NetHack 2.3e

NetHack 2.3e is the fourth public release of NetHack and the last before the founding of the DevTeam. Mike Stephenson published it to the Usenet newsgroup comp.sources.games.bugs (an unmoderated group, unlike comp.sources.games) in April 1988.

Availability
NetHack 2.3e first appears as a patch against NetHack 2.2a. Google Groups has the patch at: There are thirteen parts, but the subject lines incorrectly say that there are twelve.
 * Part 1
 * Part 2
 * Part 3
 * Part 4
 * Part 5
 * Part 6
 * Part 7
 * Part 8
 * Part 9 (is in fact a duplicate of part 8)
 * Part 10
 * Part 11
 * Part 12
 * Part 13

UUNet did not archive comp.sources.games.bugs, but has nonetheless provided a complete distribution of NetHack 2.3e at.

Ali Harlow has a NetHack 2.3e distribution at.

Significant changes

 * The electric eel replaces the giant eel.
 * Gremlins, djinn and the Three Stooges join the bestiary. The Stooges appear only in NetHack 2.3e.
 * Dragons are differentiated into eight types, each with a different breath weapon. They correspond to all the modern types except the silver dragon.
 * New objects are: K-ration, C-ration, lamp, magic lamp, badge, Hawaiian shirt, wand of lightning, and amber stone.
 * The tourmaline, agate, and onyx stones are removed, and the colors of worthless glass are changed.
 * Sting now appears.
 * Sinks and barracks are added to the dungeon.
 * Djinn may emerge from glowing potions (not smoky ones, as these still have ghosts).

The adventurer
The player may choose from these roles:
 * Archeologist
 * Barbarian
 * Cave-(wo)man
 * Elf
 * Healer
 * Knight
 * Ninja
 * Priest
 * Samurai
 * Tourist
 * Valkyrie
 * Wizard

All classes permit male and female adventurers, except the Valkyrie which must be female.

The adventurer has experience, hit points, magical energy, armor class, and strength. He may advance to experience level 14.

The initial pet is a little dog.

Dungeon features
The dungeon in NetHack 2.3e has no branches; there is one way up and one way down. The first 25 levels or so consist of rooms, and beyond that, the adventurer encounters mazes. The deepest dungeon level is 60.

Medusa appears as '8' on the down-stairs of the last level with rooms. She does not have a special level, and is thus a snare for the unwary adventurer.

Dungeon level 30 and deeper are designated as "Hell". Entering hell without fire resistance, or losing it once there, is an instadeath. This may happen by taking off one's ring of fire resistance and not being naturally fire resistant, or by being hit by a gremlin. These levels have only up-stairs, and the only way to enter is by level teleportation.

Special rooms are throne rooms, swamps, vaults, beehives, crypts, treasure zoos, barracks, and shops. Special features are pools, fountains, thrones, and sinks.

The Amulet of Yendor is found in the posession of the wizard of Yendor in a maze level. He is in a small room in the center of the maze, surrounded by water and accompanied by a hell hound.

Fake Wizard rooms contain a demon instead of the Wizard and a fake Amulet.

Other maze levels have wands of wishing tucked under a boulder in a dead-end square. There can be more than one, but it's much less likely than before; but one is guaranteed in the level immediately after Medusa. Since NetHack 3.1.0, one version of Medusa's lair has a random wand in a similar spot, commemorating the former location of the wand of wishing.

Bestiary
New monsters are indicated in boldface.

The following monsters may be encountered:

The Three Stooges
The Three Stooges were three monsters, appearing as @ and named Moe, Larry, and Curly. They appeared on a particular level in the upper dungeon. They occasionally killed monsters, but mostly they just whacked each other and said things associated with the Stooges on film.

The Stooges were a frequent cause of YASD, as a confused or hallucinating adventurer often hit one by mistake and had to fight him. Even if he prevailed, he incurred the penalty for murder, because the Stooge was a peaceful human.

The Stooges were removed in NetHack 3.0.0, but their passing is still noted in a false rumor:

The crowd was so tough, the Stooges won't play the Dungeon anymore, nyuk nyuk.

Objects
New objects are indicated in boldface.

Artifacts
NetHack 2.3e has four artifacts. Multiple copies of each may exist.

Any two handed sword may be named Orcrist and will do d10 extra points damage to orcs.

Excalibur is obtained in the modern fashion (save that there's no requirement to be lawful, as alignment is not yet implemented). It gets +5 to hit and does d10 extra damage to all monsters. Wielding Excalibur makes demons angry (previously they might ask for a bribe) and can call the attention of certain monsters. Excalibur may now be granted by crowning. The player cannot name any object "Excalibur."

Any katana may be named Snickersnee and will do d10 extra points damage to all monsters.

Sting is new to 2.3e. Any short sword or dagger may be named Sting and will do d5 extra damage to all monsters (not just orcs).

Amulets
Only the Amulet of Yendor and the cheap plastic imitation exist in NetHack 2.3e.

Food
Food items in NetHack 2.3e are:


 * food ration
 * tripe ration
 * pancake
 * dead lizard
 * fortune cookie
 * carrot
 * slice of pizza
 * cream pie
 * tin
 * K-ration
 * C-ration
 * orange
 * apple
 * pear
 * melon
 * banana
 * candy bar
 * egg
 * clove of garlic
 * lump of royal jelly
 * corpse (called dead foo rather than foo corpse)

The tin did not contain the remains of monsters, but rather a randomly-chosen food such as peaches or, if the adventurer is lucky, spinach.

The dead lizard is a found object rather than a corpse; live lizards do not exist in NetHack 2.3e. It otherwise has its modern properties in this version.

Weapons
Weapons in NetHack 2.3e are:


 * arrow
 * sling bullet
 * crossbow bolt
 * dart
 * shuriken
 * rock
 * boomerang
 * mace
 * axe
 * flail
 * long sword
 * two handed sword
 * dagger
 * worm tooth
 * crysknife
 * aklys
 * bardiche
 * bec de corbin
 * bill-guisarme
 * club
 * fauchard
 * glaive
 * guisarme
 * halberd
 * lucern hammer
 * javelin
 * katana
 * lance
 * morning star
 * partisan
 * ranseur
 * scimitar
 * spetum
 * broad sword
 * short sword
 * trident
 * voulge
 * spear
 * bow
 * sling
 * crossbow

Tools
Tools in NetHack 2.3e are:


 * whistle
 * leash
 * magic whistle
 * blindfold
 * mirror
 * expensive camera
 * ice box
 * pick-axe
 * magic marker
 * stethoscope
 * can opener
 * lamp
 * magic lamp
 * badge

The ice box is the only container. Then as now, it preserved corpses, and was generally too heavy (and too rare) to be useful for inventory management.

The badge is dropped when a Keystone Kop is killed. The hero may wear it, and shopkeepers will call him "Officer" and react to theft with YAFM, but it is otherwise a junk item. The badge appears only in NetHack 2.3e.

Armor
Armor items in NetHack 2.3e are:


 * helmet
 * plate mail
 * splint mail
 * banded mail
 * chain mail
 * scale mail
 * ring mail
 * studded leather armor
 * elfin chain mail
 * bronze plate mail
 * crystal plate mail
 * leather armor
 * elven cloak
 * shield
 * Hawaiian shirt (if SHIRT defined at compile time)
 * pair of gloves

Potions
Potions in NetHack 2.3e are:


 * potion of restore strength
 * potion of gain energy
 * potion of booze
 * potion of invisibility
 * potion of fruit juice
 * potion of healing
 * potion of paralysis
 * potion of monster detection
 * potion of object detection
 * potion of sickness
 * potion of confusion
 * potion of gain strength
 * potion of speed
 * potion of blindness
 * potion of gain level
 * potion of extra healing
 * potion of levitation
 * potion of hallucination
 * potion of holy water

Scrolls
Scrolls in NetHack 2.3e are:


 * scroll of mail (unconditional, even though mail daemon is dependent on MAIL)
 * scroll of enchant armor
 * scroll of destroy armor
 * scroll of confuse monster
 * scroll of scare monster
 * scroll of blank paper
 * scroll of remove curse
 * scroll of enchant weapon
 * scroll of damage weapon
 * scroll of create monster
 * scroll of taming
 * scroll of genocide
 * scroll of light
 * scroll of teleportation
 * scroll of gold detection
 * scroll of food detection
 * scroll of identify
 * scroll of magic mapping
 * scroll of amnesia
 * scroll of fire
 * scroll of punishment

The scroll of damage weapon acts as the modern scroll of enchant weapon does when cursed. The scroll of genocide acts, in all cases, as the modern blessed scroll; but most symbols refer to only one monster anyway.

Wands
Wands in NetHack 2.3e are:


 * wand of light
 * wand of secret door detection
 * wand of create monster
 * wand of wishing
 * wand of striking
 * wand of slow monster
 * wand of speed monster
 * wand of undead turning
 * wand of polymorph
 * wand of cancellation
 * wand of teleportation
 * wand of make invisible
 * wand of probing (if PROBING defined at compile time)
 * wand of digging
 * wand of magic missile
 * wand of fire
 * wand of sleep
 * wand of cold
 * wand of death
 * wand of lightning

Spellbooks
Spellbooks in NetHack 2.3e are:


 * spellbook of magic missile
 * spellbook of fireball
 * spellbook of sleep
 * spellbook of cone of cold
 * spellbook of finger of death
 * spellbook of healing
 * spellbook of detect monsters
 * spellbook of force bolt
 * spellbook of light
 * spellbook of confuse monster
 * spellbook of cure blindness
 * spellbook of slow monster
 * spellbook of create monster
 * spellbook of detect food
 * spellbook of haste self
 * spellbook of cause fear
 * spellbook of cure sickness
 * spellbook of detect unseen
 * spellbook of extra healing
 * spellbook of charm monster
 * spellbook of levitation
 * spellbook of restore strength
 * spellbook of invisibility
 * spellbook of detect treasure
 * spellbook of dig
 * spellbook of remove curse
 * spellbook of magic mapping
 * spellbook of identify
 * spellbook of turn undead
 * spellbook of polymorph
 * spellbook of create familiar
 * spellbook of teleport away
 * spellbook of cancellation
 * spellbook of genocide

Rings
Rings in NetHack 2.3e are:


 * ring of adornment
 * ring of teleportation
 * ring of regeneration
 * ring of searching
 * ring of see invisible
 * ring of stealth
 * ring of levitation
 * ring of poison resistance
 * ring of aggravate monster
 * ring of hunger
 * ring of fire resistance
 * ring of cold resistance
 * ring of protection from shape changers
 * ring of conflict
 * ring of gain strength
 * ring of increase damage
 * ring of protection
 * ring of warning
 * ring of teleport control
 * ring of polymorph
 * ring of polymorph control
 * ring of shock resistance

Because charisma does not exist in NetHack 2.3e, the ring of adornment is a useless item.

Gems
Gems in NetHack 2.3e are:


 * dilithium crystal
 * diamond
 * ruby
 * sapphire
 * emerald
 * turquoise stone
 * aquamarine stone
 * amber stone
 * topaz stone
 * opal stone
 * garnet stone
 * amethyst stone
 * jasper stone
 * jade stone

and worthless pieces of white, blue, red, yellowish brown (formerly yellow), and green glass.

The tourmaline, agate, and onyx stones are removed.

Other items
Other items not appearing in the above categories are:


 * heavy iron ball
 * iron chain
 * enormous rock

It is not possible to pick up an iron chain, nor can they be generated from iron golems, because these do not exist in NetHack 2.3e.