The Gauntlets of the Necromancer are a weapon from Heretic. They are a pair of spiked gauntlets with a green aura. When active, they emit short-range magical energy that damages enemies for 2-16 damage every four tics and drags the player toward them. They neither use nor require any form of ammunition, so they are always usable if they are in the player's possession. The Gauntlets are essentially Heretic's version of Doom's chainsaw. When a Tome of Power is active, the Gauntlets have a red aura, increased attack range, and the ability to drain health from enemies (equal to half damage dealt, rounded down) and transfer it to the player. This weapon is always effective on ghosts.
The Gauntlets can be found in a secret cache in the first level of the game, E1M1: The Docks. Their first appearance in a non-secret area is in E1M3: The Gatehouse.
Description of the Gauntlets of the Necromancer from the manual: The gauntlets replace your normal beatin' stick and deliver a devastating electrical attack. Powered-up, it sucks enemies in from a further distance and drains their life to increase yours!
Strategy[edit]
The Gauntlets are not a good weapon to use against sabreclaws, because the sabreclaw is still able to slice up the player even while it is being Gauntleted. Using them on golems is safer and more effective, albeit the player needs to aim directly at the golem otherwise they will get punched. The Gauntlets work well on enemies that move and attack more slowly, such as the undead warrior, disciple of D'Sparil and the ophidian. The Gauntlets are most effective against monsters if the player keeps walking slowly backward while attacking the target. This way the monster needs to chase the player instead of them having to face the monster up close, giving them a bit of range.
Using the Gauntlets in tandem with a Tome of Power can be surprisingly effective against maulotaurs. Provided that there are no other powerful monsters in the area, the player can latch on and drain health from the maulotaur faster than it can deal out damage in return and they are unlikely to die, although any armor they are equipped with will be damaged if not destroyed. The duration of the Tome of Power is long enough for a maulotaur to be slain using only this method, but the time limit is tight. The risk of the player dying during the performance is considerable only if they have a lot less than 50 hit points when starting, given that there is no armor. It is because the first hits by the maulotaur can kill the player near the beginning. This applies especially to the higher skill levels. Once the health has risen to the safer side of 50 hit points, however, attempting this strategy is safe only if the player is able to cause constant damage to the maulotaur and has not wasted any seconds while the Tome of Power has been in use.
Gauntlets of the Necromancer data
|
Thing type |
2005 (decimal), 7D5 (hex)
|
Enum |
MT_MISC13 (60)
|
Appears in |
Shareware Heretic Heretic/SSR expansion
|
Radius |
20
|
Height |
16
|
Class |
Weapon Pickup
|
Flags |
1 (decimal) 00000001 (hex)
|
Flags list |
0: Can be picked up
|
Flags2 |
0 (decimal) 00000000 (hex)
|
|
Weapon attributes
|
Weapon slot |
1
|
Included ammo |
Infinite
|
Shots per minute |
525.0 shocks
|
Sound |
GNTACT (when selected)
|
State |
Sprite |
Frames
|
Before pickup |
WGNT |
1 [A]
|
Wielded |
GAUN |
1 [A]
|
Firing |
GAUN |
7 [BCDEFCB]
|
Refiring |
GAUN |
3 [DEF]
|
Wielded (powered) |
GAUN |
3 [GHI]
|
Firing (powered) |
GAUN |
7 [JKLMNKJ]
|
Refiring (powered) |
GAUN |
3 [LMN]
|
|
Ranged attack
|
Type |
Hitscan
|
Damage |
2-16
|
Sprite |
PUF1 (impact)
|
Frames |
4 [ABCD] (impact, regular) 4 [EFGH] (impact, powered)
|
Sound |
GNTUSE (initial fire) GNTFUL (firing) GNTHIT (hit, regular) GNTPOW (hit, powered)
|
|
Appearance statistics[edit]
In the IWADs the Gauntlets are first encountered on these maps per skill level:
|
Multiplayer
|
Game / Episode |
1-2 |
3 |
4-5
|
City of the Damned |
E1M1: The Docks |
E1M1: The Docks |
E1M1: The Docks
|
Hell's Maw |
E2M1: The Crater |
E2M1: The Crater |
E2M1: The Crater
|
The Dome of D'Sparil |
E3M1: The Storehouse |
E3M1: The Storehouse |
E3M1: The Storehouse
|
The Ossuary |
E4M1: Catafalque |
E4M1: Catafalque |
E4M1: Catafalque
|
The Stagnant Demesne |
E5M1: Ochre Cliffs |
E5M1: Ochre Cliffs |
E5M1: Ochre Cliffs
|
Fate's Path |
E6M1: Raven's Lair |
E6M1: Raven's Lair |
E6M1: Raven's Lair
|
|
The IWADs contain the following numbers of Gauntlets per skill level:
|
Multiplayer
|
Game / Episode |
1-2 |
3 |
4-5
|
City of the Damned |
15 |
15 |
15
|
Hell's Maw |
9 |
9 |
9
|
The Dome of D'Sparil |
11 |
11 |
11
|
Heretic (registered) |
35 |
35 |
35
|
The Ossuary |
9 |
9 |
9
|
The Stagnant Demesne |
11 |
11 |
11
|
Fate's Path |
3 |
3 |
3
|
Shadow of the Serpent Riders |
58 |
58 |
58
|
|