Kicking boots
[        kicking boots | |
|---|---|
| Appearance | random |
| Slot | boots |
| AC | 1 |
| Special |
|
| Base price | 8 zm |
| Weight | 50 |
| Material | iron |
Kicking boots are a pair of magical boots that appear in NetHack. They are made of iron, and have a randomized appearance; the default one associated with it is "a pair of buckled boots".[1]
Contents
Description
When worn, kicking boots add a +5 damage bonus to kick attacks (unless the target is thick-skinned) and give them a chance to make an enemy "reel", knocking them backwards. Kicking boots also increase the distance that kicked objects travel, and will guarantee success when kicking down doors.[2]
Strategy
As armor, they can be a useful supplement for early-game adventurers, especially those lacking weapons (e.g., weaponless conduct, had them stolen by a nymph, etc.), but outside of those scenarios they are usually superseded down the line by other boots such as speed boots. While they can be used to reliably reveal secret passages and hidden doors, this can also be provided by a stethoscope, searching aid or high Luck.
Kicking boots are trivial to identify - they are the only boots with a randomized appearance that weigh 50 aum, and can be detected by an increase in the failure rate of spells or rubbing them on a touchstone. As they are usually the same price as elven boots, price identification can also reveal kicking boots for characters that do not have intrinsic stealth. You can also test for them by kicking rocks or other junk objects - of note is that you may be able to move an otherwise-immobile loadstone while wearing kicking boots. If all else fails, repeatedly kicking open secret passages and (hidden) doors on the first try can signify worn kicking boots, although this is less reliable if you are a Monk or Samurai.
History
Kicking boots were introduced in NetHack 3.3.0. Before that, they appeared in SLASH 6, which was based on NetHack 3.1.3.
In NetHack 3.6.0, the weight of kicking boots was changed from 15 aum to 50.
References
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 Information on this page may be out of date.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.
