Difference between revisions of "Priest"

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{{otheruses|the role|the monster|aligned priest}}
 
{{otheruses|the role|the monster|aligned priest}}
  
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'''Priest''' ('''priestess''' if female) is one of the [[role]]s in NetHack, capable of playing any [[alignment]] as a [[human (starting race)|human]], or restricted to chaotic as an [[elf (starting race)|elf]]. A priest's religion is chosen randomly from the [[pantheon]]s of the other roles. A human priest is therefore capable of representing any of the [[god]]s in the game (who send mortals after the [[amulet of Yendor|amulet]], that is). According to the [[guidebook]]:
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'''Priest''' ('''priestess''' if female) is one of the [[role]]s in NetHack, capable of playing any [[alignment]] as a [[human (starting race)|human]], or restricted to chaotic as an [[elf (starting race)|elf]]. A priest's religion is chosen randomly from the [[pantheon]]s of the other roles. A human priest is therefore capable of representing any of the other roles' [[god]]s in the game.
  
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              Priests and Priestesses are clerics militant, crusaders  ad-
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The [[guidebook]] has this to say about Priests.
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          vancing  the  cause  of  righteousness with arms, armor, and arts
 
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          thaumaturgic.  Their ability to commune with deities  via  prayer
 
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          occasionally extricates them from peril, but can also put them in
 
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          it.
 
  
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==Abilities==
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    Priests and Priestesses are clerics militant, crusaders advancing the cause of righteousness with arms, armor, and arts thaumaturgic. Their ability to commune with deities via prayer occasionally extricates them from peril, but can also put them in it.
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One distinct advantage enjoyed by the clergy is the ability to ascertain [[beatitude]] independently of their [[pet]]s. Priests automatically see the [[beatitude]] of all [[object]]s. If no [[BUC]] is shown, that means uncursed. You can get "uncursed" back with the [[showbuc]] [[option]] patch.
 
  
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The main disadvantage of the Priest is his weapon skill set. Priests cannot gain [[skill]] in any edged weapons, and can only reach basic skill in [[ranged weapon]]s. Combined with lack of attack spell-casting skills, this makes it hard for priests to find a good way to kill monsters.
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==Starting equipment==
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Priests start with the following items:
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Except for attack spells, Priests are decent spell-casters. They can advance to expert in clerical, divination and healing, but are restricted in other classes. Note that their spellcasting prowess is based on Wisdom, not Intelligence (but the odds of learning a new spell still depend on Intelligence).
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* a [[blessed]] +1 [[mace]]
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Priests can #[[turn undead]], which can be helpful in their [[Priest quest|quest]], but should do so carefully.
 
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===Intrinsics===
 
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Priests gain the following [[intrinsic]]s at these [[experience level]]s:{{refsrc|attrib.c|62}}
 
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* Level 15: [[Warning]]
 
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* Level 20: [[Fire resistance]]
 
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Priests also have the intrinsics of their race. [[Elf (starting race)|Elves]] gain [[sleep resistance]] at level 4.{{refsrc|attrib.c|93}}
 
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==Equipment==
 
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The starting equipment is definitely an advantage of the Priest. They get:
 
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* a +1 [[mace]]
 
 
* a +0 [[robe]]
 
* a +0 [[robe]]
 
* a +0 [[small shield]] (like those of [[aligned priest]]s)
 
* a +0 [[small shield]] (like those of [[aligned priest]]s)
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* 1-2 cloves of [[garlic]]
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* 1–2 cloves of [[garlic]]
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* 1-2 [[sprig of wolfsbane|sprigs of wolfsbane]]
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* 1–2 [[sprig of wolfsbane|sprigs of wolfsbane]]
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* 2 random [[spellbook]]s (suitable for priests: [[clerical]], [[divination]], or [[healing spells]])
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* 2 random [[spellbook]]s of level 3 or lower (suitable for priests: [[clerical]], [[divination]], or [[healing spells]])
 
* 4 potions of [[holy water]]
 
* 4 potions of [[holy water]]
 
* a chance at one of the following:
 
* a chance at one of the following:
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** a [[magic marker]] (10% chance)
 
** an [[oil lamp]] (9% chance)
 
** an [[oil lamp]] (9% chance)
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** a [[magic marker]] (10% chance)
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* If an elf, a random non-magical [[instrument]].
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{{upcoming|NetHack 3.7.0|As of {{commit|9d910773d0a5421a259a228f638f87a04ef2d7a0}}, Priests have a 20% chance of starting with a magic marker and 8% chance of an oil lamp.}}
  
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Elven priests, like other elvish characters, start with a random non-magical [[instrument]].
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==Intrinsics==
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Priests gain the following [[intrinsic]]s at these [[experience level]]s:{{refsrc|attrib.c|62}}
 +
* Level 15: [[Warning]]
 +
* Level 20: [[Fire resistance]]
  
 
==Skills==
 
==Skills==
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{{Priest skill table}}
 
{{Priest skill table}}
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Priests start with ''Basic'' skill in ''Mace'' and ''Clerical spells''. The spellcasting skill is always ''Clerical'', no matter what spellbooks a character starts with, because the initial spellcasting skills are hardcoded in the function ''skill_init'' in [[Source:NetHack 3.4.3/src/weapon.c|weapon.c]] and are independent of the starting inventory.
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Priests start with ''Basic'' skill in ''Mace'' and ''Clerical spells''. The spellcasting skill is always ''Clerical'', no matter what spellbooks a character starts with, because the initial spellcasting skills are hardcoded in the function ''skill_init'' in [[Source:NetHack 3.4.3/src/weapon.c|weapon.c]] and are independent of the starting inventory. Their special spell is {{of|spell|remove curse}}.
  
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==Strategy==
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==Special rules==
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===Early game===
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Priests automatically know the [[beatitude]] of all [[item]]s. This doesn't require sight or touch -- any item you're aware of, for any reason, will show its beatitude. If no [[BUC]] is shown, that means the item is uncursed. (You can force the game to include the "uncursed" descriptor by setting <code>!implicit_uncursed</code> in your [[options]].)
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Many players see priest as a very weak role. Expert play, however, can make them very easy to ascend for experienced players who know their way around objects in Nethack.
 
  
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One of the main advantages to being a priest is that one can can identify which weapons, armor, and rings are safe to equip without having to drag everything to an altar, and your [[robe]] gives you some leeway in terms of wearing metal items and still being able to cast.  Try on every noncursed piece of equipment you find; you may get lucky and find something like [[speed boots]] or a +4 [[ring of gain strength]] which makes your early game much easier.  Even [[gauntlets of power]] are worth considering, as your starting spells are rarely so crucial that you don't have time to remove an item to cast them.  Beware the [[helm of opposite alignment]], although with your starting supply of [[Holy water]] it is generally easy to uncurse, and being identified when worn, you will only need to wear-test it once. Since other classes must watch out for being burdened or making multiple trips this is a huge advantage.  
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Priests don't receive the [[multishot]] bonus for their [[race]] or being Skilled at their weapon; thus, they can never fire more than one missile per move.
  
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As the guidebook (somewhat obtusely) alludes to, Priests can also #[[turn undead]].
  
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The fact that Priests can tell the beatitude of items and that they start with holy water makes them absolute masters of the bones file. They can simply take whatever items they want, rinse some potions carefully and create more holy water to uncurse other items. They also can cherry pick from a bones file (for instance if they spy gauntlets of Power) and use their starting holy water to uncurse key armor, rings, etc. Priests can easily learn and cast remove curse with their robe (even at unskilled) and may even start with a remove curse spellbook. For this reason priests are far easier to ascend in an environment with many bones files (such as NAO, or a folder you've been using with many deaths on it) rather than a clean, new download of Nethack.
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==Strategy==
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===Character creation===
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Priests are restricted in most edged weapons, including many desirable weapon skills, and players may elect to work around this by means of a [[sacrifice gift]]. For such players, lawful priests have the best chance of receiving a viable [[artifact weapon]] in the form of an artifact [[long sword]] such as [[Sunsword]] or even [[Grayswandir]], with the unrestricted skill making [[Excalibur]] an option as well. Neutral priests have somewhat less reliable options for a first gift, though they may receive [[Mjollnir]], which is a quite powerful artifact in its own right and can be advanced to Expert skill. While most chaotic options for first sacrifice gift options are somewhat useless, elven Priests can force [[Stormbringer]] by naming [[Sting]] and [[Orcrist]] beforehand.
  
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{{upcoming|NetHack 3.7.0|[[Demonbane]] is now a mace and is the first sacrifice gift for Priests of any alignment, so lawful Priests can no longer deterministically unrestrict long sword skill, nor can elves force Stormbringer. Lawful Priests are still likely to get a long sword as their second gift.}}
  
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Priests are the best at getting an early Lamp Wish from Minetown. Because they can tell the beatitude of objects and have holy water, they can easily bless magic lamps and rub them the instant they come into their possession by price IDing them in shops. This means that Priests are the class most likely to get an early wish over all other classes, which need to find a co-aligned altar and use a water prayer and  to bless a magic lamp and have the best probability for a wish. An early wish obviously increases your chances of ascending dramatically.
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For those not planning to use an artifact weapon, priests in general can be quite fragile in the early game unless they elect to wear armor. Lawful priests have the least perilous trip through the [[Mines]] early on, while chaotic priests gain more "immediate" benefits from [[sacrifice]] due to prayer timeout reduction, which can aid in farming [[spellbook]]s; chaotic priests will also have an easier time dealing with the [[mysterious force]].
  
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Because they start with holy water and can see the beatitude of objects, priests can get better use out of scrolls sooner such as genocide, enchant armor and especially enchant weapon. Priests can easily collect and price id scrolls of identify and bless them, getting a full identify. This further identifies key scrolls which they can also bless. They can do this without an altar (to check scroll status) or a co-aligned altar (to do a water prayer).
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Elven Priests tend to be the most fragile of all available choices, and need assistance from equipment to reach the maximum [[strength]] damage bonus or even maximum [[encumbrance|carrying capacity]]. Their higher maximum [[attribute]]s for casting stats may not make as much difference in [[spellcasting]] success by the time you can actually reach those limits, although the [[energy]] growth bonus is somewhat helpful.
  
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For an early wish, SDSM or GDSM are great choices for a priest as this allows them superior AC, magic defense (either reflection or magic resistance) along with allowing spellcasting. Along with their robe and small shield, and a pair of cloth boots, their AC will be -4 and they will be able to cast spells with no penalty. Picking up some enchanted armor (by checking each piece as above) will put them in the -10 range and will provide some level of melee safety along with still being able to cast spells.
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===Early game===
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====Weapons====
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One disadvantage of the Priest is their weapon skill set. Priests can't gain [[Skill#Weapon_skills|skill]] in any edged weapons, and can't [[Multishot#Eligible_missiles|multishot]] any ranged weapons. Combined with no skill in the [[Spellbook#Attack|attack spells]], this makes it hard for priests to find a good way to kill monsters.
  
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Priests have several other attractive options for a wish, such as spellbook of identify or spellbook of magic mapping as well as remove curse (for bones files) or the spell of polymorph (which they can cast after completing their quest and enchanting the miter of holiness).  
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Instead, a Priest's best ranged option early game is the [[aklys]], which they can pick up in the mines and can advance to up to Expert. Skill and enchantment investments on the aklys can be useful for the entire game.
  
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===Mid Game===
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The starting +1 [[mace]] is slightly better than a +0 long sword at Basic skill against small monsters. It is much less effective against large monsters, but these typically appear later. Priests can use a [[unicorn horn]] to do more damage to large monsters.  Like any character, a Priest will want to sacrifice for an artifact weapon as soon as possible.  Lawful priests should generally dip for [[Excalibur]] as soon as they can survive any fountain spawns.  Even unskilled, Excalibur is better than other available options.
  
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Priests should do minetown first, trying for an early wish from one of the lamps. They should likely wish for GDSM, hoping to get reflection from Sokobon, or SDSM to avoid getting killed by wands. If the Minetown altar is co-aligned they should sacrifice their to get an artifact weapon. If not, After minetown they should look for an altar back up in the regular dungeon. If they find one they should camp at the altar until they can sacrifice for an artifact, and if they run out of food head to Sokobon. Hopefully by then they will get the amulet of reflection or the BOH. If they have still not found a co aligned altar they should continue in the dungeon until they find one or are turned back by a monster that is too strong. If they are turned back they should then finish up mine's end, identify scrolls and try to find Enchant Weapon and use it on their mace (making it +2-+4), or higher if they have more scrolls or have found a magic marker. They should continue down trying to find an altar, until the reach the quest level, dodging difficult monsters and digging downward or using wand of digging to get to the quest level.
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====Armor====
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Metallic armor and [[shield]]s are worth wearing to get your AC down; your starting spells don't generally need to be cast quickly, so when you do need to cast them you can find a quiet spot and disrobe. You will want to switch to non-metallic armor with a good AC as it becomes available.
  
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====Spellcasting====
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A priest starts with a [[robe]] which aids spellcasting, and can use their potions of holy water to bless spellbooks they find, thus gaining more spells. However, they may have better uses for holy water.
  
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The easy quest levels are a big advantage to the Priest, and the quest is simply a boon. They contain tons of treasure (moreso than any other quest) and the monsters are relatively easy (Lower level Undead). For this reason This means it's a source for anything the priest needs with very little risk. Make sure to (U)ntrap chests. If gaining levels is desired, the priest can lead wraiths away from the graveyard to normal dungeon where they are more likely to leave corpses for eating.  
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A priest should focus on melee combat because most of their starting spells aren't useful in a fight. However, they are very capable of casting low-level spells such as [[Spellbook of sleep|sleep]] and [[Spellbook of force bolt|force bolt]].
  
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The most useful combat spells that a priest can start with are [[Spellbook of protection|protection]] and [[Spellbook of healing|healing]]. Utility spells, especially [[Spellbook of identify|identify]], can also give a priest a significant advantage once they are able to cast them.
  
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The unaligned altar can be converted, but as monster generation is low and the monsters on these levels are undead, you will have to bring a bag of tricks, know the spell create monster or have a wand of create monster to pull off enough sacrifices for an artifact weapon, but it's possible if you are in dire need of an altar.
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====General====
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Priests' ability to tell the beatitude of items and their starting holy water gives them advantages in the early game:
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* They can identify which weapons, armor, and rings are safe to equip even if they have lost their pet. Another character who cannot [[curse-testing|pet-test]] must drag everything to an altar.
 +
* They can more easily get the more useful blessed effects of scrolls such as identify, genocide, enchant armor, and enchant weapon.
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* They can remove curses with holy water or by blessing [[scroll of remove curse|scrolls of remove curse]].
 +
* They can get an early wish if they find a [[magic lamp]]; they may wish to go to [[Mine Town]] early to see if there is one to buy.
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* Priests can easily uncurse items they find in [[bones file]]s.
  
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Consider stashing at least one of your starting potions of holy water as early as possible, to keep from losing it to cold/fire/lightning attacks.  As long as you have one potion, you can make more at will.
  
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The availability of holy water and knowing the beatitude of items makes finding a source of levitation somewhat easier. A full identify can be gleaned from a stack of scrolls of identify which are blessed. They can also dig down below medusa and come back up to find the cursed boots of levitation (which they can easily uncurse with their holy water or the spell Remove Curse). They can also test uncursed rings to find ring of levitation. Failing all that they can also find boots of jumping, or even identify potions of levitation, blessing them to increase duration.
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If you manage to get an early wish, dragon scale mail is generally more useful than a weapon, because AC and non-metallic body armor are useful things for a priest to have.
  
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Because of this the priest should enter the castle while levitating from the rear, allowing more difficult monsters to advance and drop through the trap doors to the Valley of the Dead, while killing the easier ones, get the wand of wishing, and use it to fill any needs. A blessed magic marker can be wished for and used to dispatch the harder monsters that were dropped in the Valley of the Dead. A powerful artifact weapon can be wished for, etc.
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You should [[turn undead|#turn]] undead only if you are certain that there are no non-[[undead]] monsters nearby.
  
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Another option is crushing the monsters that are too strong for a priest with the Castle's portcullis. See "Castle" for more details.
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=====Atheist conduct=====
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Priests are well suited to the [[atheist]] conduct, because they need not use altars to ascertain beatitude.
  
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Knowing beatitudes also helps with Polypiling in the mid game, and after the castle and enchanting the mitre, the spellbook of Polymorph is an excellent wish for Priests. Magic Mapping and Identify are also excellent wishes for the Priest but can be obtained by using the spell Polymorph on other books.
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Lycanthropy can be dealt with using your starting wolfsbane. Removing curses is easy with the starting holy water.
  
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===Weapon policy===
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Using #turn will break atheist conduct, as will using #chat on a priest (monster).
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Many players are worried about the "sword problem". Namely that Priests are restricted in edged weapons which makes them seem inferior.
 
  
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However with careful analysis and play it's possible to minimize this weakness. First of all the +1 mace you start with is nearly equal in damage to a sword wielded by others. The damage for a NORMAL mace is1d6+1 but your starting mace is magically +1. This means your damage vs small creatures is 1d6+2 vs 1d8 for a starting longsword in other classes. But the +1 is also to-hit, which pushes the starting mace to better than a longsword vs small creatures. You are at a huge disadvantage with a mace vs large creatures, 1d6+1 with your mace vs 1d12 for a longsword. But larger creatures such as trolls and giants don't usually appear till the midgame by which time you should have an artifact weapon. Priests may have to play defensively (use Elbereth, their pet, etc) against these larger creatures if encountered before they have an artifact weapon.
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===Mid game===
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====Objectives====
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The quest has mostly weaker [[Zombie (monster class)|zombies]] and only a few strong monsters, and the large number of graveyards contain many boxes full of items. There is more treasure on this quest than any other. [[Drain resistance]] or [[MC]]3 is useful to prevent [[Drain life (monster attack)|level drain]] from [[Wraith (monster class)|wraiths]] and [[Vampire (monster class)|vampires]]. If you are not at a high enough level for the Quest but have access to [[create monster]] in some form, you can gain levels by creating wraiths on the home level and luring them back through the portal.
  
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The [[mace]] you get in the beginning works fine in the early game, but is certainly insufficient later.  
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The unaligned altar can be converted and used for sacrificing, but monster generation is low and most generated monsters are undead that cannot be sacrificed; you can obtain useful corpses by [[kicking]] the [[tree]]s on the home level to summon [[killer bee]]s, then lure them closer to the altar.
  
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If wishing for an artifact, dragon armor should be considered first since it is so helpful especially to spellcasting priests. However if dragon armor has already been obtained, or other armor or items has made it less valuable, lawful priests should wish for the Sceptre of Might. Neutral priests are very likely to be granted [[Mjollnir]] and thus may not want to waste a wish on it. Chaotics should wish for mojo if wishing for an artifact weapon, but master key of thievery is also attractive for half physical damage.  
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Some priests that get to the Castle will be strong enough to face the monsters in direct combat, or use the [[passtune]] to crush more difficult monsters with the drawbridge.
  
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The Sceptre of Might and Mojo both end the "sword problem" of Priests since both can be advanced to expert. The Sceptre does comparable damage to other swords when fully enchanted (x2 damage to all non-lawfuls, which is pretty much everyone), and mojo unenchanted is the most damaging weapon in the early game (1d4+1+1d24, average damage 15 per hit!)
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====Spellcasting====
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Except for attack spells, Priests are decent spell-casters. They can advance to expert in clerical, divination and healing, but are restricted in other classes. Note that their spellcasting prowess is based on Wisdom, not Intelligence (but the odds of learning a new spell still depend on Intelligence). Even with attack spells restricted, the simpler ones (i.e., level 3 and below) may still be of use.
  
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All alignments can also get an artifact sword and unrestrict swords when getting a sacrifice gift or being crowned, circumventing the "sword problem". Priests gain a lot from being unrestricted, so sacrificing for an artifact weapon is very important.
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Skill slots are not in short supply; a Priest has few weapon skills, and may gain many levels from wraith corpses in the [[quest]]. Advancing divinations to Skilled enhances the effects of spells like {{spell of | detect monsters}}, {{Spell of|detect treasure}}, and identify, but advancing the school to Expert only improves spell failure rates.
  
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Chaotic Elven priests can "name" Orcrist and Sting, before sacrificing, guaranteeing that their first sacrifice gift is Stormbringer (and it unrestricts longswords!). Stormbringer is one of the most powerful swords both enchanted and early unenchanted.
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===Late game===
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====Spellcasting====
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A high level priest may be able to make use of a [[spellbook of polymorph]], despite having no skill in matter spells, by using the [[Mitre of Holiness]] and a robe.
  
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Chaotic priest is obviously the most flummoxed in this situation but they can name Orcrist and Sting and keep sacrificing until they get a sword. Lastly all Chaotics are guaranteed Stormbringer (and it's unrestricted) when crowned, thus all alignments have a way around the "Sword Problem."
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At skilled divination, Priests should be able to cast {{of|Spellbook|magic mapping}}, which should make [[Gehennom mapping]] a trivial task.
  
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Priests can become skilled in [[polearm]]; it may be worth training this skill against large, slow monsters (like [[mumak]]il), whom you can outrun as they close to attack range, and [[sea monster]]s, who cannot hit you if you are not next to the water.
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You can learn simple attack spells (like [[force bolt]] or {{of|Spellbook|drain life}}) and cast them with 0% failure rate.  [[Magic missile]] is especially useful at high levels, as its damage scales up with your level - which can easily be increased due to the wraiths in the quest.
  
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==Rank titles==
  
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Luck of the Faithful
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The [[status line]] shows you to be one of the following ranks when you reach the specified experience level:
  
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Priests MAY have several fortuitous early game situations and boons that other characters don't have. It's possible to play a priest that doesn't recieve ANY of these boons, but it is unlikely that you will play a priest who doesn't get at least one, as they are numerous. There are so many boons that you only need to be slightly lucky to get one and it makes the game easier.
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*XL 1&ndash;2: Aspirant
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*XL 3&ndash;5: Acolyte
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1. Priests can start with a very high strength (they can even start with STR 18) or a combination of good high physical stats This makes them nearly in the fighter class of characters. Their ability to try on armor quickly can aid this and the player can eschew spellcasting for a while, being nearly as strong as a class like Samurai, Caveman or Valkyrie.
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*XL 6&ndash;9: Adept
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*XL 10&ndash;13: Priest/Priestess
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*XL 14&ndash;17: Curate
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*XL 18&ndash;21: Canon/Canoness
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*XL 22&ndash;25: Lama
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*XL 26&ndash;29: Patriarch/Matriarch
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*XL 30: High Priest/High Priestess
  
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2. Priests can start with a spellbook of identify. Along with their robe this makes the game much easier as they can cast it from the beginning of the game. 
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==Quest==
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3. Priests can start with Remove Curse, which lets them pilfer bones files easily.
 
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4. Priests can uncurse or bless a magic lamp (and know it's beatitude instantly) and get a wish faster and earlier than other classes.
 
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5. Priest need not fear trying things on as they can sense their beatitude and may luckily find a powerful item quickly that increases their survival chances.
 
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6. Priests can start with a spellbook of Create Monster. This along with a supply of food (go to Sokobon first) makes it so they can easily get an artifact weapon quickly and/or get crowned, increase their luck dramatically, and even get multiple artifacts quickly, selecting the best one.
 
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===Spellcasting===
 
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One of the best ways to spend your starting holy water set is to bless any [[spellbook]] you find and learn new spells (unless you've got the {{spell of|identify}} spell, which makes this easier, or you are playing SLASH'EM, in which even uncursed spellbooks are guaranteed to be read successfully). But it is a good idea to keep at least one holy water in reserve for [[Potion_of_holy_water#Dipping_water_into_holy_water|manufacturing]] more holy water. This, combined with your built-in knowledge of [[BUC]], makes altars in the early game relatively unimportant for a Priest.
 
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You should not have any problems with skill slots, as you don't learn many weapon skills and can advance them quickly in the [[quest]] thanks to all the wraith corpses. Hence you can advance spell-casting skill slots as soon as possible.  If you run into problems, [[clerical spell]]s should take precedence, since those are the spells most useful to you.
 
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In the late game you can learn simple attack spells (like [[force bolt]] or [[drain life (spell)|drain life]]) and cast them with 0% failure rate, especially with the [[The Mitre of Holiness|Mitre of Holiness]].  [[Magic missile]] is especially useful at high levels, as its damage scales up with your level (and, due to the wraiths in the quest, it is easy, if a little tedious, to increase your level to deal more damage).
 
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You should turn undead only if you are 100% positive that there are no non-[[undead]] monsters nearby.
 
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===Quest===
 
 
{{main|Priest quest}}
 
{{main|Priest quest}}
  
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[[Nalzok]], the Priest [[quest nemesis]], is quite tough, but he respects [[Elbereth]] and the [[scroll of scare monster]]. Beware the bullwhip-wielders (you may lose your weapon).  Most of the quest is, however, rather boring and extremely profitable. All the levels contain several graveyards with [[wraith]]s (lure them out), and chests full of goodies. The Locate level may also contain several sleeping [[foocubi]], which you should not disturb until you are able to utilize them without the risk of negative effects. Given all the graveyards and sleeping monsters, some source of [[stealth]] is advisable before attempting this quest.
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[[Nalzok]], the Priest [[quest nemesis]], is quite tough, but he respects [[Elbereth]] and the [[scroll of scare monster]]. The quest is rather boring, but extremely profitable. All the levels contain several graveyards with [[wraith]]s and chests full of goodies. The locate level may also contain several sleeping [[foocubi]], which you should not disturb until you are able to utilize them without the risk of negative effects. Given all the graveyards and sleeping monsters, some source of [[stealth]] is advisable before attempting this quest.
  
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The quest artifact is [[The Mitre of Holiness]].  While even an ordinary [[helm of brilliance]] is a great thing, the mitre additionally allows you to regain your [[power]], gives [[fire resistance]] and halves damage from the [[undead]] and most [[demons]].  However, unlike many quest artifacts, it doesn't confer [[magic resistance]], so you have to get that from a different source.
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{{upcoming|NetHack 3.7.0|The scroll of scare monster on the ground no longer scares any [[unique]] monster.}}
  
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===Atheist conduct===
+
The quest artifact is [[The Mitre of Holiness]], which has a great base item in the [[helm of brilliance]]; the Mitre additionally allows you to #[[invoke]] it to regain your [[power]], gives [[fire resistance]] and halves damage from the [[undead]] and most [[demons]]. However, unlike many quest artifacts, it doesn't confer [[magic resistance]], so you have to get that from a different source.
  
−
Priests are well suited to the Atheist conduct, regardless of how contradictory this may seem.  For those that need a logical explanation for this, consider that the Priest(ess) believes that they have been given all the powers that they need by their deity, and it would be an affront to same to ask for further favours. 
+
==Variants==
−
 
+
===SLASH'EM===
−
====Advantages====
 
−
 
 
−
* Auto-BUC detection (no need to use altars for this)
 
−
* Starting [[holy water]]
 
−
 
 
−
Consider stashing at least one of your starting potions of holy water as early as possible, to keep from losing it to cold/fire/lightning attacks.  As long as you keep one starter potion, you can make more at will.
 
−
 
 
−
Other uses of altars - obviously forbidden to atheists - are increasing luck and obtaining artifact weapons.  If luck is a problem it can be had by tossing gems to [[unicorn]]s.  Artifact weapons available by sacrifice are generally not very useful for priests, so foregoing them is not so much of a problem.  [[Trident]]s and [[silver spear]]s, suitably buffed, are good choices, or consider wishing for the [[Sceptre of Might]] or the [[Staff of Aesculapius]].
 
−
 
 
−
====Problems====
 
−
 
 
−
Not being able to pray to get out of a tight situation is probably the biggest problem, especially in the early game.  Food can be a problem, so stay aware of your nutrition level.  Encountering a footrice prior to obtaining a lizard corpse can be fatal; consider lugging around an acid blob corpse or something else acidic to guard against this.  Lycanthropy can be dealt with using your starting wolfsbane.  Escape methods are more important when you cannot pray to restore lost hitpoints - keep aware of these as well.
 
−
 
 
−
No divine protection means two things - it's more important to enchant up armor items, and [[gold]] is almost worthless (except for score purposes) after the early game when you need it for shops.  You can buy some experience from the Oracle, and keep a little on hand for bribing demons (if you want to).  Other than that it is just a burden.
 
−
 
 
−
Using #turn will break atheist conduct!  So will using #chat to a priest under any circumstances.
 
−
 
 
−
==Rank titles==
 
−
 
 
−
The [[status line]] shows you to be one of the following ranks when you reach the specified experience level:
 
−
 
 
−
*XL 1-2: Aspirant
 
−
*XL 3-5: Acolyte
 
−
*XL 6-9: Adept
 
−
*XL 10-13: Priest/Priestess
 
−
*XL 14-17: Curate
 
−
*XL 18-21: Canon/Canoness
 
−
*XL 22-25: Lama
 
−
*XL 26-29: Patriarch/Matriarch
 
−
*XL 30: High Priest/High Priestess
 
−
 
 
−
==SLASH'EM==
 
 
In [[SLASH'EM]], Priests can be [[doppelganger]]s, [[drow]], [[elf|elves]], [[hobbit]]s, or [[human]]s.
 
In [[SLASH'EM]], Priests can be [[doppelganger]]s, [[drow]], [[elf|elves]], [[hobbit]]s, or [[human]]s.
  
−
===Starting equipment===
+
====Starting equipment====
 
*blessed +0 [[mace]]
 
*blessed +0 [[mace]]
 
*blessed +0 [[robe]] (note that in SLASH'EM, an ordinary robe does not enhance spellcasting; that requires a [[robe of power]])
 
*blessed +0 [[robe]] (note that in SLASH'EM, an ordinary robe does not enhance spellcasting; that requires a [[robe of power]])
 
*blessed +2 [[small shield]]
 
*blessed +2 [[small shield]]
−
*1-2 blessed [[clove of garlic|cloves of garlic]]
+
*1&ndash;2 blessed [[clove of garlic|cloves of garlic]]
−
*1-2 blessed [[sprig of wolfsbane|sprigs of wolfsbane]]
+
*1&ndash;2 blessed [[sprig of wolfsbane|sprigs of wolfsbane]]
 
*[[spellbook of healing]]
 
*[[spellbook of healing]]
−
*[[spellbook of force bolt]], [[spellbook of sleep|sleep]], [[spellbook of resist poison|resist poison]], [[spellbook of resist sleep|resist sleep]], [[spellbook of detect food|detect food]], [[spellbook of detect monsters|detect monsters]], [[spellbook of light|light]], [[spellbook of knock|knock]] or [[spellbook of wizard lock|wizard lock]]
+
*spellbook of {{of|spellbook|force bolt|sleep|resist poison|resist sleep|detect food}}, {{of|spellbook|detect monsters|light|knock|or=1|wizard lock}}
 
*random blessed [[scroll]]
 
*random blessed [[scroll]]
 
*4 potions of [[holy water]]
 
*4 potions of [[holy water]]
 
*10% chance of [[magic marker]], otherwise 10% chance of light source (50% chance of [[oil lamp]], 50% chance of [[torch]]es)
 
*10% chance of [[magic marker]], otherwise 10% chance of light source (50% chance of [[oil lamp]], 50% chance of [[torch]]es)
  
−
===Skills===
+
====Skills====
−
Priest spell skills are different than in Vanilla. Also of note, they can become skilled in [[long sword]].
+
Priest spell skills are different than in vanilla. Also of note, they can become skilled in [[long sword]].
 
{{Priest skill table (SLASH'EM)}}
 
{{Priest skill table (SLASH'EM)}}
  
−
===Techniques===
+
====Techniques====
 
{|class="prettytable"
 
{|class="prettytable"
 
|'''Level'''
 
|'''Level'''
Line 199: Line 162:
 
|-
 
|-
 
|1
 
|1
−
|[[Blessing_(technique)|Blessing]]
+
|[[Blessing (technique)|Blessing]]
 
|}
 
|}
  
  
−
===Strategy===
+
====Strategy====
−
In SLASH'EM priests get the [[Disrupter]] (Mace) as their first sacrifice gift, which is very useful in their quest as it grants +5 to hit and +30 to damage against the undead. It is not terribly useful as a main weapon, but makes a good secondary weapon to use against [[lich]]es and [[Vampire mage (SLASH'EM)|vampire mages]]. Make sure to enchant it to be able to hit undead with enchantment resistance!
+
In SLASH'EM, Priests get [[Disrupter]] as their first sacrifice gift, which is very useful in their quest as it grants +5 to hit and +30 to damage against the undead. It is not terribly useful as a main weapon, but makes a good secondary weapon to use against [[lich]]es and [[Vampire mage (SLASH'EM)|vampire mages]]. Make sure to enchant it to be able to hit undead with enchantment resistance!
 +
 
 +
Lawful Priests can try to use [[Skullcrusher]], which can be gotten by sacrifice. If you are good at unmounted polearm tactics, then [[Reaper]] can be another option. The previously-good wish, [[the Sceptre of Might]], is a much weaker weapon in SLASH'EM; it now does a flat +3 to hit and +5 to damage against cross-aligned, instead of double damage.
 +
 
 +
Neutral Priests do not get any new options and should go for [[Mjollnir]] (now a heavy hammer) or [[the Staff of Aesculapius]].
 +
 
 +
Chaotic Priests can use the [[Bat from Hell]], which can by gotten by sacrifice. They can also use [[Plague]] or [[Hellfire]] for ranged combat; both may be obtained through sacrifice. Arrows shot from Plague are automatically poisoned, and bolts shot from  Hellfire explode and deal fire damage.
  
−
Lawful priests can try to use the [[Skullcrusher]] (Club) that can be gotten by sacrifice. If you are good at unmounted polearm tactics, the [[Reaper]] (Halberd) can be another option. The previously-good wish, the [[Sceptre of Might]], is a much weaker weapon in SLASH'EM. It now does a flat +3 to hit and +5 to damage against cross-aligned, instead of double damage.
+
===FIQHack===
 +
[[FIQHack]] priests can be [[Orc (starting race)|orcs]].
  
−
Neutral priests do not get any new options, and should go for [[Mjollnir]] (now a Heavy Hammer) or the [[Staff of Aesculapius]] (still a Staff).
+
Priests get a +20 bonus to effective XL when writing scrolls.  Thus at XL30 they can always write unknown scrolls.
  
−
Chaotic priests can use the [[Bat from Hell]] (Club) which can by gotten by sacrifice. They can also use the [[Plague]] bow or the [[Hellfire]] crossbow, both may be obtained through sacrifice. All the arrows shot by the Plague are poisoned and all bolts shot by the Hellfire explode dealing fire damage.
+
[[Turn undead|Turning undead]] has been buffed compared to vanilla.
  
 
==Encyclopedia entry==
 
==Encyclopedia entry==
  
 
{{encyclopedia|
 
{{encyclopedia|
−
[...]  For the two priests were talking exactly like priests,
+
For the two priests were talking exactly like priests, piously, with learning and leisure, about the most aerial enigmas of theology.  The little Essex priest spoke the more simply, with his round face turned to the strengthening stars; the other talked with his head bowed, as if he were not even worthy to look at them.  But no more innocently clerical conversation could have been heard in any white Italian cloister or black Spanish cathedral.  The first he heard was the tail of one of Father Brown's sentences, which ended:  "... what they really meant in the Middle Ages by the heavens being incorruptible."  The taller priest nodded his bowed head and said:  "Ah, yes, these modern infidels appeal to their reason; but who can look at those millions of worlds and not feel that there may well be wonderful universes above us where reason is utterly unreasonable?"
−
piously, with learning and leisure, about the most aerial
 
−
enigmas of theology.  The little Essex priest spoke the more
 
−
simply, with his round face turned to the strengthening stars;
 
−
the other talked with his head bowed, as if he were not even
 
−
worthy to look at them.  But no more innocently clerical
 
−
conversation could have been heard in any white Italian cloister
 
−
or black Spanish cathedral.  The first he heard was the tail of
 
−
one of Father Brown's sentences, which ended:  "... what they
 
−
really meant in the Middle Ages by the heavens being
 
−
incorruptible."  The taller priest nodded his bowed head and
 
−
said:  "Ah, yes, these modern infidels appeal to their reason;
 
−
but who can look at those millions of worlds and not feel that
 
−
there may well be wonderful universes above us where reason is
 
−
utterly unreasonable?"
 
 
|[ The Innocence of Father Brown, by G.K. Chesterton ]
 
|[ The Innocence of Father Brown, by G.K. Chesterton ]
 
}}
 
}}
Line 236: Line 192:
 
<references/>
 
<references/>
  
−
{{nethack-343}}
+
{{nethack-366}}
 
[[Category:Roles]]
 
[[Category:Roles]]

Latest revision as of 18:54, 8 January 2024

Wikipedia
Wikipedia has an article about:
This article is about the role. For the monster, see aligned priest.

Priest (priestess if female) is one of the roles in NetHack, capable of playing any alignment as a human, or restricted to chaotic as an elf. A priest's religion is chosen randomly from the pantheons of the other roles. A human priest is therefore capable of representing any of the other roles' gods in the game.

The guidebook has this to say about Priests. 

    Priests and Priestesses are clerics militant, crusaders advancing the cause of righteousness with arms, armor, and arts thaumaturgic. Their ability to commune with deities via prayer occasionally extricates them from peril, but can also put them in it.

Starting equipment

Priests start with the following items:

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 9d910773, Priests have a 20% chance of starting with a magic marker and 8% chance of an oil lamp.

Intrinsics

Priests gain the following intrinsics at these experience levels:[1]

Skills

Priest skills
Max Skills
Basic
Skilled
Expert

Priests start with Basic skill in Mace and Clerical spells. The spellcasting skill is always Clerical, no matter what spellbooks a character starts with, because the initial spellcasting skills are hardcoded in the function skill_init in weapon.c and are independent of the starting inventory. Their special spell is remove curse.

Special rules

Priests automatically know the beatitude of all items. This doesn't require sight or touch -- any item you're aware of, for any reason, will show its beatitude. If no BUC is shown, that means the item is uncursed. (You can force the game to include the "uncursed" descriptor by setting !implicit_uncursed in your options.)

Priests don't receive the multishot bonus for their race or being Skilled at their weapon; thus, they can never fire more than one missile per move.

As the guidebook (somewhat obtusely) alludes to, Priests can also #turn undead.

Strategy

Character creation

Priests are restricted in most edged weapons, including many desirable weapon skills, and players may elect to work around this by means of a sacrifice gift. For such players, lawful priests have the best chance of receiving a viable artifact weapon in the form of an artifact long sword such as Sunsword or even Grayswandir, with the unrestricted skill making Excalibur an option as well. Neutral priests have somewhat less reliable options for a first gift, though they may receive Mjollnir, which is a quite powerful artifact in its own right and can be advanced to Expert skill. While most chaotic options for first sacrifice gift options are somewhat useless, elven Priests can force Stormbringer by naming Sting and Orcrist beforehand.

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.

Demonbane is now a mace and is the first sacrifice gift for Priests of any alignment, so lawful Priests can no longer deterministically unrestrict long sword skill, nor can elves force Stormbringer. Lawful Priests are still likely to get a long sword as their second gift.

For those not planning to use an artifact weapon, priests in general can be quite fragile in the early game unless they elect to wear armor. Lawful priests have the least perilous trip through the Mines early on, while chaotic priests gain more "immediate" benefits from sacrifice due to prayer timeout reduction, which can aid in farming spellbooks; chaotic priests will also have an easier time dealing with the mysterious force.

Elven Priests tend to be the most fragile of all available choices, and need assistance from equipment to reach the maximum strength damage bonus or even maximum carrying capacity. Their higher maximum attributes for casting stats may not make as much difference in spellcasting success by the time you can actually reach those limits, although the energy growth bonus is somewhat helpful.

Early game

Weapons

One disadvantage of the Priest is their weapon skill set. Priests can't gain skill in any edged weapons, and can't multishot any ranged weapons. Combined with no skill in the attack spells, this makes it hard for priests to find a good way to kill monsters.

Instead, a Priest's best ranged option early game is the aklys, which they can pick up in the mines and can advance to up to Expert. Skill and enchantment investments on the aklys can be useful for the entire game.

The starting +1 mace is slightly better than a +0 long sword at Basic skill against small monsters. It is much less effective against large monsters, but these typically appear later. Priests can use a unicorn horn to do more damage to large monsters. Like any character, a Priest will want to sacrifice for an artifact weapon as soon as possible. Lawful priests should generally dip for Excalibur as soon as they can survive any fountain spawns. Even unskilled, Excalibur is better than other available options.

Armor

Metallic armor and shields are worth wearing to get your AC down; your starting spells don't generally need to be cast quickly, so when you do need to cast them you can find a quiet spot and disrobe. You will want to switch to non-metallic armor with a good AC as it becomes available.

Spellcasting

A priest starts with a robe which aids spellcasting, and can use their potions of holy water to bless spellbooks they find, thus gaining more spells. However, they may have better uses for holy water.

A priest should focus on melee combat because most of their starting spells aren't useful in a fight. However, they are very capable of casting low-level spells such as sleep and force bolt.

The most useful combat spells that a priest can start with are protection and healing. Utility spells, especially identify, can also give a priest a significant advantage once they are able to cast them.

General

Priests' ability to tell the beatitude of items and their starting holy water gives them advantages in the early game:

  • They can identify which weapons, armor, and rings are safe to equip even if they have lost their pet. Another character who cannot pet-test must drag everything to an altar.
  • They can more easily get the more useful blessed effects of scrolls such as identify, genocide, enchant armor, and enchant weapon.
  • They can remove curses with holy water or by blessing scrolls of remove curse.
  • They can get an early wish if they find a magic lamp; they may wish to go to Mine Town early to see if there is one to buy.
  • Priests can easily uncurse items they find in bones files.

Consider stashing at least one of your starting potions of holy water as early as possible, to keep from losing it to cold/fire/lightning attacks. As long as you have one potion, you can make more at will.

If you manage to get an early wish, dragon scale mail is generally more useful than a weapon, because AC and non-metallic body armor are useful things for a priest to have.

You should #turn undead only if you are certain that there are no non-undead monsters nearby.

Atheist conduct

Priests are well suited to the atheist conduct, because they need not use altars to ascertain beatitude.

Lycanthropy can be dealt with using your starting wolfsbane. Removing curses is easy with the starting holy water.

Using #turn will break atheist conduct, as will using #chat on a priest (monster).

Mid game

Objectives

The quest has mostly weaker zombies and only a few strong monsters, and the large number of graveyards contain many boxes full of items. There is more treasure on this quest than any other. Drain resistance or MC3 is useful to prevent level drain from wraiths and vampires. If you are not at a high enough level for the Quest but have access to create monster in some form, you can gain levels by creating wraiths on the home level and luring them back through the portal.

The unaligned altar can be converted and used for sacrificing, but monster generation is low and most generated monsters are undead that cannot be sacrificed; you can obtain useful corpses by kicking the trees on the home level to summon killer bees, then lure them closer to the altar.

Some priests that get to the Castle will be strong enough to face the monsters in direct combat, or use the passtune to crush more difficult monsters with the drawbridge.

Spellcasting

Except for attack spells, Priests are decent spell-casters. They can advance to expert in clerical, divination and healing, but are restricted in other classes. Note that their spellcasting prowess is based on Wisdom, not Intelligence (but the odds of learning a new spell still depend on Intelligence). Even with attack spells restricted, the simpler ones (i.e., level 3 and below) may still be of use.

Skill slots are not in short supply; a Priest has few weapon skills, and may gain many levels from wraith corpses in the quest. Advancing divinations to Skilled enhances the effects of spells like detect monsters, detect treasure, and identify, but advancing the school to Expert only improves spell failure rates.

Late game

Spellcasting

A high level priest may be able to make use of a spellbook of polymorph, despite having no skill in matter spells, by using the Mitre of Holiness and a robe.

At skilled divination, Priests should be able to cast magic mapping, which should make Gehennom mapping a trivial task.

You can learn simple attack spells (like force bolt or drain life) and cast them with 0% failure rate. Magic missile is especially useful at high levels, as its damage scales up with your level - which can easily be increased due to the wraiths in the quest.

Rank titles

The status line shows you to be one of the following ranks when you reach the specified experience level:

  • XL 1–2: Aspirant
  • XL 3–5: Acolyte
  • XL 6–9: Adept
  • XL 10–13: Priest/Priestess
  • XL 14–17: Curate
  • XL 18–21: Canon/Canoness
  • XL 22–25: Lama
  • XL 26–29: Patriarch/Matriarch
  • XL 30: High Priest/High Priestess

Quest

Main article: Priest quest

Nalzok, the Priest quest nemesis, is quite tough, but he respects Elbereth and the scroll of scare monster. The quest is rather boring, but extremely profitable. All the levels contain several graveyards with wraiths and chests full of goodies. The locate level may also contain several sleeping foocubi, which you should not disturb until you are able to utilize them without the risk of negative effects. Given all the graveyards and sleeping monsters, some source of stealth is advisable before attempting this quest.

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 scroll of scare monster on the ground no longer scares any unique monster.

The quest artifact is The Mitre of Holiness, which has a great base item in the helm of brilliance; the Mitre additionally allows you to #invoke it to regain your power, gives fire resistance and halves damage from the undead and most demons. However, unlike many quest artifacts, it doesn't confer magic resistance, so you have to get that from a different source.

Variants

SLASH'EM

In SLASH'EM, Priests can be doppelgangers, drow, elves, hobbits, or humans.

Starting equipment

Skills

Priest spell skills are different than in vanilla. Also of note, they can become skilled in long sword.

Priest skills
Max Skills
Basic
Skilled
Expert

Techniques

Level Technique
1 Turn undead
1 Blessing


Strategy

In SLASH'EM, Priests get Disrupter as their first sacrifice gift, which is very useful in their quest as it grants +5 to hit and +30 to damage against the undead. It is not terribly useful as a main weapon, but makes a good secondary weapon to use against liches and vampire mages. Make sure to enchant it to be able to hit undead with enchantment resistance!

Lawful Priests can try to use Skullcrusher, which can be gotten by sacrifice. If you are good at unmounted polearm tactics, then Reaper can be another option. The previously-good wish, the Sceptre of Might, is a much weaker weapon in SLASH'EM; it now does a flat +3 to hit and +5 to damage against cross-aligned, instead of double damage.

Neutral Priests do not get any new options and should go for Mjollnir (now a heavy hammer) or the Staff of Aesculapius.

Chaotic Priests can use the Bat from Hell, which can by gotten by sacrifice. They can also use Plague or Hellfire for ranged combat; both may be obtained through sacrifice. Arrows shot from Plague are automatically poisoned, and bolts shot from Hellfire explode and deal fire damage.

FIQHack

FIQHack priests can be orcs.

Priests get a +20 bonus to effective XL when writing scrolls. Thus at XL30 they can always write unknown scrolls.

Turning undead has been buffed compared to vanilla.

Encyclopedia entry

For the two priests were talking exactly like priests, piously, with learning and leisure, about the most aerial enigmas of theology. The little Essex priest spoke the more simply, with his round face turned to the strengthening stars; the other talked with his head bowed, as if he were not even worthy to look at them. But no more innocently clerical conversation could have been heard in any white Italian cloister or black Spanish cathedral. The first he heard was the tail of one of Father Brown's sentences, which ended: "... what they really meant in the Middle Ages by the heavens being incorruptible." The taller priest nodded his bowed head and said: "Ah, yes, these modern infidels appeal to their reason; but who can look at those millions of worlds and not feel that there may well be wonderful universes above us where reason is utterly unreasonable?"

[ The Innocence of Father Brown, by G.K. Chesterton ]

References

  1. ↑ attrib.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 62


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