Shuriken
) 
| |
|---|---|
| Name | shuriken |
| Appearance | throwing star |
| Damage vs. small | 1d8 |
| Damage vs. large | 1d6 |
| To-hit bonus | +2 |
| Weapon skill | shuriken |
| Size | one-handed |
| Base price | 5 zm (+10/positive enchant) |
| Weight | 1 |
| Material | iron |
A shuriken is a type of weapon that appears in NetHack. It is made of iron, and appears as a throwing star when unidentified - a Samurai starts the game with knowledge of shuriken.
Shuriken are designed to be thrown by hand, and gain a +2 to-hit bonus when thrown - they can break on impact like some similar weapons and projectiles, and can be poisoned by dipping them in a potion of sickness.
Generation
Shuriken are quite rare, making up 3.5% of randomly-generated weapons - this amounts to 0.35% of all randomly found objects in the main dungeon, 0.42% of all items on the Rogue level, and 0.7% of all items in Gehennom.[1]
Ninja have a 3⁄4 chance of generating with a stack of shuriken, and will otherwise receive a stack of darts.[2] Monk player monsters have a 1⁄3 chance of a stack of shuriken replacing the melee weapon they are generated with, and will otherwise generate with no melee weapon.[3]
Shuriken skill
| Shuriken | |
|---|---|
| Max | Role |
| Basic | |
| Skilled | |
| Expert | |
Shuriken are the only weapons to use this skill, and there are no artifact shuriken.
Strategy
Each shuriken weighs only 1 aum similar to darts, and their damage when thrown eclipses that of thrown daggers - they are stellar weapons to enchant and poison (especially if you are not lawful), and are employed against dangerous melee-range threats such as mind flayers. Their to-hit bonus can also help offset the penalty for throwing them at Unskilled.
In practice, though, the shuriken's rarity makes it difficult to train the skill or make long-term use of them without polypiling; a wish is typically used to either procure a stack of shuriken directly, or more commonly to obtain a wand of polymorph for polypiling. Samurai are the primary exception to this "rule", as ninja generate exclusively in the Samurai quest and often carry shuriken - this makes it far easier to both assemble and enchant a stockpile and to train the skill to Expert, especially with high Luck.
Of the three roles that can attain Skilled in shuriken, Healers can also reach Skilled in daggers and sling, as well as Expert in darts - all three are far more common, but generally deal less damage and are overall heavier to carry; darts are the only option of those three that can be poisoned and multishot, and are just as light as shuriken. Rangers gain multishot bonuses with arrows, as do Rogues using daggers, making them superior preferable to shuriken thrown at Skilled.
Monks are in a unique situation: While they can only reach Basic in shuriken, they have a role-specific multishot bonus, and the shuriken is one of the few non-melee weapons that they can advance the skill of - of the others, spears are generally heavy, and crossbow bolts require that you keep a crossbow wielded. Weaponless Monks may consider enchanting and blessing any shuriken they find or even polypiling for them, which provides one of the conduct's few uses for the scroll of enchant weapon.
Encyclopedia entry
You know, that's what I hate most about fighting against magic:
you never know what they're trying to do to you until it hits.
The sorceress knew what hit her, however. Two of the shuriken
got past whatever defenses she had. One caught her just below
the throat, the other in the middle of her chest. It wouldn't
kill her, but she wouldn't be fighting anyone for a while.
