Helm of opposite alignment
[  [  [  [  helm of opposite alignment | |
|---|---|
| Appearance | random |
| Slot | helm |
| AC | 1 |
| Special |
|
| Base price | 50 zm |
| Weight | 50 |
| Material | iron |
A helm of opposite alignment is a type of helm that appears in NetHack. It is a magical helm that is made of iron and has a randomized appearance when unidentified[1][2]—the default one associated with it is a "crested helmet".[3]
Contents
Generation
Helms of opposite alignment make up 1⁄100 (1%) of all armor that is randomly generated on the ground, in general shops or as death drops. Used armor dealerships and antique weapon outlets can also stock helms of opposite alignment.
A randomly-generated helm of opposite alignment has a 90.45% chance of being cursed and possibly negatively enchanted, a 1.45% chance of being blessed and possibly positively enchanted, and a 8.1% chance of being uncursed.[4]
Player monsters, including those on the Astral Plane, have a 35264 chance (~13.26%) of generating with a helm of opposite alignment as their initial helm before role-based replacements, with cases that can affect this initial helm selection listed below:[5][6]
- Player monster healers and clerics each have a 3⁄4 chance of their initial helm being replaced with a helm of brilliance or helm of telepathy, lowering their effective odds of retaining the helm of opposite alignment to 351056 (~3.31%).[7][8]
- Player monster wizards have a 3⁄4 chance of their initial helm being replaced with a helm of brilliance, lowering their effective odds of retaining the helm of opposite alignment to 351056 (~3.31%).[9]
Description
As indicated by the name, wearing a helm of opposite alignment will switch the hero's alignment to the opposite one, autocurse and auto-identify the helm, remove any divine protection, and set their alignment record to zero, even if it was previously negative.[10][11][12] This also incurs 7 points of alignment abuse, confuses the hero for 3-4 turns and rolls an alignment abuse-based chance of summoning an erinys on an adjacent square[13][14]—all of this occurs prior to the helm changing the hero's alignment and setting their alignment record to zero, and a hero that puts the helm on while on the Astral Plane is guaranteed to summon all of the remaining erinyes.
A lawful hero donning the helm will become chaotic, and a chaotic hero donning the helm will become lawful, while a neutral hero has an equal chance of the helm switching them to lawful or chaotic, with the alignment always being the same for each individual helm.[15] Taking off the helm will restore the hero's original alignment and remove any protection obtained while their alignment was converted[16]—wearing or removing the helm will never restore any lost points of alignment record or protection.
Attempting to wear the helm of opposite alignment while in the hero's Quest branch will always fail, with a specific message depending on if they have permanently converted their alignment or not, and auto-identify the helm[17]—this will still remove any divine protection, but does not affect the hero's alignment record.
If the hero's deity was angry prior to wearing the helm, their "new" deity will retain the previous one's anger status. The gods will not consider a worn cursed helm of opposite alignment as a trouble, and will not uncurse a worn helm of opposite alignment in order to prevent the hero from switching allegiance to a different one.[18][19] A player that ascends while the hero is wearing a helm of opposite alignment will cut the player's final score by 1⁄3.
Monsters can wear this helm, which will cause it to autocurse as it does for the hero but does not change their alignment[20]—aligned clerics, high clerics and minions will never put one on, since their alignments are linked to the deity they serve.[21]
Strategy
Helms of opposite alignment are among the many reasons that randomly use-testing unidentified helms is a bad idea—they also share the same base cost and weight as the useful helm of brilliance and helm of telepathy. However, most helms of opposite alignment will generate cursed and can usually be avoided with relative ease, especially through methods such as pet-testing. Even so, be sure to formally identify a suspected helm of opposite alignment as soon as possible: the 10% chance of one generating non-cursed can prove a nasty surprise for an early-game player, who usually lacks any forms of curse removal and will find prayer rendered unreliable—the erinys that can be summoned may result in their subsequent death as well.
The helm of opposite alignment is not without some niche applications: for example, a chaotic hero may become lawful to safely traverse the Gnomish Mines in the early game, though this runs the risk of a tough fight with an erinys instead. The helm can also be used to obtain artifacts of other alignments, including dipping for Excalibur. One primary use of a helm of opposite alignment for the late game and end game stages is for lawful heroes to weaken the mysterious force during a speed ascension—chaotic heroes are not teleported by as many floors when using staircases, and late-game heroes are often equipped enough to handle an erinys attack unless they are already in a rough situation.
On the Astral Plane, a hero willing to use the helm of opposite alignment will effectively have a 2⁄3 chance of ascending on the first altar they find. However, the odds are lower for neutral heroes compared to other alignments, and the confusion from wearing the helm will prevent them from sacrificing on the high altar.[22] The time it takes to cure the confusion can result in an erinys or another sufficiently-strong monster inflicting knockback that forces the hero off the altar as well—any summoned erinyes will also be more dangerous to deal with depending on the amount alignment abuse the hero has committed to that point, including wearing the helm in the first place.
While pets can wear the helm, it serves no useful purpose beyond AC since their actual alignment will not change, and almost any other helm will be more effective for them.
History
The helm of opposite alignment first appears in NetHack 3.0.0. From this version to NetHack 3.4.3, including some variants based on those versions, a neutral hero will randomly become lawful or chaotic each time they wear the helm, with the result not tied to the individual object. Wearing or removing the helm also does not alter the hero's alignment record, and it is possible for prayer to uncurse a worn helm of opposite alignment.
Most of the current mechanics for the helm of opposite alignment are introduced in NetHack 3.6.0—the exception for uncursing a worn helm of opposite alignment via prayer is added in NetHack 3.6.1.
The helm of opposite alignment's confusion, erinys-summoning and effects on alignment abuse are added in NetHack 5.0.0 via commit 0c9e3483 and commit cd047809. NetHack 5.0.0 also adds the inability to sacrifice while confused via commit 6d29efcf.
Messages
- Your mind oscillates <briefly/wildly>.
- You wore a helm of opposite alignment and changed your alignment, identifying the helm—the word "wildly" is used if the hero is hallucinating.[23]
- Your mind is <back in sync with your body/much of a muchness>.
- You took off a helm of opposite alignment and changed back to your previous alignment, with the latter phrasing used if the hero is hallucinating.[24]
- You narrowly avoid losing all chance at your goal.
- You attempted to wear the helm while in your Quest branch, which prevents the action being completed.[25]
- You are suddenly overcome with shame and change your mind.
- As above, while in the Quest branch and already perma-converted.[26]
Variants
Some NetHack variants created prior to NetHack 5.0.0 may retain the helm of opposite alignment's behavior from previous versions, while others may significantly alter its behavior in different ways.
SLASH'EM
In SLASH'EM, the helm of opposite alignment functions as it does in NetHack 3.4.3.
A chaotic or neutral hero can take advantage of the helm of opposite alignment to get tamed lawful minions such as ki-rins, Archons, Planetars, and Solars from sacrifice and prayer.
SporkHack
In SporkHack, wearing a helm of opposite alignment halves the hero's alignment record and inverts it, e.g. if their alignment record was positive at the time of wearing, it becomes negative, and a negative alignment record becomes positive; taking off a worn helm of opposite alignment also inverts the hero's alignment record. For example, if a hero has an alignment record of 20 and wears a helm of opposite alignment, then their alignment record becomes -10, and if they uncurse or destroy the helm immediately after, their alignment record then becomes 10.
As a result, using a helm of opposite alignment to ascend carries a significant risk in terms of score: if the hero's alignment record is not positive after offering the Amulet of Yendor (which raises alignment record by 10), they are denied the status of demigod(ess) and forced to escape in celestial disgrace.
UnNetHack
In UnNetHack, the helm of opposite alignment functions as it does in NetHack 3.4.3.
A cursed -2 helm of opposite alignment is generated on the up stair of Asmodeus' Lair during level creation.
dNetHack
In dNetHack, notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack, the helm of opposite alignment functions similarly to its behavior in NetHack 3.4.3. It grants 1 base AC and 1 base DR while worn, changes the hero's alignment and autocurses upon wearing it, and its base weight is reduced to 30 aum.
If the helm of opposite alignment is randomized to a band, it will appear as a "tiara of treachery"—in a game where this is the case, King Arthur, Neferet the Green and Nitocris will be given helms of brilliance instead of bands.
Player monsters generated on the Astral Plane have an effective 7⁄32 chance of being generated with a helm of opposite alignment as their initial helm before role-based replacements.
FIQHack
In FIQHack, wearing or removing a helm of opposite alignment causes the hero to gradually lose 1 point of alignment record per turn, and alignment conversion occurs once their alignment reaches −100. Taking the helm off after a complete conversion from it also causes the hero to gradually lose alignment in the same way until they regain their original alignment. Alignment conversions reset the hero's piety (which FIQHack uses to determine gift threshold and crowning) and divine protection, incurs a −3 luck penalty and increments prayer timeout by 300 (more) turns.
xNetHack
In xNetHack, the helm of opposite alignment mostly functions as it does in NetHack 5.0.0, but ascending with a worn a helm of opposite alignment will always result in a dishonorable ascension.
SpliceHack
In SpliceHack,, the helm of opposite alignment functions as it does in versions of NetHack prior to 5.0.0.
A cursed -2 helm of opposite alignment is generated on the up stair of Asmodeus' Lair at level creation, as in UnNetHack.
EvilHack
In EvilHack, it is possible to convert alignment while already converted through other means, and several mechanics related to the helm of opposite alignment are also altered:
- In addition to not uncursing a worn helm of opposite alignment, a hero's god will never gift the helm as a sacrifice gift.
- Knights cannot use the worn helm to obtain Excalibur (which can only be obtained by dipping if the hero is a lawful Knight) or Dirge (which can only be obtained when a chaotic Knight performs same-race sacrifice while wielding a compatible long sword item).
- Infidels that wear a helm of opposite alignment are always converted to lawful, as they are typically unaligned. This allows them to make holy water while wearing the helm.
- An aasimar hero that puts on a helm of opposite alignment will cause their deity to intervene before the alignment change occurs, destroying the helm in an explosion that deals 2d12 physical damage and leaves them stunned for several turns. This incurs an alignment abuse penalty of -3.
- Attempting to offer the Amulet to a different deity while using a helm of opposite alignment has a 1⁄3 chance of the hero's original god noticing the deception, incurring many severe penalties: the original god is angered, a −5 penalty to alignment and luck is applied, and the helm is destroyed. Successfully ascending while converted to a different alignment using the helm will be treated as an ascension "in dishonor", with a 1⁄3 score reduction; ascending while using the helm to convert back to the character's starting alignment grants a 1.5x score bonus, compared to the 2x bonus obtained from remaining loyal.
References
- ↑ src/o_init.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 280-L281
- ↑ src/o_init.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 331
- ↑ include/objects.h in NetHack 5.0.0, line 482
- ↑ src/mkobj.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 1086-L1097
- ↑ src/mplayer.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 154: Default equipment; the helm is chosen from within the designated object classes inclusively in objects.h
- ↑ src/mplayer.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 283: Helms are only generated for Astral Plane playermons
- ↑ src/mplayer.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 187: Helm replacement for healers
- ↑ src/mplayer.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 212: Helm replacement for clerics
- ↑ src/mplayer.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 246: Helm replacement for wizards
- ↑ src/do_wear.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 462-L473: wearing helm of opposite alignment
- ↑ src/do_wear.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 503
- ↑ src/attrib.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 1318-L1362: uchangealign() function, called when wearing or removing helm
- ↑ src/attrib.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 1347-L1348: call to summon_furies()
- ↑ src/makemon.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 2603-L2612: summon_furies() function
- ↑ src/do_wear.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 468-L471
- ↑ src/do_wear.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 552-L557
- ↑ src/do_wear.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 2228-L2237
- ↑ src/pray.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 313-L317
- ↑ src/pray.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 1293-L1295
- ↑ src/worn.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 908-L910
- ↑ src/worn.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 862-L867
- ↑ src/pray.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 1864-L1867
- ↑ src/attrib.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 1345
- ↑ src/attrib.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 1352-L1356
- ↑ src/do_wear.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 2231
- ↑ src/do_wear.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 2233
