Kicking boots

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[Combat boots.png Jungle boots.png Hiking boots.png Mud boots.png Buckled boots.png Riding boots.png Snow boots.png
kicking boots
Appearance random
Slot boots
AC 1
Special
Base price 8 zm
Weight 50
Material iron

Kicking boots are a pair of magical boots that appear in NetHack. They are made of iron, and have a randomized appearance; the default one associated with it is "a pair of buckled boots".[1]

Description

When worn, kicking boots give a +5 bonus to kick attacks against monsters that are not thick-skinned (for +2.5 average bonus damage) - kicking a monster while wearing these boots may also knock them backwards.[2] Kicking boots also increase the distance that kicked objects travel, and will guarantee success when kicking down doors.[3]

The following information pertains to an upcoming version (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 d1b5b39, wearing kicking boots always prevents kick attacks from dealing no damage - other clumsy kick messages will still occur.

Strategy

As armor, they can be a useful supplement for early-game adventurers, especially those lacking weapons (e.g., weaponless conduct, had them stolen by a nymph, etc.), but outside of those scenarios they are usually superseded down the line by other boots such as speed boots. While they can be used to reliably reveal secret passages and hidden doors, this can also be provided by a stethoscope, searching aid or high Luck.

Identification

Kicking boots may be identified in several ways: they are the only boots with a randomized appearance that weigh 50 aum, and can be detected by an increase in the failure rate of spells or rubbing them on a touchstone. As they are usually the same price as elven boots, price identification can also reveal kicking boots for characters that do not have intrinsic stealth.

You can also test for them by kicking rocks or other junk objects - of note is that you may be able to move an otherwise-immobile loadstone while wearing kicking boots. If all else fails, repeatedly kicking open secret passages and (hidden) doors on the first try can signify worn kicking boots, although this is less reliable if you are a Monk or Samurai.

History

Kicking boots first appear in SLASH 6, a variant based on NetHack 3.1.3. They make their vanilla NetHack debut in NetHack 3.3.0.

In NetHack 3.6.0, the weight of kicking boots was changed from 15 aum to 50 in commit 8f758cc.

Variants

EvilHack

In EvilHack, Croesus has a 12 chance of generating with gold kicking boots.

References