Crossbow bolt
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| |
|---|---|
| Name | crossbow bolt |
| Appearance | crossbow bolt |
| Damage vs. small | 1d4+1 |
| Damage vs. large | 1d6+1 |
| To-hit bonus | +0 |
| Weapon skill | crossbow |
| Size | one-handed |
| Base price | 2 zm (+10/positive enchant) |
| Weight | 1 |
| Material | iron |
A crossbow bolt is a type of projectile that appears in NetHack. They are designed for use with a crossbow, and are made of iron.
Like other cursed missile weapons, crossbow bolts have a chance of breaking after hitting a monster; cursed bolts will occasionally "slip" when throwing or firing them and end up on the ground.
Contents
Generation
All Gnomish Rangers start the game with stacks of +0 and +2 crossbow bolts and a +1 crossbow, rather than a bow arrows.[1][2][3]
Centaurs of all types generate with crossbows and bolts; forest centaurs only have a 1⁄2 chance to generate with one, and may receive a bow and arrows instead.[4] Crossbows and their ammo can also be generated on any monster lacking the strong monster attribute that can use a weapon, but has not received one.[5]
Crossbow skill
| Crossbow | |
|---|---|
| Max | Role |
| Basic | |
| Skilled | |
| Expert | |
The crossbow is the only launcher to use crossbow bolts.
Description
Crossbow bolts launched from a crossbow will always fire at their maximum range of 8 squares, but are subject to a multishot penalty if their user is below a certain strength level - gnomes must have at least 16 strength to obtain full multishot bonuses, and also gain a +1 multishot racial bonus when firing bolts from a crossbow. Other races require at least 18 strength in order to avoid multishot penalties.
Strategy
High-strength characters lacking a ranged weapon may choose to retrieve a crossbow and bolts from the gnomes in the Gnomish Mines; bolts are somewhat scarce compared to arrows, which are much more commonplace due to the various arrow types and arrow traps. Gnomish rangers may have to rely on their pet in the early game to kill their fellow gnomes for additional bolts - though the Ranger quest provides a plentiful source as early as the midgame, they will also have to look out for attack wands; their quest artifact, The Longbow of Diana, also forces them to switch launcher and ammo types as well.
Variants
SLASH'EM
SLASH'EM introduces an artifact crossbow, Hellfire, that is chaotic-aligned and causes bolts fired from it to explode.
