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Boots are a form of armor worn on the feet.

List of boots[]

Name Cost Weight AC Material Effect Appearance
low boots 8 10 1 leather walking shoes
high boots 12 20 2 leather jackboots
iron shoes 16 50 2 iron hard shoes
elven boots 8 15 1 leather stealth **
kicking boots 8 15 1 iron enhanced kicking **
fumble boots 30 20 1 leather fumbling **
levitation boots 30 15 1 leather levitation **
jumping boots 50 20 1 leather jumping **
speed boots 50 20 1 leather speed **
water walking boots 50 20 1 leather water walking **

** The appearance of these pairs of boots is randomized each game from the following descriptions:

buckled       combat       hiking     jungle       
   riding        snow         mud


Riding boots and snow boots give respective bonuses to saddling mounts and walking on ice, in addition to whatever magical effect is provided by the boots.

Identifying boots[]

Speed boots, jumping boots and water walking boots have a base price of 50 zm; fumble boots and levitation boots have a base price of 30 zm; elven boots and kicking boots have a base price of 8 zm. (Note that the boots which are generally considered most useful are also the most expensive.) Be aware, though, that enchantments can confuse the issue here.

Do not wear unidentified magic boots without curse-testing them first. Cursed boots are very likely to be levitation boots or fumble boots, which have very annoying magical effects as well as possibly increasing your AC. You can still cost test, especially to distinguish levitation from fumble boots (both 30 zm).

Speed boots and levitation boots will auto-identify when worn, except in the unusual case where you are already very fast or levitating. Elven boots will auto-identify when worn if you are not already stealthy (be aware that an elven cloak also grants stealth). You can deduce the appearance of elven boots by taking note of which boots are dropped by various elves throughout the dungeon.

Jumping boots can be identified by trying to jump (#jump command). Knights must actually try to make an "illegal move" for a chess knight - any other role will get the message "You can't jump very far" unless they are wearing jumping boots.

Fumble boots can be identified by wearing them for a while and seeing whether you fumble, or by zapping a wand of enlightenment while wearing them.

Kicking boots are the only magic boots to be metallic, and can therefore be identified by wearing them and seeing whether your spell failure rates increase, or by testing for "scritch, scritch" by rubbing them on a touchstone. You will also always succeed in kicking down doors while wearing kicking boots, although monks and samurai may find that difficult to test.

Water walking boots are tricky to identify, because walking on water to see whether you sink is dangerous! The danger can be reduced by dropping anything which is vulnerable to water damage (keep in mind that kicking boots tested in this way will rust). They can also be identified by zapping a wand of enlightenment. If you have some boots with a base price of 50 zm, and they grant neither speed nor jumping, then they must be water walking boots.

Encyclopaedia entry[]

In Fantasyland these are remarkable in that they seldom or
never wear out and are suitable for riding or walking in
without the need of Socks. Boots never pinch, rub, or get
stones in them; nor do nails stick upwards into the feet from
the soles. They are customarily mid-calf length or knee-high,
slip on and off easily and never smell of feet. Unfortunately,
the formula for making this splendid footwear is a closely
guarded secret, possibly derived from nonhumans (see Dwarfs,
Elves, and Gnomes).

[ The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, by Diana Wynne Jones ]
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