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.
Generation
Dwarven heroes start the game with knowledge of the dwarvish roundshield.[1] There is a commented-out line of code that will replace the small shield in the starting inventory of a dwarvish hero with a dwarvish roundshield of the same enchantment if it is made active.[2]
Dwarvish roundshields make up 1⁄250 (0.4%) of all armor that is randomly generated on the ground, in general shops or as death drops. Used armor dealerships and antique weapons outlets can also stock dwarvish roundshields.
Live dwarves that are generated with a dwarvish short sword and dwarvish iron helm have a roughly 1⁄2 chance (effectively 1⁄8) of being given a dwarvish roundshield that is paired alongside either an axe or dwarvish spear, with roughly equal probability for each weapon.[3]
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 or better 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 NetHack variants give dwarves (including dwarven heroes) an AC bonus for wearing dwarvish roundshields.
SLASH'EM
In SLASH'EM, upgrading a dwarvish roundshield successfully will produce a large shield and vice versa.[4][5]
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 in that variant, since items can occur in various sizes corresponding to the size of monsters (e.g. a roundshield can be "large", "tiny" or "huge").
Dwarven heroes that are not Madpeople start with knowledge of the dwarvish roundshield's appearance, and dwarven heroes in roles that start with bucklers or kite shields are given dwarvish roundshields instead. Dwarven Madpeople that open their quest box will regain their knowledge of the dwarvish roundshield.
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 whose base item is a mithril dwarvish roundshield, and it can only be created by combining Ogresmasher and Trollsbane at a forge.
Hack'EM
In Hack'EM, the dwarvish roundshield grants +1 AC to dwarves that wear them, including dwarven heroes.
Upgrading a dwarvish roundshield successfully will produce an orcish shield, and vice versa. Forging recipes are the same as in EvilHack.
References
- ↑ src/u_init.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 837
- ↑ src/u_init.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 249: Race-based substitutions for initial inventory
- ↑ src/makemon.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 385-394: relevant cases for shield in default dwarvish armor
- ↑ potion.c in SLASH'EM 0.0.7E7F2, line 2373
- ↑ potion.c in SLASH'EM 0.0.7E7F2, line 2376
