Small mimic
m small mimic 
| |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 8 |
| Attacks |
Claw 3d4 |
| Base level | 7 |
| Base experience | 92 |
| Speed | 3 |
| Base AC | 7 |
| Base MR | 0 |
| Alignment | 0 (neutral) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | 2 (Quite rare) |
| Genocidable | Yes |
| Weight | 300 |
| Nutritional value | 200 |
| Size | Medium |
| Resistances | Acid |
| Resistances conveyed | None |
|
A small mimic:
| |
| Reference | monst.c#line610 |
A small mimic, m, is a type of monster that appears in NetHack. It is the weakest of the mimics, and lacks the sticking attack and passive sticking of its larger kin. A small mimic is capable of hiding by disguising itself as an appropriate item or dungeon feature, and a hero in the form of a small mimic can cloak themselves this way using the #monster extended command.
A small mimic has a single claw attack, and possesses acid resistance.
Eating a small mimic corpse or tin causes the hero to mimic a pile of gold (or an orange if hallucinating) for 20 turns unless they have unchanging, which dismounts them if they are riding and breaks the polyselfless conduct.[1][2][3][4][5] A pet that eats a small mimic corpse will similarly mimic an item or another monster that they are thinking about for the same amount of turns.[6][7][8] This does not affect armor or worn items in either case, and a hero or pet disguised this way will return to normal prematurely if another monster interacts with whatever they are disguised as.
Generation
Randomly generated small mimics are always created hostile. A small mimic that is randomly generated will appear disguised as an appropriate item or dungeon feature for that square. A small mimic can grow up into a large mimic.
In addition to random generation, small mimics can be generated in the following circumstances:
- Small mimics may be generated in shops at level creation.[9] A small mimic created in a shop on dungeon level 9 or higher has a 10 × (10 - DL)% chance of appearing as a strange object, and otherwise has a 2⁄17 chance of appearing as a strange object.
- When entering a new dungeon floor that is not the Rogue level, if the level difficulty is 9 or higher there is a chance of a small mimic disguised as a closed door being created in a doorway, rather than an actual door.[10][11]
- A small mimic may appear among the four mimics generated on The Mimic of the Mines map of Mines' End at level creation.
- A small mimic is generated on the home floor of the Rogue quest at level creation, and is placed in one of four random locations where the down stair can appear, with the small mimic disguised as said down stair.
The following information pertains to an upcoming version (3.7.0). If this version is now released, please verify that the information below is still accurate, then update the page to incorporate it.
Per commit 37f6eee1, the "storeroom" themed room may contain small mimics disguised as chests.Strategy
Small mimics are very slow at 3 speed, but hit quite hard for an early-game hero, resulting in death if they carelessly bump into one while shopping or else underestimate the power of their claw attacks. As of August 2024, small mimics rank #7 on the list of top death causes on NAO.
Thankfully, the small mimic's low speed can be exploited with most ranged attacks, and attentive players can spot shop mimics that are disguised as strange objects or else imitating items that are not normally sold in that type of shop. To safely uncloak a mimic in a shop, a hero can throw a single gold piece (via t + 1 + $) down the row or column where they suspect it to be: the gold will be added to store credit and can be picked up later without any trouble. Be sure not to anger the shopkeeper by hitting them with the coin! Properties such as warning and telepathy can also reliably detect potential mimics—the article section linked at the top of this section lists other methods of safely uncloaking and fighting mimics.
If fighting a small mimic in a shop, certain ranged attacks may not be safe: thrown projectiles will become the shop's property if the shop buys or sells the weapon in question, and the wand of striking and force bolt spells can break fragile items in their path; additionally, using ray-type wands or spells can risk the shopkeeper being hit by the rebound, depending on the shop size.
Due to the high amount of experience that even small mimics can give, it is recommended for a hero to be at experience level 3 or higher before dispatching one to maximize their experience gain.
History
The small mimic first appears in NetHack 3.0.0.
In NetHack 3.4.3 and earlier versions, including some variants based on those versions, the speed system functions differently: the hero and monsters all move at a consistent rate, meaning that an unhasted and unburdened hero character always gets four moves to the mimic's one. This allows for 'hit and run' tactics that can consistently and reliably dispose of mimics with enough care: characters with relatively high starting HP and AC can attack them more safely, and with skilled play even weaker roles can defeat mimics this way while avoiding damage.
In those same versions, shapeshifting from eating a small mimic corpse or tin does not break polyselfless conduct—this is changed in NetHack 3.6.0 via commit 0f0a85d0 so that eating a mimic corpse or tin breaks the conduct.
In NetHack 3.6.0 and earlier versions, including some variants based on those versions, an umber hulk's gaze attack will not uncloak small mimics that it targets—this is fixed in NetHack 3.6.1 via commit b5a027c3.
Messages
Encyclopedia entry
- See the encyclopedia entry for mimic.
References
- ↑ src/eat.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1022: the cases are designed to fall through and add the amount of turns together
- ↑ src/eat.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1024
- ↑ src/eat.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1027
- ↑ src/eat.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1029
- ↑ src/eat.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1031
- ↑ src/dogmove.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 223
- ↑ src/dogmove.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 350
- ↑ src/dogmove.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 1338
- ↑ src/shknam.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 471
- ↑ src/mklev.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 417
- ↑ src/mklev.c in NetHack 3.6.7, line 425
