Difference between revisions of "Flail"
(Forgot how much 343-era advice was terminally artifact brained) |
m |
||
| Line 9: | Line 9: | ||
|material=iron | |material=iron | ||
}} | }} | ||
| − | A '''flail''' is a type of [[weapon]] that appears in ''[[NetHack]]''. For [[Samurai]], | + | A '''flail''' is a type of [[weapon]] that appears in ''[[NetHack]]''. For [[Samurai]], the flail will appear as a '''nunchaku'''. |
==Generation== | ==Generation== | ||
Revision as of 08:03, 21 July 2022
) 
| |
|---|---|
| Name | flail |
| Appearance | flail |
| Damage vs. small | 1d6+1 |
| Damage vs. large | 2d4 |
| To-hit bonus | +0 |
| Weapon skill | flail |
| Size | one-handed |
| Base price | 4 zm (+10/positive enchant) |
| Weight | 15 |
| Material | iron |
A flail is a type of weapon that appears in NetHack. For Samurai, the flail will appear as a nunchaku.
Contents
Generation
Flails make up about 4% of weapons randomly generated on the floor, as death drops or in shops.
Yeenoghu is always generated with a flail, and sergeants in the Yendorian army are generated with either a flail or a mace.[1][2]
Flail skill
| Flail | |
|---|---|
| Max | Role |
| Basic | |
| Skilled | |
| Expert | |
Flails and grappling hooks use the flail skill. There are no artifact weapons that use the flail skill.
Your skill level in flails determines how far you can reach with an applied grappling hook.
Strategy
A flail does decent damage and is relatively light, but is not particularly remarkable. Flails can be of use to certain roles such as Cavemen and Priests.
History
The flail has been present in the game since hack121, a port of Jay Fenlason's Hack.
Origin
The word "flail" has been used somewhat loosely to describe any blunt weapon with one or more heads that are flexibly attached to a handle by a chain, rope, hinge, et cetera. While it may seem jarring to players familiar with Dungeons & Dragons weaponry to group nunchaku with the spherical-headed flails seen in media, the term has historically been used for both cylindrical- and spherical-headed weapons.
Cylindrical-headed flails were two-handed weapons adapted from agricultural tools (used to remove the husks from grain by beating) and commonly used by infantry (perhaps including farmers who had to supply their own weapons). Compare the origins of many polearms. The Japanese nunchaku possibly had a similar origin.
One-handed flails with spiked metal heads on chains (sometimes called a "mace-and-chain"), as seen in fantasy media, appeared in late medieval art, but it is unclear how common they actually were as weapons. The chain would have made the head(s) difficult to control, but might have allowed the wielder to hit targets behind shields.
Variants
In some variants that integrate the Convict Patch, a wielded heavy iron ball functions as a melee weapon that uses the flail skill and may even train it when swung.
