From: djr98665@violet.egr.uh.edu (David J Robertson) Newsgroups: rec.games.roguelike.nethack Subject: Weapon skills in NH 3.2.0 Date: 22 Apr 1996 19:18:41 GMT Organization: University of Houston NH 3.2.0 has added the concept of weapon skill levels. Alt-q displays your current ability levels in all of your unrestricted weapon groups. If you see an asterisk next to one of the listed weapon groups, you may advance to the next skill level in that group with Alt-e. There are two requirements for advancing a skill level in a weapon group. First, you must have enough points in that weapon group. You get one point in a weapon group for each >1 damage attack you make on a monster with a weapon from that group. This >1 point only considers the base damage of the weapon and the enchantment on the weapon. The number of points you need to advance is dependent on your current skill level. To go from Unskilled to Basic, you need 20 points. To go from Basic to Skilled requires 80 points (this includes the 20 points needed for the basic level). Past this, you need 180 points for expert, 320 for level 5, and 500 for level 6 (level 5 and 6 are only available for certain classes in Barehanded/martial art skills). The second requirement for advancing a skill is an available "skill slot". You start off with none of these, and aquire one every time you advance a level. So you will have 29 skill slots available when you reach level 30. The amount of skill slots required to advance a weapon group depends on your skill level in that group. Unskilled -> Basic requires 1 slot Basic -> Skilled requires 2 slots Skilled -> Expert requres 3 slots For Barehanded/Martial arts skill levels, skill levels 2 through 6 require 1 slot (level 1 is the equivalent to unskilled). When a character is created, he/she will be at a Basic skill level with all the weapons in his/her starting inventory. If a character is granted an artifact that he/she is restricted in, that weapon group will become unrestricted with a maximum skill of basic. This only applies when the artifact is granted by the gods (through sacrificing, or by being crowned). The other methods of aquriring artifacts such as dipping for Excalibur, naming Sting, or just finding an artifact on the ground do not affect the restricted status of that weapon type. BUGS in Weapon Skills for NH 3.2.0 ------------------------------------------- You will never get points in any of the missile weapon groups (Bow/Sling/Crossbow) so you can't advance those skill groups. You never get points in the trident group. In order to get points with throwing weapons (darts/shurikens/boomerangs), you must be wielding them before you throw them. If not, if you do >1 point of damage, you will get a point in whatever weapon you are currently wielding (this is related to the bug preventing point gaining in missile weapons). ------------------------------------------- When attacking with weapons: Skill level + to hit + to dam -------------------------------------- Restricted or Unskilled -4 -2 Basic +0 +0 Skilled +2 +1 Expert +3 +2 With barehanded/martial arts skill, the maximum skill level is 6. If you have martial arts skill, you won't have bare-handed combat, and vice-versa. + to hit + to damage Barehanded : (skill +1)/2 (skill)/2 Martial arts : (skill +1)*2/3 (skill)*2/3 The following is a list of the maximum skill level each class can reach in each of the weapon groups. B-Basic S-Skilled E-Expert #-skill level for barehanded or martial arts -A blank indicates a restricted group. Classes /--------------------------------------------------------------\ |Weapon Group | A | B | C | E | H | K | P | R | S | T | V | W | |--------------------------------------------------------------- |Dagger | B | B | B | E | S | B | | E | B | E | E | E | |Knife | B | | S | S | E | B | | E | S | S | | S | |Axe | | E | S | | | S | | | | B | E | S | |Pick-axe | E | E | B | | | B | | | | B | S | | |Short Sword | B | B | | E | S | S | | E | E | E | S | B | |Broadsword | | S | | E | | S | | S | S | B | S | | |Long sword | | S | | S | | E | | S | E | B | E | | |2-handed sword| | E | | B | | S | | B | E | B | E | | |Scimitar | S | S | | S | B | B | | S | B | S | B | | |Saber | E | B | | 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 | | | |Flail | | B | S | | | B | E | B | S | B | | | |Hammer | | E | S | | | B | E | B | | B | E | | |Quarterstaff | S | B | E | | E | | E | B | B | B | B | E | |Polearm | | | S | | B | S | S | | S | B | S | S | |Spear | | S | E | E | B | S | S | B | B | B | S | B | |Javelin | | | S | B | B | S | S | | B | B | B | B | |Trident | | S | S | | B | B | S | | | B | B | B | |Lance | | | | | | E | B | | S | B | S | | |Bow | | B | E | E | | B | B | | E | B | | | |Sling | S | | S | B | S | S | B | | | B | B | S | |Crossbow | | | | B | | | B | E | | B | | | |Dart | B | | | | E | | B | E | | E | | E | |Shuriken | | | | B | S | | B | S | E | B | | B | |Boomerang | E | | E | | | | B | | | B | | | |Whip | E | | | | | | | | | B | | | |Unicorn horn | S | | B | | E | | S | | | S | | | |Bare-handed | 4 | 6 | 6 | | 2 | 4 | | 2 | | 4 | 4 | 2 | |Martial Arts | | | | 2 | | | | | 6 | | | | \--------------------------------------------------------------/ Weapon group | Weapons in that group ---------------------------------------------------------------- Dagger | [Elven/Orcish/.] dagger, athame Knife | knife, stiletto, worm tooth, crysknife, scalpel Axe | axe, battle axe Pick-axe | pick-axe, Dwarvish mattock Short Sword | [Elven/Dwarvish/Orcish/.] short sword Broadsword | [Elven/.] broadsword, runesword Long sword | long sword, katana 2-handed sword | two handed sword, Tsurugi Scimitar | scimitar Saber | silver saber Club | club, aklys Mace | mace Morning star | morning star Flail | flail Hammer | war hammer Quarterstaff | quarterstaff Polearm | partisan, ranseur, glaive, spetum, halberd, | bardiche, voulge, fauchard, guisarme, | bill-guisarme, lucern hammer, bec-de-corbin Spear | [Elven/Orcish/Dwarvish/.] spear Javelin | javelin Trident | trident Lance | lance Bow | [Elven/Orcish/.] bow, yumi Sling | sling Crossbow | crossbow Dart | dart Shuriken | shuriken Boomerang | boomerang Whip | whip, rubber hose Unicorn horn | unicorn horn ==================================================================== From Peter Snelling (snelling@nortel.ca) I've mapped that list of maximums onto a list of artifacts. This shows you the maximum skill level for your class at a given artifact. I think restricted becomes basic for Artifacts, but this list might help you choose between artifacts with similar basic damages. It's especically improtant for classes who are basic or restricted with long swords and broadswords (ACHPTW). For some classes (HTW) Magicbane becomes a pretty good alternative... Artifact Name Expert Skilled Basic Restricted -------------------------------------------------------- Orcrist E BKRSV T ACHPW Stormbringer E BKRSV T ACHPW Dragonbane KSV BER T ACHPW Demonbane KSV BER T ACHPW Excalibur KSV BER T ACHPW Fire Brand KSV BER T ACHPW Frost Brand KSV BER T ACHPW Giantslayer KSV BER T ACHPW Vorpal Blade KSV BER T ACHPW Snickersnee KSV BER T ACHPW Sunsword KSV BER T ACHPW Werebane A EKRT BHSV CPW Grayswandir A EKRT BHSV CPW Cleaver BV CKW T AEHPRS Mjollnir BPV C KRT AEHSW Ogresmasher BPV C KRT AEHSW Grimtooth ERTVW H ABCKS P Magicbane ERTVW H ABCKS P Sting ERTVW H ABCKS P Trollsbane P BK CRT AEHSVW