# Forum:Boomerang as ranged weapon?
&lt; Forum:Watercooler

I picked up a boomerang yesterday, while playing a archeologist. I think about using boomerangs ranged weapon(although that c was aleady dead&nbsp;:-P).
I think 1d9 damage of boomerangs is nice. Instead they can't be multishot, and using them in melee can break them. In NetHack, to survive, doing 1 on 1 fight on hallway is main strategy, but their tricky track make them use difficult. They can be effective only on fields and corners, not a hallway. And they are quite rare, so training and fighting serveral monsters by few boomerangs are hard!
Do anybody know how to use boomerangs well? their high damage and to-hit bonus are always seduce me!

The trick to using boomerangs effectively is to wish for 20 of them and throw them liberally.  Name them "Q" and put AUTOPICKUP_EXCEPTION="&lt;*Q" in the config file, since 99% of them will hit a wall and need to be picked up.  If you're in an open area and low on HP and DEX, don't throw them because they'll probably hit you.  Boomerangs do only about 1d3 damage in melee (plus STR bonus) regardless of enchantment, because they're coded as a projectile, not a melee weapon, just like wielding a +7 arrow. Yhelothar (talk) 19:52, 25 August 2014 (UTC)
Thank you!
So, Without wishing, using boomerangs effectively is hard... That's too bad. But next time, if I play as an archeologist or a tourist, I will wish a stack of boomerang. Fun is the most important thing.
Polypiling is an option. Some Areas like the Castle have lots of Soldiers, who carry junk weapons. To make it efficient, try to polypile at the same time for other things (tools,scrolls,...). Once you have enough, cancel and BUC-test them, so that they stack. Then Identify them. Now, you can enchant and fireproof the in a single Stack. When you actually pull that off, you should already have cleared out Gehennom, but a large stack of +6 Boomerangs is a neat part of your Ascension Kit, if you play an otherwise melee oriented character, because they can kill the Riders, before they come close. They are also useful against mind flayers. -- 79.200.66.235 15:38, 28 August 2014 (UTC)
Well, many roles have better option for ranged weapon. Neutral archeologists can use poisoned shurikens, or poisoned silver arrows in Gehenom, even though they are restricted in bow. Tourists using poisoned darts can deal damage seriously. Lawful archeologists, however, since they get penalty using poison, should use boomerangs for ranged weapon. --NDos (talk) 22:33, 12 September 2014 (UTC)