Shanta-pata

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Name	shanta-pata
Appearance	ornate gauntlet-sword
Damage vs. small	1d8
Damage vs. large	1d12
To-hit bonus	+0
Weapon skill	[[long sword/bare hands]]
Size	one-handed
Base price	15 zm (+10/positive enchant)
Weight	40
Material	metal

)
Name	twingun shanta
Appearance	gun-katar
Damage vs. small	1d4
Damage vs. large	1d4
To-hit bonus	+2
Weapon skill	[[firearms/bare hands]]
Size	one-handed
Base price	15 zm (+10/positive enchant)
Weight	40
Material	metal

A shanta-pata is a type of weapon that appears in dNetHack, notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack. It is a one-handed slashing/piercing weapon that appears as an ornate gauntlet-sword when unidentified. It uses the higher of the long sword and bare hands skill. At skilled and expert, it receives the create openings and penetrate armor expert traits.

When applied, a shanta-pata transforms into a twingun shanta, which is a firearm dealing piercing damage that has a fixed rate of fire of two bullets regardless of skill multishot bonuses, but still subject to artifact and spirit multishot bonuses. Switching between forms does not use a turn. It uses the bare hands skill when used in melee and has a range of 15 squares when fired.

They are typically made of metal. They can also be made of silver, gold, iron, mithril, platinum, green-steel and dragonhide. There are no artifact shanta-patas nor artifact twingun shanta.

Generation

Shanta-patas make up ¹⁄₁₀₀₀ of randomly generated weapons. Shops can sell both shanta-patas and twingun shantas.

Vampire undead hunters will start the game with a shanta-pata ¹⁄₅ of the time.

Undead hunters will find a shanta-pata in their quest home level in the box near the forge 50% of the time.

Description

When wielded in either hand and in either form, the pata protects the user's hand, adding half its enchantment to AC and DR, on top of 2 AC and 4 DR to the glove slot. Object material factors into base AC and DR, but not enchantment bonuses. Additionally, attacking in melee, using a trephination kit, phlebotomy kit (transfusing and drawing, not from deilement upgrades) or a bullet mold will bloody the pata for 10 turns non-additively.

Once the veil is pierced, the shanta-pata will get a damage bonus equal to half of your impurity (¹⁄₄ while in twingun form) and an additional base damage * (insight/100) against monsters without player-style magic resistance up to +1x base damage at 100 insight. Shooting the pata also applies these bonuses, both for firing and attacking in melee in twingun form.

While in its twingun shanta form, attacking in melee will cause the pata to fire two shots up to 15 squares away to the diagonals of the direction of the attack, i.e. in a V when attacking orthogonally and in a T when attacking diagonally.

s.......s    ....s.... 
.s.....s.    ....s.... 
..s...s..    ....s.... 
...sXs...    ...XsX... 
...X@X...    ssss@ssss 
...sXs...    ...XsX... 
..s...s..    ....s.... 
.s.....s.    ....s.... 
s.......s    ....s.... 

Attacking     Attacking
orthogonally  diagonally

The twinguns will not fire unless there is a valid target in the path of the projectiles (peacefuls are not included as valid targets). The attacks also do not trigger unless the ammunition is quivered beforehand.

Strategy

The shanta-pata and its gun form stand out as an incredibly versatile weapon with few drawbacks. They are especially useful for undead hunters since most undead hunters will want to be increasing their smithing skill anyways, making the shanta-pata an ideal candidate since it is a viable weapon that also gains AC and DR while wielded. For most undead hunters, their quest is the first place where they can find one. In the early game most characters won't have a very big supply of bullets unless they happen to have gotten very lucky with the right sunless sea branch or otherwise obtained a bullet fabber from a bones pile. Most undead hunters will want to hit level 7 early for the intrinsic speed, afer which they can more easily use their bullet mold until they get skilled in firearms, allowing them to make bullets themselves at a forge. Either way, early on the shanta-pata form will likely be the main offensive use for the weapon, which also has the benefit of training long sword early on.

In the late game the shanta-pata still makes for a very useful offhand and can be two-weaponed with another impurity weapon or high damage outputting artifact. This has the benefit of allowing for 0-turn AC increases by switching the offhand and main hand, and can add 2 shots to every melee attack made when used in twingun form. Note that although attacks made with a shining shanta-pata will bypass displacement, bullets shot with a shining twingun shanta do not, even if the bullets are also shining. This is particularly impactful when fighting the mist wolves and the Moon's Chosen.

It is probably not worth trying to get the full +1x bonus damage unless diving to R'lyeh was already the plan. Culting the shanta-pata will already make it a very viable late game weapon and can further be enhanced by undead hunters with the appropriate spells without needing to grind out 100 insight. In the early game, a spellbook of fireball or cone of cold will be hard to come by, especially since it can't be prayed for by undead hunters. Magic damage is broadly speaking resisted less often than either damage types, however many specific foes will resist either fire or cold but not both. It might be optimal to switch between them depending on what monsters are bound to appear in a given branch, although practically speaking you'll want to be using whichever you find first. For any spare wishes, consider wishing for a spellbook of acid splash.

Its fixed rate of fire even makes it a viable wish for characters who can't get the appropriate firearm skill, where it should be wished for as a good base material such as mithril (lightweight, silver flameable) dragonhide (better AC/DR bonuses) or gemstone (heavier).

Origin

Historically, a dandpata (staff-blade) or gauntlet-sword is an Indian weapon estimated to have first appeared around the 12th century; a more exact date of origin is currently unknown. Most patas are double-edged straight swords with lengths comparable to a fencing rapier that is attached at the base to a half gauntlet instead of a hilt through the sword's tang – such that the point is always pointing the same way as the hand when worn. It was traditionally used in conjunction with another weapon such as an axe, javelin or another pata, or alternatively with a buckler in the offhand. The gauntlet covers the palm and the wrist but is open on the underside with a bar in the middle to allow for better control of the blade. Due to this construction, the pata completely restricts the movement of the wrist, which encourages footwork and broader slashing motions over thrusts and quick cuts. It is believed to have been used to great effect from horseback in a similar manner to a cavalry saber and is most closely associated with its military use by the Mughal and Maratha empires during the 17th and 18th century (by the latter more so than the former). Figures such as the Maratha empire's sovereign Shivaji and his general Tanaji Malusare were said to have used the weapon in their sieges. The pata is thought to be an evolution of the previous Vujayanagara katar, with the metal hood becoming the gauntlet and the sword elongating to about twice the length.

In both the Ramayana and the Mahabharata Shanta is mentioned in the story regarding the temptation of Rishyasringa (deer-horned), who performs yajnas for the kingdom of Anga that end the drought Indra had punished them with. Afterward, she is wed to Rishyaringa to avoid his father's – Vibhandaka – wrath, and lives out a life of austerity in the forest where he grew up. Rishyaringa and Shanta are mentioned again in Dasharatha's story, where Rashyaringa is called upon to perform a puthrakamesti yagnam (roughly fire offering in desire of children) to beget him children.

dNetHack's pata is a mixture of an extendible katar blade and an ornate pata gauntlet with two pistols embedded at an angle. It takes after similar weapons with two forms, inspired by Bloodborne's trick weapons, specifically the Evelyn and Chikage.

Messages

You open and contract <the shanta-pata>.

You applied a shanta-pata.

You extend and close <the twingun shanta>.

You applied a twingun shanta.

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