Gauntlets of power
[  [  [  [  gauntlets of power | |
|---|---|
| Appearance | random |
| Slot | gloves |
| AC | 1 |
| Special |
|
| Base price | 50 zm |
| Weight | 30 |
| Material | iron |
Gauntlets of power, often abbreviated to GoP, are a type of magical armor that appear in NetHack. They are gloves that are made of iron, and have a randomized appearance when unidentified; the default one associated with them is a pair of riding gloves.[1]
The following information pertains to an upcoming version (3.7.0). If this version is now released, please verify that the information below is still accurate, then update the page to incorporate it.
Per commit 6ad4b48c, the gauntlets of power are also referred to as power gloves.Contents
Generation
Gauntlets of power make up 1⁄125 (0.8%) of all randomly-generated armor. General stores, used armor dealerships and antique weapon outlets can stock gauntlets of power.
Player monsters on the Astral Plane that generate with a war hammer will always generate with gauntlets of power, while other player monsters have an effective 7⁄40 chance (~17.5%) of generating with gauntlets of power.[2]
Description
While worn, gauntlets of power grant 1 base point of AC and set a hero's strength to 25, and wearing or taking off gauntlets of power will auto-identify them. A hero cannot exercise strength while wearing gauntlets of power, although innate strength increases will still occur as normal, and has -2 to-hit penalty applied when shooting with any type of bow.[3] As metallic gloves, gauntlets of power incur a spellcasting penalty.
Mjollnir can only be thrown by a hero with 25 strength, which for all practical purposes requires gauntlets of power.
Monsters that are wearing gauntlets of power and have weapon attacks gain 3-6 extra damage when performing weapon attacks.[4][5]
Strategy
Strength helps increase carrying capacity, the chance for attacks to hit, the damage of melee attacks and projectile attacks not involving a launcher, and the range of projectiles other than fired crossbow bolts. However, non-elven heroes can obtain most of these benefits from reaching 18/** strength through other means; the only further benefits from gauntlets of power in those cases are projectile range, and the ability to throw Mjollnir. Maximized carrying capacity is similarly easier to obtain for non-elven heroes, as they can also raise their constitution to 18 alongside their strength.
Though they are neither necessary to the point of using a wish nor commonplace in ascension kits, gauntlets of power are still a viable choice of armor for the long term—whether or not they wear them long term, it may occasionally benefit heroes to remove their gauntlets of power while actively or passively training strength (e.g., solving Sokoban), unless doing so severely impacts combat performance.
Although they interfere with spellcasting, Wizards in particular may still want to wear them to shore up their strength: a 4% general spell failure rate with 18 intelligence (or 3% with 19+ intelligence) may be acceptably low if they are not wearing a robe or any other metal armor. Less adept casters may experience a much greater increase in spell failure rates, and as such those planning to utilize spells often or in-combat may want different gloves.
Conversely, those dedicated to non-magical combat such as Barbarians may prefer gauntlets of power—a strength level of 18/01 or above makes the bonuses of gauntlets of power somewhat more marginal as discussed previously, and is also easy to obtain for non-elven characters. Elven Rangers and other elven bow-users that have maximized to-hit, e.g. from high luck, may even consider wearing gauntlets of power to bring up their carrying capacity.
Identification
Gauntlets of power will always auto-identify when worn or removed, and are also the only gloves to be metallic and weigh 30 aum. Being made of iron even allows them to be distinguished from other gloves without wearing them: using a touchstone on unidentified gauntlets of power will produce its distinctive "scritch, scritch" noise.
History
Gauntlets of power first appear in NetHack 3.0.0.
The extra damage for monster weapon attacks is added in NetHack 3.6.1 via commit e408c48b, which also introduces gauntlets of power for player monsters generated with war hammers.[6][7]
Variants
SLASH'EM
In SLASH'EM, gauntlets of power set the wearer's strength to 18/** and further modify it based on the gauntlets' enchantment, e.g. a +1 pair will give a hero 19 strength, while a -1 pair will give them 18/99 strength. Valkyries can safely enchant gauntlets of power up to +7, which allows them to gain the 25 strength required to throw Mjollnir.
The spinach-filled hidden chest generated behind the secret passage in the southwestern portion of Grund's Stronghold at level creation has a 1⁄3 chance of containing a cursed +1 pair of gauntlets of power.
Similar to NetHack, some elven and drow rangers may want to consider gauntlets of power for their late game builds to reach maximum carrying capacity, as the -2 to-hit penalty on arrows and bolts will be insignificant by that point.
GruntHack
In GruntHack, power is an object property that gloves and other armor can have, and can occur on already-magical armor. This makes a blessed, greased and fireproof +3 pair of dragonhide gauntlets of dexterity and power perhaps the best wish available for the gloves slot.
Monsters are capable of making wishes, and may wish for blessed, greased and fixed +3 gauntlets of power if they are not strong.
dNetHack
In dNetHack, notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack, gauntlets of power grant 1 base AC, 1 base DR and set the wearer's strength to 25 while worn. Arm blasters are incompatible to be worn with gauntlets of power and other metallic gauntlets. Samurai know the gauntlets as kote of power.
Gauntlets of power can be used to repair the power servos of imperial elven gauntlets, granting 25 strength while the gauntlets are worn.
There are a few artifact pairs of gauntlets of power:
- The Gauntlets of Spell Power are unaligned silvered gauntlets of power that are made of iron (which harms elves, drow and vampires). While worn, they add silver damage to unarmed attacks, grant a +1 bonus to skill level for all spells without changing failure rates, double the damage inflicted by beam and ray spells, and grant half spell damage.
- The Premium Heart is an unaligned pair of gauntlets of power that adds their enchantment to dexterity as the gauntlets of dexterity do while worn, and can be enchanted safely to +7. Obtaining the Premium Heart as a sacrifice gift un-restricts the martial arts skill. While worn, in addition to the base item effects Premium Heart grants +1 to-hit and double damage to unarmed attacks, does not give any additional spell failure penalty to Monks, grants unarmed attacks a skill-level-in-20 chance of staggering a target, and grants an additional +1x damage multiplier for each status property afflicting the wearer.
- The Godhands are lawful golden gauntlets of power that set both dexterity and strength to 25 while worn and can be enchanted to +7. While worn, the Godhands also grant drain resistance, +1d20 to-hit and +1d10 damage with unarmed attacks, do not give any additional spell failure penalty to Monks, and deal extra damage when blessed or cursed: cursed Godhands deal +3d7 unholy damage to unholy-haters in addition to the base item's +2d9 unholy damage, while blessed Godhands deal +3d7 holy damage to holy-haters in addition to the base item's +1d20 holy damage.
- The Grappler's Grasp is an unaligned set of gauntlets of power that grant +1 to-hit and +1d6 damage while worn, and grabs monsters on a successful unarmed attack—while grabbed, monsters take at least d6 of crushing damage each turn, with the amount of dice dependent on skill level in bare-handed combat: 1d6 at Basic skill or lower, 2d6 at Skilled or Expert, and 3d6 at Master or higher, with +1d6 if the hero has the martial arts skill.
- The Great Claws of Urdlen are a chaotic set of gauntlets of power that serve as the crowning gift for chaotic gnomish heroes.
EvilHack
In EvilHack, the gauntlets of power enable a hero to wield any weapon with a weight of up to 200 aum in the offhand for two weapon combat, essentially enabling the use of any appropriate weapon with their main weapon.
The Gauntlets of Purity are an artifact pair of gauntlets of power made of silver.
Monsters are capable of making wishes as in GruntHack, and may wish for blessed erodeproofed gauntlets of power with an enchantment from +1 to +4 if they can wear them and are not strong.
Early wishes for illithid characters often include gauntlets of power to offset their low strength and carrying capacity, with bone and wood as popular choices of material due to being lighter and not interfering with spellcasting. Stone is also viable for the same reasons, and even provides an extra point of AC in exchange for being a heavier material, though this is somewhat offset by keeping them worn where possible.
Encyclopedia entry
The following information pertains to an upcoming version (3.7.0). If this version is now released, please verify that the information below is still accurate, then update the page to incorporate it.
The following entry is added for all gloves via commit f5bd6950.And her old Uncle William used to say a lady is known by her
shoes and her gloves.
