Spellbook of invisibility

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spellbook of
+   invisibility   Light green spellbook.png
Appearance random
Abundance 2.54%
Base price 400 zm
Weight 50
Turns to read 15
Ink to write 20–39
Spell type escape
Level 4
Power cost 20 Pw
Direction non-directional
Equivalent potion of invisibility
Special for ranger

In NetHack, the spellbook of invisibility can be read to learn the spell of invisibility. It is a level 4 escape spell, and the spellbook takes roughly 15 turns to read. It is the special spell for Rangers.

Generation

There is a ~2.54% chance that a randomly generated spellbook is a spellbook of invisibility.

A spellbook of invisibility is always generated in a chest on the middle level of Vlad's Tower.[1]

A spellbook of levitation requires 20 to 39 charges from a magic marker to write.

Description

Casting this spell at any skill level causes you to become invisible for 31 to 45 (more) turns.

The following information pertains to an upcoming version (NetHack 3.7.0). If this version is now released, please verify that it is still accurate, then update the page to incorporate this information.

As of commit f83a57c5, the spell grants more turns of invisibility, like an uncursed potion of invisibility.

Strategy

Though this spell might be useful if you want temporary invisibility that does not prevent you entering shops, there are multiple sources of both temporary and permanent invisibility (e.g. via wand, ring, cloak, or potion) that are more convenient. At worst, if you are permanently invisible in a way that cannot be undone, you can still enter shops using a mummy wrapping or teleportation; permanent invisibility is often easier to obtain than the spell itself, and Rangers in particular are very unlikely to make much use of this spell before they find a mummy wrapping.

One niche use for the spell is to cast it before eating a stalker corpse to make the invisibility permanent and gain the see invisible intrinsic - even then, other methods for this niche are more available in comparison to the spell, to say nothing of having a ring or cloak that can ideally be worn and removed at will.

History

The spellbook of invisibility is introduced with all other spellbooks in NetHack 1.3d.

Variants

Some variants make the spell of invisibility more viable, usually as part of re-balancing spells.

SLASH'EM

In SLASH'EM, the spell of invisibility is moved to the newly-added list of body spells, and is still a fourth-level spell.

dNetHack

In dNetHack, invisibility is one of the spells that can take advantage of spell maintenance.

The Windowless Tower has a spellbook of invisibility in the same place as Vlad the Impaler's original dwelling.

FIQHack

In FIQHack, invisibility is also a spell that can be maintained and kept in effect.

xNetHack

In xNetHack, the spellbook of invisibility is no longer randomly generated, but can still be written or wished for. It is now a level 1 escape spell, making it far easier to write and cast, and permanent invisibility is also no longer available as an intrinsic (though extrinsic sources are unchanged). This gives the spell much more of a use case compared to vanilla NetHack.

EvilHack

In EvilHack, the spell of invisibility is lowered to a level 3 escape spell, making it more feasible for Rangers and some other roles to utilize; this also makes the spellbook an eligible candidate to generate as part of a Wizard's starting inventory.

References