Rabid rat
r rabid rat 
| |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 4 |
| Attacks |
Bite 2d4 poisonous (constitution) |
| Base level | 2 |
| Base experience | 17 |
| Speed | 12 |
| Base AC | 6 |
| Base MR | 0 |
| Alignment | 0 (neutral) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | 1 (Very rare) |
| Genocidable | Yes |
| Weight | 30 |
| Nutritional value | 5 |
| Size | Tiny |
| Resistances | poison |
| Resistances conveyed |
None |
|
A rabid rat:
| |
| Reference | monst.c#line742 |
A rabid rat, r, is a type of monster that appears in NetHack. It is a tiny carnivorous animal that is more dangerous than other early rodents, and can be seen via infravision.
A rabid rat has a single bite attack that is poisonous and drains constitution, unlike most other poisonous attacks. Rabid rats possess poison resistance.
A rabid rat corpse is poisonous to eat.
Generation
Randomly-generated rabid rats are always created hostile.
Wererats can summon hostile rabid rats by calling for help, with a 1⁄21 chance of generating a hostile rabid rat on each adjacent square, and a character that gets lycanthropy from a wererat can similarly summon tame rabid rats using the #monster extended command with at least 10 power.[1]
Rabid rats appear among the random r that are part of the first quest monster class for Healers and make up 24⁄175 of the monsters randomly generated on the Healer quest. Several rabid rats are also generated on each level of the quest branch at level creation: ten are generated on the home level, one is generated on the upper filler level, eight are generated on the locate level, two each are generated on the lower filler levels, and three are generated on the goal level.
Strategy
Rabid rats have a much stronger bite than other rats, and are among the earliest poisonous monsters that a character can encounter: even if their bite does not manage to cause an outright instadeath, non-resistant characters will not want to deal with constitution damage well before they are able to obtain a unicorn horn or other means of easily restoring lost attributes. Outside of this, rabid rats are just as frail as other rats and can be killed fairly quickly, but they are worth using ranged attacks on to prevent any from getting close enough.
The following information pertains to an upcoming version (3.7.0). If this version is now released, please verify that it is still accurate, then update the page to incorporate this information.
Poison no longer causes instadeath, but still results in significant damage to HP and attributes. Unicorn horns no longer restore lost attributes.History
The rabid rat first appears in NetHack 3.0.0.
Encyclopedia entry
Rats are long-tailed rodents. They are aggressive,
omnivorous, and adaptable, often carrying diseases.
"The rat," said O'Brien, still addressing his invisible
audience, "although a rodent, is carnivorous. You are aware
of that. You will have heard of the things that happen in
the poor quarters of this town. In some streets a woman dare
not leave her baby alone in the house, even for five minutes.
The rats are certain to attack it. Within quite a small time
they will strip it to the bones. They also attack sick or
dying people. They show astonishing intelligence in knowing
when a human being is helpless."
