Spellbook of finger of death
| spellbook of + finger of death 
| |
|---|---|
| Appearance | random |
| Abundance | 0.50% |
| Base price | 700 zm |
| Weight | 50 |
| Turns to read | 80 |
| Ink to write | 35–69 |
| Spell type | attack |
| Level | 7 |
| Power cost | 35 Pw |
| Direction | ray |
| Equivalent | wand of death |
In NetHack the spellbook of finger of death can be read to learn the finger of death spell. It is a level 7 attack spell, and the spellbook takes roughly 80 turns to read.
Contents
Generation
In addition to random generation, a Wizard that is crowned, does not already have the spellbook in their inventory, and is not wielding Vorpal Blade or Stormbringer will receive a blessed spellbook of finger of death.
Description
The ray produced by this spell has the same effect as a wand of death: it instantly kills any monster it hits, unless the monster is Death, a major demon, nonliving, or has magic resistance or reflection. Your skill in attack spells has no significant effect on finger of death, other than increasing the spellcasting success rate and to-hit probability.
Zapping yourself directly with the spell is an instadeath, regardless of reflection or magic resistance, and is a very bad idea.
Strategy
The finger of death is the most difficult and magic-intensive spell in the game to learn, but this is to be expected given its extremely powerful effects. Since the spell is a ray, it can hit multiple enemies and bounce off walls, and is subject to reflection. Be extremely careful about casting it without having reflection or magic resistance yourself.
It is most useful for being able to instantly kill most of the monsters in the game, if they are not resistant - unfortunately most of the nastier late-game enemies are. Archons do not technically resist it, but since they are always generated with a shield of reflection, they will never be affected unless the shield is somehow swapped or removed. Minotaurs are a good candidate for this spell, and it is also generally good for crowd control, since it can take out multiple monsters per casting. It can also take out the high priest of Moloch if they do not generate with a cloak of magic resistance, and can be used against the Wizard of Yendor provided he does not steal a quest artifact or obtain another item that gives him magic resistance.
Origin
The finger of death appears as the ultimate spell in the old game Spellcast, also known as Spellbinder or Waving Hands.
