Difference between revisions of "Scroll of enchant weapon"

From NetHackWiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
(→‎Standard Strategy)
(Heavy revision of strategy section, moved overenchanting to subsection)
Line 31: Line 31:
 
A weapon already at +6 or above has a 2/3 chance of evaporating instead.{{refsrc|wield.c|730|name=limit}}
 
A weapon already at +6 or above has a 2/3 chance of evaporating instead.{{refsrc|wield.c|730|name=limit}}
  
−
If a weapon is successfully enchanted by at least one point, it will be made uncursed if it was previously cursed.{{refsrc|wield.c|752}}
+
If a cursed weapon is successfully enchanted by at least one point, it will be made uncursed.{{refsrc|wield.c|693|version=NetHack 3.6.0}}
  
 
A cursed scroll behaves mostly like an uncursed scroll, but tries to ''decrease'' the enchantment by one point instead.{{refsrc|read.c|982}} Artifacts (except [[Sting]] and [[Orcrist]]) will resist.{{refsrc|wield.c|724}} A weapon already at -6 or below has a 2/3 chance of evaporating.<ref name="limit"/> There is no special treatment of weapons at -9 or below.
 
A cursed scroll behaves mostly like an uncursed scroll, but tries to ''decrease'' the enchantment by one point instead.{{refsrc|read.c|982}} Artifacts (except [[Sting]] and [[Orcrist]]) will resist.{{refsrc|wield.c|724}} A weapon already at -6 or below has a 2/3 chance of evaporating.<ref name="limit"/> There is no special treatment of weapons at -9 or below.
  
−
Trying to enchant a (stack of) [[worm tooth]] will instead turn it into an unfixed noncursed [[crysknife]].{{refsrc|wield.c|707}} Trying to disenchant a (stack of) crysknife will turn it into a worm tooth.{{refsrc|wield.c|716}}
+
Trying to enchant a [[worm tooth]] will instead turn it into an unfixed noncursed [[crysknife]].{{refsrc|wield.c|707}} Trying to disenchant a crysknife will turn it into a worm tooth.{{refsrc|wield.c|716}}
  
 
Reading a noncursed scroll of enchant weapon while confused will [[erodeproof]] your weapon and fix any existing damage.{{refsrc|read.c|964|name=erodeproof}}{{refsrc|read.c|976}} A cursed scroll will remove the erodeproofing instead.<ref name="erodeproof"/>
 
Reading a noncursed scroll of enchant weapon while confused will [[erodeproof]] your weapon and fix any existing damage.{{refsrc|read.c|964|name=erodeproof}}{{refsrc|read.c|976}} A cursed scroll will remove the erodeproofing instead.<ref name="erodeproof"/>
Line 41: Line 41:
 
If you read a scroll of enchant weapon without wielding a weapon or [[weapon-tool]], you will [[exercise]] your [[dexterity]] instead (or abuse it if the scroll is cursed).{{refsrc|wield.c|701}}
 
If you read a scroll of enchant weapon without wielding a weapon or [[weapon-tool]], you will [[exercise]] your [[dexterity]] instead (or abuse it if the scroll is cursed).{{refsrc|wield.c|701}}
  
−
== Standard Strategy ==
+
== Strategy ==
 +
+5 is the highest enchantment a weapon can have and not be destroyed when enchanting it further. Because of this, it's common to enchant weapons to +5 and then read a blessed scroll of enchant weapon to try to raise it to +7, although this may only raise it to +6. In this case, there are a few ways of reducing it back to +5 so that another blessed scroll can be read:
 +
* Reading a cursed scroll of enchant weapon. Artifacts resist 90% of the time.
 +
* Engraving one letter, if the weapon is edged. Artifacts don't resist this. Note that [[athame]]s only dull when they are cursed.
 +
* Hitting a [[disenchanter]]. Artifacts resist 90% of the time. Note that engaging a disenchanter risks disenchanting your armor.
 +
* Zapping {{spell of|drain life}} at it on the ground. Artifacts resist 90% of the time.
  
−
Since enchanting a weapon when it is already above +5 runs a 2/3 risk of it being destroyed, it's common to enchant weapons to +5 and then read a blessed scroll of enchant weapon to raise them to +6 or +7. Often players will lower a +6 weapon to +5 to attempt to raise it to +7 again.
+
=== Overenchanting ===
  
−
Lowering of enchantment can be done in various ways. For edged weapons only, it can be done by [[engraving]] a single letter, [[artifact]]s don't resist this. Specifically for [[athame]]s, they can be dulled by engraving only when they are cursed. Reading a cursed scroll of enchant weapon while wielding the weapon, artifacts will resist most of the time. Hitting a [[disenchanter]], which more reliable than the cursed scroll for artifacts. [[Spellbook of drain life|Drain life spell]], artifacts will resist most of the time.
+
While possible, enchanting a weapon beyond +7 is generally time consuming and risky to consider. The possibility of evaporation makes this a very [[bad idea]] to attempt with an artifact unless you really don't care about losing it.
  
−
In [[SLASH'EM]], it's possible to safely over enchant to +8 a single/stack +7 weapon by wielding it when crowned as the [[Hand of Elbereth]]. However, the penalty of crowning is an extended prayer time out, and can be done only once.
+
The most common way to attempt overenchantment is to use a huge single [[stack]] of weapons. Usually this means [[dagger]]s or lightweight, plentiful projectiles such as [[dart]]s, [[arrow]]s, and [[crossbow bolt]]s from monsters and traps. Projectile weapons benefit more from overenchantment than melee weapons since you can [[multishot]] them at high skill levels.
  
−
Take note, that enchanting [[Magicbane]] above +2, reduces some magical effects while still increasing total damage.
+
A single scroll of enchant weapon can enchant a large stack at once. This greatly reduces the number of scrolls that you need to get a good amount of +8 or +9 weapons.
 +
# Collect a large stack of daggers (say 200) or whatever stackable weapon you want.
 +
# Rustproof and enchant them all up to +7 with the same number of scrolls as it takes to produce a single +7 non-stackable weapon.
 +
# Split the stack up into four stacks of 50 +7 daggers each, and attempt to overenchant each stack. It is likely but not guaranteed that at least one stack will survive.
 +
# Divide your stack of 50 +8 daggers again into four stacks of 12-13 daggers each, and read another four scrolls on the four stacks to attempt to get a stack of +9 daggers.
 +
# If you want you can even continue enchanting the +9 daggers one by one until you get one to +10, but the amount of scrolls needed to get this far is probably not worth the extra enchantment at this point.
  
−
== Overenchanting strategy ==
+
Polymorphing weapons does not change their enchantment. Thus a large stack of weapons can be overenchanted and then [[polypile]]d into [[silver dagger]]s, [[silver sabers]], [[katana]]s, or whatever other non-artifact weapon you want.
  
−
While possible, enchanting a weapon beyond +7 is generally time consuming and risky to consider. As there is a 2/3 risk of the weapon(s) being destroyed, this is a very, very [[bad idea]] to attempt with artifacts.
+
In certain cases (such as a [[Healer]] with a [[unicorn horn]], an [[archeologist]] with a [[dwarvish mattock]], a [[Knight]] preparing to be crowned with [[Excalibur]], or those trying [[conducts]]) it may be worthwhile to overenchant non-stackable weapons. The table below shows how many copies of a given +7 weapon must be risked in order to have a certain degree of confidence that at least one +8/+9/+10 weapon will be successfully enchanted. It is impossible to guarantee, with 100% confidence, that this will succeed. The table assumes that the weapon is already +7 when starting the process.
−
 
 
−
The right way to go about overenchantment is to use a huge [[stack]] of weapons. The most common targets are [[dagger]]s for throwing, and lightweight, plentiful polyfodder such as [[dart]]s, [[arrow]]s, and [[crossbow bolt]]s from monsters and traps. Projectile weapons benefit more from overenchantment than melee weapons since you can throw more than one per attack.
 
−
 
 
−
A single scroll of enchant weapon can enchant a large stack at once. This '''greatly''' reduces the number of scrolls that you need. You can collect a stack of (say) 200 daggers. Rustproof and enchant them all up to +7 with the same number of scrolls as it takes to produce a single +7 non-stackable weapon. Then you split the stack up into four stacks of 50 +7 daggers each, and attempt to overenchant each stack. At least one stack will survive and become +8 with >80% chance. Now you have a stack of 50 +8 daggers. Divide it again into four stacks of 12-13 daggers each, and read another four scrolls on the four stacks to get (with high probability) a stack of +9 daggers. If you want you can even continue enchanting the +9 daggers one by one until you get one to +10, but most of the time a stack of +9 daggers is good enough.
 
−
 
 
−
An even larger stack of darts can be overenchanted and then [[polypile]]d into [[silver dagger]]s, [[katana]]s, or the future [[Excalibur]], [[Sting]], or [[Orcrist]].
 
−
 
 
−
In certain cases (such as a [[Healer]] with a [[unicorn horn]], an [[archeologist]] with a [[dwarvish mattock]], a [[Knight]] preparing to be crowned with [[Excalibur]], or those trying [[conducts]]) it may be worthwhile to overenchant non-stackable weapons. The table below shows the odds of getting at least one +8/+9/+10 weapon and how many copies must be attempted for the given level of confidence. The table assumes the weapon is already at the +7 level, when starting the process, working to higher levels.
 
  
 
{|class="prettytable"
 
{|class="prettytable"
Line 98: Line 100:
 
Quite Easily Done. [/lame joke] -->
 
Quite Easily Done. [/lame joke] -->
 
<!-- +10 is {(1/3)^3}*(1/2), or [1 in 54]. Same crap, different odds... -->
 
<!-- +10 is {(1/3)^3}*(1/2), or [1 in 54]. Same crap, different odds... -->
−
Where the number of attempts is equal to copies of weapons expended. The confidence level, in the second row, how likely it is at the number of attempts (where 50% means half the time, and 95% means 19 in 20). It is mathematically impossible to be 100% confident.
 
  
−
If a player wishes to attempt this, take a given item and enchant it to +7. ''Drop it on the ground.'' This is the ''marker''. Enchant various ones to +7, and attempt to get +8. Once one is +8, stop, and ''drop it on the ground''. This is the new marker. This process can be repeated once more to +9, but shouldn't be attempted any further. The gist of this is to have a ''checkpoint'' or ''marker'' to fall back to in the case that they ''all'' vaporize.
+
If you are going to try this, make sure to save at least one of your most highly enchanted weapon. Don't accidentally vaporize all of the weapons you were trying to enchant.
  
−
In this way it becomes slightly more accessible than the table would otherwise indicate. One thing to consider, if one is not expecting to [[polypile]] nor [[blanking]] spare enchant weapon scrolls, is to attempt despite how little the odds are if the player has more than one of a given weapon, being quite careful never to vaporize the last copy. As these scrolls are otherwise only useful for polypiling or blanking, there's no real loss involved in this case.
+
If you do happen to find more than one of a certain weapon, and you don't expect to [[polypile]] or [[blanking|blank]] spare enchant weapon scrolls, it's probably worth trying to overenchant, despite how unlikely it is. Because these scrolls are otherwise only useful for polypiling or blanking, there's no real loss involved.
  
−
In [[SLASH'EM]], you can safely add a single extra +1 on your over enchanted weapon with crowning while [[lawful]], with the corresponding disadvantages.
+
In [[SLASH'EM]], it's possible to safely overenchant any +7 weapon(s) to +8 by wielding it when [[crowned]] as the [[Hand of Elbereth]], with the relevant disadvantages of crowning.
  
 
== Messages ==
 
== Messages ==
Line 110: Line 111:
 
{{message|Your <weapon> glows blue for a moment.|You added one level of enchantment while reading a non-cursed scroll of enchant weapon.}}
 
{{message|Your <weapon> glows blue for a moment.|You added one level of enchantment while reading a non-cursed scroll of enchant weapon.}}
 
{{message|Your <weapon> glows blue for a while.|You added two or more levels of enchantment while reading a non-cursed scroll of enchant weapon.}}
 
{{message|Your <weapon> glows blue for a while.|You added two or more levels of enchantment while reading a non-cursed scroll of enchant weapon.}}
−
{{message|Your <weapon> violently glows blue for a while.|You read a scroll of enchant weapon with no enchantments added.}}
+
{{message|Your <weapon> violently glows blue for a while.|You read a scroll of enchant weapon and no enchantment was added.}}
 
{{message|Your <weapon> glows black for a moment.|Your weapon lost enchantment via a cursed scroll.}}
 
{{message|Your <weapon> glows black for a moment.|Your weapon lost enchantment via a cursed scroll.}}
 
{{message|Your <weapon> faintly glows black.|Your artifact weapon resisted the effects of the cursed scroll.}}
 
{{message|Your <weapon> faintly glows black.|Your artifact weapon resisted the effects of the cursed scroll.}}

Revision as of 03:12, 1 December 2016

? Scroll.png
Name enchant weapon
Appearance random
Base price 60 zm
Weight 5
Ink to write 8-15
Monster use Will not be used by monsters.

The scroll of enchant weapon allows you to increase (if non-cursed) or decrease (if cursed) the enchantment of your currently-wielded weapon. This includes weapon-tools like dwarvish mattocks, pick-axes and unicorn horns. Using this scroll on a worm tooth will instead transform it into a crysknife. +5 or below is safe to enchant. +6 and above may evaporate.

There are only two scrolls with a base cost of 60, the scroll of enchant weapon and the scroll of blank paper. Therefore, any unrecognized scroll with a value of 60 is a scroll of enchant weapon.

Effects

If you are wielding a stack of weapons, the scroll will affect all of them at once.

An uncursed or blessed scroll will attempt to enchant your weapon. An uncursed scroll will always try to enchant by one point.[1] A blessed scroll may enchant by more than one point, depending on the current enchantment. If the weapon's current enchantment is +8 or less, the scroll will add 1 to (3 – (current enchantment)/3) points[1]. If the current enchantment is +6 or more, the blessed scroll will behave the same as an uncursed scroll.[2] [3]

Weapons at +9 and above have only a 1-in-(current enchantment) chance of gaining another point of enchantment.[2]

Enchantment Points added by blessed scroll
-5 to -3 up to 4
-2 to +2 up to 3
+3 to +5 up to 2
+6 to +8 1 (if weapon does not evaporate)

A weapon already at +6 or above has a 2/3 chance of evaporating instead.[4]

If a cursed weapon is successfully enchanted by at least one point, it will be made uncursed.[5]

A cursed scroll behaves mostly like an uncursed scroll, but tries to decrease the enchantment by one point instead.[6] Artifacts (except Sting and Orcrist) will resist.[7] A weapon already at -6 or below has a 2/3 chance of evaporating.[4] There is no special treatment of weapons at -9 or below.

Trying to enchant a worm tooth will instead turn it into an unfixed noncursed crysknife.[8] Trying to disenchant a crysknife will turn it into a worm tooth.[9]

Reading a noncursed scroll of enchant weapon while confused will erodeproof your weapon and fix any existing damage.[10][11] A cursed scroll will remove the erodeproofing instead.[10]

If you read a scroll of enchant weapon without wielding a weapon or weapon-tool, you will exercise your dexterity instead (or abuse it if the scroll is cursed).[12]

Strategy

+5 is the highest enchantment a weapon can have and not be destroyed when enchanting it further. Because of this, it's common to enchant weapons to +5 and then read a blessed scroll of enchant weapon to try to raise it to +7, although this may only raise it to +6. In this case, there are a few ways of reducing it back to +5 so that another blessed scroll can be read:

  • Reading a cursed scroll of enchant weapon. Artifacts resist 90% of the time.
  • Engraving one letter, if the weapon is edged. Artifacts don't resist this. Note that athames only dull when they are cursed.
  • Hitting a disenchanter. Artifacts resist 90% of the time. Note that engaging a disenchanter risks disenchanting your armor.
  • Zapping drain life at it on the ground. Artifacts resist 90% of the time.

Overenchanting

While possible, enchanting a weapon beyond +7 is generally time consuming and risky to consider. The possibility of evaporation makes this a very bad idea to attempt with an artifact unless you really don't care about losing it.

The most common way to attempt overenchantment is to use a huge single stack of weapons. Usually this means daggers or lightweight, plentiful projectiles such as darts, arrows, and crossbow bolts from monsters and traps. Projectile weapons benefit more from overenchantment than melee weapons since you can multishot them at high skill levels.

A single scroll of enchant weapon can enchant a large stack at once. This greatly reduces the number of scrolls that you need to get a good amount of +8 or +9 weapons.

  1. Collect a large stack of daggers (say 200) or whatever stackable weapon you want.
  2. Rustproof and enchant them all up to +7 with the same number of scrolls as it takes to produce a single +7 non-stackable weapon.
  3. Split the stack up into four stacks of 50 +7 daggers each, and attempt to overenchant each stack. It is likely but not guaranteed that at least one stack will survive.
  4. Divide your stack of 50 +8 daggers again into four stacks of 12-13 daggers each, and read another four scrolls on the four stacks to attempt to get a stack of +9 daggers.
  5. If you want you can even continue enchanting the +9 daggers one by one until you get one to +10, but the amount of scrolls needed to get this far is probably not worth the extra enchantment at this point.

Polymorphing weapons does not change their enchantment. Thus a large stack of weapons can be overenchanted and then polypiled into silver daggers, silver sabers, katanas, or whatever other non-artifact weapon you want.

In certain cases (such as a Healer with a unicorn horn, an archeologist with a dwarvish mattock, a Knight preparing to be crowned with Excalibur, or those trying conducts) it may be worthwhile to overenchant non-stackable weapons. The table below shows how many copies of a given +7 weapon must be risked in order to have a certain degree of confidence that at least one +8/+9/+10 weapon will be successfully enchanted. It is impossible to guarantee, with 100% confidence, that this will succeed. The table assumes that the weapon is already +7 when starting the process.

Bonus +7 +8 +8 +8 +8 +8 +9 +9 +9 +9 +9 +10 +10 +10 +10 +10
Confidence — 50% 75% 85% 90% 95% 50% 75% 85% 90% 95% 50% 75% 85% 90% 95%
Attempts — 1.71 3.42 4.68 5.68 7.39 5.88 11.77 16.11 19.55 25.43 35.08 74.16 101.49 123.18 160.27


If you are going to try this, make sure to save at least one of your most highly enchanted weapon. Don't accidentally vaporize all of the weapons you were trying to enchant.

If you do happen to find more than one of a certain weapon, and you don't expect to polypile or blank spare enchant weapon scrolls, it's probably worth trying to overenchant, despite how unlikely it is. Because these scrolls are otherwise only useful for polypiling or blanking, there's no real loss involved.

In SLASH'EM, it's possible to safely overenchant any +7 weapon(s) to +8 by wielding it when crowned as the Hand of Elbereth, with the relevant disadvantages of crowning.

Messages

All of the following messages only appear if you are not blind (unless noted otherwise).

Your <weapon> glows blue for a moment.
You added one level of enchantment while reading a non-cursed scroll of enchant weapon.
Your <weapon> glows blue for a while.
You added two or more levels of enchantment while reading a non-cursed scroll of enchant weapon.
Your <weapon> violently glows blue for a while.
You read a scroll of enchant weapon and no enchantment was added.
Your <weapon> glows black for a moment.
Your weapon lost enchantment via a cursed scroll.
Your <weapon> faintly glows black.
Your artifact weapon resisted the effects of the cursed scroll.
Your <weapon> violently glows blue for a while and then evaporates.
You unsuccessfully enchanted your weapon above +5 or below -5 (2/3 chance).
Your <weapon> evaporates.
As above if blind.
Your <weapon> is covered by a shimmering golden shield!
Your weapon was made erode-proof via reading a non-cursed scroll while confused.
Your <weapon> looks as good as new!
As above if weapon was damaged.
Your <weapon> feels as good as new!
As above if blind.
Your <weapon> is covered by a mottled purple glow!
Your weapon's erode-proofing was removed via a cursed scroll.
Your weapon feels warm for a moment.
You read a cursed or non-cursed scroll while blind and confused with erode-proofing either added or removed.
Your weapon seems sharper now.
Your worm tooth was converted to a crysknife via a non-cursed scroll.
Your weapon seems duller now.
Your crysknife was converted to a worm tooth via a cursed scroll.
Your right <hand> flinches!
You enchanted Magicbane up to an enchantment of two or more.
Your right <hand> itches!
You enchanted Magicbane above +0.
Your <weapon> suddenly vibrates unexpectedly.
Your Elven or artifact weapon was enchanted above level 5.
Your <hands> twitch.
You read a non-cursed scroll of enchant weapon with no weapon wielded. Your dexterity is exercised.
Your <hands> itch.
You read a cursed scroll of enchant weapon with no weapon wielded. Your dexterity is abused.
You have a strange feeling for a moment, then it passes.
You are a beginner, and you read a scroll of enchant weapon with no weapon wielded. Your dexterity is exercised (abused if cursed).
You have a normal feeling for a moment, then it passes.
You are a beginner, and you read a scroll of enchant weapon with no weapon wielded while hallucinating.

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 read.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 985
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 read.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 984
  3. ↑ In fact, because 3 – (6/3) = 1, the blessed scroll behaves like an uncursed scroll at +6, even though the code refers to enchantments above +9.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 wield.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 730
  5. ↑ wield.c in NetHack 3.6.0, line 693
  6. ↑ read.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 982
  7. ↑ wield.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 724
  8. ↑ wield.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 707
  9. ↑ wield.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 716
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 read.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 964
  11. ↑ read.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 976
  12. ↑ wield.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 701

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.

Retrieved from "https://nethackwiki.com/index.php?title=Scroll_of_enchant_weapon&oldid=104270"