Yellow dragon scale mail

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[   yellow dragon scale mail   Yellow dragon scale mail.png
Appearance yellow dragon scale mail
Slot body armor
AC 9
Special
Base price 900 zm
Weight 40
Material dragon hide

Yellow dragon scale mail is a type of body armor that appears in NetHack. It is made of dragon hide like all dragon scale mail.

Generation

Yellow dragon scale mail is not randomly generated, though it can be wished for or found in bones. Reading a non-cursed scroll of enchant armor that targets worn red dragon scales will convert them into mail, with a blessed scroll adding a point of enchantment.

Player monsters that are not monks generated on the Astral Plane have a 19 chance of generating with yellow dragon scale mail as their initial body armor before role-specific replacements.[1]

Description

While worn, yellow dragon scale mail confers 9 base AC and acid resistance. Uncontrolled polymorph while wearing yellow dragon scale mail will revert them to scales and turn the wearer into a yellow dragon.[2][3]

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.

Per commit 9942b65d, extrinsic sources of an elemental resistance now has a 99100 chance of protecting your inventory from that type of damage. Per commit ef1eeed7, both the scales and scale mail also provide stoning resistance.

Strategy

Main article: Dragon scale mail

Yellow dragon scale mail is perhaps the type that is least used by most characters: though acid resistance cannot be obtained intrinsically without polymorph, and acid damage can be annoying to deal with (especially in terms of inventory damage), many sources of acid are either sessile or slow in movement speed. The remaining major acidic threats consist of the yellow dragon, whose breath can be blocked with reflection, and the Chromatic Dragon, who has several breath weapons and all but warrants reflection when dealing with her. Even for characters that have constant trouble with acid, an alchemy smock can suffice for those with an open cloak slot.

Mind flayer pets are among those that will most appreciate a suit of yellow dragon mail, and characters opting to stick to a polyform with multiple attacks (e.g. speed ascension play as a master mind flayer) may also consider yellow dragon scale mail.

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.

Yellow dragon scale mail is somewhat more likely to be considered for some characters since it confers extrinsic acid resistance and stoning resistance: they gain a source of acid damage protection for their inventory, and the stoning resistance allows a character to easily fight threats such as cockatrices and chickatrices, wield and consume their corpses, and also trivialize Medusa without instantly killing her. Vegetarian, vegan and foodless Monks that opt for body armor and cover magic resistance and reflction via other means may consider yellow dragon scale mail, which removes the threat of stoning without breaking the conducts.

History

Yellow dragon scale mail first appears with most other colors of dragon scale mail in NetHack 3.0.0. From NetHack 3.0.0 to NetHack 3.0.10, including variants based on those versions, yellow dragon scale mail is created by polymorphing the corpse of a yellow dragon. Yellow dragon scales are introduced in NetHack 3.1.0, along with the current method for converting them into dragon scale mail.

Variants

Main article: Dragon-scaled armor

In some variants, dragon scale mail is phased out in favor of dragon-scaled armor, whose implementation is based on a proposal by dtsund. Instead of being made into mail of its own, dragon scales are treated as a cloak, and reading a scroll of enchant armor melds them onto a worn set of body armor, generally augmenting that armor by adding its AC and conferred extrinsic properties to it. Dragon-scaled armor is implemented in NetHack Fourk, xNetHack, EvilHack, and Hack'EM.

Several variants also give yellow dragon scale mail additional properties while worn, and may even introduce other forms of yellow dragon scale armor. Variants that implement partial intrinsics and/or object properties may also make yellow dragon mail and other colors more worthwhile.

SLASH'EM

In SLASH'EM, acid damage is much more of a threat in the mid- and late-game due to the introduction of new jellies and the dreaded shoggoth and giant shoggoth. For this reason, a character with reflection, magic resistance, and drain resistance through other means may decide to opt for yellow dragon scale mail as a defense against powerful acidic foes.

GruntHack

GruntHack's implementation of object properties makes it possible for dragon scale mail and other magical items to have an additional property, unlike implementations of object properties in later variants.

Since it is possible and commonplace to wish for an item that provides both magic resistance and reflection (e.g. usually "blessed greased +3 dragonhide cloak of magic resistance and reflection"), the remaining properties are usually covered via other wishes - for characters that can wear body armor and make the example wish yellow dragon scale mail of decay (which adds drain resistance) is the most common secondary wish, as it blocks two of the most pressing remaining threats: drain life and acid blast, which hostile spellcasters of certain levels can have access to.

SporkHack

In SporkHack, worn yellow dragon scale mail additionally confers stun resistance and confusion resistance.

UnNetHack

In UnNetHack, dragon scales and dragon scale mail have randomized powers and appearances in each game - to wish for dragon armor or scales by its corresponding power, either type of armor must be formally identified first, e.g. by using a scroll of identify on dropped dragon scales (which identifies the matching scale mail along with it) or by witnessing the dragon use its breath weapon. Only wishes from a wand of wishing can create dragon scale mail directly.

Yellow dragon scale mail is effectively replaced by acid dragon scale mail, which confers only 5 base AC like all dragon scale mail in UnNetHack.

dNetHack

In dNetHack and notdNetHack, worn yellow dragon scale mail additionally confers stoning resistance.

FIQHack

In FIQHack, worn yellow dragon scale mail additionally confers stoning resistance. It also weighs 300 aum like all dragon scale mail in FIQHack (which is halved while worn).

References