Noble/dNetHack/Elven Noble
| Roles in dNetHack |
|---|
| Roles in notdNetHack |
- Not to be confused with the elven noble monster.
In dNetHack, notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack, the elven Noble is a combination of race and role that is available to the hero, and it is one of the many Noble combinations to have a distinct skill set, Quest branch and set of artifact gifts. As elves, they will always start the game as chaotic.
Starting equipment
Each elven Noble starts with the following equipment, following racial substitutions for the standard Noble inventory:
- a +2 elven spear
- a +0 elven shield
- a +2 elven toga
- a pair of boots dependent on the hero's gender
- a pair of +0 high boots for Noblemen, or
- a pair of +1 elven boots for Noblewomen
- a +1 elven cloak
- 10-20 uncursed apples
- 3-6 uncursed lembas wafers
- a blessed potion of starlight
- a random ring
- a blessed sack
- 3 uncursed +0 sunrods
Any ring that is generated with an enchantment of +0 or lower is given a random enchantment from +1 to +3.
Elven Nobles start the game with knowledge of all elven racial equipment.
The elven Noble's default starting pet is a kitten called Puss or a little dog, with roughly equal probability.
Intrinsics
Elven Nobles gain the following intrinsic properties upon reaching the given experience levels:
- XL 4: sleep resistance
- XL 7: speed
- XL 15: warning
- XL 20: fire resistance
Attributes
Elven Nobles have 80 points to distribute among their starting attributes, while descendant elven Nobles have -10 points for a total of 70 to distribute.
The elven Noble's starting attributes are distributed as follows:
| Attributes | Strength | Dexterity | Constitution | Intelligence | Wisdom | Charisma | Remaining |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum attributes | 10 | 10 | 7 | 10 | 7 | 7 | 29 |
| Distribution percentages | 20% | 20% | 15% | 18% | 10% | 17% |
Skills
Elven Nobles have the following skills available to them:
| Elven Noble skills | |
|---|---|
| Max | Skills |
| Basic | |
| Skilled |
|
| Expert |
|
Elven Nobles start with Basic skill in spears. They use the intelligence stat to cast spells, and their role's special spell is protection, while their race's special spell is remove curse.
Special rules
Elven Nobles can utilize the #turn extended command to turn away undead, with a chance of pacifying them for chaotic Priests, and a chance of destroying them otherwise. The command will immobilize the Priest for a few turns afterward, and they can spend 30 power to reduce the duration to one turn.
Rank titles
The status line displays one of the following ranks for the corresponding experience levels, which are shared with elves in some other roles:
- XL 1-2: Edhel/Elleth
- XL 3-5: Edhel/Elleth
- XL 6-9: Ohtar/Ohtie
- XL 10-13: Kano/Kanie
- XL 14-17: Arandur/Aranduriel
- XL 18-21: Hir/Hiril
- XL 22-25: Aredhel/Arwen
- XL 26-29: Ernil/Elentariel
- XL 30: Elentar/Elentari
The titles are derived from J.R.R. Tolkien's Elvish language, and are copied from the Elf role that exists in versions of NetHack from NetHack 1.3d to NetHack 3.2.3.
Gods
The elven Noble deities occupy two separate pantheons, with one for elven Noblemen and another from elven Noblewomen—both are derived from the Valar of Tolkien's Middle-earth setting.
- Lawful: Manwe Sulimo / Varda Elentari
- Neutral: Mandos / Vaire
- Chaotic: Lorien / Nessa
The pantheon's crowning title and gift are dependent on the hero's alignment: lawful elven Nobles will be crowned "the Hand of Elbereth" and given Arcor Kerym, neutral elven Nobles will be dubbed "the Doomspeaker of Vaire" and given Aryfaern Kerym, and chaotic elven Nobles will be crowned "the Whisperer of Este" and given Aryvelahr Kerym.
Melkor Morgoth serves as the unholy deity for vampire heroes that worship within the pantheon. Additionally, Morgoth takes Moloch's role in the opening text provided at the start of the game, while Marduk's role as creator deity is given to Eru the One.
Quest
The elven Noble has a different quest from other Nobles, and it is also shared with elven Priests, Rangers and Wizards: this elven 'racial' quest sees an elven Noble hero fight the Necromancer for The Palantir of Westernesse, an intelligent artifact crystal ball that favors elves. The Palantir of Westernesse grants x-ray vision, telepathy, warning, and reflection while carried. Invoking the artifact can tame nearby monsters.
Strategy
Elven Nobles are a versatile role that can specialize in many forms of combat and can make use of a great variety of weapons at Expert skill. While they start out much better equipped than almost all other elven heroes, elf Nobles are nonetheless still weak to iron and must take care to avoid coming in direct contact with iron weapons and armor. Wearing a piece of iron armor drastically decreases their hit point regeneration — worn shirts avoid direct skin contact with any piece of body armor or cloak made of iron.
A Noble that manages to keep their starting pony alive long enough for it to grow into a horse or even warhorse may wish to equip it with barded armor at a smith, such as the guaranteed dwarf smith in mine town. However, they will be unable to joust until they find a lance, such as by requesting one from a treesinger or retrieving one from the Mordor Fortress level in the Mordor Ruins Quest, if they have that variant of the Chaos Quest in their game. The driders found on the locate level of the elven Noble quest make for excellent steeds, if they wish to tame one for themselves.
Early game
Elven Nobles start the game very well equipped and will not be lacking for armor. Their starting weapon is perfectly serviceable for taking on any monster that isn't resistant to piercing damage but isn't suited for long-term use. Nobles may wish to explore the gnomish mines as soon as they find that branch, or delve further down until they reach sokoban, or even to one of the alignment quest branch levels if they are careful. While the loot found inside the Windowless Tower is extremely useful early on, they will likely want to leave it for later, until after they have found a weapon better suited to fighting Vampires and Zombies. Elven Nobles may wish to be more cautious in the mines on levels with wide-open areas, where crossbow-wielding gnomes and dagger-throwing dwarves can slowly whittle down their health with iron projectiles. A hero may wish to start scavenging for better armor and weapons around this point, since unlike all other Nobles, elven Nobles do not have a fixed first artifact gift. Dwarvish mithril-coats and other mithril equipment will be especially worthwhile to keep, as well as any non-metal pair of gloves for handling iron weapons.
Mid game
After they have solidified their kit a little, an elven Noble will be ready to embark on their quest as soon as they hit level 14. Once they gain entry to their quest, if they have not acquired a decent weapon yet, they may wish to antagonize Celeborn and let him be killed by the quest guardians. Not only is his highly enchanted high-elven warsword is a very worthwhile weapon that can even be used throughout the rest of the game if they so wish, but he also always generates with a blessed +7 elven mithril-coat. However, this will permanently prevent them from obtaining Belthronding after they complete the quest.
Their quest nemesis, the Necromancer, is a spellcaster that has two weapon attacks, one quest-artifact theft claw attack, one life-draining gaze attack, and can cast one magic spell each turn. The two swings from his iron long sword are especially devastating to a hero with low maximum hp while his life-draining gaze will continuously weaken the hero and cannot be avoided by blinding yourself. A circle of Acheron or hamsa ward engraved on the floor beneath the hero's feet will protect them from the Necromancer's weapon attacks and gaze, respectively. Because the Necromancer's spellcasting list mostly consists of summoning high-level monsters to fight for him, it is important not to get surrounded while fighting, as this will prolong the fight and may result in a situation where the hero is entirely surrounded and unable to reach them from behind the summoned monsters. The chest on top of the throne the Necromancer was occupying contains a number of interesting items: of note is the holy wrathful elven broadsword and holy dragonhide prayer-wrapped elven cloak. After they return to their quest leader with their quest artifact and formally complete the quest, if they have not killed Celeborn, they may throw it at them to exchange The Palantir of Westernesse for Belthronding, an artifact elven bow.
Late game
At this stage of the game, elven Nobles may specialize in any number of ways, but will excel in melee combat and spellcasting with ease, and in ranged combat with bows as well with some effort. An elven Noble that becomes crowned under their starting alignment will receive Aryvelahr Kerym, an artifact silver elven broadsword that grants drain resistance and reflection. Elven Nobles that crown as Lawful instead receive Arcor Kerym, an artifact iron crystal sword that grants drain resistance; Neutral Nobles receive Aryfaern Kerym, an artifact runesword that grants shock resistance and double spell damage. While a Neutral altar is guaranteed to be found in Gate Town, unless they find a Lawful altar in the dungeons, they will first need to obtain a helm of opposite alignment to convert an altar to Lawful and then crown to obtain Arcor Kerym.
A hero that wishes to use Belthronding may want to invest one of the guaranteed potions of midas obtained from Fort Ludios to turn a highly enchanted stack of elven arrows into golden arrows to increase their damage output, and will highly benefit from a worn ring Frost Brand, which will substantially boost their damage in Gehennom, where they will need it most at this stage of the game. While this does leave them with a weapon that becomes less effective once they reach the elemental planes, they can still avoid direct combat with monsters with planning if they find that their arrows are simply not dealing enough damage.
