Black pudding
P black pudding 
| |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 12 |
| Attacks |
Bite: 3d8, corrodes metal armor |
| Base level | 10 |
| Base experience | 221 |
| Speed | 6 |
| Base AC | 6 |
| Base MR | 0 |
| Alignment | 0 (neutral) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | Very rare |
| Genocidable | Yes |
| Weight | 900 |
| Nutritional value | 250 |
| Size | large |
| Resistances | Cold, shock, poison, acid, petrification |
| Resistances conveyed |
Cold (22%)
|
The black pudding, P, is an amoeboid NetHack monster. Its most noteworthy characteristic is its ability to divide when hit by an iron item, leaving two black puddings (a process which also corrodes the weapon). It is the more powerful of the two monsters that can do this (the other being the brown pudding). It is precisely this characteristic that gives rise to the practice of pudding farming.
Kicking a sink has a chance of summoning a black pudding. The message for this is, "A black ooze gushes up from the drain!"
Strategy
In short:
- Do not let the black pudding corrode your iron weapon, iron armor, or bronze plate mail.
Protect your armor
The bite of the black pudding can corrode your copper or iron armor. Before allowing the pudding to bite you, consider if it will damage your armor.
- Rustproof iron armor will not corrode.
- A corrodeproof bronze plate mail (the only copper armor) will not corrode.
- Body armor concealed under a cloak or robe will not corrode.
- You might let your uncursed or blessed +0 orcish helm corrode if you have a replacement available.
- You could step away from the pudding and remove your vulnerable armor; black puddings do not corrode what you do not wear.
A good strategy is to fight using ranged attacks, but many players will not have these armor problems; maybe you will not encounter a black pudding before you rustproof your armor.
Don't use iron weapons
Black puddings can corrode iron weapons. If you would wield an iron weapon and hit a black pudding, then the pudding might split and the weapon would corrode. (That is good if you want to block a wide path, but bad if the multiple puddings thoroughly corrode your armor.)
Switch to that elven dagger, throw rocks or junk darts, or employ rustproof or non-iron weapons against those black puddings.
