Large mimic
m large mimic 
| |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 9 |
| Attacks |
Claw sticky 3d4 |
| Base level | 8 |
| Base experience | 113 |
| Speed | 3 |
| Base AC | 7 |
| Base MR | 10 |
| Alignment | 0 (neutral) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | 1 (Very rare) |
| Genocidable | Yes |
| Weight | 600 |
| Nutritional value | 400 |
| Size | Large |
| Resistances | Acid |
| Resistances conveyed | None |
|
A large mimic:
| |
| Reference | monst.c#line618 |
A large mimic, m, is a type of monster that appears in NetHack. It is a stronger form of mimic that is capable of hiding by disguising itself as an item or dungeon feature, and its sticky body can trap the hero if they walk into the disguised mimic or the mimic attacks them.
A large mimic has a single sticking claw attack, and possesses acid resistance.
Eating a large mimic corpse or tin causes the hero to mimic a pile of gold (or an orange if hallucinating) for 40 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 large 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 the item they are disguised as.
Generation
Randomly generated large mimics are always created hostile. A large mimic that is randomly generated will appear disguised as an appropriate item or dungeon feature.
In addition to random generation, large mimics can be generated in the following circumstances:
- Large mimics may be generated in shops at level creation.[9] A large 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 while the level difficulty is 9 or higher, there is a chance of a large mimic disguised as a closed door being created in a doorway, rather than an actual door.[10]
- A large mimic may appear among the four mimics generated on The Mimic of the Mines map of Mines' End at level creation.
- A large 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 large 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 it is still accurate, then update the page to incorporate this information.
Per commit 37f6eee1, the "storeroom" themed room may contain large mimics disguised as chests.Strategy
Large 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. A large mimic that successfully sticks to an early game hero will likely kill them in short order unless the hero can get loose in time.
Thankfully, the large 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 a hero ends up stuck to a large mimic, they can scare it into letting them go e.g. by engraving Elbereth, which they should have several chances to write successfully due to the mimic's low speed. Once Elbereth is correctly engraved (which you can confirm by near looking with :), rest with . until the mimic flees to avoid smudging it; remember that the hero cannot go down a hole or use stairs while stuck. Scaring tools and other similar items can also scare a mimic into letting go of a hero stuck to it.
If fighting a large 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 large mimics can give, it is recommended for an early hero to be at experience level 3 or higher before dispatching one to maximize their experience gain.
History
The large 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 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 large 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 large 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 1019: 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 425
