Confusion
Confusion, or the state of being confused, is a condition that affects you in the following two ways:
- You may walk in an unintended direction (though this happens at a lower rate than being stunned).
- When reading scrolls, you will mispronounce the magic words, which will cause effects different from what would occur normally.
Useful effects
While reading most scrolls when confused exhibits harmful or useless effects, there are a few confused effects from certain scrolls that have been proven quite useful:
- Scroll of charging: If your energy is at maximum, you gain 5d4 maximum energy. Otherwise, your energy is increased to maximum.
- Scroll of destroy armor: Makes one random worn armor rustproof/fireproof. Does not repair damage however. The scroll must be cursed.
- Scroll of enchant armor: Makes one random worn armor rustproof/fireproof. If that armor had damage, it is repaired. The scroll must be non-cursed.
- Scroll of enchant weapon: Makes your wielded weapon rustproof/fireproof. If it had damage, it is repaired. The scroll must be non-cursed.
- Scroll of gold detection: You detect traps and portals (spaces with the ^ symbol) on the current level. If the scroll is cursed, the traps are shown as gold ($ symbol). Useful on the Elemental Planes.
- Scroll of remove curse: All uncursed items have a 25% chance of being blessed and a 25% chance of being cursed if the scroll is blessed. If the scroll is uncursed, then only worn and wielded items are considered. Useful for obtaining unholy water.
- Scroll of taming: Tames monsters within an 11x11 square area. Also calms shopkeepers. Some monsters can resist. The scroll must be non-cursed.
Controlled confusion
Since confusion allows useful effects from reading certain scrolls, here are some ways to start and end confusion in a controlled manner:
Starting
- Attempting to cast a forgotten spell.
- Quaffing a potion of confusion or a potion of booze.
- Reading a cursed scroll of confuse monster.
- Letting an umber hulk confuse you.
Ending
- Apply a non-cursed unicorn horn.
- Waiting for it to wear off (you probably want to do this in a locked closet).
History
In Hack, bats could cause confusion. NetHack has now differentiated this so that stun and confusion are not the same. Bats and trapped doors can stun you; this causes you to move in random directions, like confusion would. However, only confusion will let you obtain different effects from reading scrolls.
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:
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