- ↑ potion.c#line858
- ↑ potion.c#line878
- ↑ potion.c#line1824
- ↑ potion.c#line1855
- ↑ rumors.c#line129
- ↑ rumors.c#line170
- ↑ rumors.c#line373
- ↑ dokick.c#line918
- ↑ dokick.c#line988
- ↑ fountain.c#line561
- ↑ write.c#line179
- ↑ o_init.c#line319
- ↑ shk.c#line3919
- ↑ read.c#line655
- ↑ mhitu.c#line2342
- ↑ pray.c#line1116
- ↑ pray.c#line1170
- ↑ pray.c#line1383
- ↑ pray.c#line1481
- ↑ fountain.c#line384
- ↑ spell.c#line1690
- ↑ uhitm.c#line1180
- ↑ uhitm.c#line1560
- ↑ fountain.c#line145
- ↑ fountain.c#line487
- ↑ fountain.c#line225
- ↑ fountain.c#line305
- ↑ fountain.c#line311
- ↑ teleport.c#line536
- ↑ engrave.c#line373
- ↑ music.c#line541
- ↑ detect.c#line1136
- ↑ detect.c#line1232
- ↑ detect.c#line1193
- ↑ detect.c#line1203
- ↑ detect.c#line1211
- ↑ eat.c#line1635
- ↑ spell.c#line989
- ↑ spell.c#line1017
- ↑ priest.c#line661
- ↑ attrib.c#line322
- ↑ attrib.c#line357
- ↑ steed.c#line93
- ↑ sit.c#line75
- ↑ trap.c#line3066
- ↑ potion.c#line508
- ↑ potion.c#line519
- ↑ potion.c#line878
- ↑ potion.c#line1824
- ↑ potion.c#line1838
- ↑ rumors.c#line373
- ↑ write.c#line105
- ↑ read.c#line1119
- ↑ mhitu.c#line1114
- ↑ mhitu.c#line2300
- ↑ artifact.c#line545
- ↑ pray.c#line1173
- ↑ pray.c#line1407
- ↑ pray.c#line1680
- ↑ uhitm.c#line799
- ↑ fountain.c#line363
- ↑ fountain.c#line450
- ↑ fountain.c#line469
- ↑ dig.c#line770
- ↑ engrave.c#line541
- ↑ pickup.c#line1324
- ↑ music.c#line424
- ↑ music.c#line429
- ↑ music.c#line462
See Also
- Drain for gain involves manipulating your attributes, and the article discusses how to do so.
This page may need to be updated for the current version of NetHack.
It may contain text specific to NetHack 3.4.3. Information on this page may be out of date.
Editors: After reviewing this page and making necessary edits, please change the {{nethack-343}} tag to the current version's tag or {{noversion}} as appropriate.
