Force
- This article is about the extended command. For the force that sometimes prevents you from teleporting or climbing stairs, see mysterious force.
- For manually attacking a chosen square, see force-fighting.
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 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
- You decide not to force the issue.
- A #force command was aborted because there is no locked container on the hero's square, or else they declined to force the lock of one that was present.
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
