High priest - Revision history

Ray Chason: Update the name

2026-05-14T04:36:18Z

Update the name

Umbire the Phantom: tweak

2026-02-08T20:28:32Z

tweak

Umbire the Phantom: /* Generation */ pothole

2026-02-08T20:28:04Z

‎Generation: pothole

Umbire the Phantom: /* Strategy */ touch-ups

2026-02-08T20:27:36Z

‎Strategy: touch-ups

Furey: /* High priest of Moloch */ unlucky -> unfortunate

2024-06-14T07:25:20Z

‎High priest of Moloch: unlucky -> unfortunate

Umbire the Phantom: lede

2024-05-01T05:15:50Z

lede

Umbire the Phantom: /* EvilHack */ word choice

2024-01-21T06:30:17Z

‎EvilHack: word choice

Umbire the Phantom: /* Strategy */ clip

2024-01-20T21:12:26Z

‎Strategy: clip

Umbire the Phantom: /* High priest of Moloch */ rephrase

2024-01-20T21:12:06Z

‎High priest of Moloch: rephrase

Umbire the Phantom: clarify unlikeliness that you'll need to fight any other high priests

2023-07-29T07:41:17Z

clarify unlikeliness that you'll need to fight any other high priests

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 {{monster
   |difficulty=30
   |level=25
@@ Line 15: / Line 18: @@
   |resistances=Fire, shock, sleep, poison
   |resistances conveyed=None
-  |attributes={{attributes|A high priest|humanoid=1|seeinvis=1|omnivore=1|nopoly=1|human=1|minion=1|prince=1|nasty=1|collect=1|magic=1|infravisible=1}}
+  |attributes={{attributes|A high cleric|humanoid=1|seeinvis=1|omnivore=1|nopoly=1|human=1|minion=1|prince=1|nasty=1|collect=1|magic=1|infravisible=1}}
   |reference=[[monst.c#line2408]]
 }}

@@ Line 18: / Line 18: @@
   |reference=[[monst.c#line2408]]
 }}
+A '''high priest''' or '''high priestess''', {{monsym|high priest}}, is a type of [[monster]] that appears in ''[[NetHack]]''. They are [[Human or elf|humans]] that act as the head of all religious activities related to a given [[deity]].
 High priests have the same weapon attack as [[aligned priest]]s along with a stronger kick attack, and can cast two spells per round from the full list of clerical [[monster spell]]s. They have [[fire resistance]], [[shock resistance]], [[sleep resistance]], and [[poison resistance]].

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 ==Generation==
-Four high priests are guaranteed to appear in the game: the high priest of [[Moloch]] that tends to [[Moloch's Sanctum]], and the three high priests for each deity of the [[player]]'s pantheon, who appear in their High Temples on the [[Astral Plane]]. In addition to those four, aligned priests can [[grow up]] to become high priests.{{refsrc|src/mondata.c|1008|version=NetHack 3.6.7}}<ref>"funcrunch", [http://groups.google.com/group/rec.games.roguelike.nethack/browse_thread/thread/66691ee1b111578d Priest promoted to high priest?] rec.games.roguelike.nethack, 17 April 2008.</ref>
+Four high priests are guaranteed to appear in the game: the high priest of [[Moloch]] that tends to [[Moloch's Sanctum]], and the three high priests for each deity of the [[hero]]'s pantheon, who appear in their High Temples on the [[Astral Plane]]. In addition to those four, aligned priests can [[grow up]] to become high priests.{{refsrc|src/mondata.c|1008|version=NetHack 3.6.7}}<ref>"funcrunch", [http://groups.google.com/group/rec.games.roguelike.nethack/browse_thread/thread/66691ee1b111578d Priest promoted to high priest?] rec.games.roguelike.nethack, 17 April 2008.</ref>
 The high priests on the Astral Plane are always generated peaceful, and will remain that way unless you provoke them. The high priest of Moloch is likewise generated peaceful, but will become hostile once you enter the temple.

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 ==Strategy==
-High priests are much more difficult to take on compared to regular aligned priests, due to powerful physical attacks and access to the full list of clerical [[monster spell]]s, including [[Paralyze (monster spell)|paralyze]], [[curse items]] and [[geyser]]. Thankfully, outside of grievous errors involving [[conflict]] on the Astral Plane or more dedicated [[extinctionist]] play, the high priest of Moloch is typically the only one you will have to actually fight.
+High priests are much more difficult to take on compared to regular aligned priests, due to powerful physical attacks and access to the full list of clerical [[monster spell]]s, including [[Paralyze (monster spell)|paralyze]], [[curse items]] and [[geyser]]. Thankfully, outside of grievous errors involving [[conflict]] on the Astral Plane or more deliberate actions such as dedicated [[extinctionist]] play, the high priest of Moloch is typically the only one you will have to actually fight.
 ===High priest of Moloch===
-Players tend to save a [[wand of death]] charge for the purpose of killing the high priest of Moloch, as they present a major obstacle otherwise: Moloch will fire [[ray]]s of [[lightning]] at you each time you attack his high priest, and the priest's melee-range attacks and clerical spells may bring an untimely demise to an unfortunate character. They can generate with a cloak of magic resistance and have an [[Magic resistance (monster)|MR score]] of 70, with the cloak all but forcing you to get up close and personal.
+Players tend to save a [[wand of death]] charge for the purpose of killing the high priest of Moloch, as they present a major obstacle otherwise: Moloch will fire [[ray]]s of [[lightning]] at you each time you attack his high priest, and the priest's melee-range attacks and clerical spells may bring an untimely demise to an unfortunate hero. They can also generate with a cloak of magic resistance and have an [[Magic resistance (monster)|MR score]] of 70, with the cloak all but forcing a hero to get up close and personal.
-As mentioned above, the high priest of Moloch only becomes hostile once you step into the temple - in other words, killing them from the outside before they become angry is [[murder]] for [[lawful]] and [[neutral]] characters. Make sure you are prepared for the fight before opening the door, even if you plan to step back out and/or zap them with a death ray.
+As mentioned above, the high priest of Moloch only becomes hostile once you step into the temple&mdash;in other words, killing them from the outside before they become angry is [[murder]] for [[lawful]] and [[neutral]] heroes. Make sure you are prepared for the fight before opening the door, even if you plan to step back out and/or zap them with a death ray.
 For players dealing with a magic-resistant high priest, a means of [[stoning]] them such as a [[footrice]] [[corpse]] or [[egg]] can prove a useful alternative. Otherwise, they should have a source of [[magic resistance]] on hand, as well as possibly [[half spell damage]], to blunt or negate the impact of certain spells (e.g. paralyze and curse items). [[Summon insects]] will be a mild annoyance at worst, the [[Blind (monster spell)|blind]] spell is trivial to cure, and you should already have shock resistance and fire resistance to negate damage from [[Lightning (monster spell)|lightning]] and [[fire pillar]] spells, though they can still destroy inventory.

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 ===High priest of Moloch===
-Players tend to save a [[wand of death]] charge for the purpose of killing the high priest of Moloch, as they present a major obstacle otherwise: Moloch will fire [[ray]]s of [[lightning]] at you each time you attack his high priest, and the priest's melee-range attacks and clerical spells may bring an untimely demise to an unlucky character. They can generate with a cloak of magic resistance and have an [[Magic resistance (monster)|MR score]] of 70, with the cloak all but forcing you to get up close and personal.
+Players tend to save a [[wand of death]] charge for the purpose of killing the high priest of Moloch, as they present a major obstacle otherwise: Moloch will fire [[ray]]s of [[lightning]] at you each time you attack his high priest, and the priest's melee-range attacks and clerical spells may bring an untimely demise to an unfortunate character. They can generate with a cloak of magic resistance and have an [[Magic resistance (monster)|MR score]] of 70, with the cloak all but forcing you to get up close and personal.
 As mentioned above, the high priest of Moloch only becomes hostile once you step into the temple - in other words, killing them from the outside before they become angry is [[murder]] for [[lawful]] and [[neutral]] characters. Make sure you are prepared for the fight before opening the door, even if you plan to step back out and/or zap them with a death ray.

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 High priests have the same weapon attack as [[aligned priest]]s along with a stronger kick attack, and can cast two spells per round from the full list of clerical [[monster spell]]s. They have [[fire resistance]], [[shock resistance]], [[sleep resistance]], and [[poison resistance]].
-{{upcoming|NetHack 3.7.0|High priests are now referred to as "high clerics".}}
+{{upcoming|NetHack 3.7.0|High priests are referred to as '''high clerics'''.}}
 ==Generation==

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 Defeating the high priest of Moloch and obtaining the Amulet causes a gate to form in the inner Sanctum's west wall, leading to a previously unreachable part of the map that contains [[Lucifer]] and the portal to [[Purgatory]]. All other methods of leaving the Sanctum are suppressed and the up stair is removed, meaning that defeating Lucifer is necessary to leave.
-For [[Infidel]]s, the goal is instead to bring the Amulet of Yendor to the Sanctum along with their quest artifact, [[The Idol of Moloch]], and sacrifice the Amulet to Moloch on the unaligned high altar - Moloch will then imbue the Idol with the power of the Amulet so that the player can [[invoke]] it on a specific high altar in the Astral Plane. The high priest of Moloch remains peaceful to Infidels, and provides one hint regarding which altar is the correct one (or both, if the [[Archbishop of Moloch]] is dead).
+For [[Infidel]]s, the goal is instead to bring the Amulet of Yendor to the Sanctum along with their quest artifact, [[The Idol of Moloch]], and sacrifice the Amulet to Moloch on the unaligned high altar - Moloch will then imbue the Idol with the power of the Amulet so that the player can [[invoke]] it on a specific high altar in the Astral Plane. The high priest of Moloch remains peaceful to Infidels, and provides one of two hints regarding which altar is the correct one (or both, if the [[Archbishop of Moloch]] is dead).
 ==References==