Dragon scales
[[[[[[[[[         <color> dragon scales | |
|---|---|
| Appearance | <color> dragon scales |
| Slot | body armor |
| AC | 3 |
| Special | <Varies by color> |
| Base price | (red, blue, white, orange, yellow, green) 500 zm (black, gray, silver) 700 zm |
| Weight | 40 |
| Material | dragon hide |
Dragon scales are a type of non-magical body armor that appears in NetHack. They are made of dragon hide.
Contents
Generation
Dragon scales are not randomly generated.
Adult dragons have a 1⁄3 chance of leaving behind dragon scales upon death unless killed by disintegration, while a dragon that was revived by the Wand of undead turning or spell of turn undead only has a 1⁄20 chance to leave behind dragon scales.[1] Dragon scales are always generated +0 and uncursed.[2]
Description
While worn, dragon scales confer 3 base AC and different extrinsic properties depending on their color:
Reading a non-cursed scroll of enchant armor that targets worn dragon scales will turn them into dragon scale mail, and a blessed scroll. Polymorphing while wearing dragon scales or dragon scale mail will turn your character into that color of dragon and revert dragon scale mail back to scales if applicable.[3][4][5] Black, gray and silver dragon scales have a base cost of 700zm, while all others have a base cost of 500.
The following information pertains to an upcoming version (NetHack 3.7.0). If this version is now released, please verify that it is still accurate, then update the page to incorporate this information.
Gold dragon scales are added per commit 5a09a01a along with the corresponding dragons, and act as a light source while worn. Per commit ef1eeed7, they and other dragon scales that are not gray or silver grant additional extrinsics while worn - the dragon scale extrinsics for 3.7 as of this commit are listed below:Strategy
Dragon scales are incredibly valuable for their ability to be made into dragon scale mail, but are not of as much use themselves: they have the same extrinsics while worn and weigh 40 aum like dragon scale mail, but confer much less AC. Dragon scales that are not converted into mail are typically kept as backups to make replacement mail or spare mail for a pet, or else are the result of an unfortunate encounter with a polymorph trap or other source of polymorph.
A character that is able to reliably kill adult dragons or otherwise acquire their scales and knows the scroll of enchant armor can massively increase their survival chances at worst. Be careful when making mail out of dragon scales that are above +3: they may evaporate as with other non-elven armor when enchanted.
Acquiring dragon scales
There are many methods to generate adult dragons and acquire their scales, with a non-exhaustive list provided below:
- Dragons can generate in throne rooms deep in the main dungeon branch. They can also be generated by looting a throne while confused - note that this has a 1⁄10 chance of marking the throne as looted and prevent further monster generation using that throne.
- Dragons are also generated on level creation within the quest branch for some roles, as well as Fort Ludios and the Castle.
- Reading a cursed scroll of genocide can generate dragons of a desired color to kill.
- Polymorph into a female dragon of the desired color, lay some eggs via the #sit extended command, hatch the eggs and raise the resulting baby dragons to adulthood, and then have them die in some manner (e.g. a monster's passive attack or a trap), or else leave them on another floor so that they un-tame (ideally becoming hostile).
- These avoid direct penalties for attacking and/or killing them yourself, which some players still opt to do if they believe they can handle or compensate for the penalties.
- The wand of undead turning and spell of turn undead can revive a dragon's corpse multiple times, though with a significantly reduced chance of scales generating once it is killed again.[1]
- The spell in particular can be made viable with a source of energy restoration or regeneration, such as The Mitre of Holiness or The Eye of the Aethiopica.
- Allow a monster of the appropriate alignment to cast the summon nasties monster spell until the desired dragon is created.
- Remember that blue, gray and white dragons cannot be created this way, and the nasties summoned can include other casters, which can quickly overwhelm a character especially if they are unlucky or not diligent in threat management.
- While very unreliable, it is possible to polymorph a pet into the desired color of adult dragon using a polymorph trap, then leave it on another floor or have it killed as necessary.
Dragon caging
If reverse genociding dragons with a character that is either not strong enough to kill them in normal combat or else wants to kill them as quickly as possible, you can do so in a closed-off area that prevents them from escaping, fighting back or using their breath weapon on you via the methods described below:
You can dig a 3x3 square in the rock behind a closet, and either lock the door or use a boulder to block the entrance. Stand on a scroll of scare monster so that the dragons will not attack you in melee: the room will keep them in melee range and prevent them from using their breath weapon (which monsters only use at a distance) - a permanent Elbereth engraving is an acceptable alternative if you plan to rely on pets to kill the dragons for you. Beware of any tunneling monsters such as umber hulks interfering with your setup!
The Castle also has a suitable room for use with this method if you reach the level without dragon scale mail, particularly if you are playing wishless or else looking to save on wishes: the room with the wand of wishing in a chest also includes a guaranteed cursed scroll of scare monster on the floor - there are two positions in the room where a dragon can use their breath weapon from, and you can block them off with boulders generated by a scroll of earth (ideally a cursed one). The walls are undiggable, negating the threat of disruption by digging monsters.
It is also possible to do the above within Sokoban, using the scroll of scare monster in the treasure zoo of the top floor, by digging a hole on the scroll's square and having it fall through - this is luck-reliant, since it will need to land somewhere that a boulder fort can be arranged; if it does not, you can move the scroll into a more suitable position by kicking it into a wall or monster, or else digging another hole (which stops working upon reaching the lowest floor).
History
Dragon scales first appear in NetHack 3.1.0 with the exception of silver dragon scales, which are introduced along with the corresponding dragon in NetHack 3.3.0.
Variants
In some variants, dragon scale mail is phased out in favor of dragon-scaled armor, whose implementation is based on a proposal by dtsund. Instead of being made into mail of its own, the dragon scales are treated as a cloak and melded onto an existing set of body armor, generally augmenting that armor by adding its AC and conferred extrinsic properties to it. Dragon-scaled armor is implemented in NetHack Fourk, xNetHack, EvilHack, and Hack'EM - their implementations differ somewhat from the proposal, and are covered in detail by the article linked above.
SLASH'EM
SLASH'EM adds two new colors of dragon scales (and dragon scale mail):
| Color | Extrinsic |
|---|---|
| Shimmering | displacement |
| Deep | level-drain resistance |
SporkHack
SporkHack adds gold dragon scales, which act as a permanent light source while worn. Most sets of dragon scales (and dragon scale mail) are also given a secondary extrinsic:
| Color | Extrinsic | Secondary extrinsic |
|---|---|---|
| Blue | shock resistance | speed |
| Black | disintegration resistance | passive blinding attack |
| Gray | magic resistance | none |
| Green | poison resistance | passive poison attack |
| Orange | sleep resistance | passive slow attack |
| Red | fire resistance | +1d6 to all melee damage |
| Silver | reflection | none |
| White | cold resistance | freezes water and lava under foot |
| Yellow | acid resistance | stun and confusion resistance |
| Gold | light source | none |
UnNetHack
In UnNetHack, dragon scales confer only 1 point of base AC. The powers of dragons and their scales (and scale mails) are also randomized in each game:
| Appearances | Powers (randomized each game) |
|---|---|
| tatzelworm | "magic" |
| amphitere | "reflecting" |
| draken | "fire" |
| lindworm | "ice" |
| sarkany | "sleep" |
| sirrush | "disintegration" |
| leviathan | "electric" |
| wyvern | "poison" |
| glowing* | "stone"** |
| guivre | "acid" |
| chromatic | all |
A glowing dragon will always emit light within a 2-square radius of itself - glowing dragon scales (and glowing dragon scale mail) do the same while worn. The dragon that produces stone dragon scales will always have a breath weapon that creates lava.
Encyclopedia entry
Stephen had argued, and the expert armorer had grudgingly
admitted, that dragonscale shield or armor, provided it proved
feasible to make at all, ought to offer some real, practical
advantages over any metal breastplate or shield -- gram for
gram of weight, such a defense would probably be a lot
tougher and more protective than any human smiths could
make of steel.
[ The Last Book of Swords: Shieldbreaker's Story,
by Fred Saberhagen ]
