Leather armor

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Revision as of 03:36, 26 September 2023 by Umbire the Phantom (talk | contribs) (finally finish this off)
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[   leather armor   Leather armor.png
Appearance leather armor
Slot body armor
AC 2
Special
Base price 5 zm
Weight 150
Material leather

Leather armor is a type of body armor that appears in NetHack. It is naturally made of leather.

Generation

There is a 41482 (or ~8.5%) chance that a randomly generated piece of armor will be leather armor.[1]

Cavemen starts each game with a set of +0 leather armor, while Rogues start each game with a set of +1 leather armor.[2][3]

Weaker mercenaries such as Yendorian Army soldiers and watchmen can be generated with leather armor.[4] Skeletons have a 14 chance of generating with leather armor.[5]

Various quest guardians can be generated with leather armor as well: chieftains, pages, roshi, and warriors have a 13 chance to generate with leather armor;[6] hunters have a 14 chance of generating with leather armor;[7] thugs have a 14 chance of generating with leather armor;[8] and neanderthals are always generated with leather armor.[9]

Leather golems leave behind a pile of 2-8 sets of leather armor as a special death drop instead of a corpse.[10]

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.

As of commit 20cbadc - which strengthens quest leaders and makes it so that killing them no longer makes the game unwinnable - Shaman Karnov, Orion, and the Master of Thieves all generate with +5 leather armor.

Description

When worn, leather armor confers 2 base AC and MC1.

Strategy

Some characters focused on early spellcasting may utilize leather armor to boost AC without increasing spell failure rates, while the starting leather armor for most Cavemen and Rogues is usually replaced with the first better set of armor they find. In either case, the leather armor is typically exchanged for something better whether metallic or otherwise; even studded leather armor can be more viable for spell-casting characters in some cases.

Enchanted leather armor can occasionally be found from killing leather golems.

History

Leather armor appears in Hack 1.21 and Hack for PDP-11, variants of Jay Fenlason's Hack, and is included in the initial item list for Hack 1.0.

From Hack 1.0 to NetHack 3.0.10, the Archeologist started each game with +0 leather armor.[11] The now-defunct Ninja role that existed from NetHack 1.3d to NetHack 2.3e started each game with +1 leather armor.[12]

In NetHack 3.4.3 and earlier versions, including some variants based on these versions, leather armor may not grant any MC; leather armor granting MC1 is introduced in NetHack 3.6.0.

Origin

Historical leather armor was made of cuir bouilli, thick leather that had been boiled in water (or possibly oil, wax, or ammonia) to harden it. It was generally cut into scales or plates, which were then fastened together to make body armor.

Variants

In variants with object material systems, leather armor may be referred to as light armor, or else simply armor with the object's material appended (e.g. cloth armor or dragonhide armor).

SLASH'EM

In SLASH'EM, leather and studded leather interfere with spellcasting just as metal armor does, and spellcasting characters prefer robes as their body armor. The Yeoman role starts each game with +1 leather armor.

Upgrading leather armor will produce studded leather armor, and upgrading a leather jacket or studded leather armor will produce leather armor.

dNetHack

In dNetHack, leather armor confers 0 AC and 2 DR while worn, and weighs 40 aum.

The Center of All generates with +0 large concordant leather armor. Pirate brothers, the quest guardians for the Pirate quest, are generated with leather armor. The adventuring wizard of the enemy party serving as the default Noble quest nemeses always generates with leather armor. The damned pirates that a Pirate encounters in Gehennom generate with cursed leather armor.

SlashTHEM

In SlashTHEM, in addition to SLASH'EM details, the Officer role starts with +0 leather armor. SlashTHEM also incorporates the Pirate and Noble roles, including the monsters that generate with leather armor.

EvilHack

In EvilHack, giant Cavemen have their leather armor replaced with a +0 helmet.

References