Player's misconceptions - Revision history

Umbire the Phantom: quick pass

2026-04-20T05:14:05Z

quick pass

Umbire the Phantom: copyedit

2026-01-19T07:43:02Z

copyedit

Umbire the Phantom: /* This monster is so strong, this status property won't help me */ tweaks

2025-12-13T10:53:15Z

‎This monster is so strong, this status property won't help me: tweaks

Umbire the Phantom: /* The player should not wear metal armor if intending to cast */ grammar

2025-12-13T10:51:50Z

‎The player should not wear metal armor if intending to cast: grammar

Umbire the Phantom: /* Monster behavior */ expand this one further in particular

2025-08-15T16:58:26Z

‎Monster behavior: expand this one further in particular

Umbire the Phantom: /* Gauntlets of power are required to maximize carrying capacity */ this should be enough

2025-08-15T16:41:14Z

‎Gauntlets of power are required to maximize carrying capacity: this should be enough

Umbire the Phantom: /* Gauntlets of power are required to maximize carrying capacity */ a

2025-08-15T16:40:41Z

‎Gauntlets of power are required to maximize carrying capacity: a

Umbire the Phantom: /* Gauntlets of power are required to maximize carrying capacity */ word choice

2025-08-15T16:40:27Z

‎Gauntlets of power are required to maximize carrying capacity: word choice

Umbire the Phantom: /* Attributes */ pothole

2025-08-15T16:40:00Z

‎Attributes: pothole

Umbire the Phantom: renovating and expanding

2025-08-15T16:39:38Z

renovating and expanding

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 ==NetHack is not real life==
-A root of many such misconceptions that players develop regarding ''NetHack'' and its mechanics, particularly the ones listed below, is that they often assume various aspects of the game such as a [[hero]]'s nutrition should function within the game world as they do in our world. The core thing to remember is that '''[[NetHack is not real life]]''', and that mechanics within the game will not ''always'' reflect real life&mdash;in some cases, this may even be for the better.
+A root of many such misconceptions that players develop regarding ''NetHack'' and its mechanics, particularly the ones listed below, is that they often assume various aspects of the game such as a [[hero]]'s nutrition should function within the game world as they do in our world. The core thing to remember is that, while some aspects of the game may draw ''from'' real life, '''[[NetHack is not real life]]''': mechanics within the game will not ''always'' reflect real life, and are under no obligation to&mdash;in some cases, this may even be for the better.
 ==Nutrition==
 ===Drinking water is necessary===
-'''Water is not necessary for a hero's survival.''' The [[Guidebook]]'s advice on this matter is misleading, stating that "although creatures can survive long periods of time without food, there is a physiological need for water"&mdash;while true for real life, it surely does not apply for the [[hero]] in ''NetHack'', and not only is there absolutely no need to drink water at all, but [[quaffing]] water from [[fountain]]s can be downright dangerous.
+'''Water is not necessary for a hero's survival.''' The [[Guidebook]]'s advice on this matter is misleading, stating that "although creatures can survive long periods of time without food, there is a physiological need for water"&mdash;while true for real life, it surely does not apply for the [[hero]] in ''NetHack'', and not only is there absolutely no need to drink water at all, but [[quaffing]] water from [[fountain]]s can be downright dangerous (to speak nothing of [[sink]]s).
 ===Because corpses are dangerous to eat, they should be saved for emergencies===
@@ Line 13: / Line 13: @@
 ===I would not eat that in real life, so my character also probably should not===
-Again: '''NetHack is not real life'''. Though many of us in the real world would not eat the [[corpse]]s of a [[sewer rat]], [[lichen]] or [[jackal]]&ndash;let alone uncooked ones due to the severe risk of illness&ndash;that is not an issue for your character in the game. Therefore, if a corpse is fresh, it will probably be safe for consumption unless there is something intrinsically harmful about that corpse or the monster that dropped it, e.g. the poisonous [[kobold]] or the [[stoning]]-inducing [[cockatrice]].
+Again: '''NetHack is not real life'''. Though many of us in the real world would not eat the corpse of a [[sewer rat]], [[lichen]] or [[jackal]]&ndash;let alone uncooked ones due to the severe risk of illness&ndash;that is not an issue for your character in the game (or indeed any other monster that eats). Therefore, if a corpse is fresh, it will probably be safe for consumption unless there is something intrinsically harmful about that corpse ''or'' the monster that dropped it, e.g. the [[poisonous]] [[kobold]] or the [[stoning]]-inducing [[cockatrice]].
 ===Eating pet corpses is bad===
@@ Line 42: / Line 42: @@
 ==Monster behavior==
 ===This monster is so strong, this status property won't help me===
-'''Several boss-level hostile monsters in the game are vulnerable to ailments and instant deaths such as [[poison]], [[paralysis]] and even [[stoning]] in some cases.''' The concept of stronger monsters having more immunity to various types of damage and ailments was not as ubiquitous in games when the first versions of ''Hack'' were released, and  even as the idea became more widespread in role-playing games over the years, it is still relatively rare within ''NetHack'' itself. [[Dragon]]s and other monsters with elemental attacks or breath attacks are usually only immune to the elements of those attacks, and even the [[Wizard of Yendor]] himself is not immune to a cockatrice corpse or a [[wand of death]]! [[Wizard of Yendor#Harassment|Just don't assume that it deals with him permanently.]]
+'''Several boss-level hostile monsters in the game are vulnerable to sources of ailments and instant deaths such as poison, [[paralysis]] and even [[stoning]] in some cases.'''
-The specific weaknesses of a given monster depends more on their [[Magic resistance (monster)|magic resistance value]] (or 'MR score') as well as their actual [[resistance]]s, and much of the difficulty involved is in learning about these vulnerabilities unspoiled (often involving trial and error). A high MR score can also make a monster ''seem'' immune to certain status properties, due to their higher odds of resisting each time&mdash;as an example, none of the [[demon lords and princes]] are immune to a [[wand of sleep]], but their MR score is often high enough that it can take several [[zap]]s for the effect to actually stick.
+The concept of stronger monsters having more immunity to various types of damage and ailments was not as ubiquitous in games when the first versions of ''Hack'' were released, and even as the idea became more widespread in role-playing games over the years, it is still relatively rare within ''NetHack'' itself. [[Dragon]]s and other monsters with elemental attacks or breath attacks are usually only immune to the elements of those attacks, and even the [[Wizard of Yendor]] himself is not immune to a cockatrice corpse or a [[wand of death]]! ([[Wizard of Yendor#Harassment|Just don't assume that it deals with him permanently.]])
-One of the few "contractual immunities" that occur in ''NetHack'' is the [[stoning resistance]] shared among [[quest nemesis]] monsters in particular: this is ostensibly done in order to prevent the [[Quest]] from being trivialized in a relatively easy manner, as a quest nemesis may still have other weaknesses that a hero can exploit depending on their attributes and the availability of certain items.
+The specific weaknesses of a given monster depends on their [[Magic resistance (monster)|magic resistance value]] (or 'MR score') as well as their actual [[resistance]]s, and much of the difficulty involved is in learning about these vulnerabilities unspoiled (often involving trial and error). A high MR score can also make a monster ''seem'' immune to certain status properties, due to their higher odds of resisting each time&mdash;as an example, none of the [[demon lords and princes]] are immune to a [[wand of sleep]], but their MR score is often high enough that it can take several [[zap]]s for the effect to actually stick.
 ==Attributes==
 ===Gauntlets of power are required to maximize carrying capacity===
-This is another half-truth: '''[[Carrying capacity]] is based directly on the hero's own [[strength]] and [[constitution]].''' Specifically, the formula is (([[Str|STR]] + [[Constitution|CON]]) * 25) + 50, and carrying capacity has an upper limit of 1000: a combined strength and constitution of 38 grants maximum carrying capacity, with strength values of 18/32–18/81 being considered equivalent to 20, and thus all races of hero other than [[Elf (starting race)|elves]] can reach this maximum without gauntlets of power ''or'' any other additional equipment. So while the gauntlets of power can obviously ''help'' raise this value, wearing them  is only "mandatory" for elven heroes that wish to do so.
+This is another half-truth: '''[[Carrying capacity]] is based directly on the hero's own [[strength]] and [[constitution]].''' Specifically, the formula is (([[Str|STR]] + [[Constitution|CON]]) * 25) + 50, and carrying capacity has an upper limit of 1000&mdash;a combined strength and constitution of 38 grants maximum carrying capacity, with strength values of 18/32–18/81 being considered equivalent to 20, and thus all races of hero other than [[Elf (starting race)|elves]] can reach this maximum without the use of gauntlets of power ''or'' any other additional equipment. So while the gauntlets of power can obviously ''help'' raise this value, wearing them is only "mandatory" for elven heroes that wish to do so.
 {{nethack-367}}
 [[Category:Articles for beginners]]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 {{tocright}}
-This article attempts to dispel '''common assumptions and misconceptions''' that many players may have about ''[[NetHack]]''. This is not to be confused with misconceptions that ''NetHack'' players may have about other [[variant]]s of ''NetHack'' (or vice versa), which is generally referred to as "[[variant paranoia]]".
+This article attempts to dispel '''common assumptions and misconceptions''' that many players may have about ''[[NetHack]]''. This is not to be confused with misconceptions that ''NetHack'' players may have about other [[variant]]s of ''NetHack'' (or vice versa) or even different versions of the same game, which is generally referred to as "[[variant paranoia]]".
 ==NetHack is not real life==
@@ Line 7: / Line 7: @@
 ==Nutrition==
 ===Drinking water is necessary===
-'''Water is not necessary for a hero's survival.''' The [[Guidebook]]'s advice on this matter is misleading, stating that "although creatures can survive long periods of time without food, there is a physiological need for water"&mdash;while true for real life, it surely does not apply for the character in ''NetHack'', and not only is there absolutely no need to drink water at all, but [[quaffing]] water from [[fountain]]s can be downright dangerous.
+'''Water is not necessary for a hero's survival.''' The [[Guidebook]]'s advice on this matter is misleading, stating that "although creatures can survive long periods of time without food, there is a physiological need for water"&mdash;while true for real life, it surely does not apply for the [[hero]] in ''NetHack'', and not only is there absolutely no need to drink water at all, but [[quaffing]] water from [[fountain]]s can be downright dangerous.
 ===Because corpses are dangerous to eat, they should be saved for emergencies===
-'''[[Corpse#Corpses that are both beneficial and harmful|Some corpses]] are indeed inherently dangerous and should not be eaten.''' Any ''other'' corpse should be eaten while it is still fresh, if you plan to eat it at all: if you save a corpse to eat later, it will almost certainly be [[Corpse#Aging|tainted]] and give you [[food poisoning]] unless you keep it in an [[ice box]] or [[apply]] a [[tinning kit]] (which ''is'' vaguely analogous to real life). [[Lizard]] and [[lichen]] corpses are exceptions to this rule, as they last indefinitely.
+'''[[Corpse#Corpses that are both beneficial and harmful|Some corpses are indeed inherently dangerous]]''', and many of them should not be eaten. Any ''other'' corpse should be eaten while it is still fresh, if you plan to eat it at all: if you save a corpse to eat later, it will almost certainly be [[Corpse#Aging|tainted]] and give you [[food poisoning]], unless you keep it in an [[ice box]] or [[apply]] a [[tinning kit]] (both of which ''are'' vaguely analogous to real life). [[Lizard]] and [[lichen]] corpses are exceptions to this rule, as they last indefinitely.
 ===I would not eat that in real life, so my character also probably should not===
-Again: '''NetHack is not real life'''&mdash;though many of us in the real world would not eat the [[corpse]]s of a [[sewer rat]] or a [[jackal]] corpse, let alone uncooked ones due to the severe risk of illness, that is not an issue for your character in the game. Therefore, if a corpse is fresh, unless there is something intrinsically harmful about that corpse or the monster that dropped it—e.g., the poisonous [[kobold]] or the [[stoning]]-inducing [[cockatrice]]—it will probably be safe for consumption.
+Again: '''NetHack is not real life'''. Though many of us in the real world would not eat the [[corpse]]s of a [[sewer rat]], [[lichen]] or [[jackal]]&ndash;let alone uncooked ones due to the severe risk of illness&ndash;that is not an issue for your character in the game. Therefore, if a corpse is fresh, it will probably be safe for consumption unless there is something intrinsically harmful about that corpse or the monster that dropped it, e.g. the poisonous [[kobold]] or the [[stoning]]-inducing [[cockatrice]].
 ===Eating pet corpses is bad===
@@ Line 19: / Line 19: @@
 * Eating the corpse or [[tin]] of a [[kitten]], [[little dog]] or any of their [[growth stage]]s will give the hero the [[aggravate monster]] intrinsic, which applies regardless of whether it was a former pet.
-* Personally killing a pet incurs a penalty of -15 alignment and -1 [[luck]].
+* Personally killing a pet incurs an [[alignment record]] penalty of -15 and a -1 [[luck]] penalty. Displacing a pet to their death also incurs a -15 alignment record penalty and angers your [[god]].
 * [[Sacrifice#Sacrificing pets|Sacrificing pets]] that have died while tame also gives bad effects including the aggravate monster intrinsic, and should be avoided.
 ==Magic==
 ===Wizards are better at reading spellbooks===
-This one is more of a half-truth in practice: '''the formula that determines the chance of successfully reading a [[spellbook]] is the same for all heroes, and is primarily reliant on [[intelligence]]'''&mdash;[[Wizard]]s are one of a few roles that start with quite high intelligence on average. What ''actually'' gives Wizards an advantage when reading spellbooks is that they will be warned if they have less than a 100% chance of successfully learning the spell from from an uncursed spellbook, and the player is prompted whether or not they want to continue reading; this has no effect on the actual success chance itself.
+This one is more of a half-truth in practice: '''the formula that determines the chance of successfully reading a [[spellbook]] is the same for all heroes, and is primarily reliant on [[intelligence]]'''&mdash;[[Wizard]]s are one of a few roles that start with quite high intelligence on average. What ''actually'' gives Wizards an advantage when reading spellbooks is that they will be warned if they have less than a 100% chance of successfully learning the spell from from an uncursed spellbook; the player is prompted whether or not they want to continue reading, which has no effect on the actual success chance itself.
-On the note of role-specific advantages, Wizards are better at [[Magic marker#Unknown scrolls and spellbooks|writing unknown scrolls and spellbooks]] with a magic marker than other roles.
+On the note of role-specific advantages, Wizards ''are'' better at [[Magic marker#Unknown scrolls and spellbooks|writing unknown scrolls and spellbooks]] with a magic marker than other roles.
 ===The player should not wear metal armor if intending to cast===
-This is true in the broad strokes: '''[[metallic]] armor does hinder [[spellcasting]] while worn, but the level of hindrance depends on the armor type and the hero's role.''' [[Shield]]s and metallic [[body armor]] tend to interfere with casting the most across the board&mdash;some casting-focused roles can have strong enough spellcasting abilities that they can offset the penalty from these with a [[robe]], while others can better handle metallic armor in slots besides these. For example, a Wizard with 18 intelligence can wear a metallic helmet, pair of boots or pair of gloves and still cast low-level spells with 0% failure, only seeing a small increase in failure rate for higher-level spells.
+This is true in the broad strokes: '''[[metallic]] armor does hinder [[spellcasting]] while [[worn]], but the level of hindrance depends on the armor type and the hero's role.''' [[Shield]]s and metallic [[body armor]] tend to interfere with casting the most across the board&mdash;some casting-focused roles have strong enough spellcasting abilities that they can offset the penalty from these with a worn [[robe]], while others can better handle metallic armor in slots besides these. For example, a Wizard with 18 intelligence can wear a metallic helmet, pair of boots or pair of gloves and still cast low-level spells with 0% failure, while only seeing a small increase in failure rate for higher-level spells.
 ==Behavior and conducts==
 ===A chaotic hero can kill anything without penalties of any kind===
-'''Heroes of chaotic [[alignment]] take alignment and luck penalties for most of the same things that heroes of other alignments do'''&mdash;this includes killing coaligned peaceful monsters or killing 'always-peaceful' [[Human (monster attribute)|humans]]. While those penalties themselves may not be as stiff in the case of a chaotic hero, their alignment is not license to do whatever they please and otherwise behave in a "Chaotic Stupid" manner: e.g., they are not penalized specifically for [[murder]], but still take significant alignment penalties for killing peaceful human monsters.
+'''Heroes of chaotic [[alignment]] take alignment and luck penalties for most of the same things that heroes of other alignments do'''&mdash;this includes killing co-aligned peaceful monsters or killing 'always-peaceful' [[Human (monster attribute)|humans]]. While those penalties themselves may not be as stiff in the case of a chaotic hero, their alignment is not license to do whatever they please and otherwise behave in a "Chaotic Stupid" manner: e.g., they are not penalized specifically for [[murder]], but still take significant alignment penalties for killing peaceful human monsters.
 See the [[alignment record]] article for more details on alignment penalties and bonuses.
@@ Line 42: / Line 42: @@
 ==Monster behavior==
 ===This monster is so strong, this status property won't help me===
-The concept of stronger monsters having more immunity to various types of damage and ailments was not as ubiquitous in games when the first versions of ''Hack'' were released, and is still relatively rare within ''NetHack'' itself even as the idea became more widespread in role-playing games over the years. '''Several boss-level hostile monsters in the game are vulnerable to ailments and instant deaths such as [[poison]], [[paralysis]] and even [[stoning]] in some cases.''' [[Dragon]]s and other monsters with elemental attacks or breath attacks are usually only immune to the elements of those attacks, and even the [[Wizard of Yendor]] himself is not immune to a cockatrice corpse or a [[wand of death]]!
+'''Several boss-level hostile monsters in the game are vulnerable to ailments and instant deaths such as [[poison]], [[paralysis]] and even [[stoning]] in some cases.''' The concept of stronger monsters having more immunity to various types of damage and ailments was not as ubiquitous in games when the first versions of ''Hack'' were released, and  even as the idea became more widespread in role-playing games over the years, it is still relatively rare within ''NetHack'' itself. [[Dragon]]s and other monsters with elemental attacks or breath attacks are usually only immune to the elements of those attacks, and even the [[Wizard of Yendor]] himself is not immune to a cockatrice corpse or a [[wand of death]]! [[Wizard of Yendor#Harassment|Just don't assume that it deals with him permanently.]]
-The specific weaknesses of a given monster depends more on their [[Magic resistance (monster)|magic resistance value]] (or 'MR score') as well as their actual [[resistance]]s, and much of the difficulty involved is in learning about these vulnerabilities unspoiled (often involving trial and error). A high MR score can also make a monster ''seem'' immune to certain status properties, due to their high odds of resisting each time&mdash;as an example, none of the [[demon lords and princes]] are immune to a [[wand of sleep]], but their MR score is often high enough that it can take several zaps for the effect to actually stick.
+The specific weaknesses of a given monster depends more on their [[Magic resistance (monster)|magic resistance value]] (or 'MR score') as well as their actual [[resistance]]s, and much of the difficulty involved is in learning about these vulnerabilities unspoiled (often involving trial and error). A high MR score can also make a monster ''seem'' immune to certain status properties, due to their higher odds of resisting each time&mdash;as an example, none of the [[demon lords and princes]] are immune to a [[wand of sleep]], but their MR score is often high enough that it can take several [[zap]]s for the effect to actually stick.
 One of the few "contractual immunities" that occur in ''NetHack'' is the [[stoning resistance]] shared among [[quest nemesis]] monsters in particular: this is ostensibly done in order to prevent the [[Quest]] from being trivialized in a relatively easy manner, as a quest nemesis may still have other weaknesses that a hero can exploit depending on their attributes and the availability of certain items.
@@ Line 50: / Line 50: @@
 ==Attributes==
 ===Gauntlets of power are required to maximize carrying capacity===
-'''[[Carrying capacity]] is based directly on the hero's own [[strength]] and [[constitution]].''' Specifically, the formula is (([[Str|STR]] + [[Constitution|CON]]) * 25) + 50, and carrying capacity has an upper limit of 1000: a combined strength and constitution of 38 grants maximum carrying capacity, with strength values of 18/32–18/81 being considered equivalent to 20, so all races of hero other than [[Elf (starting race)|elves]] can reach this maximum without gauntlets of power ''or'' any other additional equipment. The gauntlets of power can obviously ''help'' raise this value, but they are only "mandatory" for elven heroes that wish to do so.
+This is another half-truth: '''[[Carrying capacity]] is based directly on the hero's own [[strength]] and [[constitution]].''' Specifically, the formula is (([[Str|STR]] + [[Constitution|CON]]) * 25) + 50, and carrying capacity has an upper limit of 1000: a combined strength and constitution of 38 grants maximum carrying capacity, with strength values of 18/32–18/81 being considered equivalent to 20, and thus all races of hero other than [[Elf (starting race)|elves]] can reach this maximum without gauntlets of power ''or'' any other additional equipment. So while the gauntlets of power can obviously ''help'' raise this value, wearing them  is only "mandatory" for elven heroes that wish to do so.
 {{nethack-367}}
 [[Category:Articles for beginners]]

@@ Line 42: / Line 42: @@
 ==Monster behavior==
 ===This monster is so strong, this status property won't help me===
-The concept of stronger monsters having more immunity to various types of damage and ailments was not as ubiquitous in games when the first versions of ''Hack'' were released, and is still relatively rare within ''NetHack'' itself even as the idea became more widespread in role-playing games over the years. '''Several boss-level hostile monsters in the game are vulnerable to ailments and instant deaths such as [[poison]], [[paralysis]] and even stoning in some cases.''' [[Dragon]]s and other monsters are only immune to the elements associated with their attacks, and even the [[Wizard of Yendor]] himself is not immune to a cockatrice corpse or a [[wand of death]]!
+The concept of stronger monsters having more immunity to various types of damage and ailments was not as ubiquitous in games when the first versions of ''Hack'' were released, and is still relatively rare within ''NetHack'' itself even as the idea became more widespread in role-playing games over the years. '''Several boss-level hostile monsters in the game are vulnerable to ailments and instant deaths such as [[poison]], [[paralysis]] and even [[stoning]] in some cases.''' [[Dragon]]s and other monsters with elemental attacks or breath attacks are usually only immune to the elements of those attacks, and even the [[Wizard of Yendor]] himself is not immune to a cockatrice corpse or a [[wand of death]]!
-The specific weaknesses of a given monster depend as much on their [[Magic resistance (monster)|magic resistance value]] (or 'MR score') as well as their actual [[resistance]]s, and much of the difficulty involved is in learning about these vulnerabilities unspoiled (often involving trial and error). A high MR score can also make a monster ''seem'' immune to certain status properties, due to their high odds of resisting each time&mdash;as an example, none of the [[demon lords and princes]] are immune to a [[wand of sleep]], but their MR score is often high enough that it can take several zaps for the effect to actually stick. One of the few "contractual immunities" that occur in ''NetHack'' is the [[stoning resistance]] shared among [[quest nemesis]] monsters in particular: this is ostensibly done in order to prevent the [[Quest]] from being trivialized in a relatively easy manner, as a quest nemesis may still have other weaknesses that a hero can exploit depending on their attributes and the availability of certain items.
+The specific weaknesses of a given monster depends more on their [[Magic resistance (monster)|magic resistance value]] (or 'MR score') as well as their actual [[resistance]]s, and much of the difficulty involved is in learning about these vulnerabilities unspoiled (often involving trial and error). A high MR score can also make a monster ''seem'' immune to certain status properties, due to their high odds of resisting each time&mdash;as an example, none of the [[demon lords and princes]] are immune to a [[wand of sleep]], but their MR score is often high enough that it can take several zaps for the effect to actually stick.
 ==Attributes==

@@ Line 29: / Line 29: @@
 ===The player should not wear metal armor if intending to cast===
-This is true in the broad strokes: '''[[metallic]] armor does hinder [[spellcasting]] while worn, but the level of hindrance depends on the armor type and the hero's role.''' [[Shield]]s and metallic [[body armor]] tend to interfere with casting the most across the board&mdash;some casting-focused roles can have strong enough spellcasting abilities that they can offset the penalty from these with a [[robe]], while others can better handle metallic armor in slots besides these. For example, a Wizard with 18 intelligence can wear a metallic helmet, pair of boots, or pair of glovesm and can still cast low-level spells with 0% failure, only seeing a small increase in failure rate for higher-level spells.
+This is true in the broad strokes: '''[[metallic]] armor does hinder [[spellcasting]] while worn, but the level of hindrance depends on the armor type and the hero's role.''' [[Shield]]s and metallic [[body armor]] tend to interfere with casting the most across the board&mdash;some casting-focused roles can have strong enough spellcasting abilities that they can offset the penalty from these with a [[robe]], while others can better handle metallic armor in slots besides these. For example, a Wizard with 18 intelligence can wear a metallic helmet, pair of boots or pair of gloves and still cast low-level spells with 0% failure, only seeing a small increase in failure rate for higher-level spells.
 ==Behavior and conducts==

@@ Line 44: / Line 44: @@
 The concept of stronger monsters having more immunity to various types of damage and ailments was not as ubiquitous in games when the first versions of ''Hack'' were released, and is still relatively rare within ''NetHack'' itself even as the idea became more widespread in role-playing games over the years. '''Several boss-level hostile monsters in the game are vulnerable to ailments and instant deaths such as [[poison]], [[paralysis]] and even stoning in some cases.''' [[Dragon]]s and other monsters are only immune to the elements associated with their attacks, and even the [[Wizard of Yendor]] himself is not immune to a cockatrice corpse or a [[wand of death]]!
-The specific weaknesses of a given monster depend as much on their [[Magic resistance (monster)|magic resistance value]] (or 'MR score') as well as their actual [[resistance]]s, and much of the difficulty involved is in learning about these vulnerabilities unspoiled (often involving trial and error). A high MR score can also make a monster ''seem'' immune to certain status properties, due to their high odds of resisting each time&mdash;as an example, none of the [[demon lords and princes]] are immune to a [[wand of sleep]], but their MR score is often high enough that it can take several zaps for the effect to actually stick.
+The specific weaknesses of a given monster depend as much on their [[Magic resistance (monster)|magic resistance value]] (or 'MR score') as well as their actual [[resistance]]s, and much of the difficulty involved is in learning about these vulnerabilities unspoiled (often involving trial and error). A high MR score can also make a monster ''seem'' immune to certain status properties, due to their high odds of resisting each time&mdash;as an example, none of the [[demon lords and princes]] are immune to a [[wand of sleep]], but their MR score is often high enough that it can take several zaps for the effect to actually stick. One of the few "contractual immunities" that occur in ''NetHack'' is the [[stoning resistance]] shared among [[quest nemesis]] monsters in particular: this is ostensibly done in order to prevent the [[Quest]] from being trivialized in a relatively easy manner, as a quest nemesis may still have other weaknesses that a hero can exploit depending on their attributes and the availability of certain items.
 ==Attributes==