# Spellbook of knock

spellbook of  +   knock   

Appearance

random

Abundance

3.56%

Base price

100 zm

Weight

50

Turns to read

1

Ink to write

5–9

Spell type

matter

Level

1

Power cost

5 Pw

Direction

beam  

Equivalent

wand of opening

In NetHack, the spellbook of knock allows you to learn the spell of knock.

Contents

1 Effects
2 Strategy
3 SLASH'EM
4 See also
5 Reference

Effects
The effect is the exact same as a wand of opening, and will unlock doors and containers, as well as revealing hidden doors.[1]

Strategy
Since a lock pick or skeleton key can unlock doors with no power cost, this spell is considered almost useless, and the spellbook is usually thrown away, polypiled, or overwritten. However, it has many other uses besides the obvious: as a matter spell, it can be used to train for casting more powerful spells in the school, notably polymorph. It can also expose secret doors whose locations are known to the player but not the character (especially on special levels), and can open the Castle drawbridge without needing an instrument to play the passtune.
Casting knock also unlocks doors at a distance and does so slightly faster than a key would manage; because of this, it might be useful on the Astral Plane, though a wand of digging is better because it will raze the doors. The spell also causes engulfing monsters to expel you, making it useful on the Plane of Air. It can also free you from most kinds of "holding traps"[2], including bear traps, webs, pits, buried iron ball, or being stuck in the floor.[3]  Technically it can also free you from being stuck in lava, but usually you will immediately start sinking again (unless you're e.g. levitating).

SLASH'EM
In SLASH'EM, there are new indestructible doors at the top level of Vlad's Tower. This spell has no effect on them, there is no message, and nothing happens.

See also
Spellbook of wizard lock
Reference

↑ spell.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 859

↑ src/zap.c in NetHack 3.6.1, line 2744

↑ src/trap.c in NetHack 3.6.6, line 4617

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