Potion of confusion
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| |
|---|---|
| Name | confusion |
| Appearance | random |
| Base price | 100 zm |
| Weight | 20 |
| Monster use | May be used offensively by monsters. |
A potion of confusion is a type of potion that appears in NetHack.
Contents
Generation
Wizards may be given a potion of paralysis as any of the three random potions in their starting inventory.[1]
Potions of paralysis make up 21⁄500 (4.2%) of all randomly-generated potions. General stores and liquor emporiums can sell potions of paralysis.
Randomly-generated intelligent monsters may receive a potion of confusion paralysis as an offensive item.[2]
Mixing a potion of booze with a potion of enlightenment via dipping creates a potion of confusion.
Description
Quaffing a potion of confusion will leave the hero confused for several turns, with the duration depending on the beatitude of the potion:[3] a blessed potion confused the hero for 8–14 turns, an uncursed potion confused the hero for 16–22 turns, and a cursed potion confused the hero for 24–30 turns.
Dipping a unicorn horn into a potion of confusion will turn it into an uncursed potion of water. Dipping the potion into a potion of gain energy or potion of gain level will alchemize the potion into either a potion of booze or a potion of enlightenment.
Monsters will throw the potion of confusion at the hero as an offensive item. A hero that is hit with the potion or inhales its vapors is confused for up to 5 more turns.[4] Monsters that are hit with a potion are confused, subject to their monster magic resistance.[5]
Strategy
The potion of confusion can be occasionally useful for reading scrolls while confused, but there are many other sources of confusion that do not contribute as much to inventory weight - casting a forgotten spell circumvents reliance on items entirely. While it can also be used against monsters, monster confusion is not especially reliable to exploit: monster confusion does not have a set time out, and instead has a 1⁄50 chance of expiring at the start of each of their turns, meaning that an unfortunate hero may see a confused monster come to their senses immediately.[6]
Heroes looking to take advantage of confusing monsters can learn the confuse monster spell or read multiple non-cursed scrolls of confuse monster, which stores multiple "charges" of confusion to use in melee. This leaves potions of confusion to be frequently made into water with unicorn horns, or else used for polypiling.
History
The potion of confusion 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.
Messages
- Huh, What? Where am I?
- You quaffed a potion of confusion.
- What a trippy feeling!
- As above while hallucinating.
- You feel somewhat dizzy
- You were hit by a thrown potion.
Variants
SLASH'EM
In SLASH'EM, the Lawful Quest has a 2⁄5 chance of generating a cursed potion of confusion among the items found in the Chamber of Junk.
