Orcish arrow
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| |
|---|---|
| Name | orcish arrow |
| Appearance | crude arrow |
| Damage vs. small | 1d5 |
| Damage vs. large | 1d6 |
| To-hit bonus | +0 |
| Weapon skill | bow |
| Size | one-handed |
| Base price | 2 zm (+10/positive enchant) |
| Weight | 1 |
| Material | iron |
An orcish arrow is a type of projectile that appears in NetHack. It is made of iron, and appears as a crude arrow when unidentified.
Contents
Generation
Orcish heroes, Barbarians, Knights, Samurai, and Valkyries start the game with knowledge of the orcish arrow. Orcish Rangers start each game with +0 and +2 stacks of orcish arrows in place of the role's standard arrows.[1][2]
Uruk-hai have a 1⁄3 chance of being generated with an orcish bow and 3–14 poisoned orcish arrows, and orc-captains have an effective 1⁄6 chance of generating with an orcish bow and arrows.[3] [4][5]
Description
Orcish arrows are made for use with a bow, and gain +1 multishot when fired by an orc (including an orcish hero) from an orcish bow.[6]
Strategy
Orcish arrows are one of many poisonous threats in the early stages of the game, and one of the primary reasons that groups of Uruk-hai (and groups of orcs in general) are best dealt with via crowd control strategies such as funneling them into hallways: a hero that has not yet obtained poison resistance may have their game unceremoniously ended by a distantly shot poisoned arrow. This also makes Orcish Town especially perilous to break into, since the level and others within the Gnomish Mines will be full of Uruk-hai and orc captains.
In theory, heroes may want a supply of poisoned projectiles to use against monsters, which can offset their otherwise-lower damage compared to other arrows - in practice, only orcish Rangers and other orcish bow-users will be able to get the most out of them: a hero will also want poison resistance to best deal with the projectiles in the first place, and many roles with early poison resistance are not particularly bow-proficient.
Non-orcish bow users may still consider them as a substitute for their primary arrow stack, at least until they can find enchant weapon scrolls and a luckstone or other luck item to minimize projectile mulching. Other heroes can still pick up any orcish arrows left behind to prevent other monsters from becoming a threat with them until they gain poison resistance.
History
The orcish arrow is introduced in NetHack 3.0.0.
Variants
SLASH'EM
In SLASH'EM, upgrading orcish arrows will produce standard arrows.
dNetHack
In dNetHack, notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack, orcish arrows deal 1d5 damage to small monsters and 1d8 damage to large monsters, with a -1 to-hit penalty.
EvilHack
In EvilHack, several more monsters are generated with orcish bows and arrows:
- Watchmen and soldiers that are orcish have a 1⁄3 chance of generating with orcish bows and arrows, and orcish sergeants generated in stronghold areas may also generate with orcish bows and arrows.
- Goblin outriders each have a 1⁄3 chance of generating with an orcish bow and a stack of 3–14 poisoned orcish arrows.
- The ice trolls stationed in each of the watch towers on the last floor of the Ice Queen's Realm are each generated with an uncursed orcish bow and 100 uncursed orcish arrows at level creation.
- Medusa is always generated with an orcish bow and 25-40 orcish arrows that may be erosion-proof.
- The mariliths flanking the up stair on the second floor of Vecna's Domain are each generated with an uncursed orcish bow and 50 uncursed orcish arrows at level creation, while a third marilith occupying the cell near the drawbridge is generated with an uncursed orcish bow and 100 uncursed orcish arrows at level creation.
- The tower containing the magic portal to the Wizard's Tower is guarded by four mariliths in small rooms surrounding the tower, and each is generated with an uncursed orcish bow and 100 uncursed orcish arrows at level creation—within the Wizard's Tower proper, four more mariliths guard the entrance hall within the fort-like structure on the ground floor, and each of them are also generated with an uncursed orcish bow and 100 uncursed orcish arrows at level creation.
Orcish Rangers that invoke The Longbow of Diana will generate orcish arrows instead of standard ones.
Orcish arrows can be used at a forge to create a couple of items:
- 2 orcish arrows can be combined with a knife to create an orcish dagger.
- 2 orcish arrows can be combined with an orcish dagger to create an orcish spear.
Hack'EM
In Hack'EM, upgrading orcish arrows will produce standard arrows, and upgrading elven arrows will produce orcish arrows.
In addition to EvilHack forge recipes, 2 darts can be combined with 2 orcish arrows to create a knife.
