# Scroll of enchant weapon

? 

Name

enchant weapon

Appearance

random

Base price

60 zm

Weight

5

Ink to write

8-15

Monster use

Will not be used by monsters.

A scroll of enchant weapon is a type of magical scroll that appears in NetHack.

Contents

1 Description

1.1 Blessed
1.2 Cursed
1.3 Confused

2 Strategy

2.1 Identification
2.2 Overenchanting
2.3 Erodeproofing

3 Messages
4 See also
5 Variants

5.1 SLASH'EM

6 References

Description
When read, the scroll alters the enchantment of your currently wielded weapon - this includes weapon-tools such as dwarvish mattocks, pick-axes and unicorn horns. If you are wielding a stack of weapons, the scroll will affect all of them at once. Using a non-cursed scroll on a worm tooth will transform it into a crysknife, and using a cursed scroll on a crysknife will turn it back into a worm tooth.[1][2]
Reading the scroll will auto-identify it if used on a weapon whose enchantment you have knowledge of. If the weapon's enchantment is not known, the scroll's effect is the same, but it will prompt you to name the scroll instead of auto-identifying. An uncursed scroll will always try to increase the current weapon's enchantment by one point, a cursed scroll will decrease it by 1,[3] and a blessed scroll may enchant by more than one point depending on the current enchantment. A cursed weapon that is enchanted by reading this scroll will be made uncursed.[4] If you read a scroll of enchant weapon without wielding a weapon or weapon-tool, you will exercise your dexterity instead (or abuse it if the scroll is cursed).[5]

Blessed
The table below displays how many points can potentially be added to the enchantment of a weapon by reading a blessed scroll:

Enchantment
Points added by blessed scroll

-5 to -3
up to 4

-2 to +2
up to 3

+3 to +5
up to 2

+6 to +8
1 (if weapon does not evaporate)

If the weapon's current enchantment is +5 or less and you read a blessed scroll, the scroll will add 1 to (3 – (current enchantment)/3) points.[6] If the current enchantment is +6 or more, the blessed scroll will behave the same as an uncursed scroll.[7][8] Weapons whose present enchantment is +5 or less can be safely enchanted further; weapons at +6 or above will have a 2⁄3 chance of evaporating instead when enchanted, and weapons at +9 and above have only a 1-in-(current enchantment) chance of gaining another point of enchantment.[9][7]

Cursed
A cursed scroll of enchant weapon decreases the enchantment of your current weapon by 1; all artifact weapons except Sting and Orcrist will resist this 9⁄10 of the time.[10] A weapon already at -6 or below has a 2/3 chance of evaporating.[9]

Confused
If read while confused, the scroll will instead affect that weapon's erosion status - a non-cursed scroll will erodeproof your weapon and fixes any existing damage.[11][12] A cursed scroll will remove the erodeproofing instead.[11]

Strategy
As +5 is the highest enchantment a weapon can have without risk of evaporating from enchanting it further, it is common to read uncursed scrolls of enchant weapons to raise a weapon's enchantment, then read a blessed one at +5 try to raise it to +7, There are a few ways of disenchanting a +6 weapon that results from this:

Reading a cursed scroll of enchant weapon. Artifacts resist 90% of the time.
Engraving one letter, if the weapon is edged. Artifacts do not resist this. Note that athames only dull when they are cursed.
Hitting a disenchanter. Artifacts resist 90% of the time. Note that engaging a disenchanter also risks disenchanting your armor.
Placing it on the ground and zapping drain life at it. Artifacts resist 90% of the time.
Identification
There are only two scrolls with a base cost of 60zm: the scroll of enchant weapon and the scroll of blank paper, which has a fixed appearance. Therefore, any unrecognized scroll determined to have a value of 60 is a scroll of enchant weapon.

Overenchanting
While possible, enchanting a weapon beyond +7 is generally time consuming and risky to consider. The possibility of evaporation makes this a very bad idea to attempt with an artifact unless you really don't care about losing it.
The most common way to attempt overenchantment is to use a huge single stack of weapons. Usually this means daggers or lightweight, plentiful projectiles such as darts, arrows, and crossbow bolts from monsters and traps. Projectile weapons benefit more from overenchantment than melee weapons since you can multishot them at high skill levels.
A single scroll of enchant weapon can enchant a large stack at once. This greatly reduces the number of scrolls that you need to get a good amount of +8 or +9 weapons. 

Collect a large stack of daggers (say 200) or whatever stackable weapon you want.
Rustproof and enchant them all up to +7 with the same number of scrolls as it takes to produce a single +7 non-stackable weapon.
Split the stack up into four stacks of 50 +7 daggers each, and attempt to overenchant each stack. It is likely but not guaranteed that at least one stack will survive.
Divide your stack of 50 +8 daggers again into four stacks of 12-13 daggers each, and read another four scrolls on the four stacks to attempt to get a stack of +9 daggers.
If you want you can even continue enchanting the +9 daggers one by one until you get one to +10, but the amount of scrolls needed to get this far is probably not worth the extra enchantment at this point.
Polymorphing weapons does not change their enchantment. Thus a large stack of weapons can be overenchanted and then polypiled into silver daggers, silver sabers, katanas, or whatever other non-artifact weapon you want.
In certain cases (such as a Healer with a unicorn horn, an archeologist with a dwarvish mattock, a Knight preparing to be crowned with Excalibur, or those trying conducts) it may be worthwhile to overenchant non-stackable weapons. The table below shows how many copies of a given +7 weapon must be risked in order to have a certain degree of confidence that at least one +8/+9/+10 weapon will be successfully enchanted. It is impossible to guarantee, with 100% confidence, that this will succeed. The table assumes that the weapon is already +7 when starting the process.

Bonus
+7
+8
+8
+8
+8
+8
+9
+9
+9
+9
+9
+10
+10
+10
+10
+10

Confidence

—
50%
75%
85%
90%
95%
50%
75%
85%
90%
95%
50%
75%
85%
90%
95%

Attempts

—
1.71
3.42
4.68
5.68
7.39
5.88
11.77
16.11
19.55
25.43
35.08
74.16
101.49
123.18
160.27

If you are going to try this, make sure to save at least one of your most highly enchanted weapon. Don't accidentally vaporize all of the weapons you were trying to enchant.

Erodeproofing
Reading this scroll while confused is useful in certain situations.  Notably, if you find an artifact weapon on the floor or in a shop, it will not be erodeproof.  Because the damage penalties for an eroded weapon are considerable (particularly for a double damage artifact), it is worth spending a scroll to erodeproof it.  This is different from the scroll of enchant armor, where erodeproofing is generally considered a waste unless you have no other use for it.

Messages
All of the following messages only appear if you are not blind (unless noted otherwise).

Your 

<weapon> glows blue for a moment.
You added one level of enchantment while reading a non-cursed scroll of enchant weapon.
Your <weapon> glows blue for a while.
You added two or more levels of enchantment while reading a non-cursed scroll of enchant weapon.
Your <weapon> violently glows blue for a while.
You read a scroll of enchant weapon and no enchantment was added.
Your <weapon> glows black for a moment.
Your weapon lost enchantment via a cursed scroll.
Your <weapon> faintly glows black.
Your artifact weapon resisted the effects of the cursed scroll.
Your <weapon> violently glows blue for a while and then evaporates.
You unsuccessfully enchanted your weapon above +5 or below -5 (2/3 chance).
Your <weapon> evaporates.
As above if blind.
Your <weapon> is covered by a shimmering golden shield!
Your weapon was made erode-proof via reading a non-cursed scroll while confused.
Your <weapon> looks as good as new!
As above if weapon was damaged.
Your <weapon> feels as good as new!
As above if blind.
Your <weapon> is covered by a mottled purple glow!
Your weapon's erode-proofing was removed via a cursed scroll.
Your weapon feels warm for a moment.
You read a cursed or non-cursed scroll while blind and confused with erode-proofing either added or removed.
Your weapon seems sharper now.
Your worm tooth was converted to a crysknife via a non-cursed scroll.
Your weapon seems duller now.
Your crysknife was converted to a worm tooth via a cursed scroll.
Your right <hand> flinches!
You enchanted Magicbane up to an enchantment of two or more.
Your right <hand> itches!
You enchanted Magicbane above +0.
Your <weapon> suddenly vibrates unexpectedly.
Your Elven or artifact weapon was enchanted above level 5.
Your <hands> twitch.
You read a non-cursed scroll of enchant weapon with no weapon wielded. Your dexterity is exercised.
Your <hands> itch.
You read a cursed scroll of enchant weapon with no weapon wielded. Your dexterity is abused.
You have a strange feeling for a moment, then it passes.
You are a beginner, and you read a scroll of enchant weapon with no weapon wielded. Your dexterity is exercised (abused if cursed).
You have a normal feeling for a moment, then it passes.
You are a beginner, and you read a scroll of enchant weapon with no weapon wielded while hallucinating.
See also
Scroll of enchant armor
Erosion
Variants
SLASH'EM
In SLASH'EM, the scroll functions as in NetHack, though there are several alternative sources of weapon enchantment:

The weapon works service offered at weapons shops can be used to increase the enchantment of weapons and even poison them. However, they can only do so one point at a time, and the price rapidly increases for already enchanted weapons; weapons also cannot be enchanted beyond +5 in this manner.
The spellbook of enchant weapon is a potential alternative, though as a level 7 enchantment spell it is very costly in terms of power to cast in practice, let alone with any consistency for non-Wizard roles. While writing scrolls can require more total ink out of a magic marker as opposed to a single spellbook, scrolls are also much more reliable.
It is possible to add a single point of enchantment to any weapon once by wielding it when crowned as a lawful character, with the relevant disadvantages of crowning; this method also does not risk evaporating the weapon even if it is at +7 or above.
Finally, there is a polypiling exploit that potentially allows any weapon to reach +100 or more.
References

↑ wield.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 707

↑ wield.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 716

↑ read.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 982

↑ wield.c in NetHack 3.6.0, line 693

↑ wield.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 701

↑ read.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 985

↑ 7.0 7.1 read.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 984

↑ In fact, because 3 – (6/3) = 1, the blessed scroll behaves like an uncursed scroll at +6, even though the code refers to enchantments above +9.

↑ 9.0 9.1 wield.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 730

↑ wield.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 724

↑ 11.0 11.1 read.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 964

↑ read.c in NetHack 3.4.3, line 976

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