Polearm

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A polearm is a type of weapon that appears in NetHack. Polearms are a type of weapon that can be used to pound enemies from afar. The lance is a weapon that functions similarly, but is considered distinct from polearms and has its own skill.

Generation

Collectively, polearms make up about 6.4% of all randomly generated weapons (on the floor, as death drops, or in shops). The probabilities of each type range from 0.4% to 0.8% - a few types of polearms may be more common due to appearing starting inventory of certain monsters:

• Trolls have a ¹⁄₂ chance of being generated with a ranseur, partisan, glaive, or spetum, with an equal probability of each polearm.
• A strong humanoid monster with a weapon attack, the ability to wield weapons and no other ruleset governing its monster starting inventory has a chance of generating with a lucern hammer, unless they are being generated on the Rogue level: the base odds are ¹⁄₁₄ for normal monsters, ¹⁄₁₂ for a monster that is a lord or nasty, ¹⁄₁₀ for a monster that is an overlord or both a lord and nasty, and ¹⁄₈ for a monster that is both nasty and an overlord.
• Watchmen and soldiers may be generated with a random polearm.

Polearms skill

Polearms
Max	Role
Basic	Healer, Rogue, Tourist
Skilled	Caveman, Knight, Priest, Ranger, Samurai, Valkyrie, Wizard

The following weapons use the polearms skill:

• halberd
• bardiche
• spetum
• ranseur
• partisan
• voulge
• glaive
• fauchard
• guisarme
• bill-guisarme
• lucern hammer
• bec-de-corbin

There are no artifact polearms.

Description

As mentioned above, polearms are unique among most weapons in that they can be applied to attack monsters from two squares away. The wielder's skill level affects the range when applying a polearm:

ESUSE
SXXXS
UX@XU
SXXXS
ESUSE

The @ is the wielder's location. Spaces marked with a X are too close to be hit, spaces marked with a U can be hit even while Unskilled, spaces marked with a S can only be hit when Skilled, and spaces marked with a E can only be hit when Expert. No role in NetHack can attain Expert in polearms, though Knights can become Expert in lances, which use the same mechanic. Applying polearms to monsters will not trigger passive attacks against the wielder, but does cause Elbereth to fade and incur an alignment record penalty, and the polearm will still be subject to their effects (e.g. erosion, disenchantment, etc.) as normal. Polearms can only be properly used in melee by a character that is riding, and otherwise will only deal d2 damage by bashing them with the pole, which does not train the skill.

Monsters will attempt to use polearms in the following order: halberd, bardiche, spetum, bill-guisarme, voulge, ranseur, guisarme, glaive, lucern hammer, bec de corbin, fauchard, and partisan. Polearms can only be used by strong monsters without a shield, and they will both use them in melee and apply the polearms as a Skilled-level character.

Strategy

A character with a mount could make a polearm their primary weapon. Polearms deal less damage than other two-handed weapons in most circumstances, but they are an attractive option for roles such as Rangers and Wizards, who can ride but are restricted in most of the better melee weapon skills, and the ability to transition from pounding to melee without switching weapons is a tactical advantage. You'll need a backup weapon in case you're dismounted.

One of the great uses of polearms is not for fighting mounted opponents, but for fighting sea monsters, since staying two squares away from water makes a character immune to their drowning attack. If you have no simpler method for dealing with the sea monsters, it can be worthwhile to grab the best polearm you find and spend some time training with it before going to a level with open water.

In terms of differences between polearms, the halberd deals the most damage against small monsters, and the bardiche against large monsters; however, these are also among the heaviest options. The spetum deals high damage to both categories for only 50 weight; the ranseur is also a respectable lightweight polearm. The bec-de-corbin and lucern hammer offer poor damage for such heavy weapons.

In leprechaun halls, throne rooms, and other rooms where every space is filled with monsters, a character with stealth can use polearms to attack monsters behind other monsters, protecting themselves from being attacked, and in some cases, preventing the target from moving.

Comparison table

Name	Value	Weight	Prob (%)	Sdmg	Savg	Ldmg	Lavg	Material	Appearance	Tile	Glyph
halberd	10	150	8	d10	5.5	2d6	7	iron	angled poleaxe		)
bardiche	7	120	4	2d4	5	3d4	7.5	iron	long poleaxe		)
bill-guisarme	7	120	4	2d4	5	d10	5.5	iron	hooked polearm		)
ranseur	6	50	5	2d4	5	2d4	5	iron	hilted polearm		)
voulge	5	125	4	2d4	5	2d4	5	iron	pole cleaver		)
guisarme	5	80	6	2d4	5	d8	4.5	iron	pruning hook		)
lucern hammer	7	150	5	2d4	5	d6	3.5	iron	pronged polearm		)
spetum	5	50	5	d6+1	4.5	2d6	7	iron	forked polearm		)
bec-de-corbin	8	100	4	d8	4.5	d6	3.5	iron	beaked polearm		)
glaive (naginata)	6	75	8	d6	3.5	d10	5.5	iron	single-edged polearm		)
fauchard	5	60	6	d6	3.5	d8	4.5	iron	pole sickle		)
partisan	10	80	5	d6	3.5	d6+1	4.5	iron	vulgar polearm		)

History

All polearms are introduced in NetHack 1.3d.

Origin

A polearm or pole weapon is a type of weapon that is predominantly designed for melee, and typically has the "business" end fitted to a long and usually wooden shaft to extend the user's effective range and striking power. Polearms can be divided into three broad categories: those designed for extended reach and thrusting tactics used in pike square or phalanx combat; those designed to increase leverage via the pole and maximize swinging force against cavalry; and those designed for throwing tactics used in skirmish line combat.

Polearms were common weapons on the post-classical battlefields of Asia and Europe, and many were adapted from agricultural implements or other fairly abundant tools that contained relatively little metal - poorer-class soldiers who could not pay for dedicated military weapons would often appropriate these tools as cheap weapons. This made them readily available to manufacture and kept cost of training comparatively low, since these conscripted farmers had spent most of their lives using these "weapons" in the fields. As a result, polearms are historically the favored weapon of peasant levies and peasant rebellions the world over.

Because of their versatility, high effectiveness and low cost, there were many variants of polearm that saw use - bills, picks, dane axes, spears, glaives, guandaos, pudaos, pikes, poleaxes, halberds, harpoons, sovnyas, tridents, naginatas, bardiches, war scythes, and lances are all varieties of polearms. The hook on weapons such as the halberd was used for pulling or grappling tactics, especially against horsemen, and there are also a subclass of spear-like designs fit for thrusting and/or throwing. The lance in particular is most likely to be used by mounted soldiers, which is why it is given a separate skill and categorization in NetHack.

Polearms in modern times are largely constrained to ceremonial military units such as the Papal Swiss Guard or Yeomen of the Guard, or traditional martial arts: Chinese martial arts in particular have preserved a wide variety of weapons and techniques, and there is much focus on polearms and classification among enthusiasts of the relevant historical periods, including re-enactment troupes. The fascination with medieval polearms extended to early editions of Dungeons & Dragons, which were infamous for giving stats for many exotic polearms, while describing none of them - NetHack in particular inherited this trait, hence the abundance of polearms available in the game.

As time went on, the various different polearm types borrowed heavily from each other, leading to a great deal of confusion over classification - this is a subject that Tom Fine touches on with one of his many personal pages, detailing the classification of polearms in NetHack as it relates to the real-life historical weapons.

Variants

SLASH'EM

In SLASH'EM, the range of the polearm is no longer restricted by skill level, and can hit any square that is two squares away from the wielder.

Four of the five roles that are new to SLASH'EM can raise their skill in polearms:

Polearms
Max	Role
Basic	Ice Mage
Skilled	Necromancer, Undead Slayer
Expert	Yeoman

SLASH'EM adds Reaper, a lawful artifact halberd with a high bonus to damage.

Encyclopedia entry

Many of the weapons of the Middle Ages were poled or long-shafted
arms. Unlike the ancient spear or javelin, however, they were not
intended to be thrown. Some were devices with simple single- or
double-edged blades and nothing more, while others combined
the pick, spear, and hammer or axe all in one weapon.

[ Heraldry and Armor of the Middle Ages, by Marvin H. Pakula ]

References

This page is based on a spoiler by Tom Fine, available at http://hea-www.harvard.edu/~fine/Fun/polearms.html