Spellbook of remove curse
| spellbook of + remove curse 
| |
|---|---|
| Appearance | random |
| Abundance | 2.54% |
| Base price | 300 zm |
| Weight | 50 |
| Turns to read | 10 |
| Ink to write | 15–29 |
| Spell type | clerical |
| Level | 3 |
| Power cost | 15 Pw |
| Direction | non-directional |
| Equivalent | scroll of remove curse |
| Special for | priest |
In NetHack, a spellbook of remove curse allows you to learn the spell of remove curse. It is an emergency spell, and is the special spell for Priests.
Effects
At unskilled or basic level, this spell acts similar to an uncursed scroll of remove curse; at skilled or expert, it is similar to a blessed scroll.
Limitations
The spell is much more limited than the scroll, because you cannot cast a spell under any of the following circumstances:
- You are confused
- You are being strangled
- You are wielding a cursed two-handed weapon or two cursed weapons
- You are wielding a cursed weapon and wearing a cursed shield
- You are wearing enough cursed metal armor (and/or a dunce cap) to prevent the spell from succeeding
Strategy
Remove curse is a very useful utility spell, allowing you to pick items up and try non-metallic armor on liberally (other than dunce caps); if it turns out to be cursed, just uncurse it and take it off. However, this will not work to remove an amulet of strangulation, which prevents spellcasting as of NetHack 3.6.1. Beyond situations such as this, the limitations of spellcasting make it a good idea to keep at least one scroll of remove curse, especially in the late game; even in a non-threatening scenario where your spell failure wearing the cursed piece of armor or clothing in question is well below 100%, waiting to recharge your power between tries is annoying at best.
To uncurse any item within your inventory, wield the cursed item and then cast the spell; the wielded item will then be uncursed. Only weapons and weapon-tools can weld themselves to your hands when wielded, so wielding other cursed items is safe. As a result, enhance clerical spells from Basic to Skilled if you need to uncurse more than one item at a time, which uses less power, or if you want to uncurse a cursed two-handed weapon (since you otherwise can't cast if you wield it).
Remove curse is often outclassed as a utility spell by identify, which you can cast beforehand to check items' BUC status as well as identifying it. Priests in particular have an innate knowledge of an item's beautitude, making them much more likely to avoid putting on cursed items in the first place. By that same token, however, a priest that can cast remove curse excels at sifting through any bones files they encounter, and can spend fewer items sorting through the loot. Because remove curse can counteract the curse items monster spell, the spell becomes more useful late in the game for uncursing items cursed by the Wizard of Yendor, liches, and other high-level spellcasters.
This page may need to be updated for the current version of NetHack.
It may contain text specific to NetHack 3.6.4. Information on this page may be out of date.
Editors: After reviewing this page and making necessary edits, please change the {{nethack-364}} tag to the current version's tag or {{noversion}} as appropriate.
