Potion of restore ability
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| |
|---|---|
| Name | potion of restore ability |
| Appearance | random |
| Base price | 100 zm |
| Weight | 20 |
| Monster use | Will not be used by monsters. |
A potion of restore ability is a type of magical potion that appears in NetHack. The default randomized appearance associated with the potion is a "pink potion".[1]
Contents
Generation
Wizards may be given a potion of restore ability as any of the three random potions in their starting inventory.[2]
Potions of restore ability make up 1⁄25 (4%) of all randomly-generated potions. General stores and liquor emporiums can stock potions of restore ability.
Description
A hero quaffing a potion of restore ability can regain lost attributes and experience levels dependent on the potion's beatitude:[3]
- An uncursed potion restores one randomly chosen attribute that is currently below its peak if possible, and also restores a single lost experience level if the hero's current level is below their peak.[4][5][6]
- A blessed potion restores all attributes and experience levels up to their highest peaks reached at once, if possible.[4][7]
- A cursed potion will print a message with no other effects and prompt the player to type-name the potion.[8]
- Quaffing the non-cursed potion with no lost attributes or experience levels will print a message with no other effects and prompt the player to type-name the potion.
A monster hit by a thrown or wielded potion of restore ability is restored to their maximum HP and has any blindness cured.[9] Monsters will not use this potion.
A hero subjected to vapors from a thrown, wielded or boiled potion of restore ability will have their attributes affected dependent on that potion's beatitude:[10] vapors from an uncursed potion will restore one lowered attribute to its peak, vapors from a blessed potion will restore all lowered attributes, and vapors from a cursed potion print a message with no other effect.[11][12][13]
Attribute restoration from the potion of restore ability ignores any active source of sustain ability.[14] Strength lost due to being weak from hunger is not counted for purposes of restoring lost attributes, nor are any attributes "lost" as a result of being re-rolled from the hero polymorphing into a monster of their own race.
Strategy
Potions of restore ability are the most reliable means of restoring any lost experience levels, especially with the potion blessed: a hero that lacks drain resistance would do well to keep one or two blessed potions safely stored, either nearby or in a bag within their inventory—this is especially true if they are planning to deal with level draining threats such as wraiths (including wraith farming) or Vlad the Impaler (whose speed can lead to nasty loss of experience levels). Blessed potions are just as useful for players that deliberately level drain the hero themselves, e.g. to gain high levels of intrinsic protection from aligned priests, re-allocate skill points, or reduce the difficulty of monster creation.
Potions of restore ability are always safe to quaff even if their beatitude is unknown, with the worst outcome being a lack of effect from the potion. While their ability to restore lost attributes can also be superseded by a unicorn horn or the restore ability spell, the non-cursed potion is completely reliable unlike the horn or spell (barring cases involving smoky or milky potions of restore ability): the spell requires decently high skill in healing spells or other means of lowering spellcasting failure rates, while applying a unicorn horn may require multiple uses to cure lowered stats (even if blessed) and does not work with a worn ring of sustain ability.[14][15]
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.
Per commit 43d331c4, unicorn horns no longer restore lost attributes at all, making potions and the spell more useful for this purpose.History
The potion of restore ability first appears in Hack 1.21, Hack for PDP-11 and PC/IX Hack, which are all based on Jay Fenlason's Hack, and is included in the initial item list for Hack 1.0—from these versions to NetHack 2.3e, it is known as the potion of restore strength, since strength is the only attribute the hero possesses in these versions. NetHack 3.0.0 introduces the other major attributes and gives the potion its current name, also allowing it to restore any affected attribute besides strength (dependent on the potion's beatitude).
The ability of the potion to restore lost experience levels is added in NetHack 3.6.1 via commit 59c357de.
Messages
- Wow! This makes you feel <better/great>!
- You quaffed a blessed potion of restore ability or inhaled its vapors, with "better" used if you still have lowered attributes or levels to restore afterward.
- Wow! This makes you feel good!
- You quaffed an uncursed potion of restore ability or inhaled its vapors.
- Ulch! This makes you feel mediocre!
- You quaffed a cursed potion of restore ability.
- Ulch! That potion smells terrible!
- You inhaled the vapors of a cursed potion.
- Your eyes sting.
- As above, but you are breathless.
Variants
Variants of NetHack based on NetHack 3.4.3 and earlier versions will likely not include the potion's ability to restore lost levels introduced in later versions. Several variants also limit or remove the unicorn horn's ability to restore lost attribute points, making potions of restore ability much more useful for this purpose.
SLASH'EM
In SLASH'EM, Flame Mages, Ice Mages, Necromancers, and Wizards may be given a potion of restore ability as any of the random potions in their starting inventories.[16][17][18][19] Healers start the game with knowledge of the potion of restore ability.[20]
The potion functions similarly to how it does in NetHack 3.4.3 and earlier versions, with an additional ability tied to changes in the variant's polymorph system: polymorphed items will revert to their initial form after some time, but dipping a polymorphed item in a potion of restore ability will make the change permanent and use up the potion.[21]
A monster hit by a thrown or wielded potion of restore ability is healed differently from NetHack:[22] they regains up to 400 HP and have any blindness cured, with any illness cured as well if the potion was not cursed, and if their HP is healed over their current maximum HP, that maximum is increased by 10 if the potion was blessed and by 5 otherwise, with their current HP set to that new maximum.[23]
The potion is more reliable for restoring lost attributes in SLASH'EM, since unicorn horns are reworked so that they must be significantly enchanted in order to consistently cure lost attributes and other conditions.
All of the above information also applies to SlashTHEM.
ZAPM
In ZAPM, the equivalent to the potion of restore ability from NetHack is the canister of restoration.
dNetHack
In dNetHack, notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack, the potion functions similarly to NetHack 3.4.3 with additional effects: quaffing an uncursed potion also restores 5 points of sanity, while quaffing a blessed potion also restores 20 points of sanity and one lost experience level, as well as curing mummy rot. The potion is made more useful for restoring attributes as well, since unicorn horns do not restore lowered attributes.
xNetHack
In xNetHack, the potion of restore ability is made more useful for restoring attributes, since unicorn horns do not restore lowered attributes. The potion also has several more effects:
- Quaffing a non-cursed potion of restore ability also heals wounded legs and cures confusion, stunning and hallucination, while a blessed potion additionally cures illness.
- A monster hit by a thrown or wielded potion of restore ability has any confusion and stunning cured instead of having their HP restored.
- Vapors from the uncursed potion will restore 1 point to a random lowered attribute, while vapors from the blessed potion restore 1 point to all lowered attributes.
- Dipping an item into a potion of restore ability has several effects depending on the item, and will use up the potion—a cursed potion simply has no effect in this case. The effects are listed below in order of priority, with the topmost condition being addressed if multiple conditions apply.
- Dipping an eroded weapon into a non-cursed potion will repair one level of erosion if the potion is uncursed, and will fully repair it if the potion is blessed. This will auto-identify the potion.
- Dipping a weapon with a negative enchantment into a non-cursed potion will raise its enchantment by 1 if the potion is uncursed, and will set it to +0 if the potion is blessed. This will auto-identify the potion.
- Dipping a spellbook that has been read at least once (other than a blank spellbook or the Book of the Dead) into a non-cursed potion will fully restore its freshness. This will auto-identify the potion.
- Dipping a thiefstone that is currently cancelled into a non-cursed potion will use up the potion, un-cancel the thiefstone and key its location to the hero's current square. Doing so with a cursed potion has no effect and does not use it up.
SpliceHack
In SpliceHack, the potion of restore ability is made more useful for restoring attributes, since unicorn horns do not restore lowered attributes.
Eating a non-cursed slice of cake has the same effect as quaffing a blessed potion of restore ability.
EvilHack
In EvilHack, the potion of restore ability is made more useful for restoring attributes, since unicorn horns do not restore lowered attributes.
A blessed potion of restore ability restores three to five lost experience levels rather than all of them, which is done to prevent trivial recovery from significant level drain (e.g. drain for gain). Monsters can drink the potion, and will do so if they are cancelled in order to cure the condition—a monster hit by the potion will also be un-cancelled.
Hack'EM
In Hack'EM, Healers start with knowledge of the potion's appearance as in SLASH'EM.
The potion of restore ability behaves as it does in the latest versions of NetHack, with the inclusion of its additional abilities from xNetHack and EvilHack, and monsters can quaff the potion as in EvilHack.
References
- ↑ src/objects.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 794
- ↑ src/u_init.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 166
- ↑ src/potion.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 596
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 src/potion.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 608
- ↑ src/potion.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 617
- ↑ src/potion.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 629
- ↑ src/potion.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 632
- ↑ src/potion.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 599
- ↑ src/potion.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1432
- ↑ src/potion.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1625
- ↑ src/potion.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1627
- ↑ src/potion.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1638
- ↑ src/potion.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1644
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 src/potion.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 603
- ↑ src/apply.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1995
- ↑ u_init.c in SLASH'EM 0.0.7E7F2, line 66
- ↑ u_init.c in SLASH'EM 0.0.7E7F2, line 96
- ↑ u_init.c in SLASH'EM 0.0.7E7F2, line 137
- ↑ u_init.c in SLASH'EM 0.0.7E7F2, line 246
- ↑ u_init.c in SLASH'EM 0.0.7E7F2, line 1078
- ↑ potion.c in SLASH'EM 0.0.7E7F2, line 2812
- ↑ potion.c in SLASH'EM 0.0.7E7F2, line 1251
- ↑ potion.c in SLASH'EM 0.0.7E7F2, line 1256
