Armor

Item classes
" Amulets	[ Armor
% Comestibles	$ Coins
* Gems	! Potions
= Rings	? Scrolls
+ Spellbooks	` Statues
( Tools	` Boulders
) Weapons	/ Wands

Armor is an important concern for the hero entering the dungeon and is one of the primary things between you and death. Wearing armor will improve your armor class, reducing it by the amount shown in the "AC" column in the table below. Some types of armor may also provide "magic cancellation", as shown in the "MC" column below. There are 7 slots for armor: helm, cloak, body armor, shirt, shield, gloves/gauntlets, and boots. Some armor items reduce your ability to cast spells successfully, particularly shields and metal suits.

BUC

If you put on cursed armor, or if it is cursed while you are wearing it, you will be unable to take it off (the item will be identified as cursed when you try to remove it). Cursed gloves will also prevent you from putting on or removing rings. A cursed suit of body armor prevents you from unequipping shirts, and a cursed cloak prevents you from unequipping suits and shirts.

The inconvenience of cursed armor is amplified by the fact that armor generated cursed often also has negative enchantment. This is why it is a good idea to check the BUC of a piece of armor before wearing it.

The effects of blessed armor are minor. Blessed armor is more resistant to curses, because it must be made unblessed before it can become cursed. Blessed armor also has a chance of resisting some sources of erosion. Further, armor generated blessed has a higher chance of an enchantment.

Blessings and curses do not affect the magical abilities of most pieces of armor. A notable exception is a cursed oilskin cloak, which will only protect you from grabbing attacks 2/3 of the time. Similarly, any grease present on cursed armor will only prevent grabbing or mind-flaying attacks 2/3 of the time.

Most randomly generated armor is generated 12.31% cursed, 78.96% uncursed, 8.72% blessed. Four items (helm of opposite alignment, gauntlets of fumbling, fumble boots, and levitation boots) are generated 90.45% cursed, 8.6% uncursed, 0.95% blessed.

The following table shows with what probability a piece of armor (not one of the above mentioned) with a given BUC status has a certain enchantment level. Levels 6 through 10 are unlocked as one's experience level rises, but anything exceeding 4 is rare.

	+0	+1	+2	+3	+4	>4
Blessed	47.37%	35.09%	7.81%	0.58%	0.01%	0.0001761%
Uncursed	94.19%	3.88%	0.86%	0.06%	0.0015654%	0.0000194%
	+0	-1	-2	-3	-4	<-4
Cursed	33.55%	44.3%	14.77%	1.09%	0.016406218%	0.0002501%

Monsters (pets) and armor

Some types of monsters can wear armor and profit from a subset of its magical capabilities. Pets are of main interest here.

• Extrinsic player-type magic resistance is also conveyed to monsters in addition to intrinsic monster magic resistance. Note its scope is smaller than intrinsic magic resistance, e.g. you can retame monsters in gray dragon scale mail.
• Reflection works the same way for monsters as for you.
• Magic cancellation works as for the player.
• Speed boots make a monster only "fast", not "very fast". Same effect as a wand of speed monster.
• Resistances from dragon scale (mail) work as for you, but not acid resistance from an alchemy smock (poison resistance from a smock does apply for monsters).

• If a monster is polymorphed while wearing dragon scale (mail), it will always turn into the appropriately colored dragon. Since polymorphing is permanent in NetHack, the armor is lost.

• Monster spellcasting does not seem to be penalized by shields and metal items, in contrast to player spellcasting.
• A (master) mind flayer's attack will be deflected by helmets as for you.
• Autocursing headgear does not become cursed on wearing.
• Levitation and fumbling from worn items are not implemented.
• Jumping boots are wasted, as monsters will not jump.
• Gauntlets of power have no effect on damage calculation in inter-monster combat.

Monsters know armor enchantment and will switch to maximize total armor value, taking into account the base AC an item confers, the enchantment, and erosion, but not the BUC status. Non-fast monsters will prefer speed boots to any other boots.. However, tame monsters do not pick up any cursed objects.

Table of Armor and Properties

Name	Cost	Weight	AC	Weight per AC (+0)	Weight per AC (+5)	Material	Effect	MC	Prob (‰)	Magical	Appearance
Shirts
Hawaiian shirt	3	5	0	Infinite	1	cloth	Shop		8		--
T-shirt	2	5	0	Infinite	1	cloth	Shop		2		--
Suits
leather jacket	10	30	1	30	5	leather			12		--
leather armor	5	150	2	75	21	leather		1	82		--
orcish ring mail	80	250	2	125	36	iron		1	20		crude ring mail
studded leather armor	15	200	3	67	25	leather		1	72		--
ring mail	100	250	3	83		iron		1	72		--
scale mail	45	250	4	63		iron		1	72		--
orcish chain mail	75	300	4	75		iron		1	20		crude chain mail
chain mail	75	300	5	60		iron		1	72		--
elven mithril-coat	240	150	5	30		mithril		2	15		--
splint mail	80	400	6	67		iron		1	62		--
banded mail	90	350	6	58		iron		1	72		--
dwarvish mithril-coat	240	150	6	25		mithril		2	10		--
bronze plate mail	400	450	6	75		copper		1	25		--
plate mail (tanko)	600	450	7	64		iron		2	44		--
crystal plate mail	820	450	7	64		glass		2	10		--
Dragon Suits
dragon scales	500	40	3	13		dragon	Resist%		--		--
dragon scale mail	900	40	9	4		dragon	Resist%		--	Yes	--
Cloaks
mummy wrapping	2	3	0	Infinite		cloth	Vis	1	--		--
orcish cloak	40	10	0	Infinite		cloth		1	8		coarse mantelet
dwarvish cloak	50	10	0	Infinite		cloth		1	8		hooded cloak
leather cloak	40	15	1	15		leather		1	8		--
cloak of displacement	50	10	1	10		cloth	Displ	1	10	Yes	*piece of cloth
oilskin cloak	50	10	1	10		cloth	Water	2	8		slippery cloak
alchemy smock	50	10	1	10		cloth	Poi+Acd	1	9	Yes	apron
cloak of invisibility	60	10	1	10		cloth	Invis	1	10	Yes	*opera cloak
cloak of magic resistance	60	10	1	10		cloth	Magic	1	2	Yes	*ornamental cope
elven cloak	60	10	1	10		cloth	Stealth	1	8	Yes	faded pall
robe	50	15	2	8		cloth	Spell	2	3	Yes	--
cloak of protection	50	10	3	3		cloth	Prot	3	9	Yes	*tattered cape
Helms
fedora	1	3	0	Infinite		cloth			--		--
dunce cap	1	4	0	Infinite		cloth	Stupid		3	Yes	conical hat
cornuthaum	80	4	0	Infinite		cloth	Clair	1	3	Yes	conical hat
dented pot	8	10	1	10		iron			2		--
elven leather helm	8	3	1	3		leather			6		leather hat
helmet (kabuto)	10	30	1	30		iron			10		*plumed helmet
orcish helm	10	30	1	30		iron			6		iron skull cap
helm of brilliance	50	50	1	50		iron	Int+Wis		6	Yes	*etched helmet
helm of opposite alignment	50	50	1	50		iron	Align		6	Yes	*crested helmet
helm of telepathy	50	50	1	50		iron	ESP		2	Yes	*visored helmet
dwarvish iron helm	20	40	2	20		iron			6		hard hat
Gloves
leather gloves (yugake)	8	10	1	10		leather			16		*old gloves
gauntlets of dexterity	50	10	1	10		leather	Dex		8	Yes	*padded gloves
gauntlets of fumbling	50	10	1	10		leather	Fumble		8	Yes	*riding gloves
gauntlets of power	50	30	1	30		iron	Str		8	Yes	*fencing gloves
Shields
small shield	3	30	1	30		wood			6		--
orcish shield	7	50	1	50		iron			2		red-eyed
Uruk-hai shield	7	50	1	50		iron			2		white-handed
elven shield	7	40	2	20		wood			2		blue and green
dwarvish roundshield	10	100	2	50		iron			4		large round
large shield	10	100	2	50		iron			7		--
shield of reflection	50	50	2	25		silver	Reflect		3	Yes	polished silver
Boots
low boots	8	10	1	10		leather			25		walking shoes
elven boots	8	15	1	15		leather	Stlth		12	Yes	*mud boots
kicking boots	8	50	1	50		iron	Kick		12	Yes	*buckled boots
fumble boots	30	20	1	20		leather	Fumble		12	Yes	*riding boots
levitation boots	30	15	1	15		leather	Lev		12	Yes	*snow boots
jumping boots	50	20	1	20		leather	Jump		12	Yes	*hiking boots
speed boots	50	20	1	20		leather	Speed		12	Yes	*combat boots
water walking boots	50	20	1	20		leather	WWalk		12	Yes	*jungle boots
high boots	12	20	2	10		leather			15		jackboots
iron shoes	16	50	2	25		iron			7		hard shoes

Prior to NetHack 3.6.0, the kicking boots had a weight of 15.

Appearance

Those listed with an asterisk (*) are randomized within their armor category.

Boots with the appearance "snow boots" make ice act like normal terrain (but the Fumble armor property still happens at its normal rate).

Gloves and boots with the appearance "riding gloves" and "riding boots" give a (non-cumulative) bonus to the chance of successfully saddling a steed.

Helmets with the appearance "visored helmet" provide defence against the blinding attack of ravens and the spitting attack of cobras.

Materials

Material	Erosion	Hinders spellcasting?
bronze	corroded	yes
cloth	burnt, rotten	no
dragon hide	-	no
glass	-	no
iron	rusty, corroded	yes
leather	burnt, rotten	no
mithril	-	yes
silver	-	yes
wood	burnt, rotten	no

Effects

Acd	Gives acid resistance.
Align	Changes your alignment, removes protection, and auto-curses.
Clair	A wizard gets clairvoyance and +1 charisma, but other characters have existing clairvoyance blocked and get -1 charisma.
Dex	Adds armor's enchantment to your dexterity.
Displ	Gives displacement.
ESP	Gives telepathy.
Fumble	You will occasionally fumble.
Int+Wis	Adds armor's enchantment to your intelligence and wisdom.
Invis	Gives invisibility.
Jump	Gives jumping at will. The special restrictions for Knights do not apply while this item is worn.
Kick	Kicking does additional damage, and grants martial arts bonuses.
Lev	Causes levitation. Does NOT prevent you being drowned by monsters.
Magic	Gives magic resistance. Does NOT affect magic cancellation.
Poison	Gives poison resistance.
Reflect	Gives reflection.
Resist%	Dragon scales provide resistance according to the color of the dragon: red = fire resistance, white = cold resistance, orange = sleep resistance, blue = shock resistance, green = poison resistance, yellow = acid resistance, black = disintegration resistance, silver = reflection, gray = magic resistance
Shop	If not covered by body armor or cloak, shopkeepers buy and sell at the same rate as inexperienced (level < 15) tourists (buy at 1/3 of and sell at 4/3 of the normal price).
Sleep	Gives sleep resistance.
Speed	Gives you the speed extrinsic, the same as a potion of speed or spell of haste self.
Spell	Player spellcasting is more likely to succeed, and reduces the penalty for metallic armor.
Stealth	Gives stealth.
Str	Increases your strength to 25.
Stupid	Your intelligence and wisdom are fixed at 6; auto-curses; shopkeepers buy and sell at the inexperienced Tourist rate.
Vis	Overrides invisibility so you are again visible.
Water	Protects metal body armor from rusting/corroding (1/3 chance of protection if cursed) and prevents grabbing attacks.
WWalk	Allows you to walk on water. Does NOT prevent you being drowned by monsters.

The "magical" property some armor has is only important to polypiling: non-magical armor will tend to stay non-magical, and vice-versa.

Modifying armor class

See also: Scroll of enchant armor; Erosion

Enchantment increases (or decreases) the effective armor class (AC) bonus from wearing armor. Most armor will not be destroyed when enchanted beginning from +3. If a blessed scroll of enchant armor is used, then the new enchantment may reach +5. If only +4 is reached, the armor can be degraded to +3 with drain life magic or a disenchanter attack, and then an attempt made to enchant it again. Elven armor may be safely enchanted from +5, reaching up to +7. A wizard may also safely enchant a cornuthaum from +5. Attempting to enchant from higher enchantments has a high chance of destroying the item.

Eroded only affects the base AC and armor will still keep the full AC bonus from enchantment. Thus if enchantment scrolls are scarce, it is often better to use them to add enchantment than to erodeproof items, especially for items with low base AC.

Strategy

See also: Ascension kit

A careful selection of armor is part of the typical ascension kit. NetHack players may choose a combination of armor that conveys magic resistance, high magic cancellation, reflection, various intrinsics and bonuses, and, of course, high AC.

• Helm of telepathy/brilliance or elven leather helm.
• Cloak of magic resistance, displacement, or robe; oilskin cloak in sack. CoD is used if and only if you already have magic resistance from some other source.
• Either gray or silver dragon scale mail.
• Either shirt; no great difference.
• Shield of reflection, possibly, if you don't wish to (or can't) two-weapon and don't mind the spell failure penalty.
• Gauntlets of power for combat; gauntlets of dexterity for spellcaster.
• Speed boots or jumping boots; water walking boots in a bag.

Losing your armor

Since armor is neccessary for survival, and it takes lot of efforts to obtain a good armor, losing it can be very painful. There are several ways you can lose your armor.

Polymorph

If you polymorph into something Large or bigger, or a non-humanoid Medium or bigger, or a winged gargoyle or marilith (wings and extra arms don't fit), your torso armor (body armor, a shirt and/or a cloak) will burst apart forever.

As an exception, if you polymorph into a dragon while wearing dragon scale mail (or dragon scales) of the same color, it will not burst apart. Instead, it will merge into your scales. When you return to your original form, you will get it back. If enchanced above +3, it may evaporate when you return to your original form. Your shirt and cloak will tear as usual. See Dragon_scale_mail#Polymorph for more information.

Besides, if you polymorph into a whirly monster (all v's and air elemental), your torso armor will not tear even though all whirly mosters are Huge.

There are several ways to polymorph into one of these monsters involuntarily.

Polymorp trap

Stepping onto polymorph trap will randomly polymorph you, which may tear your torso armor. There are several ways to prevent this:

• Gray dragon scale mail, cloak of magic resistance, and some quest artifacts provide magic resistance, which protects you from polymorph traps, some other traps, and many other forms of magic.
• Wearing amulet of unchanging prevents you from changing your current form by polymorph or other means, and also protects you from being slimed.
• Ring of polymorph control. If you step on a polymorph trap while having polymorph control, you are asked to what monster you want to polymorph. Type gargoyle (not winged gargoyle), or any other monster which can wear any armor (see Polymorph_control#Good choices for self polymorph).
• Wearing any dragon scale mail or dragon scales, no shirt, and no precious cloak. If you step on a polymorph trap while wearing dragon scale mail or dragon scales, you will be polymorphed to the dragon of same color, you dragon scale mail will merge into your skin, and it will be restored when you become your original form. But beware of stepping onto another polymorph trap while being a dragon. In that case, you will be polymorphed to a random monster, which may destroy your body armor.
• There are no polymorph traps on levels 1-7.

Lycantropy from a werewolf

If you get lycantropy from werewolves (not wererats or werejackals), you will turn to a wolf from time to time, which would tear your torso armor. Magic resistance does not help.

• When attacked by a werewolf, be attentive to the message "you feel feverish", meaning you got lycantropy. If you did, cure it with prayer or quaffing holy water.
• Never eat any werecreatures.
• If you got lycantropy from a werewolf, amulet of unchanging will block the polymorph as long as you are wearing it.
• If you have polymorph control, you will be asked whether you want to polymorph into a wolf. Answer no.
• As a last resort, you may remove any precious torso armor before you polymorph into a wolf.

Quaffing a potion of polymorph control

Never quaff any unknown potion before dipping something polymorphable into it. The best objects to dip are darts, arrows (any kind), shurikens, and crossbow bolts, as these identify many types of potions (polymorph, sickness, oil, acid). Since these can be destroyed or damaged by dipping, you may want to dip just one object, or dip objects which are not very useful.

However, you may quaff the potion of polymorph while wearing amulet of unchanging or ring of polymorph control.

Scroll of destroy armor

Before reading an unknown scroll which can be a scroll of destroy armor, protect your shirt and body armor with a cloak which you can afford to lose, and make sure you don't wear precious shield, helm, boots, or gloves.

Scroll of enchant armor

Don't read one if any of your outermost armor is enchanted beyond +3.

Liches, golden nagas, and nalfeshnee

All liches and golden nagas are able to cast a spell of destroy armor. Its effects are same as a scroll of destroy armor.

There are several ways to prevent it.

• Magic resistance (from gray dragon scale mail, cloak of magic resistance, and some quest artifacts) completely nullifies the spell effects.
• Cancelled monster cannot cast any spells.
• It is a good idea to genocide all liches.
• You may want to protect your body armor and shirt by a cloak you can afford to lose.
• If a monster is confused, the spell has lower chances to succeed (see monster spell for more information).

Wide range disintegration beam

Wide-angle disintegration beam may happen when a god smites you because you angered him a alot. It often happens when you anger different god than yours, e.g. by praying while in Gehennom. At first, the god would strike you with a lightning bolt from the heavens, killing you unless you have have shock resistance, reflection, life saving, or are engulfed by a monster (then it would kill the engulfing monster instead, unless it is shock resistant). If you survive, the god will follow up with a wide-angle disintegration beam. If you are still engulfed, the beam would hit the monster instead of you. Otherwise, the beam will strike you. First, your shield, cloak, and body armor will be disintegrated, unless they provide reflection or disintegration resistance. Then, if you are wearing a shirt and no body armor or cloak, it will be disintegrated (a shirt worn under silver dragon scale mail, for example, would not be disintegrated). Finally, unless you have disintegration resistance, you will die. Reflection would not save you.

To prevent this, don't anger gods. In particular, never pray or sacrifice in Gehennom (including Valley of the Dead but not Vlad's Tower), and never sacrifice on high altars of alignment other than your own.

Blast of disintegration from black or chromatic dragons

Black dragons, and the Chromatic Dragon, Caveman's quest nemesis, are able to hit with blast of disintegration.

If a dragon's blast of disintegration hits you or a monster, and you/it are neither resistant nor reflecting, it will destroy:

1. worn shield, otherwise:
2. worn body armor, (plus worn cloak), otherwise:
3. you/it (plus worn cloak and worn shirt, and in case of monster, with some probability, each inventory item). An amulet of life saving, if worn, will revive you/it, except if the monster is nonliving. The latter case can only arise if a living monster wearing an amulet is subsequently polymorphed.

Unless you have reflection or disintegration resistance, avoid black dragons and Chromatic Dragon.

UnNetHack

UnNetHack adds new pieces of armor:

• Striped shirt - starting armor for the Convict role, cursed. Shopkeepers will refuse to serve a player wearing this shirt, unless it is covered by other armor (as with the other shirts).
• Tin foil hat - made of metal, protects against a mind flayer's psychic blast attack, but nullifies any form of telepathy.
• Chromatic dragon scale mail - dropped by rare chromatic dragons, confers the extrinsic resistances of every color of dragon scale mail, including reflection and stone resistance, but not magic resistance.

The names, colors, and breath types of dragons other than chromatic dragons are randomized. Scales from "glowing dragons" act as a light source, in addition to whatever resistance they confer.

Racial armor tracking is implemented. The number of pieces of equipment worn that are associated with your starting race is tracked as a conduct. Also, every worn piece of racial armor gives an extra point of AC.

SporkHack

SporkHack adds, including:

• tin foil hat

References

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