Elf zombie
Z elf zombie 
| |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 4 |
| Attacks |
Claw 1d7 |
| Base level | 3 |
| Base experience | 28 |
| Speed | 6 |
| Base AC | 9 |
| Base MR | 0 |
| Alignment | -3 (chaotic) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | 1 (Very rare) |
| Genocidable | Yes |
| Weight | 850 |
| Nutritional value | 170 |
| Size | Medium |
| Resistances | Cold, sleep, poison |
| Resistances conveyed |
Sleep (67%) |
|
An elf zombie:
| |
| Reference | monst.c#line2141 |
An elf zombie, Z, is a type of monster that appears in NetHack. It is one of a few zombies that you may encounter before seeing any of their living counterparts. An elf zombie has a single claw attack, and can follow you to other levels if it is adjacent.
The elf zombie is one of only two zombies to leave a potentially beneficial corpse: eating the elf corpse it leaves behind has a 2⁄3 chance of conveying sleep resistance, but the corpse's age may cause food poisoning.
Contents
Generation
Randomly generated elf zombies may occur in small groups of 2 to 4, and are always hostile.
An elf zombie will leave an aged elf corpse upon death.
Strategy
Like most zombie groups, elf zombies can easily be handled by early characters with some care. Elf zombies are most notable for leaving behind corpses that can be eaten for sleep resistance, making them worthwhile sources if you have a tinning kit on hand. The corpses can also be eaten raw if you have a means to cure potential food poisoning (e.g. a non-cursed unicorn horn) and ensure that your HP is high enough to avoid fatal damage from feeling sick.
Player elves can use elven zombies to convert cross-aligned altars with their corpses, or else summon demons on co-aligned ones.
History
The elf zombie first appears in NetHack 3.0.0, where most of the various zombies are first distinguished from each other.
Encyclopedia entry
The zombi ... is a soulless human corpse, still dead, but taken from the grave and endowed by sorcery with a mechanical semblance of life, -- it is a dead body which is made to walk and act and move as if it were alive.
Variants
SLASH'EM
In SLASH'EM, elf zombies can be created by using the raise zombies technique while adjacent to the corpse of any elf.
References
