Watcher in the Water - Revision history

Umbire the Phantom: clip comment now I'm done

2025-03-21T01:36:20Z

clip comment now I'm done

Show changes

Umbire the Phantom: establish disambig, comment text until I've copied it all over and acc-checked it

2025-03-20T21:25:06Z

establish disambig, comment text until I've copied it all over and acc-checked it

Furey: /* UnNetHack */ Fix a redlink. (Don't feel like doing a capitalization redirect right now.)

2024-06-18T14:12:07Z

‎UnNetHack: Fix a redlink. (Don't feel like doing a capitalization redirect right now.)

Noisytoot: dNethack -> dNetHack

2024-03-15T18:30:07Z

dNethack -> dNetHack

TalentlessF2P: /* UnNetHack */ Sleep vs. the Watcher

2020-01-27T01:45:46Z

‎UnNetHack: Sleep vs. the Watcher

TalentlessF2P: /* UnNetHack */

2019-12-23T13:04:00Z

‎UnNetHack

TalentlessF2P: UnNetHack Watcher strategy

2019-12-23T13:01:07Z

UnNetHack Watcher strategy

Ardub23 at 23:09, 5 September 2019

2019-09-05T23:09:31Z

Show changes

Chris: /* dNethack */ Adding explanation of how the Watcher works in this variant.

2016-01-06T00:13:45Z

‎dNethack: Adding explanation of how the Watcher works in this variant.

Cherokee Jack: Adding variant tag and fixing template

2016-01-05T02:53:35Z

Adding variant tag and fixing template

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{variant-343}}
+On [[NetHackWiki]], '''Watcher in the Water''' may refer to any of the following:
-'''The Watcher in the Water''' is a unique, [[kraken]]-like [[sea monster]] which appears, in different forms, in [[UnNetHack]] and [[dNetHack]].
+* [[Watcher in the Water (UnNetHack)]], as it appears in UnNetHack
+* [[Watcher in the Water (dNetHack)]], as it appears in dNetHack, notdNetHack, notnotdNetHack
-== UnNetHack ==
+{{variant-noversion}}
-{{monster
+{{disambig}}<!--In UnNetHack, the Watcher in the Water is found on the final level of the [[Ruins of Moria]]. It is similar to an ordinary [[kraken]], but is faster, much stronger, and does not respect [[Elbereth]].
 ===Strategy===
@@ Line 204: / Line 167: @@
 [[Category:UnNetHack monsters]]
-[[Category:dNetHack monsters]]
+[[Category:dNetHack monsters]]-->

@@ Line 51: / Line 51: @@
 *[[Polymorph]] the watcher. Whatever it polymorphs into will likely immediately drown or be much less threatening, with a few exceptions. Make sure you can deal with a possible [[Titan]] if you try this.
 If you didn't kill the Watcher over dry land, you'll then have to get the lamp out of the water. This can be done by:
-*Pushing boulders into the water on and around where the lamp is, then digging it out. Note that one variation of the Doors of Durin has boulders scattered around for you to use, but a [[Scroll of Earth]] may be necessary.
+*Pushing boulders into the water on and around where the lamp is, then digging it out. Note that one variation of the Doors of Durin has boulders scattered around for you to use, but a [[Scroll of earth]] may be necessary.
 *Having [[magical breathing]] and jumping into the water to retrieve it. Drop anything that may be harmed by water exposure before diving in.
 *Freezing the water with a [[wand of cold]] or the spell [[cone of cold]], then dig it out.

@@ Line 69: / Line 69: @@
 {{clear}}
-== dNethack ==
+== dNetHack ==
 {{monster

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 *Use a [[Wand of teleportation]] on the Watcher. On dry land, the Watcher is significantly less dangerous, and killing it over land also ensures that its magic lamp can be retrieved. The amount of water in the level may necessitate using multiple charges.
 *Use ranged weapons, spells, or attack wands to keep your distance and not risk getting grabbed and drowned. Note that you will likely be unable to retrieve any ammunition you use afterward.
-*[[Paralyzing]] it or putting it to [[sleep]] will give you a lot of rounds to attack it in melee, but due to the Watcher's low AC and high health you likely won't kill it before it can act again unless you have a very powerful, enchanted weapon. Use a [[stethoscope]] each hit to make sure it still can't act, and keep an [[escape item]] on hand in case it grabs you!
+*[[Paralyzing]] it will give you a lot of rounds to attack it in melee, but due to the Watcher's low AC and high health you likely won't kill it before it can act again unless you have a very powerful, enchanted weapon. Use a [[stethoscope]] each hit to make sure it still can't act, and keep an [[escape item]] on hand in case it grabs you!
 *Wearing an [[Oilskin cloak]] or any [[greased]] cloak protects you from being drowned, but still leaves you open to the Watcher's other powerful attacks. However, as it won't follow you on land, you can simply back away from the water to heal.
 *[[Polymorph]] the watcher. Whatever it polymorphs into will likely immediately drown or be much less threatening, with a few exceptions. Make sure you can deal with a possible [[Titan]] if you try this.

@@ Line 48: / Line 48: @@
 *Use ranged weapons, spells, or attack wands to keep your distance and not risk getting grabbed and drowned. Note that you will likely be unable to retrieve any ammunition you use afterward.
 *[[Paralyzing]] it or putting it to [[sleep]] will give you a lot of rounds to attack it in melee, but due to the Watcher's low AC and high health you likely won't kill it before it can act again unless you have a very powerful, enchanted weapon. Use a [[stethoscope]] each hit to make sure it still can't act, and keep an [[escape item]] on hand in case it grabs you!
-*Wearing an [[Oilskin Cloak]] or any [[greased]] cloak protects you from being drowned, but still leaves you open to the Watcher's other powerful attacks. However, as it won't follow you on land, you can simply back away from the water to heal.
+*Wearing an [[Oilskin cloak]] or any [[greased]] cloak protects you from being drowned, but still leaves you open to the Watcher's other powerful attacks. However, as it won't follow you on land, you can simply back away from the water to heal.
 *[[Polymorph]] the watcher. Whatever it polymorphs into will likely immediately drown or be much less threatening, with a few exceptions. Make sure you can deal with a possible [[Titan]] if you try this.
 If you didn't kill the Watcher over dry land, you'll then have to get the lamp out of the water. This can be done by:

@@ Line 41: / Line 41: @@
 }}
-In UnNetHack, the Watcher in the Water is found on the final level of the [[Ruins of Moria]]. It is similar to an ordinary [[kraken]], but stronger and faster. It carries a [[magic lamp]] as a sort of prize for the player for reaching the end of the branch.
+In UnNetHack, the Watcher in the Water is found on the final level of the [[Ruins of Moria]]. It is similar to an ordinary [[kraken]], but is faster, much stronger, and does not respect [[Elbereth]].
 ===Strategy===
-The Watcher can be [[teleport]]ed onto dry land to make it less dangerous. Killing it over land also ensures that its magic lamp can be retrieved.
+The Watcher carries a [[magic lamp]] as a sort of prize for the player for reaching the end of the branch, but retrieving it can be tricky because of the Watcher's power and the fact that the lamp will fall into the water when you kill it. Here are a few ways of killing the Watcher:
 ===Encyclopedia entry===

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 }}
-The Watcher is the 'mid boss' of the dwarf noble (Dnb) quest.
+The Watcher is the 'mid boss' of the dwarf noble (Dnb) quest.  The main body of the Watcher attempts to remain at least 3 squares from the character at all times, and attempts to avoid being on the same line in order to frustrate ranged attacks.  The main body will spawn tentacles with its gaze attack; up to a maximum of 6 swarms of snaking tentacles and 2 long sinuous tentacles will be generated.  If the Watcher's main body is killed, all the tentacles die as well.
 {{clear}}
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   |refline=
 }}
 {{clear}}
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   |refline=
 }}
 {{clear}}
 ==References==
 <references/>
 [[Category:dNethack monsters]]

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 '''The Watcher in the Water''' is a unique, [[kraken]]-like [[sea monster]] which appears, in different forms, in [[UnNetHack]] and [[dNetHack]].
@@ Line 5: / Line 7: @@
 The Watcher comes from the first part of ''The Lord of the Rings'': ''The Fellowship of the Ring''.  It appears as a mysterious aquatic creature lurking in a pool outside the western entrance to the dwarvish realm of Moria, from which it attacks the main characters (the Fellowship) as they are about to enter.  The encyclopedia entry describes the creature as it grabs Frodo, the protagonist, and tries to drag him underwater.  The name "The Watcher in the Water" comes from a historical account the party discover later, which reveals that the monster also prevented Moria's defenders from escaping through that exit.
-Little is known about the exact nature of the creature, as the characters catch only a brief glimpse of it, but the detail of its having tentacles (at least twenty) suggests that it may be some kind of monstrous cephalopod.  It should be noted, however, that the passage describes the Watcher's tentacle as "fingered", and real-life cephalopods do not have fingers.
+Little is known about the exact nature of the creature, as the characters catch only a brief glimpse of it, but the detail of its having tentacles (at least twenty) suggests that it may be some kind of monstrous cephalopod.  The passage describes the Watcher's tentacle as "fingered", which is inconsistent with real-life cephalopods, but this may simply be a metaphor meaning that the tentacle was curled like a finger.
 In vanilla NetHack and [[SLASH'EM]], the passage describing the Watcher is used as the encyclopedia entry for the [[kraken]], implying that (in those variants at least) the Watcher is assumed to be representative of [[wikipedia:kraken|that legendary creature]], which is usually portrayed as a giant cephalopod. (UnNetHack changes the kraken's encyclopedia entry to an unrelated poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson.)  In the variants that include the Watcher, it shares the kraken's [[drowning]] attack, but may have distinct attacks of its own.
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   |resistances=[[poison]], [[sleep]]
   |resistances conveyed=sleep
   |attributes={{attributes
   |The Watcher in the Water|=
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   |resistances=[[disintegration]], [[poison]], [[petrification]]
   |resistances conveyed=
   |attributes={{attributes
   |The Watcher in the Water|=
@@ Line 218: / Line 218: @@
   |resistances=[[sleep]], [[disintegration]], [[poison]], [[petrification]]
   |resistances conveyed=
   |attributes={{attributes
   |A swarm of snaking tentacles|=
@@ Line 348: / Line 347: @@
   |resistances=[[sleep]], [[disintegration]], [[poison]], [[petrification]]
   |resistances conveyed=
   |attributes={{attributes
   |A long sinuous tentacle|=