Skill
- "Master" redirects here. For the rank title of a Monk at experience level 30, see Monk rank titles.
NetHack has a skill system that allows different roles of hero to attain different levels of proficiency in the use of various weapons, spellcasting and other fighting styles. Skills can be advanced using the enhance command when they are sufficiently trained, which is often achieved by landing enough significant hits with weapons, landing enough significant hits while fighting in a certain style, or else by successfully casting a spell enough times. Advancing a skill requires a skill slot, which is a finite resource.
Most skills in NetHack have four possible levels: Unskilled, Basic, Skilled and Expert. Martial arts and bare-handed combat have two levels beyond Expert: Master and Grand Master. Skills are not necessarily relevant for monsters outside of certain instances.
Training
Heroes with weapons of a certain skill class in their inventory will start with Basic skill level in that skill, which typically (but not always) overlaps with skills they are capable of training to Expert level and excludes ammunition that is not paired with a proper launcher.[1] The hero's starting spellcasting skills tend to be Unskilled in most schools with the exception of spell schools that are hardcoded to be at Basic level for certain roles, such as attack spells and enchantment spells for Wizards.[2] Heroes with a maximum skill level of Expert or higher in bare-handed combat and martial arts start with Basic in those skills.[3] Heroes that start with a steed will have Basic skill in riding.[4]
The menu for the 'enhance' command displays what skills are available to the hero and which skills have been trained to their maximum, and any skills that are not listed in the command's menu are considered to be restricted, with all listed skills being "unrestricted". Obtaining an artifact as a sacrifice gift will make its skill available for the hero to train to a minimum of Basic.
Technical details
The hero gains a skill slot each time they gain an experience level or they are crowned, for a maximum of 30 skill slots available—higher skill levels require more skill slots to be used. Weapon-based skills use twice as many skill slots as unarmed and non-weapon-based skills.[5] Level drain will thus typically result in loss of skill slots, and intelligence drain attacks can also reduce a hero's skill training.[6]
Melee weapon skills are trained by dealing more than 1 base damage (from this point referred to as a "meaningful hit") with a wielded weapon of that skill's class. Weapons that are designed for melee and throwing can have their skill trained by meaningful hits from either method—projectiles that are not designed for melee will not train skills when used in melee and must land meaningful hits when thrown, while ammunition that is designed for shooting requires them to be fired from the appropriate launcher weapon and land meaningful hits to train the skill.
Bare-handed fighting and martial arts are trained by performing unarmed combat, and due to how their checks for skill damage bonuses are performed, meaningful hits will only be counted 1⁄2 of the time for bare-handed combat and 3⁄4 of the time for martial arts.[7] Spellcasting skills are trained by successfully casting a spell, and increase the "use" counter by an amount equal to the spell's level regardless of whether that spell has any effect on monsters or the hero's surroundings.[8] Riding is trained by moving 101 squares per 1 percentage of skill while mounted upon a steed.[9]
The table below shows the total number of successful uses of a skill that is required to reach each level, and the skill slots required to advance the skill to that level—skills that are at Basic level when a game starts are 'pre-credited' with 20 successful uses:
| Skill level | Successful uses | Slots required for weapons | (total) | Slots required for non-weapons | (total) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unskilled | 0 | ||||
| Basic | 20 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Skilled | 80 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| Expert | 180 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 4 |
| Master | 320 | 2 | 6 | ||
| Grand Master | 500 | 3 | 9 |
Skill tables
| Key | |
|---|---|
| - | Restricted |
| b | Basic |
| S | Skilled |
| E | Expert |
| M | Master |
| GM | Grand Master |
Weapon skills
| Arc | Bar | Cav | Hea | Kni | Mon | Pri | Rog | Ran | Sam | Tou | Val | Wiz | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| dagger | b | b | b | S | b | - | - | E | E | b | E | E | E |
| knife | b | - | S | E | b | - | - | E | S | S | S | - | S |
| axe | - | E | S | - | S | - | - | - | S | - | b | E | S |
| pick-axe | E | S | b | - | b | - | - | - | b | - | b | S | - |
| short sword | b | E | - | S | S | - | - | E | b | E | E | S | b |
| broadsword | - | S | - | - | S | - | - | S | - | S | b | S | - |
| long sword | - | S | - | - | E | - | - | S | - | E | b | E | - |
| two-handed sword | - | E | - | - | S | - | - | b | - | E | b | E | - |
| saber | E | S | - | b | S | - | - | S | - | b | S | b | - |
| club | S | S | E | S | b | - | E | S | - | - | - | - | S |
| mace | - | S | E | b | S | - | E | S | - | - | b | - | b |
| morning star | - | S | b | - | S | - | E | b | b | - | b | - | - |
| flail | - | b | S | - | b | - | E | b | S | S | b | - | - |
| Arc | Bar | Cav | Hea | Kni | Mon | Pri | Rog | Ran | Sam | Tou | Val | Wiz | |
| hammer | - | E | S | - | b | - | E | b | b | - | b | E | - |
| quarterstaff | S | b | E | E | - | b | E | - | b | b | b | b | E |
| polearms | - | - | S | b | S | - | S | b | S | S | b | S | S |
| spear | - | S | E | b | S | b | S | b | E | S | b | E | b |
| trident | - | S | S | b | b | - | S | - | b | - | b | b | b |
| lance | - | - | - | - | E | - | b | - | - | S | b | S | - |
| bow | - | b | S | - | b | - | b | - | E | E | b | - | - |
| sling | S | - | E | S | - | - | b | - | E | - | b | b | S |
| crossbow | - | - | - | - | S | b | b | E | E | - | b | - | - |
| dart | b | - | - | E | - | - | b | E | E | - | E | - | E |
| shuriken | - | - | - | S | - | b | b | S | S | E | b | - | b |
| boomerang | E | - | E | - | - | - | b | - | E | - | b | - | - |
| whip | E | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | b | - | b | - | - |
| unicorn horn | S | - | b | E | - | - | S | - | - | - | S | - | - |
The following information pertains to an upcoming version (NetHack 3.7.0). If this version is now released, please verify that the information below is still accurate, then update the page to incorporate it.
The scimitar skill has been deleted, and merged into the saber skill. Barbarians have their saber skill raised from Basic to Skilled.Other combat skills
| Arc | Bar | Cav | Hea | Kni | Mon | Pri | Rog | Ran | Sam | Tou | Val | Wiz | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| bare hands | E | M | M | b | E | - | b | E | b | - | S | E | b |
| two weapon combat | b | b | - | - | S | - | - | E | - | E | S | S | - |
| riding | b | b | - | - | E | - | - | b | b | S | b | S | b |
| martial arts | - | - | - | - | - | GM | - | - | - | M | - | - | - |
Spell skills
| Arc | Bar | Cav | Hea | Kni | Mon | Pri | Rog | Ran | Sam | Tou | Val | Wiz | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| attack | b | b | b | - | S | b | - | - | - | b | - | b | E |
| healing | b | - | - | E | S | E | E | - | b | - | - | - | S |
| divination | E | - | - | - | - | b | E | S | E | b | b | - | E |
| enchantment | - | - | - | - | - | b | - | - | - | - | b | - | S |
| clerical | - | - | - | - | S | S | E | - | - | S | - | - | S |
| escape | - | b | - | - | - | S | - | S | b | - | S | b | E |
| matter | b | - | S | - | - | b | - | S | - | - | - | - | E |
Effects of skill
Training the hero's skill levels in certain abilities grant improvements to those abilities in turn, which can include extra damage or potency, better to-hit rolls, a greater range, and additional effects.
Weapons and combat
Higher skill in weaponry, two-weapon combat and unarmed combat improves the hero's to-hit and damage with those weapons (or lack of).[10] Two-weapon combat exclusively applies to-hit penalties to reflect the difficulty required in utilizing both weapons effectively at once, with less severe reductions applied at higher skill levels; damage is also somewhat reduced at levels below Skilled, with a slight bonus for Expert skill. Conversely, unarmed combat almost entirely applies bonuses even when at Unskilled and increases those bonuses with the hero's skill levels, with martial arts having a much higher curve of bonuses compared to bare-handed combat of the same skill level.
Riding
Your skill at riding affects your chances of successfully applying a saddle.[11] It also affects your chance of hitting[12] and the damage you inflict[13] when riding. Also, you need at least Basic skill to pick up items or loot a container on the ground[14] or search one for traps,[15] dip something into a pool,[16] set a trap[17] or disarm one[18] or engrave on the floor[19] while riding. Also, if your steed is capable of lifting (and moving over) boulders, you need Basic skill to make them use this ability.[20]
Spellcasting
A hero with a higher skill level in a school of spells has a lower spellcasting failure rate for spells in that school, and ray-type spells also have their to-hit improved by a higher skill level for their spell school.[21] A hero that has higher skill in a school of spells will have a more accurate memory percentage range reported for spells within that that school when viewing them via + or Z.[22] Wizards with skill in a school of spells will learn the appearance of spellbooks corresponding to their skill level and the spells' levels, with higher skill revealing more spellbook appearances.[23]
Some spells have different effects depending on the skill level they are cast at:[24]
- The protection spell's effects take twice as long to decay if cast at Expert level.[25]
- Cone of cold and fireball create explosions rather than rays when cast at Skilled or higher.[26]
- Spells that replicate the effects of reading or quaffing certain items will perform the effects of blessed items when cast at Skilled or higher.[27][28]
- The healing and extra healing spells restore more HP as with the blessed potions of healing and extra healing.[29]
- The detect monsters spell grants monster detection for several turns as with the blessed potion of monster detection.[28]
- The confuse monster spell grants several 'charges' of confuse monster as with the blessed scroll of confuse monster.[27]
- The levitation spell grants controlled levitation that allows the hero to land at will, as with the blessed potion of levitation.[28]
- The remove curse spell uncurses all cursed items in the hero's inventory besides just worn and wielded items, as with the blessed scroll of remove curse.[27]
- The charm monster spell has a higher chance of taming or pacifying monsters as with the blessed scroll of taming.[27]
- The detect food spell grants food appraisal as with the blessed scroll of food detection.[27]
- The cause fear spell behaves as reading a blessed scroll of scare monster does.[27]
- The identify spell has the same odds of identifying items as a blessed scroll of identify does.[27]
- The haste self spell behaves mostly as a blessed potion of speed does, minus its ability to repair wounded legs.[28]
- The detect treasure spell detects objects as the blessed potion of object detection does.[28]
- The restore ability spell restores lowered ability scores as the blessed potion of restore ability does.[28]
- The clairvoyance spell grants several turns of passive clairvoyance in addition to applying the effect once when cast at Skilled or higher.[30]
- The jumping spell has a maximum range dependent on the hero's skill level, with higher skill levels allowing the hero to target more squares further from them.[31]
Combat skill levels and bonuses
The following tables detail the amount of hits and skill slots required to attain a particular level of skill and the to-hit and damage bonuses or penalties applied accordingly:
| Needed | Weapon | Two-weapon | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skill level | Hits | Exp | +Hit | +Dam | +Hit | +Dam |
| Unskilled | 0 | 0 | −4 | −2 | −9 | −3 |
| Basic | 20 | 1 | 0 | 0 | −7 | −1 |
| Skilled | 80 | 2 | 2 | 1 | −5 | 0 |
| Expert | 180 | 3 | 3 | 2 | −3 | 1 |
| Needed | Riding | Bare-hand | Martial | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skill level | Hits | Exp | +Hit | +Dam | +Hit | +Dam | +Hit | +Dam |
| Unskilled | 0 | 0 | −2 | 0 | +1 | 0 | +2 | +1 |
| Basic | 20 | 1 | −1 | 0 | +1 | +1 | +3 | +3 |
| Skilled | 80 | 1 | 0 | +1 | +2 | +1 | +4 | +4 |
| Expert | 180 | 2 | 0 | +2 | +2 | +2 | +5 | +6 |
| Master | 320 | 2 | — | — | +3 | +2 | +6 | +7 |
| Grand Master | 500 | 3 | — | — | +3 | +3 | +7 | +9 |
History
The modern skill system is introduced in NetHack 3.2.0.
In versions up to NetHack 3.4.3, bare-handed combat and martial arts skills never grant a to-hit bonus, and their damage bonuses apply only to 1⁄2 of all hits for bare-handed combat and 3⁄4 of all hits for martial arts.[32][33][34] The former is corrected in NetHack 3.6.0, while the latter remains in effect for that version and is resolved in later versions.
Messages
- You feel more confident in your (weapon/fighting/spell casting) skills.
- You have successfully trained a skill enough to advance it, and have the required amount of skill slots to do so.
- You feel you could be more dangerous!
- You used the enhance command to improve a skill, and have spare skill slots left over.
Variants
SLASH'EM
In SLASH'EM, advancing a spell skill costs as much as weapon skills.[35]
UnNetHack
UnNetHack changes the number of successful uses of a skill required to reach each level. These values are:
| Skill level | Successful uses | Old value |
|---|---|---|
| Unskilled | 0 | 0 |
| Basic | 100 | 20 |
| Skilled | 200 | 80 |
| Expert | 400 | 180 |
| Master | 800 | 320 |
| Grand Master | 1600 | 500 |
Spell skills, however, advance four times as fast until the player is Skilled in the relevant skill, after that, the skill only advances twice as fast as shown in the table above.
External links
- Kate Nepveu's skill spoilers for NetHack 3.4.3
References
- ↑ src/weapon.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 1750-L1761
- ↑ src/weapon.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 1763-L1771
- ↑ src/weapon.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 1783-L1785
- ↑ src/weapon.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 1787-L1789
- ↑ src/weapon.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 1130-L1152
- ↑ src/uhitm.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 3268-L3271
- ↑ src/uhitm.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 842-L850
- ↑ src/spell.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 1597-L1599
- ↑ src/steed.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 385-L398
- ↑ src/uhitm.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 413-L424
- ↑ steed.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 112
- ↑ weapon.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 1147
- ↑ weapon.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 1216
- ↑ pickup.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 1468
- ↑ trap.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 3494
- ↑ potion.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 1554
- ↑ apply.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 2031
- ↑ trap.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 3110
- ↑ engrave.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 139
- ↑ hack.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 269
- ↑ src/zap.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 3514-L3528: spell_hit_bonus() function
- ↑ src/spell.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 2311-L2333
- ↑ src/spell.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 861-L906: skill_based_spellbook_id() function
- ↑ src/spell.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 1404-L1410
- ↑ src/spell.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 1169-L1170
- ↑ src/spell.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 1419-L1454
- ↑ 27.0 27.1 27.2 27.3 27.4 27.5 27.6 src/spell.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 1516-L1525
- ↑ 28.0 28.1 28.2 28.3 28.4 28.5 src/spell.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 1533-L1542
- ↑ src/spell.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 1480-L1485: healing and extra healing spells duplicate potions, but are applied as a directional effect like wands
- ↑ src/spell.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 1572-L1580
- ↑ src/spell.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 1584-L1587
- ↑ uhitm.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 283: uwep is false if no weapon is wielded
- ↑ uhitm.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 546
- ↑ uhitm.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 904
- ↑ Source:SLASH'EM_0.0.7E7F2/weapon.c#line990
This page may need to be updated for the current version of NetHack.
It may contain text specific to NetHack 3.4.3. Information on this page may be out of date.
Editors: After reviewing this page and making necessary edits, please change the {{nethack-343}} tag to the current version's tag or {{noversion}} as appropriate.