Orc (starting race)

This page refers to the starting race. For the orc monsters read orc.

You can play NetHack as an Orc: o. You will see yourself as @, but you are actually considered to be letter o for other purposes. Orcs have infravision and poison resistance. Like a Barbarian they suffer no penalty for cannibalism, nor for eating cats and dogs. As an orc, you will also find many more peaceful inhabitants in the early and middle dungeon levels.

Orcs are always Chaotic. They can be Barbarians, Rogues, Rangers or Wizards.

Orcish items

The starting equipment of an orc character is inferior to that of other characters, because all weapons or armours are substituted with Orcish equivalents where possible. However Orcish arrows from an orcish bow receive a +1 multishot bonus.

Strategy

All chaotic players can automatically convert cross-aligned altars by sacrificing their own race on them. This is an easier task for the orc player on early levels.