Force
- This article is about the extended command. For manually attacking a chosen square, see force-fighting.
- For the force that sometimes prevents you from teleporting or climbing stairs, see mysterious force.
In NetHack, the hero can force open locked containers using a weapon.
Description
A hero can use the #force extended command or press alt + f to try and force the lock on a locked container with the hero's current wielded weapon. The exact method of forcing the lock varies with the type of weapon being used:[1]
- Bladed weapons will be used to pry the lock open, which carries the risk of that weapon breaking.[2] For this purpose, a bladed weapon is any weapon that uses the following skills: dagger, knife, axe, short sword, broadsword, long sword, two-handed sword, scimitar, or saber.
- Blunt weapons will be used to smash the lock, which carries the risk of destroying the container and potentially some or all of its contents. For this purpose, a blunt weapon is any weapon that uses the following skills: club, mace, morning star, hammer, quarterstaff, polearms, spear, trident, or lance.
Forcing a lock open with a weapon is an occupation that has a percentage change equal to 
of success each action, with 
representing the amount of damage that the weapon deals against large monsters (e.g., a dagger deals 1d3 damage to large monsters, and thus has a 
chance of succeeding).[3]
The per-action probabilities of success for forcing a lock with a weapon are listed in the table below, with each unlocking tool included for comparison:
| Tool | For Rogues | For non-Rogues | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Door | Box | Door | Box | |
| Any weapon | (not possible) | 2*wldam (die size against large monsters) | (not possible) | 2*wldam |
| skeleton key | (70+Dex)% | (75+Dex)% | (70+Dex)% | (75+Dex)% |
| lock pick | (3*Dex + 30)% | (4*Dex + 25)% | (3*Dex)% | (4*Dex)% |
| credit card | (2*Dex + 20)% | (Dex + 20)% | (2*Dex)% | (Dex)% |
The hero will give up if their weapon breaks or if they have not succeeded after around 50 actions[4][5] - whether or not an attempt at forcing a lock succeeds, completing an attempt with an edged weapon exercises dexterity even if the weapon breaks, while using a blunt weapon exercises strength.[6][7][8]
Successfully forcing and breaking a container's lock will prevent it from being locked again, unless the hero uses a wand of locking or the wizard lock spell on the container.[9] Breaking the lock of a container that belongs to a shop will incur a charge, and the hero will have to pay for any containers and contents that are destroyed in the process of forcing the lock.[10][11]
Bladed weapons
As hinted at above, forcing open a locked container with an edged weapon has a chance of the weapon breaking, and cursed weapons are unbreakable in this manner (to prevent easily freeing the hero's hand), while artifact weapons resist breaking 99⁄100 of the time.[12] The probability that a non-artifact, noncursed, edged weapon will survive an unsuccessful attempt to force a locked container is given in the following table, depending on the weapon's enchantment and erosion level:[13]
| Enchantment | Erosion level | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Uneroded | Eroded | Very eroded | Thoroughly eroded | |
| +7 | 0.95 | 0.57 | 0.34 | 0.20 |
| +6 | 0.90 | 0.54 | 0.33 | 0.19 |
| +5 | 0.86 | 0.52 | 0.31 | 0.19 |
| +4 | 0.82 | 0.49 | 0.30 | 0.18 |
| +3 | 0.78 | 0.47 | 0.28 | 0.17 |
| +2 | 0.74 | 0.45 | 0.27 | 0.16 |
| +1 | 0.70 | 0.42 | 0.25 | 0.15 |
| +0 | 0.67 | 0.40 | 0.24 | 0.14 |
| -1 | 0.64 | 0.38 | 0.23 | 0.14 |
| -2 | 0.61 | 0.36 | 0.22 | 0.13 |
| -3 | 0.58 | 0.35 | 0.21 | 0.12 |
| -4 | 0.55 | 0.33 | 0.20 | 0.12 |
| -5 | 0.52 | 0.31 | 0.19 | 0.11 |
| -6 | 0.50 | 0.30 | 0.18 | 0.11 |
| -7 | 0.47 | 0.28 | 0.17 | 0.10 |
Blunt weapons
A hero that successfully forces a locked container open with a blunt weapon has a 1⁄3 chance (33%) chance of destroying the container.[14][15] Destroying a container this way also destroys any potions inside, and has a 1⁄3 chance of destroying each of the remaining contents.[16] This prints messages depending on the material involved (e.g. "An orange potion shatters!"), and is detailed in the table below:
| Material | Message |
|---|---|
| Paper | torn to shreds |
| Wax | crushed |
| Veggy | pulped |
| Flesh | mashed |
| Glass | shatters |
| Wood | splinters to fragments |
| Anything else | destroyed |
Strategy
Forcing a container's lock is typically done in the very early game by a hero that did not start with an unlocking tool and has not yet obtained one—a spare, non-cursed orcish dagger or other junk edged weapon is usually the most suitable for this purpose, since at worst the hero will only break a weapon they were not intending to use anyway. Once unlocking tools are obtained, it becomes unnecessary to force locks.
Messages
- There is a <chest/box> there, but its lock is already <unlocked/broken>.
- The command is aborted because the container was already forced or unlocked.
- You decide not to force the issue.
- This is generally printed after any of the above if the #force command is declined or aborted.
Variant
SLASH'EM
In SLASH'EM, the hero can #force doors open by bashing them down with their weapon.
References
- ↑ src/lock.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 542: weapons that can force locks
- ↑ src/lock.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 236: edged weapon odds
- ↑ src/lock.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 596: bladed weapons and doors
- ↑ src/lock.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 231: 50 action limit
- ↑ src/lock.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 242: weapon breaks mid-attempt
- ↑ src/lock.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 232: exercise even if the attempt fails
- ↑ src/lock.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 246: breaking edged weapon completes attempt and exercises dexterity
- ↑ src/lock.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 256: edged weapons exercise dexterity; blunt weapons exercise strength
- ↑ src/lock.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 169
- ↑ src/lock.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 173
- ↑ src/lock.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 197
- ↑ src/lock.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 238: cursed weapons won't break, while artifact weapons almost always resist
- ↑ src/lock.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 237: edged weapons breaking depend on their enchantment and erosion
- ↑ src/lock.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 182
- ↑ src/lock.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 260
- ↑ src/lock.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 237
