Spear
) 
| |
|---|---|
| Name | spear |
| Appearance | spear |
| Damage vs. small | 1d6 |
| Damage vs. large | 1d8 |
| To-hit bonus | +0 |
| Weapon skill | spear |
| Size | one-handed |
| Base price | 3 zm (+10/positive enchant) |
| Weight | 30 |
| Material | iron |
A spear is a type of weapon that appears in NetHack. It is a stackable one-handed weapon that can be used in melee or thrown as a projectile, and uses the spear. It is made of iron.
Generation
Human Valkyries start each game with a +1 spear, while dwarven Valkyries are given a dwarvish spear of the same enchantment in place of a normal spear.[1][2]
Spears make up 1⁄20 (5%) of all weapons that are randomly generated on the ground, in general shops or as death drops. Used armor dealerships and antique weapons outlets can also stock spears.
Some monsters can be generated with a spear.
- Watchmen and soldiers in the Yendorian army have an effective 1⁄3 chance of being generated with a spear as their primary weapon.[3]
- Guards have a 1⁄7 chance of generating with a spear as their secondary weapon.[4]
- Salamanders have a 6⁄7 chance of generating with a spear.[5]
- Ice devils have a 1⁄4 chance of generating with a spear.[6]
- Player monsters that are not monks and are created on the Astral Plane have an effective 25⁄291 chance (~8.59%) of generating with a stack of up to 4 spears as their initial weapons before role-based replacements are applied.[8][9][10]
Description
A spear inflicts piercing damage, and deals 1d6 damage versus small monsters and 1d8 versus large monsters. Spears have a +2 to-hit bonus when thrown and can be multishot, and have a separate +2 to-hit bonus against kebabable monster classes.[11][12][13][14] Cave Dwellers get a +1 multishot bonus for throwing spears.[15]
In terms of monster weapon preference, monsters will prefer a standard spear to an orcish spear as both a melee or ranged weapon, and will similar prefer an elven spear or better to the standard spear.[16][17]
Strategy
In the absence of any ability to train the dagger skill, a small stack of spears is a powerful ranged weapon for any Cave Dweller or Cleric lucky enough to find more than one: however, most heroes will require an antique weapons outlet to amass multiple spears in any timely manner, and they are also quite heavy, with four spears outweighing a single pick-axe.
History
The spear first appears in Hack 1.21 and Hack for PDP-11, which are based on Jay Fenlason's Hack, and is included in the initial item list for Hack 1.0.
From Hack 1.0 onward, the spear has been the subject of significant changes to the code over several versions:
- In versions up to NetHack 3.3.1, including variants based on those versions, Knights start the game with a +2 spear. Their starting weapon is changed to a long sword in NetHack 3.4.0.
- In versions up to NetHack 3.4.3, spears cannot be multishot. NetHack 3.6.0 makes spears and many other weapons eligible for multishot.
- In versions up to NetHack 3.6.7, Valkyries start the game with a +1 long sword. NetHack 5.0.0 changes their starting weapon to a spear via commit c09ae332, similar to SLASH'EM.
Origin
The spear is a weapon designed for thrusting. Chimpanzees use very rudimentary spears, so it is likely that humans have used spears for an extremely long time.
Variants
Some NetHack variants enable monsters that are created with spears to generate with a stack of them.
SLASH'EM
In SLASH'EM, human Valkyries start the game with a +1 spear, while dwarven Valkyries are instead given a +1 dwarvish spear.[18][19] Lycanthropic heroes in any role that start with a silver spear (i.e. Undead Slayer) will instead receive a regular spear.[20][21]
Gnolls have a 1⁄3 a chance of being generated with a spear.[22] Yendorian army soldiers no longer generate with spears.
dNetHack
dNetHack adds some artifact spears:
- The Lance of Longinus is a lawful artifact spear made of silver (with silver spears not being a separate item).
- The Spear of Peace is a neutral, intelligent and Madmen-favoring wooden spear.
- Yorshka's Spear is a lawful Noble-favoring spear.
- The Rod of Seven Parts is a lawful intelligent platinum spear.
- Gungnir is a lawful, intelligent and Valkyrie-favoring artifact that can be created by successfully praying as a piously aligned lawful or neutral Valkyrie while wielding a non-artifact spear with a minimum enchantment of +5.
The Rod of Lordly Might is an artifact can be invoked to take on the form of a spear.
Fishing village map inclusions in the Outlands rings have a 1⁄9 chance of generating a spear on each square.
SpliceHack
In SpliceHack, merfolk heroes in any role that starts with a spear will be given a trident instead.
notdNetHack
In notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack, in addition to dNetHack details, Cavepeople start with a +1 spear instead of a club, and have the ability to knap soft stones into spearheads by applying rocks—their quest artifact, The Sceptre of Might, is also changed to a bone spear.
Shiro generates with an uncursed mineral spear when summoned by an Illithanachronounbinder.
EvilHack
In EvilHack, monsters that randomly generate with spears will generate with a stack of them.
Watchmen and soldiers that do not receive racial equipment have an effective 1⁄3 chance of generating with a stack of spears. Sea tortles have a 4⁄5 chance of generating with a stack of spears.
A spear can be created at a forge by combining 2 arrows and a dagger. Spears can be used to create many other items:
- A spear can be combined with 2 arrows to create a dwarvish spear.
- A spear can be combined with 2 crossbow bolts to create a javelin.
- A spear can be combined with a scimitar to create a trident.
- A spear can be combined with a dagger to create an axe.
- A spear can be combined with a broadsword to create a partisan.
- A spear can be combined with a stiletto to create a ranseur.
- A spear can be combined with a knife to create a spetum.
- A spear can be combined with a short sword to create a glaive.
- A spear can be combined with a battle-axe to create a bardiche.
- A spear can be combined with an axe to create a voulge.
- A spear can be combined with a saber to create a fauchard.
- A spear can be combined with a grappling hook to create a guisarme.
- A spear can be combined with a guisarme to create a bill-guisarme.
- A spear can be combined with a war hammer to create a bec de corbin.
- A spear can be combined with a heavy war hammer to create a lucern hammer.
Hack'EM
In Hack'EM, successfully untrapping a spear trap has a chance of generating an intact spear.
In addition to EvilHack forging recipes, a spear can be combined with a flail at a forge to create an aklys.
Upgrading a spear successfully will produce an elven spear, and upgrading an orcish spear will produce a regular spear.
Encyclopedia entry
- they come together with great random, and a spear is brast,
and one party brake his shield and the other one goes down,
horse and man, over his horse-tail and brake his neck, and
then the next candidate comes randoming in, and brast his
spear, and the other man brast his shield, and down he goes,
horse and man, over his horse-tail, and brake his neck, and
then there's another elected, and another and another and
still another, till the material is all used up; and when you
come to figure up results, you can't tell one fight from
another, nor who whipped; and as a picture of living, raging,
roaring battle, sho! why it's pale and noiseless - just
ghosts scuffling in a fog. Dear me, what would this barren
vocabulary get out of the mightiest spectacle? - the burning
of Rome in Nero's time, for instance? Why, it would merely
say 'Town burned down; no insurance; boy brast a window,
fireman brake his neck!' Why, that ain't a picture!
Twain ]
References
- ↑ src/u_init.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 161
- ↑ src/u_init.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 246
- ↑ src/makemon.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 190-L202
- ↑ src/makemon.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 216-L217: default for all mercenaries without cases handled in the lines above
- ↑ src/makemon.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 495-L499
- ↑ src/makemon.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 799-L803
- ↑ include/objects.h in NetHack 5.0.0, line 174-L392
- ↑ src/mplayer.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 150: 1⁄2 to get a random weapon—the designated range of objects covers weapons from the spear to the bullwhip inclusively in objects.h, and uses normal generation odds[7]
- ↑ src/mplayer.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 199: monks will always have either shuriken or no weapon
- ↑ src/mplayer.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 267-L271: Stackable thrown weapons may be generated in multiples
- ↑ src/weapon.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 70-L72
- ↑ src/weapon.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 167-L168
- ↑ src/dothrow.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 1432
- ↑ src/dothrow.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 2184-L2185
- ↑ src/dothrow.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 48-L52: Cave Dweller multishot
- ↑ src/weapon.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 499
- ↑ src/weapon.c in NetHack 5.0.0, line 697
- ↑ u_init.c in SLASH'EM 0.0.7E7F2, line 229: Valkyrie spear
- ↑ u_init.c in SLASH'EM 0.0.7E7F2, line 343: dwarven replacements
- ↑ u_init.c in SLASH'EM 0.0.7E7F2, line 217: Undead Slayer spear
- ↑ u_init.c in SLASH'EM 0.0.7E7F2, line 351: lycanthrope-safe spears
- ↑ makemon.c in SLASH'EM 0.0.7E7F2, line 684
