Dwarf (starting race)
- This article is about the playable race in NetHack and its variants. For other uses of the term, see dwarf.
Dwarves are one of the five playable races available to a hero in NetHack. A dwarven hero will appear as h if the showrace option is set on, and is part of the humanoid monster class. According to the guidebook:
Dwarves are smaller than humans or elves, but are stocky and solid individuals. Dwarves' most notable trait is their great expertise in mining and metalwork. Dwarvish armor is said to be second in quality not even to the mithril armor of the Elves.
Dwarves are always lawful, and can be played as Archeologists, Cavepeople, or Valkyries.[1][2][3][4]
Racial benefits and restrictions
Dwarven heroes have intrinsic infravision. Their attribute caps heavily favor physical stats much more than those of other races do, though in return their mental attribute caps are generally on the lower end.[5] Dwarves are also the fastest-digging race when wielding a digging tool.
All monsters with the dwarf monster attribute are considered the same race as a dwarven hero for purposes such as cannibalism and same-race sacrifice. Gnomes and other dwarves that are not undead will always generate as peaceful for a dwarven hero, while orcs that are not undead will always generate as hostile.[6] Dwarven heroes that die and leave bones where they arise from the dead will resurrect as dwarf mummies and dwarf zombies, depending on their killer[7]—in practice, there is no means of killing any hero that causes them to rise as a zombie.
The following information pertains to an upcoming version (NetHack 3.7.0). If this version is now released, please verify that the information below is still accurate, then update the page to incorporate it.
Per commit aeb0ea65, if the hero is killed by a zombie or a lich, they will rise from the grave as a zombie of their race's type, and will be present as a zombie if a bones file is created. Per commit 3c421da7, the zombie will have the same intrinsics as the former hero.
Per commit a0d9c94e, dwarven heroes in their base form that are standing on the ground of a room or corridor (i.e. they are not flying or levitating) can sense buried items underneath their feet.Attributes
| Attribute | Strength | Dexterity | Constitution | Intelligence | Wisdom | Charisma |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum[8] | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Maximum[5] | 18/** | 20 | 20 | 16 | 16 | 16 |
| Level bonuses[9] | Starting | Pre-cutoff | Post-cutoff |
|---|---|---|---|
| HP gain[10][11][12] | 4 | d3 | 2 |
| Energy gain[13][14][15] | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Dwarven heroes have the highest dexterity and constitution caps of all races at 20 each, which grants them stellar physical prowess in combination with their strength cap of 18/**—said strength cap is also tied with that of humans for the highest of all races. Their intelligence, wisdom and charisma caps are the lowest of all races at 16 each, all of which are tied with those of orcs in this regard.
Dwarven heroes easily have the highest HP gains of all races: they gain +4 to the starting HP for their role, a +d3 bonus to HP for each experience level gained while they are below their role's "cutoff" level, and +2 to HP for each level gained while at or above the "cutoff".[10] Conversely, dwarven heroes gain no bonuses to energy from their race, making their energy growth the lowest of the playable races—.[13]
Racial items
Dwarven heroes start the game with knowledge of all dwarven items.[16][17] Dwarven items are usually made of iron and are among the best in terms of quality, often competing with elven items in terms of base damage and AC. Dwarves have the highest-quality spears, helms and mithril-coats, though their equipment also tends to be heavier due to their material. Dwarven heroes also gain an extra 100 nutrition from eating cram rations.[18]
There are four racial substitutions for dwarven heroes, though none of them apply to any roles currently:[19]
| Regular item | Substitute | Affected roles |
|---|---|---|
| spear | dwarvish spear | none |
| short sword | dwarvish short sword | none |
| helmet | dwarvish iron helm | none |
| lembas wafer | cram ration | none |
In addition, there are two commented-out lines that would substitute a small shield in a dwarven hero's starting inventory for a dwarvish roundshield, which would affect the Valkyrie, and substitute a pick-axe for a dwarvish mattock, which would affect the Archeologist.
The following information pertains to an upcoming version (NetHack 3.7.0). If this version is now released, please verify that the information below is still accurate, then update the page to incorporate it.
Per commit c09ae332, Valkyries have their long sword replaced with a +1 spear—dwarven Valkyries will thus have it replaced with a +1 dwarvish spear.Strategy
Dwarven heroes are the best race by far for builds focused on physical damage, which is usually preferred for two of the three roles they can take to begin with—even the Archeologist, which is much more spellcasting-inclined at their base than the Caveperson or Valkyrie, will appreciate the boosts to their low HP growth and the potential for higher average strength and constitution that playing as a dwarf brings to the table for more combat-focused builds. Their low mental stats and lack of energy growth preclude them from casting spells very effectively, though in practice this is only an issue for Archeologist builds focused on casting at most. Dwarven Valkyries are often recommended as the most straightforward and beginner-friendly combination, since the role is already focused on physical combat and dwarven Valkyries will have far more HP than human ones.
The Gnomish Mines are generally peaceful for dwarven heroes, and hostile monsters that appear for them will usually not be as threatening as often compared to the hostile dwarves and gnomes that orcish heroes, elven heroes and some humans will need to fight off. As with gnomes, this makes Minetown a more favorable early game destination for a dwarven hero.
Note that due to sharing a monster class, using a blessed scroll of genocide to eliminate mind flayers or master mind flayers is a Bad Idea: the scroll will wipe the hero out along with the rest of the humanoids. Dwarven heroes must use two single-monster genocides (e.g. the uncursed scroll or a throne genocide) to eliminate both monsters, while heroes of other races can eliminate them both with a single blessed scroll.
History
The dwarf starting race is introduced along with the other playable races in NetHack 3.3.0.
Origin
Dwarves as a fantasy race are generally cast in the roles of warriors, craftsmen and miners—the Archeologist and Valkyrie roles in NetHack broadly meet two of those definitions (miner and warrior), while the craftsman is as yet unexplored in terms of playable heroes, though the dwarven aptitude for craftsmanship is reflected in the quality of their armor: dwarven armor in NetHack generally has the best AC compared to other types. Some variants of NetHack make it possible for dwarven armor to be made of especially rare and highly-durable material, and may also even give dwarves a natural advantage in smithing.
Variants
dNetHack
In dNetHack, notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack, dwarven heroes have significant differences from NetHack.
Dwarven heroes can be played as Archeologists, Anachrononauts, Binders, Cavepeople, Convicts, Knights, Madpeople, Nobles, and Valkyries—dwarven Anachrononauts and Convicts are chaotic, while all other dwarven heroes remain lawful. Dwarf Knights are very distinct from other Knights, with a different starting inventory and their own pantheon and quest branch.
Dwarven heroes exchange their infravision from NetHack for first-level low-light vision, but otherwise have no notable starting properties and do not gain any from their race for raising their experience level.
Dwarven heroes have 75 points to distribute among their starting attributes, which is raised to 85 for dwarven Valkyries, lowered to 65 for dwarves with an inheritance, or lowered to 55 for dwarven Binders. The HP and energy growth rates of dwarves are completely unchanged from vanilla NetHack.
Dwarven heroes that are not Madpeople start with knowledge of all dwarven items, which are retained from NetHack. They also start with knowledge of all four staves, and their starting inventory will always have a knife and club for carving those staves. There are several racial substitutions made for dwarven heroes as well:
| Standard item(s) | Replacement item(s) | Affected roles |
|---|---|---|
| spear | dwarvish spear | Valkyrie |
| short sword | dwarvish short sword | none |
| helmet | dwarvish helm | none |
| buckler | dwarvish roundshield | Valkyrie |
| kite shield | none currently | |
| pick-axe | dwarvish mattock | Archeologist |
| plain cloak | dwarvish cloak | Noble, Knight |
Dwarven heroes that are not Undead Hunters can train their smithing skill to Expert level—Undead Hunters of all races always start with a cap of Basic in the skill, and raise that skill cap to Expert over the course of the game.
SlashTHEM
In addition to vanilla, they can be Firefighters, Flame Mages, Gladiators, Knights, Nobles, Officers, Paladins, Priests, Undead Slayers, Undertakers or Warriors. They can always reach at least Skilled in pick-axe, axe and hammer.
Encyclopedia entry
Dwarfs have faces like men (ugly men, with wrinkled, leathery skins), but are generally either flat-footed, duck-footed, or have feet pointing backwards. They are of the earth, earthy, living in the darkest of caverns and venturing forth only with the cloaks by which they can make themselves invisible, and others disguised as toads. Miners often come across them, and sometimes establish reasonably close relations with them.... The miners of Cornwall were always delighted to hear a bucca busily mining away, for all dwarfs have an infallible nose for precious metals.
Among other things, dwarfs are rightly valued for their skill as blacksmiths and jewellers: they made Odin his famous spear Gungnir, and Thor his hammer; for Freya they designed a magnificent necklace, and for Frey a golden boar. And in their spare time they are excellent bakers. Ironically, despite their odd feet, they are particularly fond of dancing. They can also see into the future, and consequently are excellent meteorologists. They can be free with presents to people they like, and a dwarvish gift is likely to turn to gold in the hand. But on the whole they are a snappish lot.
References
- ↑ src/role.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 53
- ↑ src/role.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 137
- ↑ src/role.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 526
- ↑ src/role.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 671
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 src/role.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 677
- ↑ src/role.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 673
- ↑ src/role.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 669
- ↑ src/role.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 676
- ↑ include/you.h in NetHack 3.6.7, line 23: RoleAdvance defines HP/Pw gains
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 src/role.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 679
- ↑ src/attrib.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 985
- ↑ src/attrib.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 998
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 src/role.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 680
- ↑ src/exper.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 51
- ↑ src/exper.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 57
- ↑ obj.h in NetHack 3.6.7, line 295
- ↑ src/u_init.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 835
- ↑ src/eat.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 333
- ↑ src/u_init.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 224
