Barrow wight
W barrow wight 
| |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 7 |
| Attacks |
Weapon 0d0 drain life, spell-casting, claw 1d4 |
| Base level | 3 |
| Base experience | 90 |
| Speed | 12 |
| Base AC | 5 |
| Base MR | 5 |
| Alignment | -3 (chaotic) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | 1 (Very rare) |
| Genocidable | Yes |
| Weight | 1200 |
| Nutritional value | 0 |
| Size | Medium |
| Resistances | Cold, sleep, poison |
| Resistances conveyed |
None |
|
A barrow wight:
| |
| Reference | monst.c#line1881 |
The barrow wight, W is a monster that appears in NetHack.
They are resistant to cold, sleep and poison, and do not normally leave corpses.
Contents
Generation
A barrow wight always carries a long sword and a knife.
Strategy
The barrow wight can be a stronger threat than its figures may suggest. From long range, the barrow wight may throw projectiles (usually its knife) and close in to use spells on the player. If the player attempts to engage in melee combat, they put themselves at risk of being stunned, as well as the wight's level draining (but otherwise harmless) weapon attacks. A barrow wight is best dealt with quickly, but without undue alarm.
The barrow wight's long sword may be of interest to lawful characters looking for a long sword to create Excalibur.
Origin
Barrow wights originate from the universe of Tolkien's works. "Barrow" refers to the burial mounts they normally inhabit, while "wight" is old English for "thing, living being creature", used in the less archaic sense meaning "ghost". It resembles a wraith.
Variants
UnNetHack
In UnNetHack barrow wights are slightly more common; if a player is killed by a Nazgul, they will rise as a barrow wight in the bones file.
Slash'EM Extended
Barrow wights leave corpses (1200l) in Slash'EM Extended, and they are usually hazardous to eat.
Encyclopedia entry
When he came to himself again, for a moment he could recall
nothing except a sense of dread. Then suddenly he knew that
he was imprisoned, caught hopelessly; he was in a barrow. A
Barrow-wight had taken him, and he was probably already under
the dreadful spells of the Barrow-wights about which whispered
tales spoke. He dared not move, but lay as he found himself:
flat on his back upon a cold stone with his hands on his
breast.
This page may need to be updated for the current version of NetHack.
It may contain text specific to NetHack 3.6.4. Information on this page may be out of date.
Editors: After reviewing this page and making necessary edits, please change the {{nethack-364}} tag to the current version's tag or {{noversion}} as appropriate.
