Yellow dragon scale mail
[ yellow dragon scale mail 
| |
|---|---|
| Appearance | yellow dragon scale mail |
| Slot | body armor |
| AC | 9 |
| Special | |
| Base price | 900 zm |
| Weight | 40 |
| Material | dragon hide |
Yellow dragon scale mail is a type of body armor that appears in NetHack. It is made of dragon hide like all dragon scale mail.
Contents
Generation
Yellow dragon scale mail is not randomly generated, though it can be wished for or found in bones. A hero reading a non-cursed scroll of enchant armor that targets worn yellow dragon scales will convert them into mail, with a blessed scroll adding a point of enchantment.
Player monsters that are not monks generated on the Astral Plane have a 1⁄9 chance of generating with yellow dragon scale mail as their initial body armor before role-specific replacements.[1]
Description
While worn, yellow dragon scale mail confers 9 base AC and acid resistance. Uncontrolled polymorph while wearing yellow dragon scale mail will revert them to scales and turn the wearer into a yellow dragon.[2][3]
The following information pertains to an upcoming version (NetHack 3.7.0). If this version is now released, please verify that it is still accurate, then update the page to incorporate this information.
Per commit 9942b65d, extrinsic sources of an elemental resistance now has a 99⁄100 chance of protecting the hero's inventory from that type of damage. Per commit ef1eeed7, both the scales and scale mail also provide stoning resistance.Strategy
Yellow dragon scale mail is perhaps the least used type for most heroes: though acid resistance cannot be obtained intrinsically without polymorph, and acid damage can be annoying to deal with (especially in terms of inventory damage), many acidic monsters are either sessile or have low movement speed. The remaining major acidic threats consist of the yellow dragon, whose breath can be blocked with reflection, and the Chromatic Dragon, who has several other threatening breath weapons to contend with and is an even bigger threat when casting in melee range. Even for heroes that have constant trouble with acid, an alchemy smock can suffice for those with an open cloak slot.
Heroes keeping mind flayer pets will most appreciate a spare suit of yellow dragon scale mail to give them, and heroes opting to stick to a polyform with multiple attacks (e.g. speed ascension play as a master mind flayer) may also consider yellow dragon scale mail.
The following information pertains to an upcoming version (NetHack 3.7.0). If this version is now released, please verify that it is still accurate, then update the page to incorporate this information.
Yellow dragon scale mail is somewhat more likely to be considered for some heroes, since it confers extrinsic acid resistance and stoning resistance: they gain a source of acid damage protection for their inventory, and the stoning resistance allows a hero to easily fight threats such as cockatrices and chickatrices, wield and consume their corpses, and also trivialize Medusa without instantly killing her. Vegetarian, vegan and foodless Monks that opt for body armor and cover magic resistance and reflection via other means may consider yellow dragon scale mail, which removes the threat of stoning without breaking the conducts.History
Yellow dragon scale mail first appears with most other colors of dragon scale mail in NetHack 3.0.0. From NetHack 3.0.0 to NetHack 3.0.10, including variants based on those versions, yellow dragon scale mail is created by polymorphing the corpse of a yellow dragon. Yellow dragon scales are introduced in NetHack 3.1.0, along with the current method for converting them into dragon scale mail.
Variants
In some variants, dragon scale mail is phased out in favor of dragon-scaled armor: dragon scales are treated as a cloak, and reading a scroll of enchant armor melds them onto a worn set of body armor, generally augmenting that armor by adding its AC and conferred extrinsic properties to it.
Several variants also give yellow dragon scale mail or its dragon-scaled armor equivalent additional properties while worn, and may even introduce other forms of yellow dragon scale armor. Variants that implement partial intrinsics and/or object properties may also make yellow dragon mail and other colors more worthwhile.
SLASH'EM
In SLASH'EM, acid damage is much more of a threat in the mid- and late game due to the introduction of new jellies and the dreaded shoggoth and giant shoggoth. For this reason, a hero with reflection, magic resistance, and drain resistance through other means may decide to opt for yellow dragon scale mail as their body armor of choice.
GruntHack
GruntHack's implementation of object properties makes it possible for dragon scale mail and other magical items to have an additional property.
Since it is possible and commonplace to wish for an item that provides both magic resistance and reflection (e.g. usually "blessed greased +3 dragonhide cloak of magic resistance and reflection"), the remaining properties are usually covered via other wishes - for heroes that can wear body armor and make the example wish yellow dragon scale mail of decay (which adds drain resistance) is the most common secondary wish, as it blocks two of the most pressing remaining threats: drain life and acid blast, which hostile spellcasters of certain levels can have access to.
SporkHack
In SporkHack, worn yellow dragon scale mail additionally confers stun resistance and confusion resistance.
UnNetHack
In UnNetHack, dragon scales and dragon scale mail have randomized powers and appearances in each game - to wish for dragon armor or scales by its corresponding power, either type of armor must be formally identified first, e.g. by using a scroll of identify on dropped dragon scales (which identifies the matching scale mail along with it) or by witnessing the dragon use its breath weapon. Only wishes from a wand of wishing can create dragon scale mail directly.
Yellow dragon scale mail is effectively replaced by acid dragon scale mail, which grants acid resistance while worn and only gives 5 base AC like all dragon scale mail in UnNetHack.
dNetHack
In dNetHack, notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack, worn yellow dragon scale mail additionally grants stoning resistance.
NetHack Fourk
In NetHack Fourk, yellow dragon-scaled armor grants acid resistance and stoning resistance.
FIQHack
In FIQHack, worn yellow dragon scale mail additionally grants stoning resistance, and it weighs 300 aum like all dragon scale mail in FIQHack (which is halved while worn).
xNetHack
In xNetHack, yellow dragon-scaled armor grants acid resistance and stoning resistance.
EvilHack
In EvilHack, yellow dragon-scaled armor grants acid resistance and stoning resistance along with an acidic passive attack. This also applies to Hack'EM.
References
- ↑ src/mplayer.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 156: initial body armor for Astral playermons is random DSM, with equal probability
- ↑ src/polyself.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 501
- ↑ src/polyself.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 518
