Crowning

You may be crowned as a result of prayer if you are at least piously aligned and extremely lucky. Crowning involves receiving a title, an additional skill slot, several intrinsic resistances, and possibly a gift, at the cost of a greatly increased prayer timeout.

Title

Which title you receive depends on your current alignment:

Alignment	Title
Lawful	Hand of Elbereth
Neutral	Envoy of Balance
Chaotic	Glory of Arioch

Intrinsics

The following intrinsics are granted:

• cold resistance
• fire resistance
• poison resistance
• sleep resistance
• shock resistance
• see invisible

As of NetHack 3.6.0, an additional skill slot is also granted, as if the player gained an experience level.

Alignment gift

A gift is given, based on the following algorithm:

• Wizard
  • If not wielding Vorpal Blade or Stormbringer, and not carrying a spellbook of finger of death, the gift is a blessed spellbook of finger of death.
  • If you received the book but already know the spell, see Exceptions
  • Otherwise, see Others
• Monk
  • If not wielding an artifact or carrying a spellbook of restore ability, the gift is a blessed spellbook of restore ability.
  • If you received the book but already know the spell, see Exceptions
  • Otherwise, see Others
• Others
  • Lawful
    • If wielding a non-artifact long sword (or as primary weapon if using two-weaponing) and Excalibur does not exist in the game, the long sword is changed into the blessed rustproof Excalibur. Its enchantment is set to +1 if it had been less than +1.
    • Otherwise, see Exceptions
  • Neutral
    • If Vorpal Blade does not exist in the game, it is given as a gift.
    • Otherwise, see Exceptions
  • Chaotic
    • If Stormbringer does not exist in the game, it is given as a gift.
    • Otherwise, see Exceptions
• Exceptions: If none of the previous rules apply, the player's current weapon (if any) is blessed, increased to +1 if below that, and made unrusted and rustproof, and its corresponding skill class is unrestricted, regardless of player class.

Additionally, the following skill classes are always unrestricted based on the player's alignment:

Alignment	Alignment gift skill
Lawful	Long sword
Neutral	Long sword
Chaotic	Broadsword

Exceptions

If you already have the crowning gift or it was an artifact that has already been generated in your game, then you do not receive a gift object. The message depends on what you are wielding: "You feel unworthy" if nothing, "Your Vorpal Blade goes snicker-snack!" for neutrals, or your weapon "hums ominously!" for chaotics. You will always unrestrict long sword skill for lawful and neutrals, and broad sword skill for chaotics. This holds even if you get a spellbook, or nothing at all.

For characters who already have the crowning weapon and that proficiency, crowning is usually a bad deal. But firstly, foodless heros might want the intrinsics. Secondly, you can unrestrict any weapon of your choice if you are wielding it and arrange not to get a crowning gift (or already know the spellbook). Elven non-wizards don't need the gift because they can force Stormbringer to be their first sacrifice gift.

There are two ways to avoid being crowned. You can pray only when in trouble and not at an altar. Or you can make sure your Luck is at most nine (see that page for ways to do so).

Prayer timeout

The downside of getting crowned is that the player's prayer timeout is greatly increased permanently. Players that depend heavily on prayer may find themselves crowned earlier than those that do not, by sheer statistics. Unfortunately, it is these players that are hurt by being crowned, as the increased prayer timeout means they must go longer without praying. If the player does not need the benefits listed above, being crowned is not necessary, though ascending with a title is a nice aesthetic bonus.

It is possible to compensate for the increased prayer timeout by making a large number of sacrifices.

Messages

"I crown thee... The Hand of Elbereth!"

You, a lawful character, were crowned.

"Thou shalt be my Envoy of Balance!"

You, a neutral character, were crowned.

"Thou art chosen to steal souls for My Glory!"

You, a chaotic character, were crowned.

References

This page may need to be updated for the current version of NetHack.

It may contain text specific to NetHack 3.6.0. Information on this page may be out of date.

Editors: After reviewing this page and making necessary edits, please change the {{nethack-360}} tag to the current version's tag or {{noversion}} as appropriate.