Confusion

From Wikihack

Confusion, or the state of being confused, is a property that affects you in the following ways:

• You cannot cast spells.
• You will not be asked for confirmation before attacking peaceful monsters.
• You may walk in an unintended direction (though this happens at a lower rate than being stunned).
• When reading scrolls, you will mispronounce the magic words, which will cause effects different from what would occur normally.
• Reading any spellbook will instead make you tear the book into pieces (1/3 chance).
• Being confused abuses wisdom.
• You cannot fire more than one projectile at a time.
• Mjollnir will not return to your hand.
• Your ability to engrave is impaired.
• You cannot play instruments.
• You are less able to saddle a steed and cannot mount it.

In short, being confused is generally a bad thing, but the effects of reading some scrolls while confused can be useful.

Contents 1 Causes 2 Cures 3 Confused scroll effects 3.1 Useful effects 3.2 Risks 4 History

[edit] Causes

If you are trying to confuse yourself, please be aware that many of these actions have other possible bad consequences. You may also want to lock yourself in a closet so that monsters don't gang up on you.

• Attempting to cast a forgotten spell (can also stun you).
• Reading a cursed or difficult spellbook.
• Being hit by a thrown potion of confusion.
• Quaffing a potion of confusion or a non-blessed potion of booze.
• Reading a cursed scroll of confuse monster.
• Letting an umber hulk confuse you with its gaze attack, or looking into a mirror while polymorphed into an umber hulk.
• Applying a cursed Unicorn horn. Be sure to have a non-cursed one ready, however, because one possible consequence is deadly sickness.
• Applying a charged crystal ball unsuccessfully.
• Trying to magic-map a non-mappable level.
• Sitting on a throne.
• Eating an egg or tripe ration which turns out to be rotten (any food item has a chance of being rotten, but eggs and tripe rations have the highest chance)
• Making yourself nauseated with a tripe ration (as a non-orc), a cursed tin or a rotten egg. This will take a few turns before it confuses you; it will also stun you and make you vomit.
• Being hit by Magicbane.
• Throwing Magicbane upwards to let it hit you while not magic-resistant. This is more of a last-resort method for the early-game wizard, as it will most often just deal damage or stun you and can reduce your maximum power. Do it in a safe place (Sokoban) on Elbereth wearing a ring of regeneration with a unicorn horn while not wearing a metal helmet.
• Monsters which are clerical spellcasters can confuse players without magic resistance.
• Yeenoghu has a confusion attack.

[edit] Cures

• Applying a non-cursed unicorn horn.
• Eating a lizard corpse reduces the timeout.
• Waiting for it to wear off.

[edit] Confused scroll effects

[edit] Useful effects

While reading most scrolls when confused exhibits harmful or useless effects, there are a few confused effects from certain scrolls that have been proven quite useful:

• Scroll of charging: If your energy is at maximum, you gain 5d4 maximum energy. Otherwise, your energy is increased to maximum.
• Scroll of destroy armor: Makes one random worn armor rustproof/fireproof. Does not repair damage however. The scroll must be cursed.
• Scroll of enchant armor: Makes one random worn armor rustproof/fireproof. If that armor had damage, it is repaired. The scroll must be non-cursed.
• Scroll of enchant weapon: Makes your wielded weapon rustproof/fireproof. If it had damage, it is repaired. The scroll must be non-cursed.
• Scroll of gold detection: You detect traps and portals (spaces with the ^ symbol) on the current level. If the scroll is cursed, they are shown as gold ($ symbol). Useful on the Elemental Planes or on the Gnomish Mines (due to the large amount of traps there).
• Scroll of remove curse: All uncursed items have a 25% chance of being blessed and a 25% chance of being cursed if the scroll is blessed. If the scroll is uncursed, then only worn and wielded items are considered. Useful for obtaining unholy water.
• Scroll of teleportation: Level-teleports you. If you have teleport control then you will usually be able to choose which level to teleport to.
• Scroll of taming: Tames monsters within an 11x11 square area. Also calms shopkeepers. Some monsters can resist. The scroll must be non-cursed.

[edit] Risks

Reading unknown scrolls while confused helps identify them. However, there are, as expected, certain risks involved:

• Scroll of genocide: Uncursed: Instadeath. Cursed: You are surrounded by 4-6 monsters of your role.
• Scroll of earth: Blessed: Creates 2-6 rocks on each square around you. Uncursed: Creates 2-6 rocks on the same square as you and each open square around you. Cursed: Creates 2-6 rocks on the same square as you. Each rock does d3 damage, with the damage capped at two points, if you're wearing a metal helmet.
• Scroll of fire: Lose one hit point, if not fire resistant.

[edit] History

In Hack, bats could cause confusion. NetHack has now differentiated this so that stun and confusion are not the same. Bats and trapped doors can stun you; this causes you to move in random directions, like confusion would. However, only confusion will let you obtain different effects from reading scrolls.

This page is based on a spoiler by Dylan O'Donnell. The original license is: Redistribution, copying, and editing of these spoilers, with or without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met: The original contributors to any spoiler must continue to be credited. Any modifications to the spoiler must be acknowledged and credited.