Martial arts
The Martial arts skill is used when attacking or kicking enemies while wielding nothing. Monks and samurai possess this skill, superior to the bare hands skill. The base damage for a martial arts attack is d4.
When attacking using martial arts without a shield, there is a chance of dealing a staggering blow, knocking the enemy backwards.[1]
Contents
To-hit and damage
In NetHack, an attack's skill-based damage bonus only applies if the attack rolls at least a 2 on its primary damage die.[2][3] Therefore, the average damage for a d4 attack is not 2.5 + bonus, but 2.5 + (0.75 * bonus). This makes the +9 bonus for Grand Master skill less powerful than it might seem.
Attacking with martial arts causes silver damage if you are wearing a silver ring and no gloves, similar to any wielded silver object. Blessed gloves or boots (when kicking) cause +d4 blessed damage against demons and the undead.
In addition to the bonuses below, a Monk not wearing body armor or a shield gets an additional to-hit bonus of (XL / 3) + 2.
| Bare-hand | Martial | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skill Level | +Hit | +Dam | Avg. | +Hit | +Dam | Avg. |
| Unskilled | +1 | 0 | 1.5 | +2 | +1 | 3.25 |
| Basic | +1 | +1 | 2 | +3 | +3 | 4.75 |
| Skilled | +2 | +1 | 2 | +4 | +4 | 5.5 |
| Expert | +2 | +2 | 2.5 | +5 | +6 | 7 |
| Master | +3 | +2 | 2.5 | +6 | +7 | 7.75 |
| Grand Master | +3 | +3 | 3 | +7 | +9 | 9.25 |
Note that both roles capable of martial arts start with Basic skill, and no roles can advance to Grand Master in bare hands, so two entries in the table are not actually possible.
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.
The martial arts damage bonus is now applied to all hits, though hits that roll a 1 on their d4 will still not train skill.
Bare-handed and martial arts combat has a 20% chance per skill level above basic to make an "off-hand" attack, as in two-weapon combat. The updated damage numbers (assuming both attacks hit) are:| Bare-hand | Martial | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skill Level | +Hit | +Dam | Avg. | +Hit | +Dam | Avg. |
| Unskilled | +1 | 0 | 1.5 | +2 | +1 | 3.5 |
| Basic | +1 | +1 | 2 | +3 | +3 | 5.5 |
| Skilled | +2 | +1 | 2.4 | +4 | +4 | 7.8 |
| Expert | +2 | +2 | 3.5 | +5 | +6 | 11.9 |
| Master | +3 | +2 | 4 | +6 | +7 | 15.2 |
| Grand Master | +3 | +3 | 5.4 | +7 | +9 | 20.7 |
Martial arts skill
| Martial arts | |
|---|---|
| Max | Role |
| Master | |
| Grand Master | |
Strategy
The samurai has recourse to much better attacks than martial arts, but the extra damage compared to bare hands can come in handy against acid blobs and other weapon-damaging monsters. Carrying some form of ranged attack will greatly reduce your need to resort to unarmed combat, and even a monk can benefit from having projectiles at his disposal.
A ring of increase damage is a worthwhile possession for a monk who loses out on benefits of weapon enchantment, and these can be eaten if appropriately polymorphed and the ring is of the appropriate type (metal for metallivores, wooden for a gelatinous cube). The skill level for martial arts can reach Grand Master with large bonuses eventually accumulating.
In the late game, martial arts will inevitably fall behind other weapon skills due to the low base damage and lack of an enchantment bonus. A +6 spear at Basic skill deals about the same average damage as Grand Master martial arts, and only requires one skill slot rather than eight. A lawful Monk can unrestrict long sword skill by a sacrifice gift and then dip for Excalibur, which even at +0 outdamages Grand Master martial arts, grants several useful effects, and again only needs one skill slot.
Martial arts attacks do not break the never hit with a wielded weapon conduct, but neither do attacks from wielded non-weapon items, or ranged attacks.
History
In 3.4.3 and some variants based on it, martial arts erroneously received no skill-based to-hit bonus, because the code which grants it is only called if you're wielding a weapon. This was fixed in 3.6.0.
Variants
SporkHack
SporkHack grants a to-hit bonus if you advance the skill.
FIQHack
Martial arts have been buffed in FIQHack. Glove enchantment is used when calculating damage, and martial arts attacks no longer do only 1 damage 25% of the time.
References
