Quarterstaff

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Name	quarterstaff
Appearance	staff
Damage vs. small	1d6
Damage vs. large	1d6
To-hit bonus	+0
Weapon skill	quarterstaff
Size	two-handed
Base price	5 zm (+10/positive enchant)
Weight	40
Material	wood

A quarterstaff is a kind of two-handed weapon that appears in NetHack. When unidentified, it simply appears as a staff. Quarterstaves are made of wood and are thus susceptible to burning and rotting.

Generation

All Wizards start with a blessed +1 quarterstaff. Quarterstaves make up about 1.1% of randomly generated weapons (on the floor, as death drops, or in shops).

Arch-liches are sometimes generated with a quarterstaff; however, they will not use it in combat because they lack a weapon attack. Player monster healers and wizards (including Newt on the Wizard quest) may be generated with a quarterstaff.

Wood golems leave behind a pile of 2d4 quarterstaves as a special death drop instead of a corpse.

Quarterstaff skill

Quarterstaff
Max	Role
Basic	Barbarian, Monk, Ranger, Samurai, Tourist, Valkyrie
Skilled	Archeologist
Expert	Caveman, Healer, Priest, Wizard

Only quarterstaves themselves use the quarterstaff skill. The Staff of Aesculapius is an artifact quarterstaff.

Strategy

The quarterstaff is a more than adequate starting weapon for a Wizard, but is much less effective than other two-handed weapons in general (e.g., a battle-axe or two-handed sword). A majority of Wizards may want to avoid frequent melee combat regardless, especially in the early game.

Neutral Wizards and other neutral roles such as Healers and Priests should invest in training with staves if they wish to utilize the Staff of Aesculapius.

History

The quarterstaff is introduced in Nethack 3.0.0.

The Wizard's starting weapon was changed to a quarterstaff in NetHack 3.3.0 as part of the process of merging of the influential Wizard Patch into mainline NetHack; in NetHack 3.2.3 and previous versions, their starting weapon is instead a +1 athame. This was likely intended to compensate for increased power from the redesigned spellcasting system, which allows virtually unlimited casting of spells; it also indirectly nerfed their ability to make a reliably-engraved Elbereth (which could still be done, but required starting with an appropriate wand and was limited by its charges).

Variants

SLASH'EM

In SLASH'EM, Flame Mages also start with a blessed +1 quarterstaff. SLASH'EM's version of the Lethe patch, SLethe, a silver-capped staff is added, and deals additional damage against silver-hating monsters.

NetHack Fourk

In NetHack Fourk, a wielded quarterstaff increases the success rate of spellcasting, similar to a robe.

FIQHack

In FIQHack, in addition to improving spellcasting, a cursed quarterstaff that is welded to your hands does not block spellcasting.

xNetHack

In xNetHack, the quarterstaff provides the same benefits as in FIQHack, improving spellcasting success rates and not blocking casting if wielded while cursed.

EvilHack

In EvilHack, many changes have been made related to quarterstaves. The most significant development is that there are now different spell-enhancing staves for each school of magic, minus enchantment spells. These staves are designed to make magic viable for non-dedicated casters where it would have been either extremely difficult or impossible to cast otherwise, and each have a property related to their school.

• The Staff of Divination is made of wood and confers a 50% boost to casting any divination spells while wielded.
• The Staff of Healing is made of wood and confers a 50% boost to casting any healing spells when wielded.
• The Staff of Holiness is made of bone and confers a 50% boost to casting any clerical-based spells when wielded.
• The Staff of Matter is made of mithril, making it slightly lighter than its counterparts, and confers a 50% boost to casting any matter spells when wielded.
• The Staff of Escape is made of wood and confers a 50% boost to casting any escape spells when wielded.
• The Staff of War is made of iron and confers a 50% boost to casting any attack spells when wielded. This makes it heavier than its counterparts, but also grants it an extra +d2 to-hit.

In addition, Magicbane is now an artifact quarterstaff; all its other properties are unchanged.

Encyclopedia entry

So they stood, each in his place, neither moving a finger's
breadth back, for one good hour, and many blows were given
and received by each in that time, till here and there were
sore bones and bumps, yet neither thought of crying "Enough,"
or seemed likely to fall from off the bridge. Now and then
they stopped to rest, and each thought that he never had seen
in all his life before such a hand at quarterstaff. At last
Robin gave the stranger a blow upon the ribs that made his
jacket smoke like a damp straw thatch in the sun. So shrewd
was the stroke that the stranger came within a hair's breadth
of falling off the bridge; but he regained himself right
quickly, and, by a dexterous blow, gave Robin a crack on the
crown that caused the blood to flow. Then Robin grew mad
with anger, and smote with all his might at the other; but
the stranger warded the blow, and once again thwacked Robin,
and this time so fairly that he fell heels over head into the
water, as the queen pin falls in a game of bowls.

[ The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood, by Howard Pyle ]

References

This page may need to be updated for the current version of NetHack.

It may contain text specific to NetHack 3.6.0. Information on this page may be out of date.

Editors: After reviewing this page and making necessary edits, please change the {{nethack-360}} tag to the current version's tag or {{noversion}} as appropriate.