Elemental

The elemental monster class is represented by the symbol E and consists of five monster types:

• Four proper elementals:
  • E air elemental
  • E earth elemental
  • E fire elemental
  • E water elemental
• One additional monster type:
  • E stalker

The stalker is quite unlike the others, and so the term “elemental” usually refers only to the four proper elementals.

Stalkers are genocidable but the proper elementals are not, so using a blessed genocide on the E class will only wipe out stalkers.

Air elemental

E air elemental
Difficulty	10
Attacks	Engulf 1d10

E air elemental
Difficulty	10
Attacks	Engulf 1d10
Base level	8
Base experience	122
Speed	36
Base AC	2
Base MR	30
Alignment	0 (neutral)
Frequency (by normal means)	Very rare
Genocidable	No
Weight	0
Nutritional value	0
Size	huge
Resistances	poison, petrification
Resistances conveyed	None
An air elemental: can fly. has no eyes. has no limbs. has no head. is mindless. does not have a solid form. does not eat. (*) is neither male nor female. is strong. never leaves a corpse.
Reference	monst.c#line1364

The air elemental is one of the four types of elementals in the dungeon and, indeed, the fastest monster of any sort in the entire game. They appear both on the Plane of Air (guaranteed) and in the main dungeon (random). Unlike other elementals, air elementals can engulf players. Their main attack is to pummel the player with debris; this can be quite deadly to unprepared characters due to their extreme speed and because, unlike against other whirly monsters, one cannot acquire a resistance against the physical damage. Air elementals are not genocidable. They are also immune to petrification and poison.

In previous versions of NetHack, air elementals dealt twice the damage than they currently do; it was reduced in version 3.4.0.

See also

• The Air Elemental FAQ

Earth elemental

E earth elemental
Difficulty	10
Attacks	Claw: 4d6

E earth elemental
Difficulty	10
Attacks	Claw: 4d6
Base level	8
Base experience	122
Speed	6
Base AC	2
Base MR	30
Alignment	0 (neutral)
Frequency (by normal means)	Very rare
Genocidable	No
Weight	2500
Nutritional value	0
Size	huge
Resistances	fire, cold, poison, petrification
Resistances conveyed	None
An earth elemental: can phase through walls. does not breathe. has no eyes. has no limbs. has no head. is mindless. has a thick hide. does not eat. (*) is neither male nor female. is strong. never leaves a corpse.
Reference	monst.c#line1378

Earth elementals are slow and thus easily dealt with, although you may find yourself overwhelmed by large numbers of them as they can phase through walls.

Fire elemental

E fire elemental
Difficulty	10
Attacks	Claw 3d6 fire, passive (level + 1)d4 fire

E fire elemental
Difficulty	10
Attacks	Claw 3d6 fire, passive (level + 1)d4 fire
Base level	8
Base experience	133
Speed	12
Base AC	2
Base MR	30
Alignment	0 (neutral)
Frequency (by normal means)	Very rare
Genocidable	No
Weight	0
Nutritional value	0
Size	huge
Resistances	fire, poison, petrification
Resistances conveyed	None
A fire elemental: can fly. cannot pick up items. has no eyes. has no limbs. has no head. is mindless. does not have a solid form. does not eat. (*) is neither male nor female. is strong. never leaves a corpse.
Reference	monst.c#line1371

Fire elementals are slow and not hard to fight, especially if you have fire resistance, in which case they can do you no damage.

Water elemental

E water elemental
Difficulty	10
Attacks	Claw 5d6

E water elemental
Difficulty	10
Attacks	Claw 5d6
Base level	8
Base experience	122
Speed	6
Base AC	2
Base MR	30
Alignment	0 (neutral)
Frequency (by normal means)	Very rare
Genocidable	No
Weight	2500
Nutritional value	0
Size	huge
Resistances	poison, petrification
Resistances conveyed	None
A water elemental: can swim. can survive underwater. has no eyes. has no limbs. has no head. is mindless. does not eat. (*) is neither male nor female. is strong. never leaves a corpse.
Reference	monst.c#line1387

Water elementals may be summoned by drinking from a sink. Unlike the air elemental, water elementals are slow and easy to run away from.

Encyclopedia entry

Elementals are manifestations of the basic nature of the
universe.  There are four known forms of elementals:  air, fire,
water, and earth.  Some mystics have postulated the necessity
for a fifth type, the spirit elemental, but none have ever
been encountered, at least on this plane of existence.

This page is based on a spoiler by J. Ali Harlow.

This page may need to be updated for the current version of NetHack.

It may contain text specific to NetHack 3.4.3. Information on this page may be out of date.

Editors: After reviewing this page and making necessary edits, please change the {{nethack-343}} tag to the current version's tag or {{noversion}} as appropriate.