Difference between revisions of "Sting"
(It's not always a good idea to create Sting ASAP - enumerate the arguments & give a recommendation. Edit for style. Tag as 343.) |
m (Strategy clarification - number of artifacts in existence does not affect the chances for the first sacrifice gift, which is always 1/10.) |
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Advantages of creating Sting early are: | Advantages of creating Sting early are: | ||
| − | *You will not receive it from your [[god]] as a [[sacrifice gift]], possibly receiving something more useful instead | + | *You will not receive it from your [[god]] as a [[sacrifice gift]], possibly receiving something more useful instead (only useful for chaotic characters as others will not receive Sting anyway) |
| − | *You can use it to #[[force]] open locks on [[Container|chests and large boxes]]; artifacts only break 1% as often as non-artifacts<ref>[[lock.c#line149]]</ref> and Sting is an artifact that you can afford to break | + | *You can use it to #[[force]] open locks on [[Container|chests and large boxes]]; artifacts only break 1% as often as non-artifacts<ref>[[lock.c#line149]]</ref> and Sting is an artifact that you can afford to break |
Disadvantages stem mainly from the fact that the number of artifacts that have already been generated in the game affects your chances of acquiring more artifacts: | Disadvantages stem mainly from the fact that the number of artifacts that have already been generated in the game affects your chances of acquiring more artifacts: | ||
*Sting is only useful against orcs; many players can already kill orcs | *Sting is only useful against orcs; many players can already kill orcs | ||
*The existence of Sting decreases the probability of the dungeon randomly containing another artifact | *The existence of Sting decreases the probability of the dungeon randomly containing another artifact | ||
| − | *The existence of Sting reduces the chance of receiving any sacrifice gift | + | *The existence of Sting reduces the chance of receiving any sacrifice gift after the first (all alignments) |
*If two or more artifacts exist in the game, you cannot reliably [[wish]] for an artifact | *If two or more artifacts exist in the game, you cannot reliably [[wish]] for an artifact | ||
| − | *You cannot unrestrict the dagger [[skill]] by receiving Sting as a gift | + | *You cannot unrestrict the dagger [[skill]] by receiving Sting as a gift; applies only to [[Monk]]s and [[Priest]]s |
| − | + | You should only create Sting therefore if you are chaotic and you do not want to wish for any (further) artifacts | |
== Mythology == | == Mythology == | ||
Revision as of 12:03, 4 June 2008
) Sting 
| |
|---|---|
| Base item | elven dagger |
| Damage vs. small | 1d5 x2 |
| Damage vs. large | 1d3 x2 |
| To-hit bonus | +1d5 |
| Bonus versus | orcs |
| Weapon skill | dagger |
| Size | one-handed |
| Affiliation | |
| When carried |
(none) |
| When wielded |
|
| When invoked |
(none) |
| Base price | 800 zm |
| Weight | 10 |
| Material | wood |
Sting is among the weakest of artifacts. If you touch it, even if you are of the wrong alignment, it will not blast you unless you are an orc. For all purposes, Sting is only a normal elven dagger, except that it happens to do more damage to orcs and that it cuts through all webs.
Also, if you wield Sting, you can detect the location of any orc on the level, and you will notice when NetHack sends in large teams of orcs.
Sting's 'big brother' in NetHack is Orcrist.
Contents
Name it to make it
Unlike most artifacts, you can create Sting by changing the name of any random elven dagger to "Sting". This can only fail if Sting already exists.
Strategy
Because you can make Sting easily, it becomes available very early in the game. An Elf Ranger can always immediately create Sting at the start of the game, if he or she wants to. Other characters can create Sting as soon as they can locate an elven dagger, such as one dropped by a hobbit in the early game.
Advantages of creating Sting early are:
- You will not receive it from your god as a sacrifice gift, possibly receiving something more useful instead (only useful for chaotic characters as others will not receive Sting anyway)
- You can use it to #force open locks on chests and large boxes; artifacts only break 1% as often as non-artifacts[1] and Sting is an artifact that you can afford to break
Disadvantages stem mainly from the fact that the number of artifacts that have already been generated in the game affects your chances of acquiring more artifacts:
- Sting is only useful against orcs; many players can already kill orcs
- The existence of Sting decreases the probability of the dungeon randomly containing another artifact
- The existence of Sting reduces the chance of receiving any sacrifice gift after the first (all alignments)
- If two or more artifacts exist in the game, you cannot reliably wish for an artifact
- You cannot unrestrict the dagger skill by receiving Sting as a gift; applies only to Monks and Priests
You should only create Sting therefore if you are chaotic and you do not want to wish for any (further) artifacts
Mythology
From Tolkien
"Sting" is actually the name of a dagger from J.R.R. Tolkien's novel The Hobbit and novel trilogy The Lord of the Rings. Sting was the usual weapon of the hobbit called Frodo. It was most famously wielded by the hobbit Sam in his fight against the giant spider Shelob.
Sting glowed blue to detect the approaching of orcs. Thus, Sting in NetHack is a weapon for use against orcs.
From Dudley's dungeon
In the Dudley's dungeon strip of 18 June 2004, Sting will glow blue when Dudley inserts batteries, but batteries have not been invented yet.
Source code references
This page may need to be updated for the current version of NetHack.
It may contain text specific to NetHack 3.4.3. Information on this page may be out of date.
Editors: After reviewing this page and making necessary edits, please change the {{nethack-343}} tag to the current version's tag or {{noversion}} as appropriate.
