Dwarvish roundshield
[ dwarvish roundshield 
| |
|---|---|
| Appearance | large round shield |
| Slot | shield |
| AC | 2 |
| Special | (none) |
| Base price | 10 zm |
| Weight | 100 |
| Material | iron |
A dwarvish roundshield is a type of shield that appears in NetHack. It is made of iron and appears as a large round shield when unidentified.
Contents
Generation
Dwarven heroes start the game with knowledge of the dwarvish roundshield—a commented-out line of code would give any dwarven hero that started the game with a small shield a dwarvish roundshield instead.[1]
Dwarvish roundshields make up 1⁄250 (0.4%) of all randomly-generated armor. General stores, used armor dealerships and antique weapons outlets can sell dwarvish roundshields.
Live dwarves that are generated with a dwarvish short sword and dwarvish iron helm have a 1⁄2 chance of generating with a dwarvish roundshield.[2]
Description
While worn, a dwarvish roundshield grants 2 base AC and has the same spellcasting penalty as other bulky shields—it is functionally identical to a large shield in most aspects.
Strategy
The dwarvish roundshield is likely to be the first 2 AC shield encountered, especially in the Gnomish Mines. It is very heavy compared to most shields and provides no special properties, but can suffice as an AC source for early heroes until a lighter shield becomes available, such as a small shield, shield of reflection, or elven shield.
Players attempting a dwarvish racial ascension will likely want a dwarvish roundshield, but otherwise it is unlikely to see long-term use.
History
The dwarvish roundshield first appears in NetHack 3.0.0.
Variants
Some variants may give dwarves (including dwarven heroes) an AC bonus for wearing a dwarvish roundshield.
SLASH'EM
In SLASH'EM, upgrading a dwarvish roundshield will produce a large shield and vice versa.
SporkHack
In SporkHack, the dwarvish roundshield grants +1 AC to dwarves that wear them, including dwarven heroes.
UnNetHack
In UnNetHack, the dwarvish roundshield grants +1 AC to dwarves that wear them, including dwarven heroes.
dNetHack
In dNetHack, notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack, the dwarvish roundshield grants 3 AC, 0 DR and MC1 while worn, and its weight is reduced to 80 aum.
The dwarvish roundshield's unidentified appearance is changed to simply a "round shield", which it shares with the standard roundshield, since items can occur in various sizes corresponding to the size of monsters (e.g. a roundshield can be "large", "tiny" or "huge").
EvilHack
In EvilHack, the dwarvish roundshield grants +1 AC to dwarves that wear them, including dwarven heroes.
A dwarvish roundshield can be created at a forge by combining a dwarvish helm and a large shield, and a dwarvish roundshield can be combined with chain mail to create dwarvish chain mail.
Ashmar is an unaligned artifact dwarvish roundshield made of mithril that can only be created at a forge by combining the artifacts Ogresmasher and Trollsbane. While worn, it confers half physical damage, hungerless regeneration, acid resistance, and extrinsic protection, sets the hero's constitution to 25, and prevents the wearer from being knocked backwards. Additionally, if Ashmar deflects an attack, it has a 1⁄4 chance of knocking the attacker back.
Hack'EM
In Hack'EM, the dwarvish roundshield grants +1 AC to dwarves that wear them, including dwarven heroes.
Upgrading a dwarvish roundshield will produce an orcish shield, and vice versa. Forging recipes are the same as in EvilHack.
References
- ↑ src/u_init.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 227: Race-based substitutions for initial inventory
- ↑ src/makemon.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 372: default dwarvish armor
