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 gloves that appear in NetHack. They are made of iron, and have a randomized appearance when unidentified; the default one associated with them is a pair of riding gloves.[1]
Contents
Generation
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 sets a character's strength to 25 regardless of beatitude. Wearing or removing gauntlets of power will auto-identify them. Strength cannot be exercised while wearing gauntlets of power, although innate strength increases will still occur as normal. A -2 to-hit penalty is applied when shooting with any type of bow while wearing gauntlets of power.[3]
Mjollnir can only be thrown by a character with 25 strength, which for all practical purposes requires gauntlets of power.
Monsters wearing gauntlets of power add 3-6 damage to their weapon attacks, with no effect on monsters that cannot wield weapons.[4]
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 characters 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 increased carrying capacity, projectile range, and the ability to throw Mjollnir.
While 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. Although they interfere with [[spellcasting], Wizards 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 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, and is also easy to obtain for non-elven characters.
For characters considering replacing their gauntlets of power at a later point, it may benefit them to remove these gloves while actively or passively training strength (e.g., solving Sokoban), unless doing so severely impacts combat performance.
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.[5]
Variants
SLASH'EM
In SLASH'EM, gauntlets of power set your strength to 18/** and further modify it based on the gauntlets' enchantment, e.g. a +1 pair will give you 19 strength, while a -1 pair will give you 18/99. 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 behind the secret passage in the southwestern portion of Grund's Stronghold has a 1⁄3 chance of containing a cursed +1 pair of gauntlets of power.
GruntHack
In GruntHack, power is an object property that gloves and other armor can have, and can occur on already-magical armor - a blessed, greased and fireproofed +3 pair of dragonhide gauntlets of dexterity and power is 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 and notdNetHack, gauntlets of power confer 1 base AC, 1 base DR and 25 strength while 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, doubles damage for beam and ray spells, and confer half spell damage.
- The Premium Heart is an unaligned set 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. They unlock the martial arts skill when given as a sacrifice gift. While worn, Premium Heart also confers +1 to-hit and double damage to unarmed attacks, give no additional spell failure penalty to Monks, and unarmed attacks have a skill level in 20 chance of staggering the opponent - most of all, they gain an additional +1x damage multiplier for each status property afflicting the wearer.
- The Godhands are lawful golden gauntlets of power that set dexterity to 25 while worn and can be enchanted to +7. While worn, they also confer +1d20 to-hit and +1d10 damage to unarmed attacks, give no additional spell failure penalty to Monks, grant drain resistance, and deal extra damage when blessed or cursed: blessed 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 confers +1 to-hit and +1d6 damage while worn, and grabs monsters on a successful unarmed attack - while grabbed, monsters take at least one d6 of crushing damage each turn, with the amount dependent on skill level: 1d6 at Basic skill or lower, 2d6 at Skilled or Expert, and 3d6 at Master or higher, with +1d6 if you have 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 gnome characters, and enable them to train martial arts to Grand Master. While worn, they grant +1d10 to-hit and double damage to unarmed attacks, along with doubling the unarmed damage die to 1d8 and adding their enchantment to that damage. They also set constitution to 25 while worn, can be used as a digging tool, and invoking them causes an earthquake.
EvilHack
In EvilHack, 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 spellcaster-friendly. Stone is also viable and even provides an extra point of AC - though it is heavier, this is somewhat offset by keeping them worn where possible.
