Green dragon scales

From NetHackWiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
[   green dragon scales   Green dragon scales.png
Appearance green dragon scales
Slot body armor
AC 3
Special
Base price 500 zm
Weight 40
Material dragon hide

Green dragon scales are a type of body armor that appear in NetHack. They are made of dragon hide like all dragon scales.

Generation

Green dragon scales are not randomly generated, though they can be wished for or found in bones.

A green dragon that leaves a corpse behind on death (i.e. always, unless killed by disintegration) have a 13 chance of leaving behind dragon scales, while a dragon revived by the wand of undead turning or spell of turn undead only has a 120 chance to leave behind scales.[1] Green dragon scales dropped this way are always generated +0 and uncursed.[2]

Description

While worn, green dragon scales confer 3 base AC and poison resistance. Reading a non-cursed scroll of enchant armor that targets worn green dragon scales will convert them into green dragon scale mail, with a blessed scroll adding a point of enchantment.

Uncontrolled polymorph while wearing green dragon scales will turn the wearer into a green dragon, and doing so while wearing the scale mail will additionally revert them to scales.[3][4][5]

The following information pertains to an upcoming version (NetHack 3.7.0). If this version is now released, please verify that it is still accurate, then update the page to incorporate this information.

Per commit ef1eeed7, both the scales and scale mail also provide sickness resistance.

Strategy

Green dragon scales are very rarely sought out: by the time green dragons begin appearing under normal circumstances, a character will almost always have found a source of poison resistance, and many races and roles can either start with the intrinsic or obtain it by gaining experience levels.

The following information pertains to an upcoming version (NetHack 3.7.0). If this version is now released, please verify that it is still accurate, then update the page to incorporate this information.

Per commit d0b11fd2, poison will no longer cause instadeath, but can still cause significant HP damage as well as attribute loss.

Green dragon scales are slightly more likely to be considered for characters and pets due to its sickness resistance.

History

Green dragon scales first appear with most other colors of dragon scales in NetHack 3.1.0.

Variants

Main article: Dragon-scaled armor

In some variants, dragon scale mail is phased out in favor of dragon-scaled armor, whose implementation is based on a proposal by dtsund. Instead of being made into mail of its own, dragon scales are treated as a cloak, and reading a scroll of enchant armor melds them onto a worn set of body armor, generally augmenting that armor by adding its AC and conferred extrinsic properties to it. Dragon-scaled armor is implemented in NetHack Fourk, xNetHack, EvilHack, and Hack'EM.

Several variants also give green dragon scales additional properties while worn, and may even introduce other forms of green dragon scale armor. Variants that implement partial intrinsics and/or object properties may also make green dragon scales and other colors more worthwhile.

SporkHack

In SporkHack, worn green dragon scales can passively poison attackers for d6 damage with a 120 chance of instadeath, unless the attacker has poison resistance.

UnNetHack

In UnNetHack, dragon scales and dragon scale mail have randomized powers and appearances in each game - to wish for dragon armor or scales by its corresponding power, either type of armor must be formally identified first, e.g. by using a scroll of identify on dropped dragon scales (which identifies the matching scale mail along with it) or by witnessing the dragon use its breath weapon.

Green dragon scales are effectively replaced by poison dragon scales, which confers only 1 base AC like all dragon scales in UnNetHack.

dNetHack

In dNetHack and notdNetHack, worn green dragon scales additionally confer sickness resistance.

FIQHack

In FIQHack, worn green dragon scales confer sickness resistance. They also weigh 300 aum like all dragon scale mail in FIQHack (which is halved while worn).

References