Sphere
Spheres, e, are a class of monster in NetHack. This class is made up of monsters that act like "living mines", with the ability to self-destruct and cause damage. Dextrous players can sometimes dodge the explosions partially or completely, while players with the correct resistance might not feel harm from the blast.
Monsters in this class:
Flaming, freezing, and shocking spheres will actively seek you out and explode when next to you. If you manage to kill them before they can do this, they will not explode. The explosion does not affect other nearby creatures.
Gas spores e are different in that they will never attack you and explode only if killed. However, gas spores explode in a 3-by-3 square, thus even if a character survives the blast, a nearby pet might die. If you caused the explosion, it will count as if you killed the pet, so caution is advised. Peaceful creatures caught in the blast also become hostile.
e Floating eye is represented by the same character as spheres, but their behavior is significantly different. Floating eyes do not self-destruct.
y Black light and y yellow light are not spheres, but they self-destruct in a similar manner.
In SLASH'EM, flame and freezing spheres can be summoned by the fire and ice mages respectively. Killing or attacking a monster with a flame sphere or freezing sphere will be treated the same as if you had attacked it directly; you gain XP, anger peaceful monsters, etc. They are, of course, useless if the opposing monsters resist fire or cold. Too much use can also cause swift extinction of the species.
Encyclopedia entry
The attack by those who want to die -- this is the attack
against which you cannot prepare a perfect defense.
--Human aphorism
[ The Dosadi Experiment, by Frank Herbert ]
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