Elf (starting race)

For other uses, see elf.

You can play NetHack as an elf @. Elves are always chaotic. They can be Priests, Rangers, or Wizards. Playing as a random elf is a good way to focus on a small number of roles.

Racial benefits and restrictions

Elves have intrinsic infravision and they receive sleep resistance at experience level 4. From an attribute perspective, elves excel mentally, with the highest intelligence and wisdom of all races. Their strength is capped at 18, the lowest of all races. They also have the lowest constitution of all races, capped at 16. The following table outlines their maximum (unaided) attribute levels.

Character Race	Strength	Dexterity	Constitution	Intelligence	Wisdom	Charisma
Elf	18	18	16	20	20	18

Strategy

Elves' low strength and constitution can make them more difficult to play than other races; these restrictions limit both their carrying capacity and their damage bonus.

Long after an elf reaches his cap, other players will be eating giant corpses and otherwise raising their strength far above 18, toward 18/50 or 18/**. Meanwhile, the weight limit will force the elf to make difficult decisions regarding inventory management, and which items to keep in his bag of holding, or leave behind altogether in a stash.

Therefore it is beneficial to have gauntlets of power. They boost strength to 25, and might make a good wish, but they are not an option for those who like to wear gauntlets of dexterity, such as some elf Wizards.

History

In older versions of NetHack, the elf was actually a separate role. All other roles belonged to humans. The quest artifact of an elf was a crystal ball called the Palantir of Westernesse; it does not exist in the current version.

SLASH'EM

In SLASH'EM, elves are always lawful or neutral, and they have access to far more roles than in vanilla. If you want a chaotic version of the Elf, you play as a different race, the drow.

Encyclopedia entry

       The Elves sat round the fire upon the grass or upon the sawn
       rings of old trunks.  Some went to and fro bearing cups and
       pouring drinks; others brought food on heaped plates and
       dishes.
       "This is poor fare," they said to the hobbits; "for we are
       lodging in the greenwood far from our halls.  If ever you are
       our guests at home, we will treat you better."
       "It seems to me good enough for a birthday-party," said Frodo.
       Pippin afterwards recalled little of either food or drink, for
       his mind was filled with the light upon the elf-faces, and the
       sound of voices so various and so beautiful that he felt in a
       waking dream.  [...]
       Sam could never describe in words, nor picture clearly to
       himself, what he felt or thought that night, though it remained
       in his memory as one of the chief events of his life.  The
       nearest he ever got was to say: "Well, sir, if I could grow
       apples like that, I would call myself a gardener.  But it was
       the singing that went to my heart, if you know what I mean."
          [ The Fellowship of the Ring, by J.R.R. Tolkien ]

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