Ring of aggravate monster
A ring of aggravate monster is a type of ring that appears in NetHack.
Contents
Generation
Wizards will never receive a ring of aggravate monster as either of the two random rings in their starting inventory.[1][2]
9⁄10 of rings of aggravate monster are generated cursed, and the rest are uncursed or blessed with equal probability. General stores and jewelers shops can stock rings of aggravate monster.
Description
A hero putting on the ring gains the aggravate monster extrinsic property, which doubles the effective level difficulty used to generate monsters, up to a cap of 50 after being doubled.[3] Monsters will not wear this ring.
A hero eating the ring has a 1⁄3 chance of successfully absorbing its magic and granting the property as an intrinsic[4]—this does not grant the doubled level difficulty, which is exclusive to the extrinsic aggravate monster property.
Strategy
The ring of aggravate monster is undesirable in the great majority of circumstances, and typically relegated to polypile fodder. However, there are a few niche cases where generating more dangerous monsters is actually useful:
- Knights can use it to awaken certain monsters and avoid caitiff penalties to alignment record, in turn averting alignment abuse.
- Any player trying to lure monsters to certain areas (such as fodder for sacrifice on an altar or wraiths whose corpses they want) can wear the ring temporarily, even while invisible. In particular, monster sacrifices of higher difficulty are needed to receive the higher-tier sacrifice gifts, and can also raise luck higher than sacrificing weaker monsters.
- For players attempting to generate a ki-rin or Archon to tame, one obstacle is the fact that these monsters do not generate in Gehennom, but are often too difficult for the Dungeons of Doom—wearing the ring solves this problem by not only making them eligible, but much more likely to generate.
- Similarly, the higher difficulty monster generation also affects what is produced by the create familiar.
- For characters trying to reach experience level 14 to begin the Quest, more difficult monsters grant more experience points.
- Because level difficulty is capped at 50 after doubling, the ring can actually decrease level difficulty in very deep dungeon levels; Moloch's Sanctum, for example, can generate as deep as level 53. Similarly, in the End Game, the natural level difficulty is generally higher than 50 due to your experience level being a factor. The practical effect is fairly minor, however.
- If dealing with an unwanted cursed ring, any source of stealth can partly override the worst of the ring's effects until you find a means to remove it.
History
The ring of aggravate monster first appears in Hack 1.21 and Hack for PDP-11, which are based on Jay Fenlason's Hack, and is included in the initial item list for Hack 1.0. The ring also appears previously in Rogue, where it makes up 1⁄10 of random rings and causes monsters to attack more aggressively.
The ring's modifier to level difficulty is added in NetHack 5.0.0 via commit 720c62c3, where it initially augmentes difficulty by a fixed 15 levels in development versions: an unidentified ring being worn could prove lethal outright for this reason, even when non-cursed, while also being of negligible effect in the late game. This is changed to its current implementation via commit d88f0cfe.
Messages
- Several flies buzz angrily around the sink.
- You dropped a ring of aggravate monster down a sink; this message still prints while blind.
Variants
SLASH'EM
In SLASH'EM, the ring of aggravate monster behaves as it does in NetHack 3.4.3. Flame Mages, Ice Mages, Necromancers, and Wizards will never be given a ring of aggravate monster as the random ring(s) in their starting inventory.[5]
dNetHack
In dNetHack, notdNetHack and notnotdNetHack, the ring of aggravate monster behaves as it does in NetHack 3.4.3 and will never have the randomized appearance of a black signet ring.
SpliceHack
In SpliceHack, a ring of aggravate monster can be combined with a ring of hunger at a furnace to create a ring of conflict.
SlashTHEM
In SlashTHEM, in addition to SLASH'EM details, Acid Mages, Corsairs, Electric Mages, Nobles, and Pirates will never be given a ring of aggravate monster as the random ring(s) in their starting inventory.
The Imperial Token is an artifact ring of aggravate monster that acts as the Gladiator quest artifact. It grants drain resistance while carried, grants regeneration and fire resistance while worn, and can be invoked for the leadership effect, which detects all pets on the level and increases the tameness of those within line of sight.
